Hawaii Don’s BodyBlog

Heh, I am enjoying being on vacation… Been following the diet pretty good and working out 3 days a week still. Today was chest and arms and it was a killer! I got a really good pump and I went up in bench so overall a great day. I am tired tonight after the concert last night but is was cool seeing my brother in laws and 2 of my sisters. We are going out for Mexican tonight at Hernando’s Hideaway in Escondido. Killer food. Living in Hawaii I sure do miss the killer mexican meals. Again though, I wish my dad ate better.

Tomorrow I am making pizza for my kids and all the nieces and nephews. I already bought a bunch of stuff to put on them. It’ll be thin crust but yummy!

Until next time!

Don

Ahhh, relaxing by the pool, writing this blog entry. that’s the life! The kids are playing in the water and today, I am hibernating from the sun (had a little too much yesterday). Funny, I live in Hawaii but come to sunny so. cal for a tan. Anyway, tomorrow is back to the grind. I have chest and arms tomorrow and I plan to hit them hard! I need to do some major intervals after that too since my stepmom cooked pancakes this morning. I am thinking she is gonna give dad another stroke with the diet they eat. I was telling him last night that he needs to cut down to once a week on the red meat and really even farther. He likes his prime rib and ribeyes but I told him those were just going to clog his arteries and that would lead to another stroke.

He listened which surprised me somewhat. They were even asking about what kinds of meat to eat and fish and chicken (he’s not a chicken fan and likes the dark meat). I will be sending him the clean diet book next paycheck. I really don’t expect him to follow it but even if he makes some adjustments to his diet that is a step in the right direction. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

When I am at my mom’s house we eat really clean. At my dad’s I struggle cause there is so much crap food around. It’s hard to eat clean here. I am back to moms in a little while anyways so that’s good.

I’ll write again this weekend. Off to the Freedom Concert tonight and working out majorly in the morning. I’ll be seeing two of my sisters there tonight which will be cool, plus my dad and stepmom. My mom has volunteered to babysit.

Aloha,
Don

I am on vacation in San Diego and having to workout in a gym that is not my home gym. I did notice that the weights are all upstairs which means after my leg workout this morning I’ll be walking down stairs again. That is always tough. My mom has been great! I brought her out some Kona (the 100% kind!) coffee from Hawaii and she has made some each morning. I have another bag I’ll leave her when I go home so she can enjoy a bag by herself.

Anyways, back to the unfamiliar. I worked out for the first time there on Monday and it took some getting used too. All the equipment is all over the place. It’s not laid out like my home gym. I work out at a national chain that is open 24 hours and specializes in fitness. It was hard to find everything I needed on Monday but today I think I have mostly a handle on it. At home I work out at night (mostly serious lifters are at my gym at night) because the whole attitude of the gym is different. Here I have been working out in the mornings. There were some serious guys in there the other day but the usual cell phone talkers too (I hate that).

Today is legs:

Squats 5 x 8-10 Actual 5×10 135×2 155×3
Leg Press 5 x 8-10 Actual 5×10 270
SLDL 3 x 8-10 Actual 4×10 135
Calf raises 5 x 15-20 Actual 5x 20 17 18 20 20
Should be pretty intense. It was intense. Rode the bike for ten minutes after as hard as I could go.
Aloha,
Don

Day 9 of the HLG cycle. Pretty good stuff! I had a great pump on my shoulders and back today and it looks like I am finally picking up some of the definition I have been after. Diet is going pretty well despite being on vacation. Only had a few cheats. If you want to follow my progress you can check out my daily log here http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=3686361

I am logging progress, how the product makes me feel and the overall gains that I am making and whether they last.

 Aloha,
Don

Heh, this morning I got up at 6:15 (slept in) and went to the gym about 7:00 ish. Did chest and arm today. It looked like this:

BB Bench 4×10
db incline bench 3 x6
db pullover 3 x 10

Preacher curls 3 x 10
21’s x 3 (huge pump after this, like my biceps were going to explode!)

tricep pressups 3×10
tricep pressdowns 3×10

Ab curls 3×20 supersetted with dips 3 x 22 18 15

30 minutes treadmill intervals

Overall was a killer workout. Hope to see a lot more of these down the road. Off to San Diego now!

C-Ya,
Don

This is day 5 of the cycle and I am feeling kinda lethargic. I get bursts of energy but overall I am tired. Did legs last night and I am feeling it today.

Squats 5×10

Leg press 5×10

SLDL 3×10

Calf raises 5 x 17 17 16 16 15

Diet is going pretty good. I am still finding it difficult to get in all those extra cals though. I am leaving for vacation tomorrow and I will see my mom when i get in tomorrow night. I will be BBQing with my sisters, brothers - in -law and nephews and nieces on Saturday, plus I get to see my dad. Last time I saw him in January, he was just coming out of a coma from a massive stroke. It’s tough to see your dad, a retired Marine, reduced to a wheelchair to get around. I am going to talk to him about nutrition and get his ass working out in the pool. I plan to get him motivated while i am there. He has bouts of brilliance in his progress but he also has long periods in between where he doesn’t make much progress. Been reading up on stroke and recovery. it’s a long, long road. I will have him on an anti-inflammatory diet before I leave and i think that will help with the swelling on his right side (it’s partially paralyzed now).

I’ll be seeing some of my longtime friends out there too. That will be cool. I haven’t seen some of them for 15 years! My kids are all excited to go too. My son asked me if he could change into his bathing suit at teh airport so he could go swimming. Hahahaha! he’s a clown sometimes but a damn good athlete at 7. I am taking them to see the tidepools while we are there and probably the Wild Animal Park. Other than that and working out, I am on vacation!

Aloha,
Don

This is day three of the cycle and I really don’t feel any difference other than I am really tired today. Not sure if it is the HLG or the fact that I didn’t get to sleep til 10:30 and was up at 5:00 am. That little bit of sleep usually doesn’t bother me but I guess I am getting older now and I need my sleep. LOL! I was off today and will hit legs hard tomorrow night. I am hoping the effects start to kick in tomorrow night and I will have a killer workout. I like to work legs anyways so it will be good no matter what!

I leave for San Diego on Friday afternoon so I will do my last workout pre-vacation, Friday morning with the wife. It’s always good to go to the gym with the wife. For one, she gets to see what i mean about pushing yourself to see results. You can’t just go through the motions or nothing will happen. Last night I was asking her if she remembered anything worthwhile in her life that she didn’t have to work hard for? She said, "NO!". I told her that getting fit is no different.

The diet seems to be coming along for me too. I upped my calories to around 3k from around 2500 so we’ll see how that turns out in a couple weeks. I may need to alter it up again if I am not gaining weight. I think that is the hardest part, getting in enough calories. I have been on maintenance for so long that it is hard to eat more food. Sheesh! I never thought I’d catch myself saying that!

Aloha,
Don

I have been thinking about this since yesterday, okay for awhile as I have pondered using prohormones to help me achieve my growth goals. It has been a tough decision that I had to put a lot of thought into and weigh the pros and cons. I have finally made a decision and gone on a cycle. After reading through the forums and deciphering the good and bad and talking to some friends I have decided to give Halodrol a try. Today I will begin the cycle. I have asked my wife to help me take measurements of my bodyparts (no not that one!) and bodyfat so I have a benchmark.

I started working out again after my back surgery only about 8 weeks ago. I did not do any measurement prior to starting my program however I have dropped 3" off my waist ( I rented a tux so I know that measurement). I have definitely become more vascular and I can see improvements in my chicken legs and definitely in my upper body. My shirtsleeves are becoming tight now, I can fill out a tank top nicely in the back and shoulder areas. My workout program is below:

Mondays - Back and shoulders
Pullups 30 - 35 usually 8-10 straight and then however many to failure until I reach 30-35
Lat pulls
Upright rows
Bent rows

DB Shoulder press
Lateral raises
Rear raises
Wednesday - Legs
Squat
Leg press or Hack squat
Leg extensions
Dead Lifts (Stiff Legged)
Calf Raises
Friday - Chest and arms

Incline DB bench
Pec Deck Flys
Pullovers
Preacher Curls
21’s
Overhead tricep press
Tricep Pressdowns
Dips to failure (I am ready for weighted dips now)

I do cardio twice a week (not on leg days since I usually have trouble walking due to the pump) alternating treadmill intervals with stairmill (The revolving staircase of death and elliptical). I also do abs 2 days a week.

I eat a pretty clean diet too. I eat lots of ff cottage cheese, tuna in water, chicken breast, turkey breast, raw nuts, salad, watermelon, apples etc … I love to BBQ and I live in Hawaii so it is pretty much BBQ season all year long. Seasons? We have them here, we have the dry season and the rainy season. In fact, Avacado season is here now and both of my neighbors trees are full of them!

Back to the subject. I think I am in a good place now to start this cycle. I will post my scrawny measurements later today and you can look for an update in about a month.

Aloha,
Don

Man, yesterday was one of those days! It wasn’t bad until i went to pick up my son at the YMCA for after school care. I got there like 10 minutes before they opened the gates so i had to drive around the block a gazillion times. I pick him up and head home.

For the last 6 weeks he (my 7 yr. old son) has been trying out for HYSA which is a competitive soccer league here in Hawaii and a feeder organization for the U.S. olympic squad.  Last night was the sign ups for those invited to play on the team. Upon getting in the car he tells me, I don’t want to play soccer with those guys. I was like, "WTF do you mean?" For the last 6 weeks he has been telling me he hopes he makes the team and these kids are really good and he has enjoyed playing with kids that are up to his caliber of play, etc … Steam is boiling out of my ears at this point so i take a few deep breaths and calm myself daown and we drive for five minutes and i ask him again and he says, "Yeah I want to play with them!" Man, at this point I am saying sheesh are the sun and stars aligned or what?

By then I gotta pee and we are like 20 minutes from the house. I pull in the driveway and dash for the bathroom and my daughter immediately comes in and wants to show me her hand on which she just had minor surgery to remove a pencil lead. "Honey, can you wait til I’m done peeing?" So she leaves and my son comes running in to tell me, "Dad, the dog just barfed on the rug by the front door!" Aye carumba! Can’t I pee in peace?

I gotta bring two pictures with me to the soccer registration so I sit my son down outside on the bench and go to snap a picture. Good, now he wants one with a soccer ball. Crap! The camera batteries are dead! So scrap that and I go downstairs to print out the pictures. The dang camera dock tells me it’s out of photo paper but the tray is full! Aye, yai, yai!  I finally fix that and get my gym clothes on since I couldn’t work on Monday night since it was my sister-in-laws birthday.

I get to the soccer registration and whip out the pics and they want 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" not 4×6! Of course! I finally get done with that and get to the gym. I was planning to do Monday’s back and shoulder routine and my usual legs workout for Wednesday. I stop to think, one of my buddies has challenged me to a 40 yd dash on Saturday. He is ten years younger than me and way outta shape. Too many plate lunches and a recent promotion to a desk job! I plan to kick his ass! Truly, there is no upside for him. If he wins everyone will say yeah, but you are ten years younger. If he loses everyone will say, ha! You let and old man beat you? So I forwent the legs and ran intervals on the treadmill after the back and shoulder workout. I felt a lot better after taking out my aggressions on the pullup bar and the rest of the free weights.

Ever had one of those days?

Aloha,
Don

Supplements are the life blood of the bodybuilding world but to be serious, you are never gonna get freaky big without genetics and roids. For me, a natural amateur, I rely on supplements, mostly because genetics is not on my side. As I worte previously, 5 1/2 months ago I had major back surgery, 3 fused vertebra and two disks removed. During the injury phase and after sugery, my body composition went to hell. I developed a muffin top belly and went from a 31 1/2 inch waist to a little over 34 inches. It was frustrating. I never gained any weight.

So after surgery I embarked on a training program as soon as my doctor okay’d me to go back to the gym. I have been in the gym for 2 1/2 months now and I am happy to report that I have a 31 1/2 inch waist again. So how did I accomplish it?

I have adhered pretty strictly to a clean diet. I cheat here and there but for one meal. I always tell my weight loss students to remember that Christmas and other holiday’s are just that, holli - day not holli - week. I stay away from processed food as much as possible. If God didn’t make it, I don’t eat it. I was eating probably a 40-40-20 diet of protein, complex carbs and fats. I recently decided to get the last bit of fat off of my abs and did a little research, talked to some friends at the gym and finally to one of the guys at the local supplement shop. I ended up with Superpump 250.

My recommendation with SP 250 is to heed the warnings on the label. I have found that I am ultra sensitive to the stimulants in it so I can only take it for 5 or 6 days at a time and only 1/2 a dose. After the 6th day I find myself unable to sleep and unable to turn my brain off. Sounds funny but I lay in bed and my brain just keeps playing through all the stress I am under from work and I can’t seem to turn it off. Other than that, the fat burning from SP 250 is pretty incredible. I saw a three inch loss on my waist in just over two weeks. I have learned that I need to do a week at a time and then lay off for a couple of weeks and go back on it. (Results not typical, your mileage may vary)

In short, the stuff kicks ass for cutting and the pumps were pretty good too, better than I have ever experienced without a supplement but I have not experimented with other NO products so I have nothing to compare it too. If any of you have some suggestions of NO products that won’t keep me up for ever, I am all ears but this product is a great cutting agent whether it was designed as that or not.

Aloha,
Don