jeffbear’s BodyBlog

Ok everyone, its been 6 moths since I started back at the gym. I have been eating heathy, lifting like crazy and making great gain both in the gym and in the mirror. Up until now I haven’t had a single cheat meal. I don’t count the one hamburger I have with the sister and brother in laws as a cheat as it is protein and I have it with low fat swiss cheese and a whole wheat bun Well today was my cheat meal. I woke up and went to the gym with Dylan (friend and workout partner) I wasent feeling well last night but I figured the gym would shake it outta me. Well it didn’t. So I ended up coming home from work early and sleeping for a couple of hours. apon waking I realize it had been a while since I ate so I reached for something I havent had in months. Peanut butter and Jelly sammiches. Oh man were they good. I also had a piece of the birthday cake from my 5 year olds party that I did so well to avoid that day. Well now I’m feeling guilty as hell. I’m hoping this doesnt count as a set back. I must say I didnt enjoy the cake…way to friggin sweet. I’m glad I dont eat that crap any more.

Well thats it for now, I’m going to go wallow in my guilt and make a creed with myself not to do that again!

This is the day I joined the 300 club. I have been in and out of the gym for 10 years now, seeing the big guys putting up the triple plates, pulling down full stacks on the machine, and wondering when I would be able to do that kind of stuff. Well today I put up 300×2 on bench with proper form and nice and slow. I was all a mental game. I started out by telling the guys at work I was going for it, that way I would have to try it. I thought about the movement all last night. Going over it in my head a dozen times before bed. I actually caught myself holding my breathe once while I was envisioning it. I made sure I was all rested and all the way to the gym I thought again about the movement of the weight down and back up. When it finally came time to do it, I set myself on the bench as I always do (I set the same for any weight) took a breathe with a liftoff from my gym partner Dylan, took another breathe, held it pulled the bar down to my chest paused and exploded it to full lock out, that was too easy I thought, down again, this time I felt it, but again the bar just kept raising and lock out. I racked the weight and for some reason I wouldn’t let myself be happy with that for more than a few seconds. I kept saying it wasn’t low enough and Dylan kept telling me yeah dude you owned it. So today was a good day!
Now onto 315!

So inspite of having a big project hanging over my head at work, with a deadline of today (which I knew we weren’t going to meet by the way)  my week in fitness went well. I did a personal best on bench (225 x 3, 245 x1.5) on Saturday, and I started a full body workout. Its nice to have the full day off in between workouts. I was doing Cardio on my off days but I decided to add 20 minutes to the end of my workout days. My body feels really rested the next training day. I think that helped me up most of my excersises by 10-20 lbs. My incline dumbell press went from 45’s to 75’s and I ran out of wieght. I actually was able to do three sets of full wieght dips. I’m feeling stronger, now I want to look stronger.

I will be starting a mass gain routine today. I have decided that if I’m eating healthy(like a horse), going to the gym (like a maniac) and mentally focused on building as much muscle as I can, The fat will fall off. I have always wanted to be a giant among men (other than a fat guy among skinner men). The mas gain routine is a full body, day 1 4×8, day 3 5×5, 5 3×12 with four days of rest. I’m upping my caloric intake and doing cardio for twenty minutes post workout so I can give my body that full days rest. Does anyone have any thoughs or opinions. Has anyone tried this routine before? If you have let me know how it worked for you!

I have been going to the gym for two months now, doing the classic split of, chest/back, Bi’s/Tri’s, and shoulder/Legs. I have been doing a combination of 6-8 reps and 10-15 reps depending on the day, who i was with and how I felt. I have increased my strength two fold on most exercises and I am not feeling out of place when I’m there anymore. I think I actually belong there, I’m sure you all know the feeling. I don’t feel like the fat guy getting back into it, i feel like the athelete that needs to get ride of the excess now. With feeling that way, I tried something I read about here or saw on TV. On arms day I did 4 sets per exercise with a 15,6-8,15,6-8 rep count. The theory being the heavy sets are for the slow twitch and the high reps are for the fast twitch, which hits all of the muscle fibers. Wow, for the first time in the past two months my arms were sore imediately after the workout! I had a great pump from it and I knew the muscles were beat up pretty good. The next day the muscles were the slightest bit sore, not painful just that "I worked out last night sore". I wish I was doing this for the past two months! I’m wondering if anyone else has done a routine like this and if you have any pointers?

I will be starting a 3 a week full body routine for the next 6 moths or so so we will see how that works out.

I cant believe our scale anymore. I stepped on the scale after a superb nutritional week and training week, and oh guess what….5 pounds back on. WTF??? I fit into shirts and shorts I havent been able to get into in over a year though, and I felt like a horse at the gym. I think I need a new scale. There is no way I put 5 lbs on in a week, unless I was terribly dehydrated the two weeks before and I eqialized my water by drinking more last week. I dont know, but I’m bummed about it. Now its time to bump up the cardio on cardio days and work a little harder on training days.

Well its been about a week since I last posted. I’ve been doing a 12,8,6,4 pyramid for chest/back and bi/tri day. Boy what a difference I feel in strength in just a month of being back hardcore at the gym. Last Monday I went with a friend that just happened to be there a month ago, and he was like, holy crap you got strong! That made me fell really good and I think that set the tone for the rest of the week. I upped my protein intake (two scoops instead of just one) and cut my cardio out on my weight-training days. I did 35 minutes of eliptical on my cardio days, and stayed away from the easter candy bowls hanging around the house ( I have two boys 4-7 that make it impossible to not have some sncks around). I also started playing lacrosse again after 10 years with my son in the yard and we went to a school that has an awesome turf field they open to the public. That was alot of fun, and after an hour of streaching, running two laps around the track, and trips up and down the field, I was not even winded. Sweaty, tired (like after a good workout) and excited I was able to keep up with my 7 year old! At the end of it all I lost 5 pounds and I’m feeling stronger everyday. It makes my hopes of 10-15% body fat and an athletes body seem doable. I hope so…I Hope so..

Its been a few days since I have posted. I’m starting to feel not so fat and out of shape in the gym. The weights I’m starting to push around are getting into my respectable range lol. I don’t feel so weak anymore. I’m curious to know some thoughts on intra-workout supplementation. Does anyone do it, and if so what is the best thing to supplement with? I like the gains I read about in the article on the home page!

Well I went last night and did the old arms day routine. They are finally whipping into shape. I did an extra arm day last week cause I felt they were severely lacking. I think it payed off. I also got ride of the Superdump250 (it was making me feel like crap) and am currently trying NO-Explode. I tell you what, I like the stuff! Since last Wednesday I have been able to increase my exercises by 10-15 lbs. Good stuff! I’m starting to feel stronger. Now if these darn love handles would just hit the road!

The scale was my friend this morning, telling me I was down 5 pounds from last Monday. Woohoo, that makes me happy. I’m starting to feel stronger too. The pounds on my exercises are creeping up ever so slightly and the reps are also coming along. I have decided to bring back the Superpump250. It just doesn’t agree with my stomach. I’ve had Diarrhea since last Monday when I started using it. I will replace it with a pure creatine product. Any advice. I was thinking GNC, lower cost and they are supposedly revamping thier product line this month. Now off to the gym…..Chest/Back….I love Mondays.