Joey1415’s Fitness Blog

I’m officially caffeine free, but it’s been a hell of a ride to get here. How has this affected trainign, you ask? Well, I’ve certainly had more of an appetite for sweets and carbs, and although I don’t see or feel much diferent, I definitely feel more bloated. I’ve tried to combat that with more cardio, but ultimately that’s just gonna hurt my lifting progress.

 I know it sounds crazy, but I finally started taking a multivitamin again. I can’t believe i hadn’t before, but it makes me feel so much better every day! it’s just plain common sense to give your body the nutrients it needs while training, right?

I also haven’t been on CE2 or NO2 in over a month. I’m dying to stack them again and jack up the training again. Probably next month. November is going to be a good month for gains!

 Progress pics from the past year are up. check em out and comment away! I can’t believe It’s almost been a year I’ve been at it, transforming my body back to and beyond what it used to be. Mid February 2009 will be the 1-year mark. Can’t wait to see progress pics from 2008 to 2009!

Over and out,

Joey

check em out! I’m kinda proud of this past year’s progress!

This has been a terrible week for training. I got very little sleep last weekend and worked out hard every day, and by Monday I was so, so drained (not to mention coming down with a cold). When I heard karate class was cancelled I was actually happy instead of disappointed.

 Then I slept. 9 p.m. Monday night, right through to Tuesday 2 p.m. Then, back to bed at 9 p.m. till Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. A total recuperation day.

So, I guess I was a little run down, as well as suffering from a cold. Sucks! I’ve definitely lost some weight, and afraid some of it is muscle. Damn. I’m still sick as of today, but much better than earlier in the week. I’d like to train today…but should I? Maybe i should wait until I’m 100% instead.

 Oh yeah, after all that sleeping I figured i already got a great head start on caffeine withdrawal, so i decided to quit - at least for a little while. Gotta give those adrenal glans a rest! So I’m super tired and cranky right now too!

 Any advice?

I love seeing muscle separation! The shoulders and chest are coming along well, as well as the legs and back. Now, all that remains are the abs. i still have areas of fat around the waist—the kidneys, belly-button area, hips— but it is dramatically smaller by the day. Hopefully, some gains in lean muscle at my core will aid in sparking my metabolism for this next phase of my progress.

 Mid February will mark one year that I’ve decided to live well and get into shape. By that time, I really want to be shredded, and stronger than I’ve ever been.

Ok, long-term goal set. Short term goals:

I want to run 3.5 miles, and slowly increase to 5. I recently just surpassed my lifetime-best barrier of 3, and I’m not looking to stop there. being asthmatic, it’s huge to be able to run that long.

I want to add a full plate to every exercise using my back and chest. Right now I’m stacked somewhere around 2+ plates on either side (except for decline pecs, where I’m underdeveloped. I’m only on 1+ plate on either side of the barbell, but I’m gaining quickly every week). I’d like to break that barrier and get to three.

What a summer I had. I trained hard, I played hard, and I can say that i am in the best shape of my life. I am stronger, faster, and overall feeling healthier than I ever have. I still want to decrease the body fat percentage, but I’m doing well and have moved past a few plateus already.

 As it stands, I work out 5-7 times a week. I try to stay to a plan of lifting one day, running the next. I also take a karate class once or twice a week (I’m 1st kyu shotokan black belt), and I supplement that for cardio.

 My endurance has greatly encreased in the running dept. looking back to April I was feeble in comparison to what I do now. I now run at 7.0-7.2, only taking 3-5 minutes of break total in 35 minutes. I have so much endurance, and I’m contemplating running longer times. Hopefully, I’ll look back on this blog a year from now and think it was weak, comparitively.

 As far as strength is concerned, I’ve grown quite a bit, but there is room for improvement, as always. I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied. One more plate on the machine, one more rep, one more set. I get the addiction now!

Progess pics to come soon. Hopefully, they’ll be a big difference in comparison to my last ones back in May!

So, I’ve been recovering from the flu pretty well. Still have a slight cough, but it hasn’t interfered with training. It sucked having to use my albuterol inhaler, but I needed it. I hope I can phase off it as I keep training.

Just bought a new bottle of CE2…I love that stuff. I wish I had the $$ to stack it with NO2 right now but it’ll have to wait.
Otherwise, I’m feeling strong, feeling healthy, and getting leaner day by day. A new progress picture should be up by the end of the week. I’m curious to see the gains in just one month!

So, I’ve has the flu for about a week now, which is going around so I’m clear what I was worried about was not overtraining. I worked out monday, went for one of the best runs ever and I felt great. Then, I got a bad night of sleep that night and woke up that morning and did shoulders.  By that time I was tired, had a fever, and felt all around terrible. Then the coughing started, and by Tuesday night I had a 103-degree fever. So…I didn’t work out Wednesday. I was still sick Thursday, but went for a runt hat night anyway. It felt good. By Friday morning, all I was worried about was my cough, which was pretty hardcore. I didn’t workout Friday or Saturday.
Well, today is Sunday and I’ve started my training program anew. I did chest today, and it felt good. I know it’s just a lingering cough due to asthma, but it’s killing me.

How does everyone else maintain a training regimen when sickness arises? I’d love some feedback!

So, I’ve been doing really well with the cardio every other day. Getting leaner and feeling great. My endurance has increased greatly. Now, my cardio program consists of this:

-for 5 minutes, cycling through 6.1-6.5, incrementing on every minute.
-jog at 3.0 for 5 minutes
-for 5 minutes, cycling through 6.0-7.0, incrementing every 30 seconds.
-jog at 3.0 for 5 minutes
-for 5 minutes, cycling through 6.0-7.0, incrementing every 30 seconds.
-jog at 3.0 for 4 minutes
-run at 8.5 for 1 minutes
-5 minute cool down

So, today I worked with my dad doing a little manual labor outside. I don;t really feel sore, but I didn’t get enough sleep last night and feel kind of off, like I’m on the verge of getting ill. I hope this isn’t the beginnings of overtraining syndrome. I hope it’s just lack of sleep. I’ve been working out 7 days a week and really taking care of myself, but I’d hate to have to take any time off.

Lately, I’ve been doing 30 minutes on the treadmill, plus 5 minutes cool down. Here’s how it’s been breaking down:

5 minutes at 5.5

5 minutes at 3.0

5 minutes at 5.6

5 minutes at 3.5

5 minutes at 5.6

3 minutes at 3.0

2 minutes at 7.5

I wish I could just run straight out for 30 minutes, but the lungs and body are just too weak right now.

I’d love some comments on this cardio plan. I’ve been at it 3 times a week, in between weight lifting days. i’ve kept the cardio and weights on separate days because I’ve heard it’s more efficient (i.e., not burning as much muscle mass as if i did cardio on weight lifting days).

Thanks

Whew. After 2 months of working out, I look marginally better than I did. It was tough to even get in front of the camera at all without a shirt. I have the unfortunate mental block of having been lean and built before and knowing what I "should" look like.

Anyways, I took it, but i don’t want to post it until I have at least another progress pic one month from now. All I can say is that I really get why I haven’t met any promising young ladies lately, haha.