Matt W’s BodyBlog

Well, I’m mid-way through week 2 and the diet and workout have stayed consistent.  I’m still in the size/strength period of my training, but I’m worried that going to Chicago for the next two weeks is going to hinder my progress.  I am not worried that I will be able to workout, but there are a lot of "social events" and "networking" that will be going on and that means DRINKING.  I have been good about the Thursday happy hour so far, not over doing it by any stretch.  Before I leave I will have some progress pics.  I feel like my back is wider now and I have more defined arms and shoulders, but I’ll let you all be the judge.  Alright, shower and bed… 6:30 comes quick.  Good luck all

Haven’t been on in a while.  Just wanted to write a quick not on how things are going.  Just under 20 weeks out and I have progressed pretty well.  I will try to post some pics tonight or Friday.  I’ll have a more detailed update tonight and a final update before I go to Chicago for 2 weeks.  Have a good one everbody

… And the women like you I see at the gym daily.  I really realized today that you are as guilty of staring as we guys are, but you may do it a little bit better.  And every guy that "catches" you appreciates it… guaranteed he has a little smirk right before the next set (always makes me want to work harder).  But its not only that, so much of the positive feedback you give on other people’s blogs is translated right into the gym.  I saw this younger kid today, not more than 16 and very much overweight (I can relate to his plight at that age).  He is clearly working hard, and this woman, probably my age and in fantastic shape (I can honestly say gorgeous) just gives him a smile.  Not that awkward big eyes, to many teeth showing smile; but that genuine keep at it smile.
Now, there are exceptions to the rule… the women that are fit and attractive but circuit train, and by that I mean they walk around the gym, then grab the 5 pound dumbbells and do a set of curls or something and then take 15 minutes to do the next.  But I don’t imagine any of them would take the time to post anything meaningful here or even be on a place like this.

Regardless, I have to say thank you.  The verbal and non-verbal feedback is always appreciated… and yes we do stare, but hopefully you all take it as a complement (though in some cases creepy, I’ve seen that scenario too)
Good luck to all.

PS.  Guys, of course your feedback on here is appreciated. But you gotta admit the female response is a little different.

Well, this is my last meal.  Da Cheng Chicken with Broccoli.  Monday starts the absolutely focused path to the competition.  I feel like I’ve said this before, but I took the time this weekend to break everything down into focused periods; the training and the diet.

The diet is focused on upping my protein to about 250-300 grams a day.  Breakfast is 4 egg whites and 4 whole eggs (~50grams), 3 RTDs (150 grams), Lunch and dinner at about 50 grams a pop.  Hopefully not a difficult thing to accomplish, but with work I might be short of 300.  The use of RTDs is they are readily available, I can have them at my desk, and I can buy one or two after my workout (one to drink, one to save for later).  I hope to do Grilled Chicken and Salad for lunch, but it will depend on the availability and where I eat… I can give my self some leniency at lunch since my workout will be in the afternoon.  Granted it won’t be anything crazy; a burger with no fries, something like that.

The workout plan is broken down into stages, kind of in a zig-zag pattern.

Weeks 1-4: Strength and Size Focus
Monday - Chest and Back
Tuesday - Legs
Wednesday - Shoulders
Thursday - Biceps and Triceps
Friday - Core and Plyometrics
Saturday - Power Day
… at the end of week 1 and week 4 I will take some photos so I hope you all will take the time to compare and leave comments on them.
Weeks 5-6: Strength Focus
Monday/Thursday: Chest and Triceps
Tuesday/Friday: Legs and Shoulders
Wednesday/Saturday: Back and Biceps
Weeks 7-9: Strength and Cut Focus
Monday: Chest and Back Supersets
Tuesday: Quads and Hamstrings Supersets
Wednesday: Biceps and Triceps Supersets
Thursday: Shoulders and Back Supersets
Friday: Core and Plyometrics
Saturday: Power Day
… End of Weeks 7 and 9 more photos and progress
Week 10: Maintenance, Cutting, and Rest
Performing Full Body Workouts Monday and Wednesday with HIIT Cardio
Performing Core and Plyometrics Tuesday and Thursday with HIIT Cardio
Power Day on Saturday as usual.

Week 11 - 18: Repeat above

Week 19 - 21: More maintenance, Cutting, and focus on Agility and Power Training.

Well there it is in a nutshell.  I will try to post twice a week with updates.  Mostly for my benefit so that I can take inventory of myself… hopefully you all will leave me some comments and opinions.  I guess I need some validation of my work.  I am my own worse critic, but I can get complacent at times and might need a kick in the butt.

Alright all, keep up with me and I will check in with you.  Good Luck.

Being sick can really bring you down.  Particularly when you can’t do the thing you love, which is train.  But that down time gives you a chance to think and come to new realizations and make new plans.  I’ve been sick this past week so I haven’t been able to train since Tuesday.  I could have, but I elected to get better first so I can be ready to go come Monday.  And come Monday, I have a new purpose.  I am going to start training for my first competition.  I am shooting for the NPC Southern States Championship.

Now, I need some feedback here.  I haven’t decided whether or not to go for the Fitness or Bodybuilding competition, so suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Also, I have never trained for or competed in a competition before so I would love tips or suggestions from those of you who have competed, as well as opinions on my progress from everyone.

So, I have 21 weeks until the competition and I haven’t laid out any specific plans yet.  I feel I have a good base to work with, but my sickness may have set me back a little bit… but nothing that I can’t overcome quickly.  So, here is my basic weekly breakdown:

This Weekend: Rest, Recuperate, and Cleanse… basically make sure I am well and probably take a chance to purge my system of any crap I ate last week (No Training)

Weeks 1-2:
Re-establish strength in major body parts with full-body MW
Core/Explosive strength TuTh
Power Day on Saturday

Weeks 3-6:
4 Day Split focusing on refining each area of the body
Mon: Chest/Back
Tue: Legs
Wed: Biceps/Triceps
Thu: Shoulders
Fri: Core/Plyo
Saturday: Power day
After that I am not sure.  I will be working on developing my diet over the weekend.  What I was doing before I got sick was working well, I just need to tweak it so that I can handle eating my lunch at work.

Leave me suggestions, opinions, and feedback please… I really value your advice

Good luck everyone.

Not my best workout today.  I was pretty freakin’ tired from work and was feelin sick so my intensity was way down.  I felt like I rushed through my workout, but that may be a good thing.  I am going to rest up tonight so I can hopefully be ready to go tomorrow.  I think this "cold" is because they have me sitting under the vent so the air is just blowing on me alllllllll day.  But like I said, best thing about working out is there is always tomorrow.

Its only the second week (1st week of work) of my new program, but I am thinking I might change my workout some how, so I can get a little more intensity.  Maybe Chest/Back, Legs, Bis/Tris, Shoulders in a 4 day straight with a core day and power day for Friday and Saturday respectively.  Not sure yet though.  Any suggestions?
Alright.  Time to shower and medicate.  Good luck with your own efforts.

Well.  End of the first week and I did pretty well.  Dropped down to 188, lifted well, kept my diet fairly clean, though today has not been the best.  I am a little worried about tomorrow since I am starting my job and the diet could take a hit.  I am gonna work hard to keep it clean and hopefully by next Sunday have some good progress photos for everyone.  Here is a sample diet for me for this coming week:

Breakfast: 4 whole eggs, 4 egg whites
Snack: ABB Extreme 50 RTD
Lunch: Trying for Grilled Chicken Salad, depends on work
Snack: ABB Extreme 50 RTD
Pre-Workout: naNO Vapor
Post-Workout: ABB Extreme 50 RTD
Dinner: Chicken/Tuna and Romaine

Hopefully I can stick to that.  I am going to up my workout intensity, adding some HIIT (20-35min.) at the end of my lift… so now it will be lift-abs-HIIT

Good luck this week everyone, I’ll be back with some stuff soon.

I gotta ask since its such a big game, granted some of you probably could careless.  But Duke or UNC tonight?

I am a UNC fan, used to like Duke pre-JJ Reddick (and when they weren’t playing UNC/MD).

I figured I would post my workout plan so you all can see what I’m doing… obviously I appreciate any feedback or suggestions you may have.  Just as a quick note before that though Monday I was 195 today I’m 189 (I attribute it mostly to the diet I set for myself and the increase in workout intensity).

This workout is based on the “Get 25% Stronger” Plan in M&F September 2007, but I changed it to test my on sort of theory.  I know the best way to increase strength, or at least the recommended way is heavy weight, low reps on the main exercises… and I know it works.  But I want to see if you can increase your strength by increasing your 12 Rep “Max” and going heavy on what I sometimes call the refining exercises.

That’s my Monday through Wednesday.  Thursday is “Core and Band Day”, basically a day to strengthen the core muscles through various ball exercises, twists and using the bands as a resistance method to strengthen the back and shoulders to aid in heavy bench and back exercises… oh, just as a quick note, I know you are probably wondering where my cardio is.  Well I’m training for a Half Marathon so Thursday and Sunday I run progressively from 6-14 miles.

Plyometric and Push/Pull is just that plyometric and agility exercises with push ups and pull ups cycled in.  This is much like core day in that I just come up with the workout as I go.  I do have some staples like Box Jumps, but nothing else is really planned.

Power day is for the athlete in me.  I do a lot of power/strength exercises  I have 6 specific exercises I do, then I throw in some really difficult core exercises and some other things,

Power Day consists of:
Incline Bench
Power Clean
Deadlift
Shrugs
Weighted Dips
Weighted Pull ups
-  I might do some farmer’s walks, spider pull ups, pull up leg lifts (I mix it up)

Well there you go, that’s it in a nutshell.  Take a look, let me know what you think.

Best of Luck everyone.

New Workout

Dear diary… hahaha couldn’t help it.  What’s going on everyone… hope you all enjoyed Super Bowl Sunday, though not too much.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but I definitely had a little too much to eat.  Anyway, I figured this would be the opportune time to begin my transformation as it were.  I know on my profile it says I want to get down to 180, but if I can get cut in 10 weeks while putting on 10 lbs instead, I won’t be all that upset.

I posted my first pics so please critique; everything but "you’re a pale bastard", hey its cold here in VA.  I feel the front pic doesn’t do me justice; probably the result of my minor binge yesterday.  But no matter, I’ll get some up at the end of this week so you can compare.  If your curious about my workout plan, let me know and I’ll post it.  I can only really give you the first 3 days of the week because the Thurs-Sunday I kind of make up as I go.  Also, if you are curious about any supplements, let me know, I’ve tried many and I am willing to be a guinea pig (NO STEROIDS)

Alright, time to get to it.  Hope you all have a great week and best of luck in your own efforts.