OVER 40 MUSCLE

Q. How many bodybuilders does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A. Four. One to screw in the bulb, one to spot him and two to tell him how big his arms look in the new light.

Complements of the August issue of FLEX Magazine

I normally don’t write posts like this because I do not like to sound like I am bragging. And I am not meaning for this post to be a brag session either. But this week has been rather unusual – in a great way. Let me explain.

I have been on this transformation journey now for about 8 months. In that time I have been able to drastically change my appearance. As of yesterday I have dieted, sweated, pushed, pulled, ran and cried off almost 56 pounds. Along the way many of you have given me words of encouragement and support. For that I am grateful. However, when I get those same words of encouragement from people I live with work with and see everyday it means just as much or even more.

This past week I have received more inquiries and complements regarding my transformation than any week I can remember. As an example, there are two “professional” guys who come to the gym every morning. These guys literally worship the cardio room. They do anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour every day of cardio then go to the weight room and lift for a few minutes. One thing I had noticed about them is that they look the same they did 6 months ago, belly and all. One of them approached me between sets and asked how much weight I had lost. When I told him he was floored. It was like you could see the wheels in his head turning. Maybe he got the message that it is not all about cardio. It’s about the entire package (cardio, eating clean and resistance training). After the obligatory congratulations, I moved on with my workout.

The next day another strange thing happened. There is this older lady at the gym that I have seen every morning for these past 8 months. We talk, exchange pleasantries and have small talk but we have never really had a conversation. She approached me (after hearing the above exchange the day before) and began asking questions about my program. Questions from how much weight I had lost (and if I was planning on loosing anymore), how I handle carbs to what my daily schedule included dominated the conversation. Now this is a 52-year-old woman who is in the gym every time the doors are open and looks great. And she is asking ME questions? At the end she said, “Well, what ever it is you are doing, it is working and you look great!”

Move ahead to Friday. After leaving the gym I went by the payroll office to pick up paychecks for the office. I go to this office twice a month and see the same people every time. This time was different. The girl who hands out payroll said, “Have you lost some weight?” I gave her the nutshell story and she commented that she wanted to loose some weight too. As I was leaving, she said, “Keep it up, you look great!”  

Please do not think I am blowing my own horn here. I started not to write this at all. But then I decided that if nobody got anything out of it that was fine. At least I would have something I could go back and read later when I hit a wall or get discouraged because of a bad weigh-in or workout.

0400- wake, take Animal Pak

0430 – Meal #1 (egg white omelet, 1 cup of Raisin Bran cereal, 1 cup of skim milk and either an orange or apple)

0445 – 1 serving of Xyience NO-CG3

0500-0700 workout (cardio on off days and when time permits)

0715 – PWO shake (RecoverX and 5g Glutamine), 1000 I.U. Vitamin C, 800 I.U. Vitamin E, 1 CLA gelcap, 1 Betacarotine gelcap, 1 GABA gelcap.

0745 – Meal #2  (beef or chicken on whole-wheat wrap with fat free mayo and hot sauce)

0900 – Meal #3 (same as last meal or baked chicken with sweet potato.)

1200 – Meal #4 largest meal of the day (steak or chicken with veggies and sweet potato) Supplements: 1000 I.U. Vitamin C, 800 I.U. Vitamin E, 1 CLA gelcap, 1 Thermozyme gelcap, 1 Flaxseed gelcap.

1500 – Meal #5 (another wrap or homemade chicken salad with whole wheat bread)

1830 – Meal #6 (steak or chicken with sweet potato) Supplements: 1 CLA, 1 Flaxseed

2100 – Meal #7 final meal of the day (protein, no carbs unless from veggies, fruit)

2130 – Muscle Milk shake, 1 GABA gelcap

(I have made the following correction to this entry: I accidentally pitched the wrong mag. Both have Arnold on the cover but MuscleMag International was the one that had the article I mentioned.)

I picked up the latest issue of MUSCLEMAG INTERNATIONAL the other day and saw that it was almost entirely about Arnold. I thought it would be another boring write-up but boy was I wrong. I just want to say that this is my favorite issue of any bodybuilding magazine to date. Here is why.

I am a very visual person. If I can see something … I can do it. I can read about how to do an exercise but seeing it done works better for me. Well, there is an article (written by Arnold) that details his workouts from start to finish. He gives the reader a mental picture of how to do the exercises, things to look for while doing the exercise and why he did them in the first place. It is one of the best written, most descriptive bodybuilding articles I have ever read. Arnold covers each major muscle group and the steps he took to develop those muscles to their fullest. This is something a beginner like me can really get into.

If you get a chance, go out and get this one.

I finally found a workout log that I like. I had been printing all my stuff out on the computer and taking it to the gym in a big notebook (can you say Geek?). Anyway, I was at the bookstore yesterday looking for something else and stumbled across this one.

I also found a book on the discount table that interested me. It was marked down to almost nothing so I scarfed it up too. Can’t have too many nutrition resources.

Have a great weekend. I will start a new 8 week workout routine Monday. More on that next week.

If you had to choose between the following supplement stacks, which would you choose and why?

1. Animal Pak

2. MuscleTech's Muscle Building Stack

3. Gaspari Nutrition

    -SuperPump 250

    -Novedex XT

    -Size On

4. Dorman Combos