FireMike

This past Saturday morning I went pretty heavy on my arms, it was a total assault. 4 push / pull supersets each consisting of 4 sets for a total of 16 superset’d rounds. On Sunday morning I awoke with a little pain in my right tricep, no big deal. Throughout the night at work last night it got to the point that I can not move my right arm up and over my head without using my left arm to assist, alot of pain. Any lateral raise movement is causing alot of pain as well, which leads me to believe I tweaked a thoracic nerve somehow. This morning it was very painful and hard fought to hit my reps for chest, but I dug in deep and fought thru the pain, I figure I got all the time in the world to heal up after May 3rd. Im keeping the entire area wrapped tight and oiled up with icy hot, that stuff is a god send sometimes. Luckily with my training rotation I wont be hitting this area at all again until Thursday so with a little luck the pain will die down and it won’t be such a struggle to train shoulders and arms latter in the week. Im 18 weeks into this now and no pains or strains will keep me from my gains dammit. STRENGTH & HONOR

What is the one thing that without a doubt every single one of us has a good number of??? Pictures. Pictures help remind us of the things we’ve done in our lives, looking at a single photo can rekindle all sorts of memories of that particular day or event. With that said, as bodybuilders we take pictures to see where we’ve come and help aid in our motivation to push towards more. Prior to today I didn’t feel I was in that great of position as my comp is really closing in fast, then I saw the progress photos and WOW. I amazed myself, I look at myself everyday and didn’t realize what I really looked like. Then I posted them and the out pouring of positive thought I have recieved from not only long time friends but those i’ve never had the oportunity to speak with prior to today, has just put in a state that I can’t even explain. Today was one of those emotional "low" days when it began but now its a "high" day. My motivation to not only keep doing what i’ve been doing, but to find a way to improve it more down the final stretch  is higher than ever thanks to the great people on this site. I will not let anyone down, including myself, Iam very poised to finish what i’ve started stronger than ever. My physique will only get tighter and more "shredded" from here on out. My focus is primarily on my conditioning and midsection over the final 5 weeks, and I will do my best to hold the size I have retained where it is and do what is necessary to make sure I loose no more on my arms, chest, or legs. Buckle and strap yourself in tight, because the first 18 weeks have blown minds away (including my own), well this last 5 just may be "end game" for all who dare finish the journey with me. STRENGTH & HONOR

Recently I was diagnosed with having walking pneumonia, at the beginning of the week I was just coughing alot but I was able to train. Then on Thursday this all took a change, I haven’t been able to train since then, I haven’t really been eating since then, and all I wanna do is lay in bed and sleep. In fact I left work last night at 11p, was home and in bed by midnight and didn’t get out of bed until 6pm today, and I just wanna go back to bed. This is throwing a real curve ball into my comp prep, im gonna try and train tomorrow but if its anything like thursday was I won’t last long. Anyway thats why I haven’t been on here or posting workouts in my journal.

Do you have any idea how many germs, bacteria, and diseases are on the floor of a hospital? Alot. We start IV"s, are around all the bodily fluids of patients and even some certain fluids produced from the bodily organs such as bile. YUM. So there I was getting ready to eat my chicken at 3 am this morning, 48 wonderful protein filled grams, along with my 6 am portion, so in all 96grams of protein worth of chicken. I sat the bowl down, spun in my chair to grab my gallon of water, and thud… there was the sound and instantly I knew what it was, my chicken all over the floor. I was like a jack rabbit trying to gather it up as quickly as possible, hell it was the rest of the nights food and I haven’t stocked my locker w new reserves yet. (cans of tuna yuck) I decided I was gonna wash the chicken off and eat it, well that sounded like a good idea. SO I hurried into the kitchen and began defunkifying my chicken. A nurse friend of mine was in there and asked what the hell I was doing, I told her the story and how I was gonna eat it and had no choice. She told me not too, to which I said "i have no choice" then she told how she steped in poo at some point tonight and has been walking around with that sh it on the bottom of her shoe all night, ya never mind eating the chicken. I was so angry with myself I broke the number one rule, gaurd thee food with thee life. Well my girls rallied to my rescue, gathering up what ever food they had remaining and told me to help myself to whatever I could eat. My 3am meal consisted of turkey breast from a sandwhich, one smaller chicken breast and some ham…believe it or not health care workers are not the healthiest of eaters. Regardless 3 am was covered, but here I sit 6am supposed to be eating, but I have no food to consume and my last meal of the day will be almost 2 hours behind schedule….Im so sad right now, cuz im so dam hungry. Lesson learned, dont be a dumbass and sit your bowl of chicken so close to the edge of your work space.

Yesterday morning my room mate and I (pictured w me in AVI) trained back together, while at the gym we ran into a newbie who happens to be a friend of my room mate’s. His name is Mike (Big Mike actually), he’s roughly 360lbs maybe more, out of shape. He recently found out he is gonna be a father for the first time and decided he needs to get into shape to be able to have the active envolvment in his childs raising. Very noble and honorable reason to get into shape. Well he warmed up by doing a fast pace walk on the treadmill before having a personal training session with one of the trainers at the gym. It was to be a leg day for Big Mike, so first he’s doing some leg extensions, reps of 20. My room mate and I had finished our back session and were working forearms, we began joking with Mike a little about how pale he was and telling him not to worry there was two of the best paramedics around in the gym, everything would be fine… Little did we know that we were going to be needed in a few moments to come. Big Mike was done with extensions and getting ready to do some leg pressing, he was extremely diaphoretic (this didn’t make us suspicious of anything bc he’s a big guy and working out should make him sweat profusely). He had just told the trainer he was working with that he was feeling dizzy and that he hadn’t eaten anything this morning, and then all we heard was the THUD of a 300 plus lb man rolling off the leg press and hitting the floor, out, unconscious. We instantly dropped what we were doing to get over to him, he was only out for maybe 30 seconds and very confused when we were able to arouse him. His eyes were jumping, he was pale as pale gets with about a lb of sweat on him. My room mate went to get his first in bag from his car, I got Big Mike some gatorade and gave him some of my Almond stash I keep in my gym bag since he hadn’t ate before training. We assessed him, his BP 92/68 (this isn’t good, very narrow pulse pressure meaning lack of perfusion of the muscle’s and vital organs) his Blood Glucose….undetainably low (which means less than 30 on the glucometer we had) We gave him a tub of oral glucose since he was alert and oriented and had him consume the 32oz gatorade and then filled the bottle up with water and had him consume, as his BP was low mostly likely bc of dehydration. We got Big Mike back on his feet and he said he was feeling alot better. Then he showed how dedicated he was to achieving his goals, he didn’t want to stop despite our advice. We were able to convince him to go walk on the treadmill for a little bit and see how he was feeling afterwards. He did another mile and then decided that lifting prob wasn’t the greatest idea in the world right now. Later last night he called our house and we all had a good laugh at his expense. We’ve all had this happen we told him and not to worry about as his pride was busted a little, and its true, anyone who trains intense has fallen syncopal before from pushing themselves past that threshold, I have multiple times following squats, deadlifts, and heavy benching. I prop Big Mike on his dedication and desire to achieve, and feel confident that he will be one of the few who follows thru with it and converts from a unhealthy life to a lifestyle focuse on health and fitness on whatever level he chooses.

Its cold outside, im surrounded by 20 inches of snow, the roads are a sloppy mess, my car is running like crap from the bruttle winter… I enter the doors, bag in hand, music blasting my ear drums out, all I wanna do is start the war. As I lifted I began to think about the beginning of this diet, how difficult it was, what I went thru trying to make sure I got proper nutrition in my system daily, how I had to learn what my body reacted too. Its been a long hard road, but now I feel I have it in order but Im fearful. I fear not being ready in time, 53 days and shrinking fast. I fear putting a sloppy physique on stage, I fear forgetting my posing routine in the middle of it. I was once told that fear is nothing more than pain leaving the body. What pain was leaving my body at that moment? Was it the pain of being a beat step child? Was it the pain of building a good family home and having it tore away with nothing left in my pockets? Was it the the pain of being hurt by the one I was truly in love with? I don’t know, but I liked it, it pushed me to keep moving the pounds, rep after rep, set after set until the very end. When putting everything you have into something, it brings out things you never knew were there, sometimes your thoughts drive you to the brink of certain failure, yet you have to use them as fuel and drive forward. Its Ironology, its therapuetic in a way. Regardless what began as a 154 day diet is now a 53 day diet, and I don’t like what I see. Is my knowledge and understanding of all aspects of bodybuilding wrong? Do I truly understand? I question myself constantly, but the day is approaching and I will be judged, soon I will have the answer to my questioning. Some say stop, you’ve proved you can do it, just go back at it next year since you know what works for you body. I say fu ck that. Im two thirds of the way there, i’ve backed out twice in the past, no way not again. I preach this life to those who are physically inactive, I live it, I love it with a passion and its time for me to prove it to all who know me and question me. Im use to being questioned, it began when I was in high school and many didn’t believe how strong I was, hell that still happens now a days, but I dont care because i’ve had all my numbers witnessed and honestly I just dont give a sh it. For some reason tho when my dedication and commitment to competeing comes into play, it bothers me. Sure I didn’t finish it twice before and those closest to me know the circumstances as to why, they dont judge, but others do. Why do I care? Its because I love this sport and I wanna claim my place in it. May 3rd I claim my place.  

Saturday March 8th…. yeah what a day. First there was a blizzard here in Northeastern Ohio, we got roughly 24inches of snow. Roads were closed and cops were pulling you over and writing tickets if you were out driving in it, fun stuff. Well there I sat at home, plenty of diet food, couldn’t go to the gym it sucked. To make the most of the time on my hands I decided I would practice my posing routine and while practicing I became very discouraged, not with the routine but with myself. My mind began racing, and the next thing you know I began to think it…"im not gonna be ready in time." Then it happened, "oh fu ck it" and I raided my stash of non diet food that I keep around for the kids. Some pizza, tortilla chips and con queso and a large bowl of cookie dough ice cream. Then I had a couple of beers and called it a night. When I awoke this morning, I looked in the mirror and couldn’t believe what I did the night before, I was ashamed of myself. 15 weeks of dieting without flaw, and 8 weeks out and I binge one night. My body, well it looked like it does every day when I wake up lean with a glimpse of how my abs look, but my overall feel, well it was like crap. I was very sluggish and had a hard time getting myself moving and amped up. I made it of the most priority to get to the gym for a extra cardio session and ab training. This will not happen again, no more breakdowns or freakouts. I expect myself to appear flawless on stage and if Im not come the day of comp, well i’ll just have to find another comp to do in a close time frame when I can get myself flawless. Regardless I will carry out the mission with strength & honor throughout…

Meal 1: 8 egg whites, 2 whole eggs, 1 cup oats w 1 tbls PB mixed in

Meal 2: 50g Protein Shake

Meal 3: Chix (40g Pro), 1 cup oats

Meal 4: Chix (40g) over bed of spinach leafs

Meal 5: Chix (40g), 2 cups Asparagus

Meal 6: 50g Protein Shake

I’ve been running this same diet since mid Feb, in this time I have seen some dramatic changes and can’t wait to see how the month of March plays out. My overall energy level seems really good. I drink a cup of coffee every 3 hours and follow my workout up with a zero carb Rockstar mainly to increase my thiamine, niacine, & taurine levels. Im consuming at minimum 1.5 gallons of water a day and give myself a cherry coke zero with 2 meals a day. My chicken is usually boiled then slightly browned in hot skillet with a tbls of Extra Virgin Olive Oil for addt’l healthy fats, as im utilizing them as my primary energy source. My current supplementation is as follows:

1 animal pack, 4 kre-alkalyn, 4 Tribululs (45 mins after meal 1)

15g Glutamine, 1 animal pack (immediately post workout)

1 Fish oil tab, 1 CLA tab (with meals 1,3, & 5)

4 ZMA (30 mins before bed)

The only change I maybe making to the supplementation is the addition of a Vit C pill as I have completely eliminated simple sugar intake of all sorts, I was eating citrus with breakfast up to mid Feb. I have also been giving myself a cheat dinner and snack on Sunday’s evenings up to now, this will be eliminated also as im on the verge of abs showing and don’t wanna do anything to stop the progress. Weight this am was 196.5 raw, need to get down to 184lbs before dehydration so thats 12.5lbs more to go over the next 8 weeks or 1.5lbs per week. This will prove to be difficult to achieve as i’ve already lost over 35lbs and the fat isn’t melting away as quickly. I also have some concern of skin tigor, im carrying some real loose skin in my obliques and lower abdomen from my days of being a fat boy. Im currently using a firming lotion 3 times daily along with high rep torso twists and side bends to toughten this area, and tanning, yup i’ve been tanning so I finally got some color on me, so this should also aid in the tightening process.

Today my son and I drove 2 hours south to Columbus to enjoy what is the Arnold Fitness Expo… well for me its more like the Arnold Animal Cage Expo. First I had the opportunity to meet Firebloks face to face which was a great thing, very very nice guy. After meeting up with him and a few moments of conversation, my focus became very tunnel vision like… Where is the Cage this year??? Once the location was known I was like a guided missle, off I went thru the crowd. I absolutely love AnimalPak, everything about the name or "trademark" if you will. I use the supplement, I read the motivational articles on their website, and I am a huge fan of all their sponsored athletes. Upon arrival at the cage, we went and got our new animal gear, even my 6 yr old son got Animal’d up, shirt, skull cap, posters and a hand shake from Machine… The poor kid didn’t know what to think of this guy who made his dad look very very small in comparison coming up to him and asking him his name. I then had a chance to speak with Andrew "Machine" Giordenello for a few moments, but long enough to get some good guidence that I feel will be beneficial to my success in this years, as well as future competitions. All the other guys were floating around, but then it was announced that the Animal Barbell Club would be meeting in 30 minutes… Great enough time to plow back thru and get some free stuff, which was minimal this year in comparrison to previous years, or atleast I believe so. In our "meantime" endevour I had the chance to meet Melvin Anthony, Lee Priest, Mike O’Hearn and Marcus Allen… Yes that’s right USC Heisman Trophy winner, SuperBowl rushing record holder, Pro Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen was there walking thru the expo, very unknown to the masses that were buzzing all around him. I just happened to pass him and recognize him, as I was a huge fan of the 1993-94 KC Chiefs b/c of Joe Montana, Marcus Allen, and Derrick Thomas…They should have beaten Buffalo in 1993 AFC Championship Game, 9 out of 10 they would have won. Unfortunately in my hurry to leave for work last night I forgot to grab my camera, so no photo ops but the chance to shake his hand was good enough. We then moved back to the Cage and watched a training seminar put on for the majority by Evan "Ox" Centopani, who I will add is looking very very massive at the moment, as do all the guys. That is when he appeared, the man himself, the one and only, no not Arnold, WRATH… My son now can recognize him in pictures and knows he is "Wrath". Once again having the opportunity to see this man in person and shake his hand was basically the biggest reason I want to go to the expo. Having thousands of fans around, these men only have moments to speak with you but he was able to help me correct 2 poses I felt was doing wrong as the highlighted bodyparts of the pose looked very small, well no longer thanks to Wrath. It is amazing how quiet of a man he is, but look into his eyes and you will see a fire that burns like no others. This man wants it all, and regardless of if he ever does get the crown he will go down as ICONIC inthe sport of bodybuilding. By this point my son was hungry and we went out to get him something to eat at which point the effects of being up 24hours began to hit me and with having a 2 hour drive back home, we decided to leave… but not before a quick few photos with bloks.

WTF… im growing very sick and fu cking tired of the select few gay ass mothafu ckers on this site who are sending PM’s to me with there whole "i wanna pay you for looking so good" bullsh it. I dont give a sh it as to what your sexual preference is, but im very very much into the ladies just getting that out there right fu ck right now. I shouldn’t have to write about this stupid sh it, but im so tired of getting these dam messages that I have no choice but to. This site is for the love of fitness, on whatever level your into it, not trying to pick up… Anyway, im off to the Arnold Expo in a few, so STRENGTH & HONOR to all you hardcore mothers out there, and to you P.O.S. im refering to in this blog, well FU CK OFF.