All Kinds of Gains, 10 Pull-up Milestone

293 days 

until Saturday January 25 2014

a Saturday 9 months and 18 days from today

Weight: 178.6!!!

Good Morning Friends! It's a very exciting morning for me. Despite the reduction in the blogs, I am still wholly dedicated to my task and making great progress. April 7, marks the end of a couple weeks of "bulking" and the results are coming in. I weighed  this morning and I am happy to say my weight has climbed to 178.6. I was about 168 last month when I cut most of the fat off. I have noticed a slightly less dramatic ripped look but my abs are still visible meaning much of that new weight is muscle. In addition to that, I reached another milestone yesterday while working out....I finally made it to 10 consecutive pull-ups, up from 7 when I started.

Just a quick look at my strategy right now, I am working out for 30 minutes or less and targeting 3-4 muscles. Some days I have done two of these sessions. During the workout, I go heavy on the weight in order to stimulate the muscle as much as possible in a short time. After my workout,  I immediately begin eating heavy and get my body back into anabolic (fat storing, muscle building) mode. Nutrition has been focused on 3300 calories a day. I try to get 20-30 g of protein with each snack and I'm shooting for 200 g of protein per day. I eat simple carbs 30m-1hr before a workout to prevent catabolic consumption of my muscles. (Cata­bolic reac­tions are the break­down of organic mol­e­cules for energy.) 

This all seems to be working for now. I am not sure how much bulking I will do before another cut but as of now, the muscle gains are good and fat percentage is down so we keep going. I'm still working hard on my "muscle-up" and looking forward to being strong enough to do those on the pull-up bar. Handstand push-ups are also going great with 10 reps now not a big problem. I just want to be able to do them freestanding. Have a great day and stay after your dreams. We are doing it now. 

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

Theodore Roosevelt

Stay at it!! Stay focused!! 
Feed the Wolf!!!

Thanks for checking in friends, I value your support and I'm very excited about where we are going.
Bradley

Some days it's our brain that needs the workout

I knew this time would come. A obstacle that just won't back down. I am still unable to workout due to a back injury. I have not lost focus but I must say I have some difficult times with it. There is not much momentum when you haven't had a workout for several days and I'm not sure when I will be able to start again. I'm hoping within the next week, I will be able to ease back in. Nutrition is also difficult when not working out. If I'm not careful during the day, I catch myself trying to eat poorly or pretend it doesn't matter right now. Well, it does matter. I must do all I can everyday. Since I cannot build muscle, I will cut any fat that's left. Yesterday I did really well. I set my planned caloric intake at 2500 and ended up eating only 1900 calories. This is great progress for me. With another weeks worth of that, I could cut melt another pound of fat away and have great definition. That will be the goal until I am fit to get after it. I heard a clip of Rocky on Youtube yesterday that said Life will always throw the biggest punches. This is just another of those punches that is supposed to knock me back. One designed to keep me from my goal. Well.... It will take more than this. This may slow me down, but in a few more days, I will be charging full forward again with almost no ground lost. This is mine.

Bradley

Dance in the Fire Baby!

350 days

until Saturday January 25 2014

a Saturday 11 months and 16 days from today

Height: 6'1"

Weight: Did not weigh
Cardio and Recovery

2/9/13

Nutrition- Yesterday I took in 2184 good calories and burnt 611 during my workout for a net intake of 1573. I finished the day with 247 calories remaining under my target of 1820. Success. I track my calories with the iphone app MyFitnessPal. Go to My Fitness Pal's Website for the online version. I watched a video yesterday on nutrition and was reminded that fruit juice is terrible for fat burning due to the spike in insulin levels. I will limit my fruit and fruit juice intake in the coming days. I drink very little juice but I do eat a orange and banana almost everyday. Here's a picture of supper. I only ate half of the salad and very little dressing.

Workout- I finished yesterday with a feeling of great accomplishment. I had access to an amazing gym and worked out so hard that I crawled through the rest of the day. It ended up being core and back workout series. It was inevitable that the arms got some too. Today will be all about nutrition and recovery with a pinch of cardio. Looking forward to weighing tomorrow just to see if anything has changed. I'm sure the weight will start to climb very soon. Also, I'm looking forward to getting back to my pull-up bar! I pulled a muscle yesterday just slightly in my upper left back. I just cooled it with those shoulder presses and subbed some other exercises to finish the sets. I did six sets yesterday. Here's my theory right now on effort during the sets. The sets vary but I like to make the first one easy for a warm up. I am not He-man YET so there's no need to go heavy out of the gate and injure something. The second is a little tougher and by the third set, I am feeling some serious pain. Usually somewhere in the fourth set I reach muscle failure and either have to stop or grab a smaller weight. On the last couple of sets, I go very hard. This, to me, is where you make your most progress. You have eliminated a large portion of your early stamina and now the reps are actually quite difficult. Before each set I take a brief moment and reflect on what I'm doing. Yes, it will be hard. Yes, I will want to let off when the burn begins. But, don't let your muscles beat your mind. THIS is where you must push through those boundaries and get that extra rep. THIS is where the rewards are truly built. Don't feel sorry for yourself or look around and see if anyone feels bad for your struggle, this is what you're here for. This is what you've waited for. This feeling of repulsive pain is the one that keeps others from succeeding. Push into it. Run into the fire and dance baby! This is where the party's at. Thrive in your power! You are winning! One single surge at a time you are building your empire.

 So in short, warm-up a set, turn it up on the next set, and then get down to business. Your ability to propel yourself forward into extra reps and deal with that bit of pain will determine your results. We are making history here, be about it! Live excellently today and remember if you quit, no day will ever be your day.

Feed The Wolf,
Bradley