15 Monday Jul 2019
Posted in Bonus Content
Tags
Achievement, Bodybuilding, Cardio, Exercise, healthy living, Persistence, Self-discipline, Weightlifting
My wife and her trophies
16 Sunday Jun 2019
Posted in Workout Routine
Tags
Back, chest, Dumbbell, Flat, healthy living, Incline, Pyramids, Superset, Weightlifting
Today’s workout:
Superset #1:
Superset #2:
Notice what is happening here? The pyramid starts in superset 1 and completes in superset 2. The reps start with30 and reduce to two sets of 5, then start with 5 and increase to 30. So 10 sets of work for both body parts. As a reminder, supersets involve doing two exercises together without rest. So Dumbbell Incline Chest Press set 1 and Bent Over Dumbbell Rows set 1, then rest. This was an intense routine this morning.
Well, that’s it for today. Happy Father’s Day everyone!
See you at the finish line!!
Dave
14 Friday Jun 2019
Posted in Workout Routine
Tags
Calf Press, Calves, Decline Crunches, healthy living, Leg Press, Quads, Weight Training, Weightlifting
I’m finally back! Today I started a new workout routine. It is intense and I love it!
Here you go, folks!
Planet Fitness, Ft. Gratiot
Superset: Leg Press and Calf Press combined with a pyramid
If you’re new to lifting, a superset requires one set, followed immediately by another. In this case, you do one set of leg presses, followed by a set of calf presses on the leg press machine with no rest between. Once you’ve completed an iteration, you take a break. That’s it in a nutshell. The pyramids involve starting light with a set of 50, going heavier at 40, going heavier at 30, 20, 10 and so on. Then, to complete the pyramid, you start at 10 reps and increase 10 reps each superset back up to 50. So light down to heavy, heavy up to light. I enjoy pyramids because they insure you work the muscle group hard.
Decline crunches 5 sets to failure.
That was it for today, folks.
See you at the finish line!
Dave
15 Wednesday May 2019
Posted in Workout Routine
Tags
Chest Press, Flys, healthy living, Lateral Raises, Military Press, Triceps Extensions, Triceps Pushdowns, Weightlifting
PM:
As you can see, I’ve moved my workouts to the evening. I discovered rather quickly that my workouts were suffering when I was going in fasted and then staring down the tunnel of another couple of hours before I could eat. I am pursuing a KETO diet and intermittent fasting. I stop eating at 12 Midnight and do not eat again until 4 PM in the afternoon.
I hope everyone is having a terrific week! I sure am. My sister is coming down this weekend with a friend and my brother is coming out from Arizona for a week’s stay, starting on the 29th! I can’t wait. It’ll be a great time.
I hope all of you are hitting your goals through self-discipline and persistence. It is a great ride!
See you at the finish line…
Dave
19 Thursday Jul 2018
Posted in Thinking Thursdays
Tags
Books, Coursera, Courses, Hillsdale College, Movies, Netflix, Reading, Udemy, Weightlifting, Writing
I don’t know about you folks, but weightlifting is therapeutic for me. It relaxes me, helps me build on my focus, and I just feel so accomplished when I walk out of the gym. Currently, I am doing a full body workout. Here’s what it looks like:
Exercises are all 3 sets of 10. Since I am working out every day I am not working to failure, simply burning off energy and stimulating the muscles. It’s working quite well. I’ll provide you with weigh-in results on Monday.
I also got a good start on my book. I’m currently working through content ideas using an online app called Asana. It works well. I’m going to keep plugging away on the content headings, ideas of what I want to talk about and continue organizing. The goal is to get this skeletal outline completed by the end of the month. In August, I begin the actual writing.
I hope everyone is having a great week!
Books:
The Shariyat Ki Sugmad, Paul Twitchell
The Orion Plague, David Vandyke – Finished. This is a book in a series. If you are interested, check out David’s books on Amazon. He’s terrific!
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Science of Getting Rich, Wallace D. Wattles – Just finished this one. It is old but has some interesting points in it.
The Spiritual Exercises of ECK, Harold Klemp
In My Time, Dick Cheney – Enjoyed this book. I like memoirs and things, particularly when I served under this guy as the Secretary of Defense and the Vice President.
Kobo: A Story of the Russo-Japanese War, Herbert Strang
The Dual Between France and Germany, Charles Sumner
Classes:
Public Policy, Hillsdale College
Learning how to Learn, Coursera
Mini-Habits Course, Udemy (putting this one on hold until August)
Documentaries:
The Staircase, (Netflix Currently) – Just finished this one. This is worth a watch if you like a courtroom drama.
Movies:
None are on my hit list this week.
Fun:
Hell on Wheels (Currently on Netflix) – Finished. This is one heck of a ride. If you like a lot of plot twists and enjoy a good Western, I highly recommend.
The Hollow (Currently on Netflix)
The West Wing (Currently on Netflix)
Workout Routines and Other Weightlifting Knowledge:
For access to every supplement on the market, access to the top trainers in the world, and gain access to their training routines, this is the one-stop, shop for anything related to fitness. This one will cost you if you want access to the trainers and their workout routines. It runs me about $8.99 per month.
Well, that’s it for this week folks! I hope some of this information has been helpful to you.
Until next time…
Dave
10 Tuesday Jul 2018
Posted in Ted Talk
Exercise does not just improve your waistline. It also improves and protects the brain. Enjoy!
Until next time…
Dave
28 Thursday Jun 2018
Posted in Thinking Thursdays
Tags
Books, Documentaries, Keto, Learning, Movies, Netflix, Weightlifting
This week is a holdover week for weightlifting. I’m continuing to hit weights and two-a-day cardio sessions but have made some adjustments. My cardio will be executed this time around on the elliptical.
I learned that my body is not a big fan of carbs during the last 8-week trainer I just completed. The last week of the program is where I had my big losses, and this is exactly when I was down to very low carb amounts (less than 50 grams a day). Subsequently, I’m looking into KETO and other low-carb diets to see how these will affect my muscle growth. Right now, I’m only interested in maintaining the muscle I have and reducing my body fat from 36% down to about 15%. The KETO diet appears to be a solution to my dilemma.
I’ve also been investigating some local sites who can provide accurate body fat measurements and I found one today! It costs 115.00 for the initial visit and 95.00 for subsequent visits. BINGO!! I’m going to set one of these up next week to get a good baseline before commencing my next transformation routine. The reason for spending some money on this is that my entire meal plan is based on accurate weight and body fat measurements. Without these, I’m just guessing. More to follow on this front, folks.
Books:
Classes:
Documentaries:
Fun:
Workout Routines and Other Weightlifting Knowledge:
Kaged Muscle is run by CEO Kris Gethin. This website provides workout routines, supplements you’ll need, nutrition advice and a whole lot more. I am currently working through the 8-week hardcore trainer.
For access to every supplement on the market, access to the top trainers in the world, and also gain access to their training routines, this is the one-stop, shop for anything related to fitness.
Well, that’s it for this week folks! I hope some of this information has been helpful to you.
Until next time…
Dave
21 Thursday Jun 2018
Posted in Thinking Thursdays
Tags
Books, Coursera, Hillsdale College, Movies, Netflix, Online Classes, Podcasts, Udemy, Weight Loss, Weightlifting
Hello, all! Welcome to another Thinking Thursday, where I’ll give you an idea of what I’ve learned this week, what I’m watching and reading.
This week has been tough. I’m in week 8 of Kris Gethin’s Hardcore Trainer and have literally lost between 1 and 2 pounds daily since Monday, considering the very restricted carbohydrate intake. Today, I’m only allowed a little over 70 grams. Not much. This is the equivalent of about 10 rice cakes. I’ve started the workout routine at 245 pounds and now weigh 229 lbs, with 3 more days to go.
My body thrives in a very, low carb intake type of diet, so I’m all in. This is the last week, then I’ll take a slight breather, raising my carbs up about 50 grams per day and reducing my cardio sessions from 55 minutes twice a day to 45 minutes twice a day.
I’m heading to my sisters this upcoming weekend to go to a comedy show. I’ll have access to one of the gyms I’m a member of while there, but don’t want to be in the gym the entire time I’m at my sister’s house (that’s no fun for her). Anyway, I’ll be lifting daily and hitting my cardio, but taking it a little easy, as I’ve decided to hit this hardcore trainer for another 8 weeks starting on July 3, 2018, when I’m back home. That’s about it on the weightlifting front.
Books I’m reading:
Movies I’ve seen:
Netflix:
Classes:
Podcasts:
I wanted to add this to my weekly list because I’m a big fan of Tim Ferris and Kris Gethin, who is currently one of the weightlifting trainers I follow on Bodybuilding.com.
Well, this is it for my week thus far. I’m headed to the gym to knock out Lower Back, Upper Abs, and Hamstrings today. Today is Day 53 of the Hardcore Trainer and I’m stoked!!
Until next time…
Dave
04 Monday Jun 2018
Posted in Motivation Monday
Tags
Acting as-if, Faith, Hope, Online Learning, Optimism, Reading, Weightlifting
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” – Helen Keller
I don’t know about you, but I’m always fired up at the beginning of the week. I look forward to the challenges, the tasks I’ve laid out for myself, and the work that has to be accomplished. I love checking things off!
This week is week 6 of the workout routine I’m on. I’ve lost 10lbs so far. I’ve finally broken down and got my meal trays and prepped my meals yesterday. This should have a dramatic effect on my last two weeks. I don’t know why I resisted this practice, but I, being the typical hard head, did. Anyway, I’ll keep you all posted on my progress as I head into the final week (2 weeks from now).
This week I’ll be hitting cardio for 45 minutes twice a day. I do one session in the morning and then the 2nd one after my weight lifting routine. I have found this to be a real learning experience. It seems when I am doing cardio after the weight work that muscle soreness has been very limited over the last 5 weeks.
I’m reading quite a few books: Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Andersonville, Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad Books 1 and 2, the Stranger by the River, The Living Word book one, The Orion Plague, The Science of Getting Rich, and yet another book on blogging.
This week I’ll be taking some more online courses: Non-fiction book writing on Udemy, Public Policy offered by Hillsdale College, and this is the last week of the Wellness course offered by Yale. I’ll have to go looking for some new course content soon.
My brother just left for home on Saturday. It was a nice visit. My niece is headed out here toward the end of the month. Most of my extended family in Phoenix do whatever they can to get out of the heat of the summer. Michigan is a nice break from the heat out there.
Well, that’s it for today folks. Are any of you doing anything exciting this week? Are you involved in any projects you’re passionate about? Share them here if you are comfortable doing so.
Until next time…
Dave
03 Thursday May 2018
Posted in Workout Routine
I started the Kris Gethin Hardcore Trainer this week, instead of elevating my last workout routine with cardio. I’m glad I did. This workout is awesome!
This routine is a 5-day split, coupled with 2 cardio sessions each day. This week is 20 minutes, but next week and the following weeks will increase by 5-minute increments. Cardio has always been one of my weaknesses and I look forward to improving my cardiovascular fitness over the next 8 weeks.
I wanted to address the importance of following a workout, but keeping it personal. The reason I stress this is because you may not have the same equipment available in your gym or you may not have the ability to do a particular exercise a certain way because of a previous injury.
Follow the workout as best you can, but always treat these routines as yours. I workout to stay in shape. I’m not looking to compete at a show or anything like that. I like to gain strength and improve my cardiovascular fitness, but feeling good is the primary goal of my workout routine.
If deadlifts, for example, won’t work because of a previous back injury or something like this, you can always substitute the exercise for something else. Exacerbating an injury or trying to do something you just can’t do is ridiculous. Do the best you can and always consider your personal safety and health a prime consideration when using someone else’s routine. Remember: Most of these online trainers have more than a decade of experience working out. If you are just starting out, or in your first year or so, don’t try to do all of the things these workouts require.
I was talking to an old Army buddy of mine recently. He hasn’t worked out in quite a while. He wants to get back into it. I cautioned that he should make a gradual start. You can’t begin a program like this if you have not worked out in a few years. The same goes for any of you.
I’ve been working out for the bulk of my life. I’m no Spring chicken, but I can hold my own in the gym. It’s better to make slow and steady progress instead of trying to bite off more than you can chew and getting injured. Injuries will stop your progress in its tracks. Be careful!
I also cannot stress the importance of diet when you are beginning any workout routine. You have to eat and hydrate! A program like this will kill you if you are not eating, supplementing, sleeping, and hydrating. Weightlifting is a taxing enterprise.
Take your time, when beginning a new routine. Warm up, stretch, and follow the form of the exercises as best as you can. Most gyms will have a local trainer available. If you have any doubt about how to use a machine, ask someone to show you. Some of these machines bite!
You also need to really control the weights you are working with. If you are jerking the weights, using crazy body movements to get a dumbbell or barbell up, you are probably using way too much weight. Back it down and really control the movement as you perform the exercise. I see people everyday using improper form, jerking weights, and dread the day they tear or dislocate something. It is not worth it.
That’s it for today! I hope all of you are getting to the gym or getting exercise daily. It really makes a huge difference in your mental outlook, your self esteem, and sets you up for success in many areas of your life, if not all of them.
Until next time…
Dave
