Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Cardio+Math=A Good Time.

i've noticed lately that i have a weird habit of doing math in my head when ever i'm doing any type of cardio workout. it usually takes about fifteen min to kick in, but then, for some reason, i just start taking any numbers i see around me and i start making math problems out of them. most often it starts by me working out what percentage of my work out i've completed and how much i have left. then it leads into working out a ratio of how many people are on machines vs how many are empty. i end up taking any set of numbers i can find around me and just throw them together any way i can. for some reason whenever my mind is fatigued, numbers just fill up my mind. i mostly have fractions and ratios come to mind, which is funny because i HATE working with fractions in my math classes. it's not that this bothers me or anything, i actually kind of like it, i just had no idea i had a math obsession like this.

so does this happen to anyone else? or am i just a strange duck with math on the brain?

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Today, I just didn't care.

ok, so today was our family celebrated thanksgiving today. we did it today instead of next thursday because it was going to work out best for everyone's schedule. i didn't mind though, it means i get to go to Vegas next week during thanksgiving! but that's besides the point. i just wanted to let everyone know that today with all the eating i've done i think i may have just undone all the hard work i've put in this week. oh well, you win some, you lose some. i had a good time with my fam and ate some kickin food! i have no regrets about today. YEAH FOR FOOD!!!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Help Wanted.

i'm currently taking applications for the following positions:

-running buddy.

-swimming buddy.

-biking buddy.

if you are interested in any or all of these positions please feel free to contact me through this blog, email, phone, facebook or messenger pigeon. (extra consideration will be given to anyone who responds with a messenger pigeon.)

Light At The End Of The Tunnel.

i had a great session at the gym today. as i was starting on the bench press i started talking to the guy on the bench next to me. his name was ron and he had to have been one of the happiest guys i've ever had the privilege to meet. while we were chatting he offered to help spot me on the bench. i gratefully accepted**. he really got me motivated to lift a LOT more than i was planning on. this is what i ended up doing:

set 1: 10reps @ 225lbs (my warm up set)
set 2: 12reps @ 275lbs
set 3: 10reps @ 295lbs
set 4: 6reps @ 315lbs
set 5: 3reps @ 365lbs!

that's right, i was putting up 365lbs on bench today. i haven't done that since before my mission! it seems i'm a lot closer to my goal of 400lbs than i thought. maybe i should aim for more? or maybe not? i think i'll keep the goal at 4oolbs and see how i feel once i actually get there.

as for the rest of the week i've gotten to the gym every day so far this week. i've lifted every day and i've done cardio on mon and wed. i needed to do cardio again today, but time didn't allow. i'll try and get back to the gym tomorrow morning before my family had there family pics at ten and get in another set of cardio.

for the first week of this blogs life i've felt good about my workouts. i've felt the pressure from this blog that i was hoping for, it's made me work harder at the gym and it's helped me when i've been faced with food choices, too. so keep reading this, people. keep the pressure coming. it's driving me right now. thanks for taking the time to read. i really appreciate it. :)


**having a spot while working out makes all the difference in the world. the great thing about a spot is that at the end of your set they help you get those extra few reps in that you normaly wouldn't be able to get, and it's in those last few reps when you're giving it all you have that you really tear down the muscle and get the best results. normaly i don't have a spot so i don't use too heavy of weight and i can't get those last few reps in because i don't want to risk not beinig able to push up the bar and being crushed to death (crushed=not good)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

First Update.

my numbers as of sat, 15th of sep

weight: 279.6
body fat: 36.7%

this is my starting point. if all goes as planned this should be the worst that both of those numbers will ever be for the rest of my life. if you do the math this works out to be that i have hanging on me right now 102.6lbs of pure fat. i have had friends that are adults that weigh less than that:) so here's the dilly-o, as i mentioned in my first post i don't have a set weight that i'm trying to get down to, but what i am hoping to do is cut into that 102.6lbs while at the same time adding good weight. i could care less if i was staying the exact same weight but loosing a pound of fat while gaining a pound of muscle. i'm excited to see how it works out. maybe after some time of tracking my weight and body fat i'll come up with some fancy pants graph to show how it's all changed.

as far as my workouts are concerned i've been very pleased with how they've been going. i've gotten to where i'm spending about an hour each time just lifting weights. i'm starting to work other lifts into my workout to really challenge my muscles and hopefully get better/quicker results. i also went running last night (monday night) for the first time in a LONG time. i think this might have been the first time since i was in high school that i've actually gone running for exercise. i've done the elliptical and stationary bike at the gym, but never just running on the street. i liked it. i did about a mile in 11 minutes. not good, i know, but a good starting point. the thing that i'm most excited for is that my knees aren't killing me today. usually if i do much running my knees ache a lot for the following week. which is one reason why i've avoided running. now i'm kind of looking forward to running some more and seeing if i can keep it up without my knees hurting. here's hoping.

one last note: tonight at the gym i saw a guy that looks exactly like hagrid in the harry potter movies. he had the really broad sholders/thick chest, HUGE beard and long hair. the only difference was that this guy was about 5'4"! it made me chuckle.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

In the beginning, there was an idea.

tonight while i was at the gym i was going over in my mind what it was that i was hoping to get out of coming and working out. i wondered if i really had a purpose or if going to the gym was just something i was doing to kill time. i realized that both answers were correct, but it just depended on the day. sometimes i'll go with the intent to make myself stronger, other times i'll go with the intent to burn an million calories on the elliptical machine, and still other times i just go because i have a few hours to kill and i don't want to wast the time sitting in front of the tv. (actually, come to think of it, if i did actually go and workout every time i sat down to watch tv i'd most likely be a lot skinnier) but my point i'm trying to make is simply this, i've never had any real direction as to where i'm going with my workouts. i remember back before my mission i was always training for football. and then after football season was over i would work out because i was doing my senior project on body building and my body was my physical project. after high school i lifted regularly till i left on my mission the following september mostly because i was in the habit of it and i had plenty of time to kill. i didn't lift much on my mission and since i got back over four years ago i've just never seriously gotten back into it.

i've enjoy the time that i spend at the gym and i like seeing the results i've been getting over the past couple months, but i've decided i need some direction for my workouts. a "why," if you will, to the reason i work out. i thought about it for a while and these two goals keep coming to my mind: 1) bench press 400lbs and 2) complete a triathlon. let me explain a little about each why i chose these two goals.

first, the bench press: this has always been one of my favorite lifts. i'm built really well for this lift given my thick chest and shorter, thick arms. "back in the day" i could really throw up a lot of weight on the bench. the day before i left on my mission i surprised my self by maxing out at 380lbs. (twenty short of what i want to do now.) i was ecstatic to say the least. but since then, over six years ago, the most i have gotten is 305lbs. so i've got some work to do to get back up to where i was and then to get to where i'd like to be. i don't know if this is a mini mid-life crisis or what, but i'd like to get back to where i was in my "prime" and then pass it up. MY BEST YEARS ARE STILL AHEAD OF ME, GOSH DARN IT!! ;)

secondly the triathlon: honestly, i'm not sure where this one came from. i was thinking of wanting to run a marathon but then i realized how amazingly long they are. (i think that last person to try and run a marathon ran like 250 some odd miles and never saw the end of it, i don't think i'm crazy enough to try one of those.) but i knew i wanted to do some type of endurance challenge. and that's where the triathlon comes into the picture. i think this goal will be more challenging than my bench press goal because endurance doesn't come as natural for me and i'm far from being in shape enough to begin seriously training for one. so this one will take a while and a LOT of work.

my time table to complete these goals is one year. it doesn't have to be exactly from today's date, but i'm thinking some time next fall. as time gets closer i'll find out which triathlon i'm going to do. as far as the bench press goes i'm hoping to be able to be putting up that much weight by about then too.

one important note that i want to put on here is that i'm not setting a set weight that i would like to be at or a certain amount of weight that i'd like to lose. i hope that weight loss will be a pleasant side effect of all this, but as long as i can reach my goals by next fall then i will consider myself a success even if i'm still considered to be "over weight."

and now this is where the blog comes into play. i'm hoping that there will be some people out there who find this blog and then with some frequency follow it. i'm going to hold myself accountable to all those who read and comment on this blog, so the more people who let me know you're reading this the more pressure i'll have to keep working at it and not slack off. don't let me give up. don't let me quit. not this time. i'm throwing this out to all you with the hope that you'll back me up on this. keep me going. i'll be posting regularly about my workouts, my results and any other thoughts that i have on this adventure. and who knows, maybe a picture or two will show up along the way as well. (ladies, try not to drool. it's not good for your keyboard.)

so with these newly set goals firmly planted in my sites let the fun begin!