Allys daddy

All ready for my comeback!

2011-01-21T16:11:00.000-08:00

So I know that nobody is reading this anymore, but I will still be using this for more of a way to keep track of my progress myself. Since my last post MUCH has happened in my life, but as far as physically I have dealt with an excruciating ankle injury. I rolled my right ankle and ended up with grade 3 (out of 4) tears to all of the tendons and ligaments in my foot and ankle, with permanent scar tissue built up in my achillies. It happened in mid december of 08', and I was unable to walk or run until August of 09', so of course my physical fitness level took a nose dive. The injury along with depression due to other circumstances in my life was a total whammy to my physical fitness attitude. BUT, it is now 2 years after my injury, life has leveled out as far as personal stuff goes, and my ankle is feeling spectacular! I started my diet on Jan 1st this year just like I did when originally doing this program, which was to cut out soda and begin to get myself used to eating right again. I've already lost 6lbs since the 1st, so I was 177 and am now 171. Every little bit I can lose before restarting next week will help...especially with those pullups! Anyway, I will be posting pics on my first start day just like last time, and will be searching for a new online group that is doing the same. One thing I learned last time is that having others to push you deffinetely helps, and competition is a great motivator! Till then....

Update Post here

2008-01-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

Well this is just a quick update post. So after I got back from my vacation up at Brian Head Utah I got very sick, apparently from something flu like that has ben passed around at work. This has been the longest flu/cold thing I have ever had!! I am FINALLY getting it out of my system these past few days, and not a moment too soon since I have been sick now for almost 3 weeks!! Since I have been so sick I have not been able to go to the gym, which is KILLING me!!! I still eat great, and always will from now on, so I havn't gained any weight at all. But I still feel so crappy with missing the workouts. I am hoping to be able to resume my workouts starting this sunday or monday, and have decided on actually redoing the original 16 week program, modified for the gym of course, but with a little twist. I will be wearing extra weights for the entire 16 weeks, and will start out with 20 lbs extra, and will work up 5 lbs every 4 weeks. So by the time I get to week 16 I will be doing the exercises while wearing an additional 35lbs.

I decided on this because I really enjoyed Arnels 16 week program and all the intensity that it had. Even though Im modifying some stuff for the gym, I still dont get the same intensity in my workouts like I did when working out in my garage. When I start I will let you all know how it goes. Good luck to all of you that are starting your own journey in the second group! And again, thanks to all for your support! Talk to you soon.

Douglas

Week 1 pictures

2007-12-22T21:18:00.001-08:00

Heres a recap of my week 1 pictures, YIKES!!!

Friday, day 5 of week 17

2007-12-17T18:04:00.000-08:00

FINISHED WITH MY FIRST 16 WEEKS!!

Well I am now officially finished with Arnels 16 week program, and I am very pleased with my results. A few thoughts before I get to my pictures though, and some of which include the fact that I would like to thank Arnel for publishing his program free of charge. Thank you for your help in guiding and shaping my new healthier lifestyle. Having gone through so much these past 16 weeks has really changed me in more than just a physical way. I now know that I could'nt have sustained my previous ways for too much longer without having suffered some serious health issues not too far down the road. Now I eat healthier, and love working out! I started this program to get in shape, but I ended up with so much more. I now have added time with my daughter Ally, who used to be able to run circles around me, but now has a hard time keeping up with me! I have also incorporated my healthier lifestyle into my daughters eating habits somewhat, which I know will help her to be a healthier child and grow up stronger. Even though I am now complete with Arnels initial 16 week program, I will not stop my journey to reaching my ultimate body goals. I have been incorporating weight lifting into my workout routines to help build muscle mass, and now know how to balance it with proper cardio interval training, along with the much needed proper diet. I believe diet was one of the underliying factors for my success in Arnels program, it is amazing how much better you feel when eating a proper balanced diet throughout the day.

Here are some of my program results:

Beginning weight- 175.5lbs, now 150.5lbs

Total weight loss- 27lbs

Beginning gut measurement- 39-7/8", now 33-1/2"

Total inches lost- 6-3/8"

Average blood pressure reading- 140 over 90, now 119 0ver 79

I have still yet to get an acurate body fat percentage, but using Arnels link I had these numbers:

Beginning body fat %- 27%, now 16%

Beginning BMI- 25.6, now 21.5

I just got back from a vacation up at Brian Head, Utah, where I went snowboarding and sledding with my daughter. It was great because I like to snowboard but its been difficult for me since I was always out of shape and heavy. Not this time!! I had no problems getting off the lifts, or even with getting winded, I had tons of energy and didnt even get tired feeling once! It was awesome. I wasnt even sore feeling the next day like I used to be after a day of snowboarding.

Well heres some of my pics from my technically ending 16 week program, but remember, I am still going!

I took these 2 pics in the bathroom under different light, just to show that lighting does effect how you see yourself in the mirror!

Heres a comparison set of pictures.

I am very proud of myself and my accomplishments so far, and I am very pleased with my results so far, but I will continue to push myself and my body to until I achieve my physical goals, so stay tuned for more results!!

Merry Christmas everyone out there, and God bless you all this holiday season and in the new year!

-Douglas

Thursday, day 4 of week 16

2007-12-13T17:26:00.000-08:00

Hey all, I know its ben a little bit since my last post, but like most of us Ive just been really busy. You know, the usual, life, work, home, and of course the holidays. But rest assured I have still been very good with my workouts, and have ben going to the gym 3-5 times a week still. Ive been lifting heavier weights this week, since my reps were getting too high and the weights were getting too easy. My HIIT has been going really good too. Ive been averaging 4 times a week lately, which I know isnt the 6 that I should be doing, but 4 aint bad. Plus my weight got down to 150lbs and that was plenty light for me. Im now at about 152-153 lbs, and my waist and gut are still the same measurement so that means that I am gaining muscle mass, which is what I want. I feel much stronger than when I first started the weight lifting in week 9. I ran for the first time on monday since my foot injury, and it went pretty good. I first did my HIIT on the bike for 25 minutes, and then ran for about 3/4 of a mile, and then walked 1/2 mile to cool it down. I had some slight tenderness the nex day but it seems fine today. I have to work till midnight tonight so I will be going to the gym late tonight to do my HIIT and maybe run a bit more.

I will try to post pictures on sunday or monday, but cant guarantee it, as I said earlier I am extremely busy with stuff right now. But even with my busy schedule I have stuck to the workouts and the diet strictly. You dont have to worry about me falling victim to my old ways, because like I said when I first found Arnels program, this is a forever lifestyle change for me. Im almost done with his 16 week program, and even though I dont have my full six pack yet, I know that it is only a matter of time until I do achieve my goal. I will still use his diet methods, and his workout methods to keep my body strong and to keep pushing it harder and harder. I will also continue to post on this blog for a long time to come, as I use this to keep me motivated and to encourage and push others to also achieve their goals. Im proud of all that everyone in this group has accomplished. You should be proud of yourself, for we are the few, we are the very few that dont give up, dont give in, and just dont give a damn what anyone else thinks or says! Congrats to all that are in the competition, your final week is coming up, good luck. I will post again soon, see ya!

Wednesday, day 3 of week 14

2007-11-28T17:28:00.000-08:00

Hey all, just a quick update here. Last week went pretty good, worked out 5 days last week with 2 of them being weight training days. I have done my HIIT everyday that I go to the gym. Its been a little tuff going to workout so late some nights, but Ive been getting used to it. Ive been doing the 6 rounds of my HIIT on the bike still, and then Ive been walking around the track for about a mile afterwards to keep stretching my foot. It dosnt hurt at all during the day anymore, but it starts to feel a little sore after working out. So I will be waiting for another week before going back to running. I miss running so much that I dont want to screw it up again, so Im not going to chance it.

Hope everyones holidays went well, and the diets were stuck to! I did good, minus the gravy maybe, I did have gravy on my turkey and potatoes, but cmon,...it Thanksgiving!!

Im sore a little bit from lastnights workout, Ive uped alot of my weight lifting amounts, and cut the reps down to 10 or less on some of them. For example Im doing my bicep curls with 40lb dumbells now, and shoulder shrugs with 80lb dumbells, and my back exrcise is up to 230lbs now, and 165lbs for my pull downs, which are like doing pull ups. I feel alot stronger since adding the weight lifting, and Im still losing inches around my gut.

The hardest part is trying to eat 200 to 225 grams of protein a day, that part sucks a little. Well hope everyone is rockin still, post again in a few days! See ya!

Monday, day 1 of week 13

2007-11-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

Well I know I usually post pics every 2 weeks but I looked and compared the pics from this week to the ones from 2 weeks ago and there is no noticable difference, so I see no need to post them. My gut measurement was down another 3/4" from 2 weeks ago, so that puts me at just over 5-1/2" now.

This is going to be a hard week at work since the holidays are approaching, and we have added shows because of it. So tonight I will have to go to the gym after work at midnight to get my first HIIT in for the week, so its going to be a late night for me. Not really looking forward to it, especially since I know I have to do 6 rounds too. I will probably do the bike again this week.

My foot feels alot better, but still not 100%. I am going to try and stay away from any unnecessary movements involving my foot, so that way I will be able to run next week. I really want to run because I know that its the MOST effective form of interval training for burning fat. I am also going to try and be very strict with my diet this week too, as I need to do something to make up for the fact that Im stuck doing a less intense interval exercise. I might not post that much this week because of the busy schedule, so if you dont hear from me dont worry, I'll still be going strong!

Good luck everybody, and work extra hard this thanksgiving week!!

Saturday, day 6 of week 12

2007-11-17T16:53:00.000-08:00

This is just a catch up post real quick, I did my workout on thursday, and it went really good. I did the bicycle again for 25 minutes and burned like 235 calories. Then yesterday I went again and did my ab routine, and then hit the bicyle for 35 minutes and burned 315 calories, so I was happy with that. Im sortta liking the bicycle now, even though I really miss running alot, so its going to be nice to have a substitute HIIT for later.

The foots feeling alot better, I'de say maybe %80 now. Soon I will be BACK %100!!!!!

Thursday, day 4 of week 12

2007-11-15T17:36:00.000-08:00

Ok, so last night after my warmup I did some ab stuff. Not any of the ab routines, but I just sortta made up my own from different exercises we have used over the weeks. Im feeling it a little today. Then after that I did the exercise bike for 25 minutes, burned like 230 calories, and sweat up a storm!! It wasn't as hard as the rowing but it was nice to do something else. I still cant wait till I can run again!! I love the running so much, especially now that I cant.

I weighed in this morning at 154.5 lbs, which gives me 4 consecutive days of losing weight again, since the last 2 weeks my weight has been pretty consistent. I measured my gut too for the heck of it and it also has lost a little bit more. Hopefully I will see some pretty good results for my week 13 pics next week, ...hopefully.....

Wednesday, day 3 of wek 12

2007-11-14T18:20:00.000-08:00

Did my week 12 routine at the gym last night, and Im a bit sore today. I changed up some of the leg stuff since my foot is still a bit messed up, so instead of the squat jumps with weight I did the squat and press exercise from week 10, and used a 35lb plate when doing them. I did 4 sets of 10 of those, and my shoulders are feeling it!! Another example is the bicep curls, I just used 40lb dumbells and those were tough!! I did 3 sets of 6 for each arm, and I thought my veins in my arms were gonna pop! But like I said, Im a bit sore from the workout but not bad, and my foot was doing really good yesterday, but today its not as happy, so I will have to take it easy the next week, and maybe not do too many of the leg intensive workouts and substitute something else. I also did the rowing again, and did a total of 25 minutes and rowed 5094 meters, and burned like 300 calories. I like the rowing but it really starts to hurt my butt cheeks about halfway thru it, so tonight when I go to do my HIIT after work I will try the exercise bike or something else.

Monday, day 1 of week 12

2007-11-12T18:21:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update here....I made it to the gym on Saturday to do my 4th day of HIIT for the week, before I went in to work, and again did the rowing machine. That thing is insane!! I set the resistance level to 10, on a 1-10 scale, so its not easy, but thats why Im loving that thing! I made my own program and since noone else uses the thing it retains my info, so that makes it easy for me to jump on and go.

I was supposed to go to the gym yesterday and do my 3rd and last day of resistance for week 11 and my 5th HIIT, but I took my daughter to the air show yesterday and walking around all day just took its tole on my foot. I bought and used some crutches, so that helped alot, but I was still a bit sore, so I took the day off.

I felt bad about not workoing out yesterday, but I know I need to rest it. And just for the heck of it I checked my gut measurement this morning and Im down almost another 1/2" from last week, and have kept my weight at about 157.5, which should mean that Ive lost fat around my gut but gained enough muscle to even out my fat weight loss, which is a good thing!

So tomorrow I will start my week 12 routine, and do the same thing I've been doing, with transfering Arnels program to gym equipment. My foots feeling alot better today, but now my calf is tightening up on the top and bottom, which is suppost to happen one of my coworkers said. He says its the bodies way of helping imobilize the bad body part, by tightening up other muscles.

I just got done looking at some of your blog updates and I just wanted to say that we are really kickin some ass!! Some of you who have been in for awhile, and you know who you are, the og's, you guys are lookin AWESOME!!! Keep up the great work you guys, and girl, see ya!!

Friday, day 5 of week 11

2007-11-09T18:03:00.000-08:00

So i got some bad news and some good news, and since I try to be an optimist I'll give the bad news first. The bad news is my foot still hurts, rather bad infact. If its relaxed and sits for a while its actually worse when I walk, but if I massage it and stretch it its not that bad when I walk. And after yesterday when I was leaving the gym it was so stretched out and warmed up that I could barely feel it. Which bring me to the good news, my workout lastnight! I was a bit worried when I was starting but it actually went really good, I just had to modify my warmup a little bit so that my foot wasnt affected. I did really good at the exercises, and actually uped some of the reps and/or weight for a few of them, but I did really good. I was still sore yesterday too from tuesdays initial week 11 workout, which was nice cause I havn't been sore from Arnels stuff in a few weeks. This method Im using of transfering all of Arnels workouts to the gym equipment seems to be going good, it seems more challenging for me than just the resistance bands and small weights. But dont get me wrong, without the bands and other stuff weve used so far I wouldnt be here now. Oh, and by the way, Batman, I couldnt do the towel pullups either, I think I had too much softner and my towel was ripping! I thought that was funny when I read your blog and just wanted to say.

But the best part of yesterdays workout was my HIIT, which I was able to do THANK GOD! I used the row machine, and man did it kick my butt! I did 5 rounds with a 6 minute warmup, and ended up burning like 300 calories and rowing some 6000 meters I think, I could be wrong about the distance though. But it was actually really exhausting and not as easy as I originally thought. So I will be doing that for the next week or 2 until my foot heals, which is slowly happening. I have a good friend at work that is helping me out with stretches and massage techniques, and so far they ar really helping alot.

Alright all, talk to you later. Keep going strong everyone!!

Thursday, day 4 of week 11

2007-11-08T16:48:00.000-08:00

Attack of the invisible injury monster!!

Ok, what is the deal?! I think Im being stalked by an invisible injury monster! First my shoulder, then my knee, now my foot!! Im not sure what happened, but I noticed that my right foot started to hurt a little bit after I got home from the gym on tuesday night, which really went good! Im still sore! It was really cool though, I had no problem finding weight machines to use in place of the exercises for week 11, it was great! So I got home that night, and noticed a bit of pain in the bottom of my foot as I walked upstairs to go to bed, but I thought nothing of it and forgot about it when I woke up yesterday morning. It felt fine until I ran, and about halfway through my HIIT it started to hurt, really bad. I ran thru the pain though and finished another good HIIT, Im VERY determined now remember!! But then I went to work and it KILLED me!!! I was limping all night at work and into today. I iced it and took ibuprofin and all that but it still hurt, so today I went to the doctor just to check it out. Im relieved cause he said there were no bone issues that he could see, and after talking to him he determined that I pulled a tendon or the tendons were tightening up, maybe due to shoes, or something shoe related. So I have to stretch it, ice it alot, massage it, and ibuprofin 3 times a day to take down the slight swelling. It sucks, but the good news is I still get to work out, and do HIIT, but I will have to do it on the bicycle or something, maybe the row machine, dont know yet. I hope it feels better soon, cause I really prefer running!!

Take care all!

Tuesday, day 2 of week 11

2007-11-06T18:16:00.000-08:00

NEWLY MOTIVATED!!!!!

So I just got done with my results pic that I should have posted yesterday, and OH MY GOD!! Comparing week 11's to week 1's has really shown me what a difference there is and how much I have improved my body in these past 10 weeks! It has rekindeled the fire in me, very much so in fact that Im all antsy just writing this!! Heres what Im talking about:

Im glad I did these pictures....it really does show you the slightest improvements. I was really bummed about my results from the last 2 weeks, but when I compare the pics from week 9 to week 11 I really can see some differences.

Its just what I needed too, because today I started stepping it up a bit. I did my HIIT already at home before I came into work, and then I will do my week 11 incorporated into weight machines when I leave work tonight and go to the gym. Im not going to kill myself but I am aiming for soreness tomorrow. I am very determined (now more than ever!) to do good with my HIIT these last 6 weeks and to really change my body dramatically. Thanks for all your support you guys, and girl, ( ;-) Pie )it helps me alot. From the simplest of comments, to the long and lengthy written out ones, they all matter to me, and help keep me going. Thank you all. God bless all of you!!

Monday, day 1 of week 11

2007-11-05T17:49:00.000-08:00

Well, Im a little dissapointed in myself. My progress was not as good as I know it could have been. Since my last gut measurement I have lost another 1/2", which is good, but I think it could have been much much better. I know why this is though. I have been slacking a little on my HIIT. I only did it 3 times during week 9 and only 2 times last week. I told you how I cant do the HIIT at the gym because their treadmills suck, but I still would run for 10 minutes at 7mph and also do 10 minutes speed interval on the stairmaster, but those arent the same as good ol' HIIT on my treadmill. So my gut measurement now in week 11 is at 34-7/8", and my weight held pretty steady at 158lbs.

Due to my dissapointing performance and results, I will have to modify my workout this week, and see if that helps. So I plan on combining week 11's workout into my gym exercise, which means that I will be doing week 11 but not exactly like Arnel does it, I will be copying all the exercises and transfering them to weight machines to try and up the intensity. I will do that on tuesday, thursday, and either saturday or sunday. I will also need to do my HIIT at home on tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, and saturday or sunday. I know were not suppost to do HIIT before weight lifting, but it will be several hours between the 2 workouts, meaning I will do my HIIT at home before I go to work, then after work I will go to the gym to do my workout, so I dont think that will affect me in a negative way. Let me know if you know any different, as I deffinetely dont want to start screwing up now.

So without further ado, heres my pics from the beginning of week 11:

She wants to know what Im looking at....

Overall Im still happy with my results so far, deffinetely alot better than the out of shape body I used to have. But I have a long and hard 6 weeks left of this program, and I intend on doing my best to get as close as possible to acheiving the results I desire. Im starting to see lines form around my middle abs and my "V" lines are coming in alot more clear on my obliques, and I can barely pinch the skin and fat on my sides, but I still have most of my fat on my front gut and my lower back, but not for long!!!!

Friday, day 5 of week 10

2007-11-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

Nothing new to report, I will be doing my week 10 workout and HIIT when I get home tonight. I just thought I'de post some pics of my little devil angel from halloween.

In the spirit of being a more healthy person we handed out glow bracelets instead of candy this year, it was a hit! The kids were all excited and loved them, so it will be a repeat tradition next year. I wont post again until Monday, when I will also be adding new pics....o joy!

Thursday, day 4 of week 10

2007-11-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so, tuesday went pretty good. I went to the gym after work to do my weight lifting. I have been writing down all the weight levels and sets and reps of everythin Ive been doing, so when I went tuesday I uped the weight levels for almost all of the exercises. I know Im only going 2 days a week but last week I didn't get that sore feeling that I was hoping for. So for example, I uped my bicep curls from 3 sets of 10 with 30lb dumbells to 3 sets of 7 with 35lb dumbells. And I uped my squat press from 3 sets of 20 with 3-45lb weights on each side to 3 sets of 20 with 3-45lb and 1 35lb weight on each side, so I added 70lbs to that exercise. Also when I do my benchpress with dumbells I went from doing 3 sets of 15 with 35lb dumbells to doing 3 sets of 10 with 40lb dumbells. One other example was I changed doing shoulder shrugs at 3 sets of 15 with 50lb dumbells to doing 3 sets of 10 with 70lb dumbells.

Those are just some examples of how I uped my weight levels, and it really worked good. I was a bit sore yesterday, especially in my quads, and it was nice. Its almost gone today, which is good cause I have to go back tonight. I didn't get to do any exercises at all yesterday with it being halloween and I got the day off, so I took a nice 2 hour nap midday and rested alot before taking my daughter out trick or treating. I will add a day of workout on maybe sunday to make up for it.

Pictures again on Monday, but dont hold your breath for too much impovement, see you guys!!

Monday, day 1 of week 10

2007-10-30T00:32:00.000-07:00

Im dead tired, so I'll make this quick. I did the week 10 routine today, and it was actually really intense doing it like Arnel layed out, which is to try and do only 6-10 reps and 3-4 sets, then only 2 sets of the last 4 exercises. I was strict with the 30 seconds or less between supersets and it really had me goin! The towel pullups were suckin, I think my towel was ripping, so halfway through them i changed to regular pullups...no biggy. I also do pushups durring my warmups now, so since this weeks routine is pushup intense my chest and arms were dead afterwards! As soon as I finished I jumped on the treadmill and did my interval. It wasnt as intense as the previous weeks since last week I didnt really get a good HIIT in at all, but I still did 4 rounds. 2 at 10mph and 2 at 9mph, and ran for almost 2 miles and 20 minutes total. I think I burned 49 carbs and like 280 calories.

Tuesday night I will go to the gym again and hit those heavy weights again, cant wait!! Ive been keeping my weight steadyish the last few days, which has been around 159lbs to 157.5 lbs, so hopefully the weight lifting will curb the sudden weight loss thing. Im still losing fat around my gut though, I think Im down another quarter inch or so from last week.

Friday, day 6 of week 9

2007-10-26T17:38:00.000-07:00

Well I went to the gym last night for the second time this week. Did the same routine as tuesday, which consisted of some supersets that I created myself. Still having an issue with the treadmill at the gym though, so I ran at 7mph for 10 minutes and then did some interval training on the stairmaster, which surprisingly made me sweat like crazy. It wasn't that hard but it just really got me breathin heavy and sweattin alot. Overall I was pretty happy, and I feel pretty good with the slight soreness from the gym workouts. Today Im not as sore, so when I get home I will do my HIIT. I havn't had a descent HIIT all week, since Ive been using the gyms treadmill, but Im not too worried.

Im still losing weight too. As of this morning I was 157.5, which brings my total weight loss since I started to 20 lbs exactly. The number itself sems a little low for my taste, but Im pretty happy with my bodys look right now. Im not getting the skinny scrawny look that I was afraid of, and my chest looks to me to be descent sized, and my arms and legs dont look scrawny, so we will see. I still have most of my fat left right on my lower stomach and back, but its slowly being eatin away. I can tell though that Ive lost some fat on my butt, it feels harder and not so squishy. I have been eatting a little more protein than the last 8 weeks since I have started the weight lifting, and somedays I have 2 protein shakes instead of 1, and I have been eatting more wheat bread and other complex carbs.

I hope to have some good results to report on my next picture posting, which will be on week 11, but Im not getting my hopes up. I dont really expect to see much of a change.

Wednesday, day 3 of week 9

2007-10-25T00:21:00.000-07:00

I know its technically thursday but screw it, I gotta post this now and get it out of the way. Well I went to the gym Tuesday night after work to start my first day of heavy lifting and weights, and man did I forget something about lifting weights.....THEY'RE HEAVY!! I did pretty good though, I started with my warmup that I have altered a little bit to make it more intense, my body was getting too used to it. So now I can only do 4 sets of the warmup as opposed to the 8 I was doing, and it gets me sweattin! So I did that first in a small warmup area, and to tell you the truth I felt like an idiot sortta. I mean, everybody in there is all laying around, stretching, quiet, slowly doing ab stuff,...and then theres me kickin my legs up and doin burbees and jumping jacks and pushups and straight jumps.....it was a bit embarassing,....at first. Once I started sweatting I thought, what the hell are these people doing here? Dont you go to the gym to sweat and workout? So I told myself screw em, let em look and think whatever they want, Im not there for them.

So then I went to the weight room and started. I pretty much covered all the major muscles and did it while creating my own little supersets. It went pretty good, it took me over an hour and a half to do the routine I made up. I was really tired too. I tried to do my HIIT afterwards but the treadmills dont work like mine, they are very hard to manually change speeds while running fast, so I will have to see if I can program them. otherwise I will have to keep my HIIT to my house, which is fine too.

Then today I got home from work and did my week 9 resistance. It went pretty good, but Im a bit sore from the weight lifting,....WHICH I LOVE!!! I havn't been sore feeling in weeks!

The new schedule I have come up with, and will try next week will be something like this:
Monday-resistance, HIIT
Tuesday-weight lifting, long distance run
Wednesday-resistance
Thursday-weight lifting, long distance run
Friday-resistance, HIIT
Saturday-OFF, (maybe HIIT if needed)
Sunday-OFF

If anyone has any suggestions as to my weight lifting, or has some good links to exercises please hit me up! Thanks again guys, and you all keep up the great work!

HALF WAY THERE!!!

2007-10-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

Monday, day 1 of week 9

Well, let me get todays workout out of the way before my pics. It went pretty good, I changed my warmup a little bit and made it more intense, which actually made it to where I could only do 6 sets of the warmup instead of 8. It was nice to do something different. The workout went pretty good today, I did all the week 9 routine, pretty much ended up doing 20 of everything for all the sets and supersets. The explosive pushups were a bit tough towards 14 and on!! Did really good with everything else, and I actually liked the staggered pullups, what I did for those was I had one hand facing towards and the other facing away, and then I switched them. It was a cool way to do them, it gave me a different feeling burn. Im not too sore, except my abs, from using the resistance band during ball crunches....Oww! But overall I feel pretty good, no soreness, which is good because tomorrow will be my first day of heavy lifting. I plan on doing my warmup, then the heavy lifting, and then finish with my HIIT. Im interested to see if people will stare or say anything when Im cranking the treadmill up to 10 and 11mph, since most people at the gym just cruise.

Ok, with that said, here are my halfway pictures with a little side note for some:

Total weight loss as of today, 18 lbs, total inches lost off of gut, 4 1/2"

Current weight-159.5 lbs

Current gut measurement-35 3/8"

Here are some other pictures from my halfway point I took:

Heres how I've been keeping track of my gut measurement. Just a simple piece of paper and a tape measure. I have always measured from the same spot since day 1, right below my belly button, which happened to be the biggest part of my gut and lovehandles.

If it weren't for this piece of paper, proving that I was changing.....I probably would have quit before I ever even got to week 3. But Im still here!!!

Saturday, day 6 of week 6

2007-10-20T17:59:00.000-07:00

No workouts to report on, heres why.....One reason is work, I worked all day yesterday and was too tired at the end of the day to do my last resistance day of the week, and then today I was going to do both the resistance and HIIT, but, I started working on my entertainment center and just had to finish it! I build my own furniture by the way, incase your wondering. So tomorrow, my day off, I will go ahead and finish out week 8's routine and get my last HIIT in for the week 8. I will also be posting my halfway pics on Monday, which will be the beginning of my second half of my 16 week journey. I have lost a little bit more around my stomach these past 2 weeks and am really pleased with my results so far.

When I start week 9 I will be incorporating some of my own workouts to help boost my results for the final 8 week stretch. I joined a gym on thursday and will be including some heavy weight training into Arnels program, so I will have to change my workout schedule a little bit. I have decided to include the heavy weight lifting because I want to bulk up a bit while losing the fat using Arnels program. I dont want to lose all my fat and then be a little skinny twig. My current weight is 160 lbs, so Ive lost 17 lbs so far, which is plenty!! I do want to get the ripped look, with a low body fat %, but I also want to add muscle. So I will still be doing the exact same workouts that you guys are doing, but I will also be lifting. So please, wish me luck!!

I hope everyone is getting great results like I know some of us are, and if you think your not getting any results, just keep going!! If you are workong out and eating right, the results will come! Good luck all, talk to you again when I post my halfway results on Monday!

Thursday, day 4 of week 6

2007-10-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post here, I did my resistance last night when I got home and it went pretty good. I was pretty tired from being at work all day, but once I was into my warmup I got into it. It took me about an hour. I wanted to do my HIIT right after but it was 11pm when I was finished, and I didnt feel like being up for another 45 minutes. So I just did a really good HIIT today, heres what I did:

2min at 3mph, then
1min at 4mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
1min at 10mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
1min at 10mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
5min at 7mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
2min at 3mph, then
1min at 2mph.

I ran about 2.65 miles, burned a total of 68.4 carbs, and 401 calories, and ran for a total of 25 minutes.

2 more days till I get to my halfway point!! Hope everyones training is going good!

Tuesday, day 2 of week 8

2007-10-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

I'll keep this short and sweet. I did my HIIT today and heres what I did:

2min at 3mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
1min at 10mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
1min at 10mph, then
3min at7mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
2min at 3mph, then
1min at 2mph.

It was a god day, I ended up running about 2.125 miles, in 20 minutes, and burned 340 calories and 55 carbs. I work all day tomorrow so I will have to do my workout after I get home at night, which I hate doing. I will try to add another HIIT too since it will already be late and I will not have to worry about finishing in a certain amount of time. Wish me luck!

Oh, the knee feels great today too, I picked up some gluocosamine tablets and started taking them today, so hopefully that will help me out.

Monday, day 1 of week 8

2007-10-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

So a quick update here....I wasn't able to do the final set of the week 7 routine this weekend. My knee was just needing a break. So I took it easy and worked in the garage finishing my entertainment center, which is lookin pretty good! It seemed to help because my knee felt pretty good today, which was a good thing since it was my first day of week 8! I started the workout with the intention of doing my HIIT after the routine, but it took too long. I did really good in the routine today, or at least I felt like I did good. I had alot of energy with taking those 2 days off, so I was ready to go today. The ball and chair pushups were pretty tough, so I got thru 15 reps of those, and then 15 of the 1 leg ball squats, each leg. Then I used the chair instead of the ball for the 1 leg raised pushups, which I did 10 for each leg raised, then the 1 leg ball rolls I did 20 each leg. I dont have the same pullup bar as Arnel, so I did regular palms out pullups, which I did 8 the first set, but was able to do 10 the next 2 sets, followed by 30 seconds of the wall sitting squat, which actually hurt alot more than I thought! Then I did 20 of the upright row with the black bands, and 20 of the ball calf raises each leg. I finished the routine with 20 of the bicep curls with the black and blue bands, and then 20 of the ball knee lifts.

I feel pretty good now, and the knees holding up, so thats good. Im really hoping for some good pictures at my halfway point next week, and I think they might be pretty good because I have actually been able to notice some changes in my obliques now in the mirror, which is really getting me excited!! I used to joke that if you grabbed my love handles and closed your eyes, it felt like a nice "d" cup sized boob, without a nipple...but now...I can only pinch the little bit of fat that is left!! Its great!!

Keep it up you guys.....most of us are almost half way there, so its all downhill from here...well...downhill in terms of how many more weeks we have left! Uphill in terms of how much more intense the routines will get...CANT WAIT!!!!!

Friday, day 5 of week 7

2007-10-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well I didn't do the HIIT last night, my dang knee again, so I saved it for today. Of course, when I woke up my knee was killing me, but after breakfast it just went away...this knee thing is the wierdest pain thing I have ever had, it just comes and goes. I wish it would just GO!!! But after a hard day of yardwork, I got ready and did my HIIT day, heres what I did:

2min at 3mph, then

2min at 7mph, then

1min at 10mph, then

2min at 7mph, then
1min at 10mph, then

2min at 7mph, then
1min at 9mph, then

2min at 7mph, then

4min at 6mph, then

2min at 4mph, then

2min at 3mph, then

1min at 2mph.

Heres a picture of my treadmill showing my finishing stats, not too bad!!!

Nice, just over 2.5 miles, burned 69 carbs, burned 400 calories, and ran for a total of 25 minutes. Knee did fine....but I did have a serious tight calf muscle when I finished!!! Thank God for tiger balm!!

Thursday, day 4 of week 7

2007-10-11T17:47:00.000-07:00

I didn't post yesterday for 2 reasons, one I didn't do anything. I had to work and my knee was killing me, so I took a rest day. And two, because as much as I like keeping up on the posting, its getting a little old, its lost some of its coolness that it had when I first started it. Plus it eats up a bit of time. So I will probably be posting maybe 2 times a week or so, I dunno, we will see.

So today I did the week 7 routine for the second time, and actually got it done sooner than the first time. I broke up some of the exercises into 2 or 3 sets that equalled 30 reps total. Except the pullups, I had to do as many as possible until I finally reached 30 reps, but I didn't have to use the elastic bands this time!! Yeah me! It helped by doing the pullups second, instead of last, deffinetely. I will do my HIIT when I get home tonight so wish me luck.

Keep it up everybody, your ALL doing great work!

Tuesday, day 2 of week 7

2007-10-09T16:53:00.000-07:00

I am surprised to say that I am sore from yesterdays Spartan training day. My biceps are a little sore, my abs, and my butt. So I guess it wasn't just a "get you tired fast" workout afterall.

Today went good, heres what I did:

After stretching and warmup....
2min at 3mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
1min at 3mph, then
1min at 2mph.

My totals when I was finished was 20 minutes running time, 58 carbs burned, 335 calories, and 2.3 miles. Im watching my time now and Im getting down to about an 8.5 minute mile, which Im happy about cause I used to run like a 7 minute or less mile in highschool. I'll keep you posted as to my minute per mile average as the weeks go on.

Thanks for the great comments all of you, Im really glad to hear positive remarks. I will be trying extra hard to give you all a good "half way there" stats and picture post when the time comes at the beginning of week 9. Thanks again!!

Doug

Monday, day 1 of week 7

2007-10-08T17:40:00.001-07:00

Well I guess I'll start off with my pics, since this is the beginning of week 7, and I have consistantly been posting pics every 2 weeks. So here they are!

Here's a comparitive shot from week 1 to now:

My stats as of today are:

Weight-164 lbs (a loss of 13.5 lbs)

Gut measurement- 36-7/16" (a loss of 3-3/8")

Its insane how much better I feel today compared to week 1! I feel better, I have a ton more energy, I sleep better, I do other things better...wink wink!! But seriously, I feel great, and alot of people are noticing now. I get at least 1 or 2 people a week telling me I look great, or if Im working out, and its nice to hear. I still look in the mirror and get a little frustrated with how slowly my stomach is dissolving away but I know it will take more time. And I am really happy with my progress so far, especially when I look at the pictures of what I looked like in week 1!!! YUCK!!!! Ive also been reading up a little and I know that for your six pack to really show, you need to get your body fat percentage somewhere between 10% and 4-5%, depending on your body type. So I know I have a ways to go yet, but I WILL GET THERE!!!

Well on to week 7's routine...the first Spartan home workout. Honestly, I watched the video a couple times and started to think that it wasn't going to be that hard. Boy was I WRONG!! I was surprised at how difficult it was to do some of the things in the routine 30 times. I allowed myself 30 minutes to do the routine, which gave me 3 minutes per exercise, and at 30 reps thats only 10 reps per minute average....piece of cake, right?! NO. The staggering pushups were hard sort of, I had to break them into 2 sets of 15, and my explosive pushups weren't very explosive. I maybe got my hands an inch or so off the ground with each push. Some things I had no problem with pumping all 30 reps out real quick, but some I did. Then I got to the pullups, and I was dead, so I wont lie, I did do all 30, but I had to use the elastic bands to help. I was SO tired by the time I got to the pullups I just didn't have anything left in me.

I think I will break the routine up next time into 2 sets of 15 reps each, so I dont get burned out too quick. Use my experience as a tip if your not at week 7 yet. Hope everyone else is still rockin, keep it up guys...and girls (Pie!).

Carmina Burana - O Fortuna

2007-10-05T18:41:00.001-07:00

START THIS BEFORE READING END OF FRIDAYS POST!!

Friday, day 5 of week 6

2007-10-05T17:53:00.000-07:00

I didn't post yesterday because I worked all day and was going to do my interval when I got home, but, my knee was bugging me alot last night. Still not sure what I did, its the wierdest thing! It will hurt one minute and then fine the next. The pain isnt unbearable, but it is rather annoying, so we went for a family walk for about 45minutes plus, which was nice...beautiful breezy night!

So today, my knee felt ok, so I did some stuff around the house and got ready to kick my ass hard!! I did my normal warmup, then I hit the resistance routine with some fire!! I stopped timing myself and just set a certain number of reps to acheive, like some of you guys have also done. So heres what I did for my circuit:

25 standing chest press with all 3 bands
18 linear stability jumps
25 standing rows with red and blue bands
18 one leg box stepups (each leg seperate)
18 tricep bench dips
50 feet walking distance of walking lunge with 25lb dumbell
25 tricep extensions with black band (each arm seperate)
25 alternating toe touches
25 bicep cable curls with blue and red bands (each arm seperate)

Each exercise took about a minute, real close, and to do the whole thing took me about 12 minutes each time. And again, like the other days, I completed a total of 4 circuits with no more than a 1.5 minute break between circuits. Then after I was done with the routine, I took a 2 minute break, had a bit of water, and started my interval training to make up for not doing it last night. Heres what I did:

2min at 3mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
1.5min at 3mph, then
1.5min at 2mph.

I finished off with a bit of stretching for my calves afterwards, they were very tight and hot. BUT CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??!!!?! I did 4 rounds of 9mph! And that was after the resistance routine!! I was so frickin excited with myself...after I finished the 4th round of 9mph I was a total dork and put my arms up like Rocky and yelled out "YES, I DID IT!" Stupid I know but I was exstatic. And to tell you the truth, it wasn't that hard. I mean, I was very tired, but everytime the 2minutes of 6mph was up it was like my energy had come back, so I kept doing the 9mph's and ended up with 4 of em. Small victories I guess, even though I may only win some of the battles with my gut, I WILL WIN THE WAR!! Not even the knee will be able to stop me!!!

SO HERES WHERE YOU SHOULD START THE VIDEO AT THE TOP IF YOU HAVNT YET

In conclusion, I just wanted to say to everyone,...we are doing it!!! No matter what anyone else says, no matter what anyone else thinks, no matter how stupid your friends might think this program is,...WE ARE DOING IT!!!! THE BATTLE WITH OUR FORMER OUT OF SHAPE SELVES IS SLOWLY CREEPING TOWARDS THE END, DAY BY DAY, WEEK BY WEEK, WE ARE DOING IT!!! WE WILL NOT SUCCOME TO THE PAIN IN OUR MUSCLES, WE WILL NOT SUCCOME TO THE TAUNTS OF OUR PEERS, WE WILL NOT SUCCOME TO THE INNER VOICE IN OUR HEAD THAT SAYS WE WILL FAIL, ...........

WE ARE DOING IT!!!!!!

THERE'S NOTHING THAT CAN STOP US!!!!!

Wednesday, day 3 of week 6

2007-10-03T17:50:00.000-07:00

First off, let me start by saying this, I have so much respect for for Arnel in accomplishing his own 16 week program. The reason I say this is because Ive heard him say before "now you guys now the hell I had to go thru!" And he's right, as much as I love it AFTERWARDS, this is hell! I did my resistance today and added an interval day after I was finished. I didnt do the same speeds that I did yesterday, but I still did pretty good for just completing the resistance training, heres what I did:

Stretched, and then my normal warmup

4 circuits of the advanced level week 6 routine (60 sec per exercise with no brake inbetween each exercise, and a 1 minute brake inbetween circuits

Then onto the treadmill:

2min at 3mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
2min at 3mph for cooldown

For a total of 15 minutes running time, burned 38 carbs, 220+ calories, and ran a distance of 1.5 miles, all again at the 2% incline.

Now I dont want you to take this the wrong way, and it is not meant to be a downer in anyway shape or form, but, THIS WAS A HARD, HELLISH DAY!! I cant tell you how many times I wanted to just stop, and how many times I sat and argued with myself about if I was too tired to keep going on or not. If you could here the fight with myself in my head you would think I was mad. Its sortta funny now, but at the time it was really trying!

Let me say this though, I really LOVE week 6, ....Im not sure if its cause I told myself to push harder doing this weeks program or just the routine itself, but this is a hard week. I was sore on tuesday for the first time in like 3 weeks, especially in my calves and ribs and lower abs. Im assuming thats a good sign. And the soreness made yesterdays interval really tough, which didnt help since I uped my speeds. But I really felt it today with combining the 2, and Im feeling it now as Im sitting here typing to you. I dunno, I guess Im just really thinking about whats in store for us in the coming weeks, and how Im really getting a little frustrated with not seeing the results I want to see, but I will be pushing on. Actually not seeing the results I want is whats making me madder and forcing me to push harder and harder. Plus week 7 is the first Spartan training week, I cant wait!!!

Tuesday, day 2 of week 6

2007-10-02T16:56:00.000-07:00

THIS ONE WAS FOR ALL YOU GUYS THAT KEEP PUSHING ME ON!!!

Today was a GREAT interval day! I am really feeling it right now though...heres what I did today:

Started with my usual warmups and stretching, then I thought I would try something different, so I did 10 pullups palms towards me, good ones too!! All the way down and all the way up, they were smooth and percect, I was really stoked cause I had no problem doing them, it was awesome. Then I pumped out 40 regular nice clean pushups, again, I was happy! Then I did 30 of the squats from week one, with minimal burn in my legs. Those killed me by number 10 in week 1! Then I did some crunches. After all that I jumped on the treadmill and did the following:

2min at 3mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
1min at 10mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
1min at 10mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
1min at 10mph, then
2min at 7mph, then
7min at 6mph, then
2min at 4mph, then
2min at 3mph, then
1min at 2mph.

I was very happy with the 3 rounds of 10mph, it was very hard to do. The first was ok, then I got really tired half way thru the second burst, and I didnt think I had it in me to do the 3rd, but I pushed on and thought about how great it would be to write you all and tell you that I actually did it, so I did! My final results were 2.5 miles ran, 397 calories, 68 carbs, and 25 minutes total running time. Again, all running was done at a 2% incline (grade).

I just wanted to add something, I check up on alot of you guys and I must say that alot of you started this competition in much better shape than I was in, so I know that if I can push myself to my extreme, so can you guys! Some of you already look as good now as I hope to look in another 10 weeks, like Sam, Hulse, JJeagle, Abdominator, and others. So I just wanted to maybe give you an extra push towards putting up some of your own personal bests, dont slow down, dont give up!!!

KEEP PUSHING ON, PUSH HARDER, AND KICK SOME ASS!!!!

Monday, day 1 of week 6

2007-10-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

So my knee got an extra day off with not doing any interval training on saturday, and then yesterday as my normal day off, which really helped out alot. It was really buggin me on saturday but I wrapped it when I went to bed and took some ibuprofin. I did the same thing last night just to make sure, but it didnt bug me as bad on sunday. I didnt sit around all day either, we were up and around early morning (early for us) and got all ready for a day out in the desert shooting. So I did plenty of walking and climbing all over the place to setup and reset targets all day, and I had no problem and really no pain. I was releived, cause week 6 is very leg intensive!!

So today I started with my normal warmup routine and stretching, then went over the routine for week 6 one more time and then got to work. First off let me say that I REALLY LIKE week 6! This routine got me sweattin like mad!! Even my legs were sweating!!! I found this to be a high intensity routine, well layed out, and really did a good job of hitting all major body areas, like biceps, triceps, quads, back, shoulder, stomach, calves, and glutes. I thought it was a great workout. I did the advanced level like in weeks 4 and 5, so I did each exercise for 60 seconds with no break in between, and only a 1 minute break in between circuits, and I completed a total of 4 circuits.

I dont know if its because I took the extra day to rest or not, but I felt really energized in todays high intensity workout. I was worried that taking the day off would of killed my energy and drive to do well but once I started I couldnt stop! I was running out of time at the end of my 3rd circuit but I said forget it, I had more energy to burn off so I pumped out 1 more final circuit. It took me almost 13 minutes total to complete a circuit. But man I feel great right now, and my muscles feel invigorated and loose.

People at work and some freinds have been commenting on how good Im looking and that they can really notice a difference. Ive gotten alot of good compliments too on the changes in my arms, from my girlfreind and others too. Im still trying to get rid of the gut though, thats my main goal. I swear it must be the last place your body burns fat from cause my arms and legs dont have much fat left on them to burn, but I still got plenty on the ol belly! I will be kicking up the interval training this week to try and attack some of that stubborn fat cause like I promised, I have to post pictures again next week! Wish me luck!!

Saturday, day 6 of week 5

2007-09-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

Well today sucked, I had to be at work all day and I dont get off until midnight tonight, so I wont be able to get my interval training in. I was thinking about doing it on sunday which is normally my day off, but I might just take the day to rest. I think my knee needs it.

When I got home last night as soon as I stepped out of my truck my knee cap twisted weird and I got 2 sharp tinging pains on either side of my knee cap. It didnt hurt too much and I didnt think anything of it, I was too busy thnking of gettin changed so I can get my resistance training done. So I started my routine and I didnt really feel anything during the warmup period, but once I got into the routine and was changing from one position to another I kept getting the sharp pain again. I gave it 100% and really pushed out 3 circuits and was pretty sweatty, but it just hurt too much to do one more, so I only completed 3 circuits. I was a little bummed but I knew it would be stupid to push my knee harder and risk seriously injuring it.

So maybe its good I had to be at work all day, and now that I just got done overlooking week 6's routine, I think I will relax tomorrow too to make sure my knee is totally fine for mondays routine. Week 6 has alot of leg stuff and standing jumps so I want to be ready.

I weighed in today at 164.5 lbs, so I am still losing weight, which is good cause Im really getting antsy about the gut still lingering. Despite my nearly 3" loss it still stares at me in the mirror and just mocks me. I will be cranking up my interval training next week too. I have to, since I will be posting pictures again at the beginning of week 7. Gotta show improvement for those pics!!

Keep it up everybody and have a great weekend!

Thursday, day 4 of week 5

2007-09-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

Not too much to report, I was a little busy yesterday so I didnt blog. But yesterday went good, it was exactly the same as Monday, I did the advanced level and did 4 circuits. I did sweat alot more than on monday though for some strang reason.

Today was a good interval day too, I did the exact same thing that I did on tuesday. That 2 minutes at 9mph goes good, until about a minute and a half, then that last thirty seconds kills! But I did it, and I felt great afterwards too.

For some odd reason its been a little hard to get the will going to get up and go do my workout. It was like that yesterday and today, but once I do start it I feel better and Im glad that I did start. Im not tired or anything, so Im not sure why Im feeling like that...maybe it will pass. Even if it dosnt I will not be giving into it, I will still workout no matter what!

300 - No Mercy

2007-09-25T18:02:00.001-07:00

Best scene in the movie!!

Tuesday, day 2 of week 5

2007-09-25T17:47:00.001-07:00

Today went good with the interval training. I kicked it up a bit too. I started out with my normal warmups, and then did 30 reps forward and to each side for the wheel of death, my ab routine. Im surprised how I handled adding 5 more reps from last week. Then after the abs I jumped onto the treadmill and did the following routine:

2min at 3mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
2min at 9mph, then
6min at 7mph, then
5min at 6mph, then
2min 30 sec at 3mph, and then
30 sec at 2mph.

All running was done at a 2% grade with the coushining level at 3, which makes it a little harder cause it simulates running in sand almost. I was happy with myself being able to do 2 whole minutes at 9mph....I got to 1min and thought why stop, im not tired yet, but then I got to 1min 30 sec and I got tired. But I pushed it out all the way to 2 min. Little goals and little accomplishments, they're nice.

Ive been looking at all of your blogs and I have to say great work you guys. Keep it up! As the weeks go on we will really start to see some major changes in eachothers bodies. You can see it already in some of your pictures.

Dont give up, keep going!

"NO PRISONERS,...NO MERCY!!!"

Monday, day 1 of week 5

2007-09-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

Alright, so todays the day, the day I have to take pictures. Im a little nervous because I sit and look in the mirror and Im really not seeing that much of a change, except for in my arms and legs. But I said I would post pictures so I have to psych myself up for them. First off heres a couple of my stats as of today:

Beginning of week 1: 8-27-07

weight- 177.5 lbs

gut measurement- 39 7/8"

Beginning of week 5: 9-24-07

weight- 167 lbs

gut measurement- 37 3/16"

Total weight loss = 10.5 lbs

Total inches around gut lost = 2 11/16"

Im really glad I took measurements of my gut from the beginning, because if I hadn't I probably would have stopped by now. Even with all your guys support and encouragement it is really a downer to look in the mirror everyday and still see a fat belly. But with the measurement numbers right in front of my face I cant deny that this program is really working! Much better than I had ever imagined!! So I sit back and think about the numbers for a second....WOW...Ive lost 10 lbs, and almost 3" in 4 weeks!! Thats frickin awesome!!!! Thats whats really going to keep the fire inside me lit!!!

Now that I have that out of my system, here's my pics from today:

Here's a comparrison set that I made from week 1 and 2:

As for todays week 5 routine, it went very good. I still had to do my usual warmup #1 because I didn't get enough stuff out of the way in the garage to allow me to use my jumprope. No biggy though. I stuck with the advanced level since this week is also circuit training like week 4. Today kicked my butt a little!! LOL The switching the balance ball from hands to feet KILLS my abs!! But I love it...and the balancing on the ball pushups really arent that easy. Its amazing how much it makes your abs burn....they remind me of planks...not so much pushups. I wanted to add some stuff of my own but ran out of time, maybe wednesday.

Saturday, day 6 of week 4

2007-09-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

Well today was my last interval day of the week. Today was a littl hard because it was such a beautiful day out and I started doing some stuff in the garage and was just getting into that so much that I really didn't want to workout. I even started to tell myself maybe I'll skip today and do my interval tomorrow, but luckily I snapped out of it.

So after stretching and doing my warmup routine I did the wheel of death for my abs, 25 straight and 25 each side for obliques, just like thursday. This time I threw in some bench presses, some dumbell curls, and some dumbell shoulder shrugs. WOW did those burn!

Then I hit the treadmill and did the following:

2min at 3mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
1min at 10mph, then
6min at 6mph, then
4min at 7mph, then
3min at 6mph, then
2min at 3mph, then
1min at 2mph for cool down.

I did the entire routine at 2% grade until the last 3 min of walking, I went up to 10% grade. That felt really good in the front of my lower legs.

So thats it for this week, another one down. I cant wait to start week 5, Im getting really excited now because Im starting to notice more and more changes in myself, and people around me are starting to notice too. Tomorrow I might put together a stats list of my progress so far, or I might just add it to Mondays when I take my week 5 pics...not sure yet.

Hope all of you are keeping up with it! Its hard but dont forget, ITS WORTH IT!!!

I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO MY OLD WAYS,.....EVER!!!!!

Friday, day 5 of week 4

2007-09-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

Todays resistance went very good, I pushed myself a little extra today. Same thing as usual though, started with the warmups, then only waited 1 minute and started the resisitance routine. I chose to do the advanced level again for a total of 4 circuits, which really had me sweatin. I snapped a quick pic of me right after I was finished with my training today.

Enjoy week 3 guys, cause week 4 starts circuit training, FUN!!!! Deffinetely not as easy as I originally thought.

Thursday, day 4 of week 4

2007-09-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

Just got this entry in on time, just barely!!! I just finished my interval training for today. I had to do it late because like I sometimes have to, I had to be at work all day today.

I started the same way as usual, with the 8 sets of dynamic warmup #1, and then I did my ab wheel of death, which consisted of 25 straight and 25 oblique side crunches. I uped it by 5 each one.

Then I hit the treadmill, and I figured I'de show you how I did, so heres a pic of my final results:

Not too bad if I dont say so myself. I did the following, all at 2% grade:

2min at 3mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
1min at 10mph, then
2min at 6mph, then
1min at 9mph, then
14min at 6mph, then
2min at 3mph, then
1min at 2mph.

This was a pretty intense run, but I feel GREAT right now.....Im even thinkin after I shower I might see if the miss' wants to "work out". ;-)

Night all!!

Wednesday, day 3 of week 4

2007-09-19T18:16:00.001-07:00

Well today went pretty good. I didnt get the interval in like I wanted to because I ran out of time. But I did up my workout today. As you will see when you get to week 4 you can choose your intensity level for that weeks resistance routine, so Monday I chose to do it at the intermediate level which consisted of 45 seconds for each exercise with a 15 second brake inbetween each one, for a total of 3 circuits. It was pretty good but I was left with extra energy so I added some of my own stuff afterwards.

So today I had purchased a second set of resistance tubing so that I wouldnt have to waste time swithing tubes out, it helped ALOT!! I figured I would test myself too, so I decided to do the advanced level for the routine, which allows 60 seconds for each exercise with only a 5 second brake in between each exercise. WOW did this really kick my ass today!!

I started with my normal routine, stretching for a couple minutes and then doing 8 sets of the dynamic warmup #1, but I only waited 10 to 15 seconds in between each set of the warmup. That really increased my heartrate and got me sweattin faster. Then I proceeded to start the week 4 routine at the advanced level. I did the routine for a total of 4 circuits, and still added my other little dumbell exercises at the end.

I wanted to run afterwards but I just didn't have time, and to tell you the truth, I didn't have the energy! Doing the avdanced level for 4 circuits really took it out of me. What a HUGE difference between the intermediate and advanced levels! I had a sweat line down to just below my chest, it was pretty crazy. I even started my routine today with an extra 20 minutes.

I feel really good now that Im at work and have had my protein shake on the way in and I just finished my turkey and green beans dinner. I woke up this morning and was still 169 lbs, so thats good. Im really gonna try to kick it up for tomorrows interval again and see if I can burn some more fat!

Tuesday, day 2 of week 4

2007-09-18T16:52:00.000-07:00

WOW was today awesome!! Im really surprised but I am actually a tiny bit sore in some new places, so I am assuming it was from some of the resistance training from yesterday. Guess it wasn't as easy as I thought LOL! I also bought some of those medical balls that you squeeze, so that I have something to do at work, and Im feeling that in my forearm today!

So for todays interval training I thought I might change it up a bit, so I started my normal warmup, which is now up to 8 sets of the "Dynamic Warmup #1), which is really getting me sweattin! Then I did my wheel of death ab routine, which only consisted of 20 straight rolls and 20 oblique side rolls each side. Then I hit the treadmill and ran for over 23 minutes and over 2miles! I burned 57 carbs and a little over 300 calories, I was excited. This is what I did:

2 min at 3mph, then
2 min at 6mph, then
1 min sprint at 9mph, then
2 min at 6mph, then
1 min sprint at 9mph, then
13 min at 6mph, then
2 min at 3mph for cool down, then
1 min at 2mph for finish

I thought Ide mix it up a bit today and this is what I came up with. Ive been running the same thing with only a little difference in the speed for the last 3 weeks so I figured I'de throw my body a curve, and it worked! I sweat the most today than any other interval training day yet!

I also weighed in this morning at 169lbs, so thankfully Im still losing some weight. Really going to try and get some fat burned from my gut this week for those week 5 pics.

Oh, thanks to all who leave me comments on this blog, you have no idea how much they really help and keep me going. We are all in this together!!!!

Monday, day 1 of week 4

2007-09-17T17:38:00.000-07:00

Well today was the first day off week 4 for me. I really want to hit the interval hard this week cause next week I will be posting new pics, and I want to start seeing a real noticable difference in my stomach area. I already see the change in my arms and legs, but Im looking for gut changes! LOL!!

So in going over the week 4 routine it looks a bit like some week 1 and 2 and 3 stuff with the ball mixed in, not too tuff looking.

I started off today with doing my usual "Dynamic Warmup #1", but I did it 8 times today. I will do it at 8 times for the rest of the week and then starting week 5 I will do a new "Dynamic Warmup" set. I chose to do todays routine in the intermediate level, so I did each exercise for 45 seconds with a 15 second rest in between each exercise, and then a 1 minute rest in between each circuit. I completed 3 circuits, but was left feeling like I still had alot of energy to burn. So I added some freeweights exercises and some basic pushups that I did slowly.

I would have done alo9t more but I ran out of time, so my next resistance day I will deffinetely add another 1/2 hour or more. Also this week I will be doing my own routine with my ab wheel, which of course I named "the wheel of death", because that thing kills your stomach! But thats what I used the last time I almost got to a six pack, but only made it to a 4, so I know that thing works.

I feel a little bit of soreness in my abs though today, so maybe that means the stomach exercises today worked! Thats pretty much it for today, time to eat my tuna, pickle, and cottage cheese now, and watch 300. Im at work so theres not much else to do.

Oh, heres something I found out too about week 4. I noticed that it was taking me too long to switch the resistance bands around for each of the exercises, so I decided that I will go to Walmart and pick up another set of the resistance bands. No big deal since they were only 10$, but it will make it easier to have 2 sets of bands so that I can have 1 set up for one exercise and the other for a different exercise and wont have to waist time changing bands.

Week 3 workout info

2007-09-15T17:26:00.000-07:00

So this section will get my late to blog ass all caught up and up to date!! Sorry if it seems short and sweet, but it will be!

Monday, day 1 of week 3. My first day of week 3, and all the soreness is pretty much gone now, Im feeling really excited to do this weeks routine too, it looks more like working out!! So like I posted earlier, http://groups.google.com/group/arnels-6-pack-attack/browse_thread/thread/c684f2f2dd880ef6 I bought the elastic bands from Walmart cause I just didnt have the time to buy the bodylastics ones. Price was not a factor, just time. So I not only did the routine exactly as layed out, but I added extra reps because I felt that it wasn't hard enough. I didnt add too much to try and kill myself, but just enough to get that burn going nice and strong. I had to experiment with the bands a bit to find what I liked, and I settled on using the red (lightest intensity band) and the black ( heaviest intensity band) together for the rest of all my exercises for the entire week. Plus my daughter snaked the blue band from me and was happy swinging it around!

Tuesday, day 2 of week 3. A little sore from yesterdays resistance training, but glad to feel the soreness again, it must mean somethings changing! Especially my inner thighs, from the Stationary lunges is my guess. So I figured now that Im starting to feel alot better I should really start pumping up my running speeds, so today after doing my dynamic warmup #1 (7 times now) I started walking for 2 min at 3 mph, then 5mph for 2 min, then 9mph for 1 min, then 6mph for 2 min, then 10 mph for 1 min, then 6mph for 2 min, then 10mph for 1 min, then 5mph for 2 min, then 3mph for a 2 min cooldown. Sorry that writes out really weird, but holy cow did I sweat like crazy!! I had no idea how much harder going from 9mph to 10mph would be!! But I felt great afterwards!!

Wednesday, day 3 of week 3. Well the soreness from mondays workout has gone, only slightly there in my inner thighs, so I will add 2 different workouts this day. After all is finished I ended up doing 20 squats with red/black bands, 20 standing chest presses, 15 stationary lunges each leg, which killed the first set, bt got surprisingly easier the next 2 sets, 20 standing rows, 15 standing shoulder presses, which got cery hard to do during the last 6 or 7 of the very last set, 20 bicep curls each arm, 20 standing rotations each direction, and 15 hip thrusts. Now I wanted a little more so I added 3 sets of 20 doing sitting behind the head tricep curls with both hands using a 25lb dumbell, and also added 3 sets of 15 seated forearm curls, which I have added a video of to demonstrate. Also I felt really pumped today so I added 10 minutes of running which had a single 1 minute 10mph sprint in it. I was very happy with myself, considering I did this after I got home at like 9:30 pm and didnt finish till after 11pm.

Here is the video of my forearm routine, which I added to the resistance workouts 2 days of week 3, and will be adding it to week 4 also. I used to do this exercise alot in highschool when I was lifting weights alot, and love what it does for my forearms. Rest your arm palms up on your leg and let the barbell roll allthe way to the end of your fingertips, then curl your fingers up and finally curl your whole rist up as far as you can, then slowly release it and repeat. I did 15 of these each arm and trust me, YOU WILL FEEL AN EXCRUSIATING BURN, but you will love it!

Thursday, day 4 of week 3. I was happy with how my interval training went on tuesday, but I felt I still had a little more in me, so today I again pumped it up a little. I decided to run the entire duration at a 2% grade this time, and believe me it made a BIG difference! So my run went as follows: 2 minutes at 3mph for warmup (after my 7 sets of dynamic warmup of course!), then 2 min at 6mph, then 1 min at 9mph, then 2 min at 6 mph, then 1 min at 10mph, then 2 min at 6mph, then 1 min at 9 mph, then 2 min at 5mph, then down to 3 mph for a 2 min cooldown. WOW did this version of interval REALLY kick my butt!! But another day and another triumph!! "NO PRISONERS...NO MERCY!!!"

Friday, day 5 of week 3. Again I had to work all day, so it was hard to go straight home knowing I MUST workout, but I did it. Everything was exactly the same as wednesday, except I did not add any interval training at the end. Plus this night I had my cute little workout buddy that found her way into the garage with me to keep me company and laugh at me while trying to mimic me!

Saturday, day 6 of week 3. Today was exactly the same as thursday, with the 2 % incline the entire run. But this time I did my sprints different, the first was 10mph, then 10mph, then 9mph.

Week 3 pictures and info

2007-09-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

Well here are the pictures that I promised. They were taken on Monday, day 1 of week 3. Not a huge difference in the two sets but I feel so much stronger, my arms and legs are tighter and getting really hard. I have been adding some workouts to my routine this week, when I get home later I will fill in details about how the workouts went. For now heres just the pictures.

Week 2

2007-09-14T00:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, well this is just to catch you up to speed as of how my second week went. As you know by now (if you've been reading posts from me) Im in the 3rd week of the routine.

I was very sore from week 1's routine. It was really hard to keep myself motivated, so I looked around and found that I could join you guys in the group chat room without being in the actual challenge. I was very glad for this, because without reading some of your stories and talking with all of you I might have given up. But obviously I havn't, so I started week 2 with the feeling of not being alone, it was nice.

Monday, day 1 of week 2, was a very hard day for me. My body was VERY thankful for the Sunday off, but was not happpy when I started the routine again. I start off every day with some stretching and then I do the Dynamic Warmup #1 from Arnels six pack website. http://www.iwantsixpackabs.com/workout/bodywarmup.html I like the #1 warmup alot, its easy, fast, and gets me sweating really quick. I did it 4 or 5 times this day I think, and then rest for 1 minute, and started the resistance routine. I did everything in the routine at a good rate, but I DID NOT LIKE THOSE DIVE BOMBER PUSHUPS!! I did all 20 for each set, but towards the last set they got really ugly! Also I just did the straight plank again, I couldn't do the 1 leg planks for more than 10 seconds.

Tuesday, day 2 of week 2, started off with the warmup, I believe I did 5 times again. Then I got on my treadmill and started my interval training. I started off with 2mph walk for 1 min, then 3 mph for 2 min, then 5mph jog for 2 min, then 8 mph sprint for 1 minute, and repeated the 5 mph to 8 mph for a total of 3 prints. Let me tell you, I have always been able to run at a set pace for long distances, and have never felt the way that this type of running makes me feel. I love it!

Wednesday, day 3 of week 2. Resistance training just as monday, but MUCH easier! I didn't feel as sore on wednesday, so it was alot easier to do the workout, and the dive bombers stayed fairly consistent throughout. Sweat like Mike Tyson at a spelling bee, jeez!!

Thursday, day 4 of week 2, same exact thing as tuesday. (interval day, same speeds)

Friday, day 5 of week 2. I didn't get to workout when I usually do, had to go to work all day. But I read the group postings and got the needed boost to go home and immediately work out. Today was funny though, my daughter got into the garage with me and was imitating me evertime I did a workout number, it was very cute. She layed down above me when I was doing the sittup part towards the end, and was huffing and puffing and lifting her legs mimicking me. Made me laugh...which was hard while doing sittups! LOL

Saturday, day 6 of week 2, due to family problems I had to do my interval training earlier than normal, but it went very well. I am starting to feel like I can go longer and faster, so today I uped the jog speed twice to 6mph and did the middle sprint at 9 mph. It was tuff but I felt really good afterwards. My body is no longer sore, even with the resistance training the night before.

So that was how week 2 went for me. I have started to notice the veins in my forearms starting to pop out again, I missed them! My arms are getting alot harder, and Im noticing a nice cut forming in my triceps. My calfs are also becoming more defined, and my quads are getting like rocks. I look in the mirror and can see a slight difference but most of it is in my face, arms, and legs. I still see a belly there, which disheartens me a little bit. But I have dropped from my starting weight of 177.5 lbs to 173.5 lbs now, so I know there is some fat being burned away.

My discovery of: i want six pack abs

2007-09-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

Well its the first week, and I cant tell you how excited I am to have found this workout program. This all started for me one day when I got out of the shower, looked at myself in our floor to ceiling bathroom mirrors and just said "damn, Im fat...and Im sick of it!"

I have a 2 year old daughter, Ally, who is my life and my love. Its amazing the energy that these little people posses! Its actually getting hard to keep up with her and I dont like that at all, so that is my MAIN reason for doing this program, to make sure Im around to see my little girl become an amazing person someday, and to know that I was there to help teach, shape and mold her into the person she will be. But I cant do it if Im fat and unhealthy, so here I am!

So now that I had my motivation I just needed that 1 last thing to push me into gear, so would'nt you know it, I found my last piece of inspiration in a movie. A stupid movie of all things, and I know it might sound stupid, but it was when me and my girlfriend were sitiing down one evening and watched 300. Besides the fact that I thought the movie was great and seriously kicked ass, I just watched and thought to myself "wow, Im 29 and I dont look anything even remotely similar to these guys, and most of them were in their 30's and 40's!" So I went online and researched a 300 spartan workout regimine, and one of the Youtube videos that popped up was Arnel's week 7 (or 8?) video. So I watched it along with others but something about Arnels just caught my eye, so I checked out the six pack abs website that I saw in the video. I then emailed him my email address and got access to the real six pack abs website and sat there for about an hour and read it from top to bottom.

The thing that really grabbed me with Arnels program was that after looking at the exercises for each individual week I sat and thought "hey, this looks like something I could do". So I did some research on nutritional guidelines I should follow for eating better, checked out some of Arnel's sample menus, did a little more research, and wholla! It took me about a week to write up my 1st weeks diet plan, but I ate good during that week too. I quit soda completely!! Cold turkey. But you know what, it was'nt that hard. I've learned that if you are eating the right foods, and eating more frequently, you dont get cravings for alot of the bad stuff that we have been blindly stuffing into our mouths for years and years. I had to give up the Ho Ho's too, but Im ok with it!

Now I have my diet planned out, my routine for all 16 weeks printed out, how and when I will be working out all shceduled, its just time to start!

First off let me just say, the first week is the hardest! I am so out of shape, so weak feeling, that it makes it hard to even keep going. I really tried to do all of the reps for each specified exercise that was writtin out but some of them I just could'nt. I kept track of exactly how many of everything I did do though, and it helped give me something to try and beat the next time I was going to do the resistance day. Honestly, the first resistance day, Monday, I could'nt finish the entire workout. My head was pounding and I could feel extreme pressure building up in the back of my head. Im still not sure what it was but I do know that I have a history of heart and blood pressure problems that run in my family. Also my blood pressure reading the Sunday before I started was 134 over 89, which is not good.

Tuesday came, the second day of my 16 week journey and my first interval training day. Lets just say I was motivated...but not really excited. I have chosen to run for my interval training days for the entire 16 week period, I have always loved running so I figured great, its something I like so I know I would stick to it. It was VERY hard....I ran for 4 minutes at a medium jog, then sprinted as fast as I could for 1 minute (actually only 38 seconds), it was NOT easy! I then continued to jog again for another 4 minutes, sprinted again, this time for 45 seconds, and then jogged for another 4 minutes till I gothome. I then went upstairs to take my shower and sat on the floor in the shower for a good 10 minutes before I had enough energy to stand and actually shower! Funny...but not really.

Wednesday's resistance was a little easier. I actually did 3 full sets of the pull ups, first 7, then 9, then 10! I was very excited then, so happy I found enough energy in me to finish the entire routine. This time I had only a very slight headache...a good sign I guess.

Thursday's interval day was alot better than Tuesday's, I used my treadmill which made it alot more enjoyable than running in the sun. I ran fo over 1 mile, keeping my jogging at 5 miles per hour and sprinting for 1 full minute at 8 miles per hour. I repeated this 3 times just like the program requires, and I sweated my brains out!!

Friday was great! Did all of the required exercises, but only could muster 3 sets of 10 for the pull ups, but hey...its week 1. I still finished everything, and I ws very happy with myself.

Saturday was my last interval day of the week, and I was glad too. I pushed myself as hard as I could and ran through the sore muscle pains and did exactly the same routine that I had done on Thursday. I was very sore and achy, like most people doing this routine know. But I had done it!! Week 1 had come and gone for me, and I survived it!!

"NO PRISONERS.......NO MERCY!!!!"

WEEK 1 PICTURES

2007-09-12T18:36:00.000-07:00

Well, heres my pics from Monday, August 27th, my first day of the "i want six pack abs" workout routine. What can I say, not much to look at, but hey, thats one of the reasons Im doing this!

As you can see...years of eating fast food, eating once a day, not getting any exercise, and drinking soda can give you this physique too!! If thats your desired physical appearance. But as for me, Im sick of looking like this!

So today starts my 16 week journey, and hopefully by posting these hideous pictures it will give me the added boost of motivation to get my butt in gear and start getting healthy. I will be updating my pics with bi-weekly photos taken every Monday. So here they are.....WEEK 1.