Sore

My arms are completely trashed. Tuesday I emphasized my triceps and biceps. Specifically I focused on the long part of my triceps. The long part is lacking on most people, but if you hit it really hard and get it to grow it actually helps fill out the upper arm.

The bicep is actually the smallest part of the arm. It is mostly made up of triceps. Check out this diagram of the arm. TRICEPS/BICEPS/FOREARMS

If you took a look at the diagram you can see that the triceps are about a third of the upper arm. I have found great growth in my arm in size by hitting my triceps hard. This is the workout I did the really hit the back of the triceps.

Close-grip bench 6 sets

Skullcrushers 4 sets

Standing Dumbbells Triceps Extension 4 sets

Cable Triceps Pushdowns 4 sets

I found this be an extremely effective way to hit the triceps. As I said my arms are completely destroyed. From the soreness I have taken a couple days off so that they could recover.

The diet has been steady this week and I have felt wonderful. Slacking on my diet always makes me feel terrible. I just feel sluggish and tired when I am not eating clean. And then bang eating clean really raises the energy. 

Just have to throw this in here. LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NFL DRAFT TODAY! LETS GO DALLAS COWBOYS!!!

                           

Back on Track

Today was the start of a new week and a new goal. My goal is to hit the gym at least four times and to eat clean for six days. I will attempt all seven and just have a cheat meal but we will see because it is extremely tough.

I was able to eat clean throughout the entire day today and able to get a nice hour and a half workout at the gym as well. I tried a new technique today while doing chest. It was recommended from an article I read featuring the one and only Arnold!

This is what I did today. I did four sets of three on bench. I did this on the smith machine with a bench that was able to adjusted for different degrees.

1st set 15 degrees for 3 sets

2nd set 30 degrees for 3 sets

3rd set 45 degrees for 3 sets

4th set 60 degrees for 3 sets

The reason to do four different degrees on the bench is to hit the entire chest throughout the movements. If you have been following my blog I do chest quite a bit. The reason for this is I have an extremely strong chest but it lacks size. For this reason I really work on it harder then the rest of my body for this point in time.

I finished the workout with heavy incline dumbbell flys followed by lighter cable flys to really get the blood pumping in the chest. And of course the oh so hated cardio.

Motivation

No one has your exact situation. Even if it may be similar it is not exact.

Do yourself a favor and stop listening to the negative people throw out. Yes maybe they ate better and worked out a few more times that week but that does not mean you are a failure. Circumstance arise and you just have to go with it.

Just never give up and keep at it and you will always feel you are accomplishing what you set out for.

When I started this I had a goal and lets me honest I am no where near it. I have made progress and will continue to strive for that goal but I do not see myself as a failure. We just have off days and sometimes off weeks.

Always put your head down and plow through that brick wall!!!

Check out this article in Time Magazine about motivation.

Checking In

Been a busy week with projects due. Have not been able to consistently get to the gym or eat well for that matter. Ran out of the good food a couple days ago and have not had time to get to the store to restock.

Finally found some time to hit the store yesterday and get the the cabinets refreshed. I like to hit a couple different stores to pick up groceries. I have going to the co op lately and I have fallen in love with it. I absolutely recommend everyone stop and in and check a store in your local area out!

If you are not sure what the co op is? It is an organic grocery store that offer amazing products and are extremely friendly if you would have any questions.

I have hit the gym twice this week and just tried to get a nice burn going.

I will attempt to get there both day over the weekend if I am able to get some of these projects out of the way.

Never give up. Life is hectic but you will eventually reach your goal if you keep at it!

Productive Day!

I have been off of the gym for a couple of days, as well as my diet. I know it sounds terrible and I may not have a great excuse but it was my 30th birthday weekend. So I pretty much relaxed and had a fun time with a bunch of good friends.

Now that the weekend was over I did have a very productive day today. I lifted chest real heavy today. I was very impressed with myself after the lay off.

A side note I have a project for a class that involves me doing a soundslide. This pretty much is telling a story with pictures and some music in the background. During my lift today a buddy of mine followed me around and took pictures of my routine for this project. So, within the next week or two I will be posted the completed slide. I am excited to see how it looks.

Also I never really told much about myself and really why I started writing this blog. Please stop by in the near future for a more in depth look at myself.

I LOOK FORWARD TO TELLING YOU MY STORY!

Thanks for reading!

Feel Great

I did not get the chance to get back on to blog after the workout last night. Got out of the gym late.

Yesterday was a great workout. The tweak I had in my chest did not bother me or appear to come back even in the slightest during my workout.  I did chest last night and it was my heaviest lift to date. Check out the weight below.........

Floor Bench

I started my workout with floor bench. My last two sets I was able to push up 275 lbs. For those who do not know floor bench is a different kind of flat bench. One lays on their back and benches as you would normally but the added benefit is it restricts movement. Because you are laying on the floor you can't go past your elbows or bounce the weight off of your chest and it makes the chest work in overtime. This is great for explosiveness.

Since about the second week of lifting chest I have not really been sore the next couple days afterward so I decided to switch it up.

This is why I had forgone the regular bench for a new approach. This was my routine last night.

Floor Bench 6 sets x 12 - 2 reps

Incline Dumbbell 4 sets x 10 - 6 reps

Incline Bench Cable Flys 4 sets x 10 reps

Pec Deck 4 sets x 10 reps w/ final set being a drop set

Chest Dips 3 sets x failure

 Cardio 25 min.

Waking up today I really feel a nice sore from changing up the workout. I am going to take this approach for the rest of the week and do a little different for every body part. Even though I normally switch up slightly week to week I am going to make it a point to switch it up to the extreme.

Pre-Workout

Took four days off from the gym due to a discomfort. I was doing dips when I felt some real discomfort in my chest on Thursday. I decided to take it easy for a couple day till the discomfort completely went away.

I did not want to have a huge set back due to an injury so I wanted to be a hundred percent before I went back in lifting some heavy weight.

I now feel 100%

Headed to the gym now to work chest. Hoping for the best!

I will post how in went after I return.

Dreadful Cardio

Have had an extremely productive week! I have been spot on with my diet and been to the gym four days straight. Yes that includes four straight days of cardio.

Ohh dreadful cardio. I have never been a fan of doing cardio but this time I was determined to stick with the regimen. I have consistently done cardio at least four times a week.

Her is a little motivation for those who hate it as well!

That is about what my results look like daily.

If you are having trouble getting it in everyday just remember you are not alone in this world in not wanting to do cardio. I choose to use the elliptical because it is less stressful on the knees. I have also been told by pro bodybuilders that running on treadmills is bad overall for the quads. Take a look at the link below if you are not sure which you would prefer.

Elliptical vs. Treadmill

Getting in the Routine

It has been a couple weeks since my last blog. Shame on me! If you remember my last post I started a new diet, reducing my calories by quite a bit. It has been trying at times but for the most part I have been following it pretty strictly. The hardest part is not turning my one cheat meal a week into a cheat day.

This is going on my third week of being on the diet and I am down to 185 from 190. My goal is to get down to around 170 and cut the majority of fat out of my body until I start to bulk back up, but this time bulk in the good way. No need to add a spare tire again.

Here is a updated picture taken today while doing shoulders at the gym.

Yes it is a selfie. Laugh a little if you must!

As I mentioned above I find myself after eating a bad meal graving to get back into the gym. Bad part is most of the time the gym is closed because I have the meal on a Sunday. I am actually thinking about moving the meal to a weekday before I lift to do some extra cardio so that it is not as detrimental to my day.

Word of advice for the day. STAY CALM AND LIFT HEAVY WEIGHTS!