See How We’ve Changed Our Lives Through Health & Fitness

Week eight started late because my sleep schedule changed and I didn’t adapt my workout routine to my new sleep hours. After the initial adjustment period I went to the gym yesterday TWO TIMES. I’ve never been to the gym two times in one day and I have to say it wasn’t really all that bad.

My first workout at the gym happened in the late morning and my second workout occured around almost 9:00 pm that night. What I found most interesting was how you don’t feel the exhaustion or soreness from the earlier workout while exercising but you will (sort of) feel it the next day.

My first workout consisted of legs and back exercises running the gamut from leg extensions, calf extensions, back extensions and hip abductions. A lot of extensions, I know.

The biggest difference I’ve noticed in my body over the past few weeks has been in the hip region. Because I use the “Ab Twist Machine” almost every time I go I’ve started to develop a toned hip area which creates that “V” you see in all the fashion magazines. It’s pretty cool to see it come out and I wouldn’t have ever DREAMED of having a toned part of my body when I started working out a few years ago and lost 40 lbs.

The second workout of the day was with a workout partner and consisted of a range of exercises ranging from chest to shoulders and back. I didn’t workout with the same exercises to avoid muscle strain but did more lat/upper back and shoulder exercises like pulldowns and shrugs.

I’m still a big proponent of not exhausting yourself by doing multiple workouts in one day and would still spread my workout over three to four days but I am enjoying the time saved not having to travel to the gym just to do back and shoulder exercises.

Related Posts

• Workout Log: Starting Off Light (1)
• Week Six Roundup, Week Seven: Looking Forward (0)
• Week Seven: Mid-Week Update (0)
• Week Five - New Schedule, Exercise Changes (0)
• Day Three - Some Cardio, Shoulders (0)

I just got back from the gym and I think its safe to say my arms are completely worked. I made pretty incredible gains compared to two weeks ago which may be in part because I took three BodyQuick pills tonight rather than the normal two. I had a ton of energy!

One thing to note about this week: Tuesday morning I went to the gym and was a little too ambitious when pushing myself to do more weights with my legs and back. I’m fine now but whenever you are working out and pushing yourself just remember that there are some parts of your body that are easier to injure/make really sore. Hip abductions and back extensions on machines should not be where you see your biggest gains week-over-week, trust me!

By the way, going to the gym in the wee hours of the morning is fantastic. There are only about 10 people in the entire gym and it looks a lot less like a night club than when you go in at, say,  7:00 pm. If you are an insomniac or your schedule permits, I highly recommend going to a 24 hour gym!

Related Posts

• Workout Log: Starting Off Light (1)
• Week Six Roundup, Week Seven: Looking Forward (0)
• Week Five - New Schedule, Exercise Changes (0)
• Week Eight: Hit the Ground Running, Twice. (0)
• Day Three - Some Cardio, Shoulders (0)

I didn’t post a workout log for week six because, well, I didn’t go to the gym once! I do have a relatively good excuse though — One of the people I live with brought home the bubonic plague (not really but they did bring a cold into the house) and shortly after recovering from being sick in the beginning of September I caught what they had and I was out of commission for a week.

I could have gone to the gym and worked out despite my sickness but every time I do it ends up taking longer to recover and I end up not being very productive anyway. Also, I’m sure the healthy people at the gym would prefer I didn’t go while sick too.

Onward to Week Seven which begins today: I went to the gym this morning at about 4:30 am and I picked up right where I left off in Week Five by doing legs and back exercises. I always prefer doing leg exercises when I make a return to the gym after not going for a while because they’re much easier (in my opinion) and, even at 4:30 am, there are a lot less people hawking the leg exercise equipment.

I’m sort of in disbelief at the leaps ahead in progress I am making each week. For example, from Week Four I was doing 90 lbs. with eight repetitions on the Leg Extension machine and now in Week Seven I am doing 120 lbs. with fifteen repetitions. Though I’m convinced I’m headed in the right direction I also think I might have been pushing weight levels that were below my capability in the earlier weeks of returning to the gym.

Back Extensions have seen even more rapid progress with Week Four starting at 70 lbs. with ten repetitions and Week Seven ending at 140 lbs. with ten repetitions.

I’ve also taken to trying new machines and integrating them into my workout plan. Two machines I’ve really taken to are the Hip Abduction and Ab-X machines. I was a little perplexed tonight when I discovered there are two types of Hip Abduction machines: One where you push your knees together and the other where you move your legs apart (does that make sense?).

Supplements are still the same and I can’t imagine changing them in the foreseeable future. I really like BodyQuick from BrainQuicken (a product of Tim Ferriss, author of Four Hour Work Week) because it gives me a boost at the gym but I don’t end up jittery or feeling like I’m highly caffeinated.

I’ll update at the end of Week Seven and note any changes in between.

Related Posts

• Workout Log: Starting Off Light (1)
• Week Seven: Mid-Week Update (0)
• Week Five - New Schedule, Exercise Changes (0)
• Week Eight: Hit the Ground Running, Twice. (0)
• Day Three - Some Cardio, Shoulders (0)

There are many good charities out there working to make the world a better place and while any of those charities are deserving of donations I’d like to spotlight a selfless cause a good friend and client of mine is working towards.

The 2009 Walt Disney World Half Marathon will begin on January 10th, 2009 and my friend Renee Marchak will be participating. Not a runner by nature, Renee is determined to run the half marathon on behalf of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. The society is working towards a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, hodgkin lymphoma which has affected millions of people around the world both directly and indirectly.

I have personally donated to Renee’s cause on behalf of FocusBodyHealth.com and she is only about $2,300 short of her $3,800 donation goal for the LLS (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). Any amount is helpful so if you can donate please visit Renee’s page and donate.

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I’ve decided to log my workouts using a weekly system instead of a daily system because sometimes I get back from the gym and get distracted by other things before I can blog.

Verdict Thus Far

Anyway, week five has been a lot of fun thus far. In week four (last week) one of my new friends started going to the gym with me one day a week and it has really motivated me to push myself beyond my comfort zone and into new levels of strength I didn’t even know I had.

One weakness that’s become apparent is the ability of my wrists to hold the weight while bench pressing which I think is in part because I’ve moved so rapidly up the scale in how much weight I can lift. I’m going to start doing wrist strengthening exercises during the week while working or whenever I have some free time.

My friend taught me an exercise for your wrist which is to basically take a relatively light dumbell and lift it towards your wrist while balancing your forearm on your quads.

Workout Changes

I’ve also taken to altering my workout plan that I received from my last personal trainer because the workout plan was originally geared towards toning and not so much at building muscle.

One of the most interesting things about transitioning into a new, smaller gym is how you come to realize that there are a ton of different machines that work differently yet perform the same range of motion and exercises.

Up until tonight I had to resort to using a medicine ball against the wall to perform calf extensions which isn’t terrible but it really doesn’t give you the full effect as a calf extension machine with weights does. While I was browsing through the gym a sit down calf extension machine caught my eye and I like it much more than the medicine ball exercise.

Supplements

It’s been a few months since I’ve ordered bodybuilding supplements so I bought the following products tonight:

1. Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Protein - 10 Lbs.

Review:
Optimum Nutrition’s 100% Whey Protein is a very high quality, lean whey protein perfect for bedtime shakes and protein shakes on days when you aren’t going to the gym. The price isn’t bad either.

2. MRI Pro-NOS Protein Powder Dutch Chocolate Royale - 3 Lbs.

Review:
This is, hands down, my favorite protein powder to use after the gym. The flavor is unbelievable and it mixes really well with water or milk (I use rice milk and water).

I also picked up Mega BCAA and Glutamine from ProSource.net. The Mega BCAA can be kinda nasty in protein shakes which is why I use MRI Pro-NOS. The MRI protein powder is so thick that you don’t taste the Mega BCAA but you can also get Mega BCAA in capsule form if you choose. Glutamine is glutamine.

Related Posts

• Workout Log: Starting Off Light (1)
• Week Six Roundup, Week Seven: Looking Forward (0)
• Week Seven: Mid-Week Update (0)
• Week Eight: Hit the Ground Running, Twice. (0)
• Day Three - Some Cardio, Shoulders (0)

So I’ve been absent for awhile not going to the gym. The reason for this was because I wanted to try slim to see if it actually works and it does!! I returned to the gym today it was 2am! I did some ab workouts and shoulders for like 20 mins. After that did free weights. The last 28 mins there I decided to use the precor for some cardio. I burned about 360 calories at 3miles. It seemed very hard to even get there. I have to consider the fact I don’t normally goto the gym at 2am! I feel good though so hopefully I will get back to my 800 calorie average days again!

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What motivates you to go to the gym? Believe it or not, your motivation has everything to do with that extra little “oomph” you need to get you to the gym on days when you’d rather relax at home or watch tv instead.

Here are five great ways we’ve used to keep ourselves motivated and driven to accomplishing our fitness goals:

Personal Trainer

I used to define my motivation for exercising at the gym as scheduling an appointment with a personal trainer two times a week and using that appointment as my primary motivation for going to the gym. After all, I paid for twelve sessions at a cost of $486 total so why wouldn’t I go? If I didn’t go I would end up wasting the $40.50 I pre-paid for that session and I do not like wasting money on account of my laziness.

I don’t recommend using a personal trainer as your primary motivation for going to the gym if you don’t have a lot of expendable income because it will cost you approximately $4,000 a year to pay for a training sessions at the gym if you go to train with the trainer two times a week. I would still recommend investing in a few sessions if you are absolutely new to the gym so you can familiarize yourself with machines and not injure yourself by using machines incorrectly.

Find a Gym Partner

Still my absolute favorite way to keep myself interested in the gym is to meet up with a gym buddy and go to the gym together. You will not only reap the social rewards of being with a friend but you’re also more likely to try new machines.

The one potential downside to this is coordinating schedules between friends so I would try meeting with your friend(s) once or twice a week and then go on your own once or twice more each week. You will feel much more at ease if you go to the gym with a friend when you are new because you won’t feel like you stand out as much.

Blog About It

Something both Anthony and I do is write about our fitness goals and exercise experiences on FocusBodyHealth. Once you write down your goals and talk about how your gym experiences have been you will be more apt to improve your experience and accomplish your goals. You could even create a blog on many social networking sites like MySpace and set it to “Diary” mode where only you can read your entries. If you would like to blog about it on FocusBodyHealth, drop us a line in the comments below and we’ll get in touch.

Reward Yourself

Before getting serious about my health I would watch tv like it was my job. With the advent of iTunes and the Slingbox I have discovered new ways to reward my time at the gym by watching those tv shows and movies I like on my iPhone while running on the elliptical machine. Many Windows Mobile phones have access to Slingbox applications so they can watch (and control) their cable box/DVR remotely using their cell phone.

Track Your Progress with Pictures

Photos can be worth a thousand words but sometimes they are just a wake up call that keeps you going once you see how far you’ve come each week, month and year. Keep a pair of pants or a sweater that you wore before beginning your healthier lifestyle and take pictures at regular intervals so you can see your changes. Eventually you will reach your target fitness level and you’ll have the joyful task of donating that sweater or pair of pants to a charity because you no longer have a need for it.

Achieving your fitness goals is an exciting journey, not an overnight success, and motivating yourself to get through the toughest parts along the way are a crucial part of completing that journey. Once you see how much you’ve changed for the better and enjoy living in your new body you’ll have all the motivation you need to maintain or pursue new goals.

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So I’ve decided to take a couple days off from the gym to see if this product really works. Its called Slim made by bios life. I’ve kept my weight the entire time for about 5 days. So far the product is pretty good. I’ve noticed that my body has been getting thinner, and my pants that I wear have been getting loose that I have to wear a belt now! But I just wanted to share what I’ve been trying to do with my exercise at the gym. I do plan on going back to the gym. I just wanted to test to see if this product really works! So far it does and will continue to use this while attending the gym as well!

This is what the Bios Life Slim is about:

It helps you lose fat that has built up over the years while avoiding those crash diets.

You have to start your day with breakfast! Very important, have a high-protein, low- carbohydrate breakfast.

Reduce foods such as sugar, paster, white rice, and white flour.

Eat three meals everyday. Try to avoid snacking and eating after dinner.

Slim

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I’ve been working alot the past couple days. I felt tired but decided to goto the gym. I only had an hour to work out because they closed. So I started this new diet called SLIM its from bios life. It made me feel wierd taking it. So I did the precor for about 45 mins and burned 575 calories. My weight is still the same but my body looks like its getting thinner which is a good thing!

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