Semester over.....UPDATE

Semester is over....I passed! Certainly a learning experience....a NEW one.

The last couple weeks have been stressful...so much so I worked myself up into a chest cold, other contributors have been the sudden change in weather....that always gets me.

Up until recently I havent gotten sick, even when other around me were.

I credited that to better eating habbits, working out and getting plenty of rest.

Something I havent been really able to do recently....and thats mostly my fault.

I slacked in school....procrastinated. I wont do that again...because I found out misfortunes come ones way when they procrastinate....like my computer completely crashing and having to have my harddrive cleansweeped. BUMMER.

Along with this lil illness I havent been able to hit the gym....way too weak to be doing the kind of lifting I have been. I dont want to hurt myself and set myself back even longer....so I can manage taking a week off. Even if i dont like it.

I miss the burn....the pump....the energy.

Something i never would have thought i would hear myself saying...I miss the pain.

Someone ever asks me "How do you do it?" " What do you have to do?"
Id answer " Become very familiar with pain and soreness"

Learn to love the pain...learn to miss the pain when you dont workout.

Changing ones body isnt easy...and it shouldnt be....weeds out the boys from the men.lol.

I just hope Im better by monday....I want to start back again.


So...school is good...im good...yo momma is good (nah just kiddin) everything is good so far.

Until next time...take luck!

A month in

its already been a month in...starting on my second month....the improvements are finally showing.

Bout friggin time. but i knew it would....all hard work put in always shows up....right?

im finished with my circuit training, that was just a warm-up (hard ass warm-up) now the real work begins.

Strength training.....working out individual body parts per day.

I did back tuesday....chest today(wed)...tomorrow...shoulders...friday-arms.

The soreness in my back is good yet bothersome. not painful other then in my ass (for the slow ones in the class that means its a pain in my ass....not literally)

i can only imagine doing this for 6 more months....its a lil daunting....but i cant think that way.

ONE day at a time.....doesnt seem like ive been at it for a month. But i have been.

Its already in my blood....due to the thanksgiving holidays the school was closed from thu-mon...thus causing me to miss fridays workout.......i sure felt it.

Maybe it was all mental...maybe there really was no ill-affects but it sure felt like it.
Then Mon my PC crashes causing me to increase the stress....so i missed that workout....i just skipped legs for this week and carried on with my routine.

Exhausted, hurting a lil...sore as hell....no pain no gain.....boy thats the truth!

Week 3

So far so good. Not as sore as I once was. Yet my workouts still are intense. Im trying to keep the ego in check because I know at times I can increase the weight but I want to get the form correct rather than increase the weight.

I get my usual rest in so I can tell my strength has increased.

Soon I will be stopping this circuit training and start the serious weight training.
Working one body part a day. Im thinking I will h ave to drop the weight some to keep the stamina up so I can last throughout the workout.

As of now Im just doing 2 sets per exercise. Eventually Ill bring it up to 4 sets.

The supplements seem to be working.

I can feel the pump with the N.O.-Xplode....after finishing my arms today they were swoll. Could hardly bend them...they felt tight. GOOOOOOD!

I can tell there is a change in my body, not drastic nor near wher I want it to be but I know it takes time. And thats all I got.

With the semester coming to a close I will have to keep this nose of mine in the books until all Final Exams are complete.

Im excited...Im bout to finish my first semester of school....last year I would have never imagined that to be true.....Im proud of myself....big step I took.

Same Bat-time....same Ninja Turtle TIME!!!!!

3rd day

Again...not technically the third day but the third day of lifting. I think yall get the point.

Completely exhausted last night so I slept in instead of doing the workout in the morning.
Right now I have more energy throughout the workout when I hit the gym mid afternoon.

So 3:30pm rolls around, I down the N.O.-Xplode and drive over to the school

Stretched, did a lil warm-up and hit the weights.

Immediately I could feel my strength increase from the previous workout.
The weight is certainly nothing to brag about but I went from 35 to 40lbs d/bell shoulder presses.

One day I hope to be cranking out the presses with 65-75lb d/bells.

I practically increased the weight on every exercise by at least 5lbs. Which is something i want to do.

I know there will be a limit...if i follow that pattern by week 16 Id be using some insane weight, which they dont even have in d/bells. lol. Highly unlikely but then again, ya never know.

This workout wasnt as long as the previous but it was 5x intense. I did supersets, whew, those are killer.

But I loved the pump I got from them.

Ok thats all I got....same Bat Time...Same Bat Channel!!!!!!!!!!

2nd day

well technically its the third day of the week but Tuesday was a much needed rest day.
I hadnt worked out like that in years....and my bod was letting me know about it.

So I wake up early this morning....still exhausted.... I went back to sleep.
I decided to do the workout around 3pm.

I was eager to try the BSN N.O.-Xplode....I had heard some mixed reviews about it...and me being me....I need to see for myself.

Poured water, scooped supp., shaken not stirred HA(no shittin ya...it says do not shake)
and downed.

First impression. MY GOD!!!! It was tangy!! Made my butt pucker!
Not sure what in it made it taste so strong...not a bad taste...just a strong one.
Caffeine probably. Who knows. Dont care....cuz I could feel it.

Drive to the school, walk in, hand over my student ID and start a lil warm-up.
Group of guys in there lifting, a chick on the treadmill....the room was filling up. Just an observation.

Get off the bike, could feel the burn in my legs......felt good, some of the soreness was gone. SOME not all.

Wanted to work out the bigger muscles first so I hit the pulldown bar. Cranked out 10 of those, felt good.

Then went to the butterfly press, cranked out some of those and felt great.
Did some more sets and hit the bike again.

Around this time the first time I was really feeling spent, but not today.
I wondered if it was me pacing myself this time around, the BSN product, or a combo of both.
Id like to think it was both. First day was a real reality check.

I noticed halfway through my workout that the guys that were in there before really wasnt showing an intensity I felt i was displaying.

Dont get me wrong...Im not saying they should or Im browbeating them because they didnt, i was just wondering if , again it was the BSN product that advertised an intense mindset when working out. Who knows? Time will tell.

Sometimes I wonder if these products are pure psychosomatic, I know how powerful the mind can be, in the weight room and in life in general. Again who knows? And again...dont care..lol.

Got home, took shower and downed a post-workout supplement called BSN Cellmass.
It called for one scoop in 6oz of water. So i followed direction...mixed and downed.

First impressions?YOU GOT IT!!!

It tasted great!! I got the grape flavor.....and in reality it tasted like a tiny bit stronger than gatorade.

'Cept this has creatine in it. Just enough for a post workout.
Ive heard how bad creatine can be on ones kidneys, but also I gotta look at it this way...if the user abuses anything its going to affect their health.

taking large amounts of creatine i know is not good. But I plan on cycling this....3 months on...3 months off. I see no harm in that.

Overall I feel pretty damn good about the workout...about the effectiveness of the BSN products and about the next workout.

Now......time to rest a lil bit........then go chow down on a steak and potato..lol. Good ol protein and carbs.

First day of a long goal

First day, first workout.

Woke up at 7am, layed there knowing that this is the first step of many to come.
Still, despite my enthusiasm leading up to this day, I still had to pull myself out of bed to get ready.

I tried 'Pump Fuel', a GNC pre-workout supplement, a one serving trial pack. Ive read that basicly it is just a bunch of caffeine to give one a good 'pump' and energy to last a workout.

I mixed it, downed it, almost immediately I could feel the effects, felt like it made me a lil hyper, felt a shake in the legs. Again not sure if its the caffeine or the Nitric Oxide that these kind of supps preach.

I have BSN's N.O.-Xplode to take, Ill see if it has the same effects.

Got to the school and walked to the wellness center. Signed in and jumped on a bike for a warm-up. Felt good.

Then went to chest-flys, after a set, still felt good. Went over to a curl machine, pounded out a set, still felt good so maybe the stuff was working.

Then went and did some shoulder presses, again was breaking a sweat yet still felt good, then some dumbbell lunges.

Back on the bike, then did some tricep pulldowns. Passed a mirror and could see the 'pump'.
Did some leg curls, then leg extensions, I was starting to feel the fatigue, my ego got the best of me and I jumped the weight up more than I should have.

Its been a couple years since I worked out so I should have taken it slow and light at first.
Thats the entire philosophy behind doing a light circuit training routine for the first few weeks before really hittin the weights.

Lesson learned....for sure.
Did some more bicept curls and another chest fly set....by that time I was spent.
Went to the corner to stretch out and call it a day.

No abs today, I will do that tomorrow, really work them out. Also give me a chance to recooperate from todays workout...Im bound to be sore....if Im not....I did something wrong.

8am I was done and walking in the rain to my truck to go home n shower. Completely exhausted...and this is only the beginning. Still sitting here now typing this out I am fully aware of what has to be put in effort wise to accomplish what I want.

I just have to make sure to keep my ego in check, I cant expect to lift what I did back when I was training everyday.

Now to make something to eat....egg whites...maybe some wheat toast and a glass of 2% milk. Sounds tastey .......getting hungry.

A Sad Trend

There has been a sad trend Ive taken notice to on a photography forum I frequent.

"What is that J?" you may be asking yourself.

"Well Ill tell you stranger who is reading my blog."

Its that when someone posts a photo (especially a person that is new to photography) others will tend to look for mistakes instead of looking at the photo as a whole.

Nevermind that it could be of a greatgrandmother holding her newborn greatgrandson...no...its the fact that the background is "distracting", or "the color tones arent to my tastes."

What the fuck is that about? Get a life people, pull your self rightous heads outta your arrogant asses and shut off.

I recently posted on a thread regarding someone posting a photo of one of their daughters. No critique really requested yet several members of the forum took it upon themselves to "teach" this person how to take photographs of their daughter. This person got very frustrated (according to her posts following the "help") and started to blame herself for not producing a magazine-worthy photo of her daughter.

SAD!

Members of this forum just act like they are the mecca for photography knowledge. They will also change things that dont need to be changed. Eye color, skin color, hair color etc etc. It really is mind boggling.

"Clone out the tree limb, its distracting." For fuck sake ya shithead....its a tree...it is supposed to have limbs sticking out!

"I dont like her expression, it isnt to my tastes." Well then changing your tastes will be easier than changing an expression in a photo that was ALREADY TAKEN....fuck face!

99% of the time the flaws these POTheads see are really of no significance, and unless it improves the message the photos is trying to send then it really is a waste of time and effort.

One thing I look at when I decide to help someone by critiquing their photo is, what can be altered that will improve the photo? If I fix this will it make it better or keep it the same?

Trying to bring back detail on the side of a white shirt isnt going to make the photograph better, its just not. Period. Waste of time.

DONE. Tired. Out