First day of my next 12-weeks (Workout Plan)

So, am I really gonna complete this 12-week workout plan this time? I can do it with your encouragement! Please subscribe to this blog and comment on it often. It's gonna be a tough 12-weeks!

Here we go, since I did a lot of chest and arm stuff with a workout buddy yesterday, I'm just gonna do the warm up and cool down parts today. Wish me luck!

WEEK 1, DAY 1

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DAY 1: STRENGTH AND FORM - BODY-WEIGHT EXERCISES FOR UPPER BODY

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WARMUP
Superset	Exercise	Muscles	Weight (Goal)	Set 1 Reps (Goal)	Set 1 Reps (Actual)	Set 2 Reps (Goal)	Set 2 Reps (Actual)	Set 3 Reps (Goal)	Set 3 Reps (Actual)	Set 4 Reps (Goal)	Set 4 Reps (Actual)
Begin Superset
S	Cable Side Rotators	Shoulders (rotator cuffs)	Light	15 each arm	15	15 each arm	15	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
S	Dumbbell Up Rotators	Shoulders (rotator cuffs)	Light	15	15	15	15	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
S	Tube Pull Ups and Downs	Shoulders (rotator cuffs), Lats, Triceps	Light	15	15	15	15	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
S	Tube Press	Chest	Light	15	15	15	15	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
WORKOUT
	Push-Ups	Chest, Triceps, Shoulders	N/A	Max out	20	Max out	25	Max out	25	Max out	25
	Wide-Grip Pull-ups on Gravitron with Slow Negatives	Back (lats)	N/A	Max out	5	Max out	5	Max out	5	Max out	5
	Smith Machine Inverted Pull-ups	Back (lats and traps)	N/A	15	15	15	15	12	12	12	12
	Triceps Bench Dips	Back (lats and traps)	N/A	20	20	20	20	15	15	15	15
	Gravitron Dips (Chest Focused)	Chest, Triceps	65 - 75% Max	15	15	12	12	12	12	10	10
Begin Superset
S	Floor Crunch	Abdominals	N/A	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25
S	Stability Ball Crunch	Abdominals	N/A	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20
S	Floor Leg Raises	Abdominals	N/A	20	20	15	15	15	15	15	15
S	Floor Bridge	Abdominals	N/A	Max time	30	Max time	30	Max time	30	Max time	30
CARDIO TRAINING
Exercise	Time	Overview
Treadmill	30 Minutes	Do 30 minutes of jogging on the treadmill machine. Get your heart rate up to a moderate level.

Fitness Blog Resurrected and My Before Pic

Since I've taken up the hobby of rock climbing, I've noticed all the other ripped rock climbers who are comfortable going shirtless in both the gym and on outdoor climbs. I am now very motivated to get into top shape and gain some muscle by resurrecting this old fitness journal blog and doing two of my favorite online workout programs. I'm mainly using a 12-week realjock.com workout program, but supplementing it with the insanity.com intense cardio workout program.

I decided to document my progress with pics every few weeks and critique areas where I need the most sculpting.

The areas that need the most muscle growth are my skinny shoulders and arms. My goal is to get my shoulders to look more rounded in the frontal deltoid, rear deltoid, and trapezious. For my arms, I need more mass in my entire arms including my biceps, triceps, and forearms. During my hybrid workout programs, hopefully I will get some gains in these areas.

Here's my before pic. Hopefully I will see some improvements in my arms, shoulders, and improve definition in my abs.

Almost completed the Insanity workout program

2011 started out great. I've made the upheaval transition from the metropolitan DC-area life to living near New Orleans, "the big easy," and I have been working out with a neighbor. We completed 6 weeks of the 8-week insanity.com with Shaun T. It's from the same beachbody company that makes the P90X workouts with Tony Horton, who honestly scares me, and says the craziest insane things. The crew at the beachbody company should have called Tony Horton's video "Insanity" and Shaun T's videos, "kick-yo-ass into shape."

But of course, life got in the way with work on a few different productions in New Orleans, caused me to stop watching my nutrition intake, and now I've gotten emaciated thin again. Like Christian Bale in the Machinist, or like Donnie Wahlberg in the Sixth Sense. (I actually got the opportunity to work with Mark Wahlberg on Contraband, as a background extra in a wedding reception scene this month in New Orleans. He actually said "What's up" to me, too!) But back to the subject here: this man-orexic state I'm in is just not pretty, people. Like the quote in the Millionaire Matchmaker reality show, "like a pasty manorexic who fell out of a Tim Burton movie." And screw any bitter people who act all bitchy towards people who struggle with issues with being too thin. Believe me, being too thin has its own health risks, eating problems, and social-interaction problems, too. It's just the extreme other side of the coin, so stop being bitchy haters. It's really not attractive to act this way, and actually very repulsive.

So, today another neighbor, an ex-personal trainer, invited me over to get started on a weight training program again. The last time I worked out with him for just a few weeks, I put on some healthy muscle tone, and was starting to get some nice rounded out shoulders and nice arms and all, thereby coming out of my man-orexic status for a little while. So I think I'll start up a personal training program with him and try to get in shape again.

My Fitness Motivation: Taylor Lautner of Twilight New Moon

In searching for ways to stay motivated, I have been trying to find a workout partner. I haven't had much luck, so I have almost given up. There are just too many reasons that make it hard to find one. First of all, among the small amount of people who actually want a work out partner, there are even fewer who actually go to the same gym. So I have decided to continue to stick with my 12-week workout plan and occasionally repost the workout partner ad on craigslist.org until I actually find one.

As I enter week4, I know that many factors are involved with how fast you gain muscle: genetics, nutrition, rest, and a proper workout program for your goals. You also have to make realistic goals, and understand that it does require time and dedication to make the most of all of those factors.

Some people actually dedicate enough time and effort to bring all those factors together and put on muscle weight very fast. My motivation comes from actors Tobey Maguire (5'8") and Taylor Lautner (5'6").

Here's an interview of Taylor Lautner while he was in training for Twilight New Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEYT5cNK-pA:




Actor Tobey Maguire put on a lot of muscle for Spiderman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymCpKe6LlMo:

Week 3, week 3, and week 3

I've loosely repeated week 3 of the 12-week workout plan about three times in a row now. I've got to try some new motivation. I'm posting an ad for a workout partner on www.craigslist.org soon.

Well into Week 1 of Twelve Weeks

I'm well into week 1, at this rate I will be in swimsuit shape by winter! (Actually my 12 weeks is over on October 16).

 

The Day 1 routine (upper body) wasn't too bad, I completed all of the exercises in the realjock.com plan, but I was able to use light weight. I immediately felt more energy during the workout and the next morning, even though I was just a little sore. 

 

Day 2 (lower body) was rough because I didn't stick to the nutrition plan throughout the day and therefore I didn't have much energy. I couldn't lighten my own body weight either for doing the squats, lunges, and  jumping squats (I do those in the privacy of an empty aerobics room so people won't give me the WTF look). From lack of nutrition and from being out of shape I got a cramp in my hamstring and couldn't complete all the exercises. Better safe than sorry!

 

Here's an article about muscle cramps:

http://www.medicinenet.com/muscle_cramps/page2.htm

 

Apparently I didn't have enough Potassium, Calcium, and Magnesium throughout the day. I was covered with the magnesium because I had guacamole salad from Chipotle at lunch. The romaine lettuce had some magnesium, but I definitely haven't had any calcium in milk or yogurt in a long time. Gotta stick to that nutrition plan on the realjock.com website.