Hey,

So today was the first day of the week, and I did not make it to the gym.. As a matter of fact I have been super sick for the first time in a long time.  I worked out really hard on friday, and was feeling pumped for the weekend, later that night I began feeling really fatigued and decided to head home after a big dinner.  Spent the next two days laying around and attempting to eat, just to have it come right back out.. no fun at all.  Anyway I am feeling a little better tonight and will try my best to fall back into my routine by tomorrow evening.  please make sure to post any questions or comments you may have!  Otherwise, sorry about the lack in posts for the last couple of days, but now you know why!!

Hey!

I woke up this morning and just knew it was going to be a great day! First a good breakfast and now I’m ready to take on my day! Time to go make some money and then get my butt to the gym to workout for the day…today is chest and triceps day…one of my favorite!!  Here are some of the details

Meals: 5:30 am – 11:00 pm

- High Fiber Oatmeal (one packet) and cup of coffee for the car

- One giant banana

- One piece of 12 grain toast with peanut butter

- Cup of yogurt, strawberry fiber one

- Buffalo chicken deli sandwich w handful of multi-grain chips

Workout

- Protein Shake (30 grams)

- Banana

- Bertollis Lemon Shrimp w/vegs

Workout Details: Chest/Triceps Day 7:00 pm

- Regular Dumbbell Bench Press 3 sets of 8 reps 65 lbs

- Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 3 sets of 12 reps 40lbs

- Dumbbell Flyes 3 sets of 10 reps 30 lbs

- Dips 3 sets of 12

- Tricep Cable Extensions with straight bar 3 sets of 10 reps 100 lbs

- Tricep Kickbacks 3 sets of 12 with 10 lb dumbbell

- Finished of workout with 25 min of Cardio on the treadmill, good jog pace with a steep      incline!

Notes: Was a very successful workout today! Did a lot of reps and pushed myself hard to finish every set, very little downtime in between sets. Good Cardio at the end and ate healthy all day. I feel very confident that I’m progressing very well and soon can push it even harder! Trying to get ready for the Beach in  March!!

Let me know if you have any questions on anything or suggestions.

Thanks!

Well…

Today was pretty good, was feeling pretty good this morning, got up early and did some mild cleaning over at my buddy’s place.  Decided to come out to his place and workout with him in Monticello MN, pretty nice community center out here, only five bucks to workout, play ball and or swim.. over all pretty cheap.  Anyway, crashed out at his place and shot over to the gym to take some pictures to use as diagrams, so now there will be a link next to ever part of the workout, so you can see what I mean, since some terms are hard to understand.   Let me know if there is anymore you need or want to learn…

Current weight: 157 lbs

Height: 5’ 10”

Estimated body fat: 8%

Meals:

-Oatmeal High Fiber (Packet oatmeal)

- Roast beef Sandwich, peperjack cheese on 9 grain bread

-Mac and Cheese tv dineer (a healthy one)

-Chocolate and Oats fiber bar (I love these things)

-Some Goldfish

Workout: 6:00pm

-Protein shake (30 grams)

-Chicken Pasta with red sauce

-water, banana and fiber bar

Workout Details:

-5 Min of mild stretching and jogging in place

-2 sets of 10 wide grip pull-ups

-3 sets of 10 squats with 135 lbs

-2 sets of 10 body weight slow squats

-3 sets of 10 reps with 275 lbs

-3 sets of 12 reps seated calf-raises with 115 lbs

-3 sets of 10 reps laying down leg curl with 90 lbs

-3 sets of 10 reps seated leg raises with 100 lbs

-3 sets of kneeling leg kick backs with 65 lbs

-finish with 2 sets to failure hanging leg raises and some minor abb ball sit-ups

Workout Notes:

Overall a pretty good low weight high rep leg workout, I have been wanting to increase my stamina and get some of my agility back I use to have when I was around 16-18.  Not to say that I am not in the best shape of my life, just don’t want to loose my random skills of back flipping off walls and other useless fun activities

Hey,

So Today was a good day!  Pretty nice back here in the Minneapolis MN, was about 30 degrees, sunny and gave me the energy I needed to hit the gym hard this evening.  Ate pretty light throughout the day, mainly cause i was on the run most of the day, but still managed to finish with one of the best calorie burning workouts i have had in a long time.  Anyway here is what I ate throughout my day, and the best part.. my workout!

Meals:

-Oatmeal (high fiber)

-Fiber bar

-Banana and snack bar, diet coke

-roast beef sandwich on wheat bread no cheese

-peanut butter toast 1 slice 20 min before workout

Workout:  7:30pm

-protein shake (25 grams)

-15 gram protein snack bar

-tv dinner with 15 grams of protein and a huge glass of water

-some multigrain chips

Workout Details:

-5 min of light jogging around the indoor track

-3 sets of 8 reps super slow, Lat Pull-Ups

-3 sets of 10 reps Deadlift using dumbells at 60 lbs each (120lbs)

-3 sets of 10 “reps good-mornings”  45 lbs bar with 30 lbs on it (75 lbs)

-mild running around the track for 5 min

-3 sets of 10 reps jumping military press with 35 lbs bar and 50 lbs on it (85 lbs)

-3 sets of 10 reps hanging leg lifts

-3 sets of 15 super slow abb ball crunches

-25 min of soccer juggling, and kicking against wall (insane cardio)

-20 min of basketball game with 5 other guys (we won!)

Notes:  This was killer, I was pushing it from the moment I stepped in there.  Cardio at the end is for sure what put it over the edge though.. my buddy talked me into playing 3 on 3 with some other guys at the gym, despite my always saying “dude i suck to bad at basketball to actually play, but i will shoot around for cardio”  haha anyway the truth is I can hold my own, on defense and if you give me some space I can hit 3 pt’ers like its my day job!

Why you should focus on your Metabolism!!!

Metabolism is a combination of physical and chemical processes called anabolism and catabolism. Anabolism is the constructive phase of metabolism in which body cells synthesize protoplasm for growth and repair. Catabolism is the destructive phase of metabolism in which complex substances are broken down into simpler compounds producing energy which is essential for the proper functioning of body cells. Together, these processes distribute nutrients which are absorbed into the blood after digestion.

Three factors determine your metabolic rate.

1. Amount of calories your body uses every day (aka: basal metabolic rate [BMR]).
2. The rate you burn energy during physical activity
3. The rate you use energy during digestion of food are the two other factors involved in your total metabolic rate.

To improve your metabolic efficiency you need minor alterations to your daily eating and exercise program to experience a difference in how you look and feel.

The best way to jump-start your metabolism is to exercise. Exercise will reduce body fat and increase lean muscle mass. By increasing lean muscle mass your metabolism will increase and aid in the weight-loss process. Muscle burns significantly more calories than fat tissue because it has a higher metabolic rate. Aerobic exercise, like walking, swimming or cycling, has the added bonus of speeding up your metabolism for 4 to 8 hours after you stop exercising. Additional calories will be burned long after you stop exercising.

If you want to reap the benefits of a faster metabolism throughout the day, exercise in the morning, or exercise in short 10 or 15-minute bursts every couple of hours to keep your metabolism pumping.  By exercising just a little more than usual you can speed up your metabolism and use up stored fat in the process.

Eat breakfast!
Breakfast is essential. Your body has been deprived of food throughout the night; therefore your metabolism has slowed. Think of your body as a train and this train hasn�t had any coal for the last 8 hours. Time for some coal! If the cells do not receive sufficient nutrients they will begin to function less efficiently on smaller amounts, and they will actually store more fat to use during these times of nutritional deprivation. You are starving your body by only feeding it a couple times a day, so it goes into survival mode and starts to store as much as it can from the meals it does get. Eat 6-10 small meals a day to keep your body�s fuel supply consistent and keep your metabolism revved up. Consistency is important because your body metabolism adapts to your current weight. If you have been dieting or skipping meals your body�s metabolism slows down to compensate for the lack of nutrients. When lean people overeat their metabolism speeds up and when obese people diet their metabolism slows down. The key is a balance of exercise and diet.

Best Foods to Increase your metabolism:

• Fish
• Oatmeal
• Dark Green Leafy Vegetables
• Tomatoes
• Blueberries and many other fruits
• Whole Grains (increase your dietary Fiber w/ grains, fruit and veggies)
• At Least 8 glasses of water a day.

Stay away from:

• High-fat/calorie foods
• Sugary Food (Substitute Sugar for Agave or Stevia [Google it])
• Alcohol
• Caffeine
• Do not Smoke

You can jump-start a sluggish metabolism through exercise and proper diet! Proper nutrition is the very most important piece to your fitness puzzle. The truth is 85% of your results can be seen by developing a healthy, everyday diet!!! Only about 15% will be seen by exercise alone!!!� Get the Idea!!!

So… Do i just write 1/29/10 or do I have to put 2010 now eveytime??  haha, anyway so here was my day.

Been waking up a little earlier than usual, roughly 5:30 am every week day, roll out of bed, jump in the shower, and then off to my first meeting for the day, got a good workout in later this evening, and here are the details:

Meals: 5:30 am – 11:00 pm

-High Fiber Oatmeal (one packet) and cup of coffee for the car

-Bowl of canned ravioli

-Steamed tv dinner

-fiber one snack bar

-Roast beef sandwich with cheese and chips

Workout

-Protein shake (30 grams)

-bowl of cereal

Workout Details: Chest Day

-Regular Bench Press 3 Sets 10 reps 155 lbs

-Incline Bench Press 3 sets 8 reps 135 lbs

-Incline cable fly 3 sets 10 reps 40 lbs each side (80 total lbs)

-regular cable fly 3 sets 8 reps 50 lbs each side

-Body weight dips 3 sets 10 reps

-Kickbacks 3 sets 10 reps 10 lbs

-Hanging leg lifts 2 sets to failure

-Finished with 8 min cardio consisting of 4 min incline walk and short jog to finish out.

Notes:  Pretty successful workout, pushed it hard, went super slow and concentrated on form instead of strength.  Small amount of downtime in between every set.  Overall very happy with today’s eating and workout, will see results if continue path in this manor.

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.  Thanks!

Well welcome back world!  With some well needed time off, we are about to endure on a 90 day fitness regiment to go from current weight of 155 lbs to 175 lbs of lean and powerful muscle.  I will be trying out for the Minnesota Vikings in the spring and will show you every step of my complete diet, nutrition, supplements, and detailed training program every day for the next 90 days!  Please feel free to ask any questions you may have!   I will be up loading pictures of day one and then show you current picks at the end of every week.  If you like the results, then simply go back through my blogs and you will be able to see exactly what I ate and how I trained to get the results you desire!  This site is not intended for any sale of products, although we do advertise suppliers that we believe have products worth buying, we are not selling anything!  So let us begin!

Current State:

Weight: 155lbs

Height: 5’10″

Body fat: 8%

Hey world!!

Well I have now been on my vacation to Ft. Lauderdale Florida, Manhattan New York, Asheville North Carolina, and back to Ft Lauderdale, for about two weeks and a couple of days.  Was able to free up some time to let everyone know that I will be back in Minnesota, aka the freezing cold, on the 8th of this Friday.  My birthday is the following day and I cannot wait to get back to my fitness regiment.  I have had roughly 3 weeks off of working out, which is good to do every once and a while, but I have never been so pumped to hit the gym hard.   Also this break of eating like crap and resting around has allowed me to have something to work on!  I will post pictures the day I get home before I get back into the gym and you will be able to watch day by day my progress, with pictures updated at the end of each week.  To let you know I may or may not try getting back onto Super Pump pre-workout for that period but I am also thinking about doing this all natural and just taking post workout protein to show you it is possible to get shredded without anything other than a multi-vitamin and protein.  Anyway sorry for the huge delay in my posts, but get excited and feel free to join me in progress posts starting this month on the 9th!  My birthday!  Start the new year off no matter what your current position is, and lets make 2010 the best year ever in terms of fitness and health!!

Also 2 things in the mean time before I get back:

-Feel free to post questions or comments for me to answer for when I get home.

-We will be refacing the site over the next two weeks, everything will be functional during the process, and don’t think your at the wrong site if when you log on it looks completely different!  This face was just a temp until we got the design we were looking for made, and it is almost complete so watch out for the new look and extra features, including a functional “Ask Blake” button, video feeds and tons of picture archives of my path!

So was super tired last night and didn’t get a chance to work on my blog until now.   But here was my day for 12/09/09:

Woke up around 8am and went down town to Minneapolis with my brother to go do some long procrastinated paperwork.   After that I needed to head home so I could have enough time to get a workout in before going car shopping with one of my best friends.  Car shopping took forever, and if you know anything about what the weather has been like here in Minnesota for the last couple of days you will know why.  A normal 20 min drive took us and hour and fifteen minutes cause of traffic and accidents from all the snow we have received.  Anyway here is my meal and workout information for yesterday 12/09/09!

Meal Details:

-Bowl of Lucky Charms

-Roast beef peperjack cheese wrap

-Snack bar and Diet coke

Workout

-Protein Shake (30 grams)

-Turky Sandwhich and chips from gas station

-Beef Roast TV dinner

-Bowl of Lucky Charms

Notes:   Not a bad meal day, glad to have finally gotten back in the gym!   Also I started doing some research on natural supplements to take, and read about “Glinko Biloba” and decided to pick some of it up.  It supposedly provides your brain with the fuel it needs to supply a higher level of productivity throughout your day, pretty much like brain food.  Anyway I thought I would try it out and will let you know what I think.  Also at that time I picked up some Complex B vitamins that help convert food into energy.  I just have been feeling like I haven’t had the energy I usually do, and want to stay away from the energy drinks as much as possible, since for a while I was drinking like 2-3 Blue Monsters every day!    

Workout Details:  Have to Run but will update this.. quick note is it was a Leg day for me!

Hey, so today is Monday.. usually a day that I push it my hardest in the gym, but if you have ready my blog on the last two days you may understand why I didn’t even make it to the GYM today!  Woke up today feeling like crap again, and I seriously think I am still hung over from Saturday night, on top that probably the residual effects from the crap I ate yesterday.  I am Beginning to realize that with the better shape I get, It is actually more important than ever to give my body the healthy diet it requires and all the vitamins.  It is kinda like bringing your Ferrari to the gas station and getting the crappiest gas money can buy… it will not preform at all, unless you are supplying it with the premium fuel.   Anyway, laid around the house all day and watched movies and snacked.  In hopes that tomorrow will be a better day and I will actually make it into the gym.  At this point I am seeing the benefits more than ever in staying away from alcohol. 

Meal Details:

-Oat Meal

-TV Dinner

-Ravioli and green beans

-Another TV Steamed Dinner

-bowl of lucky charms

Notes:  Today i didn’t eat much, didn’t really have an appetite, probably due to the fact I didn’t  use any energy yesterday and today I was just super lazy.  Tomorrow I am going to force myself to hit the gym, probably going to work on chest and triceps.