Christmastime and beyond

I love this time of year. Decorations. Lights. Carols. Celebrating the birth of Christ. Sweet things to eat. Time off to spend with the family.

On my days off this past week I was able to hit the gym several times -- and I didn't have to get out of bed at 4:15 am! I wasn't against the clock during my workouts either. I usually train at a fast pace, but it was nice knowing I didn't have to skip an exercise or two to make sure I got to work on time.

Saturday starts a new year and that's when everyone wants a fresh start. I'm no different. I want to get really ripped this year and the nice thing is that I got a headstart this year and then I took a short break to enjoy the holidays. Now it's time to jump right back into it at full tilt! Back to carb cycling and hitting cardio 5-7 days per week. My goal is to be ripped by the Flex Magazine Pro show on Feb. 19. And then stay that way for the Arnold Classic two weeks later in March.

I'll then move into "offseason" mode, but it will be a lean and clean offseason. I'm not going to bulk up, just add a few more carbs back into the diet to help muscle growth and size. No pigging out with massive meals this time. I want to keep my abs and striations intact while I grow this time.

Body By Design

Kris Gethin recently published a book entitled Body by Design. I just got my copy  in the mail today so I haven't read it yet, but it looks to be along the lines of Body For Life by Bill Phillips.
It's available on amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1451602170/bodybuildingco05)

Dramatic Transformation Principle

So my collar bone/shoulder was feeling much better today after a few days rest. This morning was chest/delts/tris day at the gym. I decided not to push any heavy weight and thought it would be a good day to try some higher reps. My editor, Kris Gethin, ad Bodybuilding.com has come up with an intense workout plan called Dramatic Transformation Principle. It involves a lot of sets with high reps and only one exercise per bodypart. (You can read more about it here: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/dtp-changing-bodies-and-lives.htm)

I selected flat bench flyes for my chest, side laterals for my delts and rope pushdowns for my triceps. I did all the recommended reps for the flyes but I cut back on the sets for the side laterals and rope pushdowns. The burn got a little intense and I didn't want to kill my shoulder joint again either. Overall it was a great workout and I fit in my first 15-min. cardio session on the StepMill in months. I'm going to try and fit in some more cardio immediately after my workouts and after dinner in the evenings. I might fit a few a sessions in during lunch also.

Although I've dropped about 20 pounds in the last few months by reducing my carbohydrate intake, I'll need to add some cardio now to achieve the ripped look again. I'm fairly lean now and my abs are coming in, but I want to see some striations popping out again.

I Hate Injuries

Sore joints, infammation, aches and pains are the normal things that come with years of training. It seems like as I get older one injury will finally heal up and another takes its place. Today it's the collar bone aching where it meets the sternum. It was from back training yesterday; I was pulling up the weight closer to the chest than to the stomach because I was trying to emphasize the upper back and rear delts and apparently my body didn't like that little change. So today I have empathy for Brett Favre with his sprained shoulder/collarbone.

SuperPump 250

After using many preworkout supplements over the years I think I can finally and safely say that my favorite is SuperPump 250 by Gaspari Nutrition. It gives me great energy and a "super" pump while training. There's no crash after the effects wear off. It's a solid product and the fruit punch flavor is my favorite.

Taking the plunge

I decided to make the switch to having my blog on a blogging web site instead of on my own site. It was a hassle editing my pages on my site if I wasn't at a certain computer using my web-editing software. There were so many times I wanted to add to my blog with a quick note and I'd wait until later to do it. Then it never happened. So this should make more frequent posting a much needed reality.