Hi everyone. By request, I'm starting a journal here. I've spoke adamantly about the musclenow program being very good for me, but now it's time to put up or shut up, thus I'm here to share my journey with everyone. It started in 2000 when I first bought the book, but due to business pressures, and marriage troubles, I was never able to train for long, I guess stress got to me. In February this year, I got started again, and made some fantastic progress bulking on the program. I went from 180 to 220 pounds, with a 2.5" increase in my already too big stomach. I did it in 4 months. Not bad. I had some muscle memory from previously working out, but I did manage to exceed my previous all time high size of 208 with a 38.5" stomach, by 12 pounds with the same size stomach or a little smaller.
My goal is to reach 18 to 19" arms, roughly weigh 220 pounds and be lean (33" stomach) by June of 2006. I'm 39 years old. My stats as of Sunday October 16th are as follows:
Right now I'm cutting or on the musclenow "fat loss phase" as it is called. I've attached a picture showing the start of my journey and where I was at the peak of my bulk this summer, where I had 17.5" arm and a 48" chest. Since then things have slid a little, due to improperly cutting, but now I'm on track, and finally losing the fat I gained.
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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Ok now for the bad. After my peak in the previous picture, where I was looking pretty damn huge and just needing to cut, I switched to cutting and I lost nothing but muscle. My stomach would not budge. I'd lower calories again, and maybe lose a tiny bit of fat, but soon I'd be getting weak, and losing strength, and too much size, like an inch off my chest, and 3/4" off my arms, inch off my legs, etc. I'd be skinny with a big gut, up to 39" at one point, and I hated it, so I'd return to bulking, and regain my lost muscle, then try cutting again.
I emailed the author of the musclenow system, and we played with the diets and such, and eventually I went and just did my own thing, as his help was not working either. I tried carb cutoffs at night, I tried HIIT cardio, I tried riding my bike, nothing was working for me. I emailed the author telling him his fat loss system sucks, and said it works great for everyone, and surely I must be doing something wrong. I ordered a heart rate monitor and I couldn't get it working. I thought the transmitters battery was dead. I kept losing muscle, and no fat. One night I was watching Arnold total rebuild and I missed my nightly cardio session, the gym had closed. I decided to go for a jog, and then it hit me. I was drenched in sweat, and my fat areas were tingling on fire. I realized I must not have been doing the cardio right, because I couldn't even run more than a couple blocks without getting winded, after doing cardio at the gym for 3 months straight. The next morning, after running 2 miles that night before, I lost 3/8" off my stomach! I re-read the heart rate manual, and figured out how to get it working. THe next day I did my first cardio session "in the zone" as the musclenow system says, and the following morning I had lost another 1/4"! So FINALLY, after 4 months or so of frustration, I'm on the right path. Musclenow really helped me gain a lot of muscle and strength, but I could not lose the fat I gained bulking on it, because I was not doing proper cardio.
Anyhow, after a long journey all summer of losing muscle, barely losing any fat, and being on a roller coaster, ALL OVER A STUPID ASSUMPTION THAT I WAS DOING THE RIGHT CARDIO... cost me a lot of wasted time. Since I started doing the proper cardio, I've lost almost 1 1/2". That was only about a week ago when I did my first real cardio session. What a difference. Anyhow, here are the pics. I'm not proud of my physique at all, like I said, I've lost muscle and I'm not flexing or anything, these are relaxed shots, but show a difference of about 1 1/4" in the stomach. From the back and side you can tell the most I think, my love handles don't stick out as far, and the crease is much smaller, and the top fat roll above the love handle is flatter and almost gone.
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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Hammer bench press: 262 x 5 (250 x 8)
Incline Smith: 215 x 4 (210 x 6)
Shoulder Press Machine: 175 x 4 (175 x 4)
Laterals: 25 x 4 (na)
Pec Deck: 225 x 7 (212 x 7)
Abs: 237 x 13 (237 x 12)
I just switched to the new side laterals, and they are harder than the old way, so my weight has gone down some. Workout was pretty easy. I'll go in and do cardio tonight. Hit PR's on about everything, I'm pretty amazed at how even on cutting, sometimes you keep getting stronger.
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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looking great now. shame about what happends you looked really well.
Thanks bro. Well I learned the hard way that cardio, like weight training, has to be INTENSE in order for it to be effective. Once I started doing cardio at 150-160 BMP, the fat started coming off quickly. I'll gain back whatever I lost quickly once I hit the calories again.
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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Thanks Mivi. The only thing I can think of is the zone cardio I'm doing is maybe giving me better nutrient partitioning, or it was just a good day, lol.
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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Well today marks a milestone for me. 37" even on my stomach!!! Still fat, but wow, what a difference an inch and a half off the gut makes! It seems that 30 minute cardio sessions for me on my current diet are burning off 1/8" a day like clockwork. At this pace (provided it doesn't slow signifcantly) I should be able to start bulking in 3-4 weeks. I don't want to get ripped to shreds yet or anything, but just lose enough that I can bulk up some, and never have huge love handles again.
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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Leg press: 450 x 5
Leg Extension: 312 x 10
Leg Curl: 200 x 4
Seated Calf Raise: 225 x 6
Preacher curl machine: 140 x 11
Standing dumbbell curl: 35 x 6
Rev barbell curls: 45 x 9
30 minutes of in the zone cardio.
Comments: I don't know what happened on preacher curls, but I blew things out of the water on that exercise. I expected to fail around 4-6 reps but I just kept going! I raised calories a little bit today in hopes to regain some lost muscle but still keep losing fat. Since I was not doing zone cardio I lowered calories way too much, so now I'm slowly rebuilding them back to 3500 which should be about 500 below maintenance me. The goal is to regain a little lost muscle and still keep losing fat. Some clod was doing bench press in the squat rack so I skipped behind the back wrist curls. I'll do some 200 pound hand grippers tonight and make up for it. Also I used to leg press around 640 but I lowered the peg and go all the way down now, but now I am getting these craps on my internal organs or something funny when I go all the way down. I might go back to smith squats, or maybe play with feet position. I'm going toes out also, as that is supposed to target the tear drop shaped muscle of the thigh, which I need to work on. For calves, we don't have a seated calf raise machine, so I just pulled a bench up to the smith rack and improvised and stuck a towel on my knees and did it there on a stepper board. Worked pretty good except the racked position is either too high to clear, or too low to get my knees under. Calves are sore already lol. I haven't done seated calf raises in years due to lack of equipment.
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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Hey Joel...suggestino for the leg press with your positioning etc.....You don't want to go too deep with them as it places tons of stress on your hips. Not hard to blow out a hip doing heavy leg press. Keep the seat at 90 degree angle and place your hands over your chest....Make a fist with one and cup the other over top....bring your legs down untill the top of your thighs just touch the top of your hand.
Hey Joel...suggestino for the leg press with your positioning etc.....You don't want to go too deep with them as it places tons of stress on your hips. Not hard to blow out a hip doing heavy leg press. Keep the seat at 90 degree angle and place your hands over your chest....Make a fist with one and cup the other over top....bring your legs down untill the top of your thighs just touch the top of your hand.
Well there is a little stopper, I was just going to raise it back up to where I used to have it. I like to do forced reps with my hands on my knees once I start failing. I also think this new foot position has something to do with it. It's like somewhere in between the crease of my thigh it hurts when I go all the way down. With my long legs maybe I don't need to go so low, or if I move my feet up some it will help, right now they are pretty low on the platform. Wow, I've never heard of blowing a hip. I'll probably try your idea and make sure the back is 90 I don't even look at it, maybe it's set funny.
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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hey, i was wondering what kind of cardio do you do? like can you be specific, machines, running , Sprinting? I was wondering too casue im trying to get rid of that last bit of body fat and get to about 10%.
I use the eliptcal runner, but really it doesn't matter how you get your cardio, all that matters is getting your heart rate up there so you burn fat. I've found that dieting, no matter how low I go, my body uses mostly muscle as an energy source when I'm low on cals, so cardio is key to fat loss. I've had luck with jogs/treadmill/eliptcal. Really its just a matter of getting your heart rate up there around 150+ for 30 minutes a crack 5-7 days a week.
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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yah i have been running at 13 mph for a while. would that get my heart rate up alot?
Well I would hope so, that sounds pretty fast to me. Buy a heart rate monitor so you know for sure. Here is the one I use: http://www.incredibody.com/monitor.html
Originally Posted by BBall24
I was also wondering how many cals you burn per session of cardio you do? I am just very curious, sry.
I have no idea, everyone's metabolism and calorie expendature rate is different. What matters is that your not eating too much so that the fat you are burning doesn't get replaced with cals from food. I'd try zone cardio for a week, and if your stomach does not get smaller or body fat or weight in that week, then lower total cals by 500.
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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Shrugs: 485 x 5
Lat pulldown: 275 x 5
Triceps press: 145 x 5
Triceps pushdown: 175 x 6
NOT good. Some tard was hogging the lat pull down machine doing lat pulls for quite a while, then did triceps pushdowns on it, when there is a dip machine 2 feet away. I got made and started with shrugs, and either me being mad made my form off a bit, or I wasn't warmed up good from doing lat pulls first like I usally do, and my back lost composure and humped over right at failure in the middle spine area. I felt flushed, and could barely unload the plates because it hurt pretty bad, and I was just going to go home, but by the time I got done unloading 8 45's 2 25's, 2 10's and 2 5's (485) I walked around a bit, and he was done with the lat pull, so I figured lat pulls would feel good for my back, and they did, stretching it back up and out after being compressed. Luckily I dropped the bar quick and the safety rack was right there just below my grip height standing straight, so I think not much damage was done. I skipped bent rows and deadlifts, but finished my workout and did cardio.
I started on the eliptical, but the one I usually use was occupied, and this other one has a problem and felt like someone stuck gravel in the tracks or something, and was totally annoying, so I ran on the treadmill for 26 minutes. Also, I noticed that tingling feeling where my love handles are that I discovered that first night I went jogging. So it must be something to do with running that makes my fat tingle. That first night I did that I lost 3/8" of fat! If I happen to lose more than normal tomorrow morning when I measure I'll be doing treadmill runs from now on. I noticed that at 5 MPH my heart eventually got up to about 158 and stayed there, so maybe I burned more fat that first jog because my heart rate was probably 165+. I'll try treadmill cardio for the next few sessions and see if I burn more fat than on the eliptical.
I just hope my back doesn't swell up and be real sore and that I don't miss any workouts because of this. Moral of the story: Keep your form good and concentrate at all times!
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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Smith Bench: 245 x 3
Incline Smith Bench: 215 x 4
Shoulder Press Machine: 175 x 2
Side laterals: 25 x 5
Ab machine: 175 x 10 (lowered weight because of back injury)
Well I lost some more strength, so I'm going to go back to bulking on Sunday for as many weeks as I can withstand doing 5 sets with advanced techniques, and I'll keep cardio up to avoid excess fat storage, then my plan is when I deload I'll go back to cutting, for at least that one week or as long as needed to reach 36" on my stomach. The idea is to bulk and gain muscle, minimize fat gains, yet when I need to lower volume to avoid overtraining I'll really ramp up the cardio and try to lose as much fat as I can in a week or two, then back to blasting hard and heavy. Over time I'll be leaner and bigger as long as I stick to my guns and reach my fat loss goals each 5-6 week period. I lost nearly 2" these last two weeks of fat, but since I lowered calories too much, I'm going to go back to bulking and try fat loss again soon, but only lower by 500 cals to start with but have my cardio right from the start, and see how things go.
I've attached a pic showing my fat loss progress, my love handles certainly are smaller and I think definition in my back has improved some, as well as my triceps you can see they are more cut.
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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This week was a bit discouraging on the fat loss. I'm going to bulk for a week or two, and then return to fat loss. I feel I lowered calories too much at first, and my body is now adapting to 3000 calories, so I'm going to raise cals back up to 4k slowly over the next week or so, regain some lost muscle and strength, and then restart fat loss. I'll keep cardio up so I do not gain any fat hopefully. It took 4500 cals and no cardio to actually add fat, so I think I'll be fine. I think that first week of cardio was shocking, so I might be able to reproduce that by going back and forth. Plus since I think I was cutting on too low of calories, I lost too much size and strength initially, so I'd like to try it again after I rebuild some lost muscle. Plus I've never even tried bulking with full blown 30 minutes of cardio in the zone daily, so I want to see how that works. With a little luck, I might lose some fat and make some gains. Doubt it though :/
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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Hahaha, well actually Jeff, the plan is to cut, but on more food. By raising my metabolism back up and continuing cardio, when I do lower cals back the fat should peel off. I feel my metabolism is slowing due to 3 weeks of being way below maintenance levels, and I'm having difficulty keeping up in the gym. I'm in no hurry to get lean, and I do feel I have the fat loss under control now, as I've proven to be able to lose nearly 2" in just a few weeks. That said, I'm going to slowly raise cals to 4000 or even 4500 over the next few weeks, keep my cardio up daily, and see what happens. With my insane metabolim, I'm confident I won't add any fat, I might even lose some more, and I'll get all my muscle back, and when I DO lower cals again, the fat will come peeling off super fast again like it did the first few days I started cardio.
So in a nutshell, since I screwed up by lowering cals too much, I'm just fixing things. Mentally I don't like being small, so I want to keep my weight around 215 or bigger, and maybe my method isn't the best, but I have to try for my own sanity.
I have strict goals I will reach. For example, I won't allow my stomach to go past 37.5". If it does, then I'll reduce calories and my goal will be fat loss. Also after my 1-4 week bulk (howerver long I can withstand 5 sets and advanced stuff) I will take a deload, and deloads are cutting, so every few weeks I'll get a strict cutting week in, so over the long haul, I do think I will lose fat and gain muscle, having my cake and eating it too, so to speak. If it doesn't work, then I'll just go like everyone else and have stomach size goals to meet. But every time I initially switch to cutting I seem to lose over an inch the first week, then it slows down. So why endure weeks and weeks of cutting with diminishing returns when I can bulk for 3-4 weeks, cut one, and get practically the same speed of fat loss, yet make gains?
The only reason I was going back and forth before and it was unproductive, is because I was not doing my cardio in the zone, so I'd just lose muscle and then re-gain any fat I had lost. Now that I am doing proper cardio, I highly doubt I will gain any fat, and in fact, I think I will continue to lose some fat, even on more food, because my off days I do cardio and burn some there on a lower cal level those days.
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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I was naturally always very thin so I think once I started doing proper cardio with my heart rate up there, it was like throwing a match on a big pile of dry hay! My main goal will still be fat loss for a while, but I am going to cycle between bulking and cutting, because it seems like the first week of cutting is very productive, then fat loss slows as my body rapidly adapts to things, so I figure I'll trick it by going back and forth a bit.
The main thing though with fat loss, is staying consistent with the cardio I think. I've never tried bulking with proper cardio, so I want to see how that works for me.
I'm looking forward to increased intensity in the gym, 3 sets + 2-3 drop sets. Arms will have 5 straight sets plus 3-4 drop sets. The only thing I won't do drop sets on are deadlifts or squats, as I feel that proper form is king on those exercises and if you do drop sets sometimes you get a little too weak and it will compromise form, and that can lead to injury.
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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3 sets on all exercises, plus 2 drop sets. Arms had 5 straight sets + 4 drops sets on preacher curl machine.
Leg Press: 450 x 7 (450 x 5)
Leg Extensions: 312 x 10 312 x 10
Leg Curls: 200 x 3 (200 x 4)
Seated Calf Raise:275 x 10 (225 x 6)
Preacher Curl Machine:150 x 8 (140 x 11)
Spider Dumbbell Curls:25 x 7 (na)
Behind the back wrist curls: 155 x 6 (na)
Rev Curls:50 x 6 (45 x 9)
Cardio: 30 minutes 150-155 BPM.
Comments: Overall I'm very happy with today's workout. Some loss in strength leg curls, only due to my middle back injury and I didn't push myself as hard as I could have because I could feel the pain there on that exercise so I did slow careful reps and did not go to failure, so I'm not displeased there. Wrist curls I skipped the previous workout and forgot this workout, so I did them after cardio, so I'm not at all worried about that either. More important was raising reps on a few exercises and hitting some PR's. Another thing is usually the reduced rest time is very difficult to maintain, yet the new zone cardio I've been doing has improved my cardiovascular conditioning, and this workout, which should have been ultra brutal, was a cakewalk compared to how they usually are. I have really good feelings about my new plan and think it is going to work really well.
6'2"
224
130 start weight @ 18 years old
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Good luck on your cut.
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