# Going from lean to ripped



## sexy_animal (Dec 31, 2008)

2008 was a year of progress for me.  This was the first time I was able to consistently stick with an exercise and nutrition program.  Here are the progress pictures.

February, 2008.






December, 2008.





I may not, yet have an awesome physique like some of the posters here, but I'm damn proud of my progress and my new found consistency.

So my goal for the first quarter of 2009 is to get ripped at 195.  I will then maintain while building strength, anaerobic endurance, and flexibility, and balance.    


What I find interesting is that my body weight stayed absolutely the same (around 195lbs) while my bodyfat dropped.  

I will post a plan of attack later.  I mainly want to use this blog for psychological leverage, so it will not be updated very often.

I will update it whenever I hit a new fitness milestone or when I have pictures that show notable progress.


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## P-funk (Dec 31, 2008)

nice progress over the year!

patrick


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## sexy_animal (Jan 4, 2009)

^^^Thanks dude!



Alright, it's time to set some new goals!

Goal: get to 8% bodyfat at no less then 195lbs by February 2nd.  Current bodyfat around 9.5% at 197lbs.  February 2nd is my woman's birthday, and I want to have a legitimate sixpack by then.  I've been wanting a 6pack since I was 13, and this year I will have my wishN

Nutrition guideline:  "The more you cook, the better you look."  90% of my meals are going to be home cooked, based around lean protein and clean carbs and healthy fats.  

Supplements:
Fish oil 10-12mgs daily
multivitamins
l-argenine
tribulus
garlic

No Protein powders/shakes!  I highly doubt the quality of protein powders out there and I really don't know what half the ingredients that go into them are, so I will stay away.

Workout schedule:
Sun: steady state cardio 45 min
Mon: legs (squats + calf raises)
Tue: Chest/Back (incline db press, pullups)
Wed: Arms (chinups, tricep press, forearms) + 25 min HIIT cardio
THur: Shoulders (military press, horizontal pullups, shrugs) + 25 min HIIT cardio
Friday: Cardio (form to be decided)

Core workouts performed with each training session.


Progress picture will be posted on February 2nd.  

Alright, here we go!


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## sexy_animal (Jan 23, 2009)

3 weeks of progress.


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## sexy_animal (Jan 30, 2009)

*4 week bodyfat loss cycle.*

Starting date Jan 30, 2009
Ending date February 28, 2009

Age: 26
Weight 196lbs
Estimated b/f: 9.5%

Goal: lose 4lbs of bodyfat, while experiencing no muscle loss, and possible muscle gain.

Daily caloric requirement (maintenance) 3,500
Caloric intake during the cycle (15% deficit) 3,000

Meal frequency 5-6 meals a day.
No cheat days, 4 planned cheat meals per week.
Dietary goal: 90% compliance.

90% of calories will come from a combination of these foods:
proteins-chicken breast, low fat cottage cheese, eggs, beef stew, eggs, tuna, milk, Greek Yogurt.
carbs+fats: brown rice, bananas, walnuts, broccoli, brown rice mixes, avocado, olive oil, baby carrots, beets, potatoes.

Workout schedule: 20 workouts total, 5 workouts per week.  Taking 3 floating days off to be taken as needed to avoid burnout and over-training.

7 Day cycle:
Day 1.  Legs- Squats + Sitting calf raises + standing calf raises
Day 2.  Shoulders-Standing Military press+face pulls/inverted rows+shrugs+core  (Optional HIIT cardio 25 min)
Day 3.  Steady state cardio 45-60min.
Day 4.  Chest/Back-Incline DB bench press+pullups(weighted)+rack pulls
Day 5.  Arms-Chinups(weighted)+Overhead triceps extensions+forearms.  25 min HIIT cardio.
Day 6.  Off
Day 7.  Off






I need to start working out my traps.  My legs are responding like crazy to squats, very happy about that.


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## nick2788 (Jan 31, 2009)

Nice progress! Very encouraging.


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## Built (Jan 31, 2009)

Your trap won't come up while cutting - nothing will, really, not this deep into the cut. 

When you move into maintenance, and then a little more, I cannot recommend hang cleans enough. Those things will do wonderful things for your traps, shoulders, and forearms. 

How much fat are you getting in? How about creatine - are you taking any? 

What rep range are you using through your cut?


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## sexy_animal (Feb 1, 2009)

Built said:


> Your trap won't come up while cutting - nothing will, really, not this deep into the cut.
> 
> When you move into maintenance, and then a little more, I cannot recommend hang cleans enough. Those things will do wonderful things for your traps, shoulders, and forearms.
> 
> ...




Well, you see, I recently started to do proper training for my legs.  I have a torn meniscus and for a while I was afraid of doing squats, but now I learned the correct squat form and it quickly became my favorite exercise.

I'm definitely putting muscle on my lower body because in a month I haven't lost a single pound, yet I look more defined all over.  

I'm training for maximum strength and all of my weights have actually gone up in the last month.  Some went up significantly.

I always aim to increase the amount of weight I'm using.

I usually go for 1x4 with a new weight, then in the subsequent sessions I work it up to 4x4, then 5x5, then 4x6, and when I get to 4x8 it's usually time to use more weight.  

I don't know the exact micronutrients that I'm getting in.  There's a fair amount of educated guesswork, but I'm getting results, so there hasn't been any need to change up to this point.

I'm considering logging all my food intake for a week soon so that I know exactly what I'm dealing with.

I'm not using creatine, it just never really appealed to me as a legitimate training aid.  

I'm going to look into hang cleans.  The only problem is my gym is not equipped for any sort of powerlifting stuff.   There is even no real space to do deadlifts.  

Thanks for your input, it's much valued.


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## sexy_animal (Feb 5, 2009)

Don't ya just love it how life throws a monkey wrench into your best laid plans?

I came down with the worst cold in my memory this weekend.

Oh well, I guess I'm going to have to shoot for 100% compliance for the next 3 weeks in order to hit my goals.

I did make the best of my period of inactivity and started to log my food intake.

It turns out I was not eating enough fat.


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## Built (Feb 5, 2009)

Cool - glad you found your food intake. What average macros were you running and how have you fixed this?


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## sexy_animal (Feb 5, 2009)

This is what was:

3000 calories total
250g protein=1000cal
300g carbs= 12000cal
89g fat=1000

I didn't realize that I was consuming 300 grams of carbs.  I constantly felt hungry because I wasn't eating enough fat.

So I changed it to:

3000 calories total
250g protein=1000cal
200g carbs=800cal
133g fat=12000cal

I added Greek yogurt to my diet and more avocado and more olive oil.


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## Built (Feb 5, 2009)

ISN'T THAT MORE COMFORTABLE?

Fats are SO satiating.


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## sexy_animal (Feb 5, 2009)

Built said:


> ISN'T THAT MORE COMFORTABLE?
> 
> Fats are SO satiating.



Oh, what a difference.  

I even feel like a happier person.


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## sexy_animal (Feb 16, 2009)

I have to say that despite a week-absence from the gym due to illness, fat is literally melting off my body and my muscles are actually growing.  

I'm very happy and I should hit my fat loss goal for this month in spite of all the problems.  

Will post pictures.


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## ZackAttack (Feb 17, 2009)

great job!


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## sexy_animal (Feb 18, 2009)

Thank you very much!

Here's a current pic just for fun...I've only been training my legs for some 2 months because of a previous knee injury.  They're responding like crazy.  






I guess I'm losing fat a bit slower than 1lbs per week, but the upside is I seem to be gaining muscle.  

It could also be possible that my fatloss occurs in spurts.


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## Built (Feb 18, 2009)

Probably a bit of both - you're looking nice and lean now, and not at all "light-bulb"-ish. Nice work. Striations coming in nicely through the delts, legs showing evidence of that leg work, great to see abs coming to visit for spring.


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## sexy_animal (Mar 2, 2009)

I completely FUBAR'd my last week of training.

First, I got a cold and was unable to exercise for 3 days.  Then my landlord diced to sue me and completely fucked up the end of my week.  

So I'm going to push back my goal deadline for this cycle by 10 days to March 10th.

I'm still kicking, and now I'm gonna come back stronger then ever!!!  ARRGGGG!!!


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## sexy_animal (Mar 11, 2009)

Well, it's time for an update.

I'm going to admit that I didn't reach the bodyfat loss goals that I was aiming for last month.  

I figured out the reason for my fatloss plateau.  It's complex carbs.  I was consuming too many of them.  I was still eating like a soccer player even though I don't currently play.  Excessive carbs slowed my fatloss to a halt.

So here's a new template:

0.55g of simple and complex starchy carbs per 1lbs of bodyweight per day.
1.5g of carbs on refeed days, every (4-5 days)
unlimited fibrous carbs
controlled cheats on the weekend
damn heavy compound lifting 3x a week
stationary bike cardio 2x a week

Daily plan:


2 pieces of fruit in the morning (banana + pear)

Unlimited fibrious carbs during the day; green beans, asparagus, brussel sprouts, brocolli

2 scoops of cytogainer as PWO

1 serving of organic rice + beans an hour after workout.


Goal: lose 5lbs of bodyfat by April 10th.  I should end up at around 191lbs.

Here's what I currently look like.


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## sexy_animal (Mar 16, 2009)

Well, I dusted off my bicycle this morning and went for a 40 minute ride.  I got a pretty good cardio workout using the least efficient gear combination.  I plan to do this 5x a week, until I hit my bodyfat goals.  

Of course I'm going to do this first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.  Yay!


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## sexy_animal (Mar 20, 2009)

I'm adding a new instrument of torture to my arsenal.
It's a lovely weighted vest.  I want to get stronger on the pullups and build bigger arms so here we go.  25lbs of metal shavings strapped to my chest.  I look like a Palestinian suicide bomber!

I'm going to try it out today for a lactate inducing workout.


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## sexy_animal (Mar 21, 2009)

Well...that was a nice distraction, and I'm sore all over today.

I cranked up the metal on my stereo and got in a kickass workout with my new weighted vest and and a 12lbs medicine ball.

Run in place 3min

One set:
Jumping jacks (unweighted) 1x50
Squat thrusts 1x20
shadow boxing 2 min
medicine ball cleans 1x10 with each arm
squats 1x10
pushups 1x10
medicine ball side twists (similar to throwing a hook) 1x10 each side
medicine ball rapid forward thrusts 1x20
sit ups 1x30
plank 30 seconds
extended arm side plank variation 20 seconds each side

Active rest (jogging in place)
Repeat the super set x 3

I'm sore everywhere today.


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## sexy_animal (Apr 3, 2009)

I have to say, whatever I'm doing right now, it's working...

I've been doing cross training in a fasted state, and I like the results I'm seeing.  I had an excellent heavy bag workout yesterday, and now my forearms hurt, so I can't type much more.   New pictures will be up on the the 10th.


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## sexy_animal (Apr 3, 2009)

Today's core workout:

hanging leg raises 10
leg raises/L-chairs on dip bars 10
plank 30 seconds
side planks (on extended arm) 20 seconds each
60lbs weighted cable punches (right cross) 10 each
60lbs weighted cable side rotations 10 each side
60lbs weighted cable underhanded wood chops 10 each side
medicine ball crunches with full extension 20

steady state cardio (stationary bike) 40 minutes


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## sexy_animal (Apr 3, 2009)

Keep trying to work up the nerve to do cardio twice a day.  HIIT type of cardio in the morning, and a jog at night...let's see how this is going to go.


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## sexy_animal (Apr 4, 2009)

Nice hardcore workout today!  

Standing barbell military press 4x6
Smith machine shrugs 4x8
Cable face pulls 4x10
Chinups 4x10


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## Built (Apr 4, 2009)

sexy_animal said:


> Keep trying to work up the nerve to do cardio twice a day.  HIIT type of cardio in the morning, and a jog at night...let's see how this is going to go.



Ooooh, maybe the other way around. Go for a walk in the AM, try for some HIIT later in the day when you've eaten. 

As an aside, why twice a day? HIIT daily sounds... um... like an invitation to an injury.


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## sexy_animal (Apr 4, 2009)

Built said:


> Ooooh, maybe the other way around. Go for a walk in the AM, try for some HIIT later in the day when you've eaten.
> 
> As an aside, why twice a day? HIIT daily sounds... um... like an invitation to an injury.



Well, I'm still trying to work out how I can actually accomplish that.....

I read your Daredevils article, and I have to say I totally agree with what you're saying there.  I found out on my own skin that if I want to break the fatloss plateau, the workout stimulus has to be both intense and constantly varied.  

I think my crazy and varied calisthenic, plyometric, boxing, weighted vest and medicine ball training is what is driving my fatloss.  My weight training is pretty much conventional.  I decided to never do the same workout twice.  

I try to imitate MMA training.  Check out the clip below:






YouTube Video


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## sexy_animal (Apr 4, 2009)

If you notice at the end of the clip the guy is doing his workout with a gas mask on.  I remember having to do stuff with my gas mask on in the military and it was absolute torture, because it makes breathing extremely difficult.  No wonder this guy is known as a conditioning machine in the MMA.


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## sexy_animal (Apr 6, 2009)

Brutal conditioning session this morning!

5 min jog

Superset:
30 jumping jacks
10 squat thrusts
10 pushups 
10 situps
10 side twists
10 Front-Back-Go drills
2 minutes shadow boxing.

I did two set unweighted and then the weighted vest came on!  Needless to say I was dying.

I taped myself during this workout and will post it soon.


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## chiquita6683 (Apr 6, 2009)

sexy_animal said:


> If you notice at the end of the clip the guy is doing his workout with a gas mask on.  I remember having to do stuff with my gas mask on in the military and it was absolute torture, because it makes breathing extremely difficult.  No wonder this guy is known as a conditioning machine in the MMA.


 That video was insane! How tall are you? Are you going to do any MMA?


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## sexy_animal (Apr 7, 2009)

chiquita6683 said:


> That video was insane! How tall are you? Are you going to do any MMA?



I'm 6'2".  Nah...I'm not going to do MMA for now.  I'm waiting to have a knee surgery and then I'll go back to playing soccer and doing boxing.

Man...I'm feeling spent today. I went to the gym, sat in the locker room and then walked straight out.  Couldn't do it.  Body needs rest.

I have to say the stress of my upcoming exam and the low-carb dieting lowered my testosterone levels.  How do I know...the sex drive is down. 

So I want to recover a little bit.


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## sexy_animal (Apr 10, 2009)

Yup, it's happening!  Here's a current pic.  I'll post my goals for the month shortly.  Fatloss is obvious despite the bloat caused by lots of carbs and spicy foods.  I'm not even flexing anything in this pic!  Yea!  







Today's workout (fasted, early morning):

Barbell squats 4x6
Seated calf raises 4x10
Standing calf raises 4x10

Heavy bag-15 minutes (intense).


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## chiquita6683 (Apr 10, 2009)




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## sexy_animal (Apr 13, 2009)

Thank you! 

Ok, it's time for some new fitness goals!

1.  Drop around 5lbs of bodyfat.  My goal is to be at around 188lbs at dry, carb-depleted weight.  Current weight around 194lbs.  
2.  Stay smoke free for the entire month.
3.  Use creatine to power the workouts.  
4.  Get a full body tan.  


Will be following a training split that looks like this:

M: Legs + intense heavy bag work
T: Core work + 1 hour low intensity cardio (stationary bike)
W: Chest + back
Th: Intense conditioning superset training 
Fr: Shoulders + Arms
Sat: 30 minute jog 

Most of these will be done in a fasted state.


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## cutnbulk (Apr 13, 2009)

I am very impressed with what you have laid out so far.  You started with some attainable short-term goals, you set out a very nice, clean diet, and you overcame some obstacles (cold- which I currently have now, and other problems with your living) and look where you're at.  I congratulate you, and will follow suit with my journal, as well.  

I look forward to following your journal!  Keep it going.  Good luck with your training.


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## sexy_animal (Apr 14, 2009)

Thanks, I appreciate it.  

I have to say getting ripped is hard work and so I would like to really focus for one more month and achieve my goals.  I'm very much looking forward to just maintaining for a while and getting stronger.  

Progress pictures will be up by May 13th.


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## sexy_animal (Apr 19, 2009)

Yesterdays workout: 
Did this one with my woman.  She's a pretty fit chick.  Circuit training...

Jumping jacks 30
Squat thrusts 10
Pushups 10
Situps 10
Front-Back-go 10
Mountain climbers 10
Ball side twists 10 each side
Ball throw and retrieve 4
Jog 2 min

Repeat x7
Total reps: 95x7=665


Today: 

Beach run 2.5miles


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## danzik17 (Apr 19, 2009)

Looking leaner.  How come you decided to do your workouts in a fasted state?


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## sexy_animal (Apr 19, 2009)

danzik17 said:


> Looking leaner.  How come you decided to do your workouts in a fasted state?



I just get better fastloss results when exercising first thing in the morning, before breakfast.  I do lots of crosstraining stuff now, and my performance doesn't seem to be affected.


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## sexy_animal (Apr 20, 2009)

New strength record broken on the bench press.  Up 10lbs for 6 reps.

Incline dumbbell bench press (#4 incline) 

1x8 50lbs
1x5 70lbs
*2x3 90lb*
1x3 85 lbs
1x10 50 lbs

Pullups:

1x11
2x10
1x5 with negative pullup held 30 seconds at the end.


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## sexy_animal (Apr 23, 2009)

Temporarily working out 7 days a week to get the desired results.

Mon: Chest/Back
Tue: Abs/Core+heavy bag 
Wed: Legs
Thur: Abs/Core+1 hour steady state cardio
Fri: Shoulders/Arms
Sat: Conditioning (body weight, medicine ball drills)
Sun: Sprints/Anaerobic training on the beach


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## lola1182 (Apr 23, 2009)

great progress!! very encouraging!


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## sexy_animal (Apr 24, 2009)

^^^Thank you!  I try...

I have to say I like working out a lot more then I like dieting.  So I brought up my calories and carbs a little bit, but I'm also training 7 days a week now, and feeling really good.


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## AKIRA (Apr 24, 2009)

sexy_animal said:


> Today's core workout:
> 
> hanging leg raises 10
> leg raises/L-chairs on dip bars 10
> ...



I was gonna say...that this was a bit much, but these are one sets, yes?  How many days a week do you do these?

I do core every workout.  1-2 exercises.


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## sexy_animal (Apr 26, 2009)

AKIRA said:


> I was gonna say...that this was a bit much, but these are one sets, yes?  How many days a week do you do these?
> 
> I do core every workout.  1-2 exercises.



Yes, that is just one set.  I do core training 2 days a week, usually prior to cardio.  The thing is I'm going to start boxing after my surgery, so I'm focused on building up my rotational strength.   That's why I do more diverse exercises for the core then someone who is primarily concerned with aesthetics.  

We had a great combat conditioning workout with my woman out in the park yesterday.  It was tough as hell, I was gasping for air all throughout.

We used a 12lbs medicine ball.

Ball overhead toss+retrieve 10 reps
Ball side twists 10 each side
Ball side scoop toss+retrieve 10 reps
Squat thrust+pushup+mountain climber 10 reps
Ball basketball pass toss+retreive 10 reps
Bear walk 25meters
Crab walk 25meters

Each set took 3 to 4 minutes to complete and we did 4 sets.


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## chiquita6683 (Apr 26, 2009)

sexy_animal said:


> Yes, that is just one set.  I do core training 2 days a week, usually prior to cardio.  The thing is I'm going to start boxing after my surgery, so I'm focused on building up my rotational strength.   That's why I do more diverse exercises for the core then someone who is primarily concerned with aesthetics.
> 
> We had a great combat conditioning workout with my woman out in the park yesterday.  It was tough as hell, I was gasping for air all throughout.
> 
> ...



Your woman must be really badass!


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## BIGBRADUK (Apr 26, 2009)

well done mate, you can clearly see all your effort and hard work has paid off!


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## sexy_animal (Apr 27, 2009)

chiquita6683 said:


> Your woman must be really badass!



Yeah, she's a piece of ass, I like her...


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## sexy_animal (Apr 27, 2009)

BIGBRADUK said:


> well done mate, you can clearly see all your effort and hard work has paid off!



Thank you, I always appreciate the kind words!

I won't be able to go to the gym for the next few days, but luckily its nice and sunny out which means I can work out at the gym.

I plan to do 300meter shuffle sprints in the sand, as a part of my anaerobic conditioning.

I'm also going to do bodyweight muscular endurance exercises from Stew Smith's Navy Seal Fitness book.  Nothing like doing 500pushups, 100 pullups and 300 dips in the morning!


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## sexy_animal (Apr 30, 2009)

Slightly dehydrated and carb depleted weight this morning-191 lbs

I'm right on the schedule to get to dry/carb depleted 188lbs by the 13th of May.


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## sexy_animal (May 1, 2009)

I worked out twice yesterday.  I did a legs workout in the morning, and then 45 minutes of steady state cardio on a stationary bike in the evening.  Not bad at all, I like this.


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## sexy_animal (May 3, 2009)

I have pulled a muscle in back where the lat ties into the spinal erector, so I'll be limited to steady state bike cardio for the next few days. Oh well


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## gymforall (May 3, 2009)

Massage will get wrid of that pain in no time.........


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## sexy_animal (May 6, 2009)

Been doing some form of cardio every day now.  Either running on the beach or doing stationary bike cardio.

Yesterday's workout:

8am-45 minutes stationary bike steady state cardio-moderate effort
8pm-45 minutes stationary bike steady state cardio-intense effort

Whoever said that steady state cardio can't be intense was wrong...I was huffing and puffing and willing myself to continue every minute.  I really challenged myself.  

*The more intense the effort, the greater the results.*

Looking quite muscular.   My goal is to have full-blown 6pack abs by my 27th bday (June 24th).  I have every bit of confidence that I will get there.


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## DIVINITUS (May 12, 2009)

Looking great!   all the more reason to SMILE!!!


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## sexy_animal (May 13, 2009)

^^Thanks.   I take these first thing in the morning...I don't do mornings...

Here is one more month of progress.  I'm leaning out still.  I guess, as a newbie I severely underestimated how much bodyfat I carried on me.  I'm going to post my dry weight tomorrow.  I would estimate I need to lose about 7more lbs of fat until I start looking like I'm made of granite.  Interesting, the abs really are the last area where the fat comes off.  It has noticibly come off my legs last month and I now have a visible vein in my left bicep, so I know I'm on the right track.


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## sexy_animal (May 13, 2009)

By contrast, here's what my back looked like just over a year ago.


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## sexy_animal (May 13, 2009)

I have to say those pictures are not the most flattering and don't really do my progress justice.  I've been killing myself in the gym and the results have been amazing.  
It's very hard to look defined in a frontal picture unless you have a heavy tan.  Here is what my abs really look like today.  






*
NOW ITS TIME FOR ONE FINAL PUSH.  THE NEXT SET OF PROGRESS PICTURES WILL BE POSTED ON JUNE 24th (MY 27TH BDAY).  *


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## Balin (May 13, 2009)

Looking like some good progress man.  You can do it for the 24th


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## Built (May 13, 2009)

We pale folks REALLY wash out in the light. Try taking ab pix in dim light. WAY MORE SATISFYING. 

Being moon-pale myself, I can appreciate the definition that does not show up in the pix - you look lean as hell. Nice work. 

(PS love the goody-trail...!)


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## rantorcha (May 13, 2009)

Nice job, S.A.!!  Your hard work certainly paid off.  Keep up the great work.


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## sexy_animal (May 14, 2009)

^^^Thanks for showing the love, everybody. I appreciate it.  Not wanting to look like an incompetent fool in front of y'all is the reason I keep this log.


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## sexy_animal (May 14, 2009)

In case anybody wants to know what kind of workouts I've been doing lately to get my recent results, here goes...

Monday:
Heavy bag HIIT 30 minutes...3 minutes on-1 minute rest.

Tuesday:
Fasted steady state cardio in the morning-stationary bike-45 minutes

Steady state cardio in the evening-stationary bike-45 minutes

Wednesday:
Chest-Incline DB press 4x6
Back-Pullups 4x10

Thursday:
Legs (morning):
Barbell Squats-4x8 (focus on maintaining the perfect form)
Seated calf raises 4x15
Standing calf raises 4x15

Cardio (evening)Steady state cardio-stationary bike-45 minutes

Friday:
Shoulders:
Standing barbell military press 4x6
Smith machine shrugs 4x10
Heavy face pulls 4x10

Arms:
Chinups 4x10


Saturday (optional):
-Bodyweight/medicine ball conditioning workout-outdoor

Sunday (optional):
4 mile run on the beach (unpacked sand)


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## sexy_animal (May 19, 2009)

The thighs have been coming up, even though I've only been squatting 135lbs as I'm still learning the form...(it's been around 4 months now, and I still find that I have room for improvement).

I hope to look much harder and much more defined by the 24th of June.


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## sexy_animal (May 28, 2009)

It's on like motherfuckin' Donkey Kong.  It's time to get my Arnold on 

I've been taking it easy the past couple of weeks, but now it's time to up the intensity and achieve that goal.  

GOAL: 90% compliance with my meals.

Intense, consistent effort in the gym and in the kitchen.  It's time to showcase my discipline.

4 weeks left to abs.  Let's get it on!!!


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## sexy_animal (Jun 4, 2009)

I was cheating a little too much on the barbell military press and have suffered a minor muscle pull in my back.  Annoying, but shouldn't take more than a few days to heal.


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## sexy_animal (Jun 12, 2009)

I started implementing pyramids into my weight training.  I like it so far!  It's definitely a new stimulus.

I looked in the mirror today and I realized that I actually look good!  I'm so critical of myself that I forgot to give myself any credit.  

I'm sure the progress pics won't disappoint.


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## sexy_animal (Jun 24, 2009)

I'm back.  Had a minor setback; I suffered a sever lower back spasm that has kept me bed-ridden for more then a week.

This morning I was feeling healthy enough to move and I went for a jog.

This picture is from the 16th of June.  






Not quite there yet, but pretty soon I will be.  Resuming my fitness routine and my healthy eating habits.


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## sexy_animal (Jul 29, 2009)

Guess what?  I'm still at it.  Getting really cut is hard work.  
Those last few pounds certainly are a challenge.  I'm still learning.  I'm learning how to implement more advanced dieting concepts such as micronutrient and carb cycling.  
If you don't try, you don't achieve!


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## sexy_animal (Aug 16, 2009)

2-3 Weeks into carb cycling.


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## sexy_animal (Aug 31, 2009)

Still improving with carb cycling.  A bit of tan also helps.


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