# Rebirth - My climb up the steep comeback trail...or mountain



## fantasma62 (Jun 16, 2006)

Howdy Folks!
It's been a while ah?
The reality is that I have never really left. I was always here. I am, you know, the "Fantasma" (or phantom for most of ya'll). I was invisible and in reality, I also felt invisible. 

So now, to my story....

I went thru a rough patch this past year and a half, where I really wasn't feeling too good about myself. I am not going to bore ya'll with details of how things happen. Maybe ya'll wont' get bored, but then again, I rather keep those things private for now. 

Anyway, I ballooned up to 295 pounds and got sick and tired of it. I wasn't lifting or doing any sort of exercise, so I thought that enough was enough and decided to do something about it. I had a procedure where a gastric band is placed around your esophagus. I am not going to get into details here either; ya'll can google it. All I am going to say is that this is something that will help me eat less. At first, I saw this as a quitter's way out, even though I sell this device myself (Thank god I am not the sales person). Truth is, I couldn't fathom people being so weak minded that they would resort to something like this. Well, your children can change your mind quickly, so can your family and even your doctor. No, I didn't do this for me, to look good, to fit into my size 31 jeans, etc. Nope, my one and only thought was with my family and how it would be for them if I p. My heart is fine, blood pressure is fine, I am not a diabetic, so I am in great shape. However, this could all change in a flash and I wansn't ready to go that way yet.

Finally, on May 10th I was re-born (had the procedure done). A month has gone by and I have dropped 39 pounds (nope, this was not the procedure itself) since for the first three weeks I had to eat nothing but liquids or near liquids. The last couple of weeks have been better, with the semi-solids. I am not allowed to eat any solid foods for a month due to possible displacement of the band, since it needs to adhere to the esophagus. Anyway, finally it adhered, the band was inflated and I am now eating solid foods again, in small amounts.

I am happy, my family is happy and anyone out there who disagrees with what I did, can kiss my...well you know.... I do what's best for me and my family, nobody else. I say this because I want to make sure that if anybody decides to give me a lecture about why I shouldn't have done this, they know that I am going to end up cleaning myself with that lecture/opinion. Ya'll know I am not a negative person but I wanted to write that just in case I need to get mean.  

What's next for me? Well, I am itching to begin working on my HIT again. I am all cured. I no longer have any pains or aches and no longer accept excuses as to why I stop my workout. Hurricanes and all that crap won't deter me this time.

I am going to start monday after re-researching thru Brother Arch's workout and all others who pointed me in the path of enlightenment.... 

Also, I haven't been to the gym in a while and need to reacquaint myself with where everything is. One of my biggest mistakes when I started lifting again was that I didn't know where everything was, so I took longer than I wanted to for my first workouts.

Anyway, let's see what happens this time....

I'll come back with my workouts later.....


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## King Silverback (Jun 16, 2006)

Brother Tony, Glad to have ya back!!! More power to ya for taking action, there are only 2 choices in every obstacle, accept, or Not accept!!! You are a much better person for making yourself and those around you happy, GODspeed you and yours my Friend!!! 

Sorry for all the rambling on and on, glad your back my Friend!!!


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## fantasma62 (Jun 17, 2006)

Archangel said:
			
		

> Brother Tony, Glad to have ya back!!! More power to ya for taking action, there are only 2 choices in every obstacle, accept, or Not accept!!! You are a much better person for making yourself and those around you happy, GODspeed you and yours my Friend!!!
> 
> Sorry for all the rambling on and on, glad your back my Friend!!!


 
Wait a sec. you rambled on and on??? Did you see my first post on this thread? That was the definition of rambling.....


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## fantasma62 (Jun 18, 2006)

Well, after a couple of days reading and studying I few of my HIT counselor's journals, I had forgotten to read my last journal, which amazingly enough was full of good advice from everyone.
I feel very strong and want to begin working as soon as possible, so I am really going for a workout like this:

-Leg Curls 
-Leg Extension 
-Leg Press
-Straight Arm Pullover
-Chest Press (Cybex)
-Bent Over row with palms facing out
-Overhead Press
-Bicep Curl with barbell
-Triceps Extension (Cybex)
- Wrist Curls
-Standing Calf Raise
-Trunk Curls (Ab execise) 

This is a routine I copied from one of my best full body workouts.  My thought is I was very motivated to do this rather than a split where I found it to be very good but my feeling was that I burned a lot more with the full body than with the other one.  Not taking shots at splits folks, I liked them too, but I really want to go back to having that "spent" feeling that I first had when I started HIT.
Now, HIT Gurus, is this too much to do for the first time?  It's been over a year and I'm not sure if I am going to be over-doing it for a first shot.  If so, how many should I remove?  Or should I go back to the very first HIT routine I ever did:

-Leg Curls
-Leg Extension
-Leg Press
-Straight Arm Pullover
-Bent Over row with palms facing out
-Overhead Press
-Bicep Curl with barbell

The only thing that I would like to maybe say about this is that I would add a bench press to it.  Either that, or replacing an exercise with it.  However, as I said above, I don't want to over-do it, so any suggestions will be appreciated....


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## fantasma62 (Jun 18, 2006)

*Happy Father's Day!!!!*

Oh man....Arch, you'll get a kick out of this:

My daughter just woke up and came to me and gave me a hug and told me:  "Happy Father's Day"....I had completely forgotten about it.

So, to all of you fathers out there in Ironmagazineland.....


HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!!!


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## Double D (Jun 18, 2006)

And happy fathers day back to you. 

Best of luck to you in your journey.


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## fantasma62 (Jun 18, 2006)

Double D said:
			
		

> And happy fathers day back to you.
> 
> Best of luck to you in your journey.


 
Many thanks Double D


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## fantasma62 (Jun 19, 2006)

Weight on saturday:  252.5 pounds.  Weigh-ins are on saturday mornings.  

Well, I am really excited today. I spent the weekend at my neighborhood gym(I pay an association fee for it) and at the pay gym accross the street and I was happy to see that my neighborhood gym had gone thru a bit of a facelift (all new equipment) and I can pretty much work out there. I used to go to the other and if my neighborhood gym would not have had the facelift, I would have gone to the pay gym.
Either way, while doing all the research and looking at gyms, my wife got into it too and now we'll be working out together. She wants to learn HIT and now I have to do a bit of research on how to help her with HIT, or how HIT works on a woman's body. Sadly enough, I have never looked for or found anything talking about women and HIT. I guess I'll look in here first (in the forums).
Either way, I have some reading to do and I decided on my workout. I am going to try to do the first routine I posted, which I'll repost below and will use my previous experience to correctly guesstimate the weights that I will "try to" lift....
We'll go from there and see what happens. Now to do some research regarding women and HIT...

Here is the routine that I will try to do:

-Leg Curls 
-Leg Extension 
-Leg Press
-Straight Arm Pullover
-Chest Press (Cybex)
-Bent Over row with palms facing out
-Overhead Press
-Bicep Curl with barbell
-Triceps Extension (Cybex)
- Wrist Curls
-Standing Calf Raise
-Trunk Curls (Ab execise) 

Do ya'll think I shouldtry to combine these so that there aren't three straight leg exercises, then three straight back exercises, etc. What I mean is should I stagger these rather than doing them in the same order that they are in now?
I'll listen to opinions....


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## King Silverback (Jun 19, 2006)

Brother Tony, the routine looks fine to me my Friend!!! Best of Wishes to you, remember to HIT it hard, or go home!!! Love your story, I know your heart melted!!! As far as your wife, I recomend a book called "Maxamize Your Training" by Matt Brzycki, it has a whole chapter on Womans strength training that is very interesting, and it's predominatly HIT related!!! Great read imo!!!


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## fantasma62 (Jun 19, 2006)

Archangel said:
			
		

> Brother Tony, the routine looks fine to me my Friend!!! Best of Wishes to you, remember to HIT it hard, or go home!!! Love your story, I know your heart melted!!! As far as your wife, I recomend a book called "Maxamize Your Training" by Matt Brzycki, it has a whole chapter on Womans strength training that is very interesting, and it's predominatly HIT related!!! Great read imo!!!


 
As always Brother Arch, great information.....


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## King Silverback (Jun 19, 2006)

fantasma62 said:
			
		

> As always Brother Arch, great information.....


I try my Friend, I try!!!


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## fantasma62 (Jun 19, 2006)

Well, that sucked....
We went to the gym and voila, it was packed and we really didn't even try to do anything since the gym is small.  Well, that was a nice judgement error.
Tomorrow morning I am going back to my old gym to register and get started.  
Rather than a tough workout today, we had a nice walk thru the park and talked about what we were about to get into.  I kinda' already know what I am getting into, but she has no idea of what's about to happen to her body (Easy you sickos, I am talking about the HIT).  It should be interesting tomorrow.
This is the workout that I am think of having her go thru:

-Leg Curls 
-Leg Extension 
-Chest Press (Cybex)
-Bent Over row
-Overhead Press
-Bicep Curl with barbell
-Triceps Extension (Cybex)
-Trunk Curls (Ab execise) 

I am not sure if ending with the trunk curls is a good idea.  I am thinking she may be way too thrashed to even try them.  I think I may just play that by ear.  We'll see.
If ya'll have any comments on this, let me know, I am open to suggestions...


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## King Silverback (Jun 19, 2006)

Honestly looks good, but don't have her go to failure just yet, let her get a feel for the movements!!!


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## b_reed23 (Jun 19, 2006)

hiya!!  This looks good to me, only I would place the chest and back at the beginning of the workout, and place legs somewhere in the middle...I don't know about her, but when I work legs, they tire me out!  Also, for a month or so...you may just want to take her in there, and show her the different exercises, and let her get really good with her form, that way she can avoid injury later on 

I'll keep checking in...I don't know how much help I was though


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## fantasma62 (Jun 20, 2006)

*Brother Arch: *I bow my head to the HIT Master. You are right, she needs to first get used to the movements and form before attacking HIT fully. I think you and Billie caught on to where I was going with this. Trying to avoid future injury....

*Billie:* The fact is that what you wrote down is exactly what I was lookiing for, to a "T". Your perspective on organizing the exercises is just what I wanted to hear. Your help here is invaluable to me, since you are giving me ways to avoid injury, which was the jist of my "Training" thread to begin with. 

My plan for her was to work her out first and once we finished, then do my own lifting while she rests. She said she would go and ride stationary bike while she waited for me.  
Poor thing doesn't know that since she hasn't lifted in over 5 years, and in fact, only for a month, she will be spent after any sort of a workout. She's a tough cookie though, so who knows, maybe I'm the only freaking jackass who feels spent after such a workout.... 

I just had a thought.  Wow.....Brain cramp....  
Anyway, would it be advisable to change things around from day to day regarding the types of exercises that she performs?  For example, let's say that today she does Chest presses, then the next workout she does Dumbbell presses, then the one after she does the butterflies, then the next week, we start with inclined presses, etc.  So that during the first month I can get a feedback on which exercises she feels more comfortable with and which she doesn't?  I was planning on doing this on my own workout too, just because I dont want my muscles to get used to the same thing every workout and shock the crap out of them.
So, is this a good idea for either of us?


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## Fitgirl70 (Jun 20, 2006)

That's exactly what I was thinking JellyBean.  Good insight!   

Also, speaking of form, if you're not sure yourself/or just for your wife -- there are some great websites that show you exactly how to perform the exercise.  I think Brother Arch may have a link.  I have had to consult something like that or others before.

Good luck and good job!


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## fantasma62 (Jun 20, 2006)

Fitgirl70 said:
			
		

> That's exactly what I was thinking JellyBean. Good insight!
> 
> Also, speaking of form, if you're not sure yourself/or just for your wife -- there are some great websites that show you exactly how to perform the exercise. I think Brother Arch may have a link. I have had to consult something like that or others before.
> 
> Good luck and good job!


 
No, I am sure about myself.  I was doing HIT last year for a few months and I am a stickler (to a fault) when it comes to form.  I am so bad, that when I haven't lifted in a while and re-start again, I actually count out my bits while doing my reps in 1,2,3's for each rep.  Let me rephrase.  I count the seconds for each rep, starting at 1 in the lift and ending at 3 before I lift it again.....
I need to help her with form and timing..that's my issue...However, I appreciate your comment and I am really looking forward to more......Keep them coming buddy....


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## gwcaton (Jun 20, 2006)

*Tony's back in the house !!!!!! *   

Welcome back stranger, you can hold a place here for me. Be awhile before I'm back in the gym.

Good luck !


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## fantasma62 (Jun 20, 2006)

gwcaton said:
			
		

> *Tony's back in the house !!!!!! *
> 
> Welcome back stranger, you can hold a place here for me. Be awhile before I'm back in the gym.
> 
> Good luck !


 
G-Dub, you know damn well that there is always a place here for you....
You can post anything you want in here, Mi Casa es su Casa.....


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## King Silverback (Jun 20, 2006)

I say experiment with different peices of equipment, let her get a feel for what she likes ALOT, and what she likes VERY Little, that way when she is ready, she has knowledge of a variety of options!!! Wishing you and yours nothing but the BEST!!!


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## fantasma62 (Jun 20, 2006)

Day 1:

-Leg Extension 13 x 132pd
-Leg Press 12 x 305
-Vertical Chest Press 6 x 85 pd
-Cybex Row 11 x 100
-Overhead Press 9 x 130
-Barbell Curl 9 x 60
-Triceps Extension (Cybex) 8 x 70

My thoughts on the workout:

Meh  

I'll have a better assessment once the basketball game is over....


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## fantasma62 (Jun 20, 2006)

WAY TO GO HEAT!!!!!

HEAT WINS!!!!


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## fantasma62 (Jun 20, 2006)

fantasma62 said:
			
		

> Day 1:
> 
> -Leg Extension 13 x 132pd
> -Leg Press 12 x 305
> ...


 

Well, now that I can't fall asleep, I'll critique myself.
After comparing first workouts, I have to tell you, it isn't exactly Meh.
When I first walked into the gym I was tired and lost (they changed things around since I was there last) and I really didn't feel like working out.  The one thing that I learned today is that I can still work out when I don't exactly feel it.
This time I had more exercises added to my workout and it really felt great to get this one out of the way.
The one negative about this is that I didn't really reach physical failure ikn any of the routines.  Well I did reach failure, mental failure.  I gave up rather than reaching failure.  Not happy about that, however, I give me credit (how self serving am I?) because I still went out there and did it.
I can say one thing, on the positive side, my legs were jelly and I left there thinking that I could do better and wanting to do better tomorrow.  Of course, I am not going tomorrow, but on thursday or friday, but you get my jist......
Wifey didn't want to work out today because we got to the gym a bit late, so she rode stationary bike for 20 mins. and the stepper thingy (sorry, cardio-challenged) for another 20 mins.  Particularly, I think she over-did this and she's going to wake up in severe pain, but I won't say anything.  She has earned a free massage.....   and that's all I am going to say about that...


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## fantasma62 (Jun 21, 2006)

Although I am disappointed with not reaching failure, I feel pretty good this morning.  I am a little sore in the right places, so I know the workout wasn't all bad.  I did sweat a bit....
Tomorrow will be another day....


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## naturaltan (Jun 21, 2006)

Tony!!!!


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## b_reed23 (Jun 21, 2006)

hey Tony...YES! It is always a good idea to have different exercises in every workout...I never do 2 of the same moves of ANYTHING in one week...mix it up so your body will never get used to the movement!! your right on target!  I am fixin to set a friend of mine up on a simlar program...HIT, with one set per body part...she doesn't even know what she's gotten herself into


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## fantasma62 (Jun 21, 2006)

naturaltan said:
			
		

> Tony!!!!


 
Mr. NT, how are you my friend....
You are going to love this, I am setting up a small boxing gym in my garage.  Bought me a heavy bag with stand, speed bag with mount, heavy gloves, mitts and I am now looking for an inexpensive timer (bell) so that I can keep track of, well, time....

Great to see you here, feel free to drop in anytime....


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## fantasma62 (Jun 21, 2006)

b_reed23 said:
			
		

> hey Tony...YES! It is always a good idea to have different exercises in every workout...I never do 2 of the same moves of ANYTHING in one week...mix it up so your body will never get used to the movement!! your right on target! I am fixin to set a friend of mine up on a simlar program...HIT, with one set per body part...she doesn't even know what she's gotten herself into


 
Great Info Billie, thanks.  I am a bit sore (actually my legs are sore, the rest of me is Ok).  I am ready for tomorrow's workout, hopefully I will go in with a better attitude and fail (is this the only place where failing is an option?


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## naturaltan (Jun 22, 2006)

fantasma62 said:
			
		

> Mr. NT, how are you my friend....
> You are going to love this, I am setting up a small boxing gym in my garage.  Bought me a heavy bag with stand, speed bag with mount, heavy gloves, mitts and I am now looking for an inexpensive timer (bell) so that I can keep track of, well, time....
> 
> Great to see you here, feel free to drop in anytime....


Now that's what I'm talking about.   Get yourself a skipping rope and you'll be in shape in no time.


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## fantasma62 (Jun 22, 2006)

Old age creeping in....
My legs are extremely sore.  However, my arms, for the moment are doing fine.  I am going to have my workout today in the afternoon.  As sore as I am, should I worry about a tear or a muscle problem?  Should I just go ahead and work thru the soreness?  Comments?


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## fantasma62 (Jun 22, 2006)

naturaltan said:
			
		

> Now that's what I'm talking about.  Get yourself a skipping rope and you'll be in shape in no time.


 
Sorry, I forgot to mention that I do have the skipping rope....


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## P-funk (Jun 22, 2006)

good luck on your climb to the top.

let me know if you want any type of training program recomendations.


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## fantasma62 (Jun 22, 2006)

P-funk said:
			
		

> good luck on your climb to the top.
> 
> let me know if you want any type of training program recomendations.


 
What's doing Mr. P

Please feel free to offer me any free advice that you may want to offer 

Seriously though, any criticism from you, as I have told you before, is more than welcome, so feel free to do so...and please don't pull any punches then again, you never do...
Give a big hug to the crazy cuban for me.....


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## Decker (Jun 22, 2006)

fantasma62 said:
			
		

> Old age creeping in....
> My legs are extremely sore. However, my arms, for the moment are doing fine. I am going to have my workout today in the afternoon. As sore as I am, should I worry about a tear or a muscle problem? Should I just go ahead and work thru the soreness? Comments?


hahaha. Sounds like the story of my life. I now get muscle soreness over a day after lifting.  I can't wait for it to subside--gotta work through it.

Congratluations on the Heat victory. I followed Dwyane Wade at Marquette--you guys are lucky to have him. Good luck with your lifting and development, your w/os look tough.


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## fantasma62 (Jun 22, 2006)

Decker said:
			
		

> hahaha. Sounds like the story of my life. I now get muscle soreness over a day after lifting. I can't wait for it to subside--gotta work through it.
> 
> Congratluations on the Heat victory. I followed Dwyane Wade at Marquette--you guys are lucky to have him. Good luck with your lifting and development, your w/os look tough.


 
Sad, isn't it?  The way the body breaks down... 
I'll be at the Heat parade tomorrow....thanks....


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## fantasma62 (Jun 22, 2006)

I have a question folks.  What is the difference between the Cybex Chest Press and the Vertical Chest Press?  It's mind boggling to me that I could do 9 reps at 190 pounds on the Cybex Chest Press machine but I can barely do 95 pounds on this Vertical Chest Press


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## King Silverback (Jun 22, 2006)

Different pieces of equipment is all I can suggest!!! Stick with the one that feels the best, numbers mean NOTHING if it doesn't FEEL right!!! I thought it was a Great return back to the Iron Game, but what do I know??? Keep it up Brother Tony, your gonna be just Fine!!!


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## fantasma62 (Jun 22, 2006)

Archangel said:
			
		

> Different pieces of equipment is all I can suggest!!! Stick with the one that feels the best, numbers mean NOTHING if it doesn't FEEL right!!! I thought it was a Great return back to the Iron Game, but what do I know??? Keep it up Brother Tony, your gonna be just Fine!!!


 
THank you brother Arch.  Today I surely feel older than my age.  My hammies are sooooooo sore that I decided to hold off until tomorrow because my upper body is doing Ok.  I am going to be at the Miami Heat parade and then run to the gym...
Tomorrow will be a great day....


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## King Silverback (Jun 22, 2006)

Congrats on the Heat, I like Shaq, so I was happy to see the Heat win!!! Have a Blast tomorrow, and then HIT it hard the next day!!!


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## fantasma62 (Jun 23, 2006)

Archangel said:
			
		

> Congrats on the Heat, I like Shaq, so I was happy to see the Heat win!!! Have a Blast tomorrow, and then HIT it hard the next day!!!


 
Thanks brother Arch, I hope to be going to the gym tonight after the parade or tomorrow morning early (which I really prefer, as I really don't care for working out at night anymore)...


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## fantasma62 (Jun 24, 2006)

Well, it all went to hell today.  I had 3 (YES THREE) kids parties to go to and just got home.  Tomorrow I have an appointment with a very upset batbel curl, an unhappy leg press, and an outright pissed chest press machine....


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## fantasma62 (Jun 25, 2006)

So, I was finally able to workout, under adverse conditions.  Nothing bad happened to me, but, well, let me go into the story.

I woke up ready to go do what I had to do, I played a bit with my kids and waited until my wife woke up before leaving.
Gym seemed empty (optimal conditions for me) and that made me happy.  However, as I am walking in, I see that there is a paper on the entrance that read:  "Gym is closed today due to *unsafe conditions* it will reopen again tomorrow Monday June, 26th"
I have seen some weird stuff in my day, but I have never seen a gym closed due to "unsafe conditions".  Is there a virus?  Ticks?  Anthrax?  What the hell are unsafe conditions?  My first thought was that there may be some machines that are dangerous, but then again, why not close those machines and let people do their thing on the rest?  I thought that was strange.
Of course, that was a big downer.  See, I knew what I had to do next and what workouts to do, etc.  I suddenly didn't want to do my workout anymore.  I, however, didn't want to come back to this board (go figure, I felt guilty because of this board) and say:  "Sorry, no workout today, gym closed, boo hoo", so I decided to head to the gym inside my neighborhood.  My mind, however, was never able to recover....
Here is my workout for the day.  I am extremely disappointed with some of the exercises, but then again, I am not sure if that has to do with the equipment I was working with, but it was mostly a letdown.

-Leg Curls:  10 x 110 (same as before, not bad, not good, just average)
-Leg Extensions:  11 x 150 (happy about this one)
-Bench Press:  4 x 135 (utter failure in my part, I couldn't do 5 reps, let alone 6)
-Shoulder press:  8 x 50 (I don't understand how I could be lifting 120 pounds on a Cybex shoulder press, to then do this like a clown)
-Triceps Extension (Not Cybex):  15 x 60 
-Low Row Machine:  13 x 120 (never used this one before, so I can't say whether it was good or not)
-Alternate Dumbbell Curls:  12 x 20 (Not too bad, my best had been 35 pounds before, but not HIT)

All in all, I am glad I did the work, I am happy that I was able to find a place to do it at, but I thought it was nothing more than a Mickey Mouse workout.
Is there a possibility that the Shoulder Machine was damaged?  Sure, maybe, but that doubt was enough to fuk up my whole day...
See ya'll later....


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## b_reed23 (Jun 29, 2006)

started the lady on HIT yet???


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## King Silverback (Jun 29, 2006)

Just keep at it Brother Tony, that was a Good lookin w/o my Friend!!!


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## fantasma62 (Jun 29, 2006)

*Billie:* nope, not yet. She caught a cold and is now finally getting over it. Worse yet, I just caught the damn thing.....  
We'll be working out at the beach next week.  They have a nice little gym that's always empty...

*Brother Arch:* thanks for popping in. Somehow I am not satisfied with these workouts and still haven't really reached failure. Now that I caught a cold, I am going to follow advice you gave me last year and take it light until about Sunday when I want to go at it again. I will post my workout then. I remember getting hurt last year for working out with a cold, instead of listening to the wisdom imparted by you.... 

On a side note, I am going to begin building my boxing gym in my garage when we come back from Beach vacation. Oh yeah, we are going to the beach on saturday (apartment has a nice little gym, which is always empty). So, I may work out two times a week and do some boxing training a couple of times a week. I want to burn this off faster than I am now. Not because of the weight, but because of the overhanging skin that is resulting from my weight loss. Same thing with the abdomen. I may just do an isolated abdomen workout to see if it burns off....

We'll see. Now, I must rest.....


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## King Silverback (Jun 30, 2006)

Can I suggest shadow boxing for round time (2-3 minutes) and do it like your really in a scrapfeast!!! Also, if you jump rope for like 7 minutes at a fairly decent pace, its close to running like 2 miles!!! Just a few pointers my Friend!!! Wishing you nothing but the best!!! Take care of that cold too!!!


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## Double D (Jul 2, 2006)

Well glad to see that you stuck with it and made it to the gym reguardless of the situation. Good work.


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## fantasma62 (Jul 8, 2006)

Just came back from the beach.  One week in Marco Island can definitely help your mental state.....
I still have the cold but was able to work out 3 times during that week.  My workouts I didn't really write down because, first, I was at the beach, and second, the apartment building that I was at had a small gym, actually a teeny tiny gym, so I figured I would know what I had to do without writing and do it, thus, maximizing it's use and then some.
Also, nothing like setting up all the umbrellas for 2 families.  It was 10 minutes of HIUS (High Intensity Umbrella Setting) which ended up being better than any of my workouts.
*Brother Arch:  *thanks for the pointers, once I build that gym, I'll apply them.
*Double D:  *thanks for the kind words.  

I think I know what I had been doing wrong before I left to the beach.  It was actually nothing, I was doing nothing wrong.  What I needed to take into consideration was that I had to take the first couple of weeks and get used to working out again.  Then start adding routines as I go.  I was unhappy with my training when I should have been concentrating on seeing how to make things better and analyzing what I had done.  Like I said earlier, a week in Marco Island can definitely help your mental state.

Now to get myself ready for tomorrow's workout....


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## King Silverback (Jul 8, 2006)

Recharging of the batteries is ALWAYS a good thing!!! Enjoy your time, and get focused for your w/o my Friend!!!


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## fantasma62 (Aug 18, 2006)

Thanks and goodbye folks....


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## b_reed23 (Aug 19, 2006)

whoa, whoa, whoa....goodbye??


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## fantasma62 (Feb 22, 2007)

Hello all,

I am going to be starting a new journal where I want to use two different modes of exercise and I will definitely be asking for your imput....

Boy, have I been busy lately. As a few of you know, I have not been active in this forum for a few months and in fact, I have been intermittently active for the past two plus years. I have been working my ass off trying to keep my company in Venezuela at its current pace, while getting a subsidiary going in Colombia. Not easy. While I have been doing this, I have been studying for my Real Estate exam ( I had taken a hiatus from that too) to take it sometime in March. Have I been working out? Nop, I have been doing a lot of traveling since August of 2005 (a lot more than I want to) and it has been tough to get a good schedule going. While I have been getting used to my current schedule, I have begun working out and trying to tweak my workout to make it optimal for me.

My surgery ended up being very successful (Lap Band surgery), and I am all around happy. I am now at a 36" waist (I guess somewhere between 34 and 36 as I fit into my 34's) and my clothes fit me again. I have had no adverse effects from the surgery and in fact, I have not suffered from heartburn or any stomach ailment since my surgery back in May. I have slowed down some in my weight loss, but I also have not worked out at all until very recently. I have to lose another 36 pounds and plan to do so while working out because I have found some lose skin that I am not too happy about ( I deserve it, nobody told me to get fat).  Anyway, I have dropped 56 pounds and 3 pants sizes (size 42).

As I mentioned above, I will be starting a new journal called High Intensity...

Well Good Luck Tony, we'll see what happens next


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## fantasma62 (Feb 22, 2007)

To clarify a bit, I have a company here in the US, another in Venezuela and in the process of getting my Colombia office rolling, and no, smartasses, I am not selling drugs or women underwears...


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