Ok been out for a while but now Im back! The new approach is to build muscular and cardio endurance for a month (maybe more) before attempting the Arnold Routine again. This is the new routine leading up to it.

Exercise Day 1 (Three 2 minute sets with 30-60 sec rest in between each exercise and 2 minutes between sets)

Crunches                                                                                                 

Push-Ups                                                                                                 

MTN Climbers                                                                                        

Burpees                                                                                                   

Squats                                                                                        

Jumping Jacks                                                                                         

Jump Rope                                                                                              

                                                                       

Exercise Day 2   (Three 30 second sets with 30 second rest in between each exercise and 2 minutes between sets)

Bridge                                                                                        

L-Leg Raise                                                                                              

Flutter Kicks                                                                                            

Side Bridge (L)                                                                                        

Side Bridge (R)                                                                                        

Super Man                                                                                              

Suicides

Take 2- Week 1

     I apologize for the long delay in the blog but life would not allow continuation. Lifting in a bodybuilding fashion comes with its trials and tribulations, there is family to consider, money to be made, and loved ones to mourn. I do not recommend attempting anything like this until your life is at a stable point or at least a manageable point. It is extremely hard to find motivation during troubling times.

       After a few weeks away from the gym I have finally returned to chasing my dream. I modified Arnold's plan slightly. In his routine there were a couple muscle groups that only had 1-2 exercises singling then out so I decided to add a few more exercises to the routine. I added; Elevated Machine Row (for Lats), Full Range of Motion Lat Pull-down, Reverse Shrugs, Behind the Back Forearm Curls, and I started doing a dead-lift/shrug super set. In addition to adding exercises I am now doing 4-5 sets per exercise depending on the signals my body is giving me. I will give updated progress pictures on Sunday FEB 24 along with updated measurements, weight and body fat percentage. 

      My body Fat was 22% at 217 lbs 2 weeks ago.

More to come...

      

Week 4, Day 4

      After almost a week long hiatus due to minor injury I am back in the gym and it felt great to be back. I took progress pictures for everyone, not much changed I guess that is what happens when you are out of the gym for the week with holiday food about. But I did some soul searching, if you will, and decided that I was pushing my self to fast. In order to mend myself and prevent serious injury I am going back to the plan at week one. I am only going to do two sets of each workout for the next three weeks until I can adjust my body to a heavy work load. At the beginning of week four I will do 3 sets for two weeks, week six 4 sets and so on until I reach the same workload of Arnold. I understand its going to take longer than I would like but I would like to be arriving at my goal months from now rather than never being able to achieve my goal do to serious injury. The pain in my shoulder and my knees was just the wake up call I needed. SLOW DOWN!

Progress Pictures:

      As you can see a week off with poor eating habits does nothing for progress. So going from here forward I will monitor my calories consumption and I am going to be a lot more picky about what I am eating.

The Workout:

Barbell Curl	90	Set 1: 60.0x15 Set 2: 70.0x6 Set 3: 0x0 Set 4: 0x0 Set 5: 0x0 Set 6: 0x0
Seated Dumbell Curl	28	Set 1: 15.0x15 Set 2: 20.0x12 Set 3: 0x0 Set 4: 0x0 Set 5: 0x0 Set 6: 0x0
Dumbbell Concentration Curls	21	Set 1: 10.0x15 Set 2: 15.0x12 Set 3: 0x0 Set 4: 0x0 Set 5: 0x0 Set 6: 0x0
Barbell Close Grip Bench Press	125.99	Set 1: 75.0x15 Set 2: 90.0x12 Set 3: 0x0 Set 4: 0x0 Set 5: 0x0 Set 6: 0x0
Triceps Pushdown V-Bar	112	Set 1: 70.0x15 Set 2: 80.0x12 Set 3: 0x0 Set 4: 0x0 Set 5: 0x0 Set 6: 0x0
EZ Bar Decline Close Grip Skull Crusher	84	Set 1: 55.0x15 Set 2: 60.0x12 Set 3: 0x0 Set 4: 0x0 Set 5: 0x0 Set 6: 0x0
Dumbbell Standing One Arm Triceps Extension	28	Set 1: 15.0x15 Set 2: 20.0x12 Set 3: 0x0 Set 4: 0x0 Set 5: 0x0 Set 6: 0x0
Barbell Shoulder Press	112	Set 1: 60.0x15 Set 2: 80.0x12 Set 3: 0x0 Set 4: 0x0 Set 5: 0x0 Set 6: 0x0
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	21	Set 1: 10.0x15 Set 2: 15.0x12 Set 3: 0x0 Set 4: 0x0 Set 5: 0x0 Set 6: 0x0
Dumbbell Lying Rear Lateral Raise	112	Set 1: 70.0x12 Set 2: 80.0x12 Set 3: 0x0 Set 4: 0x0 Set 5: 0x0

Calorie Consumption:

Breakfast	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein
Wendy's (Judson's - Garden Side Salad, 1 container	70	17	0	1
Wendy's - Classic Ranch Dressing, 1 package	100	2	10	1
Optimum Nutrition - Nitrocore 24 - Ultimate Chocolate, 1 scoop	200	14	5	24
	370	33	15	26
Lunch
Burger King - Ranch Salad Dressing, 2 oz	190	2	20	1
Burger King - Side Salad, 1 container	40	3	2	3
	230	5	22	4
Snacks
Starbucks - Strawberry & Blueberry Yogurt Parfait, 1 container (8.oz)	290	55	4	8
Starbucks - Tazo Chai Iced Tea Latte - Grande - Whole Milk, 1 serving(s) (16 fl oz ea.)	270	45	7	7

And 24 Cup of Water.

Notes On the Workout:

      

      1) There was some strain in my shoulder during some off the exercises until I dropped the weight. I need to drop the weight next time around.

Week 3, Day 5

      I tried lifting again after stretching and still had some trouble so I took today and day 3 and 4 to stretch I will hit it up tomorrow and feel it out again. I noticed today that I have improved range of motion with no pain so I am looking forward to tomorrow.

By Crom!

(Conan the Barbarian reference above)

Week 3, Day 1

      So, I know I neglected this blog during week 2 but I ran into some trouble. I got sick and could not workout a few days and I got a little discouraged but this is the beginning of a new week and renewed spirit. I will keep you posted on this weeks workout as I did the first week. 

Last Weeks music mix was The Counting Crows. This week is going to be Metallica.

Merry Christmas!

The Workout

      I was not able to complete today's workout. During the chest exercise there was a lot of pain in my left shoulder joint so I decided to stop the chest exercise and to avoid the back exercise to prevent further aggravation to the joint. Then during the leg extensions both knee joints hurt so I stopped the leg exercise. After looking at the pain I went through today I decided that tomorrow I will thoroughly stretch and then when I return to the gym on the 26th I will cut the weight on my legs by 50% and the weight on my shoulders by 75% to see if there is still pain. If there is I will stop lifting for a week and shift my focus to cardio. If not, I will continue at that weight for 1 week and increase by 5-10% every week following until I feel confident that I can lift the weight pain free. 

Notes on the Workout:

1) I did not have the strength to push the weight I was pushing because my muscles did not seem to have the energy to efficiently push the weight. I believe this is do to the fact that I had not eaten yet. I have to remember to eat within two hours of working out prior to going and within two hours after going. 

Week 2, Day 4

      I took tonight off to give my body some rest.

Calorie Intake:

4 Slices of Veggie Pizza

1 Slice Bacon Pizza

Week 2, Day 3

      Tonight went fairly well. I increased sets and weight.

The focus of tonight's workout:

Biceps, Triceps, Shoulders, Calves, Forearms, Abs

Workout @ 2300

Barbell Curl:

Set 1- 45 lbs 12 reps

Set 2- 50 lbs 10 reps

Set 3- 55 lbs 8 reps

Set 4- 60 lbs 8 reps

Seated Dumbbell Curl:

Set 1- 15 lbs 12 reps

Set 2- 30 lbs 10 reps

Set 3- 22.5 lbs 8 reps

Set 4- 25 lbs 8 reps

Dumbbell Concentration Curls

Set 1- 15 lbs 12 reps

Set 2- 20 lbs 10 reps

Set 3- 25 lbs 8 reps

Set 4- 30 lbs 7 reps

Barbell Close Grip Bench Press:

Set 1- 70 lbs 12 reps

Set 2- 75 lbs 10 reps

Set 3- 80 lbs 10 reps

Set 4- 85 lbs 10 reps

Triceps Push-down V-Bar:

Set 1- 120 lbs 12 reps

Set 2- 130 lbs 10 reps

Set 3- 140 lbs 8 reps

Set 4- 150 lbs 8 reps

Skull Crushers:

Set 1- 50 lbs 12 reps

Set 2- 55 lbs 10 reps

Set 3- 140 lbs 8 reps

Set 4- 150 lbs 8 reps

Dumbbell Standing Triceps Extension:

Set 1- 30 lbs 12 reps

Set 2- 40 lbs 10 reps

Set 3- 45 lbs 8 reps

Set 4- 50 lbs 8 reps

Barbell Shoulder Press:

Set 1- 55 lbs 12 reps

Set 2- 60 lbs 10 reps

Set 3- 65 lbs 8 reps

Set 4- 70 lbs 8 reps

Dumbbell Lateral Raise:

Set 1-10 lbs 12 reps

Set 2- 15 lbs 10 reps

Set 3- 22.5 lbs 8 reps

Set 4- 22.5 lbs 8 reps

Rear Deltoids Machine:

Set 1- 60 lbs 12 reps

Set 2- 70 lbs 10 reps

Set 3- 80 lbs 7 reps

Set 4- 70 lbs 6 reps

Cable Rear Later Raise:

Set 1- 10 lbs 12 reps

Set 2- 15 lbs 10 reps

Set 3- 20 lbs 8 reps

Set 4- 25 lbs 8 reps

Standing Calf Raise:

Set 1- Body Weight 15 reps

Set 2- Body Weight 15 reps

Palms Up Wrist Curl:

Set 1- 30 lbs 15 reps

Set 2- 50 lbs 12 reps

Set 3- 55 lbs 10 reps

Palms Down Wrist Curl:

Set 1- 30 lbs 15 reps

Set 2- 50 lbs 12 reps

Set 4- 55 lbs 10 reps

Crunches:

50 

Hanging Pike:

30

Calorie Intake:
5 Krystals Sliders and a Large Chili-Cheese Fry.
2, 20oz Diet Dr. Pepper.
1, 16oz Dr. Pepper.
1 Protein Shake

I fell off the diet wagon today and will again tomorrow...I'm gonna have pizza for the first time in 4 weeks. I am pretty excited. Then it is back to the diet on Friday.