Week 4 Daily lift. Cutting the fat

Scale said 223 today that's about 5lbs down this month.  Not a bad start, but damn I'm starving haha.

The nice thing about being away is that I can train a body part each day and do cardio after, instead of racing through my lift to pick up kids etc.  

I use the 5/3/1 program and it has an app that I use and it's awesome. A great program with flexibility

Today was chest.  Week 1 all 5 reps for the main lift flat bench
All you do Is put your max in and the app will calculate the rest for you easy as that.

My max bench is 350 lbs so today's main lift went like this

225x5 ( the app said 205 but I adapted)
245x5
265x5+ meaning do 5 but rep to failure as it will adjust for you in the future on the app. I got it for 10 which put my new max at about 352.  Not bad with a sore wrist.

Afterward was a lot of assistance lifts. Incline bench 4 sets. Cable crosses high setting and low setting 4 sets each.   Stretched. Did some hanging leg Raises and some weighted decline sit ups then hit the tread mill for 20 min.  I do some variation of treadmill elliptical mountain climbing wall every day for 20 min and a few evenings a week go for a 2 mile run.   I figure by July progress should be full tilt.

Ill cover food and supplements. In tomorrow edition

Marathon, not a sprint...

Progress comes slowly, finally today a got an email address. How about that 3 weeks later and finally some progress. I guess I am just used to go go go and the mentality here is whatever. But god forbid if you speak up about it, you get called unprofessional for actually caring, wanting the tools to do the job and well wanting to work.

Speaking of progress, the week or 2 leading up to deployment I didn't do anything. Ate pizza, drank beer, no physical activity. I figured shit 6 months to clean it up. Here I am back at it. Chopped chicken, veggies all day. Bleh! but it worked last time and time for more work.

This photo is from day 2 in country 228 lbs.  I know its a crap pic, however this is the best you get in a man can.   Today I am 224 so its starting slowly.  Marathon and not a sprint.  I'll be training 5/3/1.  Cutting cals slowly over time, because frankly thats all I have is time.  The food is good and the gym is adequate and well there is no office here so to speak so its just me alone for 6 months.    The clock has started.  Time to roll.

Love to breathe in that Fresh Air!

Yes something about the desert, really makes ya feel great. Blowing your nose 15 times a day as mud comes out, hacking up your lung because its coated in dust. Waking up and bleeding from all the crap. : im gonna edit this part, I often forget as a military member I am not allowed to form an opinion and better not post anything that can be used against me lol:  . At that point I nodded off to dream land as he rattled on thinking of the day that I'll be surfing with my friends in Puerto Rico upon my return from this little tour.    Aside from all the fun civilian stuff, my training is starting to hit its stride.  2 months after a small wrist fracture I was able to put up 305 for 6 reps yesterday with little pain, should be back to form in no time.

Diet is coming alone nicely as well, if they would just put the dessert bar in a different place and not near the exit I would be fine. 

Return to the middle East

It was a quick 14 months since I departed Qatar, when I found myself with short notice 1 week to prepare orders to Kuwait.  The last year flew by simply because I had 4 TDY's during that timeframe totalling 13 weeks. SO essentially I was only really home 9 months.  This tour will be unique as it is a DCMA tasking. Basically administering a little over 2 billion dollars in contracts for Northern Kuwait.  Even more challenging is the fact that the notice came down 10 days prior, the person I replaced had already left and the turnover provided was via Facebook haha. All the turnover in the world could not prepare me for the Army.  God bless anyone who can serve a day in this organization.  Wow,  more on that in the future. The day I arrived the Army felt the need to pull access from us to a certain network drive that basically contained every document I will need to perform my work. In addition after 2 weeks the Army still hasn't set up my email lol

So short notice orders, no turnover, no access to anything that I need to do work, and no email to conduct business.   Piece of cake,  I am convinced I was sent here to fail, I really am.  However I wont, I've traveled the 2 plus Hours to another Army post to burn the documents I need to DVD's and Hard drives.  I'm using my stateside AF email address to conduct business, and I talk to everyone like I already know what Im doing lol.  Truth is I'm clueless.   Its been a really rough start, but on the flip side it is a DCMA tasking so its much slower than last yrs tasking so I have the time to figure it out.

As much as I hate leaving home, I look forward to these taskings for personal and professional growth, a chance to reflect alone on life, a chance to physically grow and change and last an adventure to say the least. I'm basically my own boss here with my own room and my own vehicle. That is unheard of for someone with my rank. I'm in the office about 14 hrs a day but I do leave for food, gym, and occasionally downtown to see the locale. You never really know fear until you drive 200 KPH in downtown just so you do not get ran off the road and die.    More to come..........

Stress test. LOL stress has nothing on this

       Stress, everyone has it in their lives, some more than others. We all have different ways to combat stress, some healthy some not. I choose a nice mix or working out, surfing, and drinking good beer lol. Stress causes many negative affects on the body, from increased blood pressure to belly fat. Of course so does beer drinking haha.  I couldn't wait to get back from deployment to calm down, lower my stress and kind of relax until the next go around. HA!!!!! fooled you!  A part of me actually wants to roll out again, I am more stressed out than I have ever been.
      Work, school and family life. The common issues everyone faces. Being so undermanned in my office has many of us in uniform burning the candle at both ends. Even more so is the fact I took on the role of acting superintendent in March due to the deployment of the current boss. A role I could not wait to embrace, that is until I realized I am losing precious time learning my actual job, the one that is ultimately gonna pay the bills some day. Employers wont care that I was a super, they will care however, that I am good at my job. SO I took the initiative and asked for more contracting work. Yeah good on me right? wrong lol
       Now I am underwater and can;t reach the surface. 6 OPR's/EPR's, quarterly award 1206's for the unit, a change of command to put together, a dozen additional duties, and battling hard headed civilians that constantly threaten my military because they have both military duties and work related duties. In addition add 8 contracts to that 3 of which are brand new and are super important to me because this is the step in which I need to learn the most. So my days begin at 0545, and end about 1030pm. Now that Brandy is finally working, I take both kids to school, work all day squeeze in PT, and balance military with work life, come home spend time with fam, catch up on house duty, get everyone off to bed then work on my MBA.  To think, deployment would be a slowdown for me lol

A month or so back at a dr visit, my blood pressure and heart rate where through the roof. I knew i needed to change something. I increased my frequency at the gym the best I could, rode the bike and ran more and added some ergobolic to the mix, ErgoBolic is a product that controls Cortisol, the hormone that is released during stressful time aka anytime that I am awake !  Just a quick copy and paste on the negatives of Cortisol

• Impaired cognitive performance
• Suppressed thyroid function
• Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
• Decreased bone density
• Decrease in muscle tissue
• Higher blood pressure
• Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and other health consequences
• Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of metabolic syndrome, higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!

4 weeks later my BP is back to 117/75 and my  resting heart rate was 53 bpm.  Time management has been key, working out and realizing that I cannot do everything at once so something will just have to wait was the biggest thing.

Typical replies will to suck it up and quit being a baby, and I have. You gotta realize that no one really cares about anothers problems but you, and you just have to suck it up. So I am finding new ways to battle stress, press forward and let life handle its own, in the mean time I know I am doing everything I can to keep my health and try to keep a positive outlook in life, even if I have to go it alone.

An introduction to Ergogenix

     It's been many moons since my last post. A combo of insane schedule, workload, class load and family life took hold. Slowly but surely I am grasping a firm hold on my life and getting things back in order. The biggest change the last few months is my departure from Applied Nutriceuticals and my transition to ErgoGenix.  For the last 6 years I worked very hard with Appnut to help grow the brand. Being there from day one was so much fun, going to the shows, doing in store demo's helping create new products and meeting all the people in the industry. I always said if I could support my life in this industry i'd do this full time. I just love fitness, health and wellness. Even though the shows were long, meeting all the players in the game was a blast. The owners at Appnut where family to me, they watched my kids grow and we all grew as a team. When the owners decided it was time to sell and enjoy their lives after all the hard work I was crushed, it was like watching something I had a big part of go away.  It was really a sign to me that for me it was time to branch off and take my talents elsewhere :D.  Pretty much the only thing that would ever make me leave Appnut was an event like this. As I noted before I had a chance to meet many many folks.
     The owner of ErgoGenix was actually someone I've known for many years mostly through show's and other product offerings with a previous company. So when he asked if I was willing to make a move I felt it was an offer I couldn't pass up.  ErgoGenix is another one of those up and coming companies taking the industry by storm. Every week you see the name climbing up the charts on bodybuilding.com etc. Their popularity stems from a rock solid product line of products that flat out work.  They offer something for everyone from pre workouts, to cortisol control.  I am very excited to have an opportunity to help grow this brand, to grow within the company and to hopefully one day make waves within the organization. For now it's baby steps and getting the name out.  With that being said the product line has ignited a new fire in my training. The crew representing Ergo is solid. It's athlete's are top notch and the whole set up is very reminiscent of my time with Appnut, close knit, great communication and products that flat out work. Finally customer service is 2nd to none.  I'll always support Appnut as their product continue to work as advertised.  Feel free to swing on by the Ergo Page and like us on Facebook, take advantage of the many sales and promo's we have to offer and if you see something you want to sample, let me know!    In the mean time its summer. Keep training hard and showing off that work!

http://www.ergogenix.com/

The light at the end of the Tunnel, the search for that Esteem boost.

That phrase carries many meaning. The last yr has been a transformation for me unlike any other. I've dropped close to 25lbs and should learn my bodyfat this week after I step into the BOD POD If I had to estimate I would hope I am at the 10% level finally. The hardest part of all this has been mental. Getting over my ego with regards to losing strength, size, and all that hard work of getting big. On the flip side I look better than I ever have and I am in great cardiovascular shape. I'm surfing, running, riding the bike and weightlifting each week. A visit to my Doc last week revealed awesome news which has renewed some confidence in my otherwise dilapidated mental state. The lack of confidence and self worth were pushed aside as I really felt like I had turned a corner. My supplementation has been simplified. The only thing I am lacking is that support system I have long desired and yearned for. It will never exist but if it did this journey would be much easier lol.

Right now ErgoGenix's  ErgoTest is working wonders.  iForce's Hemavol is a great stim free pre workout, and Fat free by App nut is doing the fat loss role after I finished my Ergoshred. Fishoil, UniLiver, multi-V and Vit D3 round out the morning pill fest.   Food intake has been adequate although some days my hunger goes crazy.  What I am looking forward to is the next 6 weeks. I go TDY across the state to Tyndall and I am bringing along the bike. 6 weeks of school and working out, running, bike riding, golfing, and training. I hope to be dialed in for the summer and can work on maintaining and looking great. But most importantly for me will be feeling great, about myself and getting back some self esteem and reversing this burnout that is weighing me down.

Until next time,  lets get ready to ride