DEATH to this Challenge! Zachary is one pissy little puppy with how the digital pics turned out. I'm so used to seeing my 2001 after pictures where i'm at 6% body fat and can see every rippling muscle in my body. The only thing I can say is that i'm much bigger muscle wise than i've ever been naturally. My biceps and legs are definitely the largest they have ever been in my life. I've truly got to remember that this isn't just a 12 week project i've taken on. It's a whole year project to bulk up and THEN cut up.

WHOA! Okay, I just did the final numbers on my 12 weeks and i'm actually impressed and a MILLION times more happy about my results. The facts and stats:

• I reached my goals of 300lbs on bench press (actually did 305lbs) and 500lbs on squats (actually did 500lbs)


• Nearly eliminated a very bad habit that i've had for a long time. It will take another challenge to make it come to pass.


• My punctuality has increased by about 80%. Now that i'm more aware of it, when I am considerably late I will call well in advance. This still needs to be worked on.


• Total fat lost: roughly 4lbs


• Total lean muscle gain: 22 WHOPPING LBS!!! YES!!! (21.98lbs to be more precise)


• Starting/Ending lean muscle mass: 140.45lbs / 162.43lbs


• Starting/Ending fat in lbs: 19.55lbs / 15.57lbs


• This was all done for His glory and will continue to be for God. This was a major humbling accomplishment

Not too shabby, eh? Well, the next posts you read from me will be from the alpha test of the BodyBlog software. STAY TUNED because we will have an all new Dream Team starting up next monday!
posted by zach m at 8:42 AM

What? Did Zach fall off the face of the planet for 4 days? Pretty much so! Since pictures, measurements, and goals had been reached it was time for me to take a well deserved vacation. I went to see Sanieh in Austin this weekend who promptly made ME feel like crap by showing how well she is keeping up with her diet and program going for the Mrs. Figure competition. FYI: Sanieh's got muscle's popping out where she didn't know she had them and her clothes that were once tight are now having to be cinched up at the waist or else they would fall off of her.

Tonight I will type up a "post mortem" on this 4th challenge. Basically I will give the stats, facts, high points and points to work on. During the flight home from Austin I worked up my new workout routine. I need to work on my goals for this next challenge as well as purchase the appropriate supplements. Since I'm going to break down this last challenge tonight I figure I should work on my 5th challenge goals tonight as well.

Like all software i'm going to have to push the opening of Body Blog off until NEXT monday. Corby and I will work ALL WEEK LONG making sure we are putting up something that makes sense to the users that we can offer to the public in the near future. Expect a sneak preview from the NEW Dream Team starting next monday. I will be contacting a few others tonight and tomorrow inviting them to join the next team. STAY TUNED!
posted by zach m at 6:28 AM

Well, today was pretty much my last day worry about pictures. How did they turn out? Well, i'm not quite sure... i'm loading the drivers to my digital camera right now. Luckily i've got a family that has been doing professional pictures for years. We did both digital and 35mm pictures.

I've got to say that I screwed up with a little trick to get my vascularity popping out. My body is a little too fat for me to gulp a glass of red wine to get my veins sticking out like no one has ever seen. Oh, did I mention that I did 305lbs on bench press today? It was fairly easy. The big problem was when I tried 315 and could only get it up halfway. Oh well... 305lbs tops my goal by 5lbs!

I celebrated my pictures being taken by taking my parents out to eat Mexican food. What did I order? A big, fat chicken quesadilla then flan for desert.

Tomorrow i'm off to Austin to see Sanieh. It's time for me to finally hit the bed. Blessed wishes everyone... NOTE: Body Blog should be open to beta testers by next wednesday!
posted by zach m at 11:47 PM

Holy 500lbs of wagon wheels on that bar Squat Man! YES!!! I hit my goal of 500lbs!!! Was it easy... Not Even Close. Honestly, I didn't have much confidence on the first try. The assistant manager of the gym was spotting me because I wasn't comfortable with anyone else spotting me. Little did I know he let me fail and almost compress my spine like an accordian the first try around. Those legs were quivering and they attempted to push the weight up, but the weight won the first round.

That was when I realized that I needed to get my head together and really go for MY GOAL FOR THIS CHALLENGE. It really was a disappointment at first that I could have let it be and just said, ah, i'll get'em next time. Mark, the gym's assistant manager, said "you need to go for it again, you had it!" By this time a stinking crowd of a few guys that I know were hooting and hollering. This was a pretty cool feeling considering not many people do heavy squats at my gym.

I was remembering days of watching some guys trying to go pro bodybuilding and pro weight lifting doing reps with 600lbs and no one making a big deal of it. My gym is a little less fanatic and serious, very laid back, but incredibly supportive. Someone that is a little more fanatic sticks out like a sore thumb in this place. Back in the day when I was doing some personal training in a serious gym most of the guys would have scoffed at me squatting 500lbs. Heck, two of the guys I worked out with could rep 550 a couple of times. In fact, one of the guys was putting up around 485lbs on BENCH PRESS!

Does that take away from what I accomplished today? No Way, because this was done in a Christian Warrior style. I did it to show that a normal, regularly built, average white guy from a lower middle class family could do it. A guy who was eating fast food hog fat, staying awake off of caffienated and sugary carbonated kidney killers (Jolt or Mountain Dew), and too busy doing everything to workout could change his ways. Just a year and a half ago I took on my 2nd BFL Challenge after a 6 month leave of absense from the gym and reached goals that I couldn't have ever done before. Today marked a different phase in my life. Today I realized that all of the focus and the incremental steps that I have taken towards my goals, all of the ways God has blessed me over time to bring me to this point right now, all of the people that have both supported me and doubted me, and the habits that i've built into my everyday lifestyle are really starting to pay dividends. Beyond anything else I can say, my fitness accomplishements have just reaffirmed that with a well focused plan that focuses on the goals your heart truly desires, doing it for a higher reason other than your own personal glory, and keeping yourself accountable to yourself on a daily basis you truly can accomplish everything you've ever wanted... AND MORE!
posted by zach m at 7:19 PM

Coming down to the wire. I'm sorry but it's still difficult to accept that i'm taking pictures for a BFL Challenge holding around 8.5% body fat. I've still got the infamous lower back fat that is so hard to get rid of for me (love handles). It's weird because my abs are ripped and big UNDER a little bit of chunk. The important thing for me to do is remind myself that i'm still in a bulking phase for the next few months. The cutting will come in December or January when I have reached for the 185 to 188lbs mark. I've also got to do this while not going over the 9% BF mark. So I need to maintain around 8.5% while gaining more weight.

Tonight i'm going to do a circuit training along with abs. I'm going to get my body fat composition done tonight as well.

A little more headway was made on Body Blog last night. We are shooting for a friday deadline to get a basic beta version of the software up. More on this later...
posted by zach m at 9:04 AM

300 lbs on bench press. Target goal for bench: complete! I was shocked yesterday when I did 275lbs 3 times without a spot and 4 with very little help. Knowing that 275 was that easy it was time to test my skillz and strength. It was time to go for the 3 double 0.

Today was a little different. I'm focusing on pumped muscles and ripped abs. I did a circuit training where I worked out pretty much every body part and then KILLED the abs. I'm going to continue to do this up to thursday when I take pictures.

I'm very hacked off at myself for not completing a lot of my other personal goals. I've been doing them a little, but not at the rate that I had set. It's very feasible to get right back on track I just can't let anything deter me. Speaking of, i'm off to work on the body blog software...
posted by zach m at 9:52 PM

It's kind of cool to type in that i've got 7 days left in my 4th Challenge! The odd thing is going to be typing in Day 1 of 84 not but a few days later. Man, i'm going to have start statistics that are equal to my previous end statistics. Just like everything else in my life, it's another challenge to conquer that can only make me a better and stronger person. CHARGE!

Tonight will be my last full workout for the week. Since it's picture day on Thursday i'm going to spend most of my time posing, doing a few "keep the pump" full body workout routines, and tanning. Next week, before I start another challenge i'm going to:
1. Get the body blog software done to where a few more people can be added to the Dream Team and we can start testing/posting using the software.
2. Doing my one rep maxes to see how I did in reaching my workout weight goals for this challenge.
3. Planning for Challenge 5.
posted by zach m at 7:48 AM

Since Jon and I had so many properties to look and I did a workout yesterday I've pushed today's workout off until tomorrow. The rest of the week I will take it a little bit easy doing some circuit training to keep the pump in my muscle and snap photos on wednesday or thursday evening. It's REALLY important to get rid of a little bit of water weight with some natural herbs and to retain a nice pump. I'm going to tan a little bit more too. These photos will be to submit for the BFL Challenge, but don't represent a peak. I'm going to be in a mass building phase for at least two more challenges and 3/4 of the challenge after that. This gives me until the December 2002 / January 2003 time to pack on some serious weight. My goal is to do challenges for this entire year, get up to an all time incredible shape, while continuing to jump by leaps and bounds in my personal goals with my businesses and investements, to begin to give back to the community that may need assistance and to do it all as God guides me too.

Wow, that got deep and I didn't even intend it too. Well, more Body Blog to work on tonight! Everything is looking right in line with releasing the beta test starting on wednesday in two weeks.

Week 11 of 12, Day 75 of 84

Legs, legs, we love'em and we hate'em. It's very difficult for me to workout in the early (early for me that is) AM. My poor little bones are achy and it takes me a bit more time to become loose. I've gotta say it's my fault for not eating before working out and for trying to rush my workout.

It was a pretty good workout though. I did go alittle on the lighter side, but got a great pump. *Guilty admission:* I didn't do calves. There could be a million excuses in the world for what, why, when and where. The fact is I should have gotten to the gym earlier, given myself more time to workout, and prioritized my day a little better.
posted by zach m at 5:30 PM

My allergies are HORRIBLE right now. My body seems to be putting forth a lot of energy to fight them over the last few days. They make me irritable, cranky, and less focused. This is WHILE taking allergy medicine. The only thing that will get my by these next few days, or weeks, will be pure desire and drive to push through it. The one way to stay focused while i'm not feeling 100% is to remind myself of my goals and to refuse to let them get the best of me.

Yesterday I did an ab workout. Today I shirked my leg workout. Admittedly I let the allergies get the best of me. My mistake was to stop by my house after the house closing. Tomorrow morning will be leg day. I've got a ton planned this weekend and I need to be on top of it all. The storm will be rough for quite sometime for my life. Once again, I need to remember that "focus" is my watchword.
posted by zach m at 8:38 PM

Well, well, well the next to the last design documents have been turned over to the Body Blog programming team to work on. This has me SUPER excited, but it also means I need to start working on getting deliverable models of each page to the team every night. That means starting tonight my evenings are going to be doubly occupied. Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings will be spent behind the computer working like a fool on a mission.

It sure is different DOING the things you have dreamed about your whole life. Consistently working out and living a healthy lifestyle, persuing investments and deals in real estate, running every facet of a technology company, being a humble servant of God, all while working a full time job. There are so many bumps and bruises along the way. I've noticed one of the keys is to never let the destiny of any one of your dreams fall outside of youself. Having a team behind you to help you is one thing (and essential), but to put so much weight on another person that may or may not share your dream with you can make it crumble very fast. I guess I mean to always have a plan sitting in front of you that can use others to facilitate and help you, but not to completely take over for you.

Right now my parents are facing a similar situation in their lives and it's a very stressful subject. This is one of the main reasons i've made the decision to be financially free from having to depend on a boss. Not that I don't enjoy my job, or that I don't see myself staying here for quite sometime, but ultimately I don't plan on being an employee the rest of my life. It's time to take the blessings of talent and opportunity God has given me to make my dreams come true and be the deciding person in those dreams turned reality.
posted by zach m at 11:30 AM

What a weird workout. At the start I was completely ROCK and ROLL! We are talking no holds barred, completely on, dial turned to "11", with focus and strength like never before. So much strength that I managed to crank out 12 slow pull ups on 3 sets. So strong that I set highs on reverse pull downs and seated row pulls.

Then came the bi's where I waited for 10 minutes before doing them because I just felt lethargic like I didn't want to workout. During this time I weighed myself. For the first time in over 8 weeks I weighed less than 178lbs. Today the scale tipped at 177lbs. This started my mind on fire. My thought is that the thermogenics need to go COMPLETELY!

After fighting with myself about going home or staying at the gym I started to get VERY hacked off at myself. Once I got hacked off it was a no brainer, i'm here to train and nothing will stop me.

Guess what, I hit all time highs on standing barbell curls doing 110lbs 6 times today. Then it was off to seated dumb bell curls where I used 40lbs for a short set of 4 then dropped to 30's to finish off with 6 reps. It wound up being a decent workout WHEN I got my head on straight. Now it's off to work on Body Blog!!!
posted by zach m at 7:45 PM

This is a VERY different feeling being less than two weeks away from the end of this challenge than I have felt before. Previously, it was at this time that I would start doing crazy drop the fat, cut the water, carb deplete kind of things getting ready for pictures. There would be pressure and stress all over the place trying to make everything line up for my PEAK to be displayed in an "after" picture.

Now my focus is more long term muscle gain and i'm using each new challenge as incremental steps to put together the whole picture. Instead of just using 12 weeks to be in the shape of my life i've truly adopted the lifestyle, set my goals, and I plan to be a MONSTER by the end of the year. Originally I set out to do two challenges in a row. Now i'm set to do 4 in a row, all the way up to the end of the year. ONLY in the last one will I cut down for photos. I'm going to maintain around 7-8.5% BF during that time while trying to get to be around 185 - 187lbs.

In fact, there really isn't a need for me to cut down for any photos UNLESS someone wants me to do photo ads for them. I'm going to be modeling a little for Body Blog along the way. I'm not all that interested in obsessing and getting to unmaintainable levels of shape. Besides, i've got so many other things to focus on I believe that one should use weight training, diet and fitness training as a "compliment" to life. Cutting to 5% body fat or putting on 225lbs of muscle can be very unhealthy.

Besides, if someone comes along that is in better shape and makes better gains than I have I don't mind stepping down and letting them model for Body Blog. Heck, in fact I set the challenge to those who may be reading this. Once Body Blog is open to the public I will run contests for models and spokes people, but that is getting ahead of myself. For now I have to work on the software on a nightly basis AFTER working out.
posted by zach m at 9:47 AM

I'm kicking some serious tail today at work! Ever since i've worked on getting super organized and staying on top of things my work life has streamline considerably. Now i'm looking to hire an assistant for Zike, DM2 and Gideon Enterprises. I've got a friend that needs to make some extra money working nights so i'm going to pay her to do some things that i'm behind on in my businesses. It's a complete win-win because she is raising the money to help out her family and I get to support that while getting more organized on this side of things.

14 Days left until I start another 84 days! How am I doing? Well, my body weight has plateaued from the rapid gains it was making, but my strength has sky rocketed through the roof! My diet has become much more clean, but my water intake has been very inconsistent. I've got a few things that I can work on, but all in all I would say that this challenge and my life are going very well. God continues to bless me daily.

Well, I close on my first house this friday at 5pm. Who would have ever thought a law firm would be open at 5 pm on a friday? I'm now a landlord. It wasn't my original plan, but the deal was way too good. Now it's time to go after doing wholeselling of houses for some additional cash flow.

Today i'm going to do some abs. I'm cutting back down to one day of cardio per week. Since my weight gains have fallen off, but my body fat seems to be diminishing I want to keep making weight gains. No dropping too much fat until the end of my 5th challenge. Even then I might wait until my 7th!
posted by zach m at 12:37 PM

The summer weather has hit and usually I would be spending my sundays after church playing volleyball at a local park. Instead, i've focused my life towards staying in the gym, working on my businesses, organizing my life up to the current moment and for the week ahead, and (most importantly) getting the little things done that I can't do during the week.

About Chest, Shoulder and Tri day... This was a pretty good workout that ran long. Another past injury surfaced today while doing bench press. My wrist has been considerably weak due to breaking it twice as a youth, spraining it a dozen or more times in various situations (mainly aggressive inline skating as you see in the X-games on ESPN), and aggrivating it doing various different sports. Now i've discovered that really heavy bench press for multiple reps kills my wrist.

Just some highlights:
- 265lbs 4 times on bench 3 without a spot. I could have done more had my wrist not been a factor. My weight on bench has gone up like CRAZY!
- 80lbs dumbs 6 times on incline dumb press.
- 20lbs on tri kickbacks. MAN these things are hard to do with correct form. I'm so pumped by the time I get to my triceps after doing chest and shoulders that incorporate tri's. It's a burn, but i'm going to have to be happy with the amount of weight i'm doing, or lack of, because they are being worked on all of the exercises.

So what has happened over the last few days?

Week 10 of 12, Day 68 of 84

I squatted 425lbs with great form without a spot, while going up on all of my other sets. I'm going to go back up to my high of 455lbs for my next workout. Since i've backed off of the weight and focused more on form I believe that I can do 455 with very good form. I've found a leg extension machine at my closests gym that can support the weight that i've gone up to. If I wasn't doing them as slow and intense as i am I wouldn't be so concerned with increasing my weight. Yet, i've been coming up fairly slow, holding the weight for a "2" count, and going down 2 times slower than the rate in which the weight was raised. My calves are starting to get some really good shape to them for the FIRST time in my life! This has me ecstatic because i've worked for years trying to get these little chicken calves to grow in proportion with the rest of my body.

Week 10 of 12, Day 67 of 84

Saturday I took off from working out, but only took one free meal. That makes two free meals for the week. Because I was at an all day seminar it became a little hard to have my meals at their appropriate times.
posted by zach m at 4:14 PM

Today I worked 14 hours at my day job. I changed my workouts up a bit today because I didn't leave the office until 9:30pm. Then I headed to the school near my house for a quick 9 minute round of HIIT 30 second sprint/30 second jog/walk training. Since I was about 3 1/2 to 4 hours since my last meal I figured instead of doing a super catabolic workout, I could just do some empty stomach calorie and fat burning cardio. Usually, tomorrow is my free day from workouts. Instead, I will do legs promptly after my self imposed SHORT day at work.

THANK YOU MARIE for cheering me up today! Talking to my 2nd mom really made a HUGE difference. I'm feeling super energized again about being on the right path with what I am doing.

Right now I want to thank some of my personal heros that tend to get overlooked in my life because i'm so busy:
MOST IMPORTANT = GOD - My friend, my father, my savior, my life!
1. Sanieh - you truly are amazing in everything that you have accomplished. Keep flying baby!
2. Jon Mobley - my best friend and business partner that has come a long way WITH ME. The sky is the limit for us, my man!
3. My parents - my two strongest supporters and cheerleaders. I love you both.
4. Marie aka Mom II - my inspiration and hero. It doesn't matter what the neigh-sayers tell you... keep going with what you believe in!
5. Gabrielle Filmer - an incredibly positive person who brings joy and positive flow to my life. Keep witnessing God's love and words to the world, it's helped me in my life.
6. Summer Smith - a person I owe a lot too for holding me accountable to my faith in the Lord.
7. Jade aka Pee-Pee - although you are my dog, you bring me so much joy and love UNCONDITIONALLY. Why can't humans be less complicated and give in the same way?
8. Michal Wallace - you are ALMOST as driven as I am (wink). Your entreprenuerial ways and skills as a programmer are unparralleled. I know you will be one of my wealthy friends in the very near future. Hopefully, we can get there together.
9. Corby Davis - i'm still amazed at your ability to learn things as rapidly as you can. In all of your "infinite wisdom" I know that I couldn't have a better business partner. Your Da Man Now, Dog!
10. Bob Doyle - to step from the position that you have in life to going after dreams that are nothing short of amazing is a quality that only the most inspirational people of the world have. Guess where that leaves you! You're not just my inspiration, you have motivated and moved people world wide! Thank you for being you!
11. Alicia Moncur and my beautiful nieces - spiritual, beautiful, in shape and striving for success. I have a feeling that i'm going to have to spend some time fending off the guys in the near future for my nieces. Ali, i miss you and i'm moved to tears every time I hear about your successes as a mother, a personal trainer, and a Christian woman.
posted by zach m at 10:18 PM

Tension breaker, had to do it, sorry!
posted by zach m at 1:33 PM

Success isn't always the easiet formula to calculate. In studying numerous people that I consider successful there are some common things they did:
A. They assessed their current situation and knew exactly where they were starting from.
B. They detailed out exactly where they wanted to be and figured out HOW they would know when they got to a certain goal they were aiming for.
C. In recognizing A and B they then charted the points in between creating incremental goals while still focusing on the big picture.
D. This one is key, no matter the situation "focus" was their watch word. Michal Dell had his college buddies asking him to go party, while Bill Gates had his girlfriend trying to get him to take her out all of the time, and Robert Kiyosaki took the ridicule about he and his wife having to live out of his car for a while.
E. Tracking their progress allowed them to tweak their programs as they went. This also allowed them to go in a different direction if one approach wasn't working.
F. Once they started approaching their big picture goal they IMMEDIATELY started this whole process over again to tackle their next big challenge.

My good friend Michal wrote a really long post today on the different ways people think. He and I are very different in our approaches to things. He tends to lean towards the complete focus on one thing side of the equation while I lean towards the multi-task a bunch of things with multiple goals in mind. At times I have to drop somethings just so I can keep going with the core ideas that I don't want to stray from. He has a tendancy to get focused on the wrong thing and has to move himself back to the core idea that he should have been working on.

I can say that since the start of this 4th challenge i've been focusing on a very limited amount of core ideas. There haven't been many digressions or tangent ideas that i've wandered off too. I've had to figure some areas of focus out with my real estate investing business and i've had to fine tune my focus with Zike. Yet, as a whole i've been less fragmented and I owe a lot of it to good planning, getting organized and keeping track of my progress along the way. A lot of this is due to including my personal goals in with my planning for my fitness goals and vice versa. Instead of just making individual plans for everything i'm doing I will create the individual plan and place it into a big plan. I've got to get back to work so I will write a little more on this if I have time later.

Let's talk briefly about my workout last night. Since I wanted to have some personal time without any distractions I went to a branch of my gym that I don't normally go to. It turned out pretty great. Each exercise on back and bi's was hit with incredible intensity. I didn't go up in weight on everything, but I managed to completely focus while I was in the gym. There are a few tweaks I need to take because I started WAY too high last week on a few exercises. Mainly on standing barbell curls. Because form and intensity is my main focus I am pretty content in sticking with the same weight three weeks in a row ONLY IF I see an increase by the fourth. Only time will tell.

Tonight I have a Real Estate seminar so i'm off from cardio. I still should hit abs, which I may do the MINUTE I get home.
posted by zach m at 1:40 PM

I'm going to count that Chinese food I ate today as a free meal for the week. It wouldn't have counted had I not ate that silly egg roll and the fried crispy things that they put on the table before your food comes. Okay, free meal one out of the way.

Back and Bi's are listed for tonight. Work will run a little longer than usual today. There was a call with a client I had to make around 5pm. Now I have to get to a stopping point on this crazy project that i'm doing. Hopefully I can get it done by tomorrow.

While we are on tomorrow, i've got an investment seminar tomorrow evening. It's named OPM3 (other people's minds, money and muscle). Basically it's about leveraging others and their resources to provide a win-win situation for everyone while delegating most of the work away from yourself. This leaves you more time to do more resourceful things like figuring out the best features and how to deliver them to the client for the Body Blog software.

FYI: i'm scheduled to close on my new house on April 26th! YEAH!!! More about my workout later tonight...
posted by zach m at 2:23 PM

Okay, Sanieh and Sue have me SUPER JUICED in making my results and workouts count. Seeing the changes that Sanieh has made only reinforces everything she has been telling me over the phone, the changes i've seen in her pictures, and the regimen she has documented for Body Blog. Actually, I believe that after our little vain strip down posing session in the gym that seeing Sanieh (in person) blows her pictures away.

Today was good and bad. Bad on the cardio side of things where I tried to switch from a 40 second jog/20 second sprint to a 30 second jog/30 second sprint HIIT training. My first two minutes I thought I could run forever.. then the third minute hit (or should I say HIIT) me like a ton of bricks. My asthma starting making me weeze, but I was DETERMINED to keep going. I got to the 7 minute mark and finally stopped running, because I was that my lung was about to rupture or that I would be spitting up blood in a second. The new HIIT format is going to take a little getting used to, but i'm up for the challenge. I'd like to get to the 11 or 12 minute mark with this format by the end of my training. On the first 4 weeks my fifth challenge i'm going to run combo 50's and 100's.

Abs were GREAT. I did some seriously slow and intense abs. On the agenda were chair leg lifts, first with a crooked knee and next with straight legs, on each lift I would hold it for a 2 count, and that was one rep. I wound up doing between 10 to 12 on each set. Then I would jump straight to SLOW crunch ball crunches, hold at the top for a 2 count and back down. That was done for 12 to 15 reps on each. Between each set I would do an active rest for 2 minutes of ab stretches and 30 second stomach pumps. Then I would start all over again. I went through this 4 times.

Time to work more on programming Body Blog!
posted by zach m at 8:22 PM

Wow, right at 21 days left in this BFL Challenge. How am I doing so far? Well, i'm kind of scared that I hit a stalling point. Yes, my weight is right above my goal, my body fat keeps dropping as I maintain this weight, and I keep improving in strength. Yet, the gains have slowed considerably from the begining and i'm worried about hitting my bench press mark. My supplement routine needs to be varied and it's time to start thinking about the goals for the next challenge. I'm going to change my ab routine and HIIT routine starting today and i've got a whole new cardio workout planned for the next challenge. I want to get STACKED!

One thing I didn't mention yesterday was Sanieh introducing me to the protein pancake! They are really simple to make, packed with protein and carbs, and taste better than most of the pancakes I have ever had. In a phone conversation last night with Sanieh she mentioned that the pancakes have a very similar taste to french toast. My mind was searching for that very thing when I first tasted them. I'm in love with this receipe... THANKS GIRL! My first attempt at them last night went pretty well. I'll get them perfected.
posted by zach m at 12:49 PM

What an incredible weekend! It went by WAY too fast for my taste.

Friday was a day off. Today was changed to a cardio day, but I had to get Sanieh to the airport and finish up on some work. My cardio was sacrificed for some priorities.

Saturday was pretty cool. Sanieh and I hit the gym on my now Chest, Shoulder and Tri day. Here was the workout:
Chest:
- Bench: 10 reps 205lbs, 8 reps 225lbs, 5 reps 255lbs drop 4 reps 185lbs
- Incline Dumbbells: 10 reps 65lbs, 8 reps 70lbs, 6 reps 75lbs drop 4 reps 65lbs
Shoulders:
- Seated Dumbbell Press: 10 reps 35lbs, 8 reps 40lbs, 6 reps 50lbs drop 4 reps 35lbs
Tri's:
- Kick Backs: 10 reps 12lbs, 8 reps 12lbs, 6 reps 15lbs
- Dips: 20 reps, 16 reps, 12 reps

It's time to work on more of my business plans with a new focus in mind. I pray that all parties involved are willing to come along for the ride. The future sure looks lucrative, but the journey to get there is a little rough. The path is in God's hands.
posted by zach m at 6:10 PM

Could I possibly go any higher on squats from the 425lbs of last week? Try 455lbs for 5 reps on for size! I'm actually going to raise my lower reps and stick with the same max weight for the next workout...
Here is my leg workout for this 4 weeks and how I performed today:
Quads:
- Squats: 10 reps 225lbs, 8 reps 315lbs, 5 reps 455lbs
- Leg Extensions: 10 reps 225lbs, 8 reps 240lbs, 6 reps 255lbs drop 4 reps 225lbs
Hams:10 reps 225lbs, 8 reps 240lbs, 6 reps 255lbs drop 4 reps 225lbs
- Laying Leg Curls: 10 reps 130lbs, 8 reps 140lbs, 6 reps 150lbs drop 4 reps 130lbs
Calves:
- Hack Squat Toe Press: 12 reps 2 x 45lbs, 10 reps 3 x 45lbs, 8 reps 3 x 45 + 25lbs drop 4 reps 2 x 25lbs
- Angled Flat Ground Toe Press: 12 reps 225lbs, 10 reps 275lbs, 8 reps 275lbs
posted by zach m at 10:37 PM

It was my first day working out my back and bi's on this new workout. I flipped my cardio day of today with my workout day yesterday. Here is how I faired on my workout:
Back:
- Regular Pullups: 12 reps, 12 reps, 10 reps (These were a lot easier to do than the wide grip pull ups of the last 4 weeks)
- Seated Close Grip Rows: 12 reps 120lbs, 10 reps 130lbs, 8 reps 140lbs drop to 4 reps 120lbs
- Reverse Grip Pulldowns: 12 reps 120lbs, 10 reps 130lbs, 8 reps 140lbs drop to 4 reps 120lbs

Bi's:
- Standing Barbell Curls: 10 reps 65lbs, 8 reps 85lbs, 6 reps 95lbs drop 4 reps 75lbs
- Seated Dumbbell Curls: 10 reps 25lbs, 8 reps 30lbs, 6 reps 35lbs drop 4 reps 25lbs

Pretty decent weights on all of my exercises. It's looking like I will increase each of my weights on back by 10lbs and on bi's by 5lbs. The good old pulls will have an increase in reps up to 14, 12, 10.

I've finally made the commitment to tweak my diet. The free meals will equal a total of two per week. A full day of gorging has been eliminated! Ciao free day, it was nice knowing you. On that note I had a free meal tonight, while the next one will be saved for this weekend when Sanieh comes into town.

Speaking of Sanieh, just wait until you see her pics!!! Can you say, "SMOKIN!" She is incredibly ripped in the stomach/ab area, her legs are showing a lot more shape and muscle, and her traps and bi's are getting pretty big. The copy that she emailed me would have to have been cut off in order to fit on her page. We are going to wait until the weekend when she flies in (YES!) to scan and cut it to the appropriate size. Keep holding your breath ladies and gentlemen, you won't believe the incredible progress this lady is making.
posted by zach m at 9:51 PM

I wanted to share this real quick. My friend Sgt. Pete Borklund emailed it to me this morning:

The best competitors are those who do not focus on the competition, but rather who go beyond it. The winner of a race does not look back at the rest of the field, but focuses instead on the path that lies ahead, where there is no competition.The most successful businesses are those that define the market, rather than those which attempt to dominate it. They forge ahead into territory where there is no competition, and thus leave all the competitors in the dust.The way to win is not by getting someone else to lose, for that is never a sustainable strategy. The way to win big, over and over again, is to set the highest standards you can possibly imagine and then live each moment true to them.When you fight against other people, they'll fight back. Yet when you innovate and follow a higher vision, when you boldly go where no one else has been, then others will gladly follow and support you along the way.Rise above the competition, go beyond it, and you'll be the most positively competitive runner in the race.
-- Ralph Marston

posted by zach m at 5:51 AM

How odd is it that each time I take my pictures and post them i'm moderately happy with my current state of fitness? The reason why this is so odd is because i look BACK at my before and 4 week pictures and scratch my head wondering why I was happy with my shape. As i've thought about it I came to the conclusion that my mind always plays tricks on me. I will see myself not where I want to be on a daily basis in the mirror. Once I get the pictures back I become pleasantly surprised, but not content. After looking at the pictures it gives me relief to see i'm not in as bad of shape as I thought I was. Truth be told, i'm happy that i'm not in as bad of shape as I thought I was, BUT i'm still not where I would like to be. So the happiness is a relief, but not being content with my shape keeps me going.

The house I am purchasing got appraised today. Preparing the house for the appraisal has messed with my weekly goals quite a bit. I'm slightly behind on a lot of things, but the house is ready for Sanieh to come visit this weekend. These next couple of nights I need to play catch up to get things in order. Especially with the Body Blog programming. Body Blog and my DM2 Properties goals are my main focus over these next few days until Sanieh gets into town.

The next 4 weeks workout is complete. Tonight is Back and Bis. I'm excited to be doing reverse grip pulldowns for the first time in my life. More later...
posted by zach m at 12:12 PM

I'm doing backflips over my bench workout today. I did 275lbs twice on my own and 5 times with a spot! Could I already be max'ing out at 300lbs? I've got 4 weeks to hit that 300lb club.

Tomorrow starts my new workout schedule! I've changed everything but squats and bench press. The next thing I'm most excited about is that i've only got 4 weeks left in this challenge!

That picture compared to the others sure tells alot. It's very odd that my body weight hasn't changed much at all, but it's obvious that i'm considerably bigger than my last pictures. My body fat has dropped , but not too much to sacrifice muscle. It's important for me to continue to be delicate with trying not to lose weight and to keep packing on the pounds.
posted by zach m at 10:44 PM

you are a true champion! Sue has won her category in the contest she had this weekend!!! It's all thanks to Body Blog, right Sue? Seriously, super congrats to you. I will post your contest pictures online later this week.
posted by zach m at 7:13 AM

Today was a busy day, but it was one where I skipped my workout. We spent most of the day preparing the house for an appraiser to come out and ... well appraise it. I'm purchasing the house right now. It's my first house and we are due to close on it April 22nd! I was going to make an offer on another home today, but I need to talk to my business partner about it. This land I will probably pass onto another investor. So far we've got a few more deals than I know what to do with. I truly thought that finding good deals would be harder than this, but with the economy being where it is and everyone being downsized the "get rid of my house quick" market is booming. In other words, it's prime time for investors to accumulate rental houses at good prices.

Wait, this blog is about working out and fitness. Well it's about reaching your dreams and goals as well.
Speaking of, i'm writing up the new workout for this next 4 weeks as we speak. It's being tweaked from my original plan. Cutting isn't an option, i'm still going through a bulking phase for the next 3 months. My ultimate goal is to be around 182-185lbs while maintaining 7-8% body fat by the end of the year. These are very modest goals considering that i'm at about 178-179lbs and 9.57% body fat right now.

I will make up today's workout that I missed tomorrow evening.

Week 8 of 12, Day 55 of 84

You can say I did 13 minutes of HIIT. I walked for 3 or 4 40 second periods and sprinted after that. I never didn't sprint, but I didn't keep up with all of the jogging. I'm a little worried about doing this much more. I really believe that I should get that tape made that i've been talking about. That will get my mental attitude in shape and keep me out of my own head by being able to concentrate on something other than how much my calves, quads or lungs are burning.

My abs are coming right along, but my flabs are hiding them. I've got to understand that i'm going to carry a little bit of weight without cutting down. OH YEAH, I start doing ab bootcamp this week. That should make a difference in being able to see more of my abs.
posted by zach m at 8:23 PM

You are reading the journal of a happy and smiling man. This morning proved to be a very difficult one. I've got a million reasons that I could be down, negative and throwing a pity party for myself. Instead, i've made the choice to have a great day no matter what! Besides, with my Heavenly Father as my Lord and savior who couldn't have a good day?

Today is my day off from working out. My body needs the rest too. After going so heavy on legs yesterday my lower body is feeling that INCREDIBLE burn that only a good workout can give you. Did you know that Mr. Georgia hasn't been able to hang with me on legs? He has disappeared the last 3 times we were suppose to meet and do a lower body workout together. It's funny that a lot of guys that I talk to in the gym think i'm crazy for pushing my body to the limit almost every time I workout. God has given me this mentality to strive for only the best if I do something.

Saniehs post for today was beautiful. I'm really glad that she continues to share her spiritual and mental learnings with the world. It's becoming obvious that you are more focused and serious than you ever have been about your Ms. Figure Comp. This new trainer seems to have pumped a lot more life into your workouts. Pretty soon we will be scampering around trying to keep up with you. You are a shining light, little mama! Spread those wings and "flylikeiknowyoucan."

Sue is in prep for her contest. I've got the benefit of being able to read her posts that she hasn't released to the public yet. She seems to be MORE than ready for her contest! Doing the tanning, doing and redoing and redoing again her nails, and cutting out water completely. It appears that she has her routine down, her mind is clear, focused and confident in herself and her body, now she just needs to kick some butt on stage. You are in our prayers, Little Mrs. Austrailian Dynamite!
posted by zach m at 9:51 AM

As the momentum keeps going... Something happened yesterday during my HIIT run that has fueled my motivation for EVERYTHING! It's funny how something that could be considered a small victory can generalize into other areas in your life. When I say everything I MEAN everything. My learning, my career, my two businesses, my relationships with friends and family, EVERYTHING!

After last weeks episode with 405 and feeling like I was doing the weight with bad form this week was scheduled for a decrease in squats. So what happened? Well, I did 225lbs for 10 reps, 315lbs for 8 reps and topped it all off with, oopps I will tell you later.

I did manage to go up on all of my other exercises. My hammies were worked to DEATH, but saw an increase of 15lbs on each set. The last set of seatted curls was completed at a 6 reps clip curling 225lbs.

Those squats sure felt explosive and powerful. Just like my other exercises I started to feel really confident that I was getting stronger as I warmed up. But first let's talk about calves.

Just last week my calf workout took a very tender turn for the worse due to a strain in my ankle. A little pain wasn't going to stop me. This day saw all time highs, very slow, holding at the peak, and slow on the way down calf raises and calf presses. This is the first time in a while that I've been happy with my calf workout.

Can I thank Sanieh right now for helping me out with squats? I've been doing squats the way I was taught back about 11 years ago by a personal trainer. Sanieh made a recommendation to me: instead of putting the weight on my back and looking directly up at the celling I should focus my head in it's natural position. So head straight forward I would glance up at the celling in order to concentrate on keeping my back straight. Well, let's just say my last set was 425lbs for 6 reps and excellent form! YEAH! What's next?

Week 8 of 12, Day 51 of 84

13 minutes of HIIT and no puking. That doesn't mean that it wasn't close to happening. Right around the 9 minutes mark I thought for sure that I would never get to 13. We are talking complete self doubt where I slowed down to walk for 3 or 4 seconds. Then like a switch being flicked on in my head I decided it was time to push it out and PROVE to myself that I could do it.

My abs are starting to feel like bricks. It's really funny that my body has turned so much harder and stronger than it's ever been. In continuing my ab work on this 51st day the abs are really showing a lot of separation. Personally seeing results in your workouts sure does motivate you to work harder!
posted by zach m at 10:21 PM

Great on back, but weak on bi's. This was a weird workout. My mental mindset was very focused on my workout, but for some reason my body was "GO" on back and "NO" on bi's.

Back saw two sets of 10 wide grip pull ups, 80lbs for 6 reps on dumb shrugs, and on one arm pulls. Bi's didn't change from my last workout. In fact, I couldn't do the same weight on preacher curls as I did in my last workout. This was very peculiar considering I was so much stronger on back.

Cardio tomorrow, i'm going to attempt to knock out 13 minutes of HIIT!
posted by zach m at 9:08 PM

Doing 245lbs for 6 reps ain't too shabby. The increase may not have been as dramatic as they previously have been, but it's still pretty good progress. Especially when I dropped down to 185lbs immediately after doing the 245 and repped out 4 reps.

I've really hit a stalled point on doing overhead tricep extensions. I don't know if I started off WAY too heavy initially, if i'm not advancing or if my tri's are getting burned out from doing the chest exercises.

Okay, this has to be said in the public blog... where is my Dream Team? I need to read you guys posts to get amped up and be held accountable. I hope all is well with you guys! Let the world know how you guys are doing. Especially you Joe, aren't you guys in your last week of your challenge?

Tomorrow i'm going to plan out my workout for the next 4 weeks. I've got a little bit of an idea as to what I am going to do. Previously I was going to do the BFL format of working out. Since i'm still concentrating on packing on that mass i'm going to hold off on doing that format until the last 4 weeks of my 5th challenge which I do consecutively after this 4th challenge. More tomorrow, it's time to work on the Body Blog software!
posted by zach m at 7:45 PM

The start of week 8 and things are going pretty well. My goals for weight might be a little off by a pound or two. That is going to be my main focal point for these last few weeks. My weight dropped so dramatically when I started doing that silly Ultimate Orange thermogenic that it's got me a little concerned about making my goal of 175lbs at 6% body fat. Basically, I want to throw that body fat goal out the window so my body will retain the muscle i've gained and keep building on it.

Yesterday I missed my workout entirely! It looks like i'm not going to try to make up my cardio session that I miss today because of playing catch up with my workout from yesterday. It was a quiet day for me yesterday. Not much phone, except to talk to Sanieh, a movie with my family, no work except for about 30 minutes of loose ends, and a TON of time catching up on sleep and alone time with God. Yesterday really gave me this reenergized feeling today. So far, it's been an INCREDIBLE day that can ONLY get better!

Tonight I'm going to go home and rewrite my 5 year plan out on a HUGE sheet of paper and tack it onto my wall. My goal: work daily on reaching for those things that I have stated as wanting to be done with at the end of 5 years.

FYI: the Braves start their first game today in about 10 minutes. This has me JUICED!

More about tonights workout later...
posted by zach m at 9:46 AM

Boy were my legs sore this morning. I was kind of down this morning when I stepped on the scale and it read 174lbs! I don't think i've lost 5lbs over the last week!!! That really hacked me off. It made me think I needed to do less cardio and start eating more.

I cut my HIIT down to 10 minutes today. Yes, I slacked a bit, but I think that if I keep doing 12 minutes and up I will burn WAY TOO much muscle. I'm thinking that I will do HIIT one day per week, stay on the thermogenics and do a stepper/tread mill/nordic track/health rider type of exercise on my other day of cardio. Maybe i'll do 2 days of HIIT and the third will be the later mentioned.

Halfway through abs I realized I was still down from weighing myself. That was when I remembered my songs to pump me up. With "My Sacrifice" and "Alive" pumping in my head I cranked out one of my best ab workouts in a long time.
posted by zach m at 3:32 PM

Is it Ultimate Orange or Agent Orange? Those silly fat burners WERE making me feel sick! I cut them out today and I feel just fine. It's frustrating to know that i've been putting myself into this funk because of a supplement I was taking. Instead of taking two of them I tried taking my other supplements and cut myself from those all together. It sure fixed the problem real quick. I've got 3 full bottles of the stuff too! Maybe my bestfriends body can handle them better than I can. I'm going back on Betalean.

Today i'm going to take off from cardio, as well. I don't want to get stuck doing cardio on consecutive days. Staying with 2 days of cardio per week is just fine considering that i'm going to continue to try an gain muscle mass. I've seen a big difference in the last few days with my loss of fat. Hopefully I can keep it going while I'm coming off of the Ultimate Orange caps.
posted by zach m at 10:53 AM

Looking back at my workouts... I DID 375lbs last week on squats. So what did I decide to do today? Well I attempted to do 405lbs (4 plates on each side). What did I do? Oh just 405lbs for 4 reps!!! One of the problems I had was that I started using too much of my back. Instead of pumping the rest of the reps out with sloppy form I stopped at 4. Now that I know I can do 405lbs for a set of 4 i'm going to drop down to around 380ish for my next workout just to make sure I don't hurt my back.

I went light on calves because I believe that they were the problem with my ankle NOT my running. I was incredibly strong hams going up around 15lbs on each exercise. My hammies are actually catching up with my quads.

I also think that this crappy Ultimate Orange fat burner is contributing to me feeling sick. I'm going to drop down to taking 2 of them per dose. IF I keep feeling sick then i'm going to give them away and start back on the Betalean. I figure being a spokesperson in the EAS ads for the product it might be best to support the supplement as well. So far it has been the best thermogenic i've taken.

Time for bed...
posted by zach m at 10:32 PM

Zachary Marcy knows better than to immediately think something is wrong if he feels drained and tired even after getting a lot of sleep. Do the math: it's spring time, i've got horrible allergies, i feel drained, tired and can't think straight .... HRMMMM!

*SmAcK in da back of Zach's head!*

HEY, i know, i'll take allergy medicine and see how that works. My eyes are still a little runny, but I don't feel like I need to go take a 10 hour nap. Taking allergy medicine when my allergies are bothering me really can lift my spirits too. When I feel sick my mind can't think clearly and I start to get down on myself. Pop a few antihistamines and BANG back in action with my positive juices flowin.

That reminds me... it's leg day!!! Today I have to decide between:
A. Killing myself by trying 400lbs 6 times or
B. Remain conservative by going up about 25lbs from last week and doing 375lbs.

I'm leaning towards 375 because it will tell me whether or not I can go up to 400lbs next week. I'll tell you guys what happens later tonight...
posted by zach m at 1:13 PM

45lbs on standing dumbbell curls, nice STRONG pull-ups that were significantly up in reps from last time, 60lbs on one arm back pulls, and 100lbs on machine preacher curls. This was the formula for a GREAT workout.

Earlier in the day I was WIPED OUT again. This morning I got to work very early. I headed home early from work and took a 1 1/2 hour nap. That might have had a lot to do with me doing well in the gym.

Tomorrow i've got a real estate seminar to go to. I'm going to do cardio on friday of this week. Hope everyone else reading this has the good Lord blessing them as He is me.
posted by zach m at 6:08 AM

I was bound to have at least one bad day in the gym. Not that this was very bad, but my heart wasn't there for the first time in a long time. My ankle was a non-factor in my running, but my asthmatic lungs were. I started doing walk-sprints from the 8 minute to the 10 minute mark on HIIT. The first 7 minutes and the last 2 minutes were fine. That time in between I was pretty slack by walking and then sprinting. Those sprints were hard!

On abs my mind was wandering. There was a lack of focused concentration and determination. I've got no real explaination for it EXCEPT that it better not happen again. My blood is boiling right now. Yes, I finished the workout all the way through, but it wasn't as intense and as full-on as I would have liked it.

Overall it wasn't a bad workout, but it wasn't one of my best either. Hey, on the good side of things my ankle is just fine! I literally felt NOTHING! In fact, i've been very blessed to remain relatively injury free for the last few years. This old body of mine has been through some serious trauma and, in the past, was very prone to injury. By the grace of God alone i've managed to stay pretty healthy and functional in my last 3 BFL Challenges.

PROMISE TO SELF: The remainder of this week will make up for my slackness today in the gym.
posted by zach m at 5:54 PM

Each time that the week gets incremented on the blog counter I get a warm motivated feeling in my body. Hopefully i'm not speaking too soon, but this Challenge has been a lot more easy to maintain than any of my past Challenges. There are a NUMBER of reasons for it. Mainly, because this is my 4th challenge and I know what to expect. Having a team to be accountable with helps too. Sanieh and I can talk on a daily basis about our challenge results. Life is so less chaotic right now than it was when I was in school. Even with starting a second business piled on top of work full time and running Zike Interactive my life is more structured and focused. FYI: Zike's main project right now is Body Blog.

More on my workout later. Hopefully my ankle holds up well for a good 12 minutes of HIIT.
posted by zach m at 2:02 PM

I'm at 179lbs at the halfway point!

What in the world happened to my bench press advancing? My workout was GREAT on everything except bench which was exactly the same as the last workout.

The decline dumbbells were strong ending with 70lbs dumbs. Wearing a tank top today you can tell that my chest and shoulders are getting a lot bigger. From watching the muscles work on cable crossovers and on military press gave me some real inspiration that overshadowed my meager performance on bench. Topping it all off with a strong finish on overhead dumbs and bench dips made this an pretty good workout.

At the end of my workout I tested out my ankle, while stretching it out and jogging on it. Once I got into my trot my ankle popped everytime I pushed off of it. After about a minute of jogging the pain seemed to go away. About 3 more minutes of jogging and then into a nice stretch session. With this promising test of my ankle I might do HIIT tomorrow. Pray for me!
posted by zach m at 5:56 PM

My ankle is a wreck. It's going to be very hard for me to continue running. I'm going to have to do low impact cardio from this point until my ankle heals properly. Originally I was thinking that my heel was bruised, but now I feel it in the tendons in my ankle. Hopefully an airbrace and doing cardio on the bike will allow it to heal. If not, it's off to the doctor, if so... AWESOME!

Well, i'm still rock and roll with this challenge. It's funny that of all of the nagging injuries i've had that this is the one that strikes me. Guess what... Chest, Shoulders, and Tri's tomorrow will be destroyed! More tomorrow after I workout.
posted by zach m at 8:27 PM

375lbs for 6 reps on squat and plenty left in the tank. Seriously, I believe I can rep in the 400's right now.

Other highlights:
-8 45lb plates for 6 reps on hack squats
-3 45lb plates for 10 reps on seated toe press
-195lbs for 8 reps on seated leg curls

Time for me to eat and work on Body Blog! Everyone else reading this HAVE A GREAT WORKOUT!!!

Week 6 of 12, Day 39 of 84

LEGS TODAY! Back in high school if you would have told me that I would one day look forward to doing squats I would think you a fool, roll my eyes and act like you didn't really say something that silly. Today, i'm sitting here in anxious anticipation just wanting to hit some squats! Today's goal: 375lbs for a set of 6. More later...
posted by zach m at 2:59 PM

11 minutes of HIIT complete! What a GREAT round of cardio. Now, I didn't say easy because there were several times that I thought I should quit. In fact, there was a point where I thought I would pass out. The guys at the gym got the bright idea to turn the heat up since it was raining outside. That sure made running a sweatfest.

My abs are really starting to come out. In fact, you can see my obliques when I flex. There is still that STUBBORN fat around the lower front of my abs and lower part of my back (love handles). Those are the next to go. Betalean was should give me a little help in this area. So should getting up to 15 or so minutes of HIIT. I'm not going to over do the cardio or diet, but I will pick up and extra day at 4 weeks left.

Tomorrow is leg day! Rashad is saying he is ready for my squat session! I highly doubt he is going to be able to walk after I put him through the ringer.

Joe: You are in my prayers. Things happen that take us away from our goals and our dreams. I choose to say, "life happens, no matter what." Put it in Christ's hands and he will lead you in the direction of your best blessing.
posted by zach m at 8:47 PM

This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. <-- One of the few Bible verses that I remember from memory, but very applicable to today and the rest of my life. I'm enjoying the journey, EVERYDAY!

Week 6 of 12, Day 37 of 84 cont...

So Rashad walks into the gym with a big smile on his face. He grabs a "Flex" magazine and promptly turns it to page 170 or so. Flipping the magazine around so it's facing me he says, "there is your ad." Now it's all over the gym that i'm in magazines. One of the trainers looks at the ad and says, "that's not you." I smiled and said, "okay."

Once again I went up 5lbs on pretty much EVERY exercise I did. This is simply awesome that my body is growing consistently with my workouts. Keeping records, pushing myself on, and having fun along the way has made a big difference in my workouts and my life.

Back and Bi's were on the agenda. Here are some highlights:
- Standing dumbbell curls 6 reps with 40lbs dumbs and it's time to go up in weight again.
- One arm back pulls with dumbs got up to 55lbs on 6 reps and it's time to go up on the next workout.
- 90lbs on machine preacher curls for 6 reps and, you guessed it, increase that weight next time around.
- It's also time to increase the reps I do for widegrip pull-ups. I did 10, 8, 6 reps, I will go up to 10, 10, 8 reps.
posted by zach m at 8:09 AM

It's great to see Joe materialize from the dead! We were and are still a little concerned about you my man. Life is a struggle, yet the faithful in Him are rewarded! Instead of worrying about the struggles, count your blessings because through Him we are headed to streets of gold! Pastor Steve from the Benny Hinn ministries came to speak at my church two weekends ago. He talked about how people always focus on how much struggle they have to overcome to get to church, how the Devil was working against them to do things, and other basic Christian complaints. His point was one that really made sense, why do we always focus on our struggles and pain that we had to overcome? Wouldn't it be better to focus on the good and positive that God is doing for us in our lives?

He went on to talk about how he would look forward to being in church because he got a chance to be with God's people and learn something new from them. He would remember the struggle he went through to get to the point of the joy, and he would celebrate in the joy not grovel in the misery. To paraphrase Lynn Ligenfelter, we are delivered into the storm, it's our job to do something with it. Through HIM it's pretty easy to overcome each step of that storm. Once we reach calm waters we should REJOICE and move into the next storm to allow ourselves to be ever growing.

I will post how my workout went a little bit later tonight...

Week 6 of 12, Day 36 of 84 cont...

Checkout my workout! I changed my bench press from the last time. I'm doing more reps and staying at
roughly the same weight. Talk about a difficult task to take on. It worked out really well, but I over
estimated myself just a little bit, but not much. I'm going to stick with the same weights for this
sunday. I'm pretty PUMPED about how challenging this workout is! My body is SO sore (this is being
written the day after the workout) right now and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I've never done decline bench before. NOTE TO SELF: when you are done doing your set, drop the weights,
and do NOT try to sit up with them as if you are doing a weighed sit-up. My back is SCREAMING bloody
murder at me today because of it. Still, it sure feels good to hurt so bad.

Shoulders were very rough. I WAY overestimated myself on military press. Back in the day I could put up
about 185 to 205 about 10 times. I struggled to get 135 up more than 6 times on my last two sets. I
didn't realize it, but it's been LONGER than a year since I last did military press! Guess that is why
i'm doing it now.

Tris were pretty difficult too. Once again, overestimation! These weights will remain the same for the
next workout too. Once I got up to 35lbs on each arm my left one did it with a huge struggle, but my
right tricep couldn't even do one! I had to drop down to a 30lbs dumb to complete the workout on my
right arm. Here are the stats:

Chest:
-Bench: 10 reps at 205lbs, 8 reps 225lbs (two needed a spot), and 4 reps 245lbs (2 needed a spot) down
to 6 reps 185lbs
-Decline Dumbbells: 10 reps at 55lbs, 8 reps 60lbs, and 6 reps 65lbs down to 4 reps 55lbs
-Cable Cross Overs: 12 reps 40lbs, 10 reps 50lbs, 8 reps 60lbs down to 4 reps 55lbs

Shoulders:
-Military Press: 10 reps 115lbs, 8 reps 135lbs, 6 reps 135lbs

Tri's:
-Overhead One Arm Extensions: 10 reps 25lbs, 8 reps 30lbs, 6 reps 35lbs down to 4 reps 25lbs
-Bench Dips: 3 sets of 15 reps, body weight only

Week 6 of 12, Day 36 of 84

Week six marks my start of taking Betalean again. I've got 2 weeks to gain around 2 or 3 pounds to get
up to the 180 mark. After reading Sanieh's blog about her trainers advice to her (keeping weight for 8
months for it to STICK) I have decided not to cut as much weight as I originally said I would. I'm
going to try to keep my muscle on my body and not sacrifice much at all. Then I will slowly shed the
fat over this and the next BFL challenge. What a good idea... thanks Sanieh for sharing what you
learned from your trainer.

Speaking of Sanieh, it looks like things are going AWESOME with her and her challenge. Keep it up
"little Momma!"

I'm pretty worried about Joe and Sue. Joe hasn't posted in a whole week and Sue is facing that 2 or 3
week out burnout. I'll say that i've faced BOTH of their situations. It really comes down to how bad
you want it and what you will do to complete it. Come on guys, it's ONLY 3 weeks left. What is 3 weeks
in your life? Consider how much you have done to get to this point and you ONLY have 3 weeks left to
PROVE to yourself that you can do ANYTHING!

God bless you guys!
posted by zach m at 9:31 AM

I'm back from the Real Estate Bootcamp. Can I say I got MORE out of it than I paid for!

I stuck very rigidly and closely with my diet. I even supplemented on my free day. However I didn't do any workouts. This means I will do Chest, Shoulders and Tris tomorrow while doing HIIT 3 days this week. No big deal! That is what my floater days are for. Since I put those workouts back to back to back last week I can play catch up with a little bit of diligence. It is VERY easy to modify a well laid out plan. SO PLAN YOUR BODY FOR LIFE!

Tomorrow you will get more meat. Right now i am wiped out and need to go to bed. I need to do some alone time with God to sort out His will being exerted very heavily in my life right now.
posted by zach m at 9:19 PM

Today I had to prepare for my three day seminar. I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get things prepared for a long hiatus in the world of real estate investing. It's pretty exciting and i'm ready to get started. You can check out the Real Estate Bootcamp that I am doing.

Since my days are so packed i'm going to workout tomorrow BEFORE the seminar and then Sunday before the seminar. I figure I would do my chest, tris and shoulder workout tomorrow and my HIIT session on sunday. Saturday will be my free day from workingout AND from eating. It's going to be hard eating at this seminar anyway. I'm going to bring some RTD's and some bars. Hopefully, I will get a chance to post during this weekend.
posted by zach m at 7:34 PM

Remember the last time I did squats I wimped out on 350lbs for a set of 6? Well, i KILLED 350 like it was NOTHING today. One of my goals for this challenge was to squat 450lbs. This is very much a reality. Here is the rest of my workout...

Quads:
-Squats: 10 reps 225lbs, 8 reps 275lbs, and 6 reps 350lbs down to 4 reps 275lbs
-Hack Squats: 12 reps 2 x 45lbs on each side, 10 reps 3 x 45lbs on each side, and 8 reps 4 x 45lbs on each side down to 4 reps 3 x 45lbs on each side.

Hams:
-Seated Leg Curls: 10 reps 135lbs, 8 reps 165lbs, 6 reps 180lbs down to 4 reps 150lbs

Calves:
-Angled Toe Press: 12 reps 200lbs, 10 reps 220lbs, 8 reps 240lbs down to 4 reps 200lbs
-Seated Toe Press: 12 reps 1x 45lbs + 1 x 35lbs, 10 reps 2 x 45lbs, 8 reps 2 x 45lbs + 25lbs down to 4 reps 2 x 45lbs
posted by zach m at 11:05 PM

It's hard to believe i've only been doing this challenge for a month now. I feel in really great shape right now, probably the most strong i've ever been. Can you believe i've got 2 months of this left! It only gets better!

Here is my new Back and Bi workout:
Back:
-Wide-grip Pull Ups: 10 reps, 8 reps, and 6 reps
-One Arm Dumbbell Pulls: 12 reps at 40lbs, 10 reps 45lbs, and 8 reps 50lbs down to 4 reps 40lbs
-Dumbbell Shrugs: 12 reps 65lbs, 10 reps 70lbs, 8 reps 75lbs

Bi's:
-Standing Dumbbells: 10 reps 25lbs, 8 reps 30lbs, 6 reps 35lbs down to 4 reps 25lbs
-Machine Preacher Curls: 10 reps 60lbs, 8 reps 70lbs, 6 reps 90lbs down to 4 reps 70lbs

I need to go up in weight on EVERY exercise except for Wide-grip Pulls. Those pulls are difficult, very difficult. This is the first time that I have ever done pull ups consistently without any assisted weight. When i first started doing them I could barely do 6 or 7 without getting help. The second set of them I couldn't do more than 3 or 4 without getting help.

I expected to do less weight than I could do. No more underestimate, it's time to compensate. In other words, watch me fly when I go up in weight.

My workouts are going to be put back to back to back this week. Then I will do one day of cardio sometime this weekend. I've got a Real Estate investment seminar that runs all day friday, all day saturday and all day sunday (from 7:30 am to 11:00 pm). I'm thinking that saturday morning will see another 10 minutes of HIIT and I will do abs on friday and sunday prior to bed. I'm going to use my RTD Myoplex drinks and protein bars ALL weekend long!
posted by zach m at 6:58 PM

HIIT for 10 minutes! Yet another week and another minute added to my run.

I tried to find every excuse not to go to the gym and not to run today. The minute I started to sense the negativity infecting me it was time to eliminate, motivate and positrate (hahahaha, no such word, but it now means to make positive) my thoughts and feelings. Basically I noticed I was being a cry baby. There wasn't an exact moment that I realized it, but I do know that as soon as I consciously noticed I immediately focused on my goals. Visuals of me smiling in pictures weighing 177lbs at 6% body fat and those feelings of being on top of the world popped into my mind. WIth thoughts like this and a sound track of Alive by POD and My Sacrifice by Creed playing in the background it was only natural for me to go to the gym.

Today I changed my ab workout as well. Here is my new ab workout:
-15 reps on each side of side crunches, no rest and immediately onto
-20 reps of laying leg lifts, and immediately onto
-2 minute active rest period of stomach vacuums and stretchs.
BANG! From mental negativity to one of my best cardio runs and ab workouts yet. It's the power of positive thinking matched with a strong future focused visualization. Watch out BFL Challenge... God has created a warrior! Thank you God for blessing me yet again.

Time to read my Dream Team posts...
posted by zach m at 7:05 PM

This workout was great! So, the very sets on bench that were difficult for me to do last week became moderately easy this week. Just the highlights:

I hit 235lbs 6 times (only one of them required a slight spot) and then I dropped to 185 for a set of 4. On incline bench my last set of 6 was using 80lb dumbs. The set was supposed to be 75, yet they were no where to be seen. Shoulders saw all time highs on both front and side cable raises. Tri's weren't highs, but I did do an 8 set of 100lbs rope pushdowns.

What could top off a workout like that? Try stepping onto the scale and finding out that I weigh 178lbs! As you can see by my 4 week pictures i'm obviously a little leaner than my first pictures. This means that most of the 8lbs that I have gained is in lean muscle mass. I'm RIGHT in line with my goals, in fact I might exceed them. I wasn't suppose to weigh 180lbs until the end of 8 weeks, then I would cut that doing more cardio. Let me say this, if I get up to 188lbs I can't see myself losing more than 13lbs of fat.

It was a heck-uv-a workout!

Week 4 of 12, Day 27 of 84

It took me FOREVER to warm up to run. Usually I do about 2 minutes worth of light jog to warm up. It took me 4 or 5 minutes worth of warmups and I still wasn't warmed up to where my body felt like it could sprint. No matter, it didn't stop me from starting. I just had to do a little more cardio than normal.

My legs were not recovered from the heavy leg session that I did on thursday. I'm definitely overtraining my legs, once again. When I woke up with sore legs I contemplated NOT doing HIIT. That passed pretty quickly and I pumped out 9 minutes of HIIT! One of these days I will figure out what to do. Til then, I just need to take it as it comes.

This was a very difficult day of HIIT. My legs were burning and felt like lead. Unfortunantely I walked at the 7 minute mark when I should have been jogging. I got VERY fed up with myself and disappointed I was walking, so I did my sprint at 7 minutes and 40 seconds, jogged from 8 to 8m 40s, and then sprinted from 8m 40s to 9m 40s. Can you say... I was about to DIE!
posted by zach m at 6:54 PM

To hire a personal trainer or not to hire a personal trainer, that is the question. I'm seriously considering hiring a trainer to help me design the optimal workout routine and diet for a 12 week period that will help me stack on some serious pounds. No more of this put on the weight and fat and then cut. The 5th Challenge that I go into in the couples category needs to be one that i'm overly proud of.

I've got ideas to use myself as a model on the Body Blog site, but if I'm not satisfied with my physique and transformation then I don't deserve to serve as a Body Blog model. Yes, i'm seeing very positive and obvious results, but not at the rate that I expected them to come. Maybe, just maybe it's time to bring in a pro!

Tonight i'm free, but tomorrow it's back to sprints as usual. Look for me to post my new and improved workout schedule and 4 week pictures some time this weekend as well.
posted by zach m at 12:28 PM

My weights were increased on EVERY exercise! Can you believe that I actually went UP on lunges? Today was my best leg day i've had since starting this program.

On my last set of leg press I actually did 16 plates for 6 reps! On leg extensions I managed to lift 250lbs for 6 reps. Lunges saw 55lb dumbells for my last set of 8. Toe press on the leg press machine was stacked with 5 plates for a set of SLOW and agonizing 6, while 55lbs for 10reps on one leg toe press finished off the workout.

So what was the HUGE difference that ONE day made? I wasn't in any better or any less of a mood. My day wasn't any better nor any worse. There were nothing outstanding that really separated the days from one another! Sometimes it just happens where you can't pinpoint the good from the bad days and it bothers me. Usually I can locate a significant thought, attitude or factor (little sleep, didn't eat before working out, etc...) that would have changed the workout. Anyone else have any feedback?
Week 4 of 12, Day 24 of 84 cont...

Now it's time for me to change my workout up. My back routine started out very strong. I did 3 sets of pull ups with 14, 12, and 12 reps, fairly slow, very concentrated with no herky jerky motion helping myself up. About a year and a few months ago I could hardly do more than 3 or 4 without assisted weight help.

Once I moved to incline rows I started to lose focus. My back was pretty much just going through the motions after pullups. My shrugs were just kind of so-so. The big problem for me was when I started going through the motions and started talking to my buddies around the gym.

When it was time to hit biceps I buckled down and hit the concentration curls pretty hard. Then I slacked up on the preacher curls. Needless to say, i'm going to switch my workout up and get refocused like I was last week.

The remainder of the week needs to be taken more seriously. Tonight is leg night and Rashad (which I mistook his name as Rashawn) is looking forward to killing his legs again. It's great having a workout partner two days a week. This will keep us both rockin.
posted by zach m at 8:45 AM

I wanted to say that Sanieh's hard drive CRASHED on her computer. Her program is going well and she is still going full steam. Hopefully she will be able to start sharing with us again this weekend once it's fixed. Not that she can read this, but she is helping keep me in check with everything. Since her and I talk multiple times per day she always asks me how workouts are going, what exercises did I do, is your diet holding up, etc... This type of accountability has been of extreme help to me.

Right now she is trying to find the supplements that compliment her body best. Creatine appears to not do much for her body. The one thing I can tell is that whatever she is doing sure seems to be working! Keep up the great job Sanieh. That Mrs. Figure competition will be blessed to have you as a contestant.

Joe is proud of himself! That is SO hard for me to do sometimes. I don't know where I learned to not be satisfied with lifes little victories that can add up to a whole bunch of happiness. Reading Joes honesty and victories that he accomplishes daily has really changed the way I view things. He reminds me of how I've always wanted to view the world, but got messed up along the way. Joe, you aren't the only person proud of you... so is your Dream Team!

What about our friend from Down Under? It looks like Sue is partaking in the joys of contest preparation. I remember watching many of my bodybuilder friends before contests and I recall my frantic weeks before my challenge after pictures. I know what you're going through, girl! Keep up the good work and remember what your doing it all for. We believe in you.

Now it's time for me to work. Today's workout agenda is Back and Bi's.

OH, GUYS (Sue and Joe) the 8 week point was on your Day 56. I need 8 week pictures from you guys along with your body fat and body weight. Only 4 weeks left in your challenge! Keep your eyes on those goals and now is the time to take all you have learned and GO FOR IT!
posted by zach m at 9:30 AM

This is pretty cool. I was nominated by the Dean of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University to be a featured student in "The National Dean's List". It honors America's outstanding college students in their respective fields of academia, mine being Psychology, Communication, and Marketing. My personal profile and information will be published. They requested that I submit a picture, should I send them an after picture from my BFL contest (wink!)

9 minutes of HIIT today! Boy, it doesn't get any easier either. From minute 5 on I started to really feel it. Once I got to minute 7 I really started having self doubt. Then I remembered my motto, "If I think I can't do it, then I must do it." This is how I PROVE to myself that no mountain is insurmountable. Once that infectious disease known as self doubt starts to set in, it's time to inject yourself with the antidote, named success. It was a small, but very satisfying victory. With a constant stream of daily victories it adds up to amazing results in your life. Let's just see how many our Dream Team can add up to make us the elite mentally, physically and spiritually.

I went super intense on my abs today. It was thoughts of my pictures in this months issue of Muscle Media that fueled my motivation machine. Since I went SO slow and SO intense my abs were screaming for me to stop. Basically I ignored the weakness and my thoughts went to success. Reaching down within I pulled out a heck of a ab workout.

I sure am glad that i've got two floating free days from working out. Tomorrow I have a real estate investment seminar. I'm going to put my workout off until wednesday.

I've really gotta thank God, my family and this team for supporting me through so much. God keeps blessing me everyday and NONE of my success would be of any worth if it weren't for Him blessing me. A super special thanks to Sanieh for dealing with me through the last 10 trying months of my life. Things really seem to be going GREAT right now and I can't take all of the credit

Week 3 of 12, Day 21 of 84 cont..

Pardon me while I rant about people in the gym. The last two weeks I haven't been able to finish my workouts in the amount of time that I wish. Is it because of lack of intensity? No, it's because people migrate between three specific areas and won't deviate at all. What are the three? The bench press, the cables, and the dumb bell bench. Please go do different machines and don't stay on the same ones the ENTIRE time you workout. 8 sets of the same weight incorrectly done on tricep pushdowns isn't going to get you anywhere. Then don't move the adjustment piece down to the floor and start on biceps doing 8 sets of the same weight incorrectly. Okay, my rant is over, but don't do it!

My workout was okay. 235lbs was in order for 4 reps, 6 with a spot. That's ten pounds heavier than last week. The weight for next week will be the same. Incline dumbs were pretty easy even going up 5lbs heavier than last week. I'm contemplating a full 10lbs more for next week. My machine flyes haven't improved much so i will stick with the same weight.

Talk about CRAZY improvement, my shoulders are getting impressively strong. I'm up to doing 35lbs on front raises for a set of 6 then drop to 25lbs for a set of 4. Not too shabby, eh?

My pushdowns are what I had to wait around to do. Since both of the sides of the cables were being used for curls at that 8 set clip by three guys on one side and two on another I had to wait. Well, enough whining... my pushdowns were very strong. I managed to go up 10 lbs on each set from the last workout.
posted by zach m at 5:45 PM

I pulled up my first challenge start pictures (late 1997- early 1998) when i was 187lbs at about 20% body fat. HAHAHAHA, I had a double chin, beer belly, but I was moderately strong. Oh okay, there is no rationalizing because I was in horrid shape and I thank the LORD for giving me the genetic makeup to not be happy with being a flab master.

Boy did I have to drag myself out of my middle of the day nap. That bed and those covers felt SO GOOD! I've finally worked myself up to get up, put down a protein shake, some creatine and some ZMA. Next, it's over to the gym to do chest, shoulders, and bis. Time to hit it!
posted by zach m at 2:23 PM

This will be short, but informative. Today I did my Health Rider row machine for cardio and skipped abs.
The rest of the night will be quiet time between myself and God. After a real estate investment seminar today i've gotten a lot better of an idea of what it will take to start my real estate holding company. Now it's time to seek His guidance.
posted by zach m at 6:45 PM

Today is an easy post. It's PSYCHO at work. Thank goodness for RTD Myoplex shakes and bringing my food.

It looks like Sanieh is a wanted woman! Boy if EAS could see what she looks like right now they would have no problems signing her to a contract to represent them.

Well, i've got way too much to do at work for me to be typing away on here. Oh, tomorrow i'm going to have to put off my cardio until midday because I have a seminar for the Georgia Real Estate Investors Association to attend in the AM. I'm going to have to cut my night plans short tonight to ensure I get up in the morning and out the door. It's going to be a hat and t-shirt day for me tomorrow.
posted by zach m at 2:25 PM

Tonight I talked to Joe on the phone for the first time. He is nicer on the phone than I ever thought he was and I thought he was one of the nicest guys i've ever met online. We went through how to do your body fat measurements. Come to find out the little calipers that we use try to get you to do a 3 point measurement. It tried to tell me that my body fat is 4.8%. That is a joke!

Using a 5 point site found my body fat at 6.7%. I could ONLY WISH! I'm going to stick with doing a 7 point site, having someone else do it, and have it done before I workout and not after.

Speaking of workouts, I have a new workout partner. Mr. Atlanta is now training with me. I've been trying to get him to talk to Jeremy and have J set Rashawn (Mr. Atlanta) up on a diet and a workout. It looks like it's going to be me doing that now. He is training for the Nationals in Dallas, TX in the month of October. It's going to be great to have someone to workout with. This guy does 315lbs on bench press for reps. His weak point are his legs. He's going to help push me on my upper body to increase it's strength while I help him on lower which he has been very inconsistent in training.

Today's leg day was HUGE! We did a set of 14 45's and two 35's for six reps of FULL and DEEP leg presses. We went onto leg extensions and did 240lbs for a set of 6. I'm at all time highs on both of those exercises. I went weakly on my lunges where I stuck with the same weight as I have over the last two exercise sessions. In the first session I started off WAY too high and didn't get all the way done. Calves were all time highs as well.

I'm beat, but I sure came close to wanting to workout more. It's odd because I usually just want to leave the gym the second I am done. I've been taking the Durathon that I bought from Sue. I'm thinking it's helped me considerably with my mental clarity and focus on what I want to achieve. I've been more focused in ALL areas of my life like work, real estate, investing, accounting, business and body building. It really started when i first started taking the supplement.

Time to go do a Bible study and talk a little with the big G-O-D!
posted by zach m at 9:40 PM

There is a distinct psychological issue between perception and reality of one's self. As of late i've been feeling very FAT because i'm not at my usual 8% body fat. In fact, I took a ribbing at the gym from a few of the trainers and a professional bodybuilder because I was talking about it. They understood what I was saying, but they also know most of it is just in my head. Being in a bulk phase of my program i'm carrying more weight and fat than i'm used to.

So how do we overcome this issue? I've always used this perception to my advantage. I confront it head on and work harder in the gym. A lot of it is knowing that there are good days and bad days. When those bad days come around it's time to step out of yourself and REALLY evaluate the situation. Are you really being fair to yourself? Half the time i'm not. When those bad days come it's a matter of picking yourself up and doing something about it so you can be productive with it. As they say, when given lemons, make lemonaide. If you feel like you aren't in the best of shape it's time for you to change it by working harder in the gym. Then be satisfied after being in the gym knowing you are doing something about it.

One of the best techniques around to overcome this type of thinking is to anticipate it and create a plan to overcome it. In the Body-For-LIFE book it talks about self defeating thought patterns that might hold you back. It then goes into depth on creating a solution on how to fix this pattern when it arises. Once you have really given it thought and written out how to overcome it the trick is to remember and refer back to your written solution when the problem arises. If you didn't find a solution that was powerful enough to help, it's time to do that as soon as you find the problem.

Well, that post was therapuetic for me. Now I want to go hit the gym again! Hope all you other Body Blog'ers have a great and blessed day!
posted by zach m at 7:12 AM

I thank God everyday for putting you in my life. Today i get to thank Him for putting you on this earth.

Week 3 of 12, Day 17 of 84

8 minutes of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and a MONSTER ab workout. My obliques are showing, my obliques are showing! Okay, no more random outbursts like that.

That was a great cardio run. No puke feeling at all. I did have to dig down deep to sprint those last 2 minutes (notice a trend here?) I believe that goal of 15 minutes of HIIT by 6 weeks is in sight. Once I get to the 15 minutes I will continue to do HIIT one day per week and pick up two days of the 20 minute solution. Since that will during my cutting phase I will also start doing my cardio in the morning before I eat and before I go to work. The reason why I am dead set on doing this is because I have self doubt that I can do it, that means I MUST do it!

There was a funny thing I have to tell about. There was a guy in front of me that insisted on running faster than I was running. There was this little guy walking accross the middle of the track to get to the weights right in from of him. This guy in front of me just heaves this little guy out of the way. I almost had to stop running because I was laughing so hard. The little guy didn't realize it wasn't okay to be a pedestrian crossing across the middle of the running track. The bigger guy, who quit running very soon after that, was SO teed off.

My abs burned today. It's the same routine i've been doing of crunch ball side twist crunches reps of 20, immediately to seated combo leg lifts with crunches reps of 20, and an active rest period of 3 stomach vacuums. I cycle through this 4 times with almost no rest.

Time to read everyone else's Body Blog. Hope everyone has an awesome day.
posted by zach m at 6:38 AM

I had that song ALIVE BLARING in my mind the entire workout. Then I actually heard "Youth of the Nation" while I was working out. This was probably one my best workouts that i've ever had. 90% of it was my mindset going in. I was so jacked to get into the gym today. In fact, due to the overtrain factor I removed myself after completing what I had written down to do.

Okay, I used 45lb dumbbells on seated concentration curls today for a set of 6. I did 12 reps on 3 sets of close grip pull ups. Last, but not least there was 295lbs being shrugged up for a set of 8 reps on Shrugs. Most of this weight I couldn't even imagine putting up about a year ago this time when I was in the middle of my 2nd challenge. Yes, I was in great shape, but I wasn't nearly as strong as now. Just think, i'm ONLY in the middle of the third week of this challenge. Put that on top of the fact that Sanieh and I have TWO challenges planned to conquer back to back. Can this man continue to improve week upon week upon week?

Might I say that I LOVE flax seed oil, but it gives me the WORST gas ever. Tonight I had a tuna fish salad with flax seed oil on it. I'm very surprised that my dog hasn't disowned me. Does anyone else have problems with this? Is there something that I can do while still getting the benefits from the EFA's (Essential Fatty Acids -- Omega 3's and Omega 6's)? FYI: Zach don't be eatin no fish so gotsta resort to supplementing the fatty acids.
posted by zach m at 6:45 PM

WOW! Okay, so I might need to either add a song or change it all together. "ALIVE" by POD (Payable On Death) has become one of my all time favorite songs. This song makes me want to take on the world! So add "Alive" by POD to "My Sacrifice" by Creed. A close tie for third is "Right Here, Right Now" by Fat Boy Slim and "Youth of the Nation" by POD.

I'm going to go home and make a tape for working out. I threw out my old one. It had a lot of negativity in a lot of the lyrics that needed to go. After tonight i'll make sure to post the list of songs going onto my tape. Now it's time for me to exit stage left and hit the gym!
posted by zach m at 2:13 PM

Have you ever had one of those really GREAT mornings? Can you believe i've been at work all of 45 minutes and managed to get about 2 1/2 to 3 hours worth of work done! I was just flying through these design mockups for a demo we are giving on a web reporting system. Once I was finished with the main mockup page I figured to look down at my clock and see it say 11:30 or so. It's only 10:06! I'm flippin' out here. Heck, if I get enough done I can head to the gym early tonight.

The gym is where I want to be so bad right now. I'm starting to get this feeling of unquenchable motivation for the gym. It's almost a lusting attraction that tends to lead me to OVERtrain. This time i'm going to be careful not to overdo it.

Most of my goals for this challenge are falling right in line. I'm going to schedule myself a little more strictly so I can really follow my results. After two weeks the newness of a new challenge is overcome. Now it's time to get down to brass tax. Here are some of my plans:

• Weigh myself once per week, each sunday.


• Keep track of my weight on a weekly basis


• Take my body fat measurements once a week


• Keep track of my body fat on a weekly basis

I've decided to cut myself down to two cardio sessions per week until my cutting phase. My goal is to leave my calories moderately high so my body can use them to fuel my muscle growth. This worked really well for me in my last challenge. I thank Sanieh for putting the idea in my head.

Today I hit some pretty hard ab work. My abs are finally starting to feel like they did when I was super lean. My key will be to keep building up my abs as if I were shredded. Then in the last weeks during my cutting phase I will hit ab boot camp and say "Shawn Phillips, watch out!"
posted by zach m at 7:32 PM

Right when I was having doubt about hitting my bench press mark my workout was nothing short of a confidence boost! In my last set of bench I did 225lbs 6 times. The first 4 were pretty simple! The last 2 were quite a struggle, but went right up.

The rest of my chest, shoulder and tri workout proved to place improvements in all of my weights. While doing front raises I could tell that my shoulders have improved significantly since I started this program.

Today I weighed myself in at 175 lbs. I'm feeling a little fat though. My hopes are to get up to around 180lbs before I start cutting weight. That gives me about 6 weeks to do so.

I'm going to go have some quiet time between God and I. God has placed it on my heart to cut out the extraneous garbage from my life. Now it's time to refine and refocus once again. I believe that my station is being tuned right into W-GOD FM. Now I need to pay attention and follow his path for me.
posted by zach m at 8:19 PM

Day 13
Seven minutes of 40 seconds jog/20 seconds sprint HIIT. Boy, with after those 7 minutes I thought I was going to PUKE! In the last two my asthma started kicking in pretty badly. In my mind I was reminded of what Joe has been doing to get through his cardio workouts. My thoughts went towards my Dream Teammates. The negative thought started to evaporate like a single drop of water on the pavement on a hot and humid Georgia summer day. As I kept rounding the track my body reached down into that place I hold all of my successes and desires. Mustering the last bit of breath I had the last 20 seconds of sprint seemed to just flow from my body.

I had to rush my ab workout in order to get finished to meet some friends for a game of CASHFLOW. I did finish 75% of it.
posted by zach m at 12:13 PM

I'm VERY hacked that I haven't been working as well as I should on punctuality. It's a nasty habit that I've tried to shake for years, but tardiness seems to get the best of me. My biggest problem is that I get OVERLY involved in whatever i'm doing and that is all I do until it's done. The biggest problem comes during the evenings when I get started on one of my numerous projects. I stay up until the wee hours of the morning and then find it difficult to get up the next day.

There is such a thing as TOO focused. It's time for me to quit killing myself and to be happy with smaller portions of success. With the help of God i'm finally focused on my life vision. The important thing is to remember what i'm focusing on and do everything within my power to go for it.

Today is my free day from weights. It's not a free day from diet. It took me about 2 hours this morning to finally get a meal in me. That's okay, I finally had some chow. I'm going out to eat with my best friend around 12 at our same local spot where I get a grilled chicken sandwich on wheat no cheese or mayo, with black beans on the side. I get my vitamins from the lettuce and tomatoes on the sandwich. Why am I telling you guys this? Simply because it IS possible to go out to several restaurants and have authorized foods. Sometimes it takes a little imagination and alteration, but getting good food from restaurants isn't that difficult.

I HIGHLY recommend staying away from fast food joints. There are only two fast food places that i go to if I have too:
1) Chick-fil-a: where I have a grilled chicken sandwich deluxe with unbuttered bread and hold the mayo
2) Subway: Either a roast chicken or turkey sub on whole wheat with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, green peppers, and just dash of oil and vinegar.
posted by zach m at 8:22 AM

Just another INCREDIBLE leg workout, that was what it was. No more halfwaying the workouts. It's all about passion, drive and "go for it."

What I did at the gym: Quads, Hams, and Calves
Total workout time = 65 minutes.
Quads
- Leg Press: 12 reps with 5 plates, 10 reps w/ 6 plates, and 8 reps w/ 7 plates.
- Leg Extensions: 12 reps w/ 195lbs, 10 reps w/ 210lbs, 8 reps w/ 225lbs drop set to 4 reps with 180lbs.
Hams
- Lunges: 12 reps w/ 40lbs, 10 reps w/ 45lbs, 8 reps w/ 50lbs.
Calves
- Leg Press Toe Press: 15 reps w/ 3 plates +25lbs, 12 reps w/ 4 plates +25lbs, 10 reps w/ 5 plates +25lbsdrop set to 4 reps w/ 3 plates +25lbs.
- One Leg Toe Press (with dumbs): 15 reps w/ 40lbs, 12 reps w/ 45lbs, 10reps w/ 50lbs.

Can I say that Joe has a poetic way of describing his experiences that simply pump me up! If anything I believe that Joe is completely in touch with his own mind, feelings and emotions. More so than I've ever seen any other person on this program. I don't say this lightly because i've been involved with this program for around 5 or so years. I've been a success coach to several, i've competed and completed 3 challenges and i've met or talked with several competitors. Thanks for being a Dream Teamer Joe!
posted by zach m at 7:45 PM

KILLER workout! As I promised my Dream Team I would come through on this one. Not only did I do cardio AND abs, but i also did a few back and bi exercises with FULL aggression and determination. It was like a switch had been flipped in my head. It turned my passion and dedication meter to 11 on a 10 point scale.

I'm thinking that a lot of my push was due to the fact that i'm officially a model for the BetaLean HP sports supplement for EAS. One of my friends (Jeremy) pointed out to me that my before and after pictures were in a full page ad for BetaLean HP in the April edition of Muscle and Fitness. Not believeing it I immediately went out and picked up a copy. There staring back at me on page 41 are the pictures that I know all too well. The only people i've told about it are my girlfriend (Sanieh), my parents, Sgt. Bjorklund (another one of my personal inspirations) and in a letter to Sue today. Don't feel slighted Joe, i'm writing it here to tell you. It's not one of the EAS spokesperson championships, but one of those will come over the next few challenges this year.

Can you believe Sanieh and I are doing TWO BFL comps back to back? I mean, no slack time between or anything. We are talking one on top of the other. By the end of the second one it will be time for her Mrs. Figure competition. She should be in great enough shape to win the sucker. Just wait... i'm putting up her "before" pictures in a few minutes. Just wait until you see how LITTLE she really has to do. In fact, she looks so spectacular right now I don't know how she is going to top what she looks like!

This bulking phase of this program sure makes me feel fat. I'm SO used to running long distance cardio runs while doing more fast repetiton sets with lower weights. Now it's all about the masses of protein, the slow concentrated, but HEAVY weights and doing short and strong sprints for cardio. Hopefull when I change in April on my last 4 weeks I will be ready to ROLL! Off to read my teams journals for the day.
posted by zach m at 10:11 PM

Ever feel like you are in someone elses body but looking through your own eyes? Kind of like being disconnected from the world around. Well, yes, similar to being drunk. This feeling is from complete exhaustion today. It's odd, I got enough sleep it was just a very LONG day. My workout came down to me just kind of going through the motions. Not much worth talking about. Sorry guys, this isn't the kind of day that I'm proud to talk about.

My diet has been GREAT. No real temptations to fall off or anything. I've been a shining example of the Nutrition-For-LIFE principles, except that incident last week with 6 gummy cokes. That reminds me, the rest are still sitting on the top of my dresser. I'll get to them this saturday.

I PROMISE that I will have a better workout to talk about after tomorrow. I'm going to go get motivated by reading my 'mates journal entries.
posted by zach m at 7:05 PM

Today was more cardio and abs. Both I kept the same from saturday. My biggest problem was that I drank my Riboforce about 2 minute before I ran. It bloated me considerably. Not too mention it really cramped up my stomach. I only managed to do 6 minutes of the sprint/jog routine as opposed to 7 like I did on saturday. My intent is to increase by one minute each week, until I reach the 20 minute mark. It's a big task, but i'm definitely up for it.

My friends on the Dream Team seem to be kicking some major butt lately. Sue is pulling herself out of being down and into a "full on" work out mode. Joe is buying more weights because his previous set can content with his muscle growth. Sanieh, who is the most beautiful woman I know, is tweaking her routine to support her packing on more muscle as she talks to me daily motivating me with her words of encouragement and spiritual faith. Thanks guys! I don't know where I would be without you.
posted by zach m at 7:06 PM

Next I did similar, but varied ab routine. I'm still doing combo leg lift and crunches on the bench for a set of 20, then using the crunch ball I do alternating twist crunches with 10 on each side. Then I immediately stretch out my abs and then do the stomach vacuums. This routine is done 4 times through with no real rest.

Day 7
My first chest, shoulder and tri workout wasn't as great as i'd hoped. It was still a solid workout. On bench I did 185 6 reps, 205 6 reps and 225 for 4 reps drop down to 185 for 4 reps. I'm pretty upset that my bench press isn't much stronger. I'm really going to work on it. HARD!

My shoulders weren't nearly as weak. In fact, they were a lot stronger than I anticipated. I'm going to have to go up at least 5 lbs on each front raises weight. The side shoulder cables weren't nearly as strong, but can stand an increase in weight.

My tris were as strong as usual.

I worked a little bit on a little redeign of the Body Blog pages. Joe had made some recommendations about formatting the site. I've been contemplating changing things up since I released the design. His input just validated what i had been thinking. THANKS JOE! More about my workout tonight after it happens...
posted by zach m at 10:11 AM

Man am I hungry or what. I've been pushing 6 or 7 meals down my throat every day since I started this program. Today my energy is back, i'm hoping that keeping authorized food around me to eat will make the difference. I've got RTD Myoplex Pro's (these things are 24oz. HUGE) and a drawer full of Myoplex Deluxe bars (which aren't the most healthy, but are decent).

Thank goodness that tonight is a free day from working out. My back, quads, hams, shoulders and calves are incredibly sore. It's a GOOD sore though. This new routine is a killer workout, so far. I'm going to reward a hard weeks worth of work with some leisure time tonight. Billards, dining with my best friend Jon, and a movie (Stup-er Cops, or something like that).

Tomorrow is a cardio day. I will NOT be running or doing sprints. I'm going to use the Health Rider I have at the house as soon as I wake up. Then i've invited a few friends over to play the financial intelligence, investment strategy, and learn about business game CASHFLOW. Considering I paid about $200 for the game I plan on getting the most out of it at EVERY opportunity. Michal and I have agreed to play this game at LEAST once per month. Tomorrow we are playing it with Jon at about 1. That means I need to be up and on the machine around 10am.
posted by zach m at 2:02 PM

I had to drink 8 ounces of Coke to make it through the day at work today. It's the first time I've drank something other than water during this program. I'm not sure why my body is so tired right now, i've eaten correctly, last night I got about 7 1/2 hours of sleep, I took my allergy medicine, the cold I had that started last wednesday is now gone, and nothing really bad, harmful or stressful has really occurred in my life lately. The only thing I can pinpoint is that it's either overtraining or I need to increase my food intake. Since all of the other factors have weeded themselves out it's about the only thing that makes sense to me.

Today is Leg Day. Leg workouts I have a "love/hate" relationship with. Usually I dislike doing almost all ham exercisesMost of the quad exercises there are I LOVE. I'm doing leg press this time around and I don't particularly care for that exercise, but I finish up with leg extensions which i love.

OKAY, IT'S NOT MY FAULT! It's ALL Sanieh's fault! She got me these little gummy cokes for Valentines Day and I had about 6 or 7 of them. I'm saving the other 60 or so of them for my free day this weekend. Thank you for the V-Day gifts Sanieh. It's great being your Valentine. I wonder if she ate the Hersey Kisses that I got for her?

About my leg workout. I got up to 6 plates for 8 reps on leg press.
What I did at the gym: Quads, Hams, and Calves
Total workout time = 59 minutes.
Quads
- Leg Press: 12 reps with 4 plates, 10 reps w/ 5 plates, and 8 reps w/ 6 plates.
- Leg Extensions: 12 reps w/ 195lbs, 10 reps w/ 210lbs, 8 reps w/ 225lbs drop set to 4 reps with 180lbs.
Hams
- Lunges: 12 reps w/ 50lbs, 10 reps w/ 50lbs, 8 reps w/ 50lbs.
Calves
- Leg Press Toe Press: 15 reps w/ 3 plates, 12 reps w/ 4 plates, 10 reps w/ 5 plates drop set to 4 reps w/ 3 plates.
- One Leg Toe Press (with dumbs): 15 reps w/ 55lbs, 12 reps w/ 65lbs, 10reps w/ 75lbs.

I seriously almost puked doing Lunges. Since they work Hams primary and Quads secondary my Quads were about to explode. There was this silly cramp in my upper left glute that kept screaming for me to quit. NOT I, said Zach-o-ri. I knew I was in trouble when I could barely walk after leg extensions. Doing slow concentrated reps sure makes a huge difference than trying to slop up as much weight as you can. I can actually make 135lbs on a bench press or 225lbs on squats really workout my muscles by doing slow concentrated weights.

The toe presses were killers as well. I've always felt really awkward doing the one leg toe press with the dumb bells. Today wasn't really bad. I guess I kept the weight low enough that it wasn't too difficult, but the reps were slow enough to KILL my calves.

I went into the gym DEAD tired. Walking out I was muscle exhausted, but completely revitalized. I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight. Over the weekend i'm going to put up photogalleries for Sue, Sanieh, and I. JOE, get me some extra pictures of you and your wife working out. I'd LOVE to have them in your photo gallery.
posted by zach m at 3:00 PM

As an undergrad, majoring in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and minoring in Marketing, I learned that working in teams always exponentially multiplied the effectiveness and the amount of work that a single individual could do. That's my biggest goal with creating the Body Blog Dream Team, to show people how groups working together with the Body Blog software can dramatically increase their drive, motivation and fitness results.

The goal is to have one another bring their specific strong points to the table. As one person might not be able to pull their weight in one area, another can step in and help the situation along. I know that sometimes I get very bogged down with things that i'm doing and to watch Joe, Sanieh and Sue being motivated toward their goals it gets me off my rear and back into action. Joe is fairly new to the body building and fitness scene and has a lot of questions reguarding training. That is where some of us seasoned people can help him. Then he comes back with the tenancity and excitedness that I haven't had in a while and it gets all of us excited and pumped up. Those are just some examples of how we work together.

Let's revisit this post at the end of the our challenges and see just how we did.
posted by zach m at 9:07 AM

Boy was cardio difficult today. There is no real reason I can say that it was that difficult, the point is that I finished every single second of the 20 minute routine. Nothing but shear will power and the commitment to follow through on my promises to myself.

Abs went much better. I continued with the same routine i've been doing for about a month and a half now. Because it seemed to be a little bit easier than normal i've decided to switch up my routine. It was laying leg curls with the crunch ball (4 sets of 25 reps) and stomach vacuums between each set, then leg lifts + crunches on a bench (4 sets of 25 reps) and stomach vacuums.

There has been this guy in my gym that is training for a competition this weekend. This guy has incredible genetics and has actually been listening to me about carb depleting, cutting his subcutaneous water and cutting his workout routine to something of a circuit training for the next couple of days until the competition. It's funny seeing someone as huge as this guy with very little practical knowledge about how he got that way. With what this guy looks like WITHOUT the knowledge I can only imagine how far he can go with it.
posted by zach m at 9:35 PM

Title: What, When, Why and How of Zach's 4th Body-For-LIFE Challenge

I want to change because I want to feel powerfully confident and continue to improve my life that has started taking a successful course. It's important that I remain a symbol of health to help guide others to a similar happy path. It's important to show those who are unhappy with the current state of their life and their health how to move into a more empowered and healthy mind and body. Showing this to people will allow them to take their dreams and make it their reality, similar to how i'm living my life on a daily basis.

If I don't start working towards these new goals i'm going to burn out and fade away. It's time to keep going and taking on new challenges at this stage in my life. My last two challenges were me as a college student and young entreprenuer. Now i'm a young professional as the director of marketing with a technology firm, i've got my own corporation to run, people relying on me as an employer, and i'm starting up yet another business with my best friend. It's a new world for me and it's time to start living it in an aggressive way that sees me reaching for the stars while kicking in the after burners to get there. I've reached a good point of health in my life yet, you can ALWAYS improve. It IS called "Body-For-LIFE.

My five most important goals to achieve during this 12 week period are:
1) By the end of 12 weeks I will finish the Body Blog software (phase 1) to help the world reach their goals.
2) By the end of 12 weeks I will be able to bench press 305-315lbs and squat 430-450lbs.
3) At the end of 12 weeks I will get down to 5-6% body fat (i'm at 10.52%).
4) I will weigh 176-178lbs at the 5-6% body fat mark at the 12th week point.
5) During the 12 week period I will act as God wills me to, so I set a pattern to do it for the rest of my life.

Sleep hasn't been an issue the last two days. When I should have been writing up contracts for Zike and doing programming for Body Blog I laid down on my bed for just a brief minute to watch the Olympics (10:45pm). When I came too (3:52am) I just crawled under my covers and continued to sleep.

FYI: My theme song for this challenge = My Sacrifice by Creed

My big issue right now is punctuality. That is one of my MAIN objectives to use this challenge to overcome. Another issue i'm meeting head on is to not take on too much at once because I become overburdened and too fragmented. It spreads me out too thin and I become pointlessly stressed out. It's all about the Focus and not fragment. Last, but not least, is the issue I started this post off with: getting enough sleep.

Here is how I propose to overcome these bad patterns of behavior... First, I need to do things in the amount of time that i've allowed myself to do them. Next, I will plan better, more long term and focused. I'll use less fragmented goals. I'll only concentrate on my core things that I want and need in my life ie; My Sacrifice. Last, I will take one "1/2" slack day per weekend and one slack night per week night (which wound up being last night senior sleepy-head). I will go to bed on time, take my ZMA (which is suppose to help with sleep), and read educational books for one hour before bed time to unwind.

My first cardio workout was decent. I listened to financial seminars the whole time I was running. My worries revolved around not having music, but the seminars were preoccupation enough. My ab workout was KILLER! I'm doing laying crunches with the crunch ball (4 sets of 25 SLOW reps) with an active rest of stomach vaccums between each set. Then I do leg lifts, plus crunches on the short bench (4 sets of 25 SLOW reps) with an active rest of stomach vaccums between each set.

Hopefully, Jeremy Likness of Peak Physiques gets a chance to write me about my workout I submitted to him. I might even employ him to write the rest of my program, diet and workout. I'm telling you guys, I really want this challenge.

What I did at the gym: Back and Bi's
Total workout time = 49 minutes.
Back
- Close Grip Pull ups: 12 reps with body weight, 10 reps w/ same, and 10 reps w/ same.
- Inner Grip Horizontal Back Rows: 12 reps w/ 45lbs, 10 reps w/ 70lbs, 8 reps w/80lbs drop set to 4 reps with 45lbs.
- Shrugs: 10 reps w/ 185lbs, 8 reps w/ 205lbs, 6 reps w/ 225lbs.
Bi's
- Seated Concentration Curls: 12 reps w/ 25lbs, 10 reps w/ 30lbs, 8 reps w/ 35lbs drop set to 4 reps w/ 25lbs.
- Preacher Curls: 10 reps w/ 55lbs, 8 reps w/ 65lbs, 6 reps w/ 75lbs drop to 4 reps w/ 55lbs.
Notes: This was a decent workout. The pull ups were done in a very slow and intense fashion. With the nature of close grip pulls incorporating more of the bicep, they are a tad bit easier to do than wide and middle grip pulls. I need to go up much higher on the Horizontal Back Rows. Shrugs were a very good weight, but I recommend going up at least 10lbs on each weight. Bi's went GREAT! I'm almost at my all time strongest on biceps. The weights I choose were a little too light on all of the exercises and I need to go up. These were weights that I reached at the end of my best challenge last year, which was my second challenge. Needless to say, i need to go up in weight on bi's.

My mental state was GREAT. There were no real hangups, but there was a TON of pump and motivation even though I didn't get into the gym until late. The lateness was due to a serious car accident were I was stuck in the aftermath.
posted by zach m at 3:45 PM

Now I KNOW I didn't win my category for last years challenge. The guy that did, Joel Marion of New Jersey, did a spectacular job by maintaining at 7% body fat while gaining 22.5 lbs of muscle. Joel, I tip my hat to you and say... "you are a TRUE champion!"

“This challenge has brought me to the realization that the choice to change is mine! By sticking with the challenge from start to finish, I now recognize that I can do anything that I truly choose to make a reality.” - Joel Marion, 2001 BFL Grand Champion Men Age 18-25

Well, I move UP an age class this year. My birthday back in December places me into the 26-32. This time i'm working as a young professional and not a college student. The challenges and goals are much different in respect to my new position in life, my new fitness goals, and for the first time in about 6 or 7 years I won't have a consistent workout partner with me. I will have God, my Body Blog Dream Team, and an intense desire to show the world what living a fit life can do for you in every area.

I've got Sanieh and Gabrielle starting today and going through this with me. Sanieh and I met up this weekend (I will post pics in my pic gallery later). We were going to do the Challenge together, but kind of worried that they wouldn't accept the entry from people in different states. We have made some accountability promises to one another that are going to help us both out considerably in this challenge.

Today is a cardio day. More later...
posted by zach m at 7:04 AM

I'm going to go work on my goals for the Challenge I start tomorrow. It's kind of funny to look in retrospect at my goals from only a month ago and compare them to what I want to achieve now. It's simply AMAZING as to how much they have changed!
posted by zach m at 9:47 PM

Well, i'm off to the lift event. I'm late as usual, hope Bob doesn't get worried i'm not coming. I also pick Sanieh up from the airport tonight. That i'm excited about! I haven't seen her in about 2 months or so. We get to take all of our "before" pictures! I'll get my body composition done at the event as well.
posted by zach m at 7:00 AM

Last night I worked on my entire workout for my challenge. I also made it in a format that other people can enter their information into a webpage. As i'm doing my goals and workouts i'm also creating templates for Body Blog. If you noticed on my journal today, it's looks a bit different from everyone elses. That reminds me... SUE, get me your before and 4 week pictures. I'm going to put up yours and Joe's the second I get them. Back to work for me...
posted by zach m at 1:09 PM

I've got a tutorial that i'm writing on how to use a website. The hard part about it is i'm using an animation software named Flash to write this tutorial. It's an animated interactive tutorial that is about 30 pages long. It takes 3 x's as long to do this tutorial in Flash than it would typing it up. It's great though, i'm using Flash for the first time on this job. Every other Flash job i've done has been for fun for myself. I've got a pretty nice marketing plan brewing for the Body Blog software in Flash. Just wait!

Sanieh referenced me in her Body Blog after telling about her workout. I wonder what she meant by it? Guess she is telling me to take that workout and put it on her journal page??? If that is the case, email me the specific exercises you will be doing. It looks like she has pulled herself into a super split routine that will be very challenging. Knowing Sanieh so well, she LOVES placing challenges in front of herself just so she can demolish them like it was nothing. Then she looks for something even more impressive to tackle.
posted by zach m at 4:29 PM

My workout went really well tonight. I've changed things up a bit. I removed the cardio workout tomorrow and replaced it with todays workout and moved my sunday workout to today. I'm doing this so I don't miss a weight day and line up my new workout schedule with the Iron Angels event this weekend. The event makes it where you lift upper and lower body in one day.

Oh yeah, about tonights workout... Once again, I went up at least 5 lbs on every weight. This time I stuck with the same weights on my biceps, but I could actually do them without stopping. My back has gotten incredibly strong. I can now do 3 sets at 10 repetitions of intense and slow pullups. I've always been very poor at doing pullups! Time for me to read the other Body Blog Dream Team and to work on posting everyones workouts on the right hand side of the journals.
posted by zach m at 6:54 PM

As i'm approaching the starting line for my fourth BFL Challenge my mind is racing with all of my reasons for doing it and the things holding me back. Realizing that this is my fourth challenge and that the previous three saw incredible results and changes in my life this one is going to be the most challenging of them all. My gains won't be nearly as extreme, my body has become used to being put through the rigors of intense exercise and is in fairly good shape, not too mention my life has started into a very successful path. Lethargy and complacency could start to infect my life and my mind which would push me back into a chaotic state of mediocrity. Nothing is worse to me than being indifferent about wanting and going after success at all times. This time around I need to chart out my propulsion system of "wants" and "don't wants" that will help push-pull one another towards a constant state of growth. This will make more sense once I post my goals for my program.
posted by zach m at 1:28 PM

On a different side of things, one of my friends (hello Becki) has told me that her friend placed second in her category for the BFL contest. I guess that means the people that have won their respective categories have been contacted. No call for me. What does that mean? It means it's time to take the world by storm and DOUBLE my results from my second challenge as i'm doing this fourth challenge. Carpe Diem!

I'm officially starting my Challenge this saturday. I've been working out, dieting and keeping my journal as if I were already on it for about a month now. This time I go full steam into this Challenge WITHOUT that initial soreness, diet balance, workout schedule adjustment, and other "getting used to" stage to overcome. My only concern is that i've already gained about 5 lbs of lean muscle and lost 2 lbs of body fat in the last 4 weeks. I guess i'm just going to have to change things up and keep my body in a shocked growing state. 315 lb bench press, 450 lb squat, 6% body fat, 175 lb scale weight HERE I COME!
posted by zach m at 9:06 AM

So the lasagna and buttered bread got the best of you, huh? When did it happen? What can you do about it now?

That's right! It happened yesterday, you can make sure to not put yourself in the position again, you can forgive yourself and move on focusing on your long term goals of fitness.

You know, in my first challenge I used to compare myself to everyone's after story from the body of work video. If you haven't seen it go to http://www.bodyofwork.com and familiarize yourself with some of the guys. At the time, I was battling alcohol addiction very harshly. It wasn't pretty and I felt this huge guilt with very little confidence. Two or four times I slipped back to drinking during that challenge. At the time there weren't any such thing as a free day. Still, I didn't give up.

I did well in my first challenge and managed to kick the alcohol addiction, but the confidence and happiness still wasn't there. I felt like a fraud. I felt like I didn't belong in the orld of health and fitness for so many reasons.

It wasn't until last year on my second challenge that I realized I was going about the whole thing in the wrong way. At the time of my second challenge (the one that you read about and saw the before and after pictures of) I was a broke college kid, with a small bit of success in web design, a business partner that left my company to persue nother business venture, working at a skateboard park as a weekend manager, out of shape and my life had strayed from God. The only things I had going for me were my etermination to make Zike fly, a smart head on my shoulders, and pretty good grades in school.

How does this all tie in together? Well, consider the point where I was last year. If I had started comparing myself to all of the other past champions and people around me I ould have gotten upset. Then I realized, hey... they aren't me. I'm me. I'm unique and my situation, my motivation and my life are very different from these people. I need to do what it takes to move my life at it's current point into a better quality of life with my OWN specific goals. Joe, you are a Body Blog Dream Team member and deservedly so! It's from this point right here that you will fly. You know how it feels to slip, now use it as your ultimate motivation to succeed. Your honesty will serve as fuel to your fire and as motivation and inspiration to those that read your journal. Other people have the same thoughts, temptations and setbacks as we do. It's deciding what to do with hose thoughts and temptations, and also moving on and forgiving ourselves for the setbacks that makes us successful.

One last thing, did you know I watched my grand father and father squander huge amounts of wealth. My father was just shy of being bankrupt after he partnered with my grand father in one of many AM radio stations. I personally have watched 2 of my own business ventures die, and almost watched Zike go under. Guess what happened! I let all of these situations act as lessons and learned from them. I didn't let it be a demotivator, in fact all of these things acted as even bigger motivators.

If you want to compare, I missed a cardio workout this week. We are both in the same boat.

Let's get it going. If something tempts you or you fall off. Jump up, dust yourself off, make yourself accountable and move on. I'm here for you, the team is here for you, your wife is there for you and most importantly, our heavenly Father is there for us!

On a side note, you have an AMAZING wife! I could only be so lucky to be blessed with a good Christian woman that supports me in everything that I do. Stay strong and accountable for her too.

Saturday: Had a pretty decent cardio workout. I didn't wind up doing abs because I was running behind for a video based interview for Bodychangers.com. Thanks Bob!

Today I had a fairly good workout. It was kind of going through the motions because I was more focused on watching the Super Bowl. Speaking of... it's back on.
posted by zach m at 5:51 PM

My leg extensions went up another 15lbs on each set. The extensions made my legs cramp like MAD! Speaking of cramps, my calves did the same thing. Today I did them a lot slower and a lot more concentrated than I have in the past. The only thing I complained about were my straight leg deadlifts. I did go up 5 lbs on each weight from last week, but it took me everything in the world to stay positive about doing them.

In an unrelated note, I talked to my friend today and agreed to go to a church in southern Atlanta. It's a Pentacostal church where I already know a couple of the people that attend. Some of the I went to college with a few years ago. I'm really looking forward to experiencing going on a church tour over the next couple of months. I'm going to visit churches that many of my friends have talked about over the years.
posted by zach m at 7:02 PM

I'm so zonked these last two days. My insomnia has hit me again. My biggest problem is letting my mind unwind from the day. It's so difficult for me to enjoy sleep, then it's hard for me to get up in the morning. Once the fatigue strikes during the day I don't feel like doing anything, then the cycle starts all over again. It STOPS RIGHT HERE AND NOW! My new bed time, hell or high water, is 12:30. That gives me enough time to work during the evenings, unwind with a learning book, eat two meals before bed and to get 7 hours of powerful and much needed rest.

Today is my squat day! I'm bound and determined to strap 350 on my back and rep it out 6 times. MAN do I LOVE squats. More later...
posted by zach m at 2:37 PM

I've sent out another round of information for the Body Blog Dream Team to get back to me. As the weeks progress you will begin to notice that the spaces around these journals will fill in with important information about their exercise programs. This is going to be a really spectacular round of mocked up site for the Team.
posted by zach m at 12:47 PM

The really weird thing was that my weights all went up again on everything BUT shoulders. It was on the shoulder exercises that I hit a wall. My muscles seemed to fatigue really quick due to the lack of rest. It's funny that i've been trying to track down the reason why I fatigue really quickly sometimes and other times I don't. I believe i've found the cause and WILL fix it! Isn't it great! It seems so obvious now, but I seriously have been wondering what it might be for YEARS.

Can you believe that I needed the 90lb dumb bells for my last set on flat bench? I had to stick with 85lbs because my gym doesn't go up that high. Today I got a spot on incline bench, where I did 185lbs 5 times AFTER doing flat bench dumbs. My shoulders continue to be a point where my muscle just aren't up to par. I believe that my bench fatigued my shoulders by using them as a secondary muscle.

Well, i'm off to work more on the software for the Body Blog'ers. How are you guys doing? FYI: If you are reading this... go check your own and others pages. WE HAVE PROFILES ONLINE!!! The workouts are coming soon... VERY soon.
posted by zach m at 10:10 PM

My water intake over the last few days has STUNK! I need to get on top of that...excuse me, i'm going to guzzle some H2O real quick...

Okay, i'm back. Going back to sunday, I had a GREAT workout on back and bi's. My weights have increased once again and my passion level is still very high. It was kind of hard to concentrate when I really wanted to be watching the playoff games. I'm going to get into the gym pretty early, probably RIGHT AFTER church, this next sunday so I can go watch the Super Bowl. That will eliminate the sports distractions until baseball season starts up again (Go Braves!)

Time for me to go chug some more water. I'll write more about my chest, tri and shoulder day a little bit later.
posted by zach m at 8:36 AM

Well, my free from workout day went well. I stuck with the diet and supplements.

Yesterday, it was my free from diet day. That went well also. I took my buddy from Germany to eat at the most incredible BBQ place in Atlanta. Fat Matt's has ribs so fatty and sloppy that they fall off the bone. Then they have a live Blues band that is GREAT. I love that place.

Earlier in the evening I had a great cardio run. I managed to sqeak out about 2 1/4 miles in 20 minutes. My abs were nothing to scoff at! That was a heck of a slow and intense ab workout.

Speaking of abs, my stomach is flat and showing again. My body fat must be lower than I suspected a few days ago. It might be around 9 - 9.5%. Maybe I should get it checked at the gym today. Time to head to the gym to hit back and bi's.
posted by zach m at 12:19 PM

Somewhere along the way my strength has really stepped in and moved me into a state of passionate drive to be in the gym. Even the dreaded straight leg deadlifts weren't that bad. Every weight I did today was at least 5lbs higher on each set. I jumped up 20 or so lbs on leg extensions and probably could have kept going. I'm really looking forward to pushing myself again on my next leg workout.

My legs are starting to look big in the quad section. While I was undressing this evening I started to pose in the mirror. Even my upper quad was ripping out. I'm still around the 9.5 to 10% body fat range and my muscles are still starting to show. Here is the scary part, I don't officially start my BFL challenge for two more weeks and i'm already seeing results like these!

I'm telling you that Sanieh and I are going to FORCE the judges to look at us. I think i'm going to try to coherce the rest of the BodyBlog Dream Team to start an OFFICIAL BFL Challenge in two weeks as well. Hey Sue and Joe, are you guys willing to...Accept the Challenge...? Joe, you can enter with your wife as a couple. Sue, you are training for that contest, you might as well blow the other BFL competitors in your category away and officially go for it. Imagine having the DreamTeam all be true champions! That sure brings a smile to my face, what about you guys?
posted by zach m at 9:22 PM

Thanks for asking, it went really well. Once again I got to the gym extremely late because I was on an hour and half long business call. When I got there I stopped and talked with my intern friend from Germany. She trains incredibly hard just for her own health. Since I met her about a month ago i've been trying to talk her into doing the Body-For-LIFE challenge.

You're getting off track, Zach.

Oh yeah, I started on the tread mill and started my warm ups at about 5 miles per hour for two minutes. Then I would increase my pace by 1 mile per hour every minute up to the 9 mph point. After a minute at 9 I would drop back down to 6 and start the increase all over again. This was fairly easy and cranked out a little over a mile in 10 minutes. When it was time to drop it back down to 6 I jumped off the treadmill and hit the track, no break in between because the track is right next to the cardio machines. I did the similar type of increase and drop down on the track, but I was going at a much more rapid pace. Especially when I hit my 9 and 10 intensity at the end of the workout. I didn't have to stop, slowdown or fall over and die at all. It was one of the better cardio workouts i've had from a breathing and consistency stand point.

You know, that is great for you Zach. I'm really proud that you've worked your cardio back to where it should be.

Well, tonight I get to do my favorite and most disliked exercises. Favorite = squats... Dislike = straight leg deadlifts
posted by zach m at 6:59 AM

Last nights workout was great. I'm up to 85 lb dumb bells doing 6 reps on my last set of doing flat bench press. Not too shabby considering that i'm warming up with 70lb dumbs! My incline bench was pretty strong, even though I got OVER zealous and tried to do a set of 6 with 185lbs at the end. 3 was the amount I could muster on my own, with spot for the other 3. I'm going to stick with that weight until I get it. My chest had burned out by that set. My incline dumb bell flyes were very difficult and only allowed me to get up to 45's on my last set

My shoulders continue to be a little weaker than I would like them to be on overhead dumb bell press. I started at 50lbs and tried to jump to 60 on my second set. The 60's were an insurmountable wall that I could only eek out 5 out of my desired 8 reps. Then I dropped down to 55's to finish off the exercise. Side lat raises of 15 lbs for 10 reps, 20 lbs for 10 reps, and 20 lbs again for 10 reps ended my shoulder routine.

Triceps were another story all together. Even though I was feeling very tired and sluggish my triceps came to work, and work they did. On nose breakers I got up to 75lbs 10's. On pushdowns I got up to the slow, steady and intense 10 reps at 90lbs. Both of those weights are very high for me, especially considering this is only my second week doing this part of my upper body routine. The first week I was sick and had to miss this workout. Now, i'm getting deisel and loving it!

The Riboforce HP is a TOP NOTCH supplement. It has made such a difference in my energy levels while i'm working out. My muscles don't fatigue nearly as fast as they used too. It's allowed me to sustain a higher level of weight lifting performance over a long period of time. That is something that will make my muscle grow a lot faster, for sure. More on my cardio routine that I do tonight will come a little later on...
posted by zach m at 2:02 PM

My ab workout was GREAT! Slightly angered at myself for not pushing my limits I took it out on my abs routine. My stomach was punished with nothing but pure slow and intense exercise. I even started doing an active rest period between sets. I'm doing stomach vaccums during that minute break between ab exercises. Those vacs are going to be done everywhere; in the car, right here at work, in church, at the movies, everywhere! They sure made a HUGE difference during my last challenge.

Last night I realized it's time to bring the headphones and motivational music back. That will help take my mind off of the cramps. I went and purchase new batteries and a new set of headphones. I've got the tape from my 2nd and 3rd challenge that should bring back those mental anchors of "go for it" and power that I had. Pair that attitude with my current passion and this stands to be my best challenge yet.
posted by zach m at 7:33 AM

Betalean has became a used supplement in my arsenal. It sure makes me jumpy for the first week or so that I take it. I've got so much contained energy right now i'm about to explode. It also makes my contact dry out for the first week. Usually, I increase my water intake by about 25% once I get on this supplement. It helps the body pass it through and rehydrates me since it tends to dehydrate me. I would get into the thermogenic effects and the raise in body temperature to explain my theory on why it's important to be extra hydrated, but I don't have the time or real desire. Okay... i'm going to quit rambling...(end rant)

I'm in trouble when Sanieh gets here to take pictures. From what she says about her progress she is going to be smokin hot! Not that she isn't a drop dead fitness beauty as it is. I've got my hands full trying to keep up with her progress on my end for our BFL entry we start next month.

Speaking of fitness beauties, Sue is working herself like a woman on a mission in the gym. She is experiencing the pressures from training with a trainer for a contest. In the short time i've gotten to know her I know beyond a shadow of a doubt she is going to use her inner motivation and support from her loved ones to come out on top!

Joe is a whole different story. This man is completely redefining himself and the way he approaches life. This devinely led man has started transforming himself from an everyday "Joe" (pun intended) to a shining example of fitness and Christian witness. He is making exponential leaps on a weekly basis with his improvements in weights and physique transformation.
posted by zach m at 2:03 PM

Back and bi's were in order for todays workout. What a great workout it was. Even with me watching the Pitsburgh/Baltimore game between sets I still managed to keep up the high intensity. In fact, once again I managed to go up significantly in weights from my last workout. My workout on back and bi's:
Back
- Pullups (10, 8, 8 - no weight assistance)
- Seated Rows (8,8, 8 drop down to 4)
- Lat Pulldowns (8,8, 8 drop down to 4)
Bi's
- Standing straight bar curls (10, 8, 6 drop down to 4)
- Incline dumbbells (10, 10, 6 drop down to 4)

Give me one more week and I will be exactly where I ended in my last challenge in strength. That will give me the rest of this program to make SUPER progress in growth and gains.

I've been weighing myself every other day or so at the same time. My weight has been maintaining between 167- 169lbs. Since doing abs again my waist is considerably tigher. Now that i'm back on supplements i've got that creatine pump back as well. Things are going real great. Now it's time for me to go check on the rest of the Body Blog Dream Teams progress.
posted by zach m at 5:27 PM

Last night was a GREAT leg workout. I've increased my weights considerably on all of my exercises. Straight leg deadlifts have quickly moved up in the ranks of exercises that I dislike. It's a very close second to cardio, while third would have to be straight bar curls.

To my benefit I'm also doing my favorite exercise...free weight squats. For about 3 years I avoided squats all together because of back problems. About 4 years ago I started doing smith squats, it's been about 6 months since I picked up on the free weight squats again. I can't explain just how much I LOVE squats. Last night I was hovering around the 275lb mark for about 6 reps. If I had a spotter i'd be in the 300's. My calves are the one thing on my body that don't seem to grow the way I would like for them too. They are strong, but don't round in the way I would like. It's one of those things that genetics haven't graced me with. Good for me that I like the way my chest, back and bi's have formed.

NOTE: I still use a weight belt that I, ummm borrowed, from my high school about 9 years ago. It was funny to look down at it yesterday and see the name of my old high school scrawled across the back.
posted by zach m at 11:26 AM

Tonight I pushed out 3 miles in 20 minutes EASY. There weird thing is that I could have kept going with relative ease. That is very unlike me to be able to handle cardio that well. This tells me that most of my cardio woes are mental and not physical. I'm doing the 20 minute cardio solution as it's described in the Body-For-LIFE book and at the end I hit an 11 1/2. Well, i'm too tired to write anymore... have a great and blessed evening, especially my Body Blog Dream Team.
posted by zach m at 10:25 PM

It's cardio night tonight. My goal is to do 2 1/2 miles in 20 minutes. I'm thinking that during the middle of the program i'm going to do sprints. I'm off to have a Myoplex and some Creatine...
posted by zach m at 11:34 AM

During this interview I told him about the Body Blog software that i'm building, my bestfriend Jon and his girlfriend that I got started on BFL, and the whole community of people that I now share my fitness passion with. On top of that I also talked about Mr. Bob Doyle and BodyChangers and how i've managed to use his site to help share the abundant fortune that fitness and health gives to others.

I'm excited in a whole new way about the BFL Challenge. Sanieh and I have agreed to enter this competition in the couple category. She is flying into Atlanta to visit at the end of the month. We are going to snap a couple of pictures together for submission. HOPEFULLY, I won't be in too good of shape then. Entering together will give both of us more incentive to work harder. Yes, I know I was talking about accountability to myself before and that is still in play. This is more like someone to share things with on a daily basis. I'm still workout partnerless, but the Body Blog DreamTeam has got my back!
posted by zach m at 9:24 AM

Here in the second week and tonight I do chest, tri's and shoulders for the first time. My whole body is going to feel like someone is poking a million little needles in it everytime I move. The GREAT thing about that sensation is that it's a constant reminder that i'm in the process of rebuilding my best body. Time to go read the other journals and cheer on the rest of the Body Blog Dream Team.
posted by zach m at 7:32 AM

Back to the workout... it's the first time in a week that I didn't feel sick. First on the agenda were the back exercises. Previously I could do a fair amount of pull-ups with relative ease. My workout called for 3 sets desending from 10, 8, 8 reps. It was more like 10, 6, 6. I proceeded onto Lat pulls (110 lbs 10 reps, 120 by 8, 135 by 6 down to 100 by 4) then to seated pulls (120 by 10, 135 by 8, 145 by 6 down to 110 by 4). Both of these need to be increased in weight, but the intensity was GREAT! Last were the biceps. This body part pushed through incline dumbbell curls (25 by 10, 30 by 8, 35 by 6 and 20 by 4) and standing straight bar curls (45 by 10, 65 by 8, 75 by 6 down to 55 by 4). This was a very intense and very appropriate set of weights.

All in all this workout was pretty good. I'm not anywhere near the weights and numbers that I would like to be, but give me two weeks and I should be set to impress.
FYI: Riboforce HP on an empty stomach gives you MAJOR gas! I believe half of the gym found this out from experiencing first hand from me.
posted by zach m at 7:49 PM

The Body Blog'ers have step right in and kicked their programs into full on. Joe is sending me daily workout changes and results he's getting. Sanieh is cranking her motivation for doing a competition into gear. Sue is traveling hours on end just to train with one of the best body building trainers in Austrailia. I've got a lot of catching up to do with the motivation and drive of this Body Blog Dream Team.

Tonight I'm doing my back and bi routine that I flipped the cardio workout with yesterday. My abs were skipped yesterday due to time constraints...okay, I llied. yesterday i felt SO lazy that I flat out didn't do the ab workout. Right now i'm kicking myself for it so bad. That won't happen again! More later...
posted by zach m at 11:18 AM

Last night I did a cardio routine. Today I flipped my workout today with tomorrows cardio. I will do back and bi's after work tomorrow. Today was a late starting day for me, but my diet has been solid.

Time to eat a little bit. I will write more later.
posted by zach m at 2:05 PM

This program is so much different than any of my other challenges. For the first time I am doing it without a workout partner. I've kind of had that secondary accountability to hit the gym and stay consistent with everything. This time around it's all on me. I'm pretty satisfied with that fact. Now, it's only God, myself and a few close people to me that are are holding me accountable. Mainly, it's just God and myself.

Many of us go through lives doing things for so many other people that we might neglect various areas of our life. Up to this point I didn't notice it, but now that i've decided to completely take charge of my life and my goals I realize that there has been an unhealthy amount of outside influence directing where I should go. Mainly in the areas of business and work, i've wanting to just "DO" something for myself, but the world socially conditions us to:
1) Go to school so...
2) You can get a good secure job so...
3) You can buy a house, keep a late model car, and all of the other marketing driven ideas we have been programmed with that keep you in debt forever so...
4) You can pay more taxes so...
5) You need to get a raise at work because...
6) You have more debt, and then...
7) You spend more because it appears you have more and you get more and more debt.

That mindset doesn't work for me anymore. I'm bound and determined to level the playing field and be the one running the show. This doesn't mean that outside influence is bad, it's just important to be selective as to where it comes from and be cautious about what part of it you subscribe too.

Boy, that was a rant.
posted by zach m at 9:41 AM

Wow, Sanieh really has used God in her life to fuel her wants and needs. That is SO awesome. Not only is she committed to restructure her life physically, but she is getting it back in shape spiritually and mentally. That is what I am using a lot of this program for as well. Life turned itself upside down over the last few weeks and it's time to take a stand for myself and the things I want. You know, life will beat you into submission if you let it. That is something, with the Almight Strength of God on my side, that I refuse to let happen. It's time to live my life on my terms doing the will of God, going after my goals, and helping others in the process. It's an exciting time.
posted by zach m at 8:47 AM