Before and After – 62 Pound Transformation

Hello all,

Almost 2 years of work. Cleaned up the nutrition and focused more on training. I still have plenty of work to do.

That is all! 🙂

Maintenance Cycle: Week 1 Day 1

High bar Squat: just 2 work sets of 190. going to 4 sets of 6 on squat and bench on the same day would be too much of a change too soon. maybe next cycle or something.
105 x 4 x 2
155 x 4
190 x 6 x 2: This felt very difficult. But i was able to push through. at 162lbs bw, i thought this was great!
115 x 15 @~60% of 190lbs

Bench:
75 x 6
95 x 4
115 x 4
135 x 6 x 2
65 x 15

Sumo Deadlift:
155 x 6
205 x 6
240 x 6 (PR)
260 x 1 x 6 (PR) I believe my true 1RM is upwards of 285 lbs

Barbell Row: Just to finish up. I will increase weight at my discretion.
95 x 8-10 x 3

Dumbbell Row: same as bb row.
35 x 10
50 x 10 x 2

This workout was one of the best I have had in many many many months. I am done. Tomorrow just some light incline presses and pull ups and dips. I CAN’T Wait!!!!!!!!!

That is all! 🙂

Full Body Training

Hello All,

So on Sunday I am going to start my new workout routine. Unfortunately I am sick. So hopefully on Sunday I will be at least 80% so I can get in a good first workout. My bodyweight is 163. Right now I am going to work on Maintaining this body weight. For the next 6 weeks. I do not want to get past 166 in any week I weigh-in.

That is all! 🙂

Push Pull Legs: Cycle 2: Week 2 Pull

Hello All,

Dumbbell Squat:
55 x 5

Sumo Deadlift:
135 x 6
185 x 6
225 x 6 (PR)
225 x 1 x 6

Close Grip Lat Pulldown:
88 x 6
99 x 6
115 x 6 x 4 (PR)

Dumbbell Row:
35 x 8
45 x 8 x 4 (PR)

Wide Lat Pulldown:
77 x 15 x 5

Single Arm Machine Curls:
40 x 8 x 4

Incline Curls:
10 x 15
15 x 15
25 x 8

Stretch

That is all! 🙂

Protein Intake Change: Day 2 of 28

What I Ate:
4 Boiled Eggs
2 Slices Bacon
1 Navel Orange
1 Banana
1 Chobani Yogurt 2%
2 Maize Tortillas
1 Scoop Protein Drink with 1 Cup Almond Milk

What I plan to eat for dinner:
1Sweet Potatoe
1/4 cup Lentils
1/4 cup Quinoa
Romain Lettuce and Cabbage

Depending on how hungry I might be, I will eat Tuna or 1/2 cups of lentils and Quinoa instead. LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!

The Secret to Strength Gains!

Hello all,

So this is not a post about a specific routine or nutritional that is “guaranteed” to give you the results you want. It is not even about strength gains specifically. There is only one thing that will give you the results you want. And that is knowledge. Reading and researching. Learning and always trying to improve is what is going to get you the results you seek. Sure, going to a trainer or coach will help. But a lot of the information they have is not exclusive to them. The internet is open with reliable resources and of course there is the library and amazon.com to read books.

My advice is this, do not let someone else be responsible for what you learn. Someone at the gym says,”to build mass you gotta do 10 rep sets and go to failure!” Really? Look it up. Or someone else says,”to build strength you have to do 10 MAX singles once a week!” Really? Who knows? Look it up. Research, make an effort to learn. How about this one,”to lose weight you need to do AT LEAST 60 minutes of cardio.” Not sure if that is true, look it up. READ. Even if a PhD, professor, teacher or parent tells you X, look it up. Don’t take anyone’s word for it.

A member at the local fitness center said to me,”you know why all these guys don’t know what they are doing, Mario? Because they DON’T READ!” I completely agree with that statement. Sometimes the shit I see in many gym, is crazy. And it is not for lack of effort, but lack of knowledge. Or who knows, maybe some people don’t want to learn. 😐 possible I suppose, but a disturbing thought.

When it comes to your body, DTA. Don’t trust anybody. Trust yourself enough to research and trust your own judgement and be firm in your decisions. Example: I am small guy, I am 5’8 at most, 170 lbs. If a guy who is 6’2, 230 tries to tell me I am doing something wrong because of my stature or routine, I really could care less. Unless it is something plausible and reasonable, then it’s bullshit. The way he trains his body is not going to be the same way I train mine. For many reasons such as height, health predispositions, goals and just straight up preference. And not only that, but I have confidence that I know what I am doing, because I experienced it and researched it. Know your goals, research on what you need to do, and don’t be afraid to tell someone to fuck off once in a while. 🙂

That is all. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Strength Training Preview

Hello All,

High Bar Squat: Depends on how I feel. I am still feeling a little sick. So if anything I will do technique work.
95 x 8
115 x 8 x 5

Press:
45 x 5 x 2
75 x 5 x 2
95 x 5 x 5

Deadlift:
135 x 3 x 8

Always Read the Label

this is pretty cool.

HaleyMarieCopeland

According to a recently published article, the FDA will be changing our beloved nutrition labels for the first time in twenty years. Being the type of person who cannot leave a Whole Foods supermarket in under four hours because I am too caught up in reading nutrition labels, I have a bit to say about this.

I realize that most people would never spend that much time and energy reading about the nutritional value of what goes into their body. This realization was solidified further when I heard the proposed changes. 

 

As you can see, the serving sizes and the calories are emphasized, calories from fat is removed, percent daily value is shifted to the left, and there is a new “added sugars” row.

According to the article, the serving size is being changed to “accurately reflect what people usually eat or drink.” Which brings me to the…

View original post 188 more words

Not Quite a Vegetarian, But Almost

Hello All,

For those of you who may have seen my post How I Lost 52 Pounds, I mentioned the importance of nutrition, depending on what your goals on are.  I have noticed that anytime I have lost weight, I cut down my meat intake close to nothing. I eat meat maybe once or twice a week at most. If that. Its not that I want to be a vegetarians, but it just seems that it is something that seems to work for me. Here are some of the foods I eat frequently:

Lentils
Spinach
Red Cabbage
Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Rice
Plantains
Beans
Hummus
Green Leaf Lettuce
Romain Lettuce
Yogurt
Peanut Butter
Jelly
Chocolate
Eggs
Oatmeal
Milk (only when I drink hot cocoa and oatmeal)
Chicken (very rarely)
Beef (very rarely)

Any time I eat meat, my stomach does not like it much. Its like my body goes into instant constipation mode. I only eat about 4-6 oz of meat at any given time. Based on what I listed above, I am thinking about just making the move to “no-meat”. If any vegetarians or vegans out there, your feed back would be greatly appreciated.

That is all. 🙂

My Thoughts On GOMAD

Hello All,

So of course, GOMAD is a popular way to gain weight in order to increase poundage’s on the big lifts. And many have seen success with it. First, GOMAD is an acronym for ‘Gallon Of Milk A Day.’  It has been popularized recently by Mark Rippetoe as well as cross fitters and strength training enthusiasts and professional all over.  This is my personal opinion with regards to GOMAD based on my experience.  Let’s look at why people try it in the first place.

1) “Mark Rippetoe says so.” This is probably the most stupid reason to do anything. 🙂

2) “They can’t get enough calories through the day from solid food.” or the “hard gainer” deal.  Then I suggest reevaluating your nutrition if that is the case.

3) “It helps their gains.” This is true…. but I realized that I wanted to lift the most weight at the lowest weight possible. Not the opposite. That is just me. If you weigh 175, squat 225, and go up to 200 and squat 285…. sure you made gains but, the 175er is squatting 1.28x their body weight and the 200er is squatting 1.42x his body weight. Stronger? Fitter? Just a advantage regarding leverages? I don’t know exactly. To me, its just not worth gaining 25 lbs, half of which will probably be fat.

My experience with GOMAD.

Thankfully I did not do it for that long. However, I did see initial gains.  I also developed the physique of a fat slob even though I was getting stronger. But then I realized… why do I need to be strong, and LOOK fat. Isn’t there a middle path? The answer is yes. I also asked myself, “What is the purpose of trying to get strong FAST?” Then I looked at the numbers and did some math regarding milk……

The Numbers

This is just the typical gallon of milk you will find in any deli or supermarket. If you use another type of milk, just do the math before taking in all this crap. Milk Numbers

grams of Sugar per Gallon of Whole Milk: 192 g (a teaspoon of sugar is roughly 4-6 grams, so… this is about 32-48 teaspoons of sugar per day. 960-1440 teaspoons of sugar in 30 days.) Just think about that. That is about 16 Softee Donuts worth of Sugar every day.

grams of Fat per Gallon of Whole Milk: 128 g per day

mg of Cholesterol per Gallon of Milk: 2000 mg per day. CDC on Fat This is very important if you have a predisposition to high cholesterol.  Whether this could affect you in the long run, I don’t know. But I will not take that chance again.

Calories per Gallon of Whole Milk : 2400 kcal (Choose the rest of your diet very wisely. If you already consume 2000 calories a day, GOMAD could be a recipe for disaster. Is that a pun? :)…. probably not )

mg of Sodium per Gallon of Whole Milk: 2000 mg (The Institute of Medicine recommends 1500 mg of sodium per day as the Adequate Intake level for most Americans and advises everyone to limit sodium intake to less than 2300 mg per day, the Tolerable Upper Limit.) This is just from the milk, not including the sodium in anything else you will eat during the day. CDC on Sodium

Closing

Well, my final thought on GOMAD is simple. A gimmick that fits into the “fad diets” out there. Its the equivalent of the “lose 20 lbs in 20 day” type of diets. It probably something that fits into the “hit or miss” category. It might work for one person, and not for another. There are better ways to gain weight and get stronger without drinking FAT. I just don’t see the reasoning for doing this. I think if a person does decide to do this, the rest of their diet, needs to be impeccable. And they better be doing a hell of a lot of exercise. And if you are a beginner get a few months of training in, before deciding to do this. You should definitely be training regularly and know how to perform basic lifts with good form, before doing GOMAD. Otherwise you will hurt yourself, AND possibly get extra fat you may not want.

Train for health. Eat for health. And everything will come.  Who gives a shit how much you squat, press etc? Or how fast you did it? Probably no one.

That is all. 🙂