Counting down to Beach Body - End of Week 1

Saturday was the end of the first week of what I'm affectionately calling my Beach Body work out. Its def not one of the workouts you see at 3am in the morning, although I wouldn't mind trying the MMA workout craze. This 3 month workout is actually something I tried once before but lost focus in years ago. My buddy Doug found it in Men's Fitness back in 2005 and I've had it laying around since then. Figured I'd go ahead, give it a shot, and use Blogger to keep track of the results (and keep me from giving up ha). You can see a copy of the work out at the end of this blog.

Now I have to say that I'm not doing the full workout. Since I'm still healing from a stress fracture, I've had to re-arrange some exercises since the only leg workouts I can do is light weight, high rep leg presses, stationary bike, and the elliptical. You'll see that i only do two different days of work instead of three... which lets me hit most of my muscle group three times a week instead of two. I *hope* that I get cleared to do heavier exercises soon like squats or else I'll have a great time wearing shorts this summer (not really).

So to set the tone... I took some pics before I started on January 30, 2013. Not too bad of shape but def am looking at gaining more muscle strength and toning up. This was also the day the doc cleared me to do some cardio and lower leg work so figured it was a great day to start tracking. So starting at about 185lbs...

Now for the workout... Its broken up into two days:

• Workout A: Chest, Shoulders, and Tri's
• Workout B: Back, modified leg, and biceps/arm

Cause its only two days, I get the joy of doing each work out three times a week with Sunday to rest. The schedule goes something like this:

• Weeks 1-3: Heavy weight to do 3-5 reps for 3 sets
• Weeks 5-7: Medium weight to do 6-8 reps for 3 sets
• Weeks 9-11: light weight to do 9-12 reps for 4 sets

Weeks 4, 8, and 12 are pump weeks that I'm not exactly looking forward to. I'll post about em when it gets to those weeks.

I'm also using Nitro Tech Whey Isolate for protein with No Xplode for energy and Cell Mass for recovery. 

How'd I'd do the first week? Take a look at my log:

Workout A

Workout B

Again... I really cant do legs so i alternate days of cardio (elliptical or bike) and light weight, heavy rep leg presses. Soon... soon I'll be back up.

Anyway, Saturday February 9th came about and I measured my results, sorta. Haven't done the tape measure along body parts but I figured photos would do justice. I actually dropped two pounds and came in at 183. I also realized that my waist line was dropping... nice eh? So now for the photos...

It may not look like much but I think there are some definite improvements so far. I'm excited to see what the end of the three months will look like. 

Why am I blogging about this? I'd like to not only use this to track my progress but y'all will help me stay motivated and dedicated. In 11 weeks I hope to have a final blog about my experience with this workout. Its been awhile since I've stuck to a workout program this long before, although usually I'm thrown off cause of an injury.

I'm depending on y'all to hold me accountable! Lets go!

- B

Oh.. and I did promise the full unedited workout didn't I?

New Year, New Resolution #2 (also known as the redic long blog)

aaaannnnnddd maybe #3. You get two, isn't this your lucky day?!

Resolution #2 - Complete a 30-31 Days of Bryant Photo Project... 12 times!

So I've tried doing this fun little project twice.

• Once was with an iPhone app = Fail
• Second time with Blogger starting on my 32nd birthday = Fail

I really want to complete this project for two reasons:

1. As you may have already guessed (if you are my friend you should already know), I'm addicted to taking pictures of life and the people in it. I love to capture moments in time to share with people... especially when its time to look back at our past because we've gone senile.
2. I would love to see if my photography skills improve, not just with how I use the camera on my iPhone but in the perspective the pictures take. Will I just capture random objects on my desk or will there be depth and meaning and purpose? 

So.... this will be attempt number three to actually complete a Photo Project. If you think about it, its quite perfect given the fact that this is 2013 and this is the 3rd attempt. It's bound to work right?! Right?!

If you talk to some of my exes (note: some, not all) they will tell you that sometimes I have a minor commitment issue, very slight, almost unnoticeable. Hmmm maybe thats why the previous projects failed... 

In any event, in order to increase my chances of success so that I can finally gloat and feel good about myself, I'm committing to completing 30 (or 28 or 31) days of a Photo Day Project. Every 30 (or 28 or 31) days, I'll recommit to the project for another 30 (or 28 or 31) days. I'm hoping to get to 12 recommitments... let me re-phrase cause that totally sounds like a pyramid scheme... I'm hoping to complete 12 cycles.

At this time I'm not sure if I'll resurrect the "365 Days of Bryant" blog or just post everything on here. We'll play it by ear... I can be pretty lazy so you just may see this blog pop up every day with just a photo. 

Wish me luck! Hope you enjoy the photos and I hope I make it through the project. The first photo was part of my Resolution #1 Blog... today's photo will come in 3... 2... 1

Resolution #3 - Earn the Gym Rat Label

Once upon a time I thought it was pretty redic to be considered a gym rat. All I saw were guys who just talked roids, supplements, workouts, and did some pretty 'mo stuff to each other (thank you by the way!). Who would want to spend all their time at the gym?

I was never the athlete growing up, unless you considered rocking video games an olympic sport. If thats the case, I was a serious contender for the US Olympic Team and a definite medaler. For most of my childhood and even into my teenage and young adult life I was a skinny guy, about 150lbs. Add that to the fact that I was also tall for my age, eventually growing up to be 6'1", and you could use me as a toothpick. If you don't believe me, just take a look at the following two pics as evidence:

My senior photo. Yes. This was me at 18 right before graduation. 
I was awesome... I mean look at that vest!

My Army Boot Camp Photo... Stud right? Ha in any event, again look how skinny I was back then. I guess the whole point of round the clock training and little food didn't help but still quite skinny. Maybe i'll write about my short stint in the military at some point in the future.

Right around my 25th birthday I started working out and bulked up. Sadly I thought I didn't need cardio since I had a high metabolism... ha that was a joke. I gained muscle and mass but I also started to notice that I was getting bulky. Still at this point it wasn't something I was too concerned as this example will show you:

Not bad ya? 

Well... things was all set and good till a few minor life events. Some i'll keep to myself for now but one notable event was grad school. The dreaded freshman 15 that I seemed to miss in undergrad came back with a vengeance during my time in the Pepperdine MBA program. Granted the two year program was rigorous, especially with working full time so there was an excuse I could hide behind for not exercising. Sadly, I got pleasantly plumped during those two years. My weight was hovering between 190-195 for the most part, a combination of sporadic work outs and delicious foodie adventures. I even tipped over 200lbs once during a visit to the doc... that was horrid and definitely a life changer. See the next example: 

Ugh blah... 31st birthday and flabby.

Anyway... 2012 ushered a new era. I did my best for the first half of the year to workout but circumstances didn't make it easy. It really wasn't till October 2012 that I finally got serious and hit the gym. My workouts included mucho cardio paired with an old workout plan I used when I was younger. I also started using some supplements to help energize me and keep building. Maybe in a few blogs I'll post my routine and the supplements I use. Its worked out fine, what do you think?

 November 2012

 December 2012

 Between Christmas and New Years 2012

New Years Day 2013

So... this blog is already longer than it has to be but f'it. You wouldn't have gotten this far if you weren't interested... or if you didn't take the bribe I offered you. 

Circling back to the title... I really want to earn and own the title Gym Rat. It motivates me to keep hitting the gym and improving myself. Unfortunately I'm suffering from a stress fracture thats stopped lower body and most of cardio but swimming will keep me going for now. 

By Spring 2013 I'd love to finally take up a new sport and maybe earn the title of Athlete again... yes I was an athlete before and before you laugh at my awesome bowling skills, I also played volleyball. 

Oh and to just cap off how proud I am of where I've gotten so far... just a snapshot of the only other record of my Gym Rat adventure, Foursquare:

Oh my god, the end!

Thanks for staying awake during these two resolutions. I promise to keep the blogs shorter in the future... or even split them up. Now there is a crazy idea. 

You can look forward to my 30 (or 28 or 31) days of Photos Project x 12... maybe even a workout blog if I stop being lazy. 

Till next time. 

- B