Hammie Curl on Stability Ball

It has been a while since I’ve blogged about my workouts. I’ve been too busy the last month or so. Going to change that starting today. I have been blessed with the the opportunity to spend the next few weeks in Thailand to slow things down and reset. I’ve really eased up on my upper body work as I’m waiting for an achy shoulder to heal.

I’ve been here in Thailand for nearly a week now. Not quite adjusted to the time difference, but feeling the need to get a new routine established.

Workout Description

Thailand Date: 16 March 2023 | Start: 07:20 | Finish: 0800

Warm up: 10 minutes of Jump Rope Muhammad Ali style. This used to be a part of my standard warm up 10 years ago. I don’t even know how long ago it’s been since I’ve done this. In fact, it has been over a year since I’ve even been able to do it. Extremely thankful for this, even though it is a far cry from being able to do it like I remember. It will get better.

Legs: Mostly body weight work. Leading up to my back surgery last year, my workouts had been steadily losing intensity. I feel ready to get back to hard and heavy training, however, the long period of easy work has left me with some functional weakness. My hamstrings, knees, and not to mention I haven’t run more than a few feet in years. I know the best shape of my life is still ahead of me. I just need to be patient.

I did a total of six different exercises. Alternated sides and then moved to the next exercise. Originally, I had planned on doing 7 reps per side/set for 7 total cycles or supersets. After the first cycle however, I realized that was just too ambitious. Settled on 3 good supersets. I used a couple of light kettlebells I just purchased for balance more than for the resistance. Feeling the work and hoping it that was just about right for today. Here’s what each superset looked like:

• Patrick step ups with one outstretched 6kg kettlebell, 7 reps each leg
• Close stance incline board squat with 6kg kettlebells each hand
• Hammie curls on stability ball, 7 reps
• Split squat with 6kg kettlebells each hand, 7 reps each leg
• Tib raises, 7 reps first superset, then 10 for sets 2 and 3 (not enough work)
• Sprinter leg raises, 7 reps, then 10, and could have done more reps for this one as well

Cool Down: Dragon roll. One minute to the left, one minute to the right. Repeated for a total of two minutes each side.

Consider getting rid of your scale

How often to check our body weight when we are trying to get leaner depends on who you ask. Some will say once a week is good enough. Others say everyday and then take a weekly average. I don’t know of anyone recommending weighting yourself more than once a day though. If you find yourself jumping on the scale every time you walk pass it as one would check their reflection in a mirror, it may be time to ditch the scale altogether.

I’ve tried weighting myself daily. Even when weighting at the same time each day, the daily fluctuations make it hard to get any sense of progress. I’ve also tried weighing myself weekly, but still some weeks will see it go down and the next it will sometimes go up. Then I tried once a month, but that to me seemed like a high stakes test that either fuel motivation if it was lighter, or caused me to have to fight getting discouraged if it was the same or heavier.

I question the value of tracking body weight and body fat percentage too frequently. I’ve come to believe this because body weight and body fat percentage are lag indicators. By lag indicators, I mean that they will change, but only after you have changed those things that determine them over a period of time. It takes time. Happy is the one who stops looking for shortcuts. Make small changes, keep them consistently, and the body will change. It will adjust to the new eating or exercising without pushing back if it is done gentely enough. Eating just 300-500 calories less per day should be enough to register a decrease in weight in a month to six weeks. At that point, another gentle adjustment to food intake or exercise may be needed keep things going in the right direction.

Since bodyweight is a lag indicator, don’t focus on it to fuel the daily motivation you need. It is much better to focus on sticking to the diet and exercise plan. That is where the success on the scale comes from. Getting the diet and exercise done for the day is a small victory you to use to motivate you to do it again tomorrow. Keep doing this and the scale will take care of itself in due time.

Yesterday’s Body Scan

I had a body scan done at 5 Star Nutrition yesterday. It’s been about 5 weeks since my last one. I’ve lost 5 pounds and reduced my body fat by 1.2%. That’s about a pound a week. I’m okay with that. Going to stick to my current diet plan for a little bit longer.

One last word

Anything that causes you to become discouraged, is not from the one who has called you (Galatians 5:7-8). That includes the scale. Stick to the course.

Got Calluses?

Congratulations! You can’t buy them anywhere, you’ve got to earn them. This post is about how to get them and keep them in good working order. I ditched my workout gloves probably about 15 years ago. Partly because I couldn’t find any that worked well for me no matter how much money I spent on them. I finally just let the body do what it does to protect its self. I let my hands develop a set of callouses and I never looked back. Yes, the initial jump start for calluses will be a bit painful. You’ll be alright though buttercup. Once you have some good ones, use a little gym chalk and you will never go back to using workout gloves no matter how cool looking you think they are right now.

What about Blisters?

When you first stop using the gloves you will most likely get some. It’s a part of the process for building calluses. I will tell you the way I was trained and often used as a Special Forces medic who has spent plenty of time in the middle of lots of jungles far away. Now, I’m not telling anyone to do this. I’m not that kind of doctor, so go sue somebody else. I’m only explaining what I have done and the results I’ve seen. When needing to treat blisters, I would used a sterile needle if I had one (sometimes all I could do was pass the tip of a safety pin through an open flame a few times). After giving it a few seconds to make sure it was not hot, I would poke the blister and squeeze out the fluid. This is necessary, because just continuing to work with a blister will only open it up all by itself. When that happens it will most likely rip open, cause more pain, and generally just make a mess. Not good. By puncturing the blister and squeezing out the juice, the top layer of skin remains intact allowing the tissue beneath to heal faster. That is to say to start building a callus to naturally protect the hands. It’s a beautiful process perfectly designed by our glorious Creator.

Taking Care of Calluses

Calluses are a lot like fingernails. Both are tough hard stuff with no feeling. That is unless you expose the live tissue from which they grow. Just like the longer your fingernails grow the greater the risk of having one pulled off and exposing the live tissue, calluses can also grow too big and need the equivalent of trimming just like nails do. A nail clipper is NOT recommended for calluses. However, I have found a perfect tool. I’m not sponsored or being paid in any what to promote this product. It’s just one that I use, that works great, and I can recommend with complete confidence that it is a genuinely good product. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the amazing Ped Egg.

I really like this thing. It’s advertised for shaving off the hard stuff that builds up on the feet. I learned the painful way that if I just let thickness on my feet continue to grow, it will eventually lead to cracked heals and pain. I tried to go to one of those nails shops that take care of feet, but I felt really out of place. Like I had just walked into the ladies room by mistake. That was years ago, but I have never really felt like ever getting another professional foot treatment. So, I bought the Ped Egg and it worked great. The thing I like about it the most is that it is really hard to shave off too much of the tough skin while using it. This is a real concern with some other products. If you aren’t careful you can easily be left worst off after having used them. In fact, I was so impressed with what the Ped Egg did for my feet, I decided to see what it would do for the calluses on hands. I was really happy to see that it worked just as well on my hands as it did on my feet.

When my calluses grow a bit too big, they start to cause a little pain. This is a good thing, because it draws my attention. Normally, I don’t think about my calluses at all. I just go to work. When I get a little pain from them though, I know it is time to shave them down a bit with the Ped Egg. This is necessary to prevent calluses from ripping off. It is as traumatic as it sounds. Harden skin torn off to expose the live stuff underneath, that’s what happens when you don’t take care of them when they need a little TLC. Take care of your calluses and they will take care of you. I can go months between when I need to shave my calluses. It really depends on what type of lifting I’m doing. It only takes me about a minute (hands need to be dry). And after trimming them up with the Ped Egg, they once again become pain free during my workouts.

The photo on the top is the before using the Ped Egg, and the one below was taken about one minute later after using it.

85 Days Out from the Charolette Cup?

Question mark because I maybe competing in an earlier contest in March instead of the Charolette Cup in April. Stay tuned and I will post the details soon. The big change I made this week was fasting on Tuesday and Thursday. I was looking to start this sometime in February, but if I’m going to get on stage a whole month earlier than I originally planned it’s time to start fasting two days a week now. I fasted all day after breakfast yesterday. Hopefully, I will get used to going to bed after fasting for about 10 hours without all the tossing, turning, and crazy dreams. Much harder to stay warm too. And this morning I was wondering if I would even be able to even complete my planned workout after doing my warm-up. It’s never a good sign when your normal warm-up nearly wears you out. I’m thinking that it was a combination of being carb depleted and not sleeping well that left me feeling much less energetic than usual. This was a really tough workout just to get it done. It’s the kind of workout that makes the workouts when I’m feeling good, so much more enjoyable.

This Morning’s Workout

PLANNED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Start/Finish – 4:30/6:00am	4:00-600am	The earlier wake up time is working great. Looks like it will be here to stay for awhile.
Daily Min. (Feet)	long version	Ends with getting my heart rate elevated a little, but usually only for a few breaths. Took a little longer to recover this morning.
Ab roller	10 reps
Light Dumbbells (with 5 pounders)	as planned	Chest: 3 moves, 30+1 reps each move Biceps: 5 moves, 30+1 reps each move Triceps: 5 moves, 30+1 reps each move
Patrick Step down	as planned	4 Supersets of 5 reps each side. Total of 20 reps each side. Right side is weaker with a little knee pain. Better than last week though.
Squating calf raise and standing tib raises superset	as planned	3 supersets of 30, 30, 30
Mandatory Poses	as planned	Zero juice left in the tank by this time. Ended up cutting it short.

I suppose it was a little over 20 years ago since I went through one of those special military training courses that only a few dare to volunteer to attend. It’s the kind of course that requires you to sign a wavier stating in effect that if they break or kill you, your family can’t sue the government. I was the senior enlisted one, so I stood out front and received the lion’s share of the beat downs. The beatings are mostly forgotten now, but one thing that this one particular bad guy would say has been coming to mind repeatedly over the last couple of days. He was built like a NFL linebacker and his favorite catch phrase before he knocked me down was “you shouldn’t have let me know you got the small victory.” He would say that in English with some kind of weird accent that was unrecognizable, and then wham! He would strike me right up side my head. Nothing says realistic training like a few good stiff blows to the face and head.

I’ve been thinking about small victories a lot lately. Not the unrecognizable ones that I suffered for way back when, but the ones that I’m racking up right now. Fruit, both spiritual and physical, need both cultivation and time. It can sometimes seem like forever before that first tiny blade pops through the top soil, but the watering and vigorous weeding with the rake and other garden tools is needed daily. First the blade, then the ear, and then the full corn in the ear (Mark 4:26-29). It is easy to become impatient and discouraged unless you learn to focus on the small victories. Completed actions, no matter how tiny the step in the right direction, are small victories. It’s unlikely that anyone will celebrate putting in today’s work when they’re totally focused only on results. Consider today’s work a small victory though, and it will keep your motivation high to continue working for the harvest. The farmer who digs up the seed or stops watering because he doesn’t see any evidence of corn, will only be disappointed. Better to just take care of the little day to day things, and the bigger victory will take care of itself.

My Workouts this Week

Monday and Thursday are still my kettlebell workout days. I’ve divided up my full light dumbbell routine into two workouts instead of one. So, I’m still hitting the same exercises twice in the week, but now they are spread over four days instead of just two. Light dumbbell work is now scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. It looks like the same amount of work on paper, but the effect has left me sore all over. Not complaining. Just a sign that this new split has increased the intensity even though I haven’t increase the weight, sets, or reps. I have added a few new exercises, but these are to improve my one leg squat strength. I have also taken my calf routine and split it up doing one superset at the end of each workout. Again, no change in volume, but now I’m hitting my calves six days a week.

I was really sore when I woke up yesterday morning. I was sore when I went to bed, and I felt sore each time throughout the night when my sleep became light with tossing and turning. I adjusted my morning wake up time from 2:15 AM to 2:00 AM this week. I haven’t always gotten up so early. I would much rather sleep in and get up at a nice normal 4:30 AM, but then that would require me to have a new job that I wouldn’t have to start at 7 AM. Does it really take me six hours each day to get ready for work? No, not at all, but it does take me at least six hours to do what I do before I go to work. The first hour of the day I spend reading the Bible followed by prayer. This has been my first small victory of each day for over 15 years now. I spend the next hour getting my daily devotional blog ready to post. Sometimes it takes a little more time. Sometimes it takes a little less. I set it to auto publish at 4:30, and that’s small victory number 2. I then move straight into my physical workout for the day. I schedule 90 minutes for my workouts. It usually takes me closer to two hours on non-work days, but I try really hard to finished by 6 AM on days when I will be going to work. That gives me an hour to take care of personal hygiene, get dress, eat breakfast, and be ready to go by 7. And that’s small victory number 3. Who knows what the rest of the day may hold, but at least if you start the day with a small victory of your choosing, you are much more likely to win the entire day.

Today’s Workout

I got up when the alarm went off at 2 AM as usual. I started getting dress, but I was really feeling like I needed more sleep. I set my alarm for 30 minutes and got back in bed. I lay there in a half-awake-half-asleep state for about 15 minutes. I finally admitted that wasn’t working, turned off the alarm, got up and got busy with my morning routine. Surprisingly, once I got things moving, I felt much better than yesterday. Not as sore and stronger. It saw surprising, because it has been a long tiring week and I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be able to complete every session of this new training plan outlined above. I got a tremendous pump though. Small victory achieved. Rest day tomorrow, then look to repeat next week.

Here’s what I did today:

PLANNED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Start/Finish – 4:30/6:00am	about 5:00-7:00am	No rushing to the finish, and no wasted time.
Daily Min. (Floor)	long version
Vitalizer	about 11 mins
Ab Wheel	as planned	Getting better at control and focus
Light Dumbbell (5lbs.)	as planned	Shoulders: 5 moves, 30+1 reps each move Traps: 2 moves, 30+1 reps each move Back: 4 moves, 30+1 reps each move
Patrick Step-down	as planned	15 reps on right, 15 reps on left, and 5 more reps on right (right felt much weaker so I gave it a few extra reps)
Calf Superset	as planned	Squatting Calf Raise/Tiba Raise 30/30/20
Mandatory Poses	as planned	First time this week when I still felt strong while hitting these

Every Man Needs a Sledgehammer

I bought a sledgehammer a couple of days ago. In the process of using it, I discovered quite unexpectedly an additional bonus use for the tool. I was so happy about it that this blog seemed to popped out.

Use 1:

I bought this sledgehammer to solve the difficultly I was having splitting wood from the tree in my backyard that was trimmed last spring. I’ve never split any wood to make firewood before, but I’ve seen it done in the movies. I remember the little girl in the last Jurassic Park movie doing it with ease. And then there was Captain America who was ripping firewood apart with his bare hands in the last Avenger movie. With his bare hands! Granted, lots of your typical Hollywood special effects, but I had no idea how hard it actually was to do it until I tried it.

My first mistake was in buying the least expensive axe I could find. They had bigger, heavier, and much more expensive axes at the local home improvement store. I just didn’t see the need until I came home with my basement bargain wood handled axe and went to work. I don’t think I got a single piece split that day. I went back to the store a day or so later still not suspecting it was the poor choice of the axe that was the problem. I thought that maybe the wood wasn’t dry enough yet, and what I needed was a wedge to get the splitting started. So, I bought a 4 pound wedge and used the flat side of the axe to hammer it into the wood. Slow going, tough, and frustrating is probably the best way to describe my results thus far.

I have skills and experience though. Frustration made me decided to fall back on some of my more practical advice learned in the real world: If it doesn’t move when you hit it, hit it harder. I went back to the store looking for the biggest, baddest, heaviest hammer I could find. Came home with a 10 pound sledgehammer. I banged the wedge into the wood with the axe, and then used the sledgehammer to pound it though. It wasn’t a whole lot easier than what I been doing with just the axe and wedge, but it was a whole lot more effective and much more satisfying. Splitting wood by pounding a 4 pound wedge with a ten pound hammer is really satisfying. Use number 1 for a big hammer: use it for hitting stuff that needs to be hit hard.

Use 2:

A few years ago when I was living in Thailand, I decided that I wanted to try macebell training. A macebell is a big iron ball on the end of a big iron rod. These things are fashioned after the medical mace weapon. Something very primitive about swinging one of these things. The only one I could find in Thailand at the time weighed 10 kilos (that’s like 20.2 pounds). I was routinely tossing up 100s of pounds back then, so a took a mere 20 pound macebell lightly. It didn’t take me long after trying to swing that thing to change my mind though. You have to be able to manhandle a mace bell, and that 10 kilos was definitely manhandling me. I put that thing down and decided to make me a lighter version, or I would never be able to learn the technique. I ended up taping a couple of 2 litter bottles of water on the end of a bamboo broom stick to simulate a macebell. This worked and allowed me to learn the mace bell 360 and 10&2 moves. I loved using that macebell, once I could handle it. Real warrior training. I never thought about just buying a sledgehammer when I was making my bamboo water bottle mace trainer. It did when I was splitting wood last weekend. Use number 2 for a 10 pound sledgehammer: use it as a learning aide/warmup for macebell training.

96 Days Out from the Charolette Cup

Today was the first week back on my somewhat normal lifting routine. My 20 kilo kettlebell is the center piece of the day. Picked up my new sledgehammer and used it as a warm-up for the kettlebell lifts. Worked great. I didn’t realize how much I’ve been missing my macebell. May look to replace the one I left in Thailand. Great work. I’m feeling a little sore as I type this, but I think that’s a good trade.

The AM Workout

PLANNED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Start/Finish – 4:30/6:00am	4:45-655am	Going to set my wake-up time 15 minutes earlier.
Daily Min. (Feet)	long version
Ab roller	10 reps
Sledgehammer Swings	2 minutes	360s, 1 minute to the left, 1 minute to the right, no rest in-between
20 kg Kettlebell	as planned	Goblet Squat 10 reps Australian chin-up 4 sets of 5 reps Double Arm Swing American style 10 reps Dive Bomber Push-up 10 reps Snatch 10 reps each arm
Mandatory Poses	as planned	looking to streamline this to save a little more time

PM Workout

Will post update afterward.

PLANNED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Start/Finish – ? before dinner
Jump Rope Tabata
Tai-Chi
Stationary bike

Workout Log 012

I do mean where WE are gong, and not just where I am going. This is a fairly recent milestone in my journey. I have known for quite some time that the vision I’ve been given can only be accomplish with the power of God, but the understanding that God did not intend for me to do it all alone…. I was quite slow in learning.

So here’s where We’re going in 2023:

What	When
Post a blog every day	Now, baby, now!
Compete in the NPC Charolette Cup (Men’s Physique, Masters 50+)	April 22, 2023
Restore my YouTube Channel	after Charlotte Cup
Win IFBB Pro card at the National Masters (Men’s Physique, 55+)	July 2023
Publish Exercise book for men over 40	after IFBB Pro Card
Move to Delaware	NLT Dec 2023
Become a Church of God Exhorter	NLT Dec 2023
Find an Olympic Weightlifting Coach	NLT Dec 2023

And here’s where We’re going in 2024:

What	When
Complete in IFBB Masters World Pro	July 2024?
Complete in Masters Olympia	Aug 2024?
Make Bodybuilding documentary movie	Before, During, and After Masters Olympia
Publish Bodybuilding book	After Masters Olympia
Complete in Olympic Weightlifting	Before Masters Olympia
Sunday School Video Series on YouTube	Before Masters Olympia
Bible Study Video Courses	Before Masters Olympia
Create Non-profit Ministry Organization	Before Bible Study Video Courses

98 Days Out from the Charolette Cup

Today was the last recovery workout for this week. Even though this week was only full of easy stuff, I still woke up this morning sore in a few places that I haven’t been using in a while. The picture above is a perfect example. It was taken after my tai-chi session this morning. I decided to do tai-chi in the garage because it is flat. It did make me a bit less wobbly than I was yesterday. Still, I couldn’t gracefully move into and out of the low squat position shown in the pic above. In fact, my knee strength and balance won’t even allow me to get to a 90 degree bend in the support leg without bending way to far forward. I have the flexibility to do it, but through neglect it seems that I’ve lost the necessary strength and balance. I was forced to do a static pose for the pic. As soon as the camera snapped, I fell right on my butt. Message received. I will have to work on getting this function back.

The AM Workout

PLANNED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Start/Finish – 4:30/6:00am	5:10-?am
Daily Min. (Floor)	long version
Tai-Chi	about 10 mins
Stationary Bike	30 minutes total	took a restroom break at about 17 minutes

Mid-AM or PM Workout

Not going to happen. Well, maybe a little time on the stationary bike. We’ll see. Certainly no need.

PLANNED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Start/Finish – not really planned at all

Workout Log 011, 99 Days Out

Few of us reach the age of 40 without life leaving us with scars and bags full of emotionally charged regrets. I can see this in others only because I have much of both myself. The forgiveness in Christ Jesus frees us from condemnation, but the consequences remain to be dealt with. No longer condemned for our past sins, but this doesn’t cancel out the principle of sowing and reaping. Sow an action and reap a cooresponding consequence. How I wish I had been smart enough to have known this long ago. I would have done many things differently, and a lot of things not at all.

People can become like my broken rebounder in the picture above. I took it from my neighbor’s trash. Unwanted, used, abuse, and destined for the landfill. Life will certainly hand out unexpected bumps and bruises, but unlike my broken rebounder, people can be fixed and bounce back even stronger for it. It isn’t God’s desire that any suffer. If however, He does permits the redeemed to suffer, it is for the purpose defined in Romans 5:3-4. It doesn’t matter how many of your Humpty Dumpys have had a great fall, turn to God, and He will enable you to deal with the broken pieces. I believe this, I’ve done this, and I have finally learned to bounce with greater care.

The AM Workout

PLANNED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Start/Finish – 4:30/6:00am	4:40-6:00am
Daily Min. (Feet)	long version
Vitalizer	10 mins
Skin brushing	about 25 minutes

Mid-AM Workout

Stopped as I was writing this post. The thought crossed my mind that I some the time, and lots of other easy work I could add in today. So, here’s what I did:

PLANNED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Start/Finish – not really planned at all	9:01-9:37am
Stationary Bike	15 mins
Tai-chi	about 10 mins	A little more controlled compared to yesterday. Still unsteady on one leg and the lungs. I may need to find a perfectly flat surface to use until I get my tai-chi legs back.

Workout 010, 100 Days Out

As the story goes, if you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water it will immediately jump out. If however, you gently place the frog into a pot with tepid water and slowly increase the temperature, the frog will just sit there floating in the water until it is boiled to death. Must of us aren’t sick enough to actually confirm this theory by testing it, but it remains a useful metaphor for losing body fat anyway. Stick with and I will explain.

There are several things you can do to lose the holiday fluff typically gained from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. You can eat less, you can eat differently, you can increase your activity level, and a host of other things as well. Each of these things are just tools for for body fat reduction. The more of these tools you use at the same time, the more heat applied to the frog in the story above. The body doesn’t like rapid change just like the frog. Even if you have enough body fat to live off of for next decade, your body is not interested in giving up its reserves stored up for the next famine. Like the frog in the story, turn the heat up slowly and the extra butter will melt off without the body wanting to jump out of the pot. I’ll use myself as an example. This is the first week of my pre-contest prep, so turning the heat up slowly for me right now is going to consist of eliminating processed carbs and drinking more water. That’s it. No counting calories, no carb cycling, no 60 minute cardio sessions, nothing extra at all. I will most likely do some of these things in the upcoming weeks, but I will add additional body fat reduction tools and turn up the heat slowly. Try it for yourself if you would like to lose a few pounds. Turn the heat up slowly rather than jumping straight into a starvation diet and three hour cardio sessions from day 1, and you should get much better results.

Continuing my active recovery week this morning. I decided to bust out an old stand-by of mine. It has been more than a year since I’ve done my particular version of tai-chi. I was glad to see that I remembered the routine without any problem. It wasn’t tough (it’s not suppose to be), but it was far from pretty. My balance was wobbly and I couldn’t seem to slow the movements down with as much control as I normally did a year or so ago. Suppose that is to be expected. I need to find room for tai-chi in my regular workout plan after this recovery week.

The AM Workout

PLANNED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Start/Finish – 4:30/6:00am	4:25-6:32am	Not sure why this took so much time.
Daily Min. (Floor)	long version
Tai-chi	10 mins	Out of practice and it show
Stationary Bike	30 mins

The PM Workout

No PM session this week.

PLANNED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Start/Finish – ?
Jump Rope Tabata
Stationary Bike

Workout 009, 101 Days Out

What is truth? The answer Jesus gave His disciples was like the sun rising in my soul chasing the sleepy night away. It grew brighter and brighter, sweetening this morning’s workout. Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Jesus is the truth, therefore His word is truth. When He says believe that you have what you ask for in prayer and you shall have it, it is truth (Matthew 21:22). Such thoughts were the spiritual fruits of my workout this morning.

Today I’m 101 days out from the contest above. Earlier this week I determined that I need an active recovery week away from any lifting. It’s going well and I’m starting to get the itch to lift something. That’s a good sign.

The AM Workout

PLANNED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Start/Finish – 4:30/6:00am	5:00-6:00am
Daily Min. (Feet)	long version
Skin Brushing	maybe 30 mins	just to get the lymph flowing

The PM Workout

No PM session this week.

PLANNED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Start/Finish – ?
Jump Rope Tabata
Stationary Bike

Workout Log 008, 102 Days Out

The NPC Charlotte Cup is scheduled for April 22, 2023. That’s 102 days to get what you see in today’s photos above ready to step on a bodybuilding contest stage. My plan is to compete in the Masters Men’s Physique 50+ category. I had a body scan done yesterday. I may be the heaviest I’ve ever been at a bodyweight of 234 pounds. The good news is that with my 24.8 percent body fat there is plenty of room to get my current 4-pack abs down to a 6-pack without looking skinny on stage. Lot’s of emotions with this decision. They’re all like a swirling storm of strong back and forth winds. The self-questioning thought of “can I actually do this” is perhaps a valid one. Still, I refuse to entertain it. I have been taught that it is enough to just be concerned about doing what the present day requires (see Mathew 6:25-34).

It’s been at least 10 years since I have been able to compete in a bodybuilding contest. Time to buckle up and remain focused in the eye of the storm. All prayers and well wishes will be greatly appreciated.

The AM Workout

PLANNED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Start/Finish – 4:30/6:00am	5:06am – ?	Lots of starts, stops, and re-starts this morning
Daily Min. (Floor)	long version
Stationary bike	30 minutes	easy, average pulse rate of about 96.

The PM Workout

No PM session this week.

PLANNED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Start/Finish – ?
Jump Rope Tabata
Stationary Bike