Journal

   Day 2 Cardio. I finally fit in a double workout. I spent one hour on the bike, and one hour on the elliptical for a combined calorie burn of 1622. That's good. That's nearly half a pound of fat. I plan to do some cardio every day now, even with my weight training days. My strength is right about where I want it, and I am almost completely rid of the cursed belly fat. I just need to burn those extra calories to get there, and I figure an extra 4800 a week will really do it for me.

I had alot of trouble getting any power into the bike ride today. My hip flexors were still quite sore, so I couldn't push much power to the pedal, limiting my contribution in the first hour to 810 calories. The second hour, I took it real easy on the ellip, with the resistance about 4 levels lower than normal, and my HR stayed around 145-150 the entire time. A slow burn the second hour, if you will.

I would like to reach a point where my two-hour endurance is so good, that I lose little power. That will take some time.

I know many of you have goals to just stay on the ellip or bike for 20 mins, or 30 mins, or 60 mins or whatever. I am no different than any of you. I suppose it is just my philosophy that, "there's nothing to it but to do it."

Good luck to everyone out there.

     I got back into the gym today for my Day 1 workout. I had my spotter for my bench press, where I was trying 265...Yay, got it up 4 times! Except for one thing. I forgot to add the extra two 10s to the bar, so it was 245 lbs, not 265 lbs. I guess I'll have to try again next week.

So, anyway, here is how it broke down:

Bench press: 145 lbs x 4 reps

Dumbbell Press: 85 lbs x 35 reps

Dumbbell Curl: 40 lbs (2) x 40 reps

Lat bar pulldown: 115 lbs x 20 reps, 100 lbs x 10 reps, 85 lbs x 10 reps

Cable Tricep Extension: 55 lbs x 40 reps

Low Row: 70 lbs x 80 reps

Butterfly Curl: 30 lbs (2) x 80 reps

Dumbbell Tricep Extension: 30 lbs (2) x 10 reps, 25 lbs (2) x 30 reps

Hammer Curl: 30 lbs (2) x 10 reps

Dumbbell Mil Press: 30 lbs. (2) x 10 reps

I ran out of time near the end of my workout, which is why I only got 10 reps on those two exercises. I didn't even get my sit-ups in today. All in all, not a bad workout. My arms are Jell-O.

I really don't have anything inspiring to say today. I guess I'm not very inspired.

Okay, the last few days have been pretty lazy for me as I have been recovering from severe soreness from all the workouts I've done. But now, my upper body is recovered, and my lower body has only mild soreness and should be ready for Day 2 in two days, so I am psyching myself up for my workout tomorrow.

Tomorrow I am going to attempt a 265-lb Bench press. I have never gone that high before, so we'll see what happens. I was encouraged to do it last week, when 245-lbs seemed easy. If I get 265-lbs feels good tomorrow, we'll try 285-lbs next week.

I might have time to get some cardio in tomorrow, too, due to my new work schedule. If I do, it will be the elliptical forward. That should give me the strength to hit the bike the next day. The bike will be two hours. Endurance is so important in the Army. Keeping my HR up for extended periods is  big part of building that endurance.

I actually fear the core workout I have planned for Day 3. I will beat it, however.

Let's get ready to rumble!