Archive for the ‘Real Results’ Category
John’s Alpha Male Challenge – Week 8
John weighed in at 204.6 lbs. this morning – so the scale is moving once again! No surprise, though… this was the first week of the “Spartan Diet.” For those of you unfamiliar with Alpha Male Challenge, this is a two-week, über-low carb phase designed to help ”blowtorch” stubborn fat.
Overall, John’s lost 15+ pounds since the beginning of the Challenge, and is starting to look rather skinny, tbh. He still has some work to do on the mid-section, but the jiggly stuff is considerably diminished. There will be a definite difference in his “before/after” pics, to be sure.
Free Weights OR Machines? Choose Your Weapon!
Which is better – Free Weights or Machines? That’s a tough question, as both are beneficial to creating a great physique. Free Weights are awesome, as they allow you to follow your body’s unique mechanical flow and range of motion. You are also forced to make those smaller muscles such as the Synergists (AKA “neutralizer” muscles that help to keep you locked into a range for better muscle isolation) work hard during free weight exercises.
Synergists are also responsible for helping maintain your balance during free weight exercise. This is partly what helps prevent your body Read the rest of this entry »
John’s Alpha Male Challenge – Week 7
John came in at 206 lbs. yesterday morning – a pound down from last week. The last two weeks have been slow going, weight-loss-wise, but he’s still down 14 pounds over the last 7 weeks, which ain’t too shabby.
Why’d we weigh him on Saturday morning instead of Sunday? Because we flipped the Week 7 & 8 Alpha Attitude drills, so he could do his “Alpha Extreme Triumph” drill before starting the Spartan Diet. Because the drill was an endurance activity, we had him do a carb-up following his Saturday workout. Since glycogen binds water, I knew he’d add a couple of pounds in the process (he was 208 this morning). He’s been hovering around 206 for most of the week, however, so Saturday’s weight was more representative of his progress.
John’s Alpha Male Challenge – Week 6
No real weight change to report this week - John’s weight this morning was 207.6 lbs. (he was 207.2 last Sunday). But I figured his weight loss would slow down around this point – he’s close to the “invisible barrier” of 205 pounds, after all. There are two weeks of (low carb) Spartan Dieting in his immediate future, however, so I don’t believe he’ll stay stuck for very long.
Speaking of the Spartan Diet – we did some advance planning for it – and his “Alpha Extreme Triumph” drill - this week. John’s going to tackle a 60-mile bike ride through the foothills for the drill, and needless to state, prolonged endurance exercise and ketogenic diets don’t go together very well! So we decided to schedule the ride for next Sunday – which would ordinarily be his post-Week 7 rest day (he’ll rest on Monday instead). This will enable us to get sufficient carbs into him to handle the ride before he starts the diet on Monday. We can even go out for a starchy “feast meal” on Saturday night – after his last workout for the week.
But that’s next week(end)… for now, let’s return to this one.
Time Under Tension
Time Under Tension – In traditional weight training programs, there are typically three standardized repetition ranges, each designed to accomplish a different goal or result. Typically you’d perform anywhere from 1-6 repetitions if your focus is to improve strength, 8-12 repetitions if your focus is muscle hypertrophy and an increase in muscle size, and 15-25 repetitions if your focus is to improve muscular endurance and maximize fat loss. Each has its’ place in a successful overall training routine and should be incorporated in order to accomplish each of these goals. Read the rest of this entry »
John’s Alpha Male Challenge – Week 5
This morning, the scale read 207.2 lbs. – 3 pounds less than last Sunday. To date, John’s lost a total of 13 pounds! It shows, too, although there’s still more to lose. Most of his body fat is concentrated in his midsection, and it’s stubborn stuff. It’s not recent, either – he started picking up weight in his early 30’s – particularly after Number One Son came on the scene. So the flab is a good 20 years old. I expect it will take the remaining weeks on the AMC + a second 10 weeks on the new, Alpha Wave Advanced Training Workout to finally see the last of it.
Got Muscle? Get To Training Your Legs!
The Gym Leg Section…A Ghost Town
If you workout in a public gym or health club, there’s a great chance that the leg area, which is often segregated, is the quietest area in the entire gym. Truth be told, a big part of me loves this, as it allows me to have free reign of any machine or piece of leg apparatus my little heart desires. However, the James that loves to see people succeed, which usually takes precedence over the gluttonous James, is completely bewildered as to why someone would neglect this Diamond Mind of a physique transformer. I understand why most people hate to train legs. That’s easy. Training legs hurts and it will totally exhaust you, once you’ve completed a well prepared leg workout. Read the rest of this entry »
John’s Alpha Male Challenge – Week 4
John weighed in this morning at 210.2 lbs (basically 210). As of today, he’s 10 pounds down for 4 weeks of effort – which ain’t too shabby. It’s also a milestone of sorts, as losing 10 pounds was his primary goal. Under the circumstances, it’s time to move the goalposts: he’s now focused on breaking the “205 barrier.” This is as low as he’s ever gotten in previous efforts, so it will be pretty significant if he can blow past it in the remaining (6) weeks.
Fingers crossed…
John’s Alpha Male Challenge – Week 3
According to the scale this morning, John weighed in at 212 lbs (211.8, to be precise). That’s 8 pounds gone over the last 3 weeks. He’s doing great, too! He’s not hungry; battling cravings; grumpy; feeling run-down or tired. He has plenty of energy and overall, feels pretty good about the whole thing.
He’s also looking leaner. For example, when we walked into the gym on Tuesday (for Workout 7), he ran into a casual acquaintance he hadn’t seen in 2 – 3 months. One of the first things the guy said was “You’ve lost weight, haven’t you?” Needless to state, John was pleased about that. When you see yourself every day in the mirror, it’s harder to see progress. But the changes are more obvious to folks you don’t see very often.
So Many Exercises, So Little Time – The What & Why
Choice of Exercises: You’ll know if you have a good workout system when it provides you with a variety of exercises. There are multiple exercises for each major muscle group. At first glance, all of these same body part exercises can be a bit overwhelming.
The broad variety actually happens to be a great benefit to you, as it will keep your muscles consistently challenged and will keep you mentally motivated throughout the total workout plan. The variation of the exercises extends beyond just the type of machine or training apparatus that you’ll be using.
A good workout program will also instruct you to train your body in various anatomical positions, which will allow you to isolate specific muscle groups. For example, when you do a chest press on an incline bench, you are helping to engage the upper chest (pectoral) muscles. If you move to a flat bench and now perform a chest press, you have now moved the primary muscle concentration to the center of the chest. Read the rest of this entry »
