Fitness Goals for 2014

Another year has passed, and it is time to reflect upon last year's goals, and prepare for the goals of the next.

My goals for 2013 were a bit lofty, but I did accomplish some of them. I succeeded in working two muscle groups per workout at the gym, and I did increase my intensity and make strength gains in numerous exercises, particularly decline benching and T-bar rows. I also came very close to putting on the five pounds of muscle that I was looking for. It seems that I need to eat more, and I'll be tailoring a diet that allows me to do so without having to start writing for hipster magazines.

I had my share of fitness failures in 2013 as well. I did not hit my bag thirty minutes a day like I said that I would. Increasing my volume and intensity left me too sore on most days, and I did get lazy. I only stepped in the ring once all year, and that was to spar. That can count as a semi-victory, I suppose.

As for 2014, my resolutions are to be able to cable crunch 95 pounds, bench 225 on the decline for a solid three reps, and to improve my diet by the end of the year. These goals are not as lofty a last year's, but I intend to develop more goals throughout the course of 2014. Fitness is a priority in my life, but I also have other goals such as improving my social skills, garnering more income, saving more, etc.. Perhaps we will see how all of these things interconnect.

Happy New Year, and good luck accomplishing your goals in the gym!

Maxing 225 on Decline Bench!

I know that this is not impressive in terms of weight alone, but being the lightweight that I am, and given that I couldn't even raise the bar a couple of years ago, I'm proud of this accomplishment. I hope that I can hit 225 for at least five clean reps by Summer of next year.

Another year of gainz is upon us!

Really Tore It Up Yesterday

I usually prefer hitting the gym at the height of the afternoon, but due to my new work schedule, I can only go early in the morning or later in the evening. I've found that early morning workouts are a great way to start the day, but it takes a bit longer to warm up. This forces me to do a bit more cardio to get my blood pumping before hitting the weights.

I hit shoulders and triceps in the morning as I had planned. I've been able to increase my seated shoulder press to fifty pound dumbbells for eight reps, but my barbell upright row has decreased to seventy pounds for ten reps. I'm not sure if it is due to undertraining, lifting heavier on the shoulder press before performing the upright rows, the time of day, or a combination of these factors. I'm going to try to get back up to eighty the next time that I perform the exercise.

After work, I decided to hit the gym again in order to work abs, biceps, and forearms. Typically, I hit arms and shoulders in a single session, but since I had planned on going to the gym twice in one day, I split up my exercises. I focuses on abs as well since I had been slacking on working my core the previous two weeks. I had to start lighter on cable crunches, but I was able to lift my usual ninety pounds for ten reps. My goal is to crunch the entire stack plus add-on weights (which is about 150 pounds) for one rep by the beginning of next year.

Having two workouts made me feel even more energetic yesterday. The only downside to this is that my appetite has increased tremendously. This increased appetite may help me to put on more weight though, given that I am a hard-gainer and tend not to get hungry too often.

Summertime Gainz and 6/19/2013 Leg Day

I finally have some time off during the summer, so I am going to try to utilize it to improve myself as a person. A large part of this self-improvement will be physical, as I try to increase the intensity of my workouts. This has already taken a bit of a toll on my body, but it is a fee worth paying as I have gained about two pounds of lean muscle mass in the past month (not a lot, I know, but it is something to write about for a hard-gainer like me).

Today was my fourth day in the gym this week, and it was leg day. I hurt my neck pretty badly yesterday when working my back and shoulders, so I couldn't squat too heavy. In order to make up for this, I hit the incline leg press a lot harder than I typically do. My workout went as follows:

4 sets, 8 - 12 reps back squats - 160 pounds
4 sets, 8 - 12 reps standing calf raises - 160 pounds
4 sets, 15 reps seated calf machine 150 pounds

I then moved on to the incline leg press machine. I started with ten plates (450 pounds) and did 8 reps. I remove two plates, then did ten reps. I repeated this until I was down to two plates on the machine. After a one minute rest, I repeated this process starting with four plates. I repeated this until I reached a two-plate start. This is much more activity for my quads and hams than I am used to, but I am sure that if I keep it up, I'll improve my strength and endurance (I'm also sure that it's going to burn a lot tomorrow).

To finish up, I did a few exercises for my abs:

4 sets, 12 - 15 reps decline bench crunches w/ 10 pound medicine ball for the obliques
2 supersets, "Captain's chair" leg raises

My workout wasn't very diverse today, but it was effective, and that is what matters. I hope to up the intensity in the coming weeks, and maybe add a few new exercises to my repertoire. Until next time.

Still At It

Life has been keeping me away from blogging. Work has been keeping me busy, and I have quite a few projects in various stages of development that I would like to see to completion.
I still want to let everyone know that I'm still at it and still making gainz though. I'm back to training for boxing, but I would like to gain a few more pounds before entering the ring. Naturally, I'm a small guy, and it has been difficult for me to put on weight, but I have increased my strength by at least 25% since the beginning of the year.

I'm also becoming a bit more arrogant, which is good for me as a person who has had low self esteem for most of my life. Despite Asian women pretty much hating Black men, I've been told that I am "delicious" by quite a few Chinese and Taiwanese ladies online; this is always a confidence boost and another reason to keep myself in the gym as long as time permits.

Keep making gainz ya'll.

It's Been a Long Time...

It's been almost three months since the last time I made a blog post. Since then, I have started a new job and I have been focusing on working there than online activities.

This doesn't mean that I haven't been hitting the gym regularly though. I've been keeping part of my New Year's promise (http://grandadmiralgainz.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-2013-physical-cliff.html) to myself by hitting the gym at least five days each week. I don't always hit two muscle groups though, as I've found that I am making better gains when a concentrate on one muscle group with a high volume of exercises. I might switch back and forth between the two workout plans every three months or so to keep things interesting.

As far as boxing is concerned, I probably won't be doing it this year. I did not keep my promise to hit my bag thirty minutes a day, but I do hit it at least twice a week for an hour. To be honest, I was thinking about boxing because I was unable to find employment, and wanted to take my aggression out on others legally and productively. Since I've found employment, a lot of the stress that plagued my life has lifted. I would still like to try at least one bout before I get too old, but it probably won't get happening this year. For now, I will just focus on making gains, staying healthy, and making ends meet.

I don't know if I'll be blogging much, but I hope to keep you updated a bit more in the future.

Staying True to My Resolutions (So Far)

I have been keeping up with my resolutions for 2013 so far, although I wish that I hadn't set my goals so high. I have been in the gym five days a week working two muscle groups as I proposed, and I have also been hitting my heavy bag. This is really taking its toll on me, especially my shoulders.

Some people in the fitness community say that there is no such thing as over-training, and that one should always bear through the pain. I am of the belief that one does have to workout through pain to reach their goals, but that over-training can occur. I'm going to keep it up, but I may have to break my promises and take a rest from the heavy bag on some days. I will say this though: hitting the heavy bag has been keeping me sane and keeping me lean!

How are you doing with your New Year's resolutions? I hope that you are fulfilling them and exceeding your expectations!