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matter2003 Journal/Introduction

Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 5:28 pm
by matter2003
I have to say I have never talked to Rob, emailed him, PM'd him or even gotten a response from him, but from all the posts I have read and some of things he has gone through, I feel like this might be one of the most passionate, sincere and genuinely good persons I have ever met online anywhere. The responses from people who do know him say as much.

When I read about the potential loss of his family I almost cried, not so much because of what happened to him, but because I thought of all the crap I have put my own family through with my supplements and hours at the gym, and the thought of losing my two little girls and my wife was almost too much to bear.

Anyways, for what it is worth from someone you have never met, talked to or emailed, am glad things worked out for the better.

A little bit about me I guess...

I was always extremely athletic but overweight as a kid(not really fat, but just chunky). When I got to high school, it became apparent to me that I was more athletic than most of my peers, but in a body that noone thought I was. As such, I used to be picked last for a lot of sports when they chose up teams, but after a few games, they realized they never should have made that mistake. Used to really piss me off and I used to be determined to shove it in people's faces and make them pay for that.

In college, I got tired of being overweight and hearing snide comments from people, so I decided to do something about it. I turned into an exercise freak starting my 2nd semester of my freshman year. My weight went from about 195 lbs to about 175 lbs by the end of the semester. I didn't know a whole lot about training and what to do, but I knew that doing aerobic exercise and weight lifting would work, as well as changing my eating habits. In retrospect, I did to much cardio and at the wrong time(before lifting). This limited my size gains, although I still got bigger, but I started getting in really good shape. I continued to work out even more during the summer at home(good 'ol Nordic Track in my parents house for 75 minutes at 6:30AM) and lifted with a cheap weight set that had up to 225 lbs of weight. Also took some product from GNC that had 4 phases and was in a blue and white box, can't remember what it was, but it helped somewhat. When I came back to school next year, I was 160 lbs with 5% bodyfat and was in pretty good shape. Lots of definition, but not too much size, although I was fairly big compared to most of the other people there.

Then the injuries started taking their toll...shoulder impingement got to the point I had to shut it down for a good month and a half, followed a few months later by a partial tear of my achilles tendon and subsequent tendonitis that made it so painful to walk/bend that I stopped working out for a long time. I graduated from school at about 170 lbs but was never in as good shape again as when I started my sophomore year.

After school, I kept working out, but slowly started going less and less til one day I just stopped. I can't remember exactly when that was, but it was probably around age 26(I am 36 now). Over the next 9 years my weight ballooned up to 240 lbs and almost 30% bodyfat. One day I had to go visit a customer at their house for work and had to stop once I got up a single flight of stairs before knocking on their door because I was completely out of breath. I was embarrassed, ashamed, but more so angry at myself for letting my body get in this condition. My energy levels were so bad that I would get off work and literally fall asleep in front of the computer screen at night around 9 or 10pm once I got home. I knew I had to do something or I was heading down a path I didn't want to be heading down...one with lots of doctors, drugs, and potential surgeries in the not so distant future.

This was at the end of August in 2010, I started working out again, doing circuits on my bowflex. The pounds started dropping off and the muscle started coming back. Around December, I had decided that I had gone as far as I could with the bowflex and joined a local gym. In the last 7+ months I have dropped from 240 lbs to about 212 lbs, and have dropped 12 percent bodyfat. I have seen my strength go up dramatically, but I have not seen the muscular gains and/or definition I was hoping for. Don't get me wrong, my body is much more muscular than it was and I have started seeing muscles I have never seen before(large teardrop above my kneecap in particular). I have been following another protocol and while my strength is going up quite a bit, my musculature has not been following suit. I feel somewhat stagnant and am ready for a new challenge. I have read numerous posts from others on this program and decided to take the plunge.

I will be starting my week off this Sunday and will probably have some questions to ask in the upcoming days. Hopefully some of the veterans won't mind sharing some knowledge with a newbie!

:lol:

Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:53 pm
by ckeahey76
Welcome to the blueprint family. Any questions you have, have probably already been answered. Make sure you read up on the stickies, and if you have questions we will surely answer them to the best of our abilities/knowledge. Rob is a guy who seems to give all he has and is really big into customer support. He will be there for you when you need him.

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 12:03 am
by matter2003
ckeahey76 wrote:Welcome to the blueprint family. Any questions you have, have probably already been answered. Make sure you read up on the stickies, and if you have questions we will surely answer them to the best of our abilities/knowledge. Rob is a guy who seems to give all he has and is really big into customer support. He will be there for you when you need him.
Thanks, although I do feel almost overwhelmed right now with the amount of information contained not only in the book but also in the stickies. I put in my order for the Blueprint Stack with MASS and also ordered some MASS Whey protein to go with it. Can't wait to get started, as I am ready to pack on some serious muscle!!

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 6:41 am
by skia123
Welcome to BP family!

Stickies are must but this week off dont forget to measure your heart rate to determine a good baseline for the famine.
I am sure you ll get all the help from the olders one here.
If you have the will and stick to the plan you ll see great results.

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:45 am
by RobRegish
Appreciate your kind words, really do. Let's look at the positives though:

1. I/we stood eye to eye and went toe to toe w/The Grim Reaper... and won!!

2. I/we got a second chance not just at life, but getting my/our family back!!!

3. I've fought and won my 18 year war with Corporate America!! Yes, it's true, I'm free!!! It's in my hands now, which means this; I'm going to shine like a diamond and show the wind how to fly!!! :)


First round of IM's, emails etc answered!!

Let's get you, to Gainsville... :)

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:41 am
by y0lked
Glad to have you onboard with BP! Ill be following bro

Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:49 pm
by matter2003
OK...was having issues trying to find my pulse on my neck the previous morning, so this morning I tried my thumb and found it easily.

Heart Rate was 60 BPM, will check tomorrow morning again

Heart Rate on 2nd day was 58 BPM...looks like it is pretty consistent so far...

Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 10:41 pm
by RobRegish
Great work!! Keep on pluggin'.. :)

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 12:54 pm
by matter2003
Some quick measurements as of today:

Height 5' 8"
Weight 210 lbs

BF 17.2%(Fat Track Gold Calipers...highly recommend)

Chest: 48 3/4 inches
Waist: 38 inches
Quads: 26 inches
Calves: 17 inches
Biceps: 15 1/2 inches

Here are the last lifting stats I had:

Incline BP: 230 lbs x 8 reps
Flat Bench(after incline): 185 lbs x 10 reps
Squat: 395 lbs x 7 reps
Leg Press: 620 lbs x 8 reps
Leg Extensions: 255 lbs x 10 reps
Calf Press: 685 lbs x 12 reps
Military Press(Smith Press): 155 lbs x 8 reps
Close Grip Bench(Tris): 175 lbs x 6 reps
Reverse Pressdown(Tris): 210 lbs x 10 reps
Tri Pushdown: 80 lbs x 10 reps
Lat Pulldowns: 150 lbs x 10 reps
Pullups: 40 lb assist x 10 reps
Bicep Curls(preacher): 100 lbs x 10 reps(biceps shot right now...tendinitis issues cannot lift heavy at all...only light rehab type lifts...the 100lbs was before issues occurred, now am in the 30-40 lb range)

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 12:57 pm
by tufluk
good luck with the run man!

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:17 pm
by matter2003
Hmm...heart rate was 69 this morning which was considerably higher than the last few days although I am in my resting week, not famine...will see what happens tomorrow morning...

TUES: RHR 67

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:47 am
by RobRegish
Nice work... just get your baseline, whatever it is!! Then, onwards and upwards!!!

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:42 pm
by matter2003
Famine Day 1

Woke up this morning with a RHR of 69, I am wondering if my first 2 days of checking at 58 or 60 were an aberration as it has been pretty steady at 69,67,69 the past 3 days...perhaps I should throw the first 2 out?

For my meals had 1/2 cup of brown rice with an apple and orange for my first 3, then 1/2 cup brown rice with some carrots for meal 4. Meal 5 was a big salad with some dressing(some fat), croutons and a 1 oz chunk of cheese for some fat(I know it had some protein but only 7 grams) and another apple.

Protein(25g or less)
Fat(roughly 40g)
Carbs(about 285g)

Total Cals: around 1600, 80 cals shy of 1680 I am supposed to have.

Workout:

Squats: 375lbs x 6(could have done more), 395 x 4 x 4
Seated Rows: 160lbs x 8(could have done 10 easy) x 8, 180lbs x 8
Pullups: 30lb assist x 4 x 4 x 4
Biceps: using light weights to do rehab-type work because of elbow tendonitis--also did some reverse curls for forearms for same reasons

Cardio: 1 hour on elliptical keeping HR between 125-135 BPM

Felt a little strange during workout because I didn't know what weight to use to start on squats and seated rows because squats normally come after leg extensions and seated rows normally come after pullups and lat pulldowns, but I will have a better idea for next time now.

Was surprisingly hungry most of the day considering I have done a 24 hour fast multiple times and am usually not hungry past around 12pm during that. Drank lots of water and felt OK during workout but was tired after it. Not a bad first day overall, would have liked to do a better job with weight/reps but will learn from it next time.

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 6:12 am
by RobRegish
matter2003 wrote:Famine Day 1

Woke up this morning with a RHR of 69, I am wondering if my first 2 days of checking at 58 or 60 were an aberration as it has been pretty steady at 69,67,69 the past 3 days...perhaps I should throw the first 2 out?

A. Yes, throw the first 2 out. Please don't over-think this. I appreciate your attention to detail, don't get me wrong. It's just one diagnostic we use though... there are many :)

For my meals had 1/2 cup of brown rice with an apple and orange for my first 3, then 1/2 cup brown rice with some carrots for meal 4. Meal 5 was a big salad with some dressing(some fat), croutons and a 1 oz chunk of cheese for some fat(I know it had some protein but only 7 grams) and another apple.

Protein(25g or less)
Fat(roughly 40g)
Carbs(about 285g)

Total Cals: around 1600, 80 cals shy of 1680 I am supposed to have.

Workout:

Squats: 375lbs x 6(could have done more), 395 x 4 x 4
Seated Rows: 160lbs x 8(could have done 10 easy) x 8, 180lbs x 8
Pullups: 30lb assist x 4 x 4 x 4
Biceps: using light weights to do rehab-type work because of elbow tendonitis--also did some reverse curls for forearms for same reasons

Cardio: 1 hour on elliptical keeping HR between 125-135 BPM

Felt a little strange during workout because I didn't know what weight to use to start on squats and seated rows because squats normally come after leg extensions and seated rows normally come after pullups and lat pulldowns, but I will have a better idea for next time now.

A. Yes, you caught it! Squats FIRST... :)

Was surprisingly hungry most of the day considering I have done a 24 hour fast multiple times and am usually not hungry past around 12pm during that. Drank lots of water and felt OK during workout but was tired after it. Not a bad first day overall, would have liked to do a better job with weight/reps but will learn from it next time.
Take care now, Famine gets real intense like... right quick! Hits hard on day 3 for most. If you EVER feel sick, "off" or just not right - DISCONTINUE.

HEALTH FIRST!!!

Otherwise... greatwork :)