Confused about the title? I figured as much, it’s the title from one of my favorite books. My scale on Saturday morning was 238 so we had a total loss of 14 in the 30 day study, outstanding by any measurement.

Coming from workouts that are most commonly done in any health club across the US which isolate each muscle from multiple angles with multiple sets of reps based on the goal of the workout. More reps/lighter weights for weight loss, medium weights/fewer reps for toning and definition, large weights/very low reps for strength and mass building. I’ve done all three of them using machines and free weights then I started this program. Like I said early on I’ve done most of these exercises but never all together in the same workout 2-3 nights a week. This program truly is aimed at your core muscles and does work multiple muscle groups at once. At the end you have a good sore, hopefully, and you are whooped which is why Mike only has you doing 8-10 minutes of cardio in the form of intervals afterward. I know many trainers are not big on traditional cardio but I still am. You can talk all you want about supersets and short breaks between sets to keep the heart rate up but another 20 – 30 minutes won’t kill you on a treadmill, elliptical, climber, bike, etc… In fact it will actually take it to the next level. I guess I am a cardio junkie and if I don’t get my 60+ minutes in a day I go nuts. Today, if I count my karate class which was pretty fast paced the entire hour we are looking at about 80 minutes of high end cardio. I know what you are saying, I don’t have all that extra time, my time is very precious. I’m sure it is, everybody’s is but you are already at the health club, you’ve kicked butt on the weights so why not give it your all? I see it everyday, muscle necks at the gym who refuse or only do cardio one day a week and they can’t understand why they have a gut and they healthy, well some do. Try to explain to them to jump on the treadmill or elliptical and they look at you like a deer in headlights. Someday they will get it, maybe. They better because once you get into your 30’s and 40’s you will have to. Your bodies metabolism starts to slow down. It’s mother nature at work so you need to adjust. Losing weight after 40 isn’t any fun, I wish I had this knowledge back in my teens and 20’s but like all other youngin’s you feel you are bullet-proof. OK, I’ll get off my soap box now.

Mike also has a lot of great information regarding nutrition in his book. That alone is worth the price of admission. Mike discusses natural foods versus GMO’s (genetically modified organism), free range vs juiced animals (animals on steroids). The list goes on but eating all natural foods can get very expensive so do your research and stay within your budget.  The plan has a solid two weeks worth of meal plans with a large variety of tasty food. One thing I did learn was to stay away from soy, I always thought soy was a great protein source and alternative to meat. The daily caloric intake ranges from 2000 to almost 2500 calories. Granted not everybody can eat that many calories and still lose weight. Mike does also give you a Metabolic Rate Calculator to help determine your caloric intake. Mine for weight loss was 2279 to 2779 and to maintain 3279 but I am a very active person.

One thing I really like about the program was his multiple levels of ab work. There are 8 different ranges, personally I could do the first four and all but one in the fifth level. Gives me something to work for. Even level one is very challenging for somebody whose ab work revolves around a decline bench or yoga ball. Like all exercises listed in the program, don’t over do it else you may hurt yourself. My lower back and right knee are still hurting from lunges, squats, and deadlifts. This leads me to my new workout.

My new workout is more muscle isolation based, multiple sets attacking a single muscle or multiple muscle groups from different angles. Totally against this program but as I was talking to one of the trainers today it’s a nice change a pace and will shock the body out of any plateau and hopefully help those other areas heal up. I plan on adding Mikes ab and lifting program into my monthly rotation which means I should be hitting it about every 3-4 months. The nutrition part of the program, or slightly modified version, will probably be a mainstay for a while, I enjoy it that much. I think I have covered everything, I’m sure Jackie or Brad will let me know if I haven’t.

Before I post final measurements and pictures I just want to say it’s a good program whether you have that final 20 lbs or 100+ pounds to lose. So if you are looking for something new or just need some really good guidance spend the $$$ and pick up Truth About Six Pack Abs for yourself.

Would I do it again, the whole case study with daily blog? Yes, if there is another program Jackie would like tested why not, daily blog, eh became more of a chore after a while. Just catch me in January 2010, after the holidays.

OK picture time, I think I do see some improvement, maybe, and still a long way to go. My wife pointed out my shoulders are bowed in and my massage therapist said the same thing today, I need to stretch more. Her exact words, you can tell you work on a computer all day. Lesson learned, stretch more. This program even came with a book on stretching. Looks like I have some reading to do.

Jay is OUT

Beginning:

End of study:

Well I made it, day 30, yaaaaaaaaay. Not much sleep again last night and an early morning today. Was pretty whooped at work all day and trying to tie up all the loose strings today since I am on vacation next week. Thanks to a scoop of no-xplode I was able to get 20 minutes of hill running in at the health club followed by a 10 minute cool down of hill walking. Treat day at work again and somebody brought in veggies so I was able to participate and munch on some broccoli and celery, stayed away from the carrots because of their sugar content. Some plans allow carrots and some do not, there really is a lot of conflicting information on them out there. Personally I say eat them, they’re tasty and good for you.

Weight was 239 this morning and I think I figured out what the problem is, well besides messing it all up the pizza on Tuesday night. What is the one thing I have been complaining about this week? LACK OF SLEEP. What is a major obstacle in weight loss? Not getting enough sleep. Your body needs to rest so it can heal up, build muscle,  burn fat, which leads to weight loss. Between that and excess stress at work this week are contributing to it, not the only reasons but are contributors. If you add in tomorrow’s football game with tailgating it is a road map for disaster this week and next week has that large American food holiday, Thanksgiving. OY!! The best part is it’s only one day and you really can control your fate with some common sense. Load up on the veggies and avoid the gravies, sauces, and don’t “sample the desert table” just stick with one small item if you must, my weakness, pumpkin pie. Stick with your white meat turkey but if you are like me you always go for the dark meat. Remember common sense and if you do go crazy, the next day you get back on the program and within a day or two you’re golden.

Just because this study is over it doesn’t mean I am abandoning this program. I will continue to follow the nutrition plan, it does include 2 weeks worth of menus so I will pick a few days and follow them just to change it up a little. The options on this plan are the best I think I have ever had. Who’d a thunk it?!?

Even though I had a setback at the end I think overall the program was a success. The goal of the program is 1 pound a week and I think I beat that. I will get into it more with a Sunday retrospective post.

I have pictures and measurements which I will post on Sunday as well. Time for Jay to get to bed. Early morning tomorrow to get to the game.

GO HAWKS and Roll Tide.

Jay is OUT

Remember that two hour nap I took last night? Well it did mess up my sleep last night and so today was a struggle to get through work. Thankfully a B – complex and a scoop of no-xplode before my workout woke me up and energized me for a couple hours to get through the workout. Now I am crashing fast and hard so this will be a quick post tonight.

Everything went as planned today nutritionally and my workout was pretty good considering I was so tired tonight. Moved up to abs level 5 , all but one are possible for me to do and that is the hanging leg raises. Sorry not going to happen. Followed the lifting and abs with 25 minutes of hill climbing on the elliptical, my side actually hurt afterwards. I haven’t had that feeling since a 5 mile run at the end of September.

Tomorrow is treat day at work again and the person in the cube next to me is going to make brownies, she makes really good brownies but I have made 3 weeks without attacking it so tomorrow shouldn’t even be a problem. I may have talked her into bringing a veggie tray also, that way I could munch on some broccoli or celery if needed.

Tomorrow after work I am going to try to get some intervals in since Saturday I will be off to the Iowa / Minnesota college football game so there will be no workout. That will have to wait for Sunday.

Weight this morning was 239.2 so I dropped a pound yesterday, hopefully I can get at least 1-2 today.

Time for bed, so until tomorrow night…

Jay is out

Sorry no post yesterday but Hawkeye basketball took precedence as does any Hawkeye athletic event when I have free tickets. Didn’t get home last night until 12:30 and my alarm went off at 4:21 this morning. Needless to say I didn’t go to karate tonight. Instead I came home and took a two hour nap, now I probably won’t be able to fall asleep in the next hour.

Wasn’t a good boy last night like I thought I could have been, boy am I in trouble. My buddy that I went to the game with though out an idea of having some pizza in Iowa City before the game since he just got off work when I picked him up. We didn’t go insane, medium Palace Special (sausage, pepperoni, beef, mushrooms, and instead of onions we substituted jalapenos) @ Pagliai’s Pizza. Homemade sauce and sausage and there is only one or two other places that have a better pie. So that takes me to the really bad part, this morning I was 240.2, plump full of weekend bloat. Now I am going to have to kick it in the next two days and get back to 237 and try to get to 236 by the end of the program. Not like I went on a binge and sticking with the plan the next few days is not an issue so with a little bit of luck and a lot of green tea during the day it should flush out.

On the good side I was able to get a workout in yesterday before heading out of town. It wasn’t a full workout, just no abs part but all lifts were done.

Tomorrow is a lift day and since I took today off maybe I can get some intervals in Friday night after work. That’s right, workout on a Friday night, why not and is there a better way to start the weekend? I think NOT! Plus it’s day 30 so what a way to end this experience. If Jackie and Brad allow maybe they will let me write a retrospective on Saturday and put this entire experience  together.

I think I have my workout schedule figured once this program is over. It’s important to mix up/change  your workout to keep working towards your goal. Doesn’t matter if that goal is weight loss, mass building, or strength building. My workout schedule will be Monday karate, Tuesday off, Wednesday karate, Thursday lift, Friday off, Saturday and Sunday lift. I’m going to go back to isolating muscle groups and spreading the lifts out through the week. My days off are spread out to really help get through the week without over-training and giving the body time to heal. I don’t have the exercises picked out yet but I will be doing 3 sets of 12 reps for the next four weeks before I change it up again around New Years.

So until tomorrow I am going to finish watching tonihgt Man v Food on the DVR before I get to bed.

Jay is OUT

I used to really enjoy Monday’s when they were a day off from working out but now it’s an hour in the dojang. Tonight’s class wasn’t too bad early warm-ups were adequate, I guess. Did get some partner work to review some kick counters and self-defenses. I got to work with an old friend which was kind of nice, I may have played a little rough but I was full of energy tonight.

My meal schedule was thrown all out of whack today and will be all week. I have to be to work an hour earlier than normal. On karate days it becomes a bit of an issue since meals will be @ 6am, 9am, 12noon, 3pm, and then the next one is scheduled @ 6. That’s right when class is starting and anything after 5 would result in dirty mats. So what i did today was move the 3pm meal up to 2:30 and the 6 up to 4:30 but that was just some cottage cheese and pineapple (the late night snack for tonight). By the time I got home from class it was around 7:45 and I was able to eat around 8 and that was my chicken, green beans, and 3oz of sweet potato so all is well. Tomorrow night I am heading to Iowa City for a UI mens basketball game so I am going to have to pack something to munch on the road after my workout, ugh. I am going to try to get a quick workout in and I mean real quick, may have to super set everything. With that being said there won’t be a post tomorrow night. The game starts @ 8:05 which means I won’t get home until sometime between 11-12 and then turn around for a 4:30am alarm so I can get to work by 7.

Knee is tender today after yesterdays episode on the treadmill but I think it had to be done. Can’t keep a tiger leashed up all the time, can ya’. This cat’s gotta run once in a while.

Anybody in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area? My nephew has posted a link to a bootcamp on his facebook. Looks like it might actually be a challenge. It looks very similar to The Truth About Six Pack Abs. Too far away from me to try. This reminds me since I am coming to the end of this program I need to start planning for something new next week. I would like to find a kettle-bell bootcamp in my area and I think there is one but it is at a different health club. That’s not gonna happen. I saw a link to what looks like an incredible kettle-bell workout on twitter last week. I think I have the link at work, will have to look and report back.

Well gonna watch some football before bed, CAO!!

Jay is OUT

I slept in today until about 8am getting over 8 hours of sleep for a change and did it feel good. That all meant I didn’t get to the gym and working out until about 11ish. I started with high intensity elliptical for about 3 1/2 miles in 25 minutes then after sufficiently warming up, for a change, i moved over to the treadmill where I thought I would see how my knee is really doing.  I ran some intervals for the first mile which took me about 10 minutes, not bad and with good music. Was feeling very juggalo while running. Didn’t want to overdo it so after the first mile i just jacked up the elevation and dropped the speed down to 3.2mph and walked the last 20 minutes. After all that the readout’s on the machines said I burned 800+ calories. How accurate are they? Anybody know? After that a decent stretch which I never seem to do enough of and that could explain some of my aches and pains.

The plan only calls for 20-25 minutes of intervals during your cardio day and 8-10 minutes on your other workout days. I couldn’t disagree more. This is one part of the plan where I think it lacks. Cardio is something I don’t think you can get enough of. I try to get at least 60-90 minutes a day of medium and high intensity cardio 3-4 days a week and about 45 minutes of medium intensity on the other days. Cardio is key to weight loss and endurance building and when in any martial arts program good endurance is key to success. When put together with good nutrition and strength training you really have a plan for weight loss  success. Many trainers place their emphasis on nutrition and strength and lack cardio. I put my emphasis on nutrition and equal emphasis on cardio then strength, say a ration of 38, 38, and 24%. This is where I toot my horn because that’s how I lost the weight so I know it works. I’m not knocking this program but if you are truly serious about it you need to add to it.

So what did I learn today, I still can run but don’t overdo it, this week. I really enjoy cardio, it’s my favorite part of the workout, though I do enjoy the pump you get from a good lift. i alos learned a good nights sleep really brings a person a huge boost in energy, that and GNC Thermo Burst. I need to go catch up in my meals, sleeping in does mess up the schedule.

I think I am also coming down with a cold so I need to go slam some more Airborne.

Jay is OUT

Scale this morning was 236.8, that’s a good thing and I got my pound for the week. Surprised the sh!t out of me. Today I am back to the gym for the first time since Tuesday night. Pretty good workout today, didn’t lose any strength being out that long but I did struggle with a few. I mentioned that my knee felt good yesterday, it felt great today until I did squats. Second one I felt a little something so I really didn’t push it. Second set I really felt one at around rep 12 so I decided to call it a set. Now it’s a little tender and stiff. My recommendation is you have bad knees stay away from squats or lunges. Even if you are a way above average person in size stay away from squats or lunges unless you really know what you are doing, see a professional certified trainer and go from there. Don’t let them force those exercises on you, there are alternatives. OK done ranting for now. I did substitute step ups once again today for lunges, put a 35lb plate in each arm and 2 sets of 14 reps on each leg stepping up on the flat bench. It’ll kick your butt. Deadlift was pretty good though I did struggle a bit with technique today. I don’t know if I was in a rush or not, didn’t have any distractions at that time.

I tried level four for abs today. Knee lifts were tough, I forgot my straps and now having problems finding them, DOH. Side planks were also a bit of a challenge but it gives me something to work at. Outside of that piece of cake.

Tomorrow is cardio day so I need to come up with a plan of attack since I probably won’t be running, not this week.

Updated pics:

Need to get ready, heading out for poker tonight, that and the football game is getting good. I can’t believe the Hawks still are in this game. TTYL peeps.

Jay is OUT

Sorry for the late post but I had a benefit Poker tournament on Friday night  for Breast Cancer. Didn’t do that well, finished in the middle of the pack. Today (Friday) was a day off once again. Feeling pretty good probably could work out if necessary but no time. It was treat day at work but no problem today, one person forgot and one person brought store bought cookies (ewwww) and the other walmart muffins (ewwwww) so sticking to the plan was not a problem. The scale did drop this to 237.4 this morning, just a half pound but I will take it since I sat @ or around 238 for four days. Hopefully i can keep it going. My knee is actually feeling pretty good as well, don’t know if I will be able to run in the turkey trot on Thanksgiving day but I am hoping to.

Well that’s it for Friday need to do my Saturday post. Busy day on Saturday. Go Hawks, Roll Tide!!

Jay is OUT!

Hey peeps it is Thursday eve and I am finally getting to this post. Just had my late night snack which was some pineapple with cottage cheese and almonds. Had to substitute the almonds for coconut milk, can’t find it around here.

Took today off from the gym but did get a walk in at lunch to help get the muscles moving. Very sore and very stiff today so it was necessary to take a night off. Today would have been day 6 straight and that is over training. The body needs to heal so it can build muscle and burn fat.  I don’t know how many times I’ve had a trainer tell me to take a day off or that I am over raining. Once you get the gym bug it’s hard to take a day off. I also think my last couple workouts have been going through the motions and didn’t get the full benefits from them and that may be a part of the plateau that appears I am dealing with. Taking a day or a couple of days off will give me the time to rejuvenate, refocus, and hit it real hard on Saturday.

Well I am going to get to bed early again tonight. The sleep can only do me some good. If I’m feeling up to it maybe I will work out. Well the wife just informed me I will be in a poker tournament tomorrow night to benefit breast cancer and the proceeds go to a friend of ours. Looks like two nights off in a row. No excuse now for Saturday.

Jay is OUT

Today is a scheduled day off but I just rejoined my karate club so guess what, it’s another night in the dojang and day 5 straight of working out. That is definitely creeping into over training and that would very much explain my fatigue right now. Tomorrow is supposed to be a lifting night but I may just take the next two nights off and start it all off on Saturday again. I almost never workout on Friday’s mostly because of fatigue. After a full week of work and working out the mind and body is fried on Friday afternoon’s so it’s home to relax with my second BFF, the DVR so I can recharge. I will make the call in the morning, if I felt like this morning there is no way in hell I am going to workout.

Anyway, weight is still @ 238 so it appears the first plateau of the program and it’s very frustrating. Like any plateau re-evaluate what you are doing and modify as needed. Unfortunately I can’t make any changes to this program, I’m locked into the case study. Not a bad thing this is a very good program. So if I were to evaluate right now I would think possibly over-training and the body can’t catch up and heal. I need to take some time tonight and stretch since my hamstrings are so tight that tonight in class my kicks were about half the height they were on Monday and twice as slow. Even after warm ups there was not much of an improvement. Endurance & breathing were right on tonight so I felt good that way and was able to squeak out about a good 30 minutes of cardio before it slowed down a bit.Food in the afternoon was a bit rough, I tried to go 3 1/2 hours instead of just 3 hours. No go, at 3 hours I was starting to get a bit lite headed so I had my afternoon snack which was a slice of Ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread covered by 2 tsp of Natty PB, 1/4 cup of berries and 8oz of skim milk. That was at 4 and class didn’t start until 6 and I don’t get home from class until about 7:45. By the time class started I was gnawing my fingers off but still had to get through class and drive 20 miles afterward. I love this highway this time of year, the deer are running so you really need to focus on the road. I really wanted to eat at 4:30 but no way and eating later than that before class would have undesired results in class of cleaning something up of the mats.

Ok sports fans it’s 9pm and I am going to get some sleep. Maybe more tomorrow night with some pictures, not that there will be any changes from last week. I know I need to stay positive, negativity breeds negative results.

Keep up the fight, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Jay is OUT