Workout Update

In poker, they call this the nuts…

by Mike Vifquain on October 28, 2010

The Nuts. The best hand. Unbeatable.

Thats my week. My attitude is kicking ass and taking names. When an excuse has opportunity, my Will shows the better hand.

My goal for this week is simple: Cardio every day after dropping the kids at school. Today is Thursday and I’m right on track. Not without an obstacle though.

This morning I was tempted to skip and “delay” my workout at my son’s request. It was picture day, and his class was first in line. I stayed to watch him, and after he wanted me to volunteer to do flash cards with his class. He pulled out all the stops: puppy-dog eyes, hugs, kisses and even said “I Love You” in front of his friends. It was a hard decision to make, but with todays work schedule, I had to choose only one — Volunteer or Cardio. Today cardio won, but only because I already volunteered Monday.

Cardio this week is a simple 30 minutes on the elliptical per day. Next week I will kick it up to 45 minutes, and rotate in the 100 Pushups and 200 situps programs.

Todays workout:

30 mins, 465 cals, 2.57 mi.

Time: 30 mins
Distance: 2.57 mi.
Calories: 465 cals

As you can tell, I burned less calories in this session. Rather than pushing myself, I decided to try and keep my heart-rate on target for “fat-loss” according to the computer. My heart rate averaged 135, instead of the usual 150-160.

How are your weekly workouts progressing?

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Excuses excuses excuses…

by Mike Vifquain on October 26, 2010

I did it. I am breaking the mold.

My mold.

I will no longer succumb to my own excuses. In the coming days, I will tackle each of my recurring excuses to prevent myself from getting into the gym. By facing my own demons, publicly, I hope to prevent them from happening in the future. Maybe some of you face the same demons and can offer commentary on what has worked for you.

When I think of excuses, many come to mind. I’ve got a million and one for just about any occasion, but there is one that stands out far more than the others. It affects all aspects of my life, personal motivation, work productivity and more importantly the time I spend with my kids. I’m tired.

Excuse #1: I’m too tired.

Why the hell am I so tired?

Obviously I’m fat. Thats why I’m in this situation, right? Am I fat because of some medical condition? Do I have diabetes or a thyroid disorder? Nope. Do I have High Blood Pressure? Nope. Are my knees so shot I can barely walk? Nope. In all honesty I am a perfectly healthy guy, other than being a fat ass. I had blood work done a few weeks ago and everything came back perfect.

So what is causing me to be so tired?

  • Because my body is used to being a lazy ass. It’s in a constant state of rest. I work at a desk and sit on my ass all day.
  • Because I am self employed, I work from home and set my own hours. There is no structure. My hobby is my work. If I am bored at night, I get online and work.
  • Because I don’t sleep enough at night (see previous reason)

I’m sure I could come up with even more reasons, but they are all related to those above. So lets examine some of the affects this has on my life.

  1. My house is a mess. I’m either too busy or too tried to really clean. So I solve that problem by hiring someone to clean my house once a week. That still leaves 6 days of me not doing even the simplest amount of cleaning.
  2. My business is unorganized, which affects my productivity. If I would exert a little more time and energy, I could be organized and stay on task. This is something that has affected me my whole life, regardless of my weight, which makes this an even tougher mountain to climb. If I can accomplish more in a shorter period of time, I can work less and focus on improving other parts of my life.
  3. Quality time with my children. As a single dad, who recently has the kiddos full-time, I get to juggle homework, sports and after school events in addition to all my other responsibilities. By not having the energy to stay organized and on top of things, it affects my children. My laziness rubs off on them. This is probably the most motivating issue of them all. I’ve noticed that if I wait and have to rush them, they push back and respond less positive to whatever the issue is. By giving them the time attention they need, there is less hassle and they are much happier.

So there you have it… Excuse and motivating factor #1.

My solution is to get to wake up 30 minutes earlier, thus getting the kids to school earlier and creating an additional 30 minutes of gym-time. I plan do do this 5 days a week. I don’t think it’s too much to ask of myself.

*Side note: Today I did 30 minutes on the elliptical.

Distance: 2.59 mi
Calories: 534

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Day 92: Boxing through my plateau

by Mike Vifquain on March 13, 2010

Here I am, 92 days into my journey and I’m still feeling lost.  The weight just isn’t coming off how I intended.  Not like “last time.”

As I mentioned in the last post, I needed to do something different.  I needed to hold myself accountable.  I am.

Just over a week ago I started attending a “Punch Boxing for Fitness” class for cardio, in addition to my weight training.  I must say, it’s a really good workout – and keeping me motivated.  It’s a mix of stretching, calisthenics and boxing that is always followed by a great core/ab workout.  I leave the class drenched in sweat and feeling great about myself.  It’s addicting.  Almost too addicting.  I’ve been every day since I registered.  I forced myself to take yesterday off as to not “overtrain.”

For the first time in over a month, I saw the scale move.

Current weight:  283lbs

To be totally honest with you, I gained 3lbs the week before, so I was 288lbs.  This moves this weeks “real loss” to 5lbs.  Hooray me!

It’s taken me 92 days to lose 23lbs.  I was sure I would be down at least 50lbs by now. I’m not.

Head up, Think Positive and Move Forward.


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Accountability Meets Vegas! Can it happen?

by Mike Vifquain on January 9, 2010

The first real test of my new, healthy lifestyle is coming up.  I leave this morning for Las Vegas, Sin City and will be out of town for about 11 days in total.  That’s a lot of time away from my home comfort zone, with plenty of unhealthy temptations.  Can I do it?  I don’t know if my goal should be to lose weight while gone, or to not gain any.  Ultimately I would like to try and lose at least  2lbs while I am gone.

I think I can.

I will try and stay far away from starches and the candy in the mini bar.  I will drink plenty of water and avoid the late night food binges.  Oh, no buffets.  Really, no buffets in Vegas?  I’ll be at the Rio for part of my trip, they are known for their great seafood buffet!

I will workout, daily!

Yes, I will absolutely work out every day of my trip.  If for some reason my diet slips up, I will make up for it in the gym.  Anyone care to join me?

My Lederhosen are packed for the annual Oktoberfest warm-up party.  The last 2 years, I have gone to Munich for Oktoberfest with a group of others from my industry.  As you may guess, it’s filled with beer, food and drunken fun.  Every January, at our Vegas convention, one of the sponsoring companies throws a party at the Hofbrauhaus for those who have attended the Munich event.  We dress up in our German outfits and storm the place.  Can you imagine 20-30 people dressed in Lederhosen and Dirndls walking through a casino?  Yeah, we make quite the scene!  This will be the only night I plan to consume a single beer.  I will earn it with my diet and workout discipline!

In preparation for my trip I really kicked it into overdrive this week.  I have continued my daily cardio, but added mon/wed/friday lifting.  I even hit the gym this morning for another hour of Cardio.  I can’t help myself.

Fridays workout was a full 60 minutes on the elliptical followed by an hour and a half of shoulders and back on the weights.  I used the iFitness app for the first time on my iPod touch and was quite impressed!  I exported my workout as follows:

Cable seated close row (1 x 15 100lbs, 1 x 12 110lbs, 1 x 10 120lbs )
Machine row ( 1 x 15 70lbs, 2 x 12 85lbs )
Machine Back flys ( 1 x 15 70lbs, 1 x 12 70lbs, 1 x 12 62.5lbs )
Dumbbell shoulder press ( 1 x 15 20lbs ea, 1 x 12 30lbs ea, 1 x 12 35lbs ea )
Assisted Pull-up ( 1 x 10 175lbs, 2 x 8 175lbs extra help on last 3 )
Dumbbell front raise ( 1 x 12 15lbs ea, 2 x 10 15lbs ea)
Upright row ( 1 x 15 35lbs, 1 x 11 35lbs, 1 x 6 50lbs )
Dumbbell shrugs ( 1 x 12 45lbs ea, 1 x 12 40lbs ea, 1 x 10 40lbs ea )
Lat pulldown ( 1 x 12 100lbs, 1 x 12 85lbs, 1 x 10 85lbs )
Dumbbell lateral raise ( 1 x 15 10lbs ea, 2 x 12 10lbs ea )

One hell of a workout, but it felt great. I’m a little sore this morning though!

So, wish me luck as I travel to Vegas.  May I win plenty of money while staying on my healthy path!

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Where have all the cougars gone?

by Mike Vifquain on January 8, 2010

As quickly as the cougars arrived over the holidays, they seem to have disappeared as the cold arrived this week. I am stunned. No scantily dressed, middle-aged women with caked on make-up this week at the gym. What am I going to do without this entertainment? It’s like showing up to a circus with no clowns!

I did an hour on the elliptical this morning for a total of 1014 calories burned.

I also downloaded some Nifty Apps for my iPod Touch.

“Tap & Track” to help count my calories consumed and burned.
“iFitness” to log my workouts to measure progress.

These came highly recommended from a friend of mine. I’m pretty excited about using them and seeing the growth.

This afternoon over lunch I am lifting again. I will be doing my full body measurements before then and log those numbers here as well.

I’ll post more later after the workout. TGIF!

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Weight-loss & photo update, intense workout and protein farts

by Mike Vifquain on January 6, 2010

This weeks weight: 291lbs (-3lbs)

I know, not what I was expecting.  I thought I had another pound or two than that, but a loss is a loss. It puts me at 15lbs lost and only 5lbs away from my first goal of 286lbs.  Will I lose 5lbs in time for my competition weigh-in Sunday in Vegas?

January 6, 2010 - 15lbs Lost

January 6, 2010 - 15lbs Lost

Yes, I still have my Christmas tree up!  Don’t judge, I’ve been busy losing weight!  It will be down by the weekend.

Today I hit the gym twice.  45 minutes of amped up cardio on the elliptical in the morning.  By “amped-up” I mean I dialed the intensity up quite a bit.  I did HIIT (Interval training) and rotated 75rpm for 5 minutes then down to 50rpm for 3 minutes to recover.   I really felt it, and I know my body reacted well to the switch.

After lunch I hit a different gym with my buddy, the trainer.  We worked biceps, triceps and then abs and core.  I didn’t write things down, but here is my best recollection:

4 x 12 dumbbell curls
3 x 12 overhead cable/rope extension for triceps (not sure the proper name. )

superset:
3 x 12 seated preacher curl machine
3 x 12 seated hammer push machine

superset:
3 x 12 close grip bench press
3 x 12 dumbbell hammer curls

superset:
3 x 12 cable bar curls
3 x 12 cable rope pull extension

3 x 12 crunches

superset:
3 x 12 bicycle crunches
3 x 12 core twists (seated like a sit-up, recline back and twist core left to right and back)

3 x 12 hanging leg lifts

Let me tell you, this was one hell of a workout in only an hour!

Question for you all:

I’m finding that the more protein I consume, the more I am letting off a few butt-burps. They don’t smell too good either!  I know I don’t do well with too much beef, so I limit myself to turkey, chicken, tuna, etc.

How do I prevent myself from ripping ass 20 times a day from all this protein consumption?

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