Snowed In

As you have probably noticed today there has been a massive snow storm. At my house out in Brooktondale we have probably gotten a good six inches which is making travel very difficult so  have decided to take the day off from weight training. I am still ridiculously sore from my leg day two days ago, to the point where getting up and walking feels like death. So it is probably for the best I don't do to much today although I did go in yesterday and workout and that wasn't to bad after I got my blood going and muscles a little looser I felt a lot better. It was when I got off the treadmill and sat down in front of the locker that I really started to feel it. Yesterday I did all arms, biceps, triceps, deltoids, and abs and I have to say I am surprisingly sore from that also. I rarely get sore arms but today is an exception but I'm not upset with the soreness in fact I kind of like it because it lets me know that I tore the muscle fibers and have started new growth in the areas. So today to get some exercise and boost up my metabolism I will do some shoveling, I have to go to a neighbors house to get lids for our maple syrup buckets, and I might go sledding with Marcel if he ever gets any of his work done.

Leg day

Today was my favorite day of the week leg day. I started out with some light cardio on the elliptical to warm up then hit the weights hard. for squats I did five sets of 10 all at 315, those were a lot harder than a thought they were going to be and after I was done my legs were already turning to jelly and I knew the rest of the workout would be loads of fun. After squats I did lunges 4x6 with 70s in each hand. These absolutely killed my quads I had just finished my second set and just sitting down was painful so I decided to get a drink. I jumped off the top step from the weight floor to the hall way the different is only about two feet but I landed and just kind of collapsed. I didn't fall down but if there wasn't a wall in front of me I probably would have. I got myself together got my drink then came back and started with roman deadlifts. I did 4x15 at light weight but still got a good pump. Once I was done I went upstairs and did 20 minutes of light cardio walking on the treadmill and was done. I'm  sitting at home right now and I can just tell that tomorrow is going to suck. A lot. It's going to be hard to walk and move around but its all worth it because the soreness lets me know I'm doing something right. Last week after my leg workout I was sore for the next three days and had to take Friday off because it was hard to move. It was awesome.

Change up

This week is going to be a little funny in regards to working out because we are on break and the high school is closed I'm going to have to find out a different place to workout for the week. What I typically do when I can go the the school is I will go in with my dad to Island Health and Fitness where he goes and workout there. Also he has a very erratic work schedule so its hard for him to go at a consistent time although he still manages to go about four or five times a week. Working out at Island is nice there is tons of room lots of weights and plenty of cardio machines so I never have to wait. The thing I like most about it there though is the sauna and steam rooms they are great places to sit and unwind after a good lift. My schedule this week is going to be a bit different than normal but if I can't get into a gym I can always find something physical to do around the house or outside such as shoveling running or body weight exercises

Powers's patented rules for prominence

I had my second meeting with the Great One on Friday and he dished out some knowledge like always. However next week we will be unable to meet because he is in France right now with the French Club and won't be getting back until next Sunday.

Rule #1 There are three stages to a mans life, he believes in Santa Claus, he doesn't believe in Santa Claus, he becomes Santa Claus.

Mr. Powers put it perfectly after he told me this rule "when you believe in Santa you are dependent on others and their help, when you don't believe in Santa you can take care of yourself  and are able to be on your own, and when you become Santa you are in the stage of your life when you just want to help others and their development in life"

Whiles its a very odd analogy it splits life up into three very distinct and very true stages that hopefully everyone goes through.

Rule #2 All things are ready if the mind is so.

This is my favorite rule this week because it is so true. If you are truly willing to set your mind to something and work as hard as you can to achieve it then there is nothing that can stop you but yourself. Another reason I like this really so much is because it rings true for my project. If I'm mentally ready to do it than it will happen and my end result will be what I want but if I'm not completely ready than my results will show it.

Rule #3 They conquer who they think they can. If you believe you can achieve you can achieve.

For some reason when ever I read this rule I think of Vikings. This is another rule that is about attitude more than anything else. The mind is an extremely powerful force and if you can convince it to do something there are potentially no limits.

Rule #4 You must learn how to learn and you must do it well because in life this is what you must know to excel.

I really like this rule. you have to know what works for you because everyone is different. For example if military presses work great for developing big deltoids for a friend of mine but don't work that great for me that doesn't mean I should stop doing my own shoulder exercises in favor or military presses because he had great results. You need to know what works for you might not work for someone else and vica versa because its different strokes for different folks.

Rule #5 Sometimes in life it may feel as though you are running in place. When this happens there are two possibility, you are either going to look around and discover you are in training, you are getting stronger, you are getting smarter you're getting more skills, getting ready for your big break or you will look around and discover you are where you want to be.

I view this a great advice when I reach a plateau. If i am stuck at the same weight or I am not feeling like I am making progress I will need to look around and see where I am and discover where I am.

Red Flaggggggg Entry

This week starting on Sunday I have spent about nine and a half hours on my project if you add up class meetings, hands on work, and research. The hands on work I have done this week has been working out and eating lots of food. The research I did this week was reading, lots of reading. I kept reading Natural Bodybuilding and spent lots of time on the internet reading, mostly on bodybuilding.com.

I have yet to meet with the amazing Mr. Powers but my meeting is set for Tomorrow 7th period.

I now have three journal entries. My entries so far include planning and reflecting but no recording activity.  I will soon have a new entry up sometime tomorrow with more of recording activity and reelecting.

Yes I was in class this week. yes I have had my journal and yes I have been using it.

I think my fulfillment of the requirements have been good this week. I am already over the mimimum hour requirement and will be adding lots more and I have been doing plenty of research so far.

My plans for next week are to keep the same workout schedule and get my interview done with someone and do my first recording of my progress and post that.

Slow going

I can admit that the magnitude of this project is a lot bigger than I was expecting. Not only do I need to workout but I need to get research materials, schedule interviews, and come up with ways to make my project easier and more efficient. I have gotten a couple new books from the library Natural Bodybuilding by John Hanson and Bodybuilding 201: Everything you need to take your body to the next level by Robert Wolff Ph. D. and started reading them. So far I am about halfway through Natural Bodybuilding and it is very interesting. I have gotten a couple new techniques and ideas that I have started to implement. For example on Friday I did a new squat workout that I got from the book that was 10 sets of 5 reps all at 365 pounds and it was not easy thats for sure. It's hard to keep making process but I think the key is to just try and get a little done each day so I won't be backed up and have to get everything done all at once. My next project step has to be to get possible interviewees and start asking if the can help. There aren't many people that I know that would be very helpful for this but right now I'm thinking Mr,. Asklar is my best bet so I will have to ask him as soon as possible. The good thing about this project is that I am enjoying it so it doesn't really feel like work which is very helpful to me actually doing it.

Powers's patented rules for prominence

I had my first meeting with the Powers the Hun on Friday and he gave me the first five rules to success as written by Jarett Powers himself.

#1: Good is the enemy of great. If you settle for good you will never be great.

This is a great rule and really rings true. You can put in the work to be good and stop once you have gotten there and never try and achieve more or you can put everything you have into what you want to do and become great producing things even you never thought you could.

#2: Excellence is achieved only when you work to your maximum potential to do any less is to allow mediocrity to take place.

This is very true for my project. I can get what I want if I put in maximum effort if I don't put in maximum effort then I am concisely choosing to be mediocre.

#3: Somewhere out there he is training and when you meet he will win and you will lose.

This one doesn't really relate to my project because mine is only reliant on me but it is a good life lesson because it tells you that no matter how hard you work there will always be someone who is better than you so you can't expect to be the best unless you dedicate your entire existence to one thing.

#4: Crap is crap

"You can't take a turd roll it in powered sugar and call it a jelly doughnut" Jarett Danger Powers

#5: There are two types of people in the world people that do and people who spend all of their time saying why they can't.

This one is my favorite of the five. You can achieve what you want through hard work and determination or you can sit around saying how much you want to but there isn't enough time or coming up with excuses. If this kind of person put this much effort into their goals they would be done in no time.


This is the first set of rules given to me so every week after my meetings I will post the five newest rules.

Hardest Part

Over the last few days I have realized what the hardest part of this project will be, its not working out five or six times a week and its not running which I hate but it will be eating healthy. I woke up this morning out of eggs and milk which are two of the biggest staples in my breakfast diet, they are great sources of protein and I just love both. I had to improvise and have some oatmeal, two leftover eggs, and a can of tuna but  I realized that healthy food may not always be easy to find or that if I am hungry and there is junky food around that I shouldn't eat it just for the sake of filling up. If i wait a half an hour until I get home or somewhere I can get better food it will be better for me and I won't feel bad about it later.Another thing that makes this hard is that I am a broke high school student so when I am out with friends and they are hungry and want to stop at Mcdonalds sometimes I can't afford to go to a better place like subway to get a good meal in.Ultimately though it is up to me and the choices I make, I will start having to  have more willpower and a better understanding of food and how the body processes it in order to make the best possible choices if I am indeed forced to go to a place like Mcdonalds for a meal.

Two week plan

This is the plan for my first two weeks.

Monday 2/7- I needed to find a mentor. BLAM done. The great Jarett Powers is my mentor for the semester. Set up mentor meetings. POW got it. Thursdays second period. Workout. SHAKARAMA did it.

Tuesday 2/8- I need to find an outside source to interview that is not J.Pow, right now i'm thinking about Mr. Asklar or Norm Dessua. Gotta lift also.

Wednesday 2/9- 1. Lift 2. Find research resource thats not in my bib, library possibly?

Thursday 2/10- Need to lift Chest and tri day also first mentor meeting with the sultan of AP's Mr Powers

Friday 2/11- Big lift Fridays are always marathon sessions because I really have nothing better to do on Fridays other than lift for 2 and a half hours.

Saturday 2/12- Lift or day off not sure yet gotta figure that out. If meeting is not already set up make sure I do that

Sunday 2/12- Day off have to stay away from junk food more than usual because I'm not lifting. First weekly weigh in body fat measurement and first before pictures.

Monday 2/13- Chest day. Gotta start the week of right with a good lift. I have to start doing cardio the fats not going to come of just by lifting alone.

Tuesday 2/14 second favorite day of the week back day. Cardio. Possible interview day

Wednesday 2/15-  Lift. Cardio. Read. Possible interview day

Thursday 2/16- Need to have my interview done by today. Lift/cardio read when I get home. Another meeting with the kingpin of the school Mr. Powers

Friday 2/17- Best day of the week all night lift then home to eat and read. Hopefully I will get a new book

Saturday 2/18- Again possible lift if not gotta clean up the diet even more. Run at home.

Sunday 2/18- Weigh in and BF measurement. Short run.

First entry 2/7/11

Today was the official first day of my Wise project. While this was the first official day I continued to follow the workout plan I designed for myself a little over a month ago. Today after school I went in to the gym, Monday is chest and tri's, and put in the work necessary for success. My lift today looked like this. Flat barbell bench press 3 sets of 8 reps, decline dumbbell press 4x12, 4 or 5 different styles of push ups all of 25 reps. For triceps I started off with skull crushers for 3 of 8 then I did 2 sets of 21's, the three exercises I did were overhead extensions, narrow grip press and half narrow press, after that I did two sets of seated behind the head extensions using a ladder of 20-30-40 reps. After chest and tri's were done I did some light abs and was finished I went back into the locker room had my usual 50 gram protein shake and headed home. Today was an alright lift nothing special, it was just kind of lacking that X factor that a really great lift has and makes you feel like the king of the world. But today was solid and I should get some gains from it. Tomorrow is back and biceps or legs and shoulders. I typically go Monday and Thursday chest and tri's, Tuesday Friday back and Bi's, Wednesday Saturday Legs and shoulders but I'm thinking about switching that up so that I can get my leg days all done during the week so I wouldn't have to train legs at a gym that's not the high school. I want to do that because leg day is my favorite day and I like to go all out and its a little weird screaming YEAH BUDDY LIGHT WEIGHT at the top of my lungs at the Y. If i did switch it up I think I would go Mon Thurs Chest, Tues Fri legs, and Wed Sat back or combine legs and back to Friday and just have a really long lift Fridays.