I'M BACK

I'm back, its been a long time...LONG time since my last post. Hopefully I'll be getting post out on a regular bases. Got a few new toys since my last post, new iMac computer and a Go-Pro Camera Black Edition.   It should make blogging a lot more fun. 

I’ve been spending a lot of my free time in the gym lately 

but the weather is warm now and time to dust off the old bike and get some rides in

and of course video taping and snapping photos along the way. I’ve done a complete remodel of the Compound (story soon) not to mention I’ve been to a bunch of Diner, Drive-in and Dives, yes lots of photos of all of them and stories to follow. 

That being said, stay tuned till next time.

BIG AL

I’m all Jacked up!!!

I’m not kidding I really am Jacked up, just started a new bodybuilding supplement. Its name you ask? JACK3D 

A buddy of mine you might remember him from one of my hiking blogs “Mitch (is that a buger on that rock) Hembree”

mentions he was on his third jar of Jack3d and thought I might like it.

After sending me the link from my favorite mail order supplement company Bodybuilding.com 

I did not hesitate to order it…three days later it was sitting at my front door.

What is jack3d you ask? Well as I found out this morning in the gym, it a pretty damn good product.

Here is the break down per its own website:


“USPLabs Jack3d may promote the desire to lift more weight, pump out more reps and have crazy lasting energy, along with sick muscle-engorging pumps.The amount of energy and focus is perfect, pumps and vascularity will be out of control, but most importantly you may feel great throughout your entire workout”


Well all I can say about that is yes, yes and yes!!! I’ve onlyl used this product one time and have to say it lived up to all the hype, my energy level went through the roof, my workout was strong and my cardio after was unbelievable. Going to be working arms in the morning and I have to say I can’t wait to give it a try on arm day should be a blast.


So simple to use, just mix a scoop or two with a little water and drink about 40 minutes before your workout…that’s it your done! Don’t get me wrong it does not give you the same kind of rush like the old Ephedrine products (now banned in the U.S.) This product comes on a little slower but you end up with the same results…here is the breakdown on what’s in the product:


Jack3d Formula Breakdown


Schizandrol A


Schizadra has been suggested to promote physical force.* In essence, it may be able to provide a stimulating effect to the body and mind.*


Methylxanthines (Caffeine)


Both of these compounds belong to the family of methylxanthine compounds. They are both able to stimulate the CNS, while also stimulating contractility of skeletal muscle directly and this may partially be due to the release of catecholamines such as norepinephrine.* Caffeine also has the benefit of fighting fatigue and drowsiness; increasing alertness and improving intellectual efforts along with producing euphoria or a sense of well-being in some cases.*


Beta-Alanine


Carnosine is an extremely important dipeptide that is generally present in rather high concentrations in skeletal muscle, though it is also found in nervous tissue and other excitable tissues as well. It is so important because it acts as a buffer of sorts, preventing the increase of acidity or Hydrogen ion accumulation in skeletal muscle; something which is thought to contribute to the fatiguing of muscles.


Furthermore, by increasing carnosine levels, power output may be increased as well.* In short, it may improve power output, while also delaying fatigue; supporting the ability to lift more explosively and for longer periods.*


Creatine Monohydrate


While we may negate the increase in Hydrogen ion levels in skeletal muscle by increasing carnosine levels, we still must overcome one more obstacle in order to allow us to prevent fatigue while working out. In this case, we must use a compound which can ultimately increase the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels in muscle. ATP, as we all know, is a high energy nucleotide which acts as the major energy carrying molecule in our bodies.


Consequently, muscle fatigue is also related to energy loss in skeletal muscle, specifically, ATP being converted to adenosine diphosphate (ADP). In effect, one phosphate group is lost and must be replenished in order for the muscle cell to continue on working.


By supplementing with creatine, we are able to increase the levels of phosphocreatine in muscle.* Phosphocreatine is a high energy buffering compound which is able to donate a phosphate group to ADP, allowing the formation of ATP once again.


In short, we can reduce fatigue from occurring by increasing phosphocreatine levels, which in turn will allow for the regeneration of ATP from ADP leading to greatly reduced physical and muscular exhaustion.*






Container Size: 250 Grams


Serving Size: 1 Scoop


Servings Per Container: 45



The price…$ 26.99 per container, not bad for 45 serving. I went with Lemon Lime


But it also comes in Grape Bubblegum and Tropical Fruit Punch


I’ll give a better report after arm day training in the morning.

Till next time


Big Al

Day ten Flirting with Disaster

What a title…Ha-ha. I came up with it for two reasons; Reason One, I’ve been pretty bad on my diet the last two days. You know how it is once you go off its really hard to get back on…woke up to a body weight of 291LB. Monday will be a better day, as I am still highly motivated. I’m also considering adding another test to my experiment; I think I need another goal. I was thinking of maybe trying to get my arms back up to size, I have not measured them in quite awhile. At my best I was over 20 inches but never made it to a 21 inch arm. I think a 21 inch arm goal is still possible even at my age…I’d like to give it one more shot…Hmmm I think I’ll measured up in the morning to see where I stand.

Reason two; today I started training a co-worker Big David on how to ride a motorcycle.

Last week we started by printing out the driver license study guide, so this week sometime David can go get his learners permit. We met at the mall today around 2:00pm to let him get in a little practice. David started a little slow,

Yep, only one car in the whole parking lot and David is heading right at it....NOOO!!!!

but it was not long before he was zooming all around the parking lot in first gear.

After awhile we worked on shifting into second and then downshifting again. I got to admit he did great. We also did a lot of starting and stopping along with how to keep the turns tight when turning out into traffic.

Once he gets his permit we will be able to hit the open streets for more training. Incase you are wondering why I think this is flirting with disaster…Well he is learning ON MY BIKE…scary. Oh yea in case your also wondering why David is NOT wearing a helmet…well one was offered to him and he denied it…that’s his first mistake…and it could be a painful one…Ouch!!!

Ride on David!!

Until next time
Big Al

NOTE: I’m going to start adding this note to each of my blog post until the 56 DAY FITNESS COUNTDOWN is over…I’m doing this incase some new readers come on and wonder what the heck is going on…if your lost look to the top left hand corner of the blog page and click on “THE START” under the 56 DAY FITNESS COUNTDOWN (LINKS)…it will explain what’s going or just use it to look at a post you might have missed…oh yea my weight loss will be posted daily just above that…hope this helps.

Day seven

Woke up this morning 289lb…AGAIN!!! That’s three days in a row…even after my post yesterday; I got to admit it still bugs me. Ha-ha.

Here’s what I think happen, around 4 or 5 days ago I worked-out my back and shoulders

(large body part, that hold a lot of water) Wednesday I worked legs for the first time in years (sore today, very sore) I think the legs is what is causing me not to lose today. I’m going to the gym tonight and work chest, I hope by Saturday most of the soreness will be over….we’ll see.

To change the subject, as you may remember from a few post back I’m in the middle of a kitchen remodel. Well I’ve been waiting on my new microwave…its here…

Yea, I think? It’s the over the stove type so I think I am going to have to cut my cabinet to make it fit…may be a tough job. Post coming soon.
More later
Big Al

NOTE: I’m going to start adding this note to each of my blog post until the 56 DAY FITNESS COUNTDOWN is over…I’m doing this incase some new readers come on and wonder what the heck is going on…if your lost look to the top left hand corner of the blog page and click on “THE START” under the 56 DAY FITNESS COUNTDOWN (LINKS)…it will explain what’s going or just use it to look at a post you might have missed…oh yea my weight loss will be posted daily just above that…hope this helps.

DAY SIX

289 LB THIS MORNING. Still eating right…no cheats.

Thought I would take this post to answer a comment left on my last post. One that is from an online buddy FITCETERA (Great site, take a look when you get a chance, tell her Big Al said HELLO)
http://katschisfitcetera.blogspot.com/
anyway she said she was glad I mention how your body holds water after starting a new workout. I mention this mainly because when my family and I owned BODY FLEX FITNESS CENTER (for 17 years) one of the biggest complaints came from the ladies (sorry girls) that I would start on a new workout program. They would come in all excited about getting in shape, starting their diets and would workout with weights like crazy…only to wake up gaining 2 to 10 pounds in one day…Ouch!!! Trust me they would let me know the next day. It’s very hard to explain to them while they are depriving themselves of their favorite food and working out like mad why they are gaining weight. It’s really just a simple as your body is trying to repair itself. The best thing to remember is as long as your muscles are sore you will be holding water. As the soreness goes away, so will the water…don’t panic and stick with it, this should only take a few days, a week at the most.

She also commented that I did not look like I weighed 289 lb (thanks for that. Ha-ha) and I must be tall…well I don’t call my blog Big Als Compound for nothing. I am tall by most people standers 6’ 5”, truth is at the height of my weight lifting days I could walk around at a body weight of 290 lb and not hate myself to much. I still carry more than average amount of muscle mass (cover with fat...gross) on my body so I think this aids to the illusion of being lighter than I am. I guess I need to measure in just to help keep track. 290 lb for me right now is just to much…I’m thinking of the 265 lb range sounds good to me…I call this my fighting weight…why I’ll never know…ok truth is I do know, but I’ll most likely keep it to myself. Ha-ha.
Until next time
Big Al

NOTE: I’m going to start adding this note to each of my blog post until the 56 DAY FITNESS COUNTDOWN is over…I’m doing this incase some new readers come on and wonder what the heck is going on…if your lost look to the top left hand corner of the blog page and click on “THE START” under the 56 DAY FITNESS COUNTDOWN (LINKS)…it will explain what’s going or just use it to look at a post you might have missed…oh yea my weight loss will be posted daily just above that…hope this helps.

Day 5 plus Banana tree massacre

Well it’s that time of the year…time for the banana trees to DIE!!! You have heard of the Texas chainsaw massacre…well now you’re going to hear the story about the Mississippi chainsaw banana tree massacre…

Scary stuff. Ha-ha.

I used a day of vacation Monday and decided it was time to cut down the banana trees (they die every winter and grow back bigger in the summer) I thought I would dedicate one hour of my day removing the tree…wrong!!! It end up taking me 3 or 4 hours of very hard work…banana trees are strange, very easy to cut down I used and old rusty knife

that my grandfather and I built when I was only 6 or 7 years old. My grandfather and I built many of knives over the years out of every kind of steel you can image. Truth is if we found a piece of metal laying around we made a knife out of it…why I may never know anyway for some reason I kept this knife for all these years (priceless) ok as I was saying the trees cut down real easy, but they are full of water, this makes them very heavy. That’s where the chainsaw came in

I used it to cut the 19 trees (that’s right I said 19 trees) into one foot size.

That’s where the problem comes in…Hmm 19 trees 20 to 25 feet tall divided by one foot…that’s a lot of tree parts laying on the ground plus they are in the pool area,

this means I had to throw all the part over the fence then go around and carry each part ONE BY ONE to the woods…

Ouch my back hurts just thinking about it. Ha-ha (not funny at the time) Well job well done, one thing I can check off my list of things needing to be done around the compound.

Well woke up this morning at a body weight Of 289 LB…Ouch!!! WRONG WAY BIG AL. ha-ha. Ok why all the humor about gaining weight, you ask?…well its simple…No, no I did not cheat yesterday, I was on my best behavior. Let’s just say being in the gym business for 17 years has taught me a few things. I know my body pretty well, I’m holding a ton of water due to my new workouts, and my body hurts from head to toe…very sore muscles. Its just the body trying to repair itself, sucking up all the water it can…so my weight lose may look kind of bad for a day or two…I’ll try not to panic…Ha-ha.

Big Al

NOTE: I’m going to start adding this note to each of my blog post until the 56 DAY FITNESS COUNTDOWN is over…I’m doing this incase some new readers come on and wonder what the heck is going on…if your lost look to the top left hand corner of the blog page and click on “THE START” under the 56 DAY FITNESS COUNTDOWN (LINKS)…it will explain what’s going or just use it to look at a post you might have missed…oh yea my weight loss will be posted daily just above that…hope this helps.

56 DAY FITNESS COUNTDOWN

I’m back!!! Yea, yea, I know you missed me.



Ha-ha. First let me say I’m sorry for letting everyone down on the thirty day body experiment…I got to admit I went about it all wrong…last time I strayed far away from the thing I love…Weightlifting.




Big mistake…it’s been around a year since I’ve really been in a gym, even my own gym at the compound…time to start moving some iron around again.

I’m trying to come up with some ideas to make my fitness adventure more interesting to my readers. Last time (around a year ago) I wrote about bodybuilding on my blog I got a LOT of email questions about working out (I do have a lot of knowledge in this area…just have not used it much lately) my thinking

was maybe doing a lot more photos of the workouts, food prep, along with day to day fitness stuff. I’m looking into getting another video camera to do some video feeds. Looking for a cheap camera that uses a data stick for easy of loading to my computer; I need a cheap one as I want to carry it on my fishing, hiking and motorcycle trips, where damage is sure to happen…


Ha-ha.

Why the 56 day fitness countdown? Its time to get in shape. Why 56 days? Well two reasons, ONE, I sucked so badly at the 30 day body experiment couple of months ago,




that I wanted to punish myself, with a longer amount of days. TWO, there are 56 days left until the new year, and nothing makes me happier than being in decent shape at the start of a new year.

As with last time I will be posting my body weight daily on the upper left hand side of my blogs home page. I think this time I will leave my blood sugar readings off, don’t really see how blood sugar is much of an interest to the readers (if you would like to me to track it let me know, I’ll add it)

Anyway I started today…and will have a post ready for tomorrow…today has already started me off with many test of my will power…victory will be mine!!! STARTING WEIGHT 295LB.
Big Al

I cheated yesterday

I cheated yesterday…

I’m a bad boy…no, no not that kind of cheat, the other kind for you guys and girls that have not been following the 30 day body experiment. Let me tell you when I say cheat…I mean cheat…Let me start my confession. Breakfast…coffee and one slice bread with cheese (it was at least wheat toast. Ha-ha) work mid morning, bag of cheese popcorn with a slim Jim, lunch, large slice of pizza

with chips…and Dinner… homemade tacos

with nachos…

more than I can count.

Why the cheat…quite frankly…I’m pissed off at myself!!!

(Excuse my French) why pissed off you ask? Well a lot of things… One, here I am on day 8 of a thirty day experiment and I have given about 5% effort on my diet and training. I have been taking the easy route and have managed to drop pounds but have not given an honest effort. Two, I changed my diet, instead of sticking to a diet that I know works. Three, tried to change my workout to more of an aerobic type workout instead of a bodybuilding workout like I enjoy doing (thus not working out at all). Four, the biggest…I’ve let my work totally run my life, by letting it stress me out. Life is way to short for that.

The change WILL HAPPEN TODAY, I am very sorry to my readers and myself for my passed performance, one of my goals of the experiment was to help inspire others with their workouts NOT to show them the easy route and then quit…

Tune in to my next post…I promise you WILL SEE A CHANGE…
BIG AL

Yesterday, Day One of the Body Experiment

Yesterday, day one of the Body Experiment…Hmmm looks like I was on the right track if you look at the numbers (see chart top left hand side of this blog home page) dropped 3 pounds blood sugar went from 227 to 160…Wow what a start, RIGHT?...WRONG!!! Truth is I did almost everything wrong yesterday, I don’t want to kid myself into thinking I did anything right, here’s why.

FIRST the diet, woke up had a cup of coffee, no breakfast did not eat another bite of food until lunch. Lunch went ok tuna on whole wheat…then back to work, not another bite till I got home around 5:00pm. I was starving…walked in and my baby girl Allison was heating up some left over spaghetti

for her dinner…so in my starving state I grabbed a fork and had a bite or two or three or four….OUCH!!! My guess is that in a minute or so while still standing in my work clothes, I put away at least 500 to 800 calories…these are the kind of sneaky calories that kill a diet…COME ON NOW…you know what I’m talking about…the kind calories that make you lie

to your friends the next day when you say all I had to eat was a tuna sandwich…truth is you don’t even mean to lie it just that its not a sit down kind of meal, so it does not count…RIGHT! WRONG!!! It counts…and if you are like most people you do this two or three times a day without realizing how many unwanted calories you take in, in just minutes…Quch!! It can be thousands. Ok enough about that, after the spaghetti Opps…

My baby girl volunteered to cook me 3 scrambled eggs and some sausage for dinner.

(I know, I know, sounds strange but I’ll get more into my diet in the next few days…and NO it’s not the No-carbohydrate diet)

SECOND: the exercise…

are should I say the lack of…unless you count sitting (laying) in my chair watching TV exercise…Hmmm sounds good, but trust me it does not work…I’ve tried. Ha-ha. I did NONE yesterday. Second Ouch, of the day.

Well to say the least I was very much unprepared yesterday…but today WILL be a better day you will see. Oh yea I forgot to mention the wife went grocery shopping last night (thanks honey) so the house is now full of GOOD things to eat

along with the BAD.

MORE TO COME

BIG AL

90 Day Body Experiment

Time to try something new…I’m getting kind of bored with life again. No, no everything is alright it’s just…that’s it…it’s just alright, time for a change again. I find myself falling back into some really bad habits again (food related) to much fast foods, diet drinks, and just bad eating in general. So far so good on my blood sugar, it is still staying under 120 (it was 111 this morning) on the most part (I still check it daily) and I am still off all medication. I decided I needed a good push to try and get myself out of this rut. I would love to see my blood sugar under 100 without meds. (That’s my goal)

THE PLAN:

Starting Saturday May 9, 2009 through Thursday August 6, 2009 (90 DAYS) I am going to try and clean my system out, by following a super strict diet, killing myself in the gym and around the house. Then as a gauge of my success, Monday I am going to make an appointment with my doctor to have full blood work done around the ending date to see how I did. I’ll post the results once I’m done.

THE DIET:

First step, cut out ALL soft drinks (diet too) and coffee, next is the biggie…no fast food. I know your asking yourself why no diet drinks and no healthy foods that you can now get at most fast food places…grilled chicken, salads and fruit. It's my belief that diet drinks are gateway drugs (yea I consider food a drug) as well as stopping by fast food places to get a salad. Here is an example; you stop by your local fast food place to get a salad with low-fat dressing and a diet coke. It’s good,but the next time you go, you decided I bet it would taste better with regular dressing…then the next time you add an order of fries and a real coke and so on and so on…well you get my point.

I plan on keeping my diet simple, everything grilled or raw, chicken, fruits, vegetables, whole wheat bread (9 grain) and protein powder (six to eight meals a day) more on the diet in later post. Wish me luck I’m going to need it…ha-ha.

Back injury

Sometimes you should just know better, that is exactly what I was thinking when I hurt myself. Ok here is my story, just a short recap. I ran a fitness center for 18 years where I preached almost daily the importantace of complete body workouts. Guys would come into the gym and only want to work their upper bodies…

(Don’t laugh ladies) you ladies were just as bad,

you would only want to work your lower bodies. Well this seem like a good idea at first, just work on my problem areas or beach muscles and everything will be alright…WRONG!!!

This is where my story comes in; as I mention a few blogs back I let myself get out of shape and am now making my comeback. I started back at the gym a few months ago on my lunch hour with two of my buddies (co-workers).

The problem with this is I only have around 40 minutes to workout. So I decided to work arms, chest, abs, mostly upper body. I did this mainly due to time, back and legs just take too long to work and I have to admit I just hate to work shoulders. This worked great at first as I was weak as a kitten.

(a very small kitten)

but as the months went on I began to get my strength back. (Hamster power)

It happen on last Wednesday “chest day”

I only work chest one day a week, once was enough this week…Ha-ha. I had a little extra time this day so I decided to go a little heaver than normal, so I started on the free weight incline machine and went up to 405 lb on my last set…no problem. Then I moved on to flat bench dumbbell press, I worked my way up to the 110 lb dumbbells on my last set, I sat on the end of the bench with both dumbbells balanced on my thighs, and then I just lay back with them and start pressing them. For some reason this time when I laid on the bench I landed kind of crocked and had to wiggle a little to get straight on the bench before I started pressing the dumbbells. That’s all it took my back was hurt and I did not know it yet, I finished my set and racked the dumbbells , then I felt a slight strain in my back but not enough to not to finish my workout…and I did.

Well when I got home that night I whined a little to the wife that I hurt my back and kind of flipped flopped around in bed that night but woke up Thursday with only the slightest pain. By the time I got to work the pain was gone. Well until I heard my ex-boss calling my name “tiny…tiny” yea he calls me tiny, it was Mr. Duckworth needing me to help him move his office future around.

So I grab the end of this small desk and he grabbed the other side,

I was thinking it was around thirty pounds…WRONG!! More like 300 hundred as I picked up I felt it my back popped, ouch!!!! But I manned up and moved the table, then was asked to move a big desk…so I did then I limped back to my desk, hurt…very hurt. I survived the rest of the day at work before getting home and taking some pain pills I had left over from my last trip to the doctor. Hmmmm pain pills….goooood.

Well I’ve babied my back all weekend long and it feels much better now.

All this said to get to the point of this story that you must work your entire body to grow up and be strong and healthy. What happens is as you get stronger, the one thing the weights (dumbbells) look for in the body is the weak link. In my case, it was my back that was the weak link. It is a lot like that old saying “a team is only as good as its weak link”. From now on start thinking of your body as a team, and train everything just the same so there will be no more weak links.

In the morning I am starting back at the gym at 5:30am so I can get a hour and half workout in before work and plan on still going three days a week at lunch with my buddies just to work abs and calves. I guess I need to go cook now and get everything packed, 5:30am comes early. I’ll keep you updated on my progress.