It has been far too long since I've updated this. A lot of things have been slipping lately. Mostly because of school, but it's also just a simple lack of discipline. I recently picked up a heavy resistance band, it's a pretty neat tool. I find it's good for warming up, and just an interesting way to hit the muscles. I'd say I've not improved much since my last post, but I have not atrophied much either. I'm having the most trouble getting out of bed on time (mostly because I'm going to bed late.) but as always, I'm working on it.

Oh, look. A blog entry about how much a teenager hates his school and work.

Bleah.
I don't even care enough to write about it. I'm just too drained right now. Let's just say the program I'm in is not very organized.

And, I am really sucking at painting the figure right now.

On the bright side.

Had a good workout yesterday. I mostly focused on my lats but got a few sets for my shoulders in as well.

I really want to focus on my back, abs, and chest (in that order). I have fairly good definition, and have had definite gains in size and strength, but not as much mass as I'd like.

I still have yet to pick up some protein powder, but I'm not doing to bad without it.

School is going okay. I'm a little rusty with the painting, but it's coming back. This looks like the hardest semester yet. Mostly because of our 'Studio' class.

I've been using the "Perfect Pullup" system for a little while now (almost a month?) and seen significant gains in strength and size in my lats and back. Now I've been looking at the "Perfect Pushups". The product looks solid, is inexpensive (about $40) and I think I might pick it up.

Any thoughts?

A.

I want to really hit my abs and be able to do those "castro's" properly. (watch his workout, it's awesome.)

I'm also trying to get more comfortable on the bar, holding my own weight for extended periods, etc.
It's difficult because of my long arms but that in itself is an advantage. I just need to keep the right intensity.
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Also on the pull up bar, I'm trying to really isolate my serratus anterior. I'm not really comfortable lifting weights over my head, so I don't do dumbbell pullovers. (I don't even like doing skull crushers.)

Hmmm.... Yeah.

I really want to continue to improve my nutrition (and finances) while attending school.
It's not easy. The school's food is not the healthiest and quite expensive.

Any suggestions?

Aside from that, it's going well so far. My course load is pretty light so I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get my workouts in.

I'm currently really hitting the back hard (pull ups) but I want to work up to those 'castro hanging crunches' but I'm finding it hard to hang on the bar long enough to get those abs burning.

I want to start updating more as well.

A.

I just got the Perfect pull up door frame pull up system (?). I was very impressed with the quality of the product and the versatility of how many exercises you can do on it. (You can already do tons of stuff on a normal bar but this kicks it up a notch.)
Installation was fairly simple although there is some assembly and tools required. (Drill, measuring tape.)
It also comes with a semi custom workout program, and three basic exercises. I'm not used to the "Perfect" handles yet, but they are more difficult to use then just a bar.

On Saturday I need to run 3 miles as fast as I possibly can. I was wondering if taking Glutamine tonight and tomorrow night will help my running. I figure that my Glutamine levels are low because I've been required to stand for at least 5-6 hours every day since monday, and yesterday I probably was standing 10 hours (the standing is because I have band practice 9am-5pm which is a lot of marching and standing plus having to go to work which is all on my feet).

30 minutes.

30 minutes a day. Or 30 minutes every second day. That's all it takes. That is my goal......

Just got back from our weekly Boxing/MMA group. Good fun, good exercise. The middle of my back around my shoulder blades is a little sore but, I stretched and warmed up so I should be fine. (It does not feel serious.)

It's not an official club or anything. Just a group of guys (and a couple girls) who get together to learn new techniques.

I enjoy it, I just wish I had a little more to bring to the table. (Skill wise.)

I might do my arms tonight. I think I'll stay away from my shoulders and back though.

I mentioned briefly in my previous entry my nasty habit of working out late at night. It was working for me for a while but life caught up with me and I just tired myself out. I don't think I was getting the intensity I should have or even a complete workout. I would usually (on a good day) stretch, workout unrelated body parts (Biceps, Traps, chest, legs, calves, sometimes with little rest or supersets) and the next day if it was intense enough I could feel it in my arms but not much else. I'm terrible at eating breakfast, and sometimes skip it entirely.

Alright. First off, I have not had a decent workout in about 3 weeks and I have the nasty habit of working out at night! (11pm ish!!) I really do want to improve and get stronger I'm just having a little trouble with my discipline right now.

I hope by writing this down it will help motivate me.

Now that that's out of the way let me formally introduce myself.

My name is Aaron and I truly do love working out. I also love drawing, painting, and playing video games.

Today was a pretty funny day. It was my first day going back to real running after a while of just running a little whenever I felt like it. So, I set off on a 3 mile run and about 2 - 2.5 miles in it started raining - no big deal, right? The cool water felt good. But then, it started hailing! haha...pretty big chunks of ice. So there I was, running down the road with ice chunks hitting me. I wasn't too far from completing my run so I finished it up and got inside.

So I'm beginning a new training split today.... I'm a lean gainer and have always followed the focused muscle once per week routine.... with little results! I'm afraid I may have been over training all these years because of my bodytype? My arms and legs are particularly skinny.... Anyway, Im now doing a 4 day split, upper body 2 per week and lower body twice per week 1 heavy and 1 light session for each. Gonna always try and crack down on my nutrition program to make it fair. I'll keep posting the results....

There is a really great show that my friend showed me that has been coming on the discovery channel everey sunday (and saturdays for encores). Its about how the human body can be pushed to extremes and some other cool stuff...if you're interested heres the link: http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/human-body/human-body.html

and heres the link for the tv listings for the show: http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=1.14617.25389.318...