yoVWmon’s Milestone

[yovwmon]

Today is a great day; I just ran the entire five-mile trail in Sand Run Metro Park for the first time! This is something I have always wanted to do and never thought I’d accomplish.

Hello everyone, and welcome to yoVWmon’s Milestone!

About me:
My name is Adam Labin, aka yoVWmon. The name yoVWmon was adopted when I was heavy into Volkswagen tuning, it means, yo-I’m-a-Volkswagen-man. I am 30, married for two years, and the father of a beautiful nine-month-old girl. The fitness world has always appealed to me; throughout my teenage years I didn’t have the opportunity to play sports and workout, I wanted to work because I liked driving a car.

Several months before I found this forum I began working-out. I was 27 years old, a hefty 233lbs, and probably 40% BF or more. (I was in trouble!) My whole life I have ate horrible foods and consumed more pop that I could ever imagine. I also smoked cigarettes for twelve years and got no physical activity. I joined the JP Forums in March of 2005, at that time I was focused on fat loss for my upcoming beach wedding. With the help of the people here I was able to loose 37lbs and get down to 196lbs.

The last two years have been a roller coaster; all these life-changing events put a real dent in my fitness agenda. After my wedding I lost my workout partner but kept my motivation. I wanted to put on some muscle, so I began a bulk (Not knowing what I was doing.) and ended up putting on about 10lbs or so. I continued to lift for the next couple months until my gym pass expired and then the real trouble started. My wife was pregnant, her school went bankrupt, and we had no money. Unfortunately the gym pass wasn’t at the top of the list at that time. It was now July 2006, and with our lack of funds - I was lacking motivation. The next five - six months I didn’t train, and their wasn’t a whole lot I could do to prevent it.

December 2006, I came across a local workout facility that helps new families by providing a gym-pass based on income. This was the new flame, the moment I had been waiting for, a milestone! January 2007, I was back, and I hit the weights hard, apparently too hard, while doing deadlifts I was approached by a trainer in the facility. He said I was being too loud, and I may crack the weights. Two days later I felt it - right in my lower back,,, when this trainer approached me, he did it while I was in a set, I lost my concentration and the rest was history. For the next couple months I tried to workout the pain on my own but it wasn’t happening. In June I began seeing a PT, since then I have came a very long way. My muscular balance has gotten better, I have dropped from 223.5 to 188.5, I am strong as hell, more flexible than I have ever been, and I can run five miles!

Currently I am focused on a cut for the beach in September, I have four weeks from today to get to 12%BF (Hopefully), currently in the high 15%’s. I am searching for a bulking program for when I return from the beach, I’m not as ripped as I want to be at this weight.

Motivational quotes to thrive on:
- “I’m the guy that always sat back with a cigarette in one hand and a doughnut in the other saying I wish I had a body like that, well now it’s time and I’m going to make this shit happen.” - yoVWmon

- “Let the workout be your reward and the physical rewards will follow.” – Walsh

- “That was a great thing, to put on that cape and put on that helmet, and not think, Shit, I should have trained more. Instead, I was standing there feeling like a lion” – 300 Star Gerald Butler

Current goals (Before October 2007):
- Run the whole San Run Trail, (accomplished today!)
- Get to 12%BF by September 16th 2007

Short-term goals (Within 2007):
- Run a 5K for the first time – Thinking the Turkey Run Thanksgiving Day.
- Find the ultimate bulking Program
- Get my lifting partner (Jeff) back.

Long-term goals (Within the next year.)
- Stay committed, if you don’t see me here for a week email my ass and get me in check. yovwmon@yahoo.com
- Pack on 15-20lbs of muscle
- Run a few races next season
- Get down to 10%BF for next summers beach trip.

Within the next couple weeks I will define my new training program, post pictures, and stats.

My Fitday Log à http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/P ublicJournals.html?Owner=yovwm on

Thanks for reading!
- Adam

[missjane]

Hi Adam!

I'm not too far from Sand Run! I live in Stow, near Blossom!

Congrats!!

[yovwmon]

Hi MissJane, I live in the Highland Square section of Akron but plan to move to the Falls, Stow or Hudson in the coming years. (We don’t want Mia in the Akron schools!) I usually make it out to Sand Run about twice a week for a short run. It’s nice to know I'm not the only one in the area on the forums here.

Today:
I have had a very clean day of eating. I checked in this morning at 192lbs, which is the lowest yet after any weekend in the last three months. I imagine that I will probably hit 187 or lower at some point this week.

My training today also went pretty well, even though it was one of those days where I didn’t feel like being there, I didn’t have any energy, and I barely made it through. I have a friend (Jason) that always says it’s days like this that get you the big gains, he may be right, who knows. I am currently following my own program, it consist of combo movements combined into supersets. Other than NROL this is the first time I have done this type of work, and it really gets the ass kick on. When deciding what I will do I take into account several things, opposing muscle groups, upper vs lower body, and the back injury.

Currently I am about 90% on the back injury, however every time I try and do rotational movements or dealifts I get into trouble, and it doesn't matter how light the weight is. In addition, I am having a little cramp in my right foot just below the ankle, nothing really bad but it probably came from the big run on Saturday. Other than that I wanted to mention that the run on Saturday left my upper body feeling more sore than my lower body, I was real achy on Sunday.

Originally Posted by missjane

Hi Adam!

Originally Posted by missjane

I'm not too far from Sand Run! I live in Stow, near Blossom!

Congrats!!

[Mahler]

Adam,
I noticed the new log and thought I'd pop in to wish you well. You are off to a damned good start with that 5 mile run. Way to go.

[yovwmon]

Mahler, believe it’s John right? Thanks for poppin in, and the words of encouragement, you have helped me achieve past goals more than you know.

So there I stood in the exercise section at Barnes and Noble, what shall I choose - “Rock hard ab’s in just four weeks!” how about “A flatter stomach in just four days.” or better yet “30 days to the perfect beach body!” Yes, that’s the one, “30 days to the perfect beach body!” BUT WAIT!!! I only have 24 days before I leave for the beach…. There’s not enough time….. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH….. So many promises that are complete lies, it’s extremely hard to filter what is really true, at least for the Average-Joe that wants to get in shape. It’s too bad that everything in the fitness world has to have that sales twist to make you think your getting something that is not possible. With that said, I am still in search of the perfect muscle building book other than NROL.

Wednesday is a PT day, which is always a good thing. I go in feeling bad and come out hurting worse,, at least for a day or two. My PT (Nathan) really kicks my ass, I always tell him if I’m not laughing it’s doesn’t hurt, and he always makes sure I laugh. Whenever at the PT they put me through a good workout, they mainly concentrate on muscular imbalance, and it has really helped me get better. My trainer Kim comes up with things that I have never seen before, I sometimes feel like I should be in the circus. It’s funny though because I work her as hard as she works me. You-see she has to search for exercises that are changeling and after the giant sets in NROL fat loss III,,, well do I need to say more.

The diet today couldn’t have been cleaner, unless I didn’t eat anything at all but they probably wouldn’t have been good for the metabolism. Anyway, it’s 9:30pm, I have been up since 4:30am, and I still have to shower before bed so I’m checking out…

Originally Posted by Mahler

Adam,

Originally Posted by Mahler

I noticed the new log and thought I'd pop in to wish you well. You are off to a damned good start with that 5 mile run. Way to go.

[yovwmon]

I’m going to keep this one short:

My wife (Mary) caught something the other day and ended up passing it along to me. “Thanks Hun!” Despite being under the weather I have to keep training, I'm down the three weeks now,,, so this morning I got up (5:00am), called off work, and headed to the gym. Although I feel like complete crap I trained for an hour and pulled through the workout and intervals. I’m gonna to try and get some rest today and hopefully squeeze in a good run sometime this weekend.

Oh yea by the way – Today is my lowest weight in fourteen years, I hit 188.0 this morning!

- Adam

[yovwmon]

It was humid and 90+ degrees in Akron yesterday, but I was able to complete a 3 mile trail run. At the start I wasn’t feeling it, I could have turned around and went back to the car after a half-mile. To be honest I haven’t been feeling my workouts at all this week, I’m able to complete everything but I don’t feel good when doing it. The last time I felt really good was when I completed the five-mile run at the opening of this thread.

Maybe I was to hard on my diet this workweek, my carbs were lower then ever, and this weekend hasn’t been pretty either, I made up all the carbs I missed during the workweek. My weight-loss seems to be slowing, I've been bouncing between 188.0 and 192.0 for several weeks. The goal is 185 before September 15th, (Vacation) but now that I’m so close I feel like it’s okay to cheat. Not only this, I also don’t feel good at this weight, I feel like I am withering away; I mean, I have been over 190 for fourteen years,,, now that I’ve dropped into the 180’s I feel like I’m sick or something, and at what point should I stop loosing all this weight?

I have so much going through my head right now; I really want to get lean, 10% BF, but I don’t feel like I have enough muscle, and I keep thinking that I should take 6 months and do some muscle imbalance corrections. Can I do these corrections along with a bulk, am I ready to bulk, do I need to loose more weight first. I am tired of being fat, and now that I have come this far I don't know if I want to turn back to a bulk.

To achieve the leanness I want, I would be quite a bit lighter than I want to be. I also think I may not have enough muscle to get me as lean as I want to be. I basically have two directions to go; I can continue with my “get lean” diet, or I can add some calories and begin a bulk. Here’s what I’m thinking, the more muscle you have the easier it is to become lean, right? So, If I begin a bulk and put on some muscle and fat would I become leaner faster than if I were to stick with what I am currently doing? If this were the case I could start thinking about next years beach season and hopefully take care of all three issues. In addition to the above, I also have some nutrition imbalances; I went head-on with my diet and cut calories and carbs so much that I don’t have anything else to cut. If I begin a bulk I could up both of these and get my body back to a normal food intake and take it easy the next time I begin a cut. I am very confused about the direction I want to go at this point.

BTW - I am at about 85% with whatever Mary gave me, I am feeling much better.

[yovwmon]

Lately things just haven’t felt right, my motivation is down, my performance is down, and my weight is up. I have to turn this around immediately, but what’s the problem, what do I need to do to fix the issue if I don’t know what the issue is.

Yesterday it took everything I had to get my ass to the park for a run. I went three miles, but only ran about 2.5, I couldn’t finish the last half-mile. My diet has been crap the last 4 out of five days, and I’m pretty sure it’s the reason my performance has gone downhill.

I am 18 days away from vacation, and I am 6 lbs above my target weight. If I don’t hit 185 before vacation I will be extremely upset. My goal is to loose 38.5 lbs this year, I have lost 32.5, I am down to the last 6 lbs and I have to make this happen.

My weekends are my weakness, I’m not on a schedule and it kills my diet, if I can configure my weekends I will have success in my goals.

Still a little under the weather, about 93% now.

[missjane]

What diet plan are you following? I'm doing TNT currently, and cutting out the carbs has certainly jump-started my fat loss for certain. You were 188 just a few days ago, so maybe just some water weight? If you eat clean for the next 3 weeks, you'll meet your goal! I have faith in you!

Since you are familiar with NROL, how about trying one of the NROL programs for the next 3 weeks to work on building more muscle? I used to be a runner, too. But, now I am more focused on lifting and only doing HIIT instead of the longer, slower cardio.

By the way, I live in Stow right now. If you move to Stow, we have an awesome new AGMC Wellness Center you could join!

[yovwmon]

Hi missjane, I’m not following any particular diet plan, I drafted my own diet using ideas from mostly from TNT and PN. I usually keep the carbs very low, under 50g during the week, on the weekend I take it up a bit, call it a reload if you will. One of my very big issues is how fast I can gain weight, there is no problem in that department. Sometimes I wish I could give some of my weight gaining ability to the Scrawny to Brawny guys. Thanks for the faith, I know I can do it, it’ll just take more will-power! I am trying to stay away from NROL for the time being because most of the workouts involve deadlifts, but I need to latch onto something because my flying blind routine is growing old. As for the running, I’m not really into long-distance running, but I’ve always told myself that the guy with a six pack (Not Beer!) could do it. At this point I don’t have any interest in running any further than the whole Sand Run trail, I may do a few 5k’s just for fun but that will probably be it. I also have concentrated mostly on HITT for the last 5 or so months. Not only has it helped me loose loads of lard, but it also tremendously increased my athletic ability. I was working-out at the Falls Natatorium for a while; I am currently working-out at the Akron JCC. I do pass the Akron General facility pretty often because I work in Mayfield Hts.


I made it out to the gym today and had a surprisingly good workout. I spent 40 minutes lifting followed by some HITT. My bench press is very weak, 10 reps with 135 is okay but not far from a spotter on the third set. My squat is also pretty weak, currently working with the same weight as my bench. I’m not trying to get these numbers up right now, that will come in about six weeks. Anyway, it’s late, I’m tired, I’m out.

At about 95% with the "cold" now.

Originally Posted by missjane

What diet plan are you following? I'm doing TNT currently, and cutting out the carbs has certainly jump-started my fat loss for certain. You were 188 just a few days ago, so maybe just some water weight? If you eat clean for the next 3 weeks, you'll meet your goal! I have faith in you!

Since you are familiar with NROL, how about trying one of the NROL programs for the next 3 weeks to work on building more muscle? I used to be a runner, too. But, now I am more focused on lifting and only doing HIIT instead of the longer, slower cardio.

By the way, I live in Stow right now. If you move to Stow, we have an awesome new AGMC Wellness Center you could join!

[missjane]

You are probably passing the AGMC facility in Akron/Montrose. We have a brand spankin' new one right off of Steels Corners Rd -- visible from Route 8.

[yovwmon]

Speaking of AGMC, last night I got to take Mary there. Yesterday morning she called me saying she felt like she had food poisoning, she indicated that she had been throwing-up along with diarrhea. When I arrived home from work at 5:00 she had been laying in bed for 5+ hours. She was showing sings of serious dehydration, dizziness, very weak, unable to stand or get dressed. Mary’s dad helped me get her into the car, and I got her down to the ER. Her blood pressure was 82 over 38, her O2 levels were around 70, and she was having heart palpations. She was low in potassium and magnesium, and ended up taking three bags of saline. So needless to say my run turned into a 6-hour hospital trip. After we left the hospital we grabbed some Chinese food and went home. Mary’s physician wants to see her first thing on Tuesday.

I’m going to try and squeeze in a run sometime today, this weekend is going to make or break me!

Originally Posted by missjane

You are probably passing the AGMC facility in Akron/Montrose. We have a brand spankin' new one right off of Steels Corners Rd -- visible from Route 8.

[yovwmon]

Okay, lot’s of updates and not a lot of time.

Yesterday I was able to squeeze in the run I missed on Friday and it consisted of intervals only. I did six uphill sprints using the nastiest hill I could find on Sand Run's Jogger trail. Mary is doing fine, she must have ate something bad for her body to just shut down. Because her heart was doing some weird things she needs to followup with her doctor on Tuesday.

Today I got up early and went to the gym. I went through FL1, workout A from NROL and it was good. I also added a few things including floor wipers, this was my first time doing them and they are a mother bitch - but a great abdominal exercise. I finished things up with some after burn - 5 minute warm-up, 6 x 1 minute sprints @ 9MPH, then 5 minutes cool down. I was pretty cashed.

After leaving the gym I got a phone call, guess who - my old workout partner Jeff and he wants to go for a bike ride, I can’t turn him down so it’s-on! We rode 13.5 miles in about 1.5 hours. My fitday log says I have burned over 1300 calories today, crazy!

I'm still sick, about 90%, I did get the doctor to call me something in because I could feel it in my chest. I am now coughing up a lot of crap, but despite my illness my last couple workouts have been pretty good.

[bigDman]

nice running!
Hope you feel better soon

[yovwmon]

Thanks for the words of encouragement bigDman, unfortunately my health hasn’t gone as good as my running.

Health: Remember Friday when I took Mary to the ER because of food poisoning, well,,, it wasn’t food poisoning, and because I was already sick I was vulnerable. Monday was hell, I haven’t been that sick since I had salmonella poisoning. It lasted about 24 hours and it was a nasty bastard. Unbelievable stomach pain, if you’re in NE watch out the stomach flu is going around.

Diet: Because I was so sick I wasn’t able to keep much down, in effort to keep myself energized and out of the ER I ate nearly all carbs for about 3 days. The good news is I didn’t gain any weight. I am almost back to the regular diet, I will give it a try tomorrow and see how things go.

Training: Monday and Tuesday I was out, today I went to work feeling weak but got my energy back throughout the day. I attended my PT session this evening and Kim really kicked my butt. She came up with all sorts of good explosive stabilization exercises that really got the metabolism kicking. I finished things off wit