John Hansens Training Diary Week of April 6th 2008

by: John Hansen - April 10th, 2008

John Hansen’s Training Diary – Week of April 6th, 2008

Sunday, April 6th, 2008
My weight today was at 211 pounds and the waist is still holding at 35”. I cheated a little last night when I was working the Optimum Nutrition booth because I ate a few of the small sample Steel Bars. I LOVE those Steel Bars! When I am dieting, I can’t even keep them in the house because I can’t just eat one a week, I’ll finish off the whole box in a day or two. It’s better to just not even have them any where near me when I’m on the diet.

Today was my off day so I wasn’t training. I planned on staying home all day and getting some work finished on the computer. I also didn’t want to leave the house because I wanted to stay strict on my diet. No more cheating from now on, not even some sample Steel Bars.

Unfortunately, everything got messed up because one of my best friends called me in the morning and wanted my help in moving a couch. We had to go all the way downtown and pick up this couch and then take it back to his house.

I reluctantly agreed because he’s a good friend of mine but I instantly regretted agreeing to help him. I was worried about straining my back or, even worse, tearing something. It seems like the most serious injuries don’t happen at the gym, they happen outside the gym when we are doing something stupid. Like moving a couch.

I had my normal breakfast in the morning and then brought two protein drinks with me because I had a feeling this was going to be a day-long project. I was smart enough to call my friend Frank before I left and asked him if he wanted to give us a hand. Frank is one of my former training partners and he recently competed in my last contest on March 22nd, taking second in the Novice and Open categories. He’s also a strapping young lad of 25 years old. He’s strong and he has no injuries so he was the perfect candidate to help us move furniture.

The move itself wasn’t that bad because I made sure my friend and Frank did most of the moving. I was serious about not getting hurt. My lower back is finally starting to feel better. The last thing I need about four weeks out from my guest posing is to severely strain my back. I guess you could say I wimped out but, at the end of the day, I didn’t hurt a thing.

We stopped for lunch after our move so I ordered a Chicken Rotisserie dinner, which wasn’t too bad. It was mostly protein although I did have some of the mashed potatoes that came with it. The rest of the day, I just had dinner (salmon and green beans) and another Casein Protein Drink before I went to bed. Back to the gym tomorrow.

Monday, April 7th, 2008
My weight today was up to 212.5 pounds but the waist was still at 35”. Today was chest, triceps and calves at the gym. Only four weeks to go to get in shape for my guest posing so I wanted to hit it hard today.

I was a little weaker on chest today. I started out good with DB Bench Press but Incline’s were a little weaker. Triceps were also OK but not a big change from the last workout. Matt and I trained a little later today so I didn’t have time to do cardio. Here is how the workout went:

DB Bench Press 75x12, 100x10, 120x6, 120x6
Incline Barbell Press 185x10, 225x6, 255x4
Incline Flyes 80x8, 80x8, 80x6
Close-Grip Bench Press 185x10, 205x8, 205x6
Lying Tricep Ext. 100x12, 120x10, 140x8
Bench Dips BWx15, 80x15 drop set BWx8 x 2 sets
Seated Calf Raises 100x20, 150x14, 200x8
Standing Calf Raises 340x12, 440x10, 500x8

My diet today was my normal training day diet but the carbs seem to be higher than normal. I wonder if this is why I am losing the fat so slowly. I should be losing a quarter of an inch each week off the waist but it didn’t happen last week and now I am heading into my second week with no progress. I’m going to have to look at my diet closely and see how I can cut some carbs out and see if that makes a difference. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 3 – (Pre-Workout) – 1 serving Whey Gold, 1 serving Vassive CE
Meal 4 – (During Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Vassive NO
Meal 5 – (Post Workout) – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery, 1 serving Vassive CE
Meal 6 – 4.02 oz lean ground turkey, 146 grams sweet potato, 3 oz broccoli
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein
Meal 8 – 4.48 oz sirloin steak, Mini-Bag Popcorn
Meal 9 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 3003 calories and 322 grams of protein, 246 grams of carbs and 69 grams of fats. This breaks down to 43% protein, 33% carbs and 21% fat.

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
My weight today was at 212 again and the waist is still, still, still at 35”. Today was leg day and it was much better than the last time I did this workout. I went up in weight on nearly every exercise, for both hamstrings and quads. We even did Walking Lunges again today. I haven’t done the good ‘ole lunges in over a month. Here is how it went:

Hanging Knee Raises BWx35, BWx25
Crunches – Bench BWx25, BWx25
Leg Curls 110x12, 130x9, 140x6 drop set 100x5
DB Stiff-leg Deadlifts 100x10, 120x8, 120x8
Leg Extensions (BodyMaster) 130x20, 170x15, 210x10
Leg Press 450x15, 630x12, 810x10, 810x10
Front Squats 135x12, 185x8, 185x8
Walking Lunges 95x11, 105x10

My diet was about the same as yesterday. I ran out of creatine so I had a serving of Waxy Maize before the workout with my scoop of Whey Gold protein. I kept the sweet potato small and stayed on my diet the rest of the day but the carbs were still over 240. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – (Pre-Workout) – 1 serving Whey Gold, 1 serving Waxy Maize
Meal 3 – (During Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Vassive-NO
Meal 4 – (Post Workout) – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery
Meal 5 – 4.34 oz lean ground turkey, 116 grams sweet potato, 3.07 oz broccoli
Meal 6 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Egg Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Egg Protein
Meal 8 – 6 oz marinated salmon, 1 cup green beans
Meal 9 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out 2902 calories with 313 grams of protein, 247 grams of carbs and 68 grams of fats. This breaks down to 43% protein, 34% carbohydrates and 21% fats.

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
Today was my day off from the gym today. My bodyweight and waist were steady today. My weight was at 211.5 pounds and the waist was still at 35”. I thought I would do some cardio in the morning on an (almost) empty stomach in order to get this fat burning going. I had one protein drink before I trained a client in the morning and then I did 30 minutes of cardio before I went home and ate breakfast.

For cardio, I did 10 minutes on the Stair Mill, alternating between level 3-4 and then I went immediately over to the treadmill. I did another 20 minutes on the treadmill at 3.2 mph @ 8.0 incline. I was pretty wiped out after finishing, I’m not used to this cardio! LOL

Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 serving Vassive EA8
Meal 2 – (Post Cardio) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving BCAA+Creatine, Whey Force Shake
Meal 3 – 2 eggs, 8 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 4 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 5 – 4.2 oz lean ground turkey, 136 grams sweet potato, 3.03 oz broccoli
Meal 6 – 3.6 oz sirloin steak, 1 T. salsa, ½ cup green peas, 1 T. natural peanut butter
Meal 7 – 8 egg whites, Can of tuna fish
Meal 8 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2686 calories with 319 grams of protein, 147 grams of carbohydrates and 79 grams of fats. This breaks down to 48% protein, 22% carbs and 26% fats.

Thursday, April 10th, 2008
Today my weight was down a little to 210.5 pounds the waist was FINALLY down a quarter of an inch to 34 ¾”! I’m finally in the 34 inch waist range. Things are finally moving again on the fat loss front.

I trained delts and calves today along with a light workout for the triceps. After I finished training, I did another 20 minutes of cardio on the treadmill. It was a pretty good workout today. I went up to the 100 pound dumbbells for Seated DB Press. I also increased the weights on Seated Side Laterals, Upright Rows and DB Shrugs. Here is how the workout went:

Seated DB Press 45x15, 75x10, 100x6, 100x6
Seated Side Laterals 40x12, 45x10, 50x8
Upright Rows 125x10, 145x8
Lying Side Laterals 30x12, 30x12, 30x12
DB Shrugs 120x12, 130x8, 130x8
Donkey Calf Raises 190 plus 45 lbs x 25, 190 plus 135 lbs x 25 x 2 sets
Face Down Calf Raises 240x10, 260x8, 260x8
Seated Tricep Dips 90x15, 180x12, 180x12
Bent-Over Cable Ext. 80x12, 85x10, 85x10
Decline Lying DB Ext 35x10, 35x10

Cardio – 20 min treadmill, 3.2 mph @ 8.5 incline

For my diet today, I cut a few things out to keep my carb intake down to around 200 grams. I definitely felt a little hungrier today but I’m into the diet now and I don’t care how weak or hungry I get, I’m sticking to this regimen until I get to where I want to be. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold
Meal 3 – (During Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Vassive NO
Meal 4 – (Post Workout) – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery
Meal 5 – 4.06 oz lean ground turkey, 135 grams sweet potato, 3.10 oz broccoli
Meal 6 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 7 – 6 oz marinated salmon, 1 cup green beans
Meal 8 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2681 calories with 292 grams of protein, 203 grams of carbs and 69 grams of fats. This breaks down to 44% protein, 30% carbs and 23% fats. This is more like it. I want to see how fast the waist goes down by keeping the carbs at 200 grams on the training days and less than 150 grams on my rest days.

Friday, April 11th, 2008
My weight this morning was at 211 pounds and the waist is still at 34 ¾”. Today is my last day of training for the week although I may hit the gym on Saturday for my light leg workout and abs.

I was training back and biceps today and it was an OK workout but not a good one. My lower back is still not 100% so I wasn’t able to go heavy on Barbell Rows or Deadlifts, my two favorite back exercises. I’m going to have to search for another chiropractor next week and see if anything can be done with these compressed discs so I can go back to training heavy on the back exercises. So far, I haven’t found a chiropractor that can give me the type of treatment that will allow me to train at least moderately heavy again. Maybe there is no solution but I’ll keep looking until I find someone.

I did go a little bit heavier on Barbell Rows today but I wasn’t able to push it because of the lower back. When I got to the Deadlift, I had to stop at 315 because the strain was too much on my lower back and I was going to end up hurting it if I kept going. Biceps were good and I went heavier than I did at the last workout. Here is how it went:

Close-Grip Pulldowns 130x15, 180x10
Barbell Rows 185x10, 225x8, 265x5, 265x5
Seated Cable Rows 250x10, 260x7, 260x6
Deadlifts 225x10, 315x7
Incline Curls 45x10, 50x8, 50x7
Barbell Curls 115x8, 115x7
Alternating Hammer Curls 45x9, 50x7
Wrist Curls 105x12, 125x8, 125x8

As for the diet today, the carbs were up a little because I was out of creatine and I substituted some Waxy Maize for the creatine for my pre-workout drink. I did substitute 8 egg whites with some salsa for the one of my protein drinks. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – (Pre-Workout) – 1 serving Whey Gold, 1 serving Waxy Maize
Meal 3 – (During Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Vassive NO
Meal 4 – (Post Workout) – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery
Meal 5 – 3.95 oz lean ground turkey, 131 oz sweet potato, 3.07 oz broccoli
Meal 6 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 7 – 4.48 oz sirloin steak, 1 T. salsa, ½ cup green peas
Meal 8 – 8 egg whites, 3 T. salsa
Meal 9 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2928 calories with 304 grams of protein, 242 grams of carbs and 69.5 grams of fats.

Saturday, April 12th, 2008
My bodyweight this morning was down to 209.5 pounds and the waist is still at 34 ¾”. It was officially my day off from training but I went to the gym in the late afternoon to train abs, legs (light) and do some cardio. Here is how it went:

Incline Sit-ups BWx40, BWx30
Lying Leg Raises BWx30, BWx20
Alternating Crunches BWx25, BWx25
Seated Knee Raises BWx20, BWx20
Leg Extensions (Body Master) 110x25, 140x15, 170x12
Leg Press 360x12, 450x12, 450x12
Sissy Squats BWx8, BWx8, BWx8
Smith Machine Lunges 115x10, 115x10

Cardio – 20 minutes Treadmill, 3.2 mph @ 8.5 incline

My diet today was in between an off day and a training day because I had some Waxy Maize with a serving of Vassive EA8 after I finished working out. My carbs were under 200 and the protein was over 300 grams. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – 2 eggs, 8 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops of Whey Gold
Meal 3 – 4.34 oz lean ground turkey, 140 grams sweet potato, 3.07 oz broccoli
Meal 4 – (Pre-Workout) – 1 serving Whey Gold, 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Threshold
Meal 5 – (Post-Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Waxy Maize
Meal 6 – 6 oz marinated salmon, 1 cup green beans
Meal 7 – 8 egg whites, 3 T. salsa, 1 T. natural peanut butter
Meal 8 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein
Meal 9 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2721 calories with 312 grams of protein, 191 grams of carbs and 68 grams of fats. This breaks down to 46% protein, 28% carbohydrates and 23% fat.

Here is the breakdown from the last 12 weeks since I got back from my vacation in Costa Rica in January.

Beginning of Diet – Jan. 19th – BW 229, Waist 37”
Week 1 – Jan 26th – BW 218, Waist 36 ½”, Avg Calories 2611, Avg. Carbs 213
Week 2 – Feb 2nd – BW 216.5, Waist 36 ¼”, Avg Calories 2619, Avg Carbs 201
Week 3 – Feb 9th – BW 217, Waist 36”, Avg Calories 2654, Avg Carbs 200
Week 4 – Feb 16th – BW 217, Waist 35 ¾”, Avg Calories 2737, Avg Carbs 196
Week 5 – Feb 23rd – BW 215, Waist 35 ½”, Avg Calories 2799, Avg Carbs 179
Week 6 – Mar 1st – Arnold Classic Weekend
Week 7 – Mar 8th – BW 211, Waist 35 ¼” (Sick All Week)
Week 8 – Mar 15th – BW 213.5, Waist 35 ½” (Sick All Week)
Week 9 – Mar 22nd – BW 210, Waist 35 ¼”, Avg Calories 2730, Avg Carbs 214
Week 10 – Mar 29th – BW 212, Waist 35”, Avg Calories 2768, Avg Carbs 213
Week 11 – Apr 5th – BW 211.5, Waist 35”, Avg Calories 2772, Avg Carbs 197
Week 12 – Apr 12th – BW 209.5, Waist 34 ¾”, Avg Calories 2820, Avg Carbs 213

Looking at this chart, I made pretty consistent progress until the beginning of March when I traveled to the Arnold Classic and then got sick for two weeks when I got home. I was stuck at 35” for two weeks on Week 10 and 11 but it seems I am now making progress again. I’m going to try and keep the carbohydrate average for the week around 200 grams. That might help to keep the fat going down consistently every week.

Friday, April 11th, 2008



Saturday, April 12th, 2008

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