John Hansens Training Diary Week of March 9th 2008

by: John Hansen - March 14th, 2008

John Hansen’s Training Diary – 2008 Update


Update

It’s been a while since I wrote my Training Diary so I thought I would give an update. My training and my diet were going good leading up to the Arnold Classic which ran from February 29 – March 2nd, 2008. I was working for Optimum Nutrition and working their booth that weekend.

The Arnold Classic was a lot of fun and very exhausting at the same time. It’s amazing how this contest continues to get bigger each year. I have been going to Columbus to see competitions promoted by Jim Lorimar and Arnold Schwarzenegger since 1977 when I went to see the Mr. Olympia that year. I was also at the very first Arnold Classic in 1989 and the growth that this contest has experienced since then is astronomical.

The Arnold Fitness Expo is an event in and of itself. It was estimated that more than 155,000 people attended the expo last year from Friday to Sunday. This year, the number was expanded to almost 200,000 in attendance. It’s amazing how many people walk through that expo in one weekend.

When I got home from the Arnold Classic on Sunday, March 2nd, I was psyched and ready to hit the gym. I had a guest posing exhibition scheduled for May 3rd in Oregon and I wanted to be in great shape. My waist and bodyweight went up a little over the weekend when I was gone in Columbus although I did limit the amount of food I ate and I tried to eat clean all weekend.

I had a good, heavy chest and triceps workout on Monday, March 3rd and I was ready to roll. I was back on the diet and psyched up for the next nine weeks of training. On Monday night, I was feeling a little tired after not getting enough sleep from Wednesday to Monday. I didn’t get more than 6 hours sleep a night during that five day period and I needed to rest up.

By Tuesday, I was starting to feel run down and I decided to take that day off from the gym and not start training again until Wednesday. I didn’t want to push it and end up sick. Little did I know that, at this point, I was already headed for an illness that I was not ready for.

I went to bed at 7:30pm on Tuesday night and slept a good nine hours in order to catch up on my sleep. By this time, it was all in vain and much too late. As the day went on, I got worse and worse and by evening, I was feeling really weak and run down.

When I woke up Wednesday morning, I was sick, sick, sick. I had swollen glands in my throat and my head was all congested. In addition, my head was hurting and I felt like I had a slight fever. My whole body was aching and I felt real weak and uncomfortable. I didn’t even feel like just relaxing and watching TV. I just wanted to crawl up in a ball and fall asleep but sleeping wasn’t easy with all the pain I was in.

This went on for the next three days. I felt absolutely terrible from Wednesday to Friday. By the weekend, the aches and pains in my body had subsided but my head was still severely congested and I still had the painful swollen glands and sore throat.

Monday, March 10th was my birthday and I was too sick to even think about celebrating. My parents came over and visited me and they took me out to lunch so that was nice. It felt great to get out of the house for the first time in a week. We went out for Mexican food but I couldn’t even taste it because I was so congested.

On Tuesday, I decided to go see a doctor since I wasn’t getting better. If it was only the flu, I should have been better after a few days. At this point, I had been sick a week and it still wasn’t’ gone. After the doctor examined me, he concluded that I had an ear infection. He prescribed some antibiotics that I would take over the next five days.

After the first day of taking the antibiotics, I felt decidedly much better. I thought I would take another week and start back training on Monday but by Thursday night, I decided to go back to the gym on Friday. I wanted to do a couple light workouts on Thursday and Friday and get the blood moving again and then start the week out with another week of training on Monday.

My bodyweight was 218 pounds and my waist was back up to 36” on the Monday I came back from the Arnold Classic. After a week and a half of being sick, my weight had dropped to 213 pounds and my waist was down to 35 ½”. This is where I was starting from as I begin my journey to get back in top shape.

Friday, March 14, 2008
My weight today was down to 213 pounds and my waist was at 35 ½”. If I can stay on track and make consistent progress, my waist should be 33 ½” or smaller for my guest posing in May which would be very lean. I just have to train hard to add back the muscle I lost over the last couple of weeks.

I went back to the gym today to train shoulders and calves. Matt was busy again with his work so I had my old training partner Angel join me for the workout. For those of you who saw my training DVD, “Real Muscle”, you know who Angel is because he is the one spotting me on the DVD.

I went pretty light today and definitely didn’t push myself. On the first exercise, Seated Dumbbell Presses, I was coughing my head off and trying to get out whatever was left in my lungs. After a few sets however, I was feeling better and the coughing stopped. Here is how the workout went:

Seated DB Press 45x15, 65x12, 85x10, 85x10
Seated Side Laterals 35x12, 40x10, 40x8
Upright Rows 95x12, 115x10
Lying Side Laterals 30x12, 30x10
DB Shrugs 110x10, 120x8, 120x8
Donkey Calf Raises 190 plus 45 lbs x 20, 190 plus 90 lbs x 20 x 2 sets
Face Down Calf Raises 240x10, 260x8

This workout went really well. I felt better and didn’t feel exhausted or wiped out after I was finished. I was a little worried about starting back today because I thought maybe I would make myself worse but that wasn’t the case. I’m going to go back to the gym and train back and biceps tomorrow, take Sunday off and then start up again on Monday.



Saturday, March 15, 2008
My weight today was at 213.5 pounds and the waist is still at 35 ½”. I went back to the gym again today to do my second workout of the week. I’m still not 100% health wise but I wanted to at least get some blood moving so I’m ready to go all-out next week.

I did back and biceps today and I was planning on just going really light but I ended up pushing it a little more than I probably should have. I was coughing my head off again when I started the workout, especially when I got to the One-Arm DB Rows, but I stuck it out and had a pretty good workout. I can’t wait until I am totally back to normal health again.

Here is what I did for the workout:

Close-Grip Pulldowns 130x15, 180x10
Wide-Grip Chins BWx8, BWx7, BWx7
One-Arm DB Rows 100x10, 120x8, 120x8
T-Bar Rows 4 plates x 10, 4 plates and a 25 x 8 x 2 sets
Hyper-Extensions BWx20, 45x12 followed by BWx8 x 2 sets
Alternate DB Curls 40x10, 50x7, 50x6
Seated Preacher Curls 80x8, 80x8

My diet was pretty good today. I haven’t ate enough over the last two weeks when I was sick so I made sure I ate enough carbs today to replenish all the energy I burned during my workout. I’m not 100% yet so I didn’t want to get rundown from the workout. Better at this point to eat too much than too little.

Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – (Pre-workout) – 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 serving Vassive-CE
Meal 3 – (During Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Vassive-NO
Meal 4 – (Post Workout) – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery, 1 serving Vassive CE
Meal 5 – 4.13 oz lean ground turkey, 128 grams sweet potato
Meal 6 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 7 – 4.13 oz sirloin steak, ½ cup green peas
Meal 8 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 serving Pro Complex, 1 serving Casein Protein, Mini-Bag Popcorn
Meal 9 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2961 calories with 317 grams of protein, 246 grams of carbohydrates and 67 grams of fats. I will take off tomorrow and get back to the gym on Monday for my first full week of training in three weeks.

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