John Hansens Training Diary Week of May 25th 2008

by: John Hansen - June 2nd, 2008

John Hansen’s Training Diary – Week of May 25th, 2008

Sunday, May 25th, 2008
My weight today was about the same as yesterday, 206.5 pounds and the waist is still at 34”. Today was my day off from the gym but I went to the gym in the morning to do cardio. I had a shake of 1 serving of Vassive EA8 and 1 scoop of Whey Gold about 30 minutes before I did cardio and then another scoop of Whey Gold and creatine after I finished cardio.

Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – (Before Cardio) - 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 scoop Whey Gold
Meal 2 – (After Cardio) – 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 serving creatine
Meal 3 – 2 eggs, 8 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 4 – 1 egg, 7 egg whites, 3 T. salsa, 18 grams natural peanut butter
Meal 5 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Egg Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 6 – 4.2 oz lean ground turkey, 122 grams sweet potato, 3.03 oz broccoli
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 2567 calories with 285 grams of protein, 147 grams of carbohydrates and 83 grams of fats. This breaks down to 44% protein, 23% carbs and 29% fats.

Monday, May 26th, 2008
My weight today was up a little to 207.5 pounds and the waist is still at 34”. I went to the gym today to train chest, triceps and calves. We were back to doing the Power routine of our workout cycle today but this time we were doing the 2nd workout week instead of the first. The program today has us doing our work sets for 4-6 reps so we had to train pretty heavy.

DB Bench Press 75x12, 100x8, 120x6, 120x5, 120x5
Incline Press 225x7, 255x5, 255x4, 255x4
Incline Flyes 85x7, 90x6, 90x6
Close-Grip Bench 185x8, 225x6, 225x5, 225x4
Lying Tricep Ext. 100x8, 130x6, 140x5, 140x5
Dips 25x8, 50x6, 50x7
Standing Calf Raises 400x10, 520x8, 540x8, 580x8
Seated Calf Raises 150x10, 200x8, 200x8

I didn’t feel particularly strong today but maybe that is a result of doing such high reps last week during the Rep Range part of the program. Whatever the case was, I used pretty heavy weights that limited my sets to 4-6 reps on each set after I warmed up. I didn’t have time to do cardio today because we trained a little later and I had to get out of the gym to get ready for my evening clients after the workout.

My diet today was pretty much standard for a training day diet. I was able to keep the carbs down to 212 grams and the protein was around 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 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Egg Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 3 – (Pre-Workout) – 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 serving creatine, 1 serving Threshold
Meal 4 – (During Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Vassive NO
Meal 5 – (Post Workout) – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery, 1 serving creatine
Meal 6 – 3.92 oz lean ground turkey, 113 grams sweet potato, 2.79 oz broccoli
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein
Meal 8 – 3.21 oz round steak, 34 grams pasta sauce, ½ cup green peas
Meal 9 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2764 calories with 298 grams of protein, 212 grams of carbohydrates and 73 grams of fats. The breakdown for today’s diet was 43% protein, 31% carbs and 24% fats.

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
My weight today was at 207 pounds but the waist dropped today to 33 ¾”. This is great! I seem to be on track now to lose a quarter of an inch each week off the waist. It always seems to be on Tuesday too so my body is responding consistently now.

Today was abs and legs day at the gym. Since I was supposed to go very heavy on legs, I was a little nervous about how heavy I would have to go on exercises like Leg Press and Front Squats to keep the reps down to 6-8 reps (the program said to do 6-8 reps on leg day instead of the standard 4-6 reps). I was surprised at how strong I was though and I was very happy that I didn’t hurt anything. My lower back was feeling a little strained after the leg press and front squats so I pushed it pretty hard. Here is how it went:

Hanging Knee Raises BWx40, BWx30
Crunches – Bench BWx30, BWx25
Leg Curls 100x12, 130x8, 150x6, 160x5
DB Stiff leg Deadlifts 100x10, 130x6, 140x6, 140x6
Leg Ext. (Body Master) 150x15, 190x12, 230x8, 240x8, 250x8
Leg Press 450x12, 720x10, 900x8, 990x6
Front Squats 135x12, 225x8, 225x8
Walking Lunges (Barbell) 135x8, 155x6, 155x6

This was a VERY intense workout today! The DB Stiff leg Deads with the 140 lb dumbbells was pretty tough. I warmed up with Leg Extensions on quads and ended up going to the full stack. Leg Press was very heavy, I did 11 plates on each side for the last set and I was sinking each rep very deep. For front squats, I usually go to 185 pounds so I went up to 225 pounds for this workout. I finished with Walking Lunges and went up to 155 pounds for the last two sets.

Here was my diet for today:

Meal 1 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 2 – 2 eggs, 8 egg whites, 3 T. salsa, 1 cup oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 3 – (Pre-Workout) – 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 serving creatine
Meal 4 – (During Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Vassive NO
Meal 5 – (Post Workout) – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery, 1 serving creatine
Meal 6 – 4.06 oz lean ground turkey, 128 grams sweet potato, 3.17 oz broccoli
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein 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 to 2842 calories with 310 grams of protein, 217 grams of carbs and 75 grams of fats. The breakdown for today’s calories is 44% protein, 31% carbohydrates and 24% fats.

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
I was really bummed out this morning because, for some reason, my waist was back up to 34”. I thought I was totally on track for losing a quarter of an inch a week and now I’m back to where I was last week. My weight was down to 206 pounds so maybe this is just a fluke and my waist will be back down tomorrow.

I had several clients in a row this morning so I wasn’t able to do cardio first thing in the morning. I still kept the carbs below 150 grams today because today was my day off from training. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops of Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 2 – 2 eggs, 8 egg whites, 3 T. salsa, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 3 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Egg Protein
Meal 4 – 4.34 oz lean ground turkey, 117 grams sweet potato, 3.14 oz broccoli
Meal 5 – 1 egg, 7 egg whites, 3 T. salsa, 20 grams natural peanut butter
Meal 6 – 3.46 oz round steak, 35 grams pasta sauce, ½ cup green peas
Meal 7 – 1 scoop Pro Complex
Meal 8 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2611 calories with 296.5 grams of protein, 145 grams of carbohydrates and 84 grams of fats. The breakdown for today’s diet was 45% protein, 22% carbs and 29% fats. I started taking a new fat loss supplement today called Jet Fuel. I read about this on the forum at Ripped Academy and it got a lot of positive reviews from the members of Ripped Academy so I’m hoping it gives me the push I need to go from Lean to Ripped!

Thursday, May 29th, 2008
My bodyweight this morning before breakfast was at 207 pounds and the waist was (Thankfully!) back down to 33 ¾”. I have no idea why it went up to 34” yesterday but I’m hoping it stays at 33 ¾” so I can get it down further to 33 ½” by next week and stay on track.

It was back to the gym today to train Deltoids, Traps and Calves. We had to use weights that would keep the reps down to 4-6 reps for our working sets so it was another heavy day at the gym. Here is how it went:

Seated DB Press 45x15, 75x10, 100x6, 100x5, 100x5
Seated Lateral Raises 40x10, 50x6, 50x6, 50x6
Upright Rows 135x8, 165x6, 165x6
Lying Side Laterals 35x10, 40x8, 45x6
DB Shrugs 110x10, 150x6, 150x6
Donkey Calf Raises 190 plus 45 lb x 25, 190 plus 135 lbs x 25 x 2 sets
Leg Press Calf Raises 540x12, 630x12, 720x10

Cardio – 20 minutes Treadmill, 3.3 mph @ 9.0 incline

I went up to the 100 pound dumbbells for the Seated DB Press and did 3 sets then went up to the 50’s for the Seated Lateral Raises. I also went up to the 150’s for the Dumbbell Shrugs so it was a pretty heavy shoulder workout today.

My diet today was typical for training day diet. 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 Whey Gold, 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 3 – (Pre-Workout) – 1 serving Whey Gold, 1 serving creatine, 1 serving Threshold
Meal 4 – (During Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Vassive NO
Meal 5 – (Post Workout) – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery, 1 serving creatine
Meal 6 – 4.34 oz lean ground turkey, 110 grams sweet potato, 3.21 oz broccoli
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein 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 to 2752 calories with 309 grams of protein, 211 grams of carbohydrates and 71 grams of fats. This breaks down to 45% protein, 31% carbs and 23% fats.

My stomach looked a little bloated in the evening so I decided to measure it to see what it measured later in the day as opposed to first thing in the morning before I ate or drank anything. To my SHOCK, my waist was all the way up to 35”! I couldn’t believe it!! It was over an inch bigger than it was just this morning.

My stomach must have been upset from something because a couple hours later, my waist was back down and it measured 34 ½”. I realize that my waist is about ½ an inch bigger in the afternoon or evening than it is first thing in the morning so I really need to get it down to 32 ½” in the morning if I want to have a 33” waist for the photo shoot.

Friday, May 30th, 2008
Damn, this is getting ridiculous! Today, my weight was down to 205.5 pounds (the lowest it’s been yet) but my waist was back up again to 34”. I don’t know what the hell is going on! I can almost understand it if my waist didn’t go down at all this week but for it to go down, then go up, then go down again and then be back up doesn’t make any sense.

Today’s workout was not that great. I was supposed to train back and biceps very heavy but I didn’t think I would be able to train that heavy on Barbell Rows or on Deadlifts. I was just going to go in and do the best I could without hurting my lower back. Here is how it went:

Close-Grip Pulldowns 130x15, 180x10
Wide-Grip Chins BWx10, 25x8, 35x7
Barbell Rows (Smith Machine) 135x12, 225x8, 265x6, 265x6
Seated Cable Rows 250x8, 275x6, 275x6
Half Deadlifts 225x10, 315x8
Incline Curls 45x8, 55x6, 55x5
Barbell Curls 95x8, 115x6, 115x6
Hammer Curls 45x8, 55x6, 55x6
Wrist Curls 95x12, 125x8, 125x8

I actually slightly increased my calories and carbs today to maybe shock my body a little to losing this damn stubborn bodyfat. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold protein
Meal 2 – 2 eggs, 8 egg whites, 3 T. salsa,1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 3 – (Pre-Workout) – 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 serving creatine
Meal 4 – (During Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Vassive NO
Meal 5 – (Post Workout) – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery, 1 serving creatine
Meal 6 – 4.09 oz lean ground turkey, 125 grams sweet potato, 2.96 oz broccoli
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 8 – 3.21 oz round steak, 27 grams pasta sauce, ½ cup green peas, 20 grams natural peanut butter
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, 222 grams of carbohydrates and 83 grams of fats. The breakdown for today’s diet was 42% protein, 30% carbs and 26% fats.

Saturday, May 31st, 2008
My weight today was 207 pounds and the waist is still at 34”. This was really, really disappointing to me because now my waist has been the same for two weeks in a row – AGAIN! I’m getting really frustrated with this slow, slow, slow fat loss. It’s taking me forever to lose this fat and get ripped.

The diet I am following now is the same one that I’ve followed in the past to slowly lose about a quarter of an inch off my waist each week. With this diet, I could count of losing a full inch off my waist every four weeks. I guess it’s just my body changing and getting older but now I’m going to have to make some adjustments with the diet in order to accelerate this fat loss.

Today was my 19th week of dieting. I started my diet after I got back home from vacation in Costa Rica on January 19th. I ate with reckless abandon during my vacation (which is what you’re supposed to do on vacation) and my waist was up to a very bloated 37” and my weight was 229 pounds when I got back home.

Once I started my diet after my vacation, the weight loss and the waist went down right away. In only three week, my waist went down an inch to 36” and my weight was down 12 pounds to 217 pounds.

To lose another inch on the waist, however, it took 7 full weeks. Granted, there was some delay during this period because I went to the Arnold Classic for three full days and I couldn’t follow the diet exactly. The other delay was getting sick with a really bad flu when I got home from Columbus and this knocked me out for two weeks. My waist was 36” on February 9th and it took me until March 29th before I got my waist down to 35” and my weight was down to 212 pounds.

The next inch off my waist took an incredible 8 weeks, about twice the amount of time it should have taken. Again, there was a small interruption here when I went out of town the first weekend of May to guest pose at a competition in Oregon but it still shouldn’t have taken this long to lose an inch off the waist. It took from March 29th until May 24th to get my waist down to 34” and my weight was down to 206 pounds.

I don’t want to wait another two months to get my waist down to 33” or even 32 ½”. I have to figure out a different strategy to speed this whole process up and get down to 32 ½” in the next six weeks.

Today was technically my day off but I went to the gym in the afternoon to train abs and do a light workout for the legs. I also did cardio today after the workout. Here is how it went:

Incline Sit-ups BWx50, BWx35
Incline Knee Raises BWx30, BWx25
Alternate Crunches BWx25 x 2 sets
Seated Knee Raises 15x15 drop set BWx10 x 2 sets
Leg Extensions (Cybex) 110x15, 150x15, 190x12
Leg Press 360x15, 450x15, 450x15
Sissy Squats BWx10 x 3 sets
DB Lunges 30x10, 35x10

My diet today was a typical rest day diet although I did go out to dinner at night. I made sure I only ordered broiled salmon and broccoli. The only thing I had to drink was bottled water and ice tea. Obviously, there was no dessert or appetizers anywhere near the table.

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 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 scoop Pro Complex
Meal 3 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Egg Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 4 – (Pre-Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving creatine, 1 serving Threshold
Meal 5 – (Post Workout) – 1 serving Whey Gold, 1 serving creatine
Meal 6 – 4.3 oz lean ground turkey, 120 grams sweet potato, 3.10 oz broccoli
Meal 7 – 1 egg, 7 egg whites, 3 T. salsa, 16 grams natural peanut butter
Meal 8 – Broiled salmon, broccoli (restaurant)
Meal 9 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoop Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

The information contained in this article is not intended to be used for, or replace, the advice, medical diagnosis, or treatment of your doctor. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other licensed healthcare provider before starting any new supplement, diet, or exercise routine or when you have questions regarding any medical condition. Use of this article indicates that you expressly acknowledge and agree that Optimum Nutrition, Inc., its suppliers, licensees, and sub-licensees are not responsible for the results of your decision resulting from the use of this information including, but not limited to, your choosing to seek or not seek professional medical care based on the information contained in this article.