John Hansens Training Diary Week of February 17th 2008

by: John Hansen - February 26th, 2008

John Hansen’s Training Diary – Week of Feb. 17, 2008


Sunday, Feb 17, 2008
I had a bad morning today. I just got out of the shower and I was leaning over the sink when my back totally went out. It just seized up and the whole lower back went out. Since I’ve done this about a million times over the last 20 years or so, I knew what I was in store for. When I do this, my back is strained for a good week.

I was so pissed off that this happened. I’ve been going to this chiropractor for the last few weeks to make my back better and now I throw the whole thing out. Damn!

Anyway, my weight today was at 216.5 pounds and the waist was at 35 ¾”. Since it was another off day, I kept the carbs low. Here was what I ate today:

Meal 1 – 2 whole eggs, 8 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries.
Meal 2 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 3 – 4.3 oz lean ground turkey, 137 grams sweet potato, 3 oz broccoli
Meal 4 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Egg Protein, 1 serving Vassive-CE, 1 t. natural peanut butter
Meal 5 – 5.54 oz sockeye salmon, 2 T. salsa, 1 cup green beans
Meal 6 – 8 egg whites, 3 T. salsa, Mini-Bag Popcorn
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

I cheated a little today and had the Mini-Bag of popcorn again and I also threw in a serving of the Vassive-CE in one of my protein drinks. This brought my calories up to 2638 with 294 grams of protein, 172 grams of carbs and 74 grams of fats.

I iced my lower back all day today so hopefully this will bring down the swelling and it won’t take a full week for my back to get better. I’ll see how it feels tomorrow.

Monday, Feb. 18, 2008
My weight today was at 217 pounds and the waist was still at 35 ¾”. I wanted to stay strict on my diet while my back was hurt so I don’t add any fat before I can start training again.

Unfortunately, I had a moment of weakness today and I gave in to some chocolate chip cookies (my weakness!). Chocolate chip cookies are to me what Kryptonite is to Superman. The only difference is that Superman won’t go near Kryptonite but I can’t stay away from the cookies if they are in the same room as me.

Hopefully, I didn’t do too much damage and I’ll get back on the diet tomorrow. My back was feeling a little better today so applying all that ice yesterday made a difference. I kept the ice on my back as much as I could today too.

Tuesday, Feb 19, 2008
My bodyweight today was up to 218.5 pounds and the waist jumped up a quarter of an inch to 36”. Hopefully, it’s just sodium from the cookies. I got back on my diet today and kept the carbs under 150. My back was still not ready to start training yet. I’ll probably wait until Thursday or Friday. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 2 – 2 whole eggs, 8 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 3 – 3.88 oz lean ground turkey, 152 grams sweet potato, 3.41 oz broccoli
Meal 4 – 8 egg whites, 3 T. salsa, 1 t. natural peanut butter
Meal 5 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein
Meal 6 – 7.48 oz sockeye salmon, 2 T. salsa, 1 cup green beans
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2633 calories with 303.5 grams of protein, 146 grams of carbs and 79 grams of fats. This breaks down to 46% protein, 22% carbohydrates and 27% fat.

Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008
My weight today was up for some reason. It went up to 219.5 pounds and the waist was back down to 35 ¾”. I’m glad it only went up for one day before it went back down to normal.

My back was still not ready so I’m going to wait until the end of the week before I start training again. I did get an email today from a contest promoter out in Oregon who wants me to guest pose at his contest in May. The exciting thing about this is that the contest is called the Bill Pearl Classic and the legendary Bill Pearl himself is going to be at the show. This is extra motivation to get in shape and look as good as I can by May.

My diet was low in carbs again today. I’m sure I won’t see a drop in the waist until I can start training again. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops of Whey Gold
Meal 2 – 2 whole eggs, 8 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 3 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein
Meal 4 – 3.88 oz lean ground turkey, 126 grams sweet potato, 3 oz broccoli
Meal 5 – 4.34 oz sirloin steak, ½ cup green peas
Meal 6 – 8 egg whites, 1 can of water-packed tuna fish, 1 t. natural peanut butter
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

I ate more protein today because of the added can of tuna fish and the carbs were even lower than normal because the sweet potato I ate for lunch was smaller than usual. The calories were at 2693.5 calories with 324 grams of protein, 134.5 grams of carbs and 82 grams of fats. This breaks down to 48% protein, 20% carbohydrates and 27% fat.

Thursday, Feb 21, 2008
My weight finally went back down a little to 217 pounds today and the waist is still at 35 ¾”. My back was feeling much better today so I’m going to go back to the gym and try and workout. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 2 – 2 eggs, 8 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 3 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 4 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 serving Vassive-CE
Meal 5 – 4.34 oz lean ground turkey, 154 grams sweet potato, 3.03 oz broccoli
Meal 6 – 8 egg whites, 3 T. salsa, 1 t. natural peanut butter
Meal 7 – 5.92 oz sockeye salmon, 1 cup green beans, 2 T. salsa
Meal 8 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

My calories today were at 2846 with 320 grams of protein, 157 grams of carbs and 90 grams of fats. This breaks down to 45% protein, 22% carbohydrates and 28% fat.

Friday, Feb 22, 2008
My weight today was down to 216 pounds and the waist was at 35 ¾”. I went back to the gym today to train delts and calves. I wasn’t sure how my back was going to hold up but I thought I would give it a try. Here is how the workout went:

Seated Barbell Press 135x12, 175x10, 185x8
Side Lateral Raises 40x12, 45x10, 50x10, 55x7
Bent-Over Laterals 35x12, 40x10, 40x8
Donkey Calf Raises 190 plus 45 lbs x 25, 190 plus 135 lbs x 25 x 2 sets
Leg Press Calf Raises 540x12, 630x10, 630x10

My calories and carbs were up a little today because it was (finally!) a workout day. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 2 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
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 – 4.09 oz lean ground turkey, 140 grams sweet potato, 2.86 oz broccoli
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil, 1 t. natural peanut butter
Meal 8 - 3.74 oz sirloin steak, ½ cup green peas
Meal 9 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 3094 calories with 317 grams of protein, 234 grams of carbohydrates and 86 grams of fat. This breaks down to 41% protein, 30% carbs and 25% fats.

Saturday, Feb 23, 2008
My weight was down even more today to 215 pounds and the waist went down to 35 ½”. It usually goes down on Friday but it was a day behind this week because I couldn’t train all week. I’m just glad it continued to drop a quarter of an inch on schedule.

I went to the gym today to train back and biceps. I kept on schedule this week but I missed my chest and my leg workouts because I didn’t train at the beginning of the week. Here is how the back workout went:

Close-Grip Pulldowns 130x15, 180x12
Wide-Grip Chins BWx10, BWx7, BWx7
One-Arm DB Rows 100x12, 120x10, 125x8
T-Bar Rows 4 plates x 10, 5 plates x 8 x 2 sets
Hyper-Ext. BWx20, 45 lbs x 15 followed by 10 reps x 2 sets
Alternate DB Curls 45x10, 55x8, 60x7
Preacher Curls (Seated) 70x10, 90x8, 90x8

Today’s workout went pretty good. I only did the same weights as the last time I did this workout but I didn’t strain my back and I had a good workout so that’s all I expected today. Here is how the diet went:

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 Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 3 – (Pre-workout) – 1 scoop 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 – 4.13 oz lean ground turkey, 144 grams sweet potato, 3.14 oz broccoli
Meal 7 – 6.03 oz Wild Pacific Salmon, 1 cup green beans
Meal 8 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scooop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Egg Protein
Meal 9 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2891 calories with 313 grams of protein, 229 grams of carbs and 71 grams of fats. This breaks down to 43% protein, 32% carbohydrates and 22% fat.

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.