A year and a half - now it's your turn

I dug up some pictures that I never shared with the blogging crowd before. This was my "Week 10" Bowflex pictures. I thought I looked great (and I did compared to where I started). I'll follow it up with some picturs I took today.

Ready? Ok, here's studly me 10 weeks after starting my Bowflex routine:

Here's one week later...how handsome am I?

Please excuse the nerdy haircut. I didn't know what i was doing!!

Ok let's fast forward one very dedicated year. I think I'm starting to look MUCH better now. The mid-section is trimmed down and, over all, getting to be much learner with greater muscle mass.

Another one from the same week. My arms are looking more sculpted than ever before.

One now, a year and a half later. Here's today's pictures:

Letting it all hang out

So that's been my progress over the course of this blog (just over a year and a half).

I'm pretty happy with my results but I'd love to hear from anyone who wants to make any suggestions. I know my gut it still weak and I'm working on it but I really really hate cardio.

Lastly, I'd like to challenge you to beat my results and improve your quality and longevity of life.

If you have any questions about getting started or staying motivated, nutrition and suppliments or about equipment please email me. My email address is in my profile. I'd love to hear from you.

Good luck,

Daemon Cain

Perspective and change

Our lives are filtered by our perspective and therefore how we experience things is coloured with the same marker.

Take losing a job for instance. It feels horrible, you experience a sense of rejection and you are probably angry. However, chances are, you'll end up in a better paying job and ultimately be happier. Even if you know you'll be financially secure it doesn't stop the negative feelings associated with losing a job. Like it or not, you're dealing with change and it can be painful.

Change is always a mixed bag at best. Even if the change is good there's always pros and cons to your new situation.

It doesn't have to be this way if you use perspective to your advantage.

When I first started working out I was sore afterwards. I kept at it and eventually my body became accustomed to the abuse it was taking several times a week. Slowly that soreness stopped reporting itself as strongly to my brain. It became my badge of honour reminding me every waking moment that I was becoming better.

I work out to make sure my body fails me every single time. My GOAL is to let myself down. My goal is fail and be beaten by inanimate iron and to have to have ass whiped and served by my Bowflex's resistance rods. Some people say working out is painful. That, like all change, changing your body hurts. But let me tell you it only hurts if you believe it's pain and you believe that it's negative.

Maybe it's just me but I like the burning throb left in my biceps and the soreness in my legs as I walk up the stairs the next day. I like the way my back feels like it's going to explode if I do one more rep (so I do a full set just to add insult to injury).

It's not pain that I'm feeling as my body gets broken down. It's pure, unadulterated bliss. Beating my body is nurrishment for my soul and is where my mind can actually sleep and repare.

My daily troubles, like my ego, are checked at the door and there's nothing else to think about except my next rep and making it to 12.

Manufacturing Lies - Unregulated Suppliment Makers

I'm not saying that there aren't a lot of good suppliments out on the market. I think there's a lot of great choices for creatine, multi-vitamins and amino-acids.

But, like everyone who has been down this road before me I've been looking for a "leg up" to reach my goals faster. I've said time and time again not to buy magic potions but like everyone who is working at building their body I've become frustrated with the speed at which I'm progressing. I started researching other options for losing fat and building muscle faster.

I'd read a review about a product that supposed to boost testosterone hormone production. It costs almost $100.00 a bottle and I can't find any scientific research to back up the claim other than it's clinically proven to work in mice and that results have not been collected in humans.

Here's my rule of thumb when it comes to suppliments. If the company selling the product is releasing clinical trail data on rats (and they are selling it humans) then why in the world don't they publish human results. Products don't work the same in rats as they do humans (even if the humans are rats of the gym variety).

Think maybe if your selling testosterone boosting product it might have crossed your mind to have some blood drawn on one or 2 of their users to see if maybe the stuff worked? Just a thought....

As a consumer I'm going to demand more. I'm currently taking creatine monohydrate, L-Arginine and a multi-vitamin. I'm axiously looking for any new suppliment that is backed by real research by a company who is actually trying to make products that work.

If you know of any please let me know and if I agree with you then I'll post them.