Start date: June 23, 2004
End date: September 23, 2004

Pictures-Weekly updates every Friday. The first picture of the challenge will be on June 23.

Poses-1 picture front, full body unflexed.
1 picture front, full body flexed.
1 picture front upper body flexed.
1 picture back upper body flexed.

These would be the “standard” shots and then if anyone wanted to add any additional shots then that would be fine too.

Judging-Weekly updates will be made in this thread. On September 23, a new thread will be created with a poll so members can vote for the winner.

Prizes-Trophy and John Stone's autograph :D (if he wants to of course)

Feel free to add anything else guys.

May the best loser win!

Jason

In addition to the weekly picture updates, I think we should include our current weight and bf% if we can get it checked.

Jason

I'm ready. GRRRRRR! GRRRRRRR! Bring it on! :db:

I worked out this morning. Was supposed to be chest/tris. I finished my chest routine and was going to skip tris and get to work early. Then I remembered this competition. TRIs were hit hard!

I worked out this morning. Was supposed to be chest/tris. I finished my chest routine and was going to skip tris and get to work early. Then I remembered this competition. TRIs were hit hard!

See? It's helping motivate already! :D
My legs are still sore as hell from working them out on tuesday,had to skip cardio last night. Hopefully a hot bath later will help.

Jason

I've noticed already that because of this challenge, I'm reeally sticking to my diet over the past few days. Now If I can only keep it going for 3 months. :eat:

I've noticed already that because of this challenge, I'm reeally sticking to my diet over the past few days. Now If I can only keep it going for 3 months. :eat:

Same here. Although I actually considered eating whatever until the 21st, but decided against it. I'm sure I'll cheat a time or 2 for special occasions, but have no doubt that it won't be a habit or turn into a binge week.

What workout program and diet are you guys going to be doing?

Jason

I am probably sticking with the 40/40/20, but I might be reducing my caloric intake to around 1800-2000. We will have to see. I haven't been keeping track of my eating habits. I had been trying to incorporate fruits back into my diet on a limited basis. I need to do some research on that.

I will stick with my 2 a days: weightlifting in the morning and cardio in the evening. I have surprisingly been able to keep that routine up for the past 6 months. About a month ago I went to a 3 day split on the weights from a once a week muscle group. When I started really hitting the weight about 7 years ago, I had my best strength and muscle gains during that time. I might explore some alternative routines in the future, but I am starting to up my weight again back to what it was a year ago.

I am headed to Colorado tomorrow, so I will probably have a tough time eating a really clean diet. But hopefully I can get some good cardio in the mountains.

I like the sig Jason. I will update mine to the same when I get back.

did you guys do starting out pics? where they at?

did you guys do starting out pics? where they at?

I believe we are going to put our 1st pics up when the contest starts on the 23rd.

Jason

Saturday morning I got up and ran a local 5k race. I had skipped a run on friday so I really wanted to see how fast I could run this race. I ended up running 3.1 miles in 23:17 with an average pace of 7:22 a mile. This is a personal record for me so I'm stoked.

Then I went to my Saturday morning Kung Fu class. It lasts about an hour and a half. A lot of drills and sparring too.

Then I went home and dug some fence post holes and put in a few fence posts. The bags of Quickrete weigh 80lbs each.

Sunday I got up and went for a trail run with a friend. It's only about 4 miles but has a lot of steep ups and downs. After that I went home and put in a few more fence posts.

My diet wasn't great this weekend. Probably a few more carbs and fat then I usually get but I got on the scale this morning and I'm down to 175lbs.

So I took my pictures for week 1 this morning. I'm not sure if my son stepped on my camera or what, but the jack that connects the camera to the pc was smashed. I am going to borrow my ex's camera tonight and will update then. I guess it's good in a way because it will be a more honest picture than 1 taken right after working out. Looking forward to getting this started :)

Jason

Current Stats:
Height: 5'11''
Weight: 175.5 lbs.
Bodyfat: 13%
22.8 lbs of fat
152.7 lbs. of lean body mass.

Goal: Long lean athletic build
Height: 5'11''
Weight: 165 lbs.
Bodyfat: 8%
13.2 lbs of fat
151.8 lbs of lean body mass.

My workouts will consist of running, swimming, cycling, kung fu and body weight calisthenics.

I mix things up a lot because I get bored easily but a typical week will look like this.

Sunday: long run 7 to 10 miles
Monday: Swim 1000 yards at lunch
Tuesday: 3 mile run in early am. Pushups, situps, pullups, and hindu squats. 1.5 hour moutain bike ride in evening.
Wednesday: Run 4 to 5 miles at lunch.
Thursday: Swim 1000 yards at lunch. Kung fu class in evening 1.5 hours.
Friday: Pushups, Situps, Pullups and hindu squats in am. Run 5 to 7 miles in evening.
Saturday: Kung fu in am1.5 hours. 1.5 hour moutain bike ride in evening.

Diet: I try to stay as close as possible to a 40,40,20 diet as I can but with all the endurance stuff I do, I end up craving more carbs so it usually works out to be 50,30,20.

The Problem: Something is up with my shoulder. Not sure what. I suspect tendonitis. I was doing MAX OT for a while but had nagging shoulder pain that would sometimes stay with me for a whole day. I laid off for a few weeks and did some pushups yesterday. Again, my left shoulder was sore all day. I have a Doctor's appt. next tuesday at 7:30am. So we'll see how that goes.

I'm attaching pictures below. Any suggestions are welcome.

My suggestions:

1. When you pose, wear shorts or boxers or boxer-briefs for a full body photo.

2. ever considered taking down the bodyhair a notch? i don't want to sound rude but you've got a lot of coverage if you know what i mean.

Current Stats:
Height: 6ft
Weight: 175 lbs.
Bodyfat: 11-12%

Goal: Brad Pitt in Fight Club :D


Currently doing rest-pause training. I will do this for 6-8 weeks then try something else.

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Back/Biceps/Shoulders/Abs, Cardio at night.
Tuesday: Cardio in the a.m.
Wednesday: Legs/Abs, Cardio at night provided legs function.
Thursday: Cardio.
Friday: Back/Biceps/Chest/Abs, Cardio at night.
Saturday: Cardio in the a.m.

Diet: Using Harris-Benedict with 500 cal deficit=2300 calories,protein will be gramsxbody weight with an increase on lifting days,fat 20%,rest complex carbs with simple carbs post workout.

The Problem:Seeing results and then slacking. Not on my workout, but on my diet.

My suggestions:

1. When you pose, wear shorts or boxers or boxer-briefs for a full body photo.

2. ever considered taking down the bodyhair a notch? i don't want to sound rude but you've got a lot of coverage if you know what i mean.

Boxers to come in next shot.

I was waiting for someone to mention the hair. I'm surprised it was only one person. Don't worry about being rude. I've heard it all. Sweater back, Yak back, wearwolf, wolverine. You name it. I was gonna ask for some advice on this very subject. I was going to check into laser hair removal but it might cost a small fortune. I don't want to shave because of how itchy it will get when growing back in.

Any thoughts? Anyone as hairy as me out there?

I don't want to shave because of how itchy it will get when growing back in.

Any thoughts? Anyone as hairy as me out there?

Well, I'm not as hairy as you, but still wanted to remove most of it in order to better see my progress.

What I use is simply a set of clippers, like the ones you would use to cut the hair on your head (I also happen to cut my own hair using these.)

It's MUCH easier than shaving. I just use the shortest guard (1mm I think) and buzz off all of the hair. If you look real close, you can still see the hair, but from any distance it's not visible. And, it's not so short that it's like razor stubble (i.e., no sandpaper texture).

My body hair is not nearly as dark as yours, so YMMV a bit. In any case I would think you'd see a dramatic difference, without some of the worries of shaving or other complete removal techniques.

By the way, I would do this as a first step if I was ever going to shave with a razor. It would help avoid a lot of the clogging of the blade, I'd bet.

I was waiting for someone to mention the hair. I'm surprised it was only one person. Don't worry about being rude. I've heard it all. Sweater back, Yak back, wearwolf, wolverine. You name it. I was gonna ask for some advice on this very subject. I was going to check into laser hair removal but it might cost a small fortune. I don't want to shave because of how itchy it will get when growing back in.

Any thoughts? Anyone as hairy as me out there?
I would experiment with either waxing or nair for men. Try a small area like the shoulders and wait a few weeks to see if you break out. I wouldn't wax on your own-in fact it's impossible to wax your own back. It's much cheaper than lazer removal.

But the clippers are a good idea to 'take it down' about 10 notches. Unfortunately, black hair on white skin is hard to miss even when it's short.

Thanks for the advice you guys. The hair has been an issue for me for a long time. Some people don't want to take their shirt off because they are over weight. For me it's the hair. I always find myself looking for someone that is more hairy than me.

I've got a sample package of that nair for men so I think I'll give that a try and then go from there.

Thanks again for the advice.

Brian

don't get too excited if it seems to work right away. definitely try a small area and WAIT A FEW WEEKS.

I bought some Epil Stop off the infomercial a few years back and when it arrived my girlfriend used it on my back and it took away all the hair beautifully. unfortunately, a few weeks later when it started growing back i broke out with bumps everywhere that remained for about 4 months.

the same thing happened when i waxed my back so it may be growing back process that is causing the breakout. if you get no breakout after a few weeks, by all means continue use.

Thanks for the advice you guys. The hair has been an issue for me for a long time. Some people don't want to take their shirt off because they are over weight. For me it's the hair. I always find myself looking for someone that is more hairy than me.



You asked for it:

http://www.sportsmachines.net/Stone/polly3.jpg

Isn't that Tom Selleck before he did his own transformation (they moved some hair to his head and all the fat to his wallet)? :)

Ok, ok, don't be hijacking our challenge thread.

AMR-Have you tried the nair for men yet?

And where are Banditfist's photos?

And where are Banditfist's photos?

Hi,
Banditfist just got back in town and will get pics up as soon as he can.


Jason

AMR-Have you tried the nair for men yet?

Yeah, I tried it the other night. Pretty funny, I have a big stripe of no hair on my back. You'll see in the updated pictures this week.

I got up saturday morning and went for a 5 mile run. it was awesome. I then ate some cereal and went to my kung fu class. Usually I'm spent after a run like that but I made it through class just fine. So level of cardio fitness is pretty good. Sunday I painted the house all day and today at lunch I'm going for a swim (1000 yrds).

I am back in town, and I just got said goodbye to the company that I had this morning. I got my first workout in over a week this morning.
Back and abs are feeling really good. I usually start my upper back workout with wide grip pull ups. I do have ever many sets it takes to get to 50 reps. Today, I decided to add a 25 pound plate to my weight. 6 months ago I could still hit 15-20 reps at 240 pounds. I weighed in at 207, so add 25pounds to that. I was straining to get 10 reps done with that weight. Felt good though.

Pics will be up tonight when the wife gets home to take the pics.

Finally!

Current Stats:
Height: 6'1''
Weight: 207.6 lbs.
Bodyfat: 16%

Goal: Look like I work out
Height: 6'1''
Weight: 190 lbs.
Bodyfat: 10%

I have been weightlifting for over 14 years. Over the past year I put on weight, stopped lifting, and only did modest cardio. Work was killing my workouts. In January, I made a change. I starting lifting weights in the morning. I did not waste time waiting on equipment and I was guaranteed that work would only rarely interrupt my routine. Cardio is done at the gym. I do HIIT when I want to get in and get out, otherwise it is 45 minutes normally on an arc-trainer.

My workouts look like this:
day 1: legs (including squats),calves,cardio
day 2: chest, tris, abs, cardio
day 3: back, calves, cardio
day 4: shoulder, bis, abs, cardio
day 5: no lifting, cardio
day 6: legs (leg press instead of squats), calves, cardio
Start at day 2

Diet:
For the last six months I have been doing a 40/40/20 diet. I kept a log for the first two months. I need to start my log back up so I can track what I eat.

The Problem: I cheated EVERY SINGLE DAY of my diet with a snack before bed. Yeah I know that is a NO NO, but oh well. That is why the challenge is here to stop me! Additionally, I am going back to the basics with lifting and will really be concentrating on my form. I lost about 35 pounds since January. My strength is not the same. I am still trying to throw around the weight like I was, but need to reallze my limitations and hit the form.

Secondary Problem: Looking at my pics, my front delts are larger than my biceps.

DUDE!! You've got some guns!!! Very nice

jason

ALRIGHT! We're all in. I'm stoked! This is going to be fun.

I'm gonna be counting on you guys for some weight room advice. You both have more mass then I do.

Here is my week 2 entry. :)


Jason

Here's my pics for this week. Looking at them I think I need to put on some mass in my chest, shoulders and arms. Any thoughts on this?

I also got a cool cut on my eye tonight while staff sparring in my kung fu class.

First of all, nice cut! :tu:

As far as adding mass. I forget, do you also lift weights or just stick to cardio/martial arts? If you lift, what do you typically to for chest/arms/shoulders?

Jason

First of all, nice cut! :tu:

As far as adding mass. I forget, do you also lift weights or just stick to cardio/martial arts? If you lift, what do you typically to for chest/arms/shoulders?

Jason

Most of my training will be cardio (running, swimming, cycling and martial arts) but I want to try to do a full body workout 2 to 3 times a week. I was doing the MAX OT workout with the suggested exercises but I was either trying to push too much weight too soon or had bad form. Anyway, my left shoulder was extrememly sore all the time. And I don't mean that good kind of muscle soreness you get after lifting. I took a break, saw a doctor, he gave me the green light to lift so I am just now getting back into it after about a month break from lifting.

Exercises that irritate my shoulder are: Pushups, dips, incline dumbell bench and flat bench sometimes.

Front and Side lateral raises don't hurt my shoulder so I was going to try to strengthen the joint with these for about a month and then slowly get back into a full routine. I was also going to try to do all my normal stuff but with lower weight until I can strengthen the shoulder. What do you think?

Exercises that irritate my shoulder are: Pushups, dips, incline dumbell bench and flat bench sometimes.

Front and Side lateral raises don't hurt my shoulder so I was going to try to strengthen the joint with these for about a month and then slowly get back into a full routine. I was also going to try to do all my normal stuff but with lower weight until I can strengthen the shoulder. What do you think?

Do you use a barbell or dumbbells for bench press?

I am currently doing rest-pause and do the following lifts:

For arms I do straight bar curls and tricep pushdowns.
For chest I do dumbbell bench(flat,incline or decline)
Shoulders I do Military press and lateral raises.

Since they are all fairly small muscles, I don't believe in doing a ton of different exercises for each part. Especially since they get hit when I do compound lifts like squats and deads.

jason

Do you use a barbell or dumbbells for bench press?

I am currently doing rest-pause and do the following lifts:

For arms I do straight bar curls and tricep pushdowns.
For chest I do dumbbell bench(flat,incline or decline)
Shoulders I do Military press and lateral raises.

Since they are all fairly small muscles, I don't believe in doing a ton of different exercises for each part. Especially since they get hit when I do compound lifts like squats and deads.

jason

I tried do barbell flat bench the other day. I went very light and it worked out ok. So I'm gonna keep going with it for now. Thanks for the input.

Brian

Week 3:

The after effects of July 4th...still at 207.

Week 3

My version of the after effects of Fourth of July weekend. Drank 4 nights in a row, felt out of control. It's amazing how hard it is to lose fat, but how easy it is to gain. I still need to take a flexed front shot, but my batteries died out. I'll upload it tonight.

Hey guys, sorry I don't have my pictures up for this week yet. I've just been slammed with all kinds of different stuff to do. It looks like I won't be able to have any until this weekend. Sorry. Keep working out and eating clean! :tu:

Brian

Hey guys, sorry I don't have my pictures up for this week yet. I've just been slammed with all kinds of different stuff to do. It looks like I won't be able to have any until this weekend. Sorry. Keep working out and eating clean! :tu:

Brian

No problem, stuff happens. I think if we can have them up by Sunday night every week it should be cool.

Jason

I got sunburned as hell today. Too bad the sun didn't hit my sides. I now have racing stripes :lol:

Here's my pictures for this week. I've been running a lot lately so I've actually lost some weight.

Currently 173lbs at about 11 to 12% body fat

Sorry I am late. Busy week and weekend....

I will get my pics up tomorrow. didn't have access to my camera over the weekend

jason

Week 5 Pics

My obliques are pissing me off. If I squeeze them, it's mostly all muscle, but from the pics, it looks like fat. I know I know...lower body fat will get rid of them...but still! :p

Sorry guys, my wife went out of time with the camera. I will have my pics up by Wednesday.

Man, I have been having a tough time of things. Have not been in a good rotation on work, personal life, nutrition, and fitness. Got a new program starting soon and we will see...

My pics for this week. I actually was able to lift this week so far and last too. Here they are.

Better late then never.

In order to make good comparisons I'd recommend creating an image that has the identical pose side by side. It's very hard to judge your improvement if you have go back to another page or scroll up a lot to see the old pic.

If you don't have a photo editing tool that allows it than you could ask someone on the board to make it for you. I'd be willing to do one person's but not all of them.

Here's how I did my first comparison pic for my contest with jk0 and Marcman. The first pics are my August submission and the following post shows the comparison pics. Notice that I used the identical background and lighting, although they came out slightly different for no apparent reason.

Contest Comparison Pic-8.01.2004 (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=6107&page=3&pp=25)

Hopefully we can all have a series of pictures showing marked improvement like John has. That's what has drawn so many people to this site-those comparison pictures that I saw on the Fark.com link back in January were mind blowing. That's what made me get on the fitness wagon again-I wanted to have those cool monthly comparison photos spanning an entire year. Before/after are good, but all improvement is gradual so it's more motivating to see the pictures lined up incrementally because the changes seem more possible.

I decided to try a little something different this morning. I knew I had a little more definition than the previous pictures showed, so today, I took my pictures in the same spot I always do, but I turned the flash off and just used the natural overhead light.

Also, just for fun, I finally took some pictures of my legs

You do look more defined in that lighting. If you could just find something in between-the flash does seem to make the skin look white and seems to flatten out muscle definition.

You do look more defined in that lighting. If you could just find something in between-the flash does seem to make the skin look white and seems to flatten out muscle definition.

Yeah, I was noticing that. By the time I get it figured out just right, the challenge will be over! :lol:

Jason

Here are some side by side shots of me through the weeks of the challenge. (http://home.earthlink.net/~geroianni/challenge/)

jason

Here is my entry for the final week. I took a back shot, but it came out really blurry, so I'm going to skip it.
Once everybody submits theres, we can add a poll for the voting.

Jason

Hey man nice job, you've added visible mass to your chest and arms. :tu:

I haven't added any mass but I did drop about 2lbs and went from 13% body fat to 11%.

The most noticable difference is on the side pose-the pecs are much thicker and the arms definitely bigger. Good work-what's your plan now? Add mass? Cut? Rest? Go fishing?

Thanks guys. Chest and arms were actually the areas I was hoping to target. As for my future plans, I am going on a cruise next March, so I want to look really good for it. I am going to try a bulking cycle until december or so and then go back to cutting for a few months in time for the cruise.
I bulked up last year some time, but did it all wrong, just ate whatever I felt like. Going to shoot for a clean bulk this time. Looks like I am going to have to start a new journal until the next six pack summer :D


Jason

I know I didn't keep up with my posting of pics etc, but I did stick with my diet and workout plan. I think I only need another month or so of cutting and then maybe some bulking. My strength has really started to fall in some areas. For example, my deadlifts used to go to 495 without too much problem. Now 405 for a couple reps is my max. Kind of humbling thinking what I used to do.


RL is getting busy. Hunting season is here and that is going to ruin most any plans I have on Saturdays. Not sure what I can do with my diet on those days. Most everything you eat leaves a scent and I gotta hump everything I want into the woods and out again. I also started playing on a flag football team. The team has been together for a while so they know their roles. I am the rusher on defense. So nice! Can't imaging what it would have been like with the added weight from back in January.

Here goes....will be interesting to compare the beginning to the end.