Ok, so LIFE(tm) happens to everyone and I'm in the midst of my own shit right now. It's kinda stomped my inspiration lately and as such the blog has suffered accordingly. My apologies to all three of you my faithful readers out there. ;)

So I have been undergoing some changes of my own, 2012 was a big year for 'change' haha. One positive is I have freed up a goodly portion of horsepower in every vehicle I own.....to the tune of 70-ish pounds and counting. Yup, my giant self while still one of the larger dudes in the room will not be one of the flabby ones.
December first of 2011 found me aghast at the expansion of my personal girth; somehow, unbeknownst to me I has become a fat fucker. Ok, so while I'll admit to a certain level of daily oblivion, I did know I was packing it on but it was a slow gain over years that never really took the fore until I realized just how much I'd gained. Looking back, every couple years the riding gear had to go up a size or two, mostly in the middle regions. Nothing that caused me panic certainly, but a steady thickening.
I presently workout at least 4 days a week, though the holidays kicked the shit out of my previous 5-6 days a week.....fucking christmas.

My workouts are loosely arranged in a push, pull, legs daily rotation, typical cycle:

Day 1: Push

• Free bench press: 4sets of 12 reps presently 165lbs full width grip
• Decline bench***: 4sets of 12 reps presently 100lbs per hand
• Incline bench***: 4sets of 10 reps presently 70lbs per hand(fucking shoulder)
• Flat, dumbassbell flies: 4sets of 10 reps presently 50lbs per hand
• Standing cable crossovers: 4sets of 10 reps presently 65lbs per hand
• Standing cable triceps press: 6 sets of 12 reps presently 140lbs with rope spread finish
• Deltoid raises (fore and side): 4 sets to failure presently 17.5lb per hand 

Day 2: Pull

• Iso-lateral hybrid pulldown***: 6 sets of 12 reps presently 135lbs per hand
• Hammer row machine***: 6 sets of 12 reps presently 105lbs per hand
• Hammer shrug machine: 4 sets of 10 reps presently 65lbs per side
• Modified standing cable Trapezius pulls: 4x to failure at 100lbs 
• (stand, pull grip up to chin, will be changing this to mid chest height for shoulder health)

• Standing Dumbbell hammer curls: 4sets of 12 reps presently 50lbs per hand
• Seated Preacher curls: 2x to failure, combo-grip bar 75lbs
• Bent anterior Deltoid pulls: 4sets or 20 reps presently 20lbs per hand

Day 3: Legs

• Seated Quadricep extensions***: 5sets of 16 reps presently 125lbs
• Seated Hamstring curls***: 5sets of 16 reps presently 100lbs
• Hip Aductors: 4sets of 20 reps presently 165lbs on Nautilus machine
• Hip Abductors: 4sets of 20 reps presently 155lbs on Nautilus machine
• Leg press Hammer Sled: 4 sets of 12-14 reps presently 525lbs
• I get my calves hammered during the leg press torture so no specific work

Day 4: Focus day

I generally pick the area I feel needs the most work or requires work for balancing growth etc....and I beat the shit out of it on day four. I just double the exercises I normally would for the body part plus a couple sets 30% lighter but to failure. Then cardio and core work like normal.

Day 5: Big Cardio Cock Punch

On B.C.C.P. it's all about cardio, all day!

yay me.

I start with my normal 30-40 on the elliptical, yeehaw feeling solid, feeling manly! Then it's off to do my abominable abdominal work just like any other frollice they the posies.....THEN since we're really warmed up now what the shit, let's do more cardio. I jump on the stairmaster for 40 flights of living hell triumph and self accomplishment after which....bike time! I'd love to say I pull another 30 minutes of raging bull/Lance Armstrong like pace but I do my best to grind out a really fast 20 minute sprint.

Then I puke.

Ok not really but it feels like I should. 

I think I will. Puke I mean.

It's fitting, don't you think?

***Hammer Strength machines look like torture racks with seatbelts for a reason....they are!

Abdominal and core work EVERYDAY!!!

• Planks: right, left and center forms 45 seconds each twice thru (should be three times) 
• Superman form: 45 seconds twice thru (should be three times) 
• Medicine ball Oblique twists: 10lb weight 4 x 20reps
• feet elevated because we hate ourselves....)
• Decline board crunches: 4x75 reps ....yep 300 crunches every day. Eat it fatty!

Cardio EVERYDAY!!!

40 minutes on the elliptical machine, usually I set it to the Hillclimb program with the resistance set to 'Hate' which translates to 14-16 out of 20. I try to keep my rpms between 70-80 which limits my heartrate to around 150, at which rate I burn approximately 900calories as per their surely optimistic algorithm in my allotted time. 

I used to really detest doing cardio work but as my fitness has drastically improved over the ensuing 12 months it's become a period of mental quiet for me. I let my mind wander where it will and unless something effects me the time (and effort) just breezes by. A note as well...I have football player knees. Not the worst for certain but I've endured surgeries to put them back together, I'm not all that interested in anything with lots of impact and I only run when I have to catch some D-bag or an Ex pops round for old times.

I have another 30 pounds I wouldn't mind carving off, but as it stands right now I feel tremendous physically barring a couple niggling issues. The first is a nagging deep ache in my left shoulder that intensifies during certain motions: sitting up in bed and reaching back to lift myself/scoot back against the headboard brings agony in that shoulder, same when doing the military over head press which I no longer do and some forward swinging motions. I have been taking it easy on the shoulder as I noticed the pain starting to crop up during free bar bench press as well and could start to seriously inhibit my upper body work. I am presently researching inner shoulder exercises to help bolster the support muscles to bring them in line. I'm a little afraid it's wear though as I played football from 5th grade into college/ wrestled the same duration and had a couple pretty serious dirtbike soil samples for punctuation. I've broken bones in each side......

The other is recurring pain and stiffness from my right hip, I broke the socket when I was 30(!!!) playing in a paintball tournament. Whilst pursuing some nugget who had my flag, I gracefully vaulted over a bunker like a pre-murder OJ Simpson airport dash but didn't quiet clear it with my trailing foot. The result was a 10 foot fall into a pit I was also unaware of, only to land directly on my hip (not hip bone) on a small boulder. Yup....fer real. I shook it off and actually finished the tourney though by the end it was obvious I had real fun on my hands. Fast forward 15 years and I have a perfectly strong(er), completely functional......stiff, painful bitch of a hip. fucker.....

What does this all mean, well I am WAY stronger and more fit and that applies directly to motorcycles as I am also WAY faster and more capable.

And my ass looks great in leather pants again.

So there's that...........

We'll talk about food in my next installment but in general I eat pretty much everything anyone else does, I just eat MUCH more sensible portions. I do stay away from fast food if I can, soda other than the rare mixer is a rarity. Swapping white carbs to brown helps tremendously but again...stay tuned for more on this.

Bike shit!

For real! Yeah it's been slow for sure, but I have picked at the XV a little and here's what I have to show for it.

I rebuilt the headlight mounts which had vibration fractures and made this aluminum dash panel in my homemade sheet metal brake from .120" 5053 alloy. It mounts to the rubber dampers the original clocks used and I topped the stainless bolts off with nifty turned aluminum caps. The Trailtech computer and my dashboard are significantly lighter, less cluttered and better looking than the stock units. As you can see there's room on the dash panel for indicator LEDs, the key and a power outlet for my Android.

The M-unit and the beginning of the harness. I'm just lazy and haven't done bit this yet because I don't have a battery. I'm looking into lithium batteries but nothing really suits my shape requirements so I may just build my own pack. I built my own back when I raced RC cars....it's the same shit people, don't see why it won't work again. We'll see, I'm looking into it currently. Also, this mounting setup might be going away along with the entire subframe to be replaced with something far more sexy and svelt. Stay tuned for more on this later..... 

Got this temporary tail light and turn signal combo mounted until I settle on something more to my liking. The blue silicone damps vibration and keeps the turn signals from sagging like sad puppy ears. Yes I know...if I'd made a one piece bracket I wouldn't need to. Eat it...this is temporary. It's my bike, I'll take a sharpy to it whiner...they are almost violently bright though.....

Huh.....dunno why this pic is flipped over on it's side, I can assure you that the bike it upright haha. I added the yellow rock chip material to the ginormous 9" headlight because the glass lens is 30-some years old and shows chips. This will protect it and it's.....interesting looking. I will likely find some clear material unless this grows on me better. Also swapped out for the little LED front signals to match the rear. The M-unit does all the flashing and relay work internally and doesn't care for loads so they flash just fine without a load resistor.

 Next time, more fitness shit, some healthy food crap and chassis rework stage one. Time to give the old girl some proper legs and a racier stance.
 
Oh and one more reason to get yer flabby butt in shape.....

This deliciously fit woman.......doesn't date fat guys. Just sayin'.......