John's Fitness Updates

[Jason Robinson]

Wow... 6'5" and only 180 lbs??? No wonder people thought you looked skinny. What do you have now, 3% body fat? Amazing transformation, John! Keep it up... you might get to the point where you start "filling out" again, but with layered muscle, rather than excess fat. Very inspirational...

[John Rauch]

Thanks Jason! That's what I'm hoping for. I haven't been counting calories or making diet decisions based on weight lately, so hopefully I'll see some more muscle slowly start to build up. As of late, my numbers lifting have seen a nice little spike and I've noticed a bit of difference in my appearance, so if I can just keep that happening for a while, I'll be golden.

[Jason Robinson]

BTW, what was the "spider-bite fiasco"? Just asking as a major arachnophobe...

[Alex Sollazzo]

John was hoping to become like your avatar

[John Rauch]

BTW, what was the "spider-bite fiasco"? Just asking as a major arachnophobe...

I was bitten by a brown recluse, had an allergic reaction, and had to spend several days in the hospital.

[Jason Robinson]

SHEESH!!!
'Though I wouldn't call your being hospitalized an "allergic reaction." Brown recluses are just plain EVIL creatures whose venom literally eats your cell tissue away! They're poisonous as hell. Whenever anyone asks me why I'm scared of spiders, I just tell them to Google "brown recluse" and "bite" and look in the images. Then they understand...

Glad you're recovered and hope there aren't any lasting effects.

[Jason Robinson]

I don't care what anyone says, spiders are NOT your friends.
http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2010/05/25/2010-05-25_georgia_woman_survives_poisonous_spider_bite_but_loses_a_breast.html

[John Rauch]

SHEESH!!!
'Though I wouldn't call your being hospitalized an "allergic reaction." Brown recluses are just plain EVIL creatures whose venom literally eats your cell tissue away! They're poisonous as hell. Whenever anyone asks me why I'm scared of spiders, I just tell them to Google "brown recluse" and "bite" and look in the images. Then they understand...

Glad you're recovered and hope there aren't any lasting effects.

No, I actually did have an allergic reaction in addition to the normal brown recluse stuff. My whole body was covered in hives for almost a week.

[John Rauch]

Man oh man am I sore today. We decided to try a week at the fitness center here and debating whether or not to actually join. On one hand, they have about a billion machines that while I *can* use them, they don't actually do much that I couldn't do at home. Somehow though, I'm more sore than normal. Maybe it's just because the machines have allowed me to go heavier on some lifts than I could do at home without a spotter. I don't know, but it's something to consider.

The past several weeks for me have been great, lifting, even before trying the gym. My bench press has gone up about 20 lbs. I still look skinny and only weigh 183, but I'm trying to stick to eating often and timing my protein and carbs properly. I'll take pictures again in a few weeks, probably.

[Alex Sollazzo]

I get sore too when i use the machine gyms even though ive been training at home for a year now, Its just a combination of the unnatural motion youre forced to do and the machines isolating muscles rather then being compound movements. Hurry and bulk so we get new pics

[John Rauch]

Well, after a week of massive workouts (bigger and harder than anything I've done before) and eating as much as I can stomache, plus two weight gainer shakes a day, I've gained one negative pound. *grumble*

[Alex Sollazzo]

Its just water weight, gaining muscle takes alot longer than losing fat. What kind of workout plan you doing these days ?

[John Rauch]

Mondays and Thursdays I do upper body, focusing on complex moves like bench press, dips, pull-ups, rows, etc. Tuesdays and Fridays are leg days. I usually do a total of 30-40 total sets in under 90 minutes including warm-up and cool down. Wednesdays are my catch-all/cardio days. I do kettle bells, med. ball and core stuff, mostly, for about 45 minutes. Saturdays and Sundays are usually rest.

[Alex Sollazzo]

Sounds fine to me assuming on the compound moves youre going for heavy weight/low reps.

[John Rauch]

The only time I go more than 10 reps are for either a warm-up set or a situation where picking up heavier weight would be unsafe if I were to fail.