My Review

Originally submitted at A1Supplements.com

Muscle Pharm Creatine Works Great

By T-Rav Miller from Yuma, Az on 11/13/2012

 

5out of 5

Pros: Strength gains, Muscle gains, Highest Quality, Great perfomance, Great price

Best Uses: Power lifters, High Intensity Athletes, Bodybuilders, Athletes

I am a non competitive Bodybuilder that is getting back into shape after 10 years of letting myself go. I started using this product about one month ago. I cannot believe the gains that I have seen. Great muscle growth and definition. Strength gains have been impressive. Product is to be taken pre and post workout 1 scoop (about 3 grams) with approximately 8 oz of water. I add it in with my regular protein shakes.

(legalese)

My Review

Originally submitted at A1Supplements.com

Best Multivitamin I have ever used

By T-Rav Miller from Yuma, Az on 11/13/2012

 

5out of 5

Pros: Highest Quality, Energizing, Great performance, Comparable price

Best Uses: High Performance Athletes, Runners, Bodybuilders, Power lifters, Regular Gym Patron, Everyday use

I am currently a non competitive bodybuilder working on getting back into shape after letting myself go for 10 years. The product label recommends 6 capsules daily. This is the only drawback if you have issues with taking pills. I do not and don't have any problem with them. Go down first time every time. I started out with over the counter multivitamins this time around and I did not see or feel any different taking them. With the MP Armor V I feel great and my performance has been enhanced since I have been taking them. The only time I start to feel sub pare is when I don't take them for a couple of days. Both my wife and I take them and we are enjoying the benefits.

(legalese)

Here is the Update I Promised

So I have not posted anything substantial in about a month. Last time I posted I told you about the Rock Hard Challenge exercise program that I was starting. This is the program that does 1 minute of exercise after each set of weights lifted. Followed by 2 minutes of rest before the next set of weight exercise. I followed this program for about a week before I stopped following that one. I didn't enjoy or care for the cardio exercise between my lifting sets. There are 2 main reasons for this. The first is superficial and shallow but I don't like the feeling of being watched while doing the cardio because of my large belly. The second is the easiest cardio to do as I see it was jumping jacks. This caused discomfort also due to my large belly. I decided to go with the Shortcut to Size program by Jim Stoppani on Bodybuilding.com. This is a program that I have wanted to do since I first heard about it. I did the Bizzy Diet to cut some weight and fat before moving on to strength training. <br>
But enough of the history lesson and on to the information. The Shortcut to Size program is just what I was looking for. I was down to 260lbs after the Bizzy Diet and when I started the Shortcut to Size program. My thoughts going into this program was that I need to build some lean muscle and then move to another cardio intense program to burn the fat. The program is setup so each week you change weights and rep numbers which keeps your muscles in a state of shock and keeps them building muscle to compensate for the constant changing. I enjoy this program immensely and I will have continued to burn fat and continue to see visible changes in my body. I have gained weight up to 265 but I am certain that it is all due to building muscle to replace the fat I have been losing. <br>
I was half way through week 3 when I found out that I was starting 14 hour days. This prevents me from hitting the gym throughout the week. I asked advice from Jim Stoppani of what I should do if I can only hit the gym on the weekends and he suggested doing chest, back, and shoulders on Saturday and legs, biceps, and triceps on Sunday. So I modeled my workouts after Arnold Schwarzenegger's superset workouts search Bodybuilding.com for Arnold + superset man to find the chest and back superset that I modified for my own workout. I then made a superset workout for Sunday's program. I followed these last Saturday and Sunday and was very pleased with the workouts. The only thing I am changing for this week is I am going to add my shoulders to my chest/back supersets to reduce the amount of time that it takes me in the gym. <br>
So that is my update, I am going to be updating my bodyspace stats on Bodybuilding.com so you can check that out and look into my progress. <br>
I will go back to the Shortcut to Size program as soon as I get back on normal shift. Starting back at week one will be exciting and interesting to see if I have made any gains since my first week one.

Still Here

Sorry all, I haven't made any posts recently but stay tuned for some news on my progress. Will be posting in the near future

God bless and Good night
Travis

Bizzy Diet Day 14

Hi All,
This has been a pretty great week for me. I discovered something that I was missing from my life. Heavy weight training. I was really enjoying the results and the workouts from the Bizzy Diet but I was not feeling the rush of the weight training like I wanted to. So here is where I stand. I am not going to continue with the bizzy diet because I am only 4lbs away from my 21 day goal and it is only day 14. I did some research and I consulted with a trainer from BodyBuilding.com and he suggested trying his Rock Hard Challenge. I took his advice and gave workouts 1 and 2 a try on Friday and Saturday. I love them and I am feeling the affects.

So I didn't just randomly pick a trainer off the web to seek information from, I did my research and I found out that he is the Chief Science Editor for Muscle and Fitness magazine. He has a PHD in exercise physiology. I also started following him on twitter to see what information he was passing out and what other people were saying about him and his workout routines. I would have to say that I am impressed with the results that I am hearing about from his programs. Who is this guy? His name is Jim Stoppani and he is one of the video trainers on bodybuilding.com with his Shortcut to Size program. This is the program I was originally interested in but I wanted to drop weight before going into it. So this is what I did, I tweeted Jim and told him that I am still 50lbs overweight and I was wondering if Shortcut to Size would help me cut weight while building muscle or would the HIIT and Weight circuit training (ie bizzy diet) that I was currently doing best for me. His response to me was that I should look up the Rock Hard Challenge.

I looked into the RHC and found that is sounded like something I would be interested in. This program is an 8 week program designed to transform your body. It has listed the workouts, the recommended nutrition, and the recommended supplementation which of course is the official challenge sponsors. I am going to try and stick close to the nutrition and the supplementation with the exception that I will be using Muscle Pharm as my supplementation brand of choice.

So on Friday, I went to the gym to do workout 1 to judge overall gym time and to figure out where I am going to be starting on the weight ranges. A brief overview of work out 1 is as follows a chest shoulder and triceps workout where you are doing 2 sets of 10 reps and 1 set of 12-15 reps per workout or 2 sets of 12-15 and 1 set of 10, which seems pretty normal with 2 mins rest between sets. Here is the kicker, before you get to your 2 minutes of rest you do 1 minute of cardio, ie treadmill, stair climber, or calisthenics after each set before the rest period. This makes all the difference in the world when it comes to kicking your butt. I came out of the workout feeling great and ready to come back and do some more.

Saturday shows up and I decide to give workout number 2 a try. This is legs, calves and abs with the same workout schedule as workout 1 to include the cardio between sets. I can tell you now why I know they use the term "you been stoppani'd" on the twitter microblog when talking about Jim Stoppani's workout routines. Today I went to the gym to do slow steady cardio to loosen up the legs a little but I am still wincing in that wonderful pain of muscle growth as I sit up and down through out the day.

So here is where I stand currently I am down 16 lbs overall and down 2.5 inches around my waist. I am seeing slimming across my entire body and increased definition around muscles as the fat is burned away. Tomorrow, I am starting the RHC with workout 1 and I look forward to the amazing results that are going to come of this program and my dedicated hard work. I want to transform my body into a lean healthy machine.

My new favorite term Swoldier thanks to Steve Cook from bodybuilding.com for that one.

Also, keep an eye on FromTrialstoTriumphs as it is under construction but should be up soon. But to give you a sneek peek go there now and see what happens when you tell a conqueror that they will never walk again.

God Bless all,

Travis

Bizzy Diet Day 7

Hi all,
I truly hope you are having a wonderful week and that you are making the most of your time here on this great place called earth. I am having a blast with my family, my friends, my church, my workouts, and my job. I cannot say that I have had a great week and a great life. I am so blessed and I want to give God props and praise for the wonderful life that he has given me. Thank you Jesus!

I started working out again in mid July time frame and started off weighing in at a whopping 275lbs. I had been holding steady at that weight for a good 10 years and did not have any exercise program going. All I did was go to work and spend time with family and friends. It wasn't a bad life but it wasn't living life to the fullest because certain activities were taxing on my body and when I got home from work I didn't want to do anything because I was a little worn out from the day. I really got excited about working out because of a couple of friends who have been working out and bugging me about working out. One of those friends is a coworker who is in pretty good shape. He does boxing and had been challenging me to eat better and to get to the gym. The other guy is a friend from church who had been told a few years back that he would never walk again. Well, he proved them wrong and God blessed him tremendously. He put on a lot of weight because of the diagnosis and the recovery. He recently, past year or so, started working out and hitting it hard. He made great strides in the start of his weight loss and overall health in this time. Great motivation for me to get off my lazy butt and get to work. Check out his blog that will be up and going real soon at Trials to Triumph

So if you have been following me at all, you know I have been doing what is called the Bizzy Diet. This is a work out and nutrition plan designed by Cory Gregory the President of Muscle Pharm. I started doing the workouts a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed them immensely. Last Monday the 20th of August, I started the Diet, supplementation, and workout plan together to gain the best results I could by the end of the 21 day program. So last week, I sent you the link to my bodyspace which is where I track my progress as well as post photos and goals. If you would go there now you would see my improvements over this last week. I will tell you right now my motivation is through the roof. I started off Monday at 268.2 lbs with a 48.5" chest and a 51.5" waist.  Today I weighed in at 261.2lbs, with a 48.25" chest and a 50.5". This makes me stoked and makes me want to work harder.

Well it is getting late for me so I need to go tonight, I thank you for tuning in and keeping up with my progress. You all are another motivation for me. To keep you guys in my prayers and hopefully to get you motivated to do something if you need to get something accomplished. It doesn't have to be weight loss but it may need to get done. Be sure to check out my  bodyspace and Trials to Triumph. I will update you soon with more great news of progress.


God Bless
Travis

Going Good

I started on the 20th of August a complete strict following of the Bizzy Diet created by Cory Gregory. I re measured my body stats last night to show where I was beginning. I am pleased that I have lost an inch around my waist from when I started out one month ago. This is exciting and motivating for me. Follow the link below to my BodySpace where I am uploading pictures and my stats. http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/TravMillr
I would like to give props to Muscle Pharm on their Muscle_Gel product. They seem small and possibly bad tasting from the initial reaction to the packaging and the flavors listed. However, when I tried them the flavors are awesome and when you drink the recommended 12oz of water with them they help curb your appetite and the are packed with 22grams of protein with no sugar. The workouts for days 1 and 2 were great looking forward to tomorrow's workout. Check out my BodySpace and leave comments and or questions or suggestions.

Good night and God bless
Travis

Tougher Week than last

Hi all, <br>
So this last week was pretty tough on me both physically and mentally. I started the week off in high hopes with a new workout plan that is a great bet to get me started in burning fat and toning the lean muscle that is currently in my body. The program is called the bizzy diet that was created by Cory Gregory the President of Muscle Pharm. With budget limitations I knew that the perfect meal plans and supplements were not going to be there but I did my best with the food and I used the supplements that I had at my disposal. So I started off Monday with a Combat Powder protein shake when I woke up and about 40 minutes before my workout. I followed it by taking Assault powder 15 minutes before the workout. When I got to the gym to do bizzy diet workout A which consists of 20 minutes of high intensity interval training (HIIT) 1 minute slow, 1 minute fast on the elliptical machine. Then you proceed immediately into a 5 workout weight circuit 20 reps each then repeat, where workout A is upper body. Then again no rest you go back to Cardio for 5 minutes slow and 5 high intensity. Follow that up with the exact weighted circuit as before and you are done. <br>
I was feeling great after this workout which I followed up with Recon powder. I showered had 3 eggs for breakfast, took my multivitamins and went to work. Had good high protein lunch with 2 small high protein snacks and finished the day with no issues. <br>
Tuesday is when the challenges started. I woke with the same routine as Monday and hit the gym for bizzy diet workout B which is pretty close to A with the exception of the circuit is designed for lower body. This started well but as I progressed through the lower body circuit I struggled to complete the reps for a couple of the exercises and also on the second circuit as well. This was a lot of mental weakness as well as physical. I didn't get down on myself because I understand that I am no where near peak physical for. I cannot expect to be at Cory Gregory level of fitness. Same routine after the workout and my daily meals were pretty close to Monday's. Work on Tuesday consisted of working inside a vehicle which equates to a steel box with no air conditioning in 113 degree heat. I drank plenty of water and took some cool air breaks but it was very tasking on my body. To finish Tuesday off I went and helped move a lady from one apartment to another one. By the end of Tuesday I was beat and completely exhausted. I took my dose of ZMA Pills which I also took Monday, and went to sleep.<br>
Wednesday when I woke up to go to the gym I couldn't get moving and decided to swap my Wednesday workout with my Thursday rest day so I could recover from the taxing Tuesday. My meals were pretty good the rest of the week but Thursday I didn't make it to the gym because mentally I wasn't ready to get in the gym but I told myself that I needed another day of rest. I then proceeded to blow Friday off as well.
I did finish the week strong and went to the gym Saturday morning and did workout A and then spent the day at the water park running up the stairs to the slides with my son. Today was a rest day to prepare for tomorrow which will be another workout A but also a strong start to next week.
One thing I learned is that all the motivation I have to stay working in the gym to accomplish my goals is not as strong first thing in the morning. I do know that I will overcome that weakness and I will conquer this goal and I will be cut, ripped, and stacked.

Good night and God bless
Travis

Tough Week

Hey all,
It has been a tough week. I did not hit he gym as much as I had planned and scheduled but I did make it a couple of days that provided me with some good workouts. This is more than what I had been doing before getting back into the gym. I also got to try the Muscle Pharm Assault, Recon, and Combat Powder. I also tried the Hybrid N. O. And the ZMA pills.
First off I would like to say that the Combat Powder, chocolate flavor was pretty good flavor and seemed to work well as a break fast protein before my morning workout. I haven't used a lot of it to give an idea of how well it builds lean muscle but I will update as I get into using it more.
The Assault powder seemed to provide a good pre workout endurance and when combined with the Hybrid N. O. Pills seemed to get me through my workout with pushing through the sets beyond where I feel I would have stopped without the supplements.
The Recon powder has a great taste and seemed to keep my muscles from teasing up too much after the workout. But without further use I cannot give a overall effect or review of the product.
The ZMA pills are supposed to be for recovery and to provide better rest. I did experience the better rest the past couple of nights but I don't know how much it is helping with the Muscle recovery and I will explain why here shortly.
Overall, I am excited and pleased with the Muscle Pharm products and I will continue to update you. And by the way I am still using the GNC Amp Ripped Vitapak right now and I think that it is a good multivitamin. I don't know about the CLA and the metabolic enhancers which I will also explain below.
Ok so the reason I am don't know about the recovery attributes of the ZMA pills is because I did a no no and I went to the gym and did not give my muscles a warmup period. This is also the day when I tried the Assault and the Hybrid N. O. Pills. Which allowed me to push hard and I believe that I over worked my muscles and it was too much for the recovery pills to help them. This has kept me out of the gym for the past 2 days. But I will be back in the gym tomorrow.
As far as the CLA and the metabolic enhancers from the GNC Amp Ripped Vitapak and not knowing what results have come from them is because I have not been controlling my diet. This is what I have been focusing on for the past couple of days and will continue to focus on for the next couple because I am working on an eating plan for me and my wife. I would like to put a plug in for www.bodybuilding.com and all the great information and products that they provide.
Until next time
God Bless
Travis

Back in the Saddle Again

Hello again, I am back writing to you because I am back at the quest. I have started working out at our new local gym which is a Planet Fitness. I am pleased with it because it is open 24 hours and that the membership fee is only $10 per month. I weighed in on the 13th of July at a whopping 275 lbs. I will be posting my before picture taken on the same day. I have worked out 12 of the 16 days since that day and am enjoying it immensely.
I found an android app called Jefit that helps create and track exercise programs as well as body stats. On the 24th I again weighed on this time at 269lbs and then my scale does a body fat test and calculates me at 37% body fat which I did not like at all. I have started taking a GNC Amp Ripped Vitapak and I tried the same brand pre workout supplement and their Wheyabolic 60 protein power as an after workout supplement. I didn't see much of an improvement in my workouts but I did notice some increased toning of the muscles I was working. Due to cost I think I am going to try Musclepharm Assault and Recon which runs half the cost of the GNC supplements and my friend highly recommends them.
My current exercise program consists of Monday Wednesday Friday weight training and Tuesday Thursday and Saturday as Cardio and Abdominal training. As I refine my program to be more efficient with the facility that I am working out at I will post the exact routine. I also plan on regularly posting some of my body tracking stats so you can see my progress in text along with the pictures that I have will be posting. The initial stats were taken by my wife on the 24th.
The pictures below. Are as follows the initial on the 13th, which is a self portrait of and the other two that were taken on the 24th by my lovely wife.
Cheers and God bless

Purpose

I know that if you have read my lasts posts it looks like I started and gave up more than once. Yes it looks like I am I the habit of quitting before I really get started; however, it would only be quitting if I were to not come back to start again. A man who falls and stays down has quit, but the man who gets up is a winner who just has not arrived.
Purpose is the title of this post because I believe that we must have a purpose in order to successful in our adventures and our goals. A goal without a purpose or vision is just a well defined wish.
So what is my purpose? What is my drive? That is something that has been evolving in my life this year. I have been listening to the leaders in my life speak about destiny and every time my spirit stirred with passion for knowing my destiny. I have discovered that you can not know your full destiny at the beginning of your journey because if you do then you seek your own way to get to the end of the destination. We were not made to do it ourselves, by our own means, to our own satisfaction. We were made to work though our own seasons, relying on God to guide us and to change us to become the best person we can be. We were born for relationship with God and to be the best us that we can be in this time!
So what does this have to do with my weight loss goals? It is at the heart of my goals because without understanding it I would be seeking my own satisfaction. That means I would be sitting on my couch watching tv instead of improving, because my comfort zone is to not care and to just cruise through life. I fully understand that I was made for more than that and that to be the best me that I can be means I need to be healthy.
So what am I doing now? Still using my xbox to workout but I have changed when I am doing it. Before I was working out in the evenings as time permitted. This didn't work out because I was not intentional enough to do it. This morning I was up one hour before my normal time for the sole purpose of working out. I feel great and ready to conquer the day. I also have been tracking my caloric interest for about a week to get used to monitoring what I have been eating. Together these along with my daily time with God gives me an intentional purpose for weight loss. More to come.
God bless
Travis

Good Evening,
So after a week of shift change and coming down with something, I am back at my workouts. I tried something a little different on my Xbox game tonight. Instead of doing cardio-boxing, they have a work out or "class" that is called Boot Camp. I was expecting something pretty tough when I saw that it had 3 red bars for difficulty but I pressed start anyway. It was fun and it royally kicked my butt. It had me doing squats, double knee & double kick combos, running in place, what I would call hopping double knees (think of grabbing someone's head and delivering a jumping knee to the face). So I enjoyed it naturally. Then it had me do something I had not done in quite some while, push ups. This really put me back at to where I am physically. I need to work hard to get back into shape. I only could do at maximum half of the push ups that the work out was programmed for. This is not a bad thing because I am not taking it negatively. It is motivation! I will overcome, I will succeed, I will kick my butt back into shape. This motivation has got my brain working overtime on how to get things moving even faster. I have been given a bow-flex to work out with all I have to do is go and get it. This will add a great strength work out in between my cardio days on the Xbox. The other thing that I did tonight on the Xbox as a warm-up and cool down was something they label as Zen Energy, if you read the description it is a cross between Yoga and Tai Chi. It was great for getting my breathing started and it also allows you to work on your balance and focus.

New Year New Beginnings

So I am going to keep this short because I am tired and I need a shower. I am back on my quest for a better, healthier me. I don't know if 220lbs is still the goal but I am having fun with my work outs. My kids received an XBox 360 from their grandparents and since then I have purchased Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012. I have done 3 workouts 1 right after Christmas to test it out and then recently I have done 2 in the past week. I am really enjoying it and think that it is a great tool to used to get back in to shape.

Hey Y'all I am going to go now and get showered and go to sleep. I will try to be back soon to give you my updates and stories about my Quest.

bye bye
Travis