Day 736- The weather report has rearranged my plans

As I mentioned yesterday, the weather has been extremely wacky lately. The forecast was for continual snow. With that forecast I was told not to go into work until later in the day. Since I am not needed until later in the day here I am at the library blogging away!

I can gleefully report that today I completed my first day of doing two sixty minute workouts since Dec 23RD 2009- Day 670. Today I felt great. I burned 1,428 calories in the first 60 minutes. Then I said let us do another 60 minute workout. So, without any break I just started on another 60 minute work out. It was an awesome challenge. I realized since my pace was much slower in the second hour it was going to be a battle of endurance. How long will I be able to keep a good pace to continue on until 60 more minutes had passed.

I stayed focused and completed the task. Prior to today I had never burned that many calories in 2 hours.That is a ton calories 2,536!

By the time I was done I was soaked from head toe.

Now we charge ahead to Day 737 and workout 740 in the last 737 days.

Day 735- Now I feel loose and refreshed

Since my computer use is limited to the public library my entries occur after I workout. On Saturday's and Sunday's the library is not open so I am limited to time slots of Monday through Friday. This past Sunday I did attempt to use my IPOD touch to enter some postings but I could not get it to work. So, today which is Friday will be my last post for a few days. My goal is to keep notes after Saturday's and Sunday's workout so I can compile a good posting on Monday. I am hoping my computer will be up and running some time this week. My computer has been out of service since February 16TH( Day 725).

As I write this report from the library there has been a very unusual weather pattern that has hit this area. Over the last 24 hours NYC has been socked with 12 + inches of snow while we in CT and particularly central CT have received very little snow. This is not normal because it is usually the reverse of the weather pattern.

Anyway, on with the good stuff! In working out today I burned 1431 calories in one hour and felt truly awesome and strong. It still amazes me to look around and see that I for one am doing my workout with extreme effort and two, no one else to my knowledge has workout out for as many days in a row as I have. At times I feel like a person misplaced which does not mean I am not misplaced it just that I feel that way. In a strange way I feel empowered by the misplacement. I feel like I am moving at a different speed than everyone else. As I think about it, I am moving at a very different speed than everyone else. So be it, I love it! I have the sensation of accomplishment and that incredible high of expending a tremendous amount of energy towards something that gives me an awesome feeling.

As I have said many times I wish I could bottle the feeling and give it to everyone as a gift!

After burning 1,431 calories in 60 minutes I did 940 crunches and was able to maintain the plank position for 6 1/2 songs.

Here is a simple thought: discipline is the key to reaching your desire.
Once you make the commitment the discipline is fueled by the desire. The neat thing about that thought is, this thought applies to a short period of time or a long period of time. All three discipline, desire and commitment work in unison until the task is accomplished.

Can I get an AMEN?

I will be back on Day 738 and report on day 736& 37 at that time.

day 734- Yesterday, I set a goal and today I hit the goal!

There is something extremely gratifying about setting out to do something and getting it done. As simple as saying I want to burn X number of calories in an hour by using X machine. The joy of doing what you said you will do is very hard to explain to someone else. It is just one of those private victories. When any one's mind is fixed on a certain accomplishment that pursuit of that accomplishment takes on a meaning that only that individual can truly understand.

We must always beware of whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe he can achieve.
The flood of emotions that reach the individual the second they become aware of the achievement of their goal is a form of ecstasy. The sense that what has been chased is now caught is a sense of pure relief and ease that is very hard to fathom.

I was watching some NFL football show last night and the winners were talking about the realization of the accomplishment of winning the world's championship. The person said once they saw the zeroes on the scoreboard and the final score he knew he was a world champion. He understood that all his hard worked had paid off and it was time to bask in that glow.

In that same show there was a scene where with 22 seconds left and the game still in the balance
some players had to come out of the game because they were exhausted.

I was thinking you cannot quit here! Similar today, I was determined today that I simply would not quit no matter how bad I was hurting.

I have come to realization that I am an athlete that will not settle for anything but my best. When I show up for a workout I am on! I know it is my time to give it all I have.

Today I burned 1,417 in 60 minutes and did 930 crunches as well as holding the plank position for 5 3/4 quarters songs

Now I ask you, can I get an AMEN?

Day 733- There is a gleam in the eyes of the person who will not quit

We all want to do what we want, when we want, with whom we want, don't we? I can't hear you? Ok, I think I heard a yes. No wait a minute, I think I heard a loud, YES! So the question is why don't we?

It is simple we quit on that thought very early on. The reasons we quite are numerous.

For instance, today was the first day I set my settings on the machine and could not keep going. No kidding, I was able to slug it out for a 1/2 hour then I had to lower the resistance. I will say it was not from lack of effort. I sweated more today than I could ever remember sweating. The only reason why I think I got so freakin wet was because I had too much clothing on. When I reached the 30 minute mark I said i could more can't I? The answer I got back was yeah but the mission here is to finish the 60 minutes. So in a split second decision I lowered the resistance. Man, I was pissed! I was upset at myself for giving in. While I was dwelling on that thought I recalled a list I once had written down on why people quit anything. I was so impressed by the list I had committed it to memory.
The reasons why people stop doing things( attempting to reach a goal)
Their family
Their kids
Their job
Their friends
Their illness
A family illness
Other obligations
Vacation
Negativity

The list just hit me like a bolt of lightning- So, I let up.

Today will people will start a streak of days in which the they worked out.

The reasons above will be the reasons why they will quit their streaks.
The Lord has blessed me by giving me the strength to continue on this path. The Lord has also blessed me by putting me on a perch. The perch I have been set on is one in which I have a different view of working out than no one else I know. I have been put an excuse less level of performance.Everyday I do an athletic act. My challenge everyday is to perform that act. My body knows it and my mind knows it. In exert effort and time in unison. Can I get an AMEN?

I was remind of the challenge today when I had to scale back my workout today. But in an effort to make up for the lack of calories I burned during the 60 minutes I attacked my abs with a lot of vigor.

Doing 900+ crunches felt great! Holding the plank position for songs like Celebration,Gobackjack,Don't stop believe in, and others a total of five and half songs in all, I felt awesome!

You can bet come tomorrow I will attack that same setting on the same machine and this time burn over 1,400 calories. Today, I burned only 1,354. Although, I feel great it is not acceptable!

Day 732- I went orange for the day

Visited a different gym today. Found an arc trainer and away I went. I burned 1,410 calories in 60 minutes, did a three song plank which was probably about 12 to 15 minutes. Did 300 precise crunches and I was done! I felt and feel great! So, there we have 734 workouts completed in 732 days. The power is in the mind.

It is strange I get on the machine. Then people that got on the machine next to me that got on after I did are already getting off. What the does that mean? It means they worked out for less time on that machine than I did. Another thing I noticed was that some people come in the gym wearing the same clothes they worked out in. What does that mean? That means they did not change their clothes because the probably did not get that perspired. That makes me different from them because I never where the same clothes I work out in because they are always too wet with perspiration.

Well, I am psyched to give tomorrow a go! The next target to hit is Hank's 755 that is how many homers hammerin Hank hit in his career.

Day 731- Now we start a new year! Happy New Year!

I will not call today Day 1 year three. Although it sounds cool to do so! Today is, day 731 workout 733 in the last 731 days.

I burned 1,411 calories in 60 minutes today. To say I felt awesome is indeed an understatement. Anyone that has ever sweated enough to saturate their clothing knows the feeling that I had.

Here is a twist I usually use a watch to count my time in the plank position. However, I had no watch today so I count my time by the number of completed songs played at the gym. Today I did 5 1/2 songs. Which equals 3 to 5 minutes a song. Which is about 20 plus minutes- I felt awesome after I did that. Then I finished the workout by doing 750 crunches.

Oh, I completed my first weekend without the Iced Tea. i drank a little more seltzer and orange in it's absence

Day 730- Two years! Two years of what?

Okay, I sound repetitive. On one harmless day I felt better after not feeling while. So I decided to workout for sixty minutes.I figured sixty minutes would help me feel better. My mindset was let's see if we could sweat that cold out of me. That day was February 23 RD 2008. Since that day i have completed 732 60 minute workouts!

Today, I burned 1,423 calories in 60 minutes. My story has many chapters but one main plot. That plot is, while I workout for 60 minutes the next day? For 730 straight days the answer has been - YES! Yes, that is 2 whole years. No I have not missed a day. Yes, on some days I did more than one workout a day. So there it stands, the streak.

I hope my streak has provided proof that the human body does not need an extended rest from a cardiovascular workout. The 24 hour rest is plenty. That the body feels great despite what ever rigors it receives from such a stretch of repetitive exercise. The human body is much more resilient than I thought.

Happy Days to all! If you are currently working out workout more! If you are not working out yet, start working out because if I could work out for 730 straight days you can workout at least 2 or 3 times a week. Come on!

Day-729 now on the ipod touch at brueggers

Guess what the blog cannot be done from the ipod touch. So here I am on Monday, February 22ND 2010 at the library blogging for the last three days.

Day 729 ah, be it ever so fruitful. I got up at 5:30 am was on the machine at 6:55 am and burned 1420 calories in an hour. Felt great! My blinding guiding insight for that day was; everyone has a light house to follow! Mine happens to be to teach myself life through working out! That sounds good right? No, that sounds great.

Day 728- Yes, thats right! 728 straight days 730 workouts in 728 days to be exact!

Now it is official. I have just concluded my 730TH workout in the last 728TH days. Okay, kind sir please define WORKOUT? For the sake of this awesome blog workout is defined as spending sixty consecutive minutes at least doing a cardio vascular activity. For about 99.9 % of the time I spent the workouts using a life cycle or arc trainer. Again, for about 99.9 % of the time I burned 800 to 1400 calories per hour. So there we have it 730 divided by 2 is 365 and 365 equals 1 year. There fore, 730 equals 2 years. Praise the Lord! The Lord has seen it that I was able to use my body from age of 50 years and 174 days until 52 years and 174 days old to perform this athletic feat.

In my lifetime I had not had that many sorts highlights but this one stands up there as one of the best, thank you God.

I burned awesome 1,387 calories today in 60 minutes. I would have burned more but I experimented with a workout I had hoped would be more challenging. When I discovered that it was not I jumped back to the manual program only I used it for 2 minutes at a 60% level and in the end that cost me my 1400 calorie burn. Bummer!

My ab workout was stronger than anytime this week 22 minutes on the plank and 900 crunches. I am feeling stronger in the abs again. Which is good my back needs to loosen up.

The arc trainer is cool because you feel at times like you can not go on, but then that second wind comes in and it is just awesome!

Long live the streak. I think I will buy some Calcium enriched orange juice to celebrate!

Ah,yes my feast awaits; Oatmeal mixed with fresh apple cider,cinnamon, blueberries and apples washed down Acai juice and of course orange juice!

Day 729 - the clock is ticking

Day 727- I have that incredible competitive itch

I was fascinated today by my effort. For some reason, and I am not quite sure I was challenged today to do all workouts.I used a different arc trainer today and had to battle to stay on course. I found myself giving it all I got to keep up the pace. I loved it it was a great strenuous work out. Even though I burned only 1,350 calories in the hour I still felt great and poured all I had into the workout. Can I get an AMEN?

Upon completion of burning 1,350 calories within an hour I went right to the plank position. Here I was challenged once more. My goal was to stay in the position for 20 straight minutes. On my first attempt I just could not do it! I said to myself "what the heck is going on here?" On my second attempt I did it. It felt awesome do stay in that position for a good solid 20 minutes after failing the first time. I felt while I was battling to get the 1,350 calories burned that I would not back down. I just felt that incredible itch to compete I had to accomplish this goal or my entire being for that day would just not feel right. I am still wondering what the reason was as to why I did not burn more calories during my 60 minute workout.

But, no matter! My goals were met even my crunches where I hit 750 crunches before packing it in.

I love it and I feel better than good and better than most! I must boast, I feel GREAT!

Day 726- Again, from the library

A simply fantastic workout today. It all comes down to rhythm you simply need to find a groove. Once you find it, hang on to it. My focus by the third day of the same procedure is awesome.Today, was the third day in a row that I did 60 minute cardio then a good strong ab workout. My goal is always to improve on the day before performance.My question is can I do more than I did on the previous day. Here is a look at- cardio in 60 minutes- burned 1,410,1,411and 1,407. Crunches did- 330,500 and 661. Plank position held for- 12,15 and 17 minutes. They only blemish on growth was today, when I burned 1,407. I believe switching the machine was the reason. This was a different machine and the settings were the same as the other two performances.
I felt deep satisfaction because I was able to burn 704 calories in the second 30 minutes as opposed to burning 703 in the first 30 minutes. Any time more strength appears in the second 30 minutes it is fantastic.

Sitting here in the library and typing gives me a different mindset. When I type in the privacy of my own home different thought come to mind. However, I have decided to give up drinking my favorite iced tea for the Lenten season- I have grown fond of enjoying Arizona stressX ice tea. But I feel it will be a good test of will power to hold off from drinking it until after the Lenten Season which will be April 4Th 2010.

It should be a fun challenge! Also, since the beverage of stressx ice tea is loaded with sugar it will be good to give it up for awhile.

So, with excitement in my heart, I wait until Day 727.

Day 725- We report from the library

Today was a spectacular day and the workout was the cherry on top! Despite the snow I was able to get a lot of errands done. The workout challenge was awesome, I did the work out later in the day but, I felt strong even though I fasted for a good 14 hours prior to the effort. I managed to notice one thing, I weighed myself a few hours before the workout and a half hour after the workout. I found it amazing that the difference was 7 pounds. That means I lost about that much in water weight in the workout,cool! Well, I guess when you burn 1,411 calories in one hour and add to an ab workout of 500 crunches and an effort of staying in the plank position for 15 continuous minutes you may lose the amount of water weight. I will say this, oh what a feeling of hitting my workout goals and dropping that water weight along with burning those calories.

I feel the good Lord was on my side today! We all love an awesome workout don't we?
I like to track my activity- I also shoveled snow twice today. That was actually fun because the weather was not cold and there was no wind. I wonder how many more storms old man winter will squeeze in before he calls it quits for this year?

My under over is two. Any betts? Do I hear more overs than unders?

Day 726 is coming fast! So is day 730 which equals two straight years!

Day 724- It is the emotion that sustains the drive

Ever wonder if that statement is true? The next time you are faced with a task that is challenging either physically or mentally ask yourself how am I going to complete this task? Please do not ask it in a negative way. Ask it with a curiosity. Alright, how will I do this? If the task presents a challenge break down your thoughts and say I need to complete X where is the energy going to come from. My guess is the energy will come from some emotion. I feel that we are driven to things by three basic forces. I recall mentioning these forces in the past . They are body, ego and soul. Your body wants to feel good. Your ego wants to look good and soul wants to do good. With those three essential reasons as to why we do anything it is easy to see why emotion plays a huge part in what we get done. Can we separate emotion from energy? I think it is not really possible. Consider this, it is snowing and you need to drive your vehicle in order to get you where you need to be in a short period of time. Question, what enables you to accomplish this task? My answer is two things emotion then energy. Number one you need a reason which comes from an emotion to get the energy to move. I know we can consider habit as a factor but that habit came from emotion and energy.

So my point is simple, what is your drive? Is it to turn your life around? Is it to stay on course? Either way your going to need a big helping of emotion and energy. I look at it this way, find the button in your being that when pushed that drives you with enough energy to complete the task.

A classic case, of what I am referring to is the Lenten season that starts for the catholic religion on Wednesday ( Day 726 good Lord willing). The Lenten season is a time for the soul to make preparation for the resurrection of the Lord. The the practice is to repent and give thanks to the Lord who gave us eternal life. Part of the showing of repent and thanks is to give up or add on to some part of our current daily habits. One may give up something that they enjoy very much. Or one may do something that they have not done enough of in the past. All of the choices are to lead to a better person either mentally or physically. All this is to be practiced for the entire 45 days of the Lenten season.

In the past I have been blessed with my sacrifices. My first change in a habit I had was to give up coffee. So for a one season I gave up coffee. That was not an easy thing to give up. My body was so accustomed to the caffeine in the coffee that it reacted for days even weeks of giving me headaches. But you know what? I persevered and made it through the season. At the conclusion of the Lent, I realized one thing if my body had such a tough time getting rid of the caffeine it must not be good for me. So I dropped all coffee from my diet. And eventually in the following years I dropped all caffeine.

And there we have it, the emotion of the Lenten season and the energy is what I needed to complete a rather challenging task.

Now, it is off to the gym with an effort to see what will drive me to do today's work out goals.

Driven by emotion I climbed up on to the arc trainer and burned 1410 calories by maintaining a vigorous pace. Then I went on to do a good strong abdominal muscle workout. Where I did 330 crunches and 14 straight minutes in the plank position. I found myself loaded with determination today. I sensed my body wanted to be tested!

It is funny, I saw one gym member today, that I can recall was with me from almost the beginning. I remember there was another member he used to talk to that I spoke to also.
If I am not mistaken, I think I told him that I had a streak of consecutive days that equalled 150 DAYS.

Yes he was there that early on. No, there are not many that are left from the beginning.

Day 723- Happy Valentines Day

We reached this day with a Hallmark Holiday which coincidentally falls on a Sunday. Had a good workout all day yesterday. Was down at 1 am now it is 6:45 am I was up at 6am. Will make a stop at the gym and then back to the Valentine's Day workout.

I will see if this gym that I plan on visiting will have some good equipment for me to use. Preferably an arc trainer or a workable life cycle. Next Sunday will be day 730 which equals two years which equals insanity which equals maniac which equals driven to do a workout.

Here I go, on my ride to day 730- All you need is Love. As Hallmark will tout today. Enjoy your chocolate!

So, the workout out day was just that a workout ALL day! I love it. I hit the ground running with a different type of workout. Apparently, the arc trainer has different machines as I found out. I came to this realization when I was choosing my machine to workout with. The arc trainer I have been using for the last 16 days is a lower body trainer. The one I just used is a cross trainer which works both upper and lower parts of the body.Which gave me an awesome workout. I am not sure if the calibrations on the two machines are similar. The reason why I say that is my calories burn on the lower body much was less than that of the cross trainer machine. I that would mean despite the fact that I used the same amount of time and worked more muscles I burned less calories. Something is not totally correct.

Regardless, I felt awesome after workout and had a great experience. I limited myself to stretching and was off to work where I ran around for a good portion of 11 hours.

As I said "a workout to burn 1,000 plus calories in 60 minutes and an all day work out after that!"

Day 724 is at the door.

Day 722- We roll towards Day 730

Down to the precious few, as the song goes. My body feels great my attitude is positive. Now, tell me what more can anyone ask for? Back on February 23RD 2008 I started this fun run. Boy, a lot has changed since then. When I began this trek it was a 17 days into lent and I made a decision to keep going without a break.Prior to the week when I did not take break after working out all week. I was sick and was not up to working out. So, as the normal break day came along I decided to work out regardless. My thought at that time was to make up for the days I had missed while sick. As I look back I do recall the thought process was, "okay, I just worked out seven days in a row and I feel I can work out eight days without any problem."

As I kept on working out, I was realizing more and more that it was no big deal to keep working out everyday. My body felt great and I enjoyed the feeling I got from the everyday work out.

So, as I approached the end of lent and I had fulfilled my Lenten commitments I decided to just keep on going. Without any desire really but, to see how far I could go.

At around the time I was making the decision of continuing I was conversing with someone on a pretty regular basis about having a positive attitude. Once I started to focus on the attitude of being positive working out everyday just became a mindset. My mind was focused and my body just followed my mind.

So, I guess just as simply as people slip into bad habits, I was with the help of the good Lord, able to slip into a good habit.

And so that is mentally, where my mind was at some 720-30 days ago. Yeah, I suppose a lot has changed since then but my attitude about doing a work out every day has not!

With never say stop attitude we conquered day 722.Today was the first day where I really felt challenged on the arc trainer. What I mean when I say "felt challenged" is asking myself are the settings too high? Which would allow me to lower the the resistance on the workout. I got off to a good start burning 715 calories in the first 30 minutes. It was good because I would burn 1,430 in 60 minutes at that pace. I noticed I was sweating real good in fact my puddle was pronounced around the 15 minute mark.Only add that comment so its easy to gage the effort I was putting into the workout. My effort was not totally met with my desired results as I neared the end of this fun challenging workout. Even though i was a little fatigued I forged ahead hoping for that elusive second wind. It came but only in brief instants. Before long I was done with the workout and had burned 1,413 calories in the 60 minute span of time. Not bad, not great, but definitely GOOD! I was proud of the accomplishment. Today, I will call a "private victory". I could go on and on about how rewarding and awesome it felt to do the workout but I do not the reader would feel the full effect of the feeling. So let us just be happy and move on.

Tomorrow is a new opportunity to seek out another private victory- Day 723-
As we roll towards Day 730!

Day 721- Uninterupted service continues today!

I suppose I found a different way to do a sixty minute cardiovascular workout. I started my workouts on the arc trainer on January 28TH 2010. Since that time I have done a workout everyday except for my replacement days on Day 717 and 718. Now, I started my arc trainer workouts on Day 706.Here is a look at all the days since January 28TH 2010;
January 28TH 2010 Day 706 calories burned in 60 minutes 1050
January 29TH 2010 Day 707 calories burned in 60 minutes 1070
January 30TH 2010 Day 708 calories burned in 60 minutes 1180
January 31ST 2010 Day 709 calories burned in 60 minutes 1228
February 1ST 2010 Day 710 calories burned in 60 minutes 1180
February 2ND 2010 Day 711 calories burned in 60 minutes 1240
February 3rd 2010 Day 712 calories burned in 60 minutes 1232
February 4TH 2010 Day 713 calories burned in 60 minutes 1412
February 5TH 2010 Day 714 calories burned in 60 minutes 1413
February 6TH 2010 Day 715 calories burned in 60 minutes 1393
February 7TH 2010 Day 716 calories burned in 60 minutes 1402
February 8TH 2010 Day 717 calories burned in 60 minutes 885 life cycle from 7/9/08
February 9TH 2010 Day 718 calories burned in 60 minutes 823 life cycle from 9/17/08
February 10TH 2010 Day 719 calories burned in 60 minutes 1367
February 11TH 2010 Day 716 calories burned in 60 minutes 1468

A quick look shows that I have increased the number of calories that I burned during the sixty minute arc trainer workouts.

One of of the biggest challenges we all encounter at sometime is reaching a plateau.Where we reach a level of performance that we cannot exceed. The key is not so much that we reach that plateau the key is to keep trying to exceed that plateau.

I suppose as I look back on my journey with the life cycle my high water mark was when I burned 1,013 calories in an hour. Yesterday, I reached a calorie burn of 1,468 calories in an hour. My highest number of calories burned in an hour to date.Plateau? I sure hope not!

The thing I noticed in working out on the arc trainer versus the life cycle is the different muscles that are used. I was so used to exactly how I felt after riding the life cycle and the aches and pains I would get that after awhile I paid no attention to them. When I began to workout on the arc trainer I could tell when I had pain but realized that I was just putting extra pressure on certain muscles that had not been used in awhile. Once, I got past that pain I felt strong in doing what it took to do the workout virtually pain free. I have also noticed that the arc trainer seems to offer less resistance than the life cycle especially when fatigue sets in. To me that is odd, because I am so used to doing whatever it takes to achieve my goals on the life cycle that I am actually surprised at the effort it takes to keep up the pace on the arc trainer.

I am sure anyone that works out knows what I mean when I refer to that point where you say to yourself can I keep this pace? Then you decide to go on or back off. Well, with arc trainer that point comes but there really is not any other gear that needs to shifted to, you just keep on going. On the life cycle you need to muster up lot of energy to maintain that pace. I am not what I enjoy most.

Now we charge ahead to Day 721 only nine days to reach 2 whole years.My goal in the next nine days is to get in a few two days. I am working on getting my mind ready for that attack!

Okay no double today but a good solid single work out. Did an awesome calorie burn of 1,428 in 60 minutes. I psyched! As I mentioned before the machine moves you along yet you continue to exert the effort and burn the calories.

I know somewhere in these memoirs I have mentioned this before, but it bares repeating. If I represent a small percentage of the population that has a habit of working out everyday then I must be a small segment of the population. However, since the population is so massive there must be thousands of people that have some sort of exercise streak that they are on now. After all, exercise is a broad word I am sure there has got to be 1 % of the entire adult population( 18 years or older) that works out every day. Now, according to the latest count there were approximately 218 million people that fall into that category.

Now let us just play with the numbers. Do you think 1 out of 10 people have a streak of days in which they have worked out every day for the last year or more? I say no way! How about 1 out of 100 people? I say maybe. Now, if we say that 1 % of 218 million people are currently doing what I am doing that means their are 2,180,000 million people that currently have a workout streak in place. To that I say, nah! What if we say there are 1 out of 1,000 people that have a workout streak in place? That would mean 218,000 people out of the 218 million we started with. Now that would be what percentile? Put this way, a very small percentile. Either way there are right now in the United States 218,000 people that are currently on a workout streak of about 1 year of consecutive days . My question is where are they?

As I side note, I found out today based on a test to determine one's body fat that I am in 95TH percentile for leanness for people in my age group. I suppose that may have got me thinking about what percent I am in for other categories in terms of over all fitness.

I have said before, I am on a quest to see if I can unite the other 218,000 or so people who enjoy a good workout every day. My attitude is if you are not working out everyday it is great that you are at least working out. Also, if you are working out let us know about it. Your experience and knowledge will inspire and benefit us all!

Day 720- It is all about being in position

What does that mean? Being in position. We all want to be in position don't we? We all want to be there when our time comes to get what is ours. We want to be in position to get whatever it is that we want. Better still, to get what it is that we have worked hard to get.

The idea of being in position covers everything. Now, it could be good or bad. Happy or sad. Once you are in position you get what is coming to you. Some people are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some are in the right place at the right time. The most interesting part about being in position is......- the answer to a simple question: How did you get there?

I think it is almost scary how we wind up where we are. After all, we are all responsible to a large extent for the position we are in. When I say we I am referring to a part of the free world. The part of the world where they have choices and are aware of their choices.

My choice right now is to put myself in position to workout. So here I go...

I think I found the answer to question.What question you may ask? How canI burn the maximum amout of calories on the arc trainer? Here is the answer I came up with set the machine's program manual put the resistance at 100% then set the incline on it's highest level which is level 10! Now with 100% being the highest resist and 10 being the steepest incline you are ready to go for 60 minutes. So, off I went and I burned the most I ever have in 60 minutes which was 1,468 calories. That is about 24 calories a minute. Because 24 times 60 1,440 calories. so, I guess I averaged about a shade over 24 calories a minute. Exactly? 24.47 calories per minute.

Not bad couple that with a good ab workout and you got yourself an awesome feeling!

Day 719- I am back in the saddle again!

Alright a minor hiccup. Now, it is full speed ahead for 2 years. Eleven days and counting. I feel super! Just finished an awesome 2 hour workout. Okay, tell me what is better than that? Body feels great! Ego couldn't be better. My soul feels clean and refreshed. All the garbage that has been in my system the last 48 hours has been flushed out!

Let us not forget the first few lines to the salesman's prayer:

Today, I begin a new life and shed the old skin which hath too long, suffered the bruises of failure and the wounds of mediocrity. Today, I am born anew and my birth place is a vineyard where there is fruit for all!

Yeah baby, when you feel better you crow about it!

So it is snowing and we are expecting a blizzard today. Who cares just about everything is canceled. I got my 722ND workout in the last 719 days in, and I feel, look,and am good.
Can I get an AMEN for burning 1,367 calories in 60 minutes? Can I get an AMEN for doing 340 crunches and staying in the plank position for 12 minutes?

People, if you are on a workout program and it is a good one stay on it! If you are not on a good workout program get on it now!

Workout 723 in the last 720 days lies AHEAD!

Day 718- Spending my days, spending my days

Yesterday, in an effort to maintain the workout streak I used one of my days in which I did two workouts in one day. Yesterday, I spent Day 138 July 9TH 2008. Today, I will have to spend per doctors orders, Day 208 September 17TH 2008. I really want to workout today. However, I will get this procedure done and see what happens. Having spent 24 hours yesterday in preparation for today, I was unable to get my treasured 60 minutes of cardiovascular workout. Oh, I wanted to workout so bad!

Well ,we go on! Today is Day 718. My love to workout is still intense. This mentality I have developed over the last 718 days, reminds me of Mickey Mantle's attitude towards hitting a baseball, he said, " I love hitting a baseball.Whenever a day goes by and I do not get to hit a baseball I get sick inside." I can feel your compassion towards hitting a baseball, Mick.

So this journey has taken me to this point. Can I get an AMEN?

Okay, Doc says wait until tomorrow to resume workout. So be it.
It was good to eat something after 34 1/2 hours- Praise the Lord!

Day 717- I did two workouts in a day so I now can use them

Due to doctors order no workout today. Talk about going through withdrawals! Here is a list of the days I did two 60 minute workouts and how many calories I burned during those days.

Wednesday July 9Th 2008 Day 138 - 1st workout did 60 minutes and burned 913 calories at around 8:30 am did not drink or eat. Then I went back to the gym at 12:30pm and did a 60 minute workout and burned 885 calories.

Wednesday September 17Th 2008 Day 208 9:45am - during 1st workout did 60 minutes burned 938 calories then after a stretch went and did another 60 minute workout where I burned 823 calories.

Wednesday March 25 2009 Day 397 7:30 am- Did a 60 minute workout where I burned 965 calories. Then I went back at 10:15 am and burned 940 calories in 60 minutes - Talk about energy!

Monday July 27Th Day 521 10:30 am - Did a killer workout 1st a 60 workout in which I burned 834 calories then another 60 minutes workout with no break I burn 713 calories. Also I did 4500 crunches then worked out with weights- I was like a guy with his hair on fire!

September 29Th Day 585 10:00 am- Did 2 60 minute workouts back to back no break. 1st I burned 917 calories then I burned 807 calories.

December 22ND Day 660 3:30 pm- Did a 937 calorie burn in 1st 60 minute workout with no break did a 60 minute again! On the second workout burned 767 calories in 60 minutes.

On Christmas day, the gym was closed and my life cycle at home was broken. I used on of the six days I did two a day to continue my streak.

As I prepare for this medical procedure I will use some of my five remaining extra workouts to continue my workout streak.

Day 716- Here we go on our march towards two years

I am indeed anxious to get to the gym and see what I have got today! After all it is Super Bowl Sunday!

Here I go!

I went pretty well I burned 1,402 calories in an hour and felt great. Once again, I can not help but wonder why I did not burn more. My settings this time were higher than the time I burned 1,413 calories in an hour. I know it is only a matter of 12 calories here but I am just trying to get a clear understanding of how the arc trainer works.


As of today, I have completed 721 60 minute cardiovascular workouts in the last 716 days. Per Doctor's orders I have to stop my workout for the next day and half at least. After I am clear to go again. I will have worked out 721 times in 71_ days. As I go through this process I will be pining to workout again!

So be it, I just thank God I was able to workout two times on 5 days. So me streak has a cushion of days.

"I shall return" as Douglas MacArthur said.

Day 715-Roll call- Today we pass Babe Ruth on his birthday!

How awesome is that? I passed his number on his birthday. Which was 115 years ago!


Here -we- go-oh-1-2-3-4-Here -we- go-oh-1-2-3-4,Here -we- go-oh-1-2-3-4-

As I give a wave, I signal that my time has come to hit that number. It is now 715TH day, for 715 consecutive days I have done a 60 minute cardio workout. Today will be the 720Th such workout in the last 715 days. I am ready- I got up at 5:25 am - lets go-

Here -we- go-oh-1-2-3-4!

And so, it is done. The big number was passed. I am astonished that it has now been 715 consecutive days that I have done a 60 minute cardio workout. Dare I say we play on another 15 days. Another 15 days oh my, that would make 2 years. As of right now we are 15 days away from 2 years. _ Can I get an AMEN?

I still have not quite figured out the arc trainer settings yet, but I did burn 1,393 calories in an hour. Again I used the same setting as yesterday: Manual program,resistance 100% and 7 incline. Yet, different amount of calories burned.

Tomorrow is day 716, and with the Good Lord willing I am there!

Day 714- The day we catch the Babe

Yes it was that incredible number of 714 home runs that George Herman (Babe) Ruth hit in his amazing baseball career. At the time he was making all those clouts entire teams could not keep up. To allow you to see his domination in his production of home runs consider this.

In 1921, the average American League team averaged 60 home runs for the year. Guess how many home runs Babe Ruth hit by himself? Babe Ruth hit 59! That is mind boggling. How one person could hit more home runs in a year than entire teams could in the same year. Babe Ruth in 1921 hit 59 home runs while the entire of team of the Red Sox, the White Sox, the Tigers, the Indians and the Senators all individually hit less home runs. To amplify his dominance think about this, the Red Sox as a team for that year had 5,220 at bats and they hit 17 home runs. Where Babe Ruth had 540 at bats and hit 59 home runs. So, let us get this clear. Ruth had 4,680 less at bats and he hit 42 more home runs. That is crazy!

When Babe Ruth retired he left behind a legacy that will never be duplicated. The only reason why any player in their career hit more home runs than Babe Ruth was because they had much more at bats and they used performance enhancing drugs.

Today I am on precipitous of tying his number- I am truly excited about that opportunity!

Well, in the true spirit of excitement, I able celebrate this historic number by breaking yesterday's total of calories burned. Today I managed to burn 1 more calorie than I did yesterday. My total calories burned while on the arc trainer for 60 minutes today was 1413. The number 1413 now stands as the most calories I have burned in an hour. I found today's workout a little strange. The reason why I say that is yesterday while burning 1,412 calories in an hour I burned 721 calories in the first 30 minutes. Today, I burned 1,413 calories in an hour while burning 702 calories in the first 30 minutes.That is kind of strange considering that yesterday for the first 30 minutes I had the settings on the arc trainer set at manual and the resistance at 100% and the incline at 6. At those settings I was able to burn 721 calories. However, with the settings being exactly the same except that I increased the incline to 7, I managed to burn only 702 calories. Even to make this more odd yesterday I lowered the settings to 90 % for the last 30 minutes and I burned 691 calories in the 30 minutes. Again, today with the settings set at manual and resistance at 100% and incline at 7 I burned 711 calories in the last 30 minutes. So A higher and incline and a 10 % higher resistance level only gave me a calorie burn increase of 22. The odd thing is still how could i burn less calories in the same amount of time by increasing the incline? Oh well I suppose the more i use the machine the better I will understand it.

My plank position was a good challenge to hold today I held it for 13 minutes but I increased my crunches to 750 which was awesome. Here is something else that is awesome every day since I started using the arc trainer.
Let's see:
Day 706-
January 28Th Day 1 calories burned in 60 minutes-1,050
January 29Th Day 2 calories burned in 60 minutes-1070
January 30Th Day 3 calories burned in 60 minutes-1180 cardio
January 31 st Day 4 calories burned in 60 minutes-1228 cardio
February 1st Day 5 calories burned in 60 minutes-1180 cardio
February 2ND Day 6 calories burned in 60 minutes-1240
February 3 rd Day 7 calories burned in 60 minutes-1232
February 4 Th Day 8 calories burned in 60 minutes-1412 manual
Day 714-February 5 Th Day 9 calories burned in 60 minutes-1413 manual

So for nine straight days I have done the arc trainer.

Tomorrow, we rise early and pass the Babe!

Day 713- As we march on! We head toward the opportunity to do great things

Now that is a good attitude to have. The key to a good attitude is what you focus on. Remember, attitudes are determined by what we think about and how we feel about what we think about. It sounds so simple but it truly is! Take a second dwell on something, then ask yourself how do I feel about that? If it it is something that is important to you it will probably effect your attitude. How will it effect you? I do not know it depends on how you feel about it.

A great example of this is let us pretend for a second the you just found out you won the lottery and you have been hoping to win the lottery for a long time. Not only did you win the lottery you won a tremendous amount of money. Now, tell me the truth, your thoughts for the next few hours are going to be on what? That money right? I would imagine that a lot of the thoughts would be good thoughts and you will have a not good attitude but a great attitude. Right?

This how are mind works. We choose to focus on things and we choose to decide how we feel about things. This is the challenge I believe we all face every second of the day. As we go through this journey called life we have an overall picture of ourselves that we have created and every second of every breathing day we work on fulfilling that picture that we have of ourselves.

To go one step further with this thought process let us ask what really drives us? As a whole can we look at humans from this perspective? Humans are driven by mainly three things. I know three things is not a lot of things to only be driven by but try these three driving forces and tell me if you would agree?
Body, ego and soul. Think about it this way, the body has one driving force. What do you think that is? How about to feel good? Do you think your body wants to feel lousy? No, it wants one thing and one thing only to feel good. Which leads to another driving force that steers humans. That force is called the ego. Real simple, the ego wants to look good. Look good? How so? I understand this in a nutshell. The ego is really how you think you look from your perspective and other people's perspective. It is like I said before, we are back to that picture we all have of ourselves and how we want or look in the eyes of ourselves. Our ego's desire is to look as good as we believe we are!

The last of the big three driving forces which rule humans is the soul.
The soul takes in everything we believe is good and right.

One thing about belief. A belief is second from the top in a person's feeling of certainty. Where as a conviction is at at the top. Suppose a person asks you a question depending on your level of certainty in an effort to be totally honest with how you feel you say " I think so." How much certainty are you really showing in the your answer to that question? Not much. Let us go one step further and change your answer to "I know this is the way it is." Now, that offers even more certainty. To go one more step up on the certainty level you say, "I believe it is this way!"- See, now you are becoming a person of authority on your answer you are eliminating a lot of doubts. The last step. the top rung on the ladder is conviction- "I am convicted, I will stake my life on my answer" - Well okay, I am sure that this is the way it is according to your view. It this level of certainty that determines how sure a person believes / or convicted as to who they are. So it is our soul that determines what is good and what is right.

Now, getting back to our soul and how it drives us. Deep down we all want to do what is good and right. Just what is good and right? That is up to us to decide and that will ultimately will determine our destiny. As we march on! We head towards the opportunity to do great things.

I never gave it much thought how many calories could be burned in an hour. I thought if you could burn about 800 in hour that is busting it. I remember way back when their was a sign up in a health club that said burn 700 calories in an hour playing racquetball. Hmm? Only 700 in an hour? How about 700 in a half an hour? Well today, I headed toward an opportunity to do great things and I did do a great thing. I burned 1,412 calories in 60 minutes while using the arc trainer. My strategy was to see how hard I could push myself. I set the program to manual, the resistance to 100% the incline to 6 and away I went. I burned 721 calories in the first 30 minutes. Which is fantastic. At that pace I was set to burn 1,442 calories in an hour. But I sensed that may have been a little too ambitious for right now. So, I hate to admit but I settled for burning 1,412 calories in an hour. No matter I felt it and it felt great!

I was pumped so I did 630 crunches and 24 minutes of the plank position without a break. That is something odd I just realized I do not take a water break I just keep going. Today I managed to sweat enough that I needed to switch clothes after burning the 1,412 calories.

Long live the workout! Tomorrow we tie Babe Ruth's number of home runs 714! Day 714 is glowing in the not too far distance.

Day 712-As the power returns !

I felt very strong today. Praise the Lord! We all search for that boost we all stumble at times for that second gear. Then when it arrives we are excited that it has arrived. Lately I have been trying to take in a little more protein. My thought with taking in more protein is to supply myself with a little more strength to adapt to to the different muscles I have been using during my workouts. As a positive result I feel awesome, stronger and energized. Which brings to mind a good answer to a question you may be asked at sometime in the future. How are you doing? A good answer would be, I feel awesome, stronger and energized! Yes sir ASE, baby!

Today was a fun workout! I burned 1,232 calories in 60 minutes while using the arc trainer. Then surged to hold myself in the plank position for 22 minutes then finished by doing 600 crunches. My workout was at a great pace and I felt smooth and confident the entire time.

This was a superb day. One I wish I could bottle and give to people!

Day 713 is next on the docket!

Day 711- I call it Day 711 while others called it ground hog day!

Last ground hog day I exercised in this manner. I rode the life cycle for 60 minutes and burned 883 calories. I wrote I loved the challenge on my calendar. Also I went to movies and saw Slumdog Millionaire. Huh? Ground hog day, did the the ground hog see his shadow? If the fuzzy creature did it means... more winter. So what is the gig? Did he see it or not? The answer is yes. Which means six more weeks of winter. Okay, give it to me straight what are the odds of him being correct? Let us cover that thought this way, out of the last 113 attempts he has seen his shadow- 98 times.
Six weeks from today will be March 16Th and winter should be over. Hmm?
At 8:51 am under partly sunny skies it is 19 degrees the forecast is for the temperature to reach 35 degrees. Light snow flurries are possible.

After all it is early February this is fairly normal weather for this part of the US. I have to admit this is the best I have felt in the days since I have begun using the arc trainer for my sixty minute cardio vascular workout.

Remember as you go through your day that your attitude will be your governor. Governor what is a governor? Well the dictionary defines governor as one that exercises authority over another. Perfect! Yes, your attitude is your governor and your attitude is determined by only two things:
1) what you think about
2) how you feel about what you think about

That is it! In most ways this will determine how your day will go. So what are you going to think about? And how will you feel about what you are thinking about?

Here is a quote to juice up this concept-
Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.
William B. Sprague

In other words- GO FOR IT!



Okay, time to catch that 711!

Caught it! That is the most calories I have ever burned in sixty minutes. As I burned 1,240 I noticed I was nowhere near as exhausted as I have been when I was riding the life cycle. However, there is no doubt that I am getting a good workout and I do feel great during and after the sixty minutes. I believe there is a way to burn more calories in an hour than just 1,240. I am curious if I set the machine for manual and max it out in all settings incline and resistance and level if I will burn more calories than 1,240.

Today my program was cardio on the highest level, which is level 10. With the cardio program level 10, the program settings of resistance and incline keep changing. Should I set the program to manual all the settings will remain the same throughout the workout. I am excited to give it a try.

Had a super abdominal workout I was able to do 450 calories and stayed in the plank position for 19 straight minutes-----

Day 712 should be awesome!

Day 710- Wow, here we are looking for day five; of the arc trainer

My energy got higher as the day went on yesterday and through the evening( just like this dude in the above picture). I went to sleep at 3am. Why? I don't know I just had a burst of energy. I woke up at 7 am and felt great. I am anxious to see what I have today in my workout. Yesterday's arc trainer session was the first I did using the cardio program. Perhaps my energy came from the warmer weather. Regardless of where it came from I am so looking forward to getting back in the flow today!

Here is a quote that should drive all of us:

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore,
is not an act but a habit.
Aristotle

Let us go and strive for excellence!

I was unable to snag the arc trainer I had been using. As a result I used a different arc trainer. I am not sure if the machines vary that much in the calibrated numbers but, I set the machine on the same numbers I had set for yesterday and I burned less calories today than yesterday. Now, that seems odd to me. So, my burn was 1,180 calories in 60 minutes. I really thought the same setting from yesterday would yield similar result as yesterday.I guess the machines are set differently.

Either way, I felt AWESOME! Proceeded to do a great abdominal workout. I am excited about getting to that Day 711!