Introduction January 31, 2007

Hello, I’m Daniel Nordstrom. I’ll be writing a training journal.

This is not a journal of statistics. I will not tell you how much I weigh, nor how many plates I’ve stacked on the olympic bar before squatting. What I will tell you is that I started working out a little more than two years ago and I’ve loved it ever since. It’s my sport, hobby, lifestyle. It’s not my life but it is indeed a big part of it.

It all started a cold winters day in Sweden, the year 2005. You know how it is in the beginning. It was all about the looks and you do everything to gain weight and you nearly eat yourself to death. Yeah, those were the days… But after a while, the sport gets to you. Like an addiction it grabs you to never let go. At least that’s what happened to me.

Before I began working out, I was asking for an early retirement from life. Unhealthy is an understatement. Thankfully, things are now different and after over 24 months of training seven of which was spent on cutting, I consider myself to be healthy.

As I wrote in my post “Bodybuilding for Life”, I am happy to have found a sport that gives me so much in return for the effort I put in. They say that what you give will be returned many times over and I belive that’s try for this sport, hobby or whatever you would like to call it.

Two years ago, my focus was on gaining as much weight as possible in as short period of time as possible. Bulk was the name of the game. I have recently come to learn that bulk is what you do before spending lots and lots of time dieting, cutting down, which sometimes isn’t that enjoyable. That’s why I’m now shifting focus to staying healthy and in shape. By my definition, that’s what a bodybuilder should do. In my mind, bodybuilding stands for health.

I am developing a philosophy which I call Perfecting the Form. The name pretty much explains the concept. The goal is to gain size, stay in shape and develop the symmetry that I want. I will do this by utilizing perfect my form on every exercise and thus maximize muscle tension and minimize risk of injury.

Of course, I also work my ass off during every workout. I’ve always done it and I always will because it is a very important part of the sport. There are good days and there are bad days but there should never be a workout without pain because pain is the fuel that allows us to learn, grow and develop. Never forget the importance of hard work, both in the gym and in your life.

Until a few months ago, I was doing the same thing as many other bodybuilders around the world are doing; putting a lot of my focus on detail exercises for biceps, triceps etc. Now I’m into a quite different approach where my main focus is on basic compound exercises such as deadlifts, squats, chins, shoulder- and chest press.

These exercises work a greater part of the body and strenghtens my core but I find the schedule to be somewhat incomplete without including some detail exercises for biceps, triceps and other muscle groups so I usually throw in a few sets of biceps on back day, a few sets of triceps on chest day and so on, while still putting my main focus and most of my energy on the basic exercises.

I feel that even if the most muscle groups are being worked during basic exercises, detail exercises will complete my schedule and help me achieve the symmetry I want. Symmetry should always be kept in mind.

Ever since I began working out two years ago, I’ve used a five day split and it has worked wonders but five days a week is starting to feel like overkill, especially if I also do cardio several days a week. Three days is all I need. This is how my current schedule looks like:

Cardio is something that I have often ignored but I have recently incorporated it into my schedule because cardio is essential if you want to stay in decent shape. How many days a week I do cardio depends on what type of cardio I prefer to do at the moment. Right now I’m trying to cut down with the help of medium intensity interval training, which I do three or four times a week.

Another form of cardio I find effective when cutting is an hours walk before breakfast. When I utilize these low intense morning walks, I usually do them six days a week.

I think that’s about it. My nutrition is simple. I keep track of my calorie intake (maintence +/- 500) and eat as healthy and strict as I possibly can with my limited budget and resources. Oatmeal, tuna, eggs, rice, pasta, turkey and chicken can be seen on a regular basis in my kitchen.

I look forward to keeping you up to date about my journey towards greatness in the sport of natural bodybuilding. A long and windy road lies ahead and I’m not sure exactly where it is going to lead me. Only time will tell.

See you around,

Daniel Nordstrom