Seth Spaner

My training began at the age of thirteen. In an attempt to develop my abdominal muscles (while knowing nothing of body fat being the primary component of seeing them) I purchased Tony Little's Ab Isolator. I followed the more is better approach with that product and did indeed use it for a while. I later purchased the Body By Jake Ab & Back Plus. When none of these products delivered the results I began weight training with my brother's unused weight bench and weights. Eventually I purchased my own, as he demanded his be returned to him (so he could continue to hang clothes off of it).

My oldest training journal starts on October 7th, 1996 when I was 15. The workout consisted of Bench presses (3 sets), Flyes (3 sets), Overhead Extensions (3 sets), Triceps Kickbacks (3 sets), Shoulder presses (3 sets), and Lateral Raises (3 sets). The workout lasted 50 minutes. The first two sets of each exercise were never carried to failure, but the last set always was. My frequency was about 2 days a week 2-3 days apart. Looking at the journals now, I see that I didn't train legs (or rarely did) from 10/7/96 - 1/24/97. (Photos below taken March 2000.)

By the end of March 1997, I was training with my implementation of the Heavy Duty principles. My bench press was up 30 pounds by then, but I am not certain what my body weight was. I continued making progress for a while, and never really stagnated even when I had used a higher volume (considering that it was still fairly low compared to many of the other variations that I have seen people performing, or read about in magazines, and I NEVER tried to follow one of the pro's routines.

In early 1998 I had a phone consultation with Mike Mentzer and had already read Heavy Duty II and received the IART Reference Manual (as it was then called). Using his consolidation routine my body weight went up 11 pounds in two months. Although I only used the actual consolidation program for six weeks because I did not feel that it was enough activity to compensate for my increased calorie intake. So I began training slightly more frequently and kept my body weight increasing until I reached 147 pounds,
I then decided that I was gaining too much body fat, so over the next three weeks I lost six pounds. During that time however I increased my deadlift by 90 pounds within two months, but then found out that I have a muscular imbalance in my lower back, which stopped me from deadlifts and squats (which may explain why my lean mass is not increasing as fast as I may like, as well
as explaining the lack of pictures showing my legs).

At present (March 2000) I am working out twice a week with 2-3 days rest between workouts. My workouts consist of A) Bench Presses, Lat Pulldowns (pulldowns using ab slings around my arms instead of using my hands to grip the bar) superset with body weight chin-ups, Leg Presses, Parallel Dips, and One-Arm Rows and Workout B) Shoulder Presses superset with Lateral Raises, Preacher Curls, One-Arm Extensions, Calf Raises, and External Rotations.

My body weight has remained fairly constant for the past two years, but my strength has increased well in my exercises, and my measurements have increased. For example, my body weight has been between 140 and 143 pounds for the last year or so, but my upper arms have increased by 1 inch (currently 14.5"), My chest has increased by 2 inches (currently 42.5"), my legs have increased by 2 inches (currently 21.5" at the upper thigh) my neck has increased an inch (currently 16" ), my calves have actually regressed by half an inch (were down to 12.5" a month or so ago, but are now back at 13"). My shoulders have also increased by 2.5" (currently measuring 49.5") I take all of my measurements flexed, but never pumped before measuring. I have also noticed that sometimes when I take measurements AFTER a workout, the body parts are SMALLER. This may simply be because of the measuring tape getting stuck because a body part is sweaty. The last time that I had my body fat checked it was measured at 8% but I don't think that that was terribly accurate. I would estimate my body fat closer to 11 to 12%.

I don't worry too much about my diet. At 19, I have a fairly fast metabolism on my side and can get away with eating freely more than some other people, but I still pay attention to what I eat.

Perhaps the most important thing that I learned came from reading No Turning Back, wherein Brian D. Johnston wrote that he is now concerned more with maintaining what he has. So, even at 19 I think it is better that I learn the lesson that I should keep bodybuilding as a part of my life, but not the focus. So, even though I strive for strength and lean mass increases (I am sure I have not reached even close to my genetic potential) I am and will be happy with the accomplishments I have made, and I enjoy my body. Lastly, I would urge everyone who has not done so to buy Logikos, it costs less and is clearer than other books on logic that I have look at or read through.