2007 was a difficult year for me. Both my paternal and maternal grand mothers were victims of heart diseases that compromised their health and ultimately lead to their deaths earlier on the year. In June I was diagnosed and treated for testicular cancer; an event that irrefutably changed my perspective on life and matured me as a person. Then later in August, news of an imminent relocation to Japan catapulted the year to the rank of "worst year ever." Once in Japan I made a promise to myself; I would not let nothing or anyone get in between my goals and dreams, one of which was - and still is - to achieve the body of my dreams. I consciously knew and accepted that the road to this aspiration was full of challenges and that nothing worth fighting for was given easily. One has to sweat for it, cry for it, fight for it, but most of all, live for it. Now that I was given a second chance at living, I knew I had an obligation with myself to fulfill every objective I was put here for, and failure was not an option.

Armed with newly found vigor and vitality, I began my journey towards a better physic. I am not going to lie, so I might as well tell the truth, at the beginning it was all about appearance. The cancer had taken a toll on my body and it had consumed all muscularity in my body. To put it in perspicuous words, I was simply a skinny, almost anorexic-looking, teenager. It all seemed like a lost and hopeless cause when I started lifting with the two dumbbells my parents had recently bought after much begging.

Being the technophile that I am, I quickly searched for workout routines on the internet and found some great websites, like BodyBuilding.com, which were very helpful in providing information for the fitness neophyte that I was at the time.  I spent many hours digesting as many articles as I could about nutrition and training, and quickly found myself in a monomaniacal situation that was ironically militating against my dream. Though today I have been able to find a healthy balance among the many aspects required for an equilibrated lifestyle, I was morbidly obsessed with my body.

After many months of struggling with an obsession in obtaining the perfect image, I finally was able to realize that mental wellbeing is as much - if not more - important than physical health.  It was after this eye-opening realization that my body began to metamorphose and head towards the right direction, and not before. I learned a lot from this experience as well, one side-effect was that I became well versed and involved with the fitness, nutrition, and training world.

Here are two pictures of me - the left hand side one was taken in September of 2007 and the right hand side one in September of 2008.

Now that I have given you a brief introduction as to why I know a thing or to in regard to exercise, I would like to give you a sample plan to follow for achieving a great body with dumbbell and body-weight exercises only. The best part is that you will finish each session in less than an hour and there is no need for a gym membership. The plan consists of one day a week per major body part. You might think this is way too "sporadic" for your goals, but trust me, if you perform each exercise with the strictest of forms, your muscles will feel on fire for the next few days.

This is the sample plan:

Monday - Chest and Triceps

Dumbbell Chest Press - 3 sets of 12 with a moderate weight

Dumbbell Triceps Pullbacks - 3 sets of 12 with a moderate weight

Dumbbell inclined Press - 3 sets of 10 with moderately heavy weight

Dumbbell Triceps Extensions - 3 sets of 10 with moderately heavy weight

Dumbbell Flies - 3 sets of 12 with a moderate weight

Bodyweight Pushups - 3 sets of 15 or until failure

Tuesday - Cardiovascular exercise

Perform 30-60 minutes of cardio exercise such as jogging, running, cycling, swimming or any other activity that raises your heart anywhere from 60% to 90% of your maximum.

Wednesday - Arms and Back

Dumbbell Rows - 3 sets of 12 with moderately heavy weight

Dumbbell Bicep Curls - 3 sets of 12 with moderate weight

Dumbbell Throwbacks - 3 sets of 12 with moderately heavy weight

Dumbbell Hammer Curls - 3 sets of 12 with moderate weight

Body weight pull-ups - 3 sets of 15 or until failure

Thursday - Cardiovascular exercise

Repeat Tuesday's activity or find a similar alternative that raises your heart rate anywhere from 60% to 90% of your maximum.

Friday - Legs and Shoulders

Pistol Squats - 3 sets of 12 with either body weight or light dumbbells

Dumbbell Shoulder Press - 3 sets of 12 with moderately heavy weight

Dumbbell Lunges - 3 sets of 15 with moderately heavy weight

Dumbbell Shoulder Flies - 3 sets of 15 with moderate weight

Dumbbell One leg Squats - 3 sets of 15 with moderately heavy weight

Dumbbell Standing Calf Raises - 3 sets of 20 with moderately heavy weight

Weekend off - trust me you will need some rest.

The most important factor to remember when performing the exercises is to keep the strictest of forms; this means no cheating, no swinging the weights around, no assistance, just genuine effort. Allow 60 seconds of rest between each set.

Continue with this regime for 6 weeks and come back and share your experience with me. If you make an honest effort I guarantee you results will start to be noticeable when you take your shirt off. You will feel a lot better and hopefully this will only be the beginning to a newly found love; just don't let it become a mania.

I would like to recommend to you a couple of websites that will help on educating you about the many aspects of fitness. Whether you are looking for a bulky look, or just to tone your body, the tips found at those links will be of immense assistance to the beginner looking for information on the subject.

BodyBuilding.com

T-Nation.com