Motivation

As you can see, just over a year apart, not 3 weeks like the commercials.  Seeing the change is a big motivator.  When I first started trying to lose weight, I had problems with plateaus, losing 10lbs then stopping, thinking It wasn't going to happen, I mean my whole family is heavier, so it would seem destined, right ? Well as much as I was trying to force this upon myself, something inside me kept pushing me to change. I knew I could do it, although I had my doubts at times. Now I know that I don't have a 12 pack or anything like that.. but that's not the point. The point is being healthy, being able to function better. I remember going up two flights of stairs and I was winded for 10 minutes. I remember not being able to do 5 pushups.  And I'm here to say there is no "magic pill" ( believe me, if there was I would've found it. )  The magic is putting in the time and effort to change yourself for the better. I was 240lbs on the photo to the right, I'm about 170lbs now.  Change takes time, you will get out what you put in.

The fear of the bar

Last week, I was doing flat bench and my right arm gave out just before lockout.  I managed to push the weight away from my body before it came down. After that happened I really started thinking about what happens to us mentally during and after that kind of mishap. Our body realizes that since it almost got hurt or did get hurt, to be much more cautious. To fear the bar.  Now, I was lucky because I left unscathed, but some aren't as lucky.  One thing I noticed though is that while after it I was weary of the same weight, I took my failure ( no pun intended ) and turned it to be a challenge. Something that I have to fight and work on. To get better, to be better.  Try this application in the gym, or even life.  Learn from the mistakes that are made.  Face that fear, because when you overcome it, there are few greater feelings.

The Fruition of Nutrition

We are told that if we want to look and feel better, we need to exercise and eat right.  Most tend to see it in this order simply for the fact that working out is easier than sticking to a diet.  Most don't hear about how many carbohydrates are needed to fuel your vital organs, how much good protein does to the body ( to the point that they STILL discover new benefits of having more protein intake to this day), and how fat intake can be good!! Diets can get to an extreme complication with an exact daily macro nutrient breakdown so that your body gets what is needed down to the gram, to something like weight watchers where you can pretty much eat whatever the hell you want as long as you stay in your "points".  What diet is right for you ? That is something that only you can truly figure out.  You are the person that knows your body the best. You know what you digest better and what makes you feel like you put on a weight vest! Go from the general things and hone it to your body. Meats, fish, poultry, veggies, fruits, complex carbohydrates like brown rice, potatoes, etc.. Make a healthy meal, WRITE IT DOWN! record everything that you eat, drink, lift, how you tied your shoes... you get the point.  Documenting all of this gives you that traceability on your foods and the effect they have on your body. Eat healthy but don't hate your life doing it.  There are a lot of great recipes out there that are very healthy and taste delicious.  Eat better to feel better!

Ego checking and Day 1

              When you are starting out a new routine, whether it be in the gym or any other application in life, make sure you check the ole ego before you begin. Veterans of the sport know this well, sometimes learned the hard way. If you're just starting to workout, start low! work up to it! If it's your first day in the gym, don't put 5 plates on the bench and have your arms torn off. Ego grows faster than muscle. If you get too much of it, you're going to wind up working against yourself on your goals. I hear some people talking about how they've added 20lbs to their bench in a month because they sit differently pray to the gym gods before they go to sleep every night. The reason that there are such gains when you first start has a lot to do with form, learning how it should be done. Getting your body in tune with the lifts that you're doing. Adding weight to your sets takes times. Don't rush it. I was given some very good advice recently, I was having issues in the hole with my squats ( when you are at the bottom of the rep getting ready to come back up ) I was told to do body weight squats in front of a mirror. Get the form down. Do it a lot. Train the body to move they way it's needed to. It has helped significantly in my squat form. I would highly recommend to do this with your big moves (bench, deadlifts, squats, etc. ). Get used to that motion, because as you get closer to a high workout weight, form starts to suffer. So the better form you have, the less it will be affected when you're really pushing weight.

                   Today was also day 1 of the power lifting routine, I really like how the assistance workouts are tied to the big power movements. It was a tough day, and I enjoyed every second of it. Some people know what their one rep is, but I used the formula given to estimate mine. They actually worked rather well, lifts were tough, but still kept good form and I left with back and shoulders that were on fire. I've gotten a new favorite workout, face pulls. I can't believe I've never heard of these! Amazing!  Hits the upper back nice and hard, and if you don't move the weight right you'll faceplant on the machine.  Which is a great motivator on form!

Fast, EASY way to lose (insert ridiculously high number)lbs in 30 days!

I was walking through Wal-Mart last night, and noticed yet another 'lose fat fast' pill stand in the middle of the walkway. If you want to lose 30lbs in a week, go get a leg cut off. Nothing in life is free, you will get what you give. Eating better doesn't necessarily mean eating less! A lot of people will do crazy things to lose weight, one that got my gullet jiggling was a girl that eats ice cubes and celery for a few days before an event. Celery and ice cubes ?! Celery is one of the few foods that have "negative" calories, meaning that it takes more calories processing celery than what the caloric value of celery is. As far as the ice goes... it will turn back into a liquid, just because you have to chew it doesn't mean it's different than water. At least she's staying hydrated! If you want to lose the weight, it takes time. It's not easy. Do your cardio, do your weight training (yes weight training applies to the ladies too! your body isn't designed to make you look like female bodybuilders so don't be afraid to lift some weights! ), eat right! Before I started dieting, McDonalds double cheeseburgers were the bread and butter of my meals. I mean they taste good and its .99 cents! And I'm a man that loves him some food, so of course I'd have a couple for a meal. I use those double cheeseburgers as my comparison to almost everything I consume. One double cheeseburger is 440 calories. So I could eat one of those for a meal, OR I could have  1/2lb grilled chicken breast, 3 cups of salad, and a cup of lowfat yogurt for around the same calories, 1/3rd of the fat, and double the protein! Now which one would you feel full off of ? For me, one cheeseburger is a slap in the face, a tease to my tummy if you will. My advice is find something that you love to eat.. that you know isn't good for you, and look up the nutrition facts on it. Compare healthier food to whatever you choose and it's an amazing catalyst to eating better.  I eat more food now at 170lbs than what I did when I was 240lbs. Put the right fuel in the engine, it will run better. Easy as that.

Reading complete!

          So I finally got through the "5/3/1 for Power lifting: Simple and Effective Training for Maximal Strength" and I must say that I really enjoyed it. There is A LOT of good information in it, and it's refreshing to read something that is so straightforward. It's clear that he's not going to hold your hand, or coddle the sensitive. There have been quite a few exercises that I've discovered from this book, like the Cuban Press, that look pretty fun.  This book doesn't really cover nutrition ( there's about a page or so) which to me is great! A lot of routine writers will have so much on nutrition it takes away from the details in the workouts. Don't get me wrong, nutrition is key in any kind of weight training (and being alive) but save it for nutrition books! 

             I've been deloading the past week just so I can have a fresh start to this routine. I'll be starting it tomorrow morning, I'll get some before pics and I will be graphing out the weights that I'm using so I can post my gains. I'm ready to move these weights.

A little intro

I've been diving further and further into fitness in the last year or so. So needless to say, I'm still learning to crawl in this life changing experience.  I respect the knowledge that others have in this sport, so criticism is always welcome. The only thing that I ask is post quality, if you have something that you disagree with in my philosophy or training, follow it with substance not the "squats suck cause they make my legs hurt."  We've all seen this, and I know that I, as well as many others don't care to read it. I try to absorb everything I read about this sport, I've been through many sites, blogs, routines, looking for the "meat" in all of it.  I feel that having a fresh face to the sport and posting on how I feel about the routine will hopefully give a better insight to beginners, like me.  I am currently trying to hammer through Dr. Mel Siff's "SuperTraining", which has opened my eyes to a lot.  I will be following "5/3/1 Powerlifting" By Jim Wendler.  I WILL NOT be posting exact routines and very detailed information on this training. I am giving my opinions on how I feel about this workout routine and the fundamentals that it's based on. Jim Wendler got this published, so pay him for his work. That being said, I hope you enjoy this blog!   Sidenote : F=M.a is something that I read in "supertraining" and it has been stuck in my head. It means Force is equal to large mass with moderate acceleration. For me, it seems to sum things up so easily yet have so much depth to it. Also, Power of strength is another pun... oh gym humor...