Not Good

     A little disappointed I did not get a good workout in yesterday!  I hit the gym early in the day to get my cardio in with the intention of going to my "home gym" (Best Fitness) in the evening to get a good workout in.  As I pull up I see the parking lot fuller then ever, I begin to search for a spot and end up parking on the opposite side of the plaza.  This is not an uncommon occurrence since there is a bar/restaurant right next door.  I walk into the gym and there are people EVERYWHERE!  You would have thought they were giving away millions of $ just for showing up that day, or as I asked someone I knew there "are they trying to break a Guiness World Record for most people in one gym, in one day?"  I was not feeling that great as it is when I walked in so I hit the treadmill to do a warmup and hopefully it will slowly die out, unfortunately this never happens.  I finish up about 35 more minutes of cardio and decide I need to just leave.  I feel really disappointed to not workout.
     Here is where I tell you that making that decision was the best decision at that point in time.  When your sick, not feeling well etc. your CNS (central nervous system) is under a lot of strain.  What most people do not realize is that when you work out you are putting even more strain on your CNS, which in turn can lead to A.  a lengthier recovery time from your illness.  and/or B.  more issues. not to mention its not good to bring any illness into such a public setting.  Sometimes your just better off shutting your body down for a day or two and come back when your strong enough.  It will lead to a better workout when you get back! 
     I am still not feeling to great today so I am going to just shut myself down for the day, use this day as an off day and hopefully get back into it tomorrow!

For those of you still working out today, have an amazing workout!!!

The Weekend is OVER

     I can not lie I am actually very happy the weekend is over.  I never have a problem with going over board eating or anything it is just very difficult to balance working a 20-30hour a week job plus training my clients as well as getting my own training in on the weekends. 
     I tried to hit the gym at 6am Saturday morning before my "cheat".  I get to the gym at 5:45am and I am pumped, I NEVER DRAG MY ASS OUT OF BED, but I did it.  So I am waiting for the clock to strike 6 and the see the lights go on and someone unlock the door, when I see one of the employees walking towards my car.  I roll my window down and she says "we are having a tough time with the locks, they were changed last night and our new keys are not working"  WAIT WHAT!!!!!  She lets me know that they have called the locksmith and he is on his way but they are not sure when is going to show up, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!  I start to feel really irritated that I woke up almost 3 hours early to go and now I can't!  It is now 6:15, and I can not wait anymore so I turn my car back on and start to head out to my secondary gym Worlds Gym even though I am not a fan I know I will not have much of a chance to do anything else that day so it is what it is.  I only had enough time to fit my cardio session which ended up being about 15min shorts but again I can not complain since I did not think I was going to end up even working out. 
     Its 8am and I head to work for my 6 hour shift which seems to fly by but was filled with irritations, but I just let it slide right off me.  I leave there and head to the studio to wait for my clients to get there as well as a few people stopping in for initial weigh ins for our weight loss challenge, when the light bulb goes off "I can workout here, its only shoulder day!"  I start to hit the weights and get a pretty good burn going, hit 12 sets for shoulders and my client Matt gets there.
     I know I can push Matt hard so we setup a full body day with some cardio mixed in:

• 10 24in box jumps
• 3-2-1s Walking push ups (video will show soon)
• Kettle bell Swings
• 1 MINUTE BREAK

• Box falloffs
• Box walks (video will be up soon)
• 15 crunches
• 1 MINUTE BREAK

• Side to side slides with squats (30 seconds)
• Up Downs (30 seconds)
• Zig Zag slides with sprints (30 seconds)

     I do the first 2 sets with Matt since I wanted to get a good workout in, and I do not have to remind Matt of form anymore which is one of his best attributes as a client that he listened all the way through and learned the movements and does them properly each session.  The third set I decide that my upper body is fried but I do the box jumps, kettle bell swings, box jumps again, crunches and the cardio and we head out of the studio.  I pick up my cheat meal and enjoy some real food for a change.  I am glad that I have learned to just enjoy that day and then move on for the week to keep my cheats small but enjoyable, and their is no break downs during the week!

Tomorrow starts a new week, so get yourself motivated and get back on track if you fell off this weekend, hit the weights hard and have a good week!

Been a Few Days

     I know it has been a few days, but I am going to do my best to keep posting at least 3-4 times a week.  Lately all of my drive and motivation has come from stepping back on stage again.  In all honesty it is all I think about.  I am not the type of person who lives with regret, but man I wish I would have stayed the course after my first show.  Its hard to believe that I gained back almost 100lbs and ruined all the hard work that I put in to begin with.  That is in the past but it sure would make this journey back to the stage that much easier.  
     I have my cheat meal just about every Sunday and gotta say that due to my stupidity 2 Sundays ago I actually gained .2lbs.  I know, I know its only .2lbs but still going up after a week of being perfect its very very frustrating.  I normally do not do it, but this week I weighed myself on Monday and I am only up .2lbs after a cheat meal so I did things right this past week.  I weighed myself today (Wednesday) and I am down .2lbs so I know things are ok.  I am going to stay off the scale until my weigh-in on Sunday and I am hoping for about 2lbs down which would put me back in the 2-teens LOL.  My goal is 190-180 by the summer.  And my plan is to take one whole week off from training and the gym July 4th week to head up to the cottage for some down time and fun (I know its months away but still).  I am going to go hard all summer and hopefully step on stage in October as another warmup show.  And then setting my sites on a good run in March/April of 2012.  I keep putting this off and it just adds to my frustrations.  So no more putting this off. 
     All of my workouts have gone well but I feel I need to push myself a little harder.  I have not felt very sore except for leg day which I brutalized myself.  Today was back and it felt great, I love the feeling of my lats stretching and just burning by the end of my workout.  Next week I am going to go back to adding in some bent over rows (my favorite exercise) back into my workout, I have left them off for a few weeks since I seem to want to do them every single workout.  Tomorrow is leg day and I am pretty disappointed I wont be doing squats!!
     I have realized that I need to push 10x harder then just about everyone in order for me to win and be where I want to be my genetics suck, and I have probably done some damage to my metabolism over the last couple of years, but NONE OF THIS will STOP ME! 

Ephipany

     Back today after a killer leg workout on Wednesday featuring 8 sets of squats (supposed to be 10, but when you do not have a spotter and the legs start to give out, its time to slow it down and avoid any injuries).  I gotta say it was my strongest day of squats in a long, long time probably because I have been stuck doing leg presses more often then I would like to, due to the gym being over crowded with all the "resolutionists".  These 8 sets of squats are different then most as in the goal is to constantly up the weight, and doing drop sets to get to 15 reps for every set.  Here is an example:

Set 1: 95x15
Set 2: 135x15
Set 3: 185x15
Set 4: 205x15
Set 5: 225x15
Set 6: 245x8, 135x7
 Set 7: 265x3, 155x12 
Set 8: 265x4, 135x11


     I wish I would have started off with a higher weight as these would be much more impressive but by the time I got to set 6 I was pretty gassed but still tried to push harder and gotta say I was impressed.  Next week I am going to do my warmup and then get started on these pushing to start off with an all out set and see how many at 315lbs I can get up, and then push through with 9 more sets afterwards.

     All of my workouts this week have been pretty intense minus my back day which for some reason I did not feel like I accomplished much afterwards and generally I get sore about 48 hours for all days I havent hit that wall with my back yet so it may be time to change something up.

     I have finally let the dumb things that have been going on around me just go away, and I keep pushing towards making all of my dreams and goals a reality.  I have a great support system through friends and trainers, and gotta say that even though my gf does understand fully why I do what I do to myself she is extremely supportive (so thanks Sarah).  With everything going on I haven't fully committed to me and that is all changing.  I had the epiphany yesterday that I haven't pushed as hard as I can and while I aim to compete, all my competitors have been outworking me!!!!  That is all gonna change!!!   The plan stays the same, lean out and get to 10% bf.  And then spend some solid time, with a solid plan putting on the size I need to put myself where I wanna be.  I set a goal for myself in 2008 and need to be there by June of 2013 and DAMNIT, I will be there.  Its ME AGAINST ME!!!!

Its a New Day - Yo Hello Hooray

     Lately I have been using this song to remind me that I need to be easier on myself, not beat myself up so much for what is going on around me and in my life.  I have to admit I have a great life, great friends, and a great gf who supports me through everything I do.  If a few things could fall into place things would be perfect.
     So happy to be back at Best Fitness today, I feel like my workouts are 100% harder and better then when I am at Worlds.  I am looking forward to training legs and hitting 10 sets of squats HARD.  One of these days I would like to make a montage of how hard this leg day really is.  So many people preach about going heavy and while agree I love to go heavy, what is wrong with some HEAVY VOLUME?  At the end you are doing the same thing! 
      Hopefully I can get some more videos going in the near future of my clients as well as my own training.  If there is something you would like to see please let me know. 

Train Hard, Train Smart

Irritation and Struggles

     I have really had a hard time focusing at my secondary gym (Worlds Gym).  I just can not get comfortable there no matter how hard I try.  I am not one of those people who need all the frills or even a nice gym, but when the gym just looks thrown together, it makes it hard to actually get a good workout in.  The gym is setup awkwardly and the lifting area is so small that it makes following a workout damn near impossible.  It gets to the point that I just use what I can and make sure that I am hitting my set # of sets for that workout.  I try to make myself comfortable but I feel like my workouts are really suffering when I use this gym.
     My goal is to compete by the end of year or early next year and I am making great strides even with the setbacks, I have kicked my workouts and diet up to a level I am comfortable with and have lost 7.7lbs since January 1st.  I am going to keep pushing forward, and hope to be in the best shape of my life by June.