The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.

Rant and Tip for January 12, 2012

Quote: “The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

You are the star that is invisible by day. What I mean by this is, just as the night sky reveals the stars, when you make the decision to commit to living a healthier lifestyle your inner star comes shining through. You become the bright beacon just like the stars in the sky.

Sometimes our inner star is covered by a layer of fat, more likely though that layer of fat is just the result of another symptom. Maybe low self-esteem or depression over life’s challenges. Sometimes it is simply not knowing the proper way to eat for your body and not taking the time to get the proper exercise needed in to maintain a healthy body. I know some of you may read this and think, “I do not have the time to exercise.” I say to you, “You do not have the time not to exercise. Our bodies were built to stay in motion. When we become sedimentary, like many of us are, (I sit at a desk all day just like many of you) our bodies crave motion. I think, and this is just my humble opinion, this leads us to over eat. I use to sit at my desk and munch on high carbohydrate snacks all day. The results were 40 pounds of fat on a body that was not meant to carry that much fat. Once I learned the proper way to eat and incorporated an exercise regimen I was able cut the fat and maintain a healthy weight. I was able to let my inner star shine.

I say to you, take a moment to focus on your inner star and let that star come out and shine in day or night!

Training went well yesterday. 30 minutes of cardio before lunch with some middle trapezius work and then in the evening I trained in my bench shirt. I jumped up in size on the shirt and I was able to work with the weight much better. I have a feeling though I will be putting the smaller shirt on as I get closer to May 23rd for the World IPR Bench Meet. Johnny O mentioned I have a strong lock out and as I use the shirt more and my body understands how to use the shirt the numbers will come up nicely.

Fund raising is going very slowly but I am hopeful to make some strides by the end of the Month. If anyone as any suggestions along these lines please let me know, my email in at the top of the page.

Have a great workout!

Tip: Bench Press Setup.  Courtesy of Stronglifts.com
1. You need a strong base to press the weight from. Tighten your upper-back. Grip the bar hard: try to break it apart like breaking spaghetti.

2. Grip Width, Too narrow & you'll lose strength. Too wide & the distance the bar travels shortens. Grip width should be about 55-71cm/22-28" depending on your build. Forearms perpendicular to the floor when the bar touches your chest

3. Gripping the bar. Secure the bar with your thumbs by rotating your hands in. Put the bar in the palm of your hand, close to your wrist. If you put the bar close to your fingers, you'll get wrist pain.

4. Tight Upper-Back, Squeeze your shoulder-blades before getting on the bench. Keep your shoulder-blades back & down at all times like on the picture below. This gives your body a solid base to press the bar from.

5. Chest Up. Don't allow your chest to go flat or shoulders to roll forward. You'll lose upper-back tightness, losing power & increasing risk of shoulder injury. Keep your chest up at all time.


6. Feet. Use a wide foot stance to increase stability on the bench. Feet flat on the floor, weight on the heels.