Success is a state of mind.” - Dr. Joyce Brothers

Rant and Tip for January 5, 2012


Quote: “Success is a state of mind.” - Dr. Joyce Brothers

Wade Kish, Jim Kipp, Daniel Slides at Nationals

5 simple words sum up today’s quote. I remember last year around this time I had yet to bench press over 300 pounds. I had never benched that much weight ever. Not even when I was in my early twenties and working out did I ever hit that amount of weight. Back then I had told my work out partner that I had to get past the mental block I had about that number. I knew it was a mental block and nothing more. With a little work and determination, I finally broke through the mental block. I had the same problem with 303 pounds in the 100% Raw Federation. Every time I attempted it I would fail. Sometimes it was a technical failure that just made me blow the lift completely. I fixed that problem by just not going for that weight again. I jumped to 308 instead and put that up with ease. You see mental block can be devastating to our successes. If we tell our mind that we will succeed there will be no stopping us. Look at what man has accomplished in a short time on this earth. Many of these things never would have happened if we had in our mind that it could not be done. This does apply to all of us on a slightly smaller scale. You will be successful in changing your eating habits if you get into the right frame of mind and tell yourself that it can and will happen. You will be successful with your training goals again it is a matter of willing your mind to change in what it believes is possible.

Benching went well in the bench shirt last night. I used a shirt that is not as restrictive as the Katana. I used a Fury, which is also made by Titan. Again this shirt is a 42 and was brand new. I have to stretch it out a bit and break it in. A couple of differences I noticed in this shirt. First the seem on the back of the tricep goes staring down the tricep while in the Katana there is actually a panel that contours to the tricep better. I have a line that is bruised into my tricep from working in the Fury last night. However on the other side of the coin the Fury seems to have more give in the chest panel than the Katana. I am getting a 44 Katana in the mail with in the next couple days. I think the 44 will be a better fit at least until I get use to the stroke in the Katana. My last rep of the night was again 415 with a 3 board and again it went up pretty well. I do admit I was tired at this point of the evening and ready to get out of the shirt. As I took the shirt off you could see a layer of skin that had rubbed off my arms into the cloth of the shirt. I thought to myself as I looked at it “Where did this powder come from”, I then realized the shirt had actually rubbed a layer of skin off my arms as sand paper would have. Let me tell you I slept in a sleeveless shirt last night so I did not have anything rubbing on them. LOL they should be better by tonight.

Today will be a shoulders, biceps, and triceps. Now you may think didn’t you work your triceps enough last night and usually I would say yes after a bench workout. However, since a lot of the time Wednesday nights is spent working on the stroke and learning the proper use of the shirt I really do not get to tax the muscles the way I like to. So they will get taxed today.

One of the things I try to do is to eat several small meals throughout the day. This way I am able to keep my metabolism cranked and it helps maintain the levels of protein I require to maintain and put on muscle. One way I am able to do this is by planning ahead. I always have multiple cans of tuna fish or chicken chunks and lettuce in the refrigerator at work, along with a dressing of my choice of course. As of late that tends to be a MCT oil and some vinegar. Low carb and high fat. I have mentioned the MCT oil before. If you have questions regarding it let me know with a comment or an email either way I will answer you.  With having these item with me or available at all time it makes it easy to stay on plan. However, sometimes even I am do not have the proper meal ready and available. It is at these times that I will supplement my diet with a low carb protein bar or an Atkins bar. Using these can be a good solution when you are stuck and want to make sure you do not eat off plan.

Have a great workout!


Tip:

When performing an exercise do not sacrifice form just to lift something heavier. You will do more harm than good. I remember as a kid working out I did many exercises incorrectly just because I wanted to move more weight. I never curled correctly. Oh yea, I would move a good amount of weight, but I was using my back and shoulders a lot more. However, it seemed when working my triceps I always had good form. Now my triceps are one of my solid points and my biceps are lacking. I should have concentrated on form and not the amount of weight as a kid.

Hunter Claypatch, Me, Laura Delay, Wayne Claypatch... Gobbler Open