February 16, 2013

Is opportunity Knocking

Quote of the day:

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” - Milton Berle

Milton Berle said it well when he said the quote above. I have tried to do this myself. Sometimes opportunity does knock and we are to afraid to open the door. Whether is because of negative comments made about you at the local gym, Like "Why is he going, he doesn't deserve that" or a family member that talks you out of changing your eating lifestyle. Other times you need to build a door so that opportunity can knock. Maybe it has to be a new door in a different direction. Such as my pursuit to get certified in personal training.


Rant and Tip for February 16, 2012

Hello my friends and it is time for me to get back to writing. I have to figure a happy medium between blogging daily and more than once a week. Once a week is not enough for me to write and get things off my chest, and not enough for you to want to visit often. 

It has been a big week for me, the first news I received was on February 9th Saturday evening, the head coach of the Masters USAPL World team contacted me and asked if I wanted to accept a position on the team at either a lower weight class than I competed in or a higher weight class. I stay pretty lean my friends and there was no way I was ever going to come close to 145 pounds with looking like death warmed over. I accepted the higher weight class and plan on putting on a few extra pounds to see if I get stronger by April 19. That is the day I compete. I am looking for donations of any size through PayPal to offset some of the cost to represent the United States in the Powerlifting event. Being an amateur these things can get expensive.  

The second bit of news is, as of February 11, 2012 I am a Nationally Accredited Personal Trainer. I hope to be helping others in their goals to eat right and get fit soon. The certification is a NESTA certification and although it is the same certification that some trainers on the Biggest Loser have, I assure you I am more into the long term training you to help yourself than the short term quick lose and say good bye to you. I look forward to seeing clients in person someday. Right now it is just great to know that all the information I have shared with you all is accurate and I have not lead anyone down the wrong path.

As many of you know I follow a low carb eating lifestyle. This does not mean I do not eat any carbs, it just means compared to the general public I eat a lot less carbs than the average person. The carbs I do eat are complex carbs and they are consumed around my workouts. I have increased these since finding I am competing in a higher weight class. The key to any diet and I use the word diet to represent an eating lifestyle, not a temporary thing to help me lose weight, is to consider everything you put in your mouth and determine if it is going to get you to, or help you maintain where you want to be. I will say there are some things I occasionally miss and one of those is peanut butter. 

Training is going well for the world meet and although I am training in gear I have found a happy mix between raw training and geared training. I recently hit some numbers that by using One Rep Max calculators puts me at about 350 pounds. Well I do not know if I have that in the tank yet, but I am feeling like I am close to 340. The trick I come to realize is when it comes to strength training less can be more. Less Reps and less work sets and make every week a Personal Record. Whether it by a half pound to 5 pounds always get that PR and go home happy.

Have a great workout!


February 10, 2013

Strength Training and Women, “The Myth”



Strength Training and Woman, “The Myth”

For some time now I have been talking on and off the benefits of strength training for women. It is astounding to me how often I have to dispel the myth about strength training leading to a woman getting bulky and looking like a man. Training if done properly will not lead to a woman bulking up. Yes there are some genetic anomalies out there that may be predisposed to getting larger but without synthetic help it is very unlikely a woman will get bulky. 

Nancy Hayward, Ann Manning, Taylor Thorton, Danielle Messick , Shanna Jacobs
I recently assisted a friend in a Powerlifting Meet in Fairhaven Vermont. It was a nice meet and all the competitors were amazing. Many of the competitors were women and several young ladies who have yet to see their potential in the sport. I spoke to 5 of these ladies and I am happy to share their photos and videos here to help dispel the myth. Take note of Taylor Thorton, this young lady is only 13 years old and is already setting records. She is a petite young girl and does not look bulky in the least.  As a matter of fact none of the female competitors were the least bit “BULKY”. 

In addition to Taylor, other female competitors were, Ann Manning, Nancy Hayward, Shanna Jacobs and Danielle Messick. There were others as well, I just did not get to speak to them or see them lift. These ladies competed in different divisions, raw and geared. I am waiting on the young ladies to email me to let me know their numbers they actually lifted and I will post them when I get them. 

I feel it is important to point out these women, and yes Taylor you are only 13 and I am lumping in as a woman, train hard and did not just decide to they going to show up February 9 and break records. NO they have been training hard and yet, they are not bulky. 

Ladies the proof is in the pictures and in the videos. Strength training will not make you look “Manish”, It is not likely you are going to get all bulky. The myth is officially squashed, now get out there and do some strength training.


When you start your strength training you will need to fuel you body properly. So be sure to make this a lifestyle change. Be sure to eat enough fuel to get a good workout in and leave the soda, chips and candy bars at the store. That is not fuel and never meant to be.

Have a great workout!

Tip: If you have finally decided to start a training regimen, take it slow at first and do not expect to push heavy weight right away.  Give yourself credit for just getting out there.





Video is coming soon






 

February 6, 2013

What was your defining moment?


What was your defining moment? 

I was in the gym the other day talking to a young man who had recently gotten back into training. Seems this happens often where a person gets away and then comes back. Happens with our diets too.

He asked me what was my defining moment. When it was that I knew I had to make changes in my eating and physical habits. I told him it was my children and some bad blood work that came back. You can read the story here. He then proceeded to tell me he was listening to someone speak and they gave him a scenario that went something like this.

Imagine there is a bed of hot coals and someone asked you to run across them. Would you do it? The response is of course not. Now imagine that bed of hot coals and now someone offered you a billion dollars to run across those coals. Then you you do it. The response in many cases is probably.  Now although this is an extreme scenario it does show anything can be overcome in your mind given the right motivation.

Let your health, physical endurance, family, even your own vanity be your motivation. We all have a defining moment when we realize something needs to be done. The challenge is deciding to make it a priority. They all tie in together. You can make the changes that need to me made. Write down your explicit goals and make note of you implicit goals.



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