April 21, 2011

Daily Rants and Tips

April 21,2011


As I sit here after benching with boards last night it occurs to me that sometimes more is not always better. Let me explain. I tend to over do sometimes. No matter what people tell me I want to workout everyday. Sometimes thinking my body only needs those 2 days of rest on the weekend. I was trying to work Chest twice a week because I thought I needed to, to get to the point of benching twice my weight. Oh I preach a good game and tell others to let their muscles rest but rarely to I follow my own advise. I want more more more. Last night at Albany Strength the guys reiterated that I need to give my muscles more time to recuperate. I was hitting chest on Monday then again Wednesday night. They cringed. I was advised that it you really feel a need to hit it twice a week make it Saturday and Wednesday. OK I will keep that in mind. Sometimes our goals don't let us see the trees through the forest. I received an email from a friend, lets call her the New Hampshire power house, who I know works very hard. She works out longer and more often than I do. I hadn't heard from her in a while and she is burnt out and ready to pack it all in. This woman is pretty amazing in that she has lost, I believe close to or more than 100 lbs. She stated she is ready to pack it in. I know she reads this so let me say here for all to see. CB you have done fantastic. Give your body a full weeks rest, However do not give up and pack it in. Keep eating right and smile. You have done great! This brings me to the

Tip of the Day:

Give the body some rest time. Your muscles need it and so does your mind. Make sure you get enough sleep. (me to)

April 20, 2011

Dead lifts went well yesterday. I was pleased with how I did. My left shoulder popped at one point and it felt great afterwards. My only guess is that a tendon or something in there was not lying correctly and when I pulled it popped where it should be. My workout partner heard it and said something. Feels great today so all is good. It is a funny thing. Sometimes I sit here and think to myself what am I going to put out here for tip. Then as I type it comes to me. My workout partner is going to be pushed to his limits today. I am going to work him hard. I will be hitting Albany Strength tonight and that means my normal lunch workout becomes me training Karl. Shoulders and back for him today. Had a huge steak and 3 eggs for breakfast and I am ready to hit the day.

Tip of the day:

Sometimes when you first start working out you may feel some minor pain that is not muscle soreness. This could be the muscles tightening up and laying incorrectly on a tendon. I had this happen when I started working out again. Continue to push through with lighter weights and the tendon and muscles will fall back into place where they need to be. At least that is how it worked for me.

April 19 2011

The call of the day is the dead lift exercise. I need to really push this one today. My workout partner has no idea what he is in for today. This is a whole body exercise especially when you use good form and go heavier. You need to keep your back straight to avoid injury and be prepared for the bar to ride up your legs.

I will go for a max today and let you all know how I do.

Tip of the day:

Change things up occasionally confuse the muscle. The body is an amazing machine and it gets use to things fairly easy. So be sure to change the weight you use or reorganize the orders you do your exercises in.

April 18th, 2011

Good Morning all,

I will be working chest today and going heavy. First will be some warm up sets then the heavy stuff. Possibly finishing with 3 sets of 5 at 300. I will really need to have my head in the game and push through hard. After yesterday's 426 squat to the bench I realize with a little prodding from some friends I really need to record the squats so I can nail down my form and make sure I break parallel. (Thank you Laura and Brian) I also know I need to build a platform for my feet for my bench at home. No laughing I know I am short and don't need any more chiding from my friends. LOL I have been having my workout partner walk the ladder with the dumbbells. He needs to work on his stabilizing muscles to increase his bench. I call walking the ladder going up the dumbbell weight rack doing sets of 5 with each weight. Starting light and getting heavier. Then when we are done with the sets. We drop down to a point where he can get 5 sets of 10. It really fries him.

Tip of the Day:

The warm up is just as important as the full blown work out. Be sure to warm up the muscles with a lighter weight so you do not pull a muscle while working heavier. Even though the weight is light give the muscle a full flex to get the blood flowing.

April 17th, 2011

I am so psyched right now. I just squatted 426 to the bench. Not quite parallel. But I am getting there.

It seems I just can't help my self. I am sure many of you are the same in the respect that when you see someone doing something incorrectly you just have to help. Sometimes it is take very well other times you get an attitude. Yesterday although I said it was going to be a day off, since the chest felt good and I want to bench twice my weight this year I went to the gym any way. I noticed this kid performing incline dumbbell flies. He was doing them incorrectly and with a weight that was to heavy for him. I asked him if he minded if I gave him some tips. He said sure. I corrected his form and suggested going lighter so he could keep the form. He did very well and took the advise and used it. I think it was a win win. I got to help a kid just starting out, kinda wish someone had done that for me and he improved his form. This brings me to:

Tip of the day:

Heavier is not always better. If your form is sloppy or not even close you are not targeting the muscles. Weights that are to heavy can force your form to be bad and the potential of getting hurt is increased.

Happy Work outs everyone!

April 16th, 2011

Today is a day off from lifting. I have enough to do around the house. Skipping rope for 30 minutes sounds good to me though. OK for a bit of a rant, It occurs to me that sometimes people just don't communicate well. Even in the gym. Let's face it when we are in the gym we can become self absorbed. I want to say this I nor any other respectful lifter does not want to monopolize a piece of exercise equipment. If you need to get in for a set just ask. It is not that we don't want to share, it is we are so focused we didn't know you wanted to get in. Let's communicate in the gym to. Not a shoot the crap session but at least acknowledge each other. LOL

Tip of the day:

If you are feeling any Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS do not work that body part. Let it heal and work another body part.

April 15, 2011 http://rawpowerlifting.com/records/State/New%20York/BENCH.pdf

Good morning, If you have had the chance to check my before and after photos you know I have not always looked this fit. This brings to mind a complaint I hear sometimes from people just starting. Sometimes as a new gym attendee it can feel intimidating. You may not have the physique you want and may be a little self conscious, and truly feel that people are watching you. Well they might be. The thing is you do not know what is going through their head. They may be thinking, hey good for them, or you may get the muscle head who thinks this is my gym. Well that thought is pure BS. The muscle head did not get where they are by not being in the gym. These guys are few and far between. Most are happy to see anyone working hard to get healthy. So when you feel that someone is watching this is most likely a good thing. Take advantage of this and work harder. If you have a question about an exercise or a piece of equipment ask. Someone will be willing to help. We all can get there.

Tip of the day:

If your workout time has to be in the morning but every morning you feel I really don't want to get out of bed, Try going to bed in your "CLEAN" workout clothes. Hey they are comfy any way. That way when the alarm goes off you are all ready dressed and ready to go.

Good Luck and Happy Workouts

Today is April 14 2011

Some dead lifts this morning, again this is for form. I will start going heavy for the June 4th meet in 1 week. Something I learned about myself though. My legs take a long time to warm up. I was squatting 225 for reps and it felt heavy and awkward. I just did not feel strong doing them. At the end of the sets I put 335 on the bar and did 3/4 squats. It felt great. Did a set of 10 and I felt strong. Lesson learned. When I do a full power meet make sure I have plenty of time to warm up!

Tip of the Day

Setting goals are important. Remember though if you set a high goal set little goals to get you there.

Today is April 13 2011

Well I started the first step towards squatting 400. Being only 166 lbs let me tell you to put 435 pounds on your shoulders and walk out of the rack is a new experience. My thought is to get use to a much heavier weight and when I work my way up to squatting that much it wont feel as heavy. It was so heavy. I didn't try to squat it. I am really just trying to get use to the weight. For the record I have to make sure I wear my lifting belt next time.

Tip of the Day

When doing a new exercise use a lighter weight and concentrate on your form. Make sure you have it right before you go heavier.

Here is a link to the NYS Raw Records for Bench Press

http://rawpowerlifting.com/records/State/New%20York/BENCH.pdf



2 comments:

  1. Jim, that is an awesome post! You're an inspiration to so many across the world! Thanks!

    Pri.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pri you are so welcome.
    Please continue to share with you friends and collegues in India. I love seeing the traffic come in on the site from around the world. I got to hits from Latvia last week.

    ReplyDelete