Perpetual optimism is worth millions and has the power to transform people

Rant and Tip for February 15, 2012

Quote:” Perpetual optimism is worth millions and has the power to transform people.” General Rick Hillier

A truer statement has not been said. Optimism is described as “a disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome.”  We need to do this in our lives a lot more than we do. I work for a company that does not use the word problem. Instead any instance of a perceived problem is either a challenge or an opportunity. An Opportunity for growth as a person, or an opportunity to fix something and make it better is how we look at things. Of course there are challenges along the way and always will be. If we take each challenge regarding creating better eating habits or getting into an exercise habit as an opportunity to improve we can be optimistic in our thoughts and be successful.

When approaching you way of eating in an optimistic way you can leave the self doubt and get over the challenges a lot easier. Beating yourself up for slipping up and eating something you shouldn’t have is counterproductive and will only lead to more cheating on your diet. If you make the mistake own it and move one. Make it an opportunity to learn what you did wrong or what led you to make to make the mistake in the first place. Life is full of opportunities and so is learning how to eat properly for your own dietary needs.

I find when I approach a workout session with an optimistic attitude every lift becomes easier. Every set get stronger and I just look forward to getting stronger. On days I am unable to complete a set, I look at that as an opportunity to do better next time, to push harder, and work on my technique. Each training session or workout session is approached with a positive attitude. I know that is what my body needs and my mind and spirit desires it as well. Remember we need to treat our body as a temple. Today is another bench day for me. I usually work in the bench shirt on Wednesday but since I worked in it on Sunday today will be free weights and no bench shirt. 

Have a great workout!

Tip: I had someone recently ask me to look at his workout for chest day and one thing I noticed except for dumbbell flies he was not doing very much dumbbell work. I have noticed during my workouts that dumbbell bench pressing in a decline, incline and flat bench that I can get a great squeeze in the chest at the top for each rep with the dumbbells. I do not get that with a bar. When doing dumbbell presses, count to 3 on the way down and 3 on the way up. When you get to the top, touch the dumbbells together and squeeze at the top. Keep your reps between 10 and 15. This is more of a body builders workout and not a workout for strength.

Our growing softness, our increasing lack of physical fitness, is a menace to our security.

Rant and Tip for February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine’s Day

Quote: Our growing softness, our increasing lack of physical fitness, is a menace to our security.
John F. Kennedy

I am not sure how President Kennedy meant this quote for us, however I can tell you my interpretation. As I ponder this statement, what comes to my mind is how exercise can not only make the body fit, but also affect your mind. One of the side effects of exercise there is an increase of blood flow to the brain, as well as a release of endorphins into the blood stream. Both of these things are great for you. With the increase of blood flow and endorphins comes for back of a better term, Mental Clarity. It has happened to me frequently where I have had a challenge in work or in my personal life and during my workout or right after there is a moment of mental clarity the helps me see things for what they are. Don’t laugh to hard here but what just came to mind was Forrest Gump getting up from his porch and running across country. Now that man got some mental clarity during his trek. OK maybe that was a reach but really it did just pop in my head. I guess, President Kennedy also may also been alluding to the additional cost in healthcare and the strain that can put on us as a nation. The more unfit we are, in many cases the more unhealthy we are, which can put a strain on society.  If we as a nation could do away with smoking and the obesity epidemic I am sure we could save a lot of money.

One of the areas I have been lacking in lately has been my cardio. I get my children off to school in the morning and do not want to leave them alone in the house while I go for a run. I just cannot do that. So I picked up a stationary bike. I also wanted to make sure it was something my children can use as well. I put it in front of the television and since it is a quiet machine, my thought is my children could use it while the watch one of their shows. I will be using it before breakfast and in the evening, before bed. All the body needs and this is in my opinion is, 30 minutes of cardio at a session. To me anything more than that does not make sense. You are over taxing your body at that point and putting it into a catabolic state. In a catabolic state you body breaks down muscle tissue. That is the last thing I want and it should be the last thing you want. If you break down muscle tissue, you will also slow down your metabolism. The less muscle you have the fewer calories you will burn when you are resting. The main point here is to get your cardio in and make it fun anyway you can. For me the bike will enable me to get the morning news in and my cardio at the same time. You may like Zumba or some other cardio program. Whatever it is make it a fun and enjoyable experience.

One of the biggest challenges I had and still have is making sure I eat enough. Before following a low carb lifestyle and cutting out all simple sugars, I was of the mindset like the rest of the country that you had to reduce calories and basically starve yourself to lose weight. Of course this never worked for me and to the best of my knowledge it only works temporarily for most. You need to learn to eat in a fashion that keeps your body satiated. When you do not eat enough you body being the efficient machine it is goes into survival mode. Your metabolism slows drastically and tries to keep the fat it has for fuel later. It gets even harder to lose body fat, with every ounce of fat you do lose. Many of us struggle with the last five pounds. We want to see our abs and be as lean as possible for our bodies. One thing I need to keep in mind it that you have to eat to lose weight. I know it sounds crazy but eating the right foods in the right amounts at the right time actually promotes weight loss. You brain sends signals to the body that it is getting enough of the right foods and is getting it often enough that it does not need to store fat anymore. Changing your mindset is a huge step to being successful n adapting this way of eating.

Tuesday is your back day.

Tuesday :
Wide grip lat pull downs - 4 sets 10
Seated rows - 4 sets 10
single arm Rows 4 sets of 10
Shrugs - 4 sets 10

Inverted flys 4 sets of ten
Weighted or not I prefer weighted hyper-extensions - 4 sets 10

Have a great workout!

Tip: If you are adopting a way of eating similar to my own it helps to set a personal alarm to make sure you are eating often enough. This not only helps me stay on track getting enough fuel, it also helps me to make sure I am not eating to soon either. I try to eat every three hours.

Strength Conditioning Can Change your life

Repost from my guest blogger Brian "The Grizz" Espino:
  
Earlier this week, Jim asked me if I was interested in writing a segment for his blog. I thought this was brave of him, considering how much I like potatoes. I will leave the diet tips to Jim and focus more on the weight room. This first post will be mostly background information, but there are a few lessons in here. In high school I was interested in, and loved playing most sports. However I didn’t pick the right parents to be a great athlete, and the only team I was on was the math team. Fast forward a few years, and while in graduate school in Kansas, I started to lift weights at my university’s gym.


My workouts initially consisted of doing a little work for every body part, every other day, mostly using machines. When I started, I weighed about 150 pounds. The only big lift that I knew of was the bench press. I would not consider myself that strong at the time, as I could lift about 170 pounds a few weeks after I started to lift weights. I set the goal of benching 200 pounds. Eventually I benched 200 pounds and my next goal was 225. Each time I reached a goal, I would set another one to give me something to work toward. About three years later I weighed nearly 200 pounds and could bench press 320 for multiple reps.

Luckily I suffered my first weightlifting injury. While performing a negative rep, something popped in my shoulder. I say this was lucky because during the time I couldn’t work on my bench press, I learned a few other lifts, most notably the squat and the deadlift. Previously my lower body work consisted of machine based exercises, such as leg curls and leg extensions. With some of those machines, I could lift the entire stack. I was about to be humbled. The first time I tried to squat, upon lowering a modest amount of weight to the squat rack’s safety pins, the bar didn’t budge. My legs were weak! While my shoulder recovered I worked on my squats and deadlifts, and within months, I could almost deadlift 300 pounds.

Now to the day that changed my life. My goal for the day was to deadlift a new max of 300 pounds. Another student was lifting nearby with substantially more weight on the bar. After I successfully deadlifted 300 pounds for the first time, I started to strip the weight. When I was taking the weight off of the bar, this more experienced lifter asked me, “What are you doing? Put MORE weight on.” He said I could lift more and invited me to lift with him. By the end of the workout, he had me doing a reverse band deadlift where I was locking out over 400 pounds. From that day I have been hooked on the powerlifting bug. Four years have passed and now as a powerlifter, I have found myself in the same role that my old friend from Kansas played in my training. In the following posts, I will be giving out tips and strategies that I use myself, that if you choose to, you can apply to your own workouts.

Have a great workout!

Tip of the day: 

  As you read Brian's post you see that goals are set along the way and while he had a boundary he learned that he could push past it. Sometimes we all need that someone to help get us past our limits. Brian had his friend at graduate school in Kansas. He assisted with me during my first deadlift meet last June 4th. While I had trained for the lift with the help of Mike Macri at Albany Strength, at the meet Brian encouraged me to push for a deadlift over 400 pounds. Thanks to both men. Keep your eyes open for those who can challenge you and help you reach your potential. Be willing to accept the challenge before you, and don't be afraid to ask for help or take the help that is offered. It is not a sign of weakness. IT IS A SIGN OF STRENGTH

Have the courage to act on your dreams

Rant and Tip for February 10, 2012

Quote: “Have the courage to act on your dreams - leave behind you the internal forces that hold you back.” Unknown

If you dream of being fit and healthy and truly want that in your life, you need to believe in yourself and leave behind you the negative thoughts that dwell inside you. We all have those little demons in our mind that does not want us to succeed. This is that little thought that pops in your head that tells you that it s ok to have that piece of cake or go ahead eat that pizza it is only one slice. Have the courage to avoid these urges and do not listen to that voice, no matter how persistent it is.

Now that my weight is under control you all know my shift has turned to fitness for all. It does not matter how old you are or young for that matter. If we keep our bodies fit then we have the ability to truly enjoy life. Recently I was talking to an acquaintance and the person said to me, your blog is about power lifting and I do not want to become a power lifter. I thought about this for a second and then asked them if they had read my blog. I know I mention my meets and the training I do for the meets, however I do not believe I have geared this blog towards power lifting. As a matter of fact at this point in time the exercise programs I have set up for my readers are not the routines I follow. My exercise regimen is very different. If you read my blog today, please take the time and read some back post as well. I am interested I you have the same perception of my blog. Leave me a comment or send me an email I would like to hear from you.

I have recently been asked a lot of questions regarding an associate who is trying to lose weight. However no matter how strict he feels he is being with his diet he states he is putting on weight.  If he is being totally truthful and at this point in time there is no reason for me to not believe him, I have to believe he metabolism is wreck. He is stressed over the whole situation and blaming the diet plan he is on. Meanwhile thousands of people have followed the diet and have succeeded. I have stated many times everyone is different, when it comes to their body and how disciplined a diet needs to be can really depend on that persons metabolism. Some foods will stall and even make people gain weight. I am going to try to put something together for this person to follow for just 2 weeks and see if we can get him losing some of the weight he has gained. I do not live near this person and will have to trust that he follows it to the letter. Let’s see if I can get him losing.

Today is Friday and the workout of the day is;

Friday: Arms
Skull crushers - 4 sets 10
close grip bench or Cable push downs -4 sets 10
Overhead triceps press - 4 sets 10
Bench dips - 4 sets 10

Dumbbell curls - 4 sets 10
Preacher curls - 4 sets 10
Concentration curls - 4 sets 10

For myself since I had some challenges this week I will be attacking my squats with a vengeance. I am looking forward to feeling the weight on my shoulders and powering through some max effort sets. This will entail a long warm up period because unlike my bench workouts where I warm up pretty quickly, my legs seem to take forever.

Have a great workout!

Tip: Get to know your body and warm up properly before your attempt any heavy lifting. The warm up period gets the blood flowing into the muscle and does actually warm the muscle.

Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans

Rant and Tip for February 9, 2012

  

Quote: “Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.”   Peter F Drucker

You must be committed to making the changes in your life, to be successful. If not you are just making an empty promise to yourself. You know it and so do I.

I was sitting enjoying a cup of hazelnut coffee at work yesterday morning and saw a friend of mine. We got talking about diet and fat loss. This is getting to be a habit with me. Anyway he mentioned that a friend of his, I wonder what he pays him, told him fat loss is 80% diet. I told him I agreed.  You can work out till you are red in the face but if your diet is not tight you will only put on muscle and tighten those abs under the fat. Now I am all for working out and tightening the muscles under the fat. When you lose the fat they will show nicely. All the crunches in the world will not get you six pack abs. Well that is not exactly true, you will get them, and you will just need to remove the layer of unwanted fat to see them. As you are all well aware I prefer the low carbohydrate way of eating. Others prefer low fat and they are thin and healthy. The one thing we both have in common is commitment. Like many of us we have a fear of commitment. It is the fear of having the same thing day in and day out. At least that is what I think it is. I know it can be tough to say no to some of the foods that you think you love. Let’s take my diet as an example and a few conversations I have had in the past month or so. One man I know who lives a low carb lifestyle thought that he would miss pasta. Well he caved in and had some, what he came back with from this experiment was he did not miss the pasta; he missed the sauce and other ingredients that were on top of the pasta. Another friend just last night said to me, OMG you don’t ever get to eat pizza. I said yes I do, and told her I use a low carb wrap for the dough. By the way Atkins does sell a low carb protein rich flower for baking and I bet I could make pizza dough out of that. Anyway I just want to remind you if you commit yourself to a diet commit completely. You will build better habits and be thrilled you did. If you want to get some recipe ideas check out some of my friends’ links on the right side of this page.

Today is Thursday and shoulders work out is the call of the day. Here is a simple shoulder workout you can follow for today.

Dumbbell press - 4 sets 10
Side laterals - 4 sets 10
Front dumbbell raises - 4 sets 10
Bent-over dumbbell laterals - 4 sets 10

For I will also add in shrugs for myself as well as my rotator cuff, lower and upper trapezius exercises.

Have a great workout!

Tip of the day:

To help yourself stay committed in the morning take 10 minutes for yourself and right down your menu for the day. Make sure you are getting whatever your allowance is based on the type of diet you choose, of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. This will help you stay on track and when you are tempted to eat something that is off plan thing about what you read today. Heck, print it down and read it when you need that extra boost of will power.

There is only a perfect time to start working towards a goal; right now.

Rant and Tip for February 8, 2012

Quote: There is only a perfect time to start working towards a goal; right now.
~ Byron Pulsifer

We all set goals in our minds but what we do not do is plan the date of execution very well. Many times I hear people say “I will start on Monday”, or “Right after this holiday I am going to get my eating on schedule.” Really though there is no better time than now to get on track. You just need to make the decision to do it and then stay on course.

Today I thought I would discuss your metabolism, not mine , yours. Her is the thing I get asked all the time what do I eat now and how did I eat to lose all the body fat I loss. The thing is everyone is different. If you do not exercise of course your metabolism will be slower. If a person does not have a lot of muscle mass, then their metabolism will be slower. Of course the reverse is true, the more you exercise the faster you metabolism works, at least to a point. Remember if you are not fueling your exercise then you will stall in fat loss as well. Your metabolism will slow down and go into starvation mode and conserve all the fat it can because it is afraid that it will not get enough food. Here is another thing to think about. When you eat 3 huge meals in a day, even if the calories are low, your body is going to store fat for the moments in between meals. Several smaller meals are better because, you body is constantly getting fuel. The brain then tells the body it does not need to worry about where the next meal is coming from and will not store fat so readily. Does this make sense?  I use to be the guy who would eat three huge meals a day and wonder why I am getting fat. My snacks throughout the day are all healthy snacks, actually they are little meals. I was talking to someone last night and mentioned how a snack for me is half a can of tuna, and some green peppers. A mini meal you might say. This works for me, it may work for you.

The call of for me will be cardio at lunch and benching tonight in the bench shirt. I want to convince the guy training me to put 400 on the bar and work on getting down for a touch and go. I think I need that confidence boost. Your chest workout for the day is:

Wednesday: Chest
Incline dumbbell press - 4 sets 10
Flat dumbbell press - 4 sets 10
Decline barbell press - 4 sets 10
Dumbbell flies - 4 sets 10

This is a muscle building workout. Be sure to get 30 minutes of cardio in before breakfast or after you strength training session.

Have a great workout!

Tip: Setting goals are easy, remembering to make a plan is the hard part. Be sure to plan the path to success for your goals