Saturday, January 30, 2010

Project 190 Update

Today concluded phase one of my Project 190 program. After four weeks, strength is on the rise and my body weight has gone up about seven pounds. At this rate I am hoping for a final weigh-in of around 195. As far as my nutrition is concerned, I have been consuming about 3,500-4,00 calories daily (non-training days being less) and the types of food consumed have been generally healthy. I have been eating a lot of eggs, granola, smoothies, fruit, sunflower seeds, beans, chicken, and other lean meats and fish. This past Wednesday I had a lunch feast with ROB at BD's Mongolian Grill which gave me a nice boost as large amounts of meat were consumed. I have limited myself to one soda a week and one day to eat a few sweets. My main goal is gaining weight and strength but I don't just want to eat whatever so that my performance and health are optimal.

As far as the workout goes, its a very basic concept of push/pull with some power exercises thrown in. I am constantly working on my hip and shoulder mobility so I include a mobility warm-up every session. My main objective each day is to lift as much weight as I can for the given number of reps and sets. Below is the workout from phase one...

DAY 1
Clean High Pull 4x4
Front Squat 2x8 2x6
Shoulder Press 2x8 2x6
DB Incline 4x8
Triceps 3x8
Russian Twist 4x8-12
Plank 4x:30

DAY 2
Explosive Shrug 4x4
Seated Row 2x8 2x6
SL SB Leg Curl 4x12
SA Lat Pulldown 4x8
Biceps 3x8
Cable Rotation 4x8-12
Side Plank 4x:30

DAY 3
Squat Jump 4x4
Bench 2x8 2x6
Lunge 4x8
DB Shoulder Press 4x8
Triceps 3x8
SB Russian Twist 4x8-12
Rollout 4x12

DAY 4
DB Swing 4x4
Lat Pulldown 2x8 2x6
Glut Ham Raise 4x8
SA Seated Row 4x8
Biceps 3x8
1-2-3-Throw 4x8-12
Side Dynamic Plank 4x:30

Monday, January 25, 2010

So Many Excuses...

This is a blog post from Mike Rousell's blog. I was reading around tonight and felt this very interesting so I wanted to share it with you all. Enjoy.

The REAL Reasons Why You Can’t Lose Weight

January 14, 2010

Today I wanted to share with you a very insightful story that a friend of mine who runs a gym shared with me.

A woman came into his gym and said that she really wanted to join as she needed to lose weight for health reasons but she could not afford the monthly membership fee. My friend told the woman that he wanted to help her so he’d make her a deal…

He would give her a free 30 day membership. During those first 30 days, if she came in and exercised 15 times then he would give her the next 30 days for free, the same for the next month, and the next month. So in essence this woman could have a lifetime free membership IF she used it. The woman was so happy and very grateful to my friend for making such a generous deal with her. Do you know what happened in the following 30 days?

She showed up 6 times and never came back.

Excuses

You can probably see what I’m getting at here….money wasn’t the issue. The cost of the gym membership wasn’t the ‘thing’ that was holding this woman back from losing weight. It was a convient scapegoat.

What are you convenient scape goats?

What are the reasons you give for not losing weight and reaching your goals?

Write them down, crumble up the paper, and throw it in the recycle bin never to mention them again.

Then get down to work and lose the weight.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Random Thoughts 1/21

Haven't been on here in a while, pretty busy with the New Years Resolutioners, so I thought I'd just give some thoughts and what not.

-First and foremost, I have gained 4.5 lbs in the past two weeks so Project 190 is nicely on its way. Been pushing some solid weights and plan on seeing increases throughout. I have two more weeks of phase one and then I will be posting the workout on here for everyone to see. Stay tuned.

-The gym has been crazy packed the past couple weeks. It seems that everyone has taken to their New Years Resolutions of losing weight and getting in shape. As much as I love seeing people in the gym trying to better themselves, I know that 90% of these people will be quitting within the next month. It is sad that this is true but it is. It's like a group of tourists. They are visiting my home land and just getting in the way and once the season is over they will all be gone. All I know is it is a a tough ass time trying to get ahold of equipment right now.

-One thing I have been noticing around the training world over the past couple of months is exercise execution. This is something that is overlooked and I see a lot of trainers who prescribe exercises but don't know how to teach them correctly, or in some cases do them correctly themselves. A word to trainers out there...Know how to perform the exercises you prescribe and what to look for when these exercises are being done. Give coaching cues. As a trainer, you are not there to just tell people what to do but to teach as well.

-Just remember to always keep learning and improving your craft. Whatever you do, improve your game. Too many people become complacent and quit learning, quit improving, and just stay stagnant. Always improve, ALWAYS.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Do You Need Some Help?

I was waiting on a client to arrive the other day when this lady approached me. I asked her if I could help her and she explained, in a agitated tone, that she had joined the gym 3 days ago and was yet to receive a tour and had no clue what to do while she was there. I asked her what she needed to b shown to her, thinking she wanted to know a few exercises for this or that, and she responded with, "Everything." Thrown off by that comment I explained to her the complimentary intro to personal training and asked if I could schedule her an appointment. She didn't want that and instead explained that she wanted to use one of the machines in the cardio theatre and needed someone to show her how to use it. Trying to be courteous, I asked around but all the trainers were busy so I just directed her to the front of the gym to request a tour. On the inside however, I was rushing with insults and confusion. I just don't understand how people can be so helpless. They all want everyone else to do things for them instead of doing it on their own.

I realize the gym can be an intimidating place, especially to the new member who may not be in the best shape. However, it is not an impossible task to come in, not knowing anything, and figure out how to use the equipment. Most of the cardio machines are as simple as getting on and pushing start. Beyond that, there is a track which all you have to do is walk. We do that everyday, some less than others but regardless. The resistance training machines are similar in that regard. Each piece of equipment has a written and picture description of how and what. And if you want to get real crazy, people could go on the Internet and so some research on working out to figure out some simple workouts and exercises to do while in the gym. WHOA!

Don't get me wrong, I have a job because many people are ignorant to exercise and need that help. I'm a specialist. However, people need to learn to take some responsibility. I have talked about this before and will more than likely talk about it again. It is your life people. Why wait for others to direct you or hold your hand while you go through it. Take control and figure it out on your own. You will be much more successful this way and when that time comes that you have no one to lean on, you will be prepared to go to battle. There is always a way to get something done so figure it out and do it. Research, try things out, experiment. You may not always be right on the first time but you can learn from your mistakes and figure out the best way to do something without relying solely on others to do it for you.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Project 190, The Rest of the Story

I made mention last week of something I called Project 190 so I thought I would let you in on a little more detail. As I discussed, I have been on an upward grind to gain weight over the past 8 years and have made some decent gains. At this point however, I am ready to get myself to that next level. The past few weeks I have lowered my lifting volume, focusing more on mobility, form, and recovery. After these few weeks, my body is recovered and ready to move some big weight again. Start Project 190.

I have created a 12-week program that is similar to a program I completed last January. My strength increases were great so I figured I would use the same principles, making a few adjustments with the things I have learned over the past year. As far as my nutrition goes, I am making some adjustments to make sure that not only I am taking in a lot more calories but eating cleanly and properly. I will be consuming some type of meal every couple hours, my bigger meals being close to 1000 calories. I am also adding a peri-workout protein drink and a pre-bed protein shake. Some other small adjustments I am making include the addition of walnuts to smoothies, sunflower seeds as a part of my afternoon snack, and I will also not put a limit on spending for groceries.

As far as the workout goes, I have created a push/pull split, four days a week. I really like the push pull split because it allows me to work each muscle group twice per week and I am also able to lift maximal weights on each lift because my muscles are not fatigued as they would be towards the end of a body part split workout. Each week also includes both unilateral and bilateral work of each movement. If you are interested in seeing the workout in more detail, shoot me an email.

My pre-measurements are listed below. I am upset with some of these numbers but hey, it is more room to improve and grow.

Weight: 180
Fat %: 12.1 (not sure on the accuracy of this...Omeron was used)
Circumference measurements (in.):
Shoulders: 49
Chest: 39.75
Waist: 32.5
Hips: 39.75
Thigh: 22.5
Calf: 13
Arm: 13.5
Bench Max: 300
Squat Max: 385 (WEAKSAUCE)
Vertical: 30in.
3RM Pull up: +80

My main goals in terms of numbers include increasing my weight to 190, my squat to 420, bench to 315. I would also like to see an increase in my vertical and with the weight gain an increase in circumference measurements. Stay tuned for updates of Project 190 and as my boy Tech N9ne said, "I'm hype cuz the beast is evolving!"