I thought I would share this with readers because I really resonate with what is written here. Goals are great if you actually have a plan to obtain them. You can still have great discipline to be in the gym when you need to be or be there consistently but if you have no plan for how to get there your efforts will not be as effective as they could be. You need a PLAN for how to get there. And, it needs to be reasonable. For example, if you are student athlete and you are working 40hrs per week during the summer you better figure out when and how the workouts will be scheduled and exactly what you will be doing related to your goals.
Hard work is great but without having laser like focus with a plan you might find yourself disappointed when it comes to reaching your goals.
Goals are an End, Not the Journey
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
The Body is a Whole
The body is connected. It is not a sum of body parts slapped together. It is a total system. So, why pray tell would you "split" the body up when performing strength training. For an athlete, splitting a strength training program by body parts makes even less sense. Does an athlete use only certain body parts in competition? Hardly. There are many athletes and trainees who are always riding the overtraining train. In my opinion, injuries are a direct consequence of overtraining. The problem with separating by body parts is that this type of training taps into the most important system that governs performance -- the central nervous system. Training the body as a whole allows the WHOLE system to recover. Not some piece meal "recovery" which is absolute bro science (BS). Now, I am not saying you cannot make gains treating the body as a bunch of separate parts. I just do not think it is efficient nor optimum.
Athletes need to spend the majority of their training on skill development not spending every day in the weight room doing certain lifts/body parts. Most trainees do not have time to spend 4-5 days in the gym for hours at a time due to having busy lives with job and family responsibilities. Well, the good news is that you CAN make gains with far less training. I have trained athletes who have made great gains performing two full body workouts a week. One of them is less intense than the other that also aids in recovery.
These full body workouts should cover all the muscle groups. One exercise for chest/shoulders, one exercise for the back, and one exercise for the legs. Throw in some ab work and you have it pretty well covered. Simple and basic. Obviously you can use more than one exercise, but in reality you could pick just one and HIT it for 1-2 sets and make sure you use proper progression. An example would be bench press, chins, and squat/leg press.
I have been able to correlate some common data with respect to nervous system burnout over my years of training myself and others Performing sets of 3 or less for a length of time greater than 3-4 weeks and most will go stale. This would be a true set of 3 or less. It would not be using a sub-max weight nor would it be multiple sets adding up to 1 or 2 higher rep sets (e.g., 10 sets of 2). This "peak" such as that used by powerlifters cannot be held by a natural athlete/lifter without going backward or the nervous system rebelling and the perceived result being "getting weaker". The lifter will feel her "snap" so to speak leave them. Or, they will get injured or leave themselves open to injury. Then, when returning to normal rep ranges what typically happens is EXTREME muscle soreness even with a moderate rep count increase. I experienced it and those I have trained experience it so a "ramp up" in rep range is needed.
The human body is not a sum of separate parts. It is a total system. Treat it like one in all respects.
Athletes need to spend the majority of their training on skill development not spending every day in the weight room doing certain lifts/body parts. Most trainees do not have time to spend 4-5 days in the gym for hours at a time due to having busy lives with job and family responsibilities. Well, the good news is that you CAN make gains with far less training. I have trained athletes who have made great gains performing two full body workouts a week. One of them is less intense than the other that also aids in recovery.
These full body workouts should cover all the muscle groups. One exercise for chest/shoulders, one exercise for the back, and one exercise for the legs. Throw in some ab work and you have it pretty well covered. Simple and basic. Obviously you can use more than one exercise, but in reality you could pick just one and HIT it for 1-2 sets and make sure you use proper progression. An example would be bench press, chins, and squat/leg press.
I have been able to correlate some common data with respect to nervous system burnout over my years of training myself and others Performing sets of 3 or less for a length of time greater than 3-4 weeks and most will go stale. This would be a true set of 3 or less. It would not be using a sub-max weight nor would it be multiple sets adding up to 1 or 2 higher rep sets (e.g., 10 sets of 2). This "peak" such as that used by powerlifters cannot be held by a natural athlete/lifter without going backward or the nervous system rebelling and the perceived result being "getting weaker". The lifter will feel her "snap" so to speak leave them. Or, they will get injured or leave themselves open to injury. Then, when returning to normal rep ranges what typically happens is EXTREME muscle soreness even with a moderate rep count increase. I experienced it and those I have trained experience it so a "ramp up" in rep range is needed.
The human body is not a sum of separate parts. It is a total system. Treat it like one in all respects.
Monday, April 18, 2011
A Comparison of My Diet of Today to Nearly a Decade Ago
The following piece below I wrote back in 2002. It's now 9 years later. Time sure flies by, but my diet hasn't changed all that much. However, my total calorie count has. I just cannot eat as much. And, frankly, don't seem to need to. Here is today's sample diet in a day:
Breakfast:
4 egg white omelet with no fat cheese.
Oatmeal or Uncle Same Cereral
1 tablespoon of Carlson's cod liver oil
Mid-Morning
Maybe 2 hard boiled eggs
Lunch
Blackened Salmon and one cup of rice and mixed veggies.
Afternoon
Maybe a protein drink or a small serving of various nuts.
Dinner:
Turkey or chicken and one cup of rice and mixed veggies.
Nothing at night.
As you can see, lower calories overall. I have my major cheat day on Friday's and also cheat at dinner on Saturday night if we go out.
It's really interesting to look back in time and see just how little or how much things change!
In my last entry, I told you I would share with you what I exactly eat during a typical day. First, don’t bother getting out your calculators because I have no idea how many calories it is. If I did count the calories, I would probably be shocked and go gorge myself with cheesecake. Wait, no I wouldn’t. Anyway, I think that’s part of the problem with some people in losing fat. They get some number in their mind for what they feel their calories should or should not be. This number may also be arrived at after counting for a few days and then be called gospel for “maintaining weight” and it just needs to be reduced to lose fat. First, that’s too much work. Second, I don’t think it will be that accurate. I won’t go into why I think this is the case. Let’s just chalk it up to too many variables. I believe most people just plain eat too much. Regardless of whether it is junk or good food. “Hey, I only eat fruit. No junk food. I eat more than George the Zoo Gorilla, but it’s ‘no fat’ so I shouldn’t gain weight.” Really? I don’t think so. Why do we eat in the first place? The real reason is to provide fuel for the body to function. Somewhere along the many centuries this got twisted where the majority of people seem to “eating for pleasure”. No wonder we are a bunch of porky pigs running around. You laugh, but just go sit on a bench at the mall or go to the local beach and you tell me what percentage of people are fat and out of shape. Most people fall into that category.
There was some discussion on EFA’s after my last post on getting ripped. I get my EFA’s mainly from EFA oils. The two I use are Cod Liver Oil and Flax Oil. Cod Liver Oil has a bad rap for being yucky. It’s not. I don’t like fish and a tablespoon of Cod Liver Oil is less fishy than a bite of most fish you might eat. The Flax tastes and smells “wheaty” and that’s the best way I can describe it. It’s no biggy either. I’ve slammed powdered Aminos back in the old days and that was like gagging a maggot (holding my nose), and taking EFA’s doesn’t even compare to that nastiness. So, don’t let the taste or smell put you off. It is much more convenient for me to get them this way. My guess it would be for you as well.
So, let me cut to the chase. Actually,, I have to thank the Dole Company. Why? Their products have allowed me to eat fresh veggies. To have a salad used to be a pain in my arse. In fact, too much of a pain. Who has time to sit there and cut and chop? Some may say it doesn’t take much time, but with cleanup involved too I have to disagree. Thank you Dole! Here’s a typical day’s diet for me:
Breakfast:
6 egg whites, one yolk (scrambled)
Bowl of Oatmeal
Water
Mid Morning
6 egg whites, one yolk (scrambled)
Apple or other piece of fruit
Lunch
Half Pound of a lean meat. During the summer BBQ’d. Chicken, Ground Turkey Breast, Lean Red Meat
Salad (I use the Dole Products Here) with homemade Olive Oil and Vinegar dressing. Carrots, broccoli, etc are included in these veggies.
Water
Mid Afternoon
Liquid Feed ( half banana, 3 scoops Whey, tbls Flax oil, water)
Dinner
Same as lunch
Late Evening
Serving of lean meat or more scrambled egg whites
Bowl of Oatmeal or small bowl of Uncle Sam Cereal
All during the day I am drink ice water. On training days I add in more carbs through a piece of fruit or more oatmeal. On Friday nights, I have pizza. On the weekend would be where we might go out to dinner on occasion. I eat whatever I would enjoy. Note that the oatmeal serving is limited by the amount that’s in the packet. I eat the plain stuff so there is no added sugar. The reason I don’t get the big oats container is that it is convenient that the serving is already measured out and it keeps it consistent.
Remember, this is the eating lifestyle that is working for me personally.
Breakfast:
4 egg white omelet with no fat cheese.
Oatmeal or Uncle Same Cereral
1 tablespoon of Carlson's cod liver oil
Mid-Morning
Maybe 2 hard boiled eggs
Lunch
Blackened Salmon and one cup of rice and mixed veggies.
Afternoon
Maybe a protein drink or a small serving of various nuts.
Dinner:
Turkey or chicken and one cup of rice and mixed veggies.
Nothing at night.
As you can see, lower calories overall. I have my major cheat day on Friday's and also cheat at dinner on Saturday night if we go out.
It's really interesting to look back in time and see just how little or how much things change!
In my last entry, I told you I would share with you what I exactly eat during a typical day. First, don’t bother getting out your calculators because I have no idea how many calories it is. If I did count the calories, I would probably be shocked and go gorge myself with cheesecake. Wait, no I wouldn’t. Anyway, I think that’s part of the problem with some people in losing fat. They get some number in their mind for what they feel their calories should or should not be. This number may also be arrived at after counting for a few days and then be called gospel for “maintaining weight” and it just needs to be reduced to lose fat. First, that’s too much work. Second, I don’t think it will be that accurate. I won’t go into why I think this is the case. Let’s just chalk it up to too many variables. I believe most people just plain eat too much. Regardless of whether it is junk or good food. “Hey, I only eat fruit. No junk food. I eat more than George the Zoo Gorilla, but it’s ‘no fat’ so I shouldn’t gain weight.” Really? I don’t think so. Why do we eat in the first place? The real reason is to provide fuel for the body to function. Somewhere along the many centuries this got twisted where the majority of people seem to “eating for pleasure”. No wonder we are a bunch of porky pigs running around. You laugh, but just go sit on a bench at the mall or go to the local beach and you tell me what percentage of people are fat and out of shape. Most people fall into that category.
There was some discussion on EFA’s after my last post on getting ripped. I get my EFA’s mainly from EFA oils. The two I use are Cod Liver Oil and Flax Oil. Cod Liver Oil has a bad rap for being yucky. It’s not. I don’t like fish and a tablespoon of Cod Liver Oil is less fishy than a bite of most fish you might eat. The Flax tastes and smells “wheaty” and that’s the best way I can describe it. It’s no biggy either. I’ve slammed powdered Aminos back in the old days and that was like gagging a maggot (holding my nose), and taking EFA’s doesn’t even compare to that nastiness. So, don’t let the taste or smell put you off. It is much more convenient for me to get them this way. My guess it would be for you as well.
So, let me cut to the chase. Actually,, I have to thank the Dole Company. Why? Their products have allowed me to eat fresh veggies. To have a salad used to be a pain in my arse. In fact, too much of a pain. Who has time to sit there and cut and chop? Some may say it doesn’t take much time, but with cleanup involved too I have to disagree. Thank you Dole! Here’s a typical day’s diet for me:
Breakfast:
6 egg whites, one yolk (scrambled)
Bowl of Oatmeal
Water
Mid Morning
6 egg whites, one yolk (scrambled)
Apple or other piece of fruit
Lunch
Half Pound of a lean meat. During the summer BBQ’d. Chicken, Ground Turkey Breast, Lean Red Meat
Salad (I use the Dole Products Here) with homemade Olive Oil and Vinegar dressing. Carrots, broccoli, etc are included in these veggies.
Water
Mid Afternoon
Liquid Feed ( half banana, 3 scoops Whey, tbls Flax oil, water)
Dinner
Same as lunch
Late Evening
Serving of lean meat or more scrambled egg whites
Bowl of Oatmeal or small bowl of Uncle Sam Cereal
All during the day I am drink ice water. On training days I add in more carbs through a piece of fruit or more oatmeal. On Friday nights, I have pizza. On the weekend would be where we might go out to dinner on occasion. I eat whatever I would enjoy. Note that the oatmeal serving is limited by the amount that’s in the packet. I eat the plain stuff so there is no added sugar. The reason I don’t get the big oats container is that it is convenient that the serving is already measured out and it keeps it consistent.
Remember, this is the eating lifestyle that is working for me personally.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
More on Sled Pushing
This week I performed another comparison test with jogging to sled pushing. Again, sled pushing came out on top due to less time involved and of course the big one for me which is less stress on the joints. Running can pound your joints. Today I did 4 trips up and back. This time I pulled out my video camera so you could see that I am literally walking behind the sled. Even though I can easily run a mile right now and not breath anywhere near this hard. Yes, run too. I upped the pace two days ago after some sled pushing to see if my body adapted such that the running would be easier. It was. Once the weather gets consistently better, I'll be able to drop the running completely in favor of pushing the sled.
Here's the video from tonight of my sled pushing:
Here's the video from tonight of my sled pushing:
Friday, March 18, 2011
Running versus The Root Hog - No Contest! - Part II
Fred Fornicola and I had a good dialogue by e-mail regarding my first post. I think I need to make a few more points to clarify things a bit.
First off,= my goal is never to feel totally gassed after cardio. In fact, I hate the feeling. Fred mentioned the following:
"It would be interesting (and a good experiment) for you to only do the root hog for a couple month's and zero running then go back to running and see if you can bang out the same mileage and pace your first time out."
I've actually done this experiment before and found that running becomes very easy after doing the Root Hog. I keep my pace on the root hog quick and with little rest between trips. Overall, as Fred also pointed out, it hits the overall body differently than just running. What I have found though is that after running, and then going back to the root hog, it feels I have not done much cardio wise during the period of time I did the running (in this case, the winter months). Now, this again does not say you need to blast yourself doing cardio to get the benefit of cardio. That's never my goal doing the root hog either. I like the low impact nature of the root hog compared to running. So, for me, running is not very good in comparison. My right knee was injured my junior year of high school and it always "talks to me" when I go back to running after awhile. So, running is just fine and dandy. It's just not my favorite due to the impact it has versus the root hog. And, I can get more done pushing a sled in a shorter time period too. The bottom line again is due cardio and enjoy what you do!
I mentioned in another post about the body just loves to "stay the same". What if I told you that you could work your upper body 4-5 times a week (yeah, I know who has time!?) but with a couple caveat? And, that you just might find you can use the body's alarm response to jolt some new gains or it might be used coming back from a layoff. Yes, it is tricky. And, yes it takes more time. Think about how new people to lifting make fast gains. Think about it and I'll explain more in my next post.
First off,= my goal is never to feel totally gassed after cardio. In fact, I hate the feeling. Fred mentioned the following:
"It would be interesting (and a good experiment) for you to only do the root hog for a couple month's and zero running then go back to running and see if you can bang out the same mileage and pace your first time out."
I've actually done this experiment before and found that running becomes very easy after doing the Root Hog. I keep my pace on the root hog quick and with little rest between trips. Overall, as Fred also pointed out, it hits the overall body differently than just running. What I have found though is that after running, and then going back to the root hog, it feels I have not done much cardio wise during the period of time I did the running (in this case, the winter months). Now, this again does not say you need to blast yourself doing cardio to get the benefit of cardio. That's never my goal doing the root hog either. I like the low impact nature of the root hog compared to running. So, for me, running is not very good in comparison. My right knee was injured my junior year of high school and it always "talks to me" when I go back to running after awhile. So, running is just fine and dandy. It's just not my favorite due to the impact it has versus the root hog. And, I can get more done pushing a sled in a shorter time period too. The bottom line again is due cardio and enjoy what you do!
I mentioned in another post about the body just loves to "stay the same". What if I told you that you could work your upper body 4-5 times a week (yeah, I know who has time!?) but with a couple caveat? And, that you just might find you can use the body's alarm response to jolt some new gains or it might be used coming back from a layoff. Yes, it is tricky. And, yes it takes more time. Think about how new people to lifting make fast gains. Think about it and I'll explain more in my next post.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Running versus The Root Hog - No Contest!
As I mentioned in another post, during the winter I am forced to jog/run for my cardio. Especially now since I purchased a new Sorinex Root Hog last summer. I did not want to wreck it in the winter weather. Plus, the ice and snow make sled pulling/pushing an adventure. My right knew of course finally started to rebel due to the running. I've had this knee soreness off and on. It stems from an injury my junior year of high school when I had a scope done on it. Too many scopes were performed back in the 80's based on what I read. Anyway, the weather finally broke this week and I pulled the Root Hog out from under the sheet. Of course since it is early spring all the sand and salt on our street is still there from the winters. That increases the friction considerably making the Root Hog much harder. I used one plate (25lbs) and on the first trip down I could tell it was going to be an adventure. The bottom was sticking like glue of course due to the sand and salt. I made the trip back and I could already feel my lungs start on fire. My legs were indicating "Not good Bill!". The next trip up and back and I was smoked and breathing like a chimney. I had increased the pace quite a bit. I had to remove the plate to make the last up and back. I was blown out. Only 3 trips up and back. I was gassed. Now, the Root Hog has LESS impact than running because I am basically fast walking. Keep in mind I could run a mile at a pretty fast clip and yet it was like I had done NO cardio for months. Needless to say, running yet again sucks for cardio. Let's see if my knee starts to feel better in the next month as well. Man, I hate feeling gassed!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Alarm Response - Manipulating it for Quick and Significant Gain
The body likes to stay in equilibrium. There is no doubt about it. The body will adapt only when forced to adapt. The body reacts to stimulus which is why we get stronger and bigger muscles when we use resistance training. Yeah, Bill, no a brainer. Duh! Well, I have been experimenting with "alarming" the body to adapt quickly and make quick gains using the body's alarm response. In fact, my KTA grip program hinges on this very concept of manipulating the body's alarm response. It is very tricky and you tend to have to ignore the more normal signs related to physical training response (soreness, etc). My theory is that most people can stand what would be the equivalent of training like a steroid user for a very short period or cycle of time. And, then wait for the body to react. I've experimented both with some cardio and lifting (besides grip programs where I have proven it works and works very well for a lot of people: The KTA Program). The muscles for grip are a bit more tolerant to what would be considered radical training for a short period of time.
I'll talk about my first observations with respect to cardio and one of my experiments with myself as the guinea pig in my next post.
I'll talk about my first observations with respect to cardio and one of my experiments with myself as the guinea pig in my next post.
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