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Thursday, October 31, 2013

Mope or Motivate, Your Choice.

Some days, things are going to occur that are going to make you not want to do anything at all. Something will happen and it’ll put you in a bad mood. There are only two ways that you can handle it. You can either let it get to you, and bring down your whole day, or you can use it to motivate yourself.

I BOMBED my Spanish test today, starting my day off on a bad footing. All I wanted to do was curl into a ball. Instead, I used my time to be relatively productive. Today’s work out, was one of the best I’ve had in a while because everything just clicked. I was angry, and I took it out on the weights.  You need to channel your bad days into a purpose, anger is a great motivator. If you can salvage a bad day, you can do anything.

Today’s Workout-

8,6,5,3,1 Bench Press

3x8 Heavy Weighted Dips

2x Max 135lb burn-outs

3x8 Incline Bench Press

3x8 Tricep Push down


Morale of the Story

 Use the negatives in your life as positive. I don’t believe that everything happens for a reason, but I do believe you can make the best out of what happens.

P.s. a few things I learned today-

1. I'm not actually good at Spanish. 

2. Putting Creamsicle flavored protein powder in eggs isn't a good idea. 


Tuesday, October 29, 2013

What Are 5 Things That You Have Learned Today?

What Have You Learned Today?

You learn something every day. You may think back on your day and say, “Today seemed pretty ordinary, I must not have learned anything.” This is wrong. If you think about it the right way you will realize that you picked up some tidbit of information that you may have not originally thought was new to you. These can be small, but they’re always there.

There is one reason that I think of things this way and I “blame” it on my mom. When I was in middle school, every day that I saw her after school she would ask me, “So, what did you learn today.” 95% of the time I told her that I hadn’t learned a single thing the whole day. This went on for a long time, with me continuing every day saying that I hadn’t learned anything. After a while I started noticing when I learned something new more often. I would write down at least a few things that I had learned during the day. Most times it was random facts; I have always loved knowing as many random facts as possible, but sometimes it would be simple nuances about somebody that I didn’t know before. Being a stubborn middle school kid, I kept it to myself and kept telling her that I didn’t learn anything. Oops. 

I’m not going to pretend that I do this every day, but I do it often enough. I don’t often write them down like I used to. I feel that I’m at the point that if I just think about the things that I learned in a day, it is good enough for me. I think that doing this has opened my eyes to being able to judge people’s character more easily and realize how often you actually learn something new. If you don’t realize that you are learning, it doesn’t stick in your memory as well. Try to look at the world through a different lens and think back to what you did today and pick out 5 things that you learned today.

5 Things That I Learned Today

1. Subway Has Free WiFi-

Image from Subway.com
               Today I was studying hard for my anatomy lab quiz today (muscles that move the elbow and wrist) and I needed a break from my environment and needed food. Instead of wasting time cooking I took a trip to Subway with my notes and computer in tow. Not knowing whether I could use the internet at Subway I was prepared to go to the Library after I ate. Instead as I was walking in I saw a sign saying “Free WiFi” so I got a sub and camped out for a few hours.

I think I did well on the quiz as well.

2. How to Properly Front Squat-

               During my workout today I decided to front squat. This is something that I haven’t done too often throughout my life and I wasn’t exactly sure how to do it. So I used my observation skills and mimicked someone to the best of my ability, but I felt way too much pressure in my wrists. When I got home I looked up how to front squat better so that next time I can do much better.
              
  Taking a few fingers off the bar when you front squat will relieve the pressure on your wrists.

I read a great article on proper form and how to front squat more at T-Nation Front Squat Tips

3. I know Spanish a LOT Better Now Than the Beginning of the Semester-

               We had an in-class essay today and it went incredibly well. The words just flowed onto my paper without too much effort. This is a pretty nice observation because I would really like to keep improving.

4. I Haven’t Reached a Plateau on my Dead-Lift Yet-

               I was worried that I was about to plateau in Deadlift after having a poor showing during last week’s deadlift day. I was sore for a few days and I probably over-did it a little. Taking the weekend off and feeding my body a little more than usual did great for my recovery and today I set my new Personal Best at 195Kg. I want to keep moving up and be around 215Kg in the next month or so.

5. I Haven’t Been Drinking Enough Water-

               I had been doing so well, for the longest period of time in my life, drinking enough water each and every single day. Just today I realized that the last 2 weeks I have been drinking about ¼ of what I had been drinking. I’m going to blame this on becoming content with drinking water as I felt I needed it, and that it’s harder to drink a lot of water when it’s cold outside. So, as of today, I’m drinking a ton of water again. Yay me!

               Think of one thing that you learned or realized today. If you have time please comment yours below. I would love to read all of your newly found knowledge. If you have a lot of time, list as many as you feel necessary. The more comments, the happier I will be. :)

Today’s Workout-

6x6 Slow on the way down Pull-ups
3x6 then 3x2 then 1x1 Deadlift
3x6 Front Squat
3x6 T-Bar Rows
4x8 Inverted Bodyweight Rows

4x6 Cable Rows

Monday, October 28, 2013

10 Things You Can Do to Be More Productive

10 Things You Can Do to Be More Productive-

            Fitness requires a fine balance between all the separate aspects of your life. Every aspect of your life pulls the others in certain directions either towards or away from being fit. Being able to stay productive is one of the characteristics that make being an overall “fit” individual possible. When it takes you four hours to do a simple task that should have taken one, you lose three hours that could have been spent working on other parts of your fitness (*coughcough working out cough*) Having more time available to you, will also create a less stressful life. Having always been near the top of the unproductive group of the world, by necessity, I have come up with ways that I stay productive.

1. Create a list of things that are productive and a list of things that are unproductive-

           Use this list to determine whether the activity that you are currently participating in is productive or not. If the activity is productive, keep on rocking. If it’s unproductive, determine what you should be doing instead.

2. Give yourself some time for being unproductive-

Set a timer to a certain amount of time while you are doing an unproductive task and make sure you stop when the timer is up.

3. Take breaks-

 Nobody can stay focused and productive forever. If you've been really productive, you deserve to take a break. If you have time and you've been productive for a long period of time, you need a longer break, go workout. It will give you a huge boost of energy and really, I have working out on my list of things I NEED to do anyway. Two birds, one stone.

4. Do Push-ups while working-

While I’m doing homework, I often find myself straining to stay on the productive task. If I force myself to do pushups every 15 minutes that elapse with my homework unfinished, regardless of what I spent the time on, I find that I crank out homework quickly and efficiently without wasting as much time.

5. Try using a White Noise generator-

Simplynoise.com
block outside noise and help keep your mind clutter free. On your computer, I suggest http://simplynoise.com/   3 separate types of noise and an oscillation mode to change it up. My favorite is “brown noise” with the oscillator on.

6. Figure out what certain types of music does to your productivity levels.

 I find that during normal homework, such as prob
lem solving and note-regurgitation, I excel listening to soft soothing music that I am familiar with so I disregard any lyrics. During essay writing, I find myself being much more productive listening to high-paced techno. I’m sure everyone is different, figure out what is best for you.

7. Get rid of cable-  

               All having cable does for you is gives you a reason to waste time. If you have a show you watch, there are other ways to watch shows without cable. Having the ability at all times to flip on the TV and surf and waste time watching shows you don’t even like, is a productivity killer.

8. Take tasks in chunks-

               When you have something you need to do. Cut the task into much smaller mini-tasks. If you think of how much you have to do, it really takes away from your ability to start. If you have 8 smaller things to do, it won’t be as hard to start.

9. Drink More Water-

               If you are dehydrated you will have less energy an
d nobody wants to be productive when they’re tired. Remember that if you are feeling thirsty at all, you are already dehydrated.

10. Lose Yourself-

               Make yourself available to only do your work. If it isn’t necessary for your work turn off the internet. Have someone (hopefully not too evil) change your social media passwords for the period of time you need to work. “Lose” your phone in the other room. The world is full of distractions and the less distractions, the better.


Today's Workout


4x4 Bench Press

4x4 Incline DB press

4x10 Weighted Dips

3x8 DB Flyes

3x8 Skull-Crusher 

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

5 Excuses for Skipping Workouts You Can No Longer Use

5 Excuses for Skipping Workouts You Can No Longer Use

5 Excuses for Skipping Workouts You Can No Longer Use


1. “I’m Tired.”


If you are feeling fatigued, working out will wake you up. In a University of Georgia study it was found that people in both moderate-intensity(jogging) and low-intensity(walking) exercise regimens had a 49% and 65% reduction in feelings of fatigue compared to a control group (no exercise). So if you’re feeling a little tired and thinking about skipping your workout today, remember that if you get your blood pumping, even a little bit, you’re going to feel more awake and less fatigued.

This is different than if you are feeling tired from sickness. Low to moderate intensity workouts tend to raise your immune system response, but high-intensity workouts tend to suppress your immune response. Listen to your body and adjust accordingly.

2. “I don’t Have Time.”



If you don’t ever have time for a workout you are simply lying to yourself. Yes, being a college student, I know that there are times where it is incredibly difficult to find a full hour to devote to working out. The thing is you don’t need to spend a full hour working out to get an incredible benefit.

 I introduce HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). The basis of HIIT is to go all out for a period of time and then go at a slower pace for a rest period and then repeat. I won’t go in-depth into it but I will include a very detailed post that I have saved in my StumbleUpon Fitness list (favorite non-exercising hobby). HIIT not only takes less time than most workouts, but it burns more calories during and after your workout. Think of it as working really hard now to burn more calories all day not doing anything. Sounds like a plan to me.

3. “I’m Sore.”


If you’re sore get over it and go workout. Work on something besides what you worked on yesterday. If your muscle is sore, you probably shouldn’t work it harder. You don’t want to get hurt. If you ran yesterday, and your legs hurt, go lift upper body today. We aren’t simply talking about needing a rest day. Everyone deserves a rest day every once in a while. You can get a workout in today if you’re still sore from yesterday. Stop making excuses.

 Remember, there is a difference between a sore muscle and a hurt muscle. If you have had pain in your muscle longer than 3 days, you may have tweaked or strained a muscle. Take a few days off of any work on that muscle. Again always listen to your body. Working out is going to make you sore, but if you do it properly you shouldn’t hurt yourself. Freak injuries happen, listen to your body.

Me playing a Disc Golf tournament

4. “I’m not the working out type.”


There is no reason why you can’t get a workout in a way that doesn’t feel like a workout. If you like to hike, use that as your workout. If you like go fishing, paddle a boat. Find something that you like doing that requires you to move. You don’t have to be moving at an intense pace to receive the health benefits. My personal favorite non-working out workout is Disc Golf. I’ve grown up playing Disc Golf my whole life, I love the game and I never really realize that I’m walking a few miles every round I play. All those miles walking add up. Any activity helps.

5. “I don’t know how.”


This excuse is one that really gets to me at a personal level. The amount of easy to read and free information available these days is ridiculous. If you google any lift, any workout, or any exercise related problem, you are going to find an abundance of information. There are better sources than others, but if you click on any random link in those searches, you are going to be ahead of where you started.

Simple Exercise Information Resources

1. Google random workout related searches.

2. Use StumbleUpon.com and search “fitness” or “workout plans” and sit back and get workout ideas thrown at you.

3. Ask staff or someone at a gym.
               A lot of times you can get helpful hints from just asking. The staff is there to answer questions. I’m not telling you to always ask questions of people working out, but most people can give you tidbits of quick information as they go.

4. Get a personal trainer.
               This can be expensive but worth it. If you truly don’t know where to start, a personal trainer can be a valuable investment.

You are no longer allowed to use any of these excuses. Next time you try, remember this article, and hold yourself accountable. The next time you try to make an excuse to why you can’t workout today, ask yourself if it’s a valid reason that you shouldn’t or just a frivolous excuse. 

Monday, October 21, 2013

Treat Your Workouts Like a Competition


             

My Main Motivation- Treating My  Workout Like a Competition

            All my life I have been a highly competitive person. I wanted to win everything that I ever participated in, and I always wanted to be the best that I could be. As I grew up I made games out of everyday tasks and challenged myself to do it better or faster. I took pride in being part of a team because it gave me something to try to become the best at. I participated in four varsity sports in High School. All these sports were opportunities to widen my range of competition and it is in these sports that I created my foundation of my fitness. To be good at sports, you have to be in good shape. Throughout High School, getting in shape for a sport was what I used as my prime motivator to workout. After High School, I didn't have that same reason to workout and it killed my motivation.
                          
          I finally replaced that lost prime motivation when I started treating my workouts like a competition. I channeled my competitive personality into making a game out of working out, realizing that I didn't need to be competing against anybody to make use of my competitive nature. This game wasn't me comparing myself to anybody else. This game was trying to set my own high-scores. Think of it as single player mode on your favorite video game. Every time I am in a weight room, I am trying to make myself better so that I can lift more the next time I lift. I want to be better next week, than I am this week. I am never really satisfied with being static. The need to move forward is a constant, powerful, motivation in my life.

You never stay the same. You either get better or you get worse. –Jon Gruden

        What You Should Do-      

         The next time you are having troubles motivating yourself to workout, try treating it like a game. Try to be better than yourself. One thing I love to say is that everybody starts somewhere.

Things to Understand:

  1.  It is okay if you can only lift the bar.
  2.  It’s okay to be lifting next to someone who can lift more than you. 
  3. There is no problem if you are on a treadmill next to someone in better shape than you. 
  4. Nobody cares if you are in worse shape than them. 

I personally am motivated by seeing someone in terrible shape trying make themselves healthier. I'm not motivated by seeing ripped people in the gym. I know that it takes so much more effort to change than to keep doing what you already do.

In most board games, you each take turns to start. In fitness, people just start the game at different times.

If you can only lift the bar this week, maybe next week you can slap some 2.5lb weights on the ends of that bar and lift it. The key is to stay moving forward. 

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Lift Hard, Rest Hard, and then Rest

Lift Hard Even On Your Light Days


Some days you need to de-load a little and lift less than normal days to help your body repair a little. Today was only half like that. I brought my total number of lifts down, but lifted hard. With only having three lifts on my list today, I did something I don't normally do and had Deadlifting and Power Cleaning on the same day. It was hard and I guarantee I couldn't do as much weight on Power Clean as normal but I accepted that and went to town on it as best as I could.

        It's never too late to become what you might have been. -George Eliot

Muscle Building
180 Kg Dead Lift
Today's Workout-

3x4 then 4x2 Deadlift  Increasing Weight Each Set 

3x4 Power Clean

4x6 Pendlay Rows

1 set Max Reps of Bench 135 lbs-  33 reps
            Just to see how many I could do and get the blood pumping a little. 


Tomorrow is a much needed rest day. Rest days are just as important to building muscle as the workouts themselves. Your body cannot build your muscle if you damage it before it has had time to repair. Take a day off every once in awhile, it is also important on keeping yourself from burning out. One day of rest is more than worth keeping you on a schedule. If you've been working hard, enjoy your days off.

Friday, October 18, 2013

To Squat or Not to Squat

To squat or not squat.

There really is no question, Squatting should be in your exercise regimen. The squat goes along with a few other exercises that you can not forget to have in your workout list. 

Lifts Not to Forget- 


-Squats
-Deadlifts
-Pull-ups
-Power Cleans
-Bench Press


This list is not in any sort of order of importance. These lifts all recruit multiple muscle groups which leads to more work in multiple areas for one workout. Maximizing your time in the weight room is very important. Everybody wants the "Get Ripped Quick" workout but there is no get ripped quick secret, but there are get ripped faster secrets. Utilizing compound lifts is a main component of being able to slim down quick. I seldom have a workout that doesn't have one of these five lifts in it and I try to have them relatively early in my workouts so that I can put my full effort into them. Nobody cares how much you can curl, but people ask how much you can squat/bench/power clean. These are the lifts that I compete with myself to be able to see an improvement with my own personal bests. Finding your own personal motivation is important and that is mine. Beating myself. Try to do something that you couldn't do the week before. I used to squat 445 lbs. After two knee surgeries, I am ecstatic to be able to get 5x275lbs. There was a long point where I couldn't squat without any weight. That is a humbling experience. I now simply try to improve, the body I want will follow.


Today's Workout-

Squats 4x6

Single Dumbbell Clean and Press 3x6

Calf Raises- 3x10

Barbell Shrugs- 4x10

Leg Press- 
           2x10 single leg 
           3x10 double leg


I wanted to put in Power Clean in today as well but decided against it because I am deadlifting tomorrow and there were no platforms available and I wasn't about to sit and wait for one. 

Have a great Friday everyone. Do work. Much Love. Follow me @fitness4student and don't forget to stay awesome. 

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

5 Reasons You Cannot Afford to Forget to Lift Heavy Weights

There is a stigma surrounding lifting heavy weights. Some people don't want to get bulky. This is a common thought process especially by  females. This idea that lifting heavy weights will make you look like Arnold is unfounded and pretty far from the truth. You don't get huge overnight; you don't magically wake up and find that you can't reach your opposite shoulder because your biceps get in the way. Bodybuilders work for years and years to achieve the body that you see. 

There are many benefits that lifting heavier weights will provide you. I will go through 5 of the main ones here. 

1. Increase Calories Burned-

Lifting heavier weights will increase your caloric output dramatically. It will do this two different ways.
        a. Calories burned after heavier workouts through-out the day are raised. 
        b. Lifting heavier weights will help you build muscle faster. More muscle on your body leads to more basal calories (calories burned to maintain normal health) burned throughout the day. 

2. You Build Muscle Faster-

I understand that this was said just a few lines above, but it is important enough to restate with greater detail. If you do want to get huge like a bodybuilder, this isn't quite the article for you, but you have to more than simply lift heavier. It is a big part, but as all physiques, it requires a heavy dose of kitchen therapy.

Building muscle will make you look more toned. Every pound of muscle you put on is like losing fat. More muscle will make you look thinner. Lifting heavy weights, will get you thinner, and get you there faster. 

3. Lifting Heavy Will Reduce Injuries-

Yes you must lift heavy with good form and proper safety precautions. This is a must, but building more muscle will help stabilize your major injury sources, your joints. I know that building strength around a joint is huge. After both of my ACL reconstructions main goal along the way was to increase the strength in all the muscles that surround the joint. When a muscle is weak you have less control of it and cannot rely on it for stabilization. By working harder in the gym, you can reduce the chance of a freak injury. 

4. Increase Bone Density-

Lifting heavy weight puts more stress on your bones, this recruits more osteoblastic (bone building) activity and will increase your bone density. Your body is an amazing adaption machine, when you stress your body; it adapts to be able to take on this increased stress, causing improvements. 

You should already be having enough calcium in your diet, your maximum Calcium levels in your bones peaks at around 25 so try to have enough calcium to get that starting point high to have higher bone density as you age and get closer to osteoporosis.  

5. Lifting Heavy Weights Makes You Feel Good-

There isn't much that gives you a better feeling than doing something that you were unable to do a short time before. Building the muscle to be able to lift a heavier weight than you could before causes me to have a great sense of accomplishment. I reached a new personal best on Dead Lift yesterday. The whole room seemed brighter afterwards. I am going to write an article about this soon, but one of my main motivations to lift is my competitive nature. I am not able to compete in organized sports like I was in High School. I needed to have a new fitness mindset, so I created my new philosophy of trying to beat myself. There isn't anything wrong with trying to be the best you can be at something.


A few disclaimers: Always lift what you are comfortable with. This is not an excuse to go try and load up more than you are ready for. No, you shouldn't only lift Heavy. You should incorporate lifting heavy into a routine that gives you a high enough degree of variation. Muscle confusion is important this is the reason you need to load up the weight sometimes. Keep your muscles guessing. 


Finally, have a great day. You deserve to feel good about yourself. Make today the day you give yourself a pat on the back. 


Monday, October 14, 2013

Some days you realize it just isn't your day


Some days you realize that it just isn't your day. What matters is what you do to push through it. Some workouts will be, being blunt, terrible. What makes or breaks your workout is how you adapt. You should have an idea or a set plan of how you are going to spend the time during your workout. If you notice something about your plan isn't quite feeling right, change it on the fly.  Sometimes its just lowering your weight on a set and other times it is completely rearranging which lifts you will perform. People lift to make their body adapt. You can't let your mind be stagnant, adapt your thinking along the way.

Today I had a terrible workout today. I was groggy, tired, and not being at all productive beforehand and I tried to get that out of my head before I started. I just couldn't shake it. I couldn't do as many reps at weights that I've done many times. It just wasn't my day. I lowered my weights and kept going. I finished that and reassessed my whole workout plan. I changed it on the fly. I cut out four lifts and added in two others. I feel as though I maximized what I got out of my workout today for what my body was telling me I was able to put into it. Being "in tune" with what your body is telling you is one way to dramatically reduce injury and increase productivity.

Today's Workout-

Barbell Bench Press-
8x225
6x235
4x245<---failed.. blahh
6x225
4x225

Barbell Incline Press
2x4
2x6

Dumbbell Bench Press
3x6

Dips
15 Fast
3x10 Painfully slow

I leave you with a quote. Don't forget to follow me on twitter @fitness4life and please subscribe and comment.

We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.
-Author Unknown


Saturday, October 12, 2013

Start of The School Year- Deadlifting is Great for the Whole Body

Start of the School Year-

It has been a hectic start to the current school year. Scrambling to get things done, (find a job, apply for my degree program, pay bills, get back into the swing of things school-wise). It has been a great first month of school and my activity level is through the roof even though I am entirely too busy for my liking. 

I have been thinking of where this blog can move forward from this point. I don't want to just write about things simply to write. I'm not trying to simply drive as much traffic in the hopes of raising my compensation. I am trying to create a lifelong path for myself as well as entertain my audience and reach the as many people to help as I can. This has brought me to a few ideas that I hope to start implementing as soon as I can. 

One of these changes I would like to make is recruiting people to write articles and share their own workouts. I feel as though only having my single perspective of fitness misses out on a wide variety of opinions and niches of the fitness world that is impossible for one person to cover. I feel as though having (a) partner(s) would help dramatically. If you have any ambition to either write an article or two, or write articles a few times a week, I plead that you contact me. 

Lately, I have turned to doing Deadlift and Back days twice a week. This has lead me to feel as though I have a bigger back as well as a stronger lower back and core. I was reading an article on bodybuilding.com that was talking about Deadlifting and how good it was for stimulating your whole body. In the middle of reading the article, I stopped and thought to myself, "Why have I not been deadlifting?" I couldn't give myself a logical reason. Sure, I thought about how I have a bad knee. That's just an excuse. It wasn't a reason I couldn't be doing one of the best lifts for my body. I finished the article, looked in the mirror and realized that my lower back was pitiful and needed to catch up to the rest of my back. The next day I did a workout similar to the one I did today. You can find this article here at http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/randy51.htm Just a nice article that is an easy to read personal informative narrative. 

If you want to get your whole body working and get that great feeling of just picking up heavy weights off the floor while getting an incredible workout. Try this.

My deadlift/ Back Workout looks like this-

50 Pull-ups any grip/ any form  for time 

3x4 Warm up Deadlifts

3x4 Work Load- Increasing 10kg each set

3x2 Work Load- Still Increasing 10kg each Set.

3x6 Pendlay Rows*

3x6 Single Arm Cable Rows

3x5 Lat Pull Down

3x6 T-Bar Row


*Pendlay Rows are like bent over barbell rows but In between each rep make sure you let the weight rest on the ground. Pull up the weight to your chest with an explosion. Remember to keep your back in an athletic position.