Motivation

There was a competition put on by Animal Pak and bodybuilding.com that I applied for. Only 5 people got in and you got a bunch of free gear if you got in. Well I applied for it, I thought I was inbecause the admin of it commented on my post, but I ended up not being chosen. I was really wanting this because I thought that it would push me and keep me motivated. But then I realized something. I have been relying on other peoples validation to keep me motivated. What I mean by validation is I wanted to be the "expert" and the "tough guy" on these forums and competitions. Then I had an epiphany. I am not relying on myself to keep me motivated! That's the DUMBEST thing that I could have ever do!! What happens when someone doesn't validate my picture or my story! All of the sudden, I am not pushing myself. So I am done with my bodybuilding.com account. I'm not going to post any pictures there or any stats. I can keep them myself. From now on, the only motivation I need is from me.

New Split Routine

I've hit a point in my working out that I need to start getting more specific on what I do every day. I have a limited amount of time so I need to get pretty zoned in on what is best for me. This is going to be my new split routine:

Monday: 
Legs - Focusing on quads and calves. Squat day. Ass to ground squats so I don't go as heavy as most.
Shoulders - 12 to 15 rep range. Last few reps will be negatives or hellcentric (eccentric) as my friends at Animal call it

Tuesday:
Chest - Heavy day. 6 to 8 rep range.
Biceps - Heavy day. 6 to 8 rep range. Barbell focus.


Wednesday:
Back - Heavy day. 6 to 8 rep range. 
Triceps - Heavy day. 6 to 8 rep range.

Thursday:

Legs - Focusing on hamstrings.
Shoulders - Heavy day. 8 to 10 rep range. Last few reps will be negatives or hellcentric (eccentric) as my friends at Animal call it

Friday:

Chest - Lighter day. 12 to 15 rep range. 3-2-3 tempo. 3 counts up, 2 second hold and squeeze, 3 counts down. Last few reps will be negatives or hellcentric (eccentric).
Biceps - Lighter day. 12 to 15 rep range. 3-2-3 tempo. 3 counts up, 2 second hold and squeeze, 3 counts down. Last few reps will be negatives or hellcentric (eccentric).


Saturday:

Back - Lighter day. 12 to 15 rep range. 3-2-3 tempo. 3 counts up, 2 second hold and squeeze, 3 counts down. Last few reps will be negatives or hellcentric (eccentric).
Triceps - Lighter day. 12 to 15 rep range. 3-2-3 tempo. 3 counts up, 2 second hold and squeeze, 3 counts down. Last few reps will be negatives or hellcentric (eccentric).

I am a smaller guy so I need to keep the strength up but I'm also wanting to have muscle endurance because I like being the machine that can do what ever the hell someone says I *can't* do.

What If You're Tired at the Gym?

I must say, yesterday morning I was tired at the gym. It was a "bad day" at the gym. So what do you do then? I figured out what works for me. 

 It may sound crazy, but go as heavy as you can on those days. Two reasons for that:

#1) You don't have to get all out of breath and tired. When you are tired, the last thing you want to do is superset chest flys with elevated push ups. What I did yesterday was I started on incline bench (I always do DB because it's better on my shoulders) and I started with 55lb. I did 12 reps and then rested. Then I did 10 reps of 65lb. Then I did 8 reps of 80lb. At this point I was starting to feel a little pump and get a little more awake. So I did another set of 8 @ 80lb. That's when I said screw it and went and grabbed the 100's and went to flat bench. I got up 100's 5 times on flat, no spotter (I workout alone). 

So I started all tired, and ended up putting up 100's by the 5th set. At that point I was all sorts of stoked that I just did 100's so I had an awesome workout after that. Which brings me to:

#2) Going heavy makes you stoked. I don't know about you, but for me I get all pumped and want to destroy something when I break a personal record. When I'm tired I start light, and then push it harder and harder until I hit my record. Once you get that heavy weight up, your workout seems to turn out way better. I love it. 

So that's how I get over my tired days. I extend my rest time and go heavy.

The best 2 songs to get you ready for a heavy set:

Enter Sandman - Metallica
Welcome Home - Coheed and Cambria

The Grind

5:20am: 

Today I hopped right out of bed. I was juiced. Ready to go. It's chest and shoulders for me today. I'm ready to go. 

6:00am:

4 sets of incline DB press (@75 pounds) 

4 sets of incline flys.

4 sets of flat DB press (@ 80 pounds)

4 sets of flat DB fly

4 sets shoulder press

5 sets of side lat raises superset with rear delt flys

4 sets of upright rows

Decline sit-ups until I died.

I feel like I ate a ton today. I am so full as I am writing this I feel sick. But when I did myfitnesspal.com I only ate 2500 calories. I did get in 210g of protein. I need 3000 cal and around 250-300g protein. I just can't stuff myself with that much food. I'm going to have to make sure every meal counts.

Idiots in the Gym

Arnold - Ass to heel

I've got to vent about something. There are too many freaking idiots at the gym.

It was legs day. I set up on my squat rack. I put down a set of 8 at 155lbs. It felt pretty good but I wasn't getting my form all there, so I took it down to 135. Up walks this kid to the squat rack next to me. He's no bigger than me and he looks a lot younger than me. He puts on 4 plates on each side. That's 405 lbs. He gets under it, makes a couple grunt noises and then lets out a huge "AHHHHRRHHHH" and steps back. He then squatted about 4 inches down and then back up. His form was so terrible that a guy ran up and supported his back and made him put his chest up. He puts it back on the rack and me and this big guy just looked at each other and shook our heads. Then I do my set. When I do squats I do ass to heels squats. I couldn't finish it with 135 so I took it down to 105 and did another set of 12, ass to heel squats. The kid next to me comes back with a belt he got from the front, and proceeded to put another plate on each side. That's 495 pounds. If he were to do proper form, he would be one of the strongest people in Utah right now. He gets under it, lets out a scream again, and does 4 piss-poor excuses for a squat, and then basically falls forward to get the weight back on the rack.

A few things that kills me about this. Number one, the gym is not a show. Who the hell cares if you can squat 500 pounds! You look like a moron if you're not doing full reps. I see this all the time. Especially on bench and squats. Second, a real bodybuilder or power lifter would never, ever, do 500 pound squat with no spotter. Not in a million years. 500 pounds can break your back, literally. If you go to the gym so big guys will look at you, you will get hurt eventually. Plus, just a little side note, those big guys you are trying to impress think you are a complete moron. I'm sitting here doing 135, but my squats are so deep and in good form, that I have way more respect than that idiot trying to do 500 pounds with no spotter. I had to walk away from him because I was too worked up about it, and it was getting in the way of my workout.

I wish I could yell to everyone in the gym, WEIGHT DOESN'T MATTER!! Go as heavy as YOU can and push it to the limits of YOUR ability. People get hurt every day from trying to push more weight than the guy next to him, that is 75 pounds bigger then he is! With weight lifting it's you vs YOU. Those egotistical morons at the gym doing half-assed reps aren't helping anyone, including themselves.

Animal Rage

I got some Animal Rage this week. It's the new Animal pre-workout. Here's what I think about it.

It doesn't taste all that bad compared to other pre-workouts I've taken. It's a little like tang with a medicine kick. The first time I took it I put it down with just water. I definitely got the shivers after that. If you mix it in some juice, then you water that down a bit, you can barely taste the bitter pre-workout taste.

I only took about 3/4 of a serving. I took it about 30 minutes before the workout. It was back/tri day. I got to the gym and it was complete raw energy. I've had pre-workouts before that made my ears itch, my hands shake, and my legs tingle. I hated that kind of energy. It was like pounding an energy drink before a workout. Rage was nothing like that. It was real energy.

When I started lifting I warmed up easier, and I got on my heavy sets a lot faster. I could single arm row 115 with no problem, which last week I only could single arm row 100. My bent over row was an easy 155. Last week it was 135. Everything seemed easier.

After my workout I didn't have any crash. That was a surprise. The side of the tub says don't take more than one serving per day so I thought I'd crash hard. I didn't though.

All together it was the best pre-workout that I've tried yet. The only thing about pre workouts is they don't seem to last. They don't work after a while that is. I'll let you know if this one starts to not work as well in a month or so. I sure hope it works though!

Why??

Why do I do it.. Why does anyone do it. What's the point of eating 10 eggs in one sitting (which I just did), getting up at the darkest coldest time of the day, and go lift heavy ass weights at a gym, with no workout partner?

So do I have small guy syndrome? I suppose, in a way. I graduated high school at 5'7 and I was around 128 pounds. I always looked up to those people who were big and strong and wanted to be like them so much. Have you ever been called small, short, small, tiny... every. single. day. of. your. life. I have. I always have looked young also. I looked about 14 when I graduated as an 18 year old. When I spent 2 years in Louisiana on a LDS mission I would get, "boy how old are you?!" every day. I vowed when I got home I'd work out as hard as I could so I'd get the respect I've always wanted.

I got home, and started lifting weights. I had no idea what I was doing. I only had the standard knowledge of a college boy (which as a normal college kid you think you know lot about lifting, but you don't know anything to tell you the truth) and I gained maybe 8-10 pounds. One day I came home from the gym, and I said, "I'm going to become a trainer." So, I went out and 3 months later I became a certified trainer. I got a job at Golds Gym and trained there up until 5 months ago.

Over the last 3 years I've gone from 130 pounds, I've been as big as 167 pounds, and right now I'm about 158 pounds.

I also have a super hero syndrome. I want to be the guy that when you're around him you feel like nothing can touch you because you've got me by your side. I want to be that guy that you would want with you when you had to walk to your car at night downtown. I have a crazy protective instinct and nothing - NOTHING - is going to hurt my family. The bigger and stronger I can get, the more I can feel like that.

That's why I am so obsessed with this. It's why I eat what I eat and workout how I workout.

It's Friday

Tomorrow morning is Friday. My first week into it.

Shoulders this morning. Killed it. I incorporated upright rows into my routine. Then on my lateral raises I used 25lb instead of 20's. My shoulders felt like it was going to fall right out of the socket. I haven't felt that feeling for months. I loved it. It makes me feel alive.

I didn't eat enough. I need to eat more than 2700 calories per day. I got 2000 in today. I'm going to get it in tomorrow. It's friday so I can do that.

I'm going to post something this weekend titled "Why do I do it". I've been thinking about it a lot and I think I have some explanations of what makes someone so driven for no REAL reason. I'm not going to compete, I'm in great shape, yet I still have this drive... those that push themselves with anything know how I feel.

It's like meeting an old friend.

I go to bed every morning looking forward to waking up at 5:20am the next morning. I was thinking about it today, and it's like I've reunited with an old friend. Being able to start lifting more and more weight is awesome. I'm so sore I can barely walk. My diet consists of at least 7 eggs every day, and some sort of chicken.

Some things I need to do better is getting my diet more consistent. I am doing well with the food, but I also need to be eating every few hours.

On to bed. Bring on the next day.

Day 2

5:20am:

Why am I up? I'm tired, and cold, and sore. I could fall asleep in the shower. But this is what I want so I do it. The world can sleep in and be nice and warm while I get further to my goals. Most people think I'm crazy. Or stupid. But to me they are stupid. Wasting time. Getting fat. For me I say bring on the world. 

6:10am:

Chest day. Heavy weight. I put up 75's on flat bench today. Pretty good, but I hope to be at 100's in about 2 weeks. My legs are so sore I look like I just rode a horse from here to New York. I did shoulders today also. I need some shoulders so I'm going to murder them for the next couple months. 

8:00am:

Seven egg whites hard boiled. Stink up the office, but I need the protein. I also mixed up a protein shake with water. I keep protein at work so I can pound it whenever I want.

12:00pm:

Jambalaya and chicken for lunch. I waited in line with a bunch of asians talking whatever language they have while they microwaved their food. I ate about a cup of rice and 2 chicken breasts. Wasn't the most appetizing thing I've ever had, but it was good.

3:30pm:

Protein shake again. This time with banana, milk, peanut butter, ice, protein. It tastes amazing and is great for you. You should try it out! I also had some bunt cake today. Actually a lot of bunt cake... oops. But it was there and it was so good! Oh well I had about 300 calories left in my day anyway. 

10:41pm:

I am realizing right now I need a protein shake. So I'm going to make one and go to bed. I'll be up tomorrow at 5:20 doing this all over again.

If you're reading this and like it, let me know by commenting! 

It's winter... time to get big again

Alright ladies and gentleman.. the winter has arrived!! For me that means I gotta get big. And this year is going to be the biggest yet. I did a triathlon a couple weeks ago and training for that got me pretty much skinny. So I'm ready to get big. I will keep somewhat of a journal on here to try to keep myself motivated, and possibly you as well.

Day 1 - Hello diet.
That's what it's all about. Diet. Today I bought 24 eggs, Jambalaya mix, and chicken. I hard boiled 7 eggs and cut out the yokes. I cooked Jambalaya and put my grilled chicken in it. I went on myfitnesspal.com and I figured it all out tomorrow. I will be eating just under 3000 calories and about 193g of protein. I need a couple more calories in there but I'm sure I'll come up with some snacks.

I worked out legs today. This is my split routine:

Monday - Legs
Tuesday - Chest/Biceps
Wednesday - Back/Triceps
Thursday - Shoulders/Calf
Friday - Chest/Triceps
Saturday - Back/Shoulders/Biceps

For some weird reason I'm crazy about what my split is. I write down all the different ways I can come up with a split and I come up with this same one pretty much every time. I only do legs once a week because when I do legs I'm out for a week. Maybe in the future I can do legs more than once a week but not for a while.

Tomorrow I also am going to start some of my supplements. The only ones I will use are these

Animal Pak - Multivitamin
Animal Rage - Pre-workout (mostly caffeine if you look at it)
Creatine - Helps muscle recovery (no it's nothing like steroids like some people think)

Those are the only ones I will take. Only because I don't take anything that's not proven to work. Multivitamins everyone should take, Pre-workout because I am going to be getting up at 5:20am to workout and I need some get-up in the morning. Creatine is just something that is proven to work. That is the only other one I take. The "get huge anabolic shock big guy" supplements don't work. Let me repeat that to everyone: Supplements that claim they work, DON'T. There are a few out there that work. I've tried them all.

Here's the secret to success: Work for it. You have to EARN YOUR BODY. That's why I get up at 5:20am while the rest of the world is in bed. That's why I scrape the ice off my car to go hurt my body. That's why I eat 7 whole eggs in one sitting. That's why I eat 2 meals before most people are up in the morning. I am EARNING MY BODY.

Why? Who the hell cares. It's what I want.

(Photo is from Animal Pak website)

My Plan For The Next Year

So this is my new blog. Take a few seconds to read this whole post. It is important information about what my plans are. This blog will be a library of a lot of exercises that I have shown you over the time that I have been training. I have recorded all exercises that would be needed for 5 workouts. I have a 5 day workout plan that goes along with it. I will email the workout to you as needed. I will also post updates and other things that I have learned.

My life is going to dramatically change starting April 29th. I am going to be moving to Alabama and working as a security system installer. The whole reason I am going out this summer is so I can make enough money to be able to start training people on my own and not for Gold’s or any corporate company. I will be getting back September 1st, and I am hoping to have a gym to train at by then. My number one choice would be the Academy right off state street but if that doesn’t work out I will try to find somewhere else. I am doing this because I will be able to charge less money, and I would make more money, for the same service. Also it would be my own so I want to buy more training “toys” like boxing pads, weight vests, kettle bells, or anything else I find cool.

I am going to try to work out a way that the people I train won't have to pay a monthly gym fee to the new gym. You would just train with me at the gym I am training at, and workout at whatever gym you have a membership with. If that is not an option then I will pay for all or part of the new gym's membership. Training with me there will be NO contracts. Also, since I will be making more money I will be able to train less people and be able to really focus all my attention on fewer clients.

I have such a passion for training and I want to make training part of my life. I made this blog to make sure of a couple things: 1) you have no excuses not to workout. 2) you won’t forget about me. In September I hope that you will help me, help you, by continuing to train with me. When I come back I will have more certifications and a new drive and excitement to train. I will keep in touch via email and texts. I hope you have a great summer!!

All the exercises

On the right side of this blog you can look at the blog post titles titled "March". Click on the exercise you are wondering about and it will bring you to the video. Enjoy!

Tricep Pressdown

Single Leg Deadlift Curl to Press

Lunge Jump

Double Leg Kickout

Manmaker

Lunge Curl to Press

Dumbbell Swing

Single Leg Dumbbell Row

Leg Lift Holding Dumbbell

Ball Crunch

Up-Downs

Step Up Switch Jump

Single Leg Squat Touchdown

Single Leg Step up Curl to Press

Single Leg Deadlift

Single Leg Step Up

Single Leg Squat (holding dumbbells)

21's

Single Arm Clean to Press

Plank to Pushups

Bent Over Tricep Extension

Squats

Dips

Squat to Row

Lat Pulldown

Sound on this one is bad also. Sorry!

Cable Row

Sorry the sound on this one is bad. The other one's aren't as bad I promise!