Train insane or remain the same…

Been doin good this week.  I’ve had to get up at 330am to get my 30 minute cardio in, but it’s been worth it.  I’ve felt better throughout the day.  And if I did decide to have a beer (MNF) I didn’t feel guilty cause I knew I was getting up to workout.  I have to get some yoga in tomorrow and one of these days i’m gonna throw in a chest workout.  I realize I should start training again.  I want to take it slow and not feel rushed so I am not going to wait til November like i was thinking.  I’ll start now and just do yoga in between.  I have seen some progress over the last few days which is great.  I need to get my diet right and things will move faster.  I am waiting on throwing the hydroxycut in there.  i prefer to do that only when I have all the other components in order.  Otherwise, I feel like i’m just wasting my money.  1 luv, peace out, 5000, and all that good stuff. I’m out…….

Been doin good this week.  I’ve had to get up at 330am to get my 30 minute cardio in, but it’s been worth it.  I’ve felt better throughout the day.  And if I did decide to have a beer (MNF) I didn’t feel guilty cause I knew I was getting up to workout.  I have to get some yoga in tomorrow and one of these days i’m gonna throw in a chest workout.  I realize I should start training again.  I want to take it slow and not feel rushed so I am not going to wait til November like i was thinking.  I’ll start now and just do yoga in between.  I have seen some progress over the last few days which is great.  I need to get my diet right and things will move faster.  I am waiting on throwing the hydroxycut in there.  i prefer to do that only when I have all the other components in order.  Otherwise, I feel like i’m just wasting my money.  1 luv, peace out, 5000, and all that good stuff. I’m out…….

Been doin good this week.  I’ve had to get up at 330am to get my 30 minute cardio in, but it’s been worth it.  I’ve felt better throughout the day.  And if I did decide to have a beer (MNF) I didn’t feel guilty cause I knew I was getting up to workout.  I have to get some yoga in tomorrow and one of these days i’m gonna throw in a chest workout.  I realize I should start training again.  I want to take it slow and not feel rushed so I am not going to wait til November like i was thinking.  I’ll start now and just do yoga in between.  I have seen some progress over the last few days which is great.  I need to get my diet right and things will move faster.  I am waiting on throwing the hydroxycut in there.  i prefer to do that only when I have all the other components in order.  Otherwise, I feel like i’m just wasting my money.  1 luv, peace out, 5000, and all that good stuff. I’m out…….

So far I got a few behavioral goals.  Cardio 30 minutes at least 3 times a week,  Yoga at least twice a week,  and hit the weights at least once per week (for now).  I am still wantign to focus on balance, core strength, and flexibility.  I haven’t really figured out what I want as a goal as far as nutrition goes.  i do know that I need to get more fiber in my diet for various reasons.  I am not sure about where I want to go with anything else.  I’ll just have to take it day by day.  I am proud of myself today though.  We had a cookout at work and I ate a regular plate like I had some sense.  I had a slice of cake and ice cream hours later.  Last time we did this I ate so much I had problems keeping my eyes open while driving home.  So I think I made a few good food choices today

I practiced doing some squats without weight to see if I could get my hips below 90 degrees without any pain.  Everything felt pretty good other than the thought of leg day returning.  i love squatting and pressing and curling and extending, lunging and stiff leg deadlifting, but i never feel that way after my first day back into legs.  I know most folks are like that, but for me sometimes, I get some pretty bad pains in my hip flexor area.  i am going to do quite a bit of warming up and stretching prior to hitting it.

New goal: post progress pictures at least every month.  I don’t like looking at my pictures and seeing how bad things are. This is probably why i haven’t done it in a long time.  But i’m going to face reality and post those picture up. 

That’s it for the 3 am thoughts.

Well, I got some good theme music for this post (Rollercoaster).  That’s pretty much how my training has been for 6 or 7 years.  You’d have to try really hard to train consistant for that long and have nothing to show for it.  I used to want to be a personal trainer, but I realize I can’t teach what i don’t know.  I definitely can’t teach it and not practice it.  So here I am again trying to figure out what I want to be when i grow up.  I had a plan to work my way into owning a fitness center or some type of rehab center.  I don’t have the time to do those things at this point.  I’ve been trying to go to school online, work 12 hours rotating shift work, manage a new home, 1 kid here another on the way, and training.  I have to workout cause that’s what makes me feel good, but there’s a disconnect with my family if I spend too much time doing it. 

Once again on the fat end of the stick I am trying to work my way back to ?  I want to work my way into consistancy.  I don’t want to hit a certain weight or waistline anymore.  I’ve been doing that for too many years and failed everytime cause I continue to end up right back where I came from.  Yes, i’ve read books and I’ve learned about making my goals behavioral instead of based on an outcome.  Here are my outcome goals : Bench Press blahblahblah pounds; deadlift whoopty whoop pounds; and Squat so and so pounds.  These goals have gotten me no where.  Tonight, I am going to work on behavioral goals that will be posted shortly.  If you’ve read this far, be cool and check up on me.  If I don’t have any goals posted by wednesday, call me on it.  Accountability works wonders.

Okay, I think I would make a whole lot of progress if I was more focused on things related to helping my body, vice hindering my body.  i am drinking a bit too much lately.  I know that life is very stressful but I should be using the physical activity as an outlet instead of alcohol.  At times, a nice drink help in the heat of the situation but normally i feel guilty afterwards and wish i had made the better choice and worked out.  No sweat.  i am not becoming an alcoholic or anything, I am just wanting to write out my feelings on the issue which is rare.  It’s a gppd thing I found the powerlifting scene.  I would probably give up lifting and just focus on brewing beer.  Unfortunately I love to workout way too much!  Making beer might not last long.  It’s a hobby.  I probably shouldn’t put that out there, but oh well.  The yoga is still feeling great.  In a month or so i’ll start lifting again.  I’ll still be sleep deprived, i’ll still have a pregnant wife, and i’ll still have a 1 yr old.  And i’ll still be doing my best to be the best me i can be.  Nobody will read this, but it’s still nice to get it off your chest every now and then, peace.

I think i have finally found what was missing in my life.  Yes folks I am still on my yoga trip.  I have put my weights down and i am not sure when I will pick them back up (3-4 weeks, I just don’t know which day exactly).  Im not crazy.  i love lifting.  The yoga will definitely become a part of my normal regime.  At time my hip area hurts and my hamstrings are kind of sore but the overall good feel at the end of yoga is worth it.  The balance work is a good challenge for me.  I finally figured out what power yoga is and why it’s called "power" yoga. It has something to do with the sequence and pace of the poses.  I had so much on my mind yesterday.  Today i’m trying to transition from day shift to night shift so i’m tired and my mind has gone blank.

It was almost like green eggs and ham.  I kept running away from it, avoiding it, laughing at it, and then I finally broke down and tried it.  Now I love it.  I can’t wait to get some more of it.  Yoga, yeah, yoga.  I’ve been lifting weights since I was about 12 and I loved getting stronger.  I never thought i’d actually do something like yoga.  I didn’t think it would intense enough.  It’s nothing like deadlifting or squattin til you puke, but it is intense in it’s own way. 

You ever notice how some pics just grab your attention?  For a little while now when I get on bodyspace Jen_absgirl’s abs jump out at me.  I know it happens to yall too, don’t front.  That shits rediculous ( in a good way).  Got me to thinking about some of them old photos when my bodyfat was low and there was a bit of definition showing.  I kind of miss it.  We’ll see where this goes.  I am already pushing the ides of doing very limited weight training for a few months so I can focus on stretching and balance.  I’ll be doing a bunch of cardio and core training too.  I’m definitely not going to get abs like Jen, but I know I can get my gut back down to at least 35".

If you haven’t read Bronwyn’s blog on how she got into bodybuilding, leave my page and go read it.  It’s a real good story.  Very inspiring stuff coming out of that lady.  I would have read it again if I wasn’t at work.  I probably shouldn’t be writing this since i’m at work.

So cheers to yoga.  This will definitely be a regular part of my training no matter what phase I am in. 

Well I did a weight check today and found myself out of the band I would prefer to stay in.  I know I can’t sit at the same weight forever. I figure to stay within a ten pound band (185-195).  Well I was at 197.4 when I first weighed myself and then 196.6 the second time I weighed myself.  ( There was about 4 hours in between.  So that was the slap in the face I needed.  I’ve been eating a lot of fast food since my wife is about 3 months pregnant now.  I have also been drinking way too much beer over the last month.  So with todays ugly numbers (196.6, 17.7% BF, 37.75" waist) I have a new mindset. 

I am not hitting weights right now.  Last year I had a dream of working out a yearly schedule to work on power, flexibilty & core strength, and hypertrophy.  The whole thing was suppose to work in 4 quarters and I’d be able to plan out what I wanted to accomplish for each quarter.  Unfortunately things didn’t work out the way I planned.  I tried to push and get ready for my first powerlifting meet last November and hurt myself cause I wasn’t getting enough rest.  I thought about going in a competition in February, but once again, i hurt myself.  There’s a recurring theme here.  After giving up on the idea that I would ever actually do a competition, I jumped into my first PL meet in May.  Everything went great except the ripping, tearing sensation I felt in my lower back.  Did I just hurt myself again? 

Well, I believe I am at the end of that cycle.  I have done all these things knowing I have some pretty bad flexibility issues.  The reason I hurt myself at the meet was a flexibility issue.  A lot of the other injuries were caused by being impatient and not giving myself enough rest.  I am putting the weights down for a little while.  I’ll go for a month, maybe two.  I’ll be doing my fair share of cardio, and in new developments, i’ve finally started doing some yoga.  I believe that right now the best thing I can do for my body is work on my foundation.  I’ve put too much focus on weight lifting and lost sight of the big picture.  It’s going to take a while to get myself up to par, but hopefully in the end this move will improve my overall well being as well as my PL lifts.  

That’s right,  I said it.  I had myself a little fun squatting today before coming to work.  Now my hamstrings are hollerin at me.  I’m thinking that it was a good thing I left out the lunges at this point.  I’d probably be crying right now.  Better not say nothing about crying.  My last blog got me a suggested trip to get my estrogen levels checked.  I only had about 30-40 minutes to knock it out before leaving for work, but here it goes:

5 minute elliptical for warmup

Squats 135 x 10, 135 x 10, 185 x 7, 185 x 7, 185 x 7.  (Barbell)

Hack squats (135 x 7)x3 (Barbell)

Stiff leg deadlift 135 x 10 x 3 (Barbell)

Calf raise 185 x 20 x 3 (Barbell)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I’m suppose to into all this powerlifting jazz, but I got arthritis in my hips so it is what it is.  I’m trying to take it slow with the squats.  I don’t get to do them as much anymore depending on how things feel.  But I can easily take myself out of the squat business by trying to jump up in weight to fast.  Plus, I have to practice going as deep as possible and getting my hips below 90 so I can do unequipped powerlifting.  I’m trying to go slow and easy man.  I get to excited about stuff and let things get out of control.  I guess I also got hurt less 4,5,6 years ago cause I usually had a workout partner. 

I posted my weight, BF%, and waist measurement.  I am going to try and get some pictures done this week on my days off.  I am also going to start video taping my exercises and putting them on the bodyspace page so people can give me feedback.  Unfortunately for me that’s about as close as I can get to having a workout partner since I live in the boonies and folks I work with aren’t into fitness.  Did I mention my legs hurt?