Splattered Angst

On a fluke I picked a copy of a Men’s Fitness book called "Power Training" by Robert dos Remedios and it was quite an eye opener on a number of levels. Creating practical strenght is something I have been thinking a lot about lately; getting more intense than I have in the past about core development. It is one of the few books I have ever picked up and wanted to take right to the gym, and for me that is saying a lot! Robert rightly bags on a lot of the usual machines that are in commercial gyms and how they can cause muscle imbalances in many regards. I was reminded about the relevance of doing the mass majority of your workout in a "unsupported" fashion, i.e., away from benches and things that prop you up and developing a real usable strenght. There are a lot of explosive Olympic style lifts described and other things that I have never done that looked challenging. I am going easy though - the unfamiliar stuff I am doing with a crusty old broom stick in the gym [no weight] just so I can get the feel of things like "power cleans," "snatches," etc. I also flipped some things in other realms. Changed NO products from Animal Pump to Gaspari’s Super Pump 250 [thought I would give it a try … Pump is a great product, but I have been using it for over two years and the Gaspari stuff was about the same price]; upped the protein in the diet quite a bit [242g from 184g] - added a whole lot more fresh/raw veggies [talk about making a meal a workout!] to go with the chicken, pork loin and salmon and moved the carb laden meals [oats, quinoa] to the morning before and after the workout. After my last set of pics and not really seeing a lot of change there [other than perhaps smoothing out a bit!], I thought I was time to flip some things around - seriously flip some things around. We’ll see what it looks like in a couple of months. Cool!

I was asked this past week by the coach of the water polo team at the local high school [who I see in the gym on occasion] to help him in setting up core training for the team. Feeling kinda flattered … I guess he has seen me in action and the work I have done with a handful of folks I have been helping with workouts in the gym. I watched the team briefly on Friday and will be observing them further this coming week. He wants me to create a 20 minute core routine they will do three days a week [MWF] in the early morning. His goal - to have them soaking a shirt by the time they get done and are headed to the pool for leg work.

If you guys got an ideas for core/power workouts for these guys, let me know. I have several things that I know will work [and I can demonstrate - that’s important, eh?], but if you have anything you want to pass my way, let me know!

Cool!

Had an odd thing happen yesterday that has been on my mind since. There is a particular client [from the day job] of mine that I see in the gym off and on that has been obviously engaged in some workouts that have kept is mid to late 30s something frame looking better than most. Yesterday however I totally tripped when I walked by this guy, whom I had not bumped into in a couple of weeks and seen that - holy crap … he has totally shredded up! It was really odd how seeing a guy that I am acquainted with make that kind of progress makes the motivation swell, eh?

The workouts have been quite good this week to the point of thinking… gesh, I should consider backing off soon!

I have been popping into different gyms as I travel about here and there with the day job and forcing the workouts into different settings; using different equipment, etc. It has caused me to turn the focus away from some "favorites"in the routine … like one gym that I went to didn’t have a belt for doing weighted dips [???], so I did larger number of dips without weight and superset the remainer of that chest/bi workout and totally tore things up [in a good way]. Another gym I went to didn’t have a plain bar for doing pull ups [???] - they had some kind of funky ill placed set of assorted handles in its place [obviously the guy that designed this contraption had never done a chin up in his life!], so I used it and focused the intensity of the back workout elseware and I was pretty stoked at the changes I was channeled into. Leg day this week was fairly intense as well - to the point that I decided to actually skip squats when they came up - my knees where a tad wobbly after forcing a big set of walking lunges and some heaviness at the leg press sled …

It has been a good week … heading in for shoulders this morning. Nice~!

I joined the NSCA a couple of weeks back and ordered the study materials this afternoon to take the CSCS exam. Should be cool!

The last couple of months I have really been having some issues falling asleep at night and this past week I figured it out as I was sitting at my dining room table at about midnight [I actually laid down to go to bed before 9:00 and gave up after 2 hours - and no, caffeine is not the issue. I generally avoid beverages of that sort 4-5 hours before bed]: I have not been making myself tired enough in my workouts. It has been a bit of a vicious cycle that I have recently came to grips with. I have backed off the cardio quite a bit over the last couple of months in order to save muscle that I have been working to build, but it has become apparent to me that the 5 minute warm up before weight training and 5-10 minute cool down after weight training is not enough to make my now ramped up metabolism chill when it comes time for sleep. So the last week I have been making it a point to really do things that are going to run me down some. Jogging more and swimming [some laps - mostly sprints]. I am finding after adding this element back into my workout that fall asleep has really not been hard and I am waking without the alarm clock in the morning. Very cool - problem solved!

Things have been really cooking along lately. I have got three different guys I have been training the last few weeks and that added on to the day job makes for some occasional moments of feeling a bit overwhelmed. All three guys are quite different with vary different goals, so it has been challenging, but very cool.

My own workouts have been aimed at getting to more intensity. Pulling back from the stabilization kinds of moves and heading towards some of the more traditional "bodybuilding" kind of intensity. The reps are going down and the weight I am working with is slowly creeping up. Diet has been steady at about 2300 calories a day and I am going to hold there and see what happens as I push into some heavier territory. Looking for more mass and doing it without adding any of the wrong kind of weight.

Trixter747 and I have been talking about getting another group together on a forum to create some competitive sensations and hold each other accountable to goals set [previously known as a "Challenge"]. if you are serious and have some goals mapped out and want to hop in, let us know.

Got a couple of guys that I am working with and doing workouts for and while it seems a bit daunting putting together workouts for these guys, it really is going well.

One thing that I need to keep track of is my own workouts though. I have been taking what I learned in the NASM course and applying it to my own workouts and I am pleased with how things have been going. I have been doing a modified "Stabilization" routine for the last few weeks and I am this week going to be breaking into the "Strength Stabilization" phase for the month of May. I’ll be adding in some weight training that involves slowly moving into a more reduced volume and increased intensity. We’ll see how this goes.

I am going to do some progress pics this coming week too. Missed a month with those due to a spring break vacation I took with the family to Yosemite and all the flurry of activity with training folks. Been feeling good about the diet. At about 2400 Calories a day 26% Protein, 54% Carbs and 20% Fats. That is a couple hundred calories higher than I have been at, but the goals do involve adding mass, so I good with it at this point.

Continue to be relentless out there …
Brian

Personal trainer bill advancing
2:00 a.m. April 24, 2009

SACRAMENTO – Personal trainers would have to meet certain standards in California under a bill approved by the state Senate.

Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Monterey Park, says some trainers have little more than a weekend class before they are allowed to work with customers.

His bill would require personal trainers to have a bachelor’s degree in a related field or be certified by a nationally accredited program.

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Good thing I got my cert, eh?

For those of you out there that are working personal trainers or you are are working with a personal trainer, I was curious if you were aware of or are using any kind of software to track clients/progress. It was something that was mentioned in passing in my CPT course and I thought it would be a good idea to look into it.

Thanks for all the support and encouragement that you all gave me. I took and passed the CPT exam today to become a NASM certified Personal Trainer. We’ll see where things go from here.

Gonna be out of town for the next week … heading to Yosemite for a bit of a vaca with the fam for spring break.

Chat with you all when I get back.

Continue to be relentless out there.
Brian