Making Statements, Not Excuses

I was talking to my gym’s owner today after my workout about how some people always complain about not liking to work out. I remember when a co-worker said to me that all you guys work-out all the time because you enjoy doing it. I told her how i laughed at the guybecause he said he just doesn’t like to work out so he doesn’t. I said to the guy…."man do you think i love laying under a bench and pressing 200+ lbs repeatedly 10 times during 4 different sets? Do you think I love bending my old ancient knees 10 times over 4 different times to move 300+ lbs up and down, up and down? Do you think I look forward to going to the track and running up and down a flight of stadium steps 10 times and then running 10 sprints on that hot asphalt track? The answer is no, No, and HELL TO DA NAW!! I love the feeling i get when its over, I love the changes that my body experiences for the better, I enjoy the fact that i can park my car on one end of a mall parking lot and not mind walking those extra steps to any store. I Hate Working out, but i love the results….I want to have the most ripped, strong and healthy body i can have at 41 yrs old. But to get to that goal, the workouts are the neccessary evil. Don’t you think we all wish there was that magic pill. I’d overdose if that was the case. I’ll sum it up in one statement. Don’t hate the player (healthy people) hate the game (exercise)

I am much more refreshed after the first four days this week went well although I still have Shoulder/legs/abs today and 2 mile walk tommorow. I feel good. I recovered a lot better this week than in recent weeks and i slept a lot better all week. I got up early this morning and did yard work while the sun was still asleep. Mowing the grass is a workout inand of itself. but in any case I’m good. Don’t know if i will take my ending sets to failure but I should get in a good pump.

Today’s workout

Squats: 1 set 10 reps 50% of max, 4sets 8 reps 60%, 1 set 50% to failure

Leg Press: 4 sets 8

Leg extensions: 4 sets 10-12

Leg Curl: 4 sets 10-12

Lunges: 3 sets 10

Military Press 3 sets 10

Shrugs 3 sets 10-12

Front/side raise superset 3 sets 10-12

Cable Crunches: 3 sets 10 reps

Side Bends: 3 sets 10 reps

DO WORK!!

I go to the gym and work out and see all the other people working hard in there and say recall a time when i used to say "it must be nice" when i would see healthy people on the beach or in the park in good shape and feeling vibrant and full of life. I said that because at the time I was miserable, angry and always in a bad mood. Then one day i just decided to pick up a dumbbell and started doing curls. I remembered almost instantly how it felt when my muscles that had been long dead woke up and seemed like they were begging for more. Then i remembered my high school days and remember is that it was nice to be in that football field house giving it everything we had to get our bodies in shape. Now when I’m at the beach or somewhere out and about, i’m one of the happy and healthy ones while there are others that are saying…"must be nice". And it is a great feeling.

This version of No means No involves turning down dear old mom. Yes people i broke down and had to say no to mom. I went to her house for a visit yesterday and she had one of my favorite desserts on the table and of course she offer me a bite of it. Now how many of you have faced the dilemma of having to choose to eat or not to eat a delicious peach cobbler? I think i’m gonna have to cancel visits to my mom because it really hurt me to turn that cobbler down. She cooks good old "soul food" that i just can’t be eating at this point. So after I had my internal struggle i finally had to tell my mom what the deal was. Wow I felt much better because she understood. I guess it pays to just be truthful to mom. They always understand when your honest. Maybe i’ll go back and reward myself with some when I visit her for thanksgiving.

I have tried several different splits in the last few weeks to get the maximum effort and to give myself a decent time for recovery and to improve my time management. I’ve come to find out I should have never tried to fix what wasn’t broken. As much as i like adding things to the mix, I got away from a consistent mix of keeping my muscles honest. So I decided on a new split of 3 days a week of weight training alternated with three days of running, HIIT, and other activities and one full day of no training. As much as I love being an age defyer, i have to remember that with age the body still can only handle so much. This is how i can prevent fatigue from overtraining and can have some energy for other things.

Training Split

Sunday: Off

Monday: Chest/Tris/Abs

Tuesday: Sprints

Wednesday: Back/Biceps

Thursday: Stadiums/Plyo

Friday: Shoulders/Legs/Abs

Saturday: Run/Walk 2miles

You guys know some good ones. I haven’t given up on the beachbody thing yet but i just have the desire to be in the gym. I’m just a free weight junkie. I would like to get a certifictaion and then eventually open my own gym/fitness center. So if you guys have info on the best out there let me know.

Well the other night me and some fellas from my gym went to UFC 100 at Hooters. Now I admit when girls walking by you in very short shorts and skin tight tanks, its a little difficult to concentrate on UFC..but when the main event came around all focus was on the octagon. Back when these two first met, Mir gave Lesnar a rude welcome to UFC, letting him know there was nothing fake about that unlike that freak show that the WWE is. But this time, Lesnar was all that and a bag of chips, or in our case, all that and a platter of wings. Had a great time but now back to the real deal and that’s getting better. Hitting the chest, arms and abs today. Time to step the game up.

Yep 41 years ago I came into this world. Who knew I would have met so many wonderful people that would have given me the inspiration and the drive that you guys do to go out and reach goals I never thought i’d reach. I hoppe that this time next year i’m continuing to inspire and be inspired. One great gift is that i was able to walk 2 miles in 34 mins. At the beginning of the year it took an hour to cover that distance. So thanks guy for always being there with positive input and responses to my blogs. They mean a lot.

Today for some reason I had an explosion of energy and did all my sets to failure. I guess it means i’m getting stronger and stronger each day. But i’m feeling really really sore right now so i think i’m gonna go get a nap and try to run a little bit later. I pushed it today really hard. Anyone else just had sudden days of explosiveness like this? I already can’t wait to max out again, hopefully i have a few more of these workouts in me before then

Rainbows are beautiful things to look at  after the rain goes away. It lets us know that after the rain, sunshine is right around the horizon and that gloomy day is about to be bright. That’s the way I look at training. (Btw its been raining all week down here and i’ve been doing some running in it. Hey no excuses can be made when you have a goal to reach.) Training isn’t always an easy thing to do. Look at it like a rainy day. You wake up and look outside and see it raining and you don’t want to get in it because its wet, ugly and dark. Eventually though when it finally clears out you see the benefits from it. The rainbow shows, the sun comes out and many benefits come from it…the earth gets refreshed, the plants grow, and it turns out we needed it. Well when you train, it hurts like hell, it tires you out, and leaves you sore. But in the end after the soreness wanes, you feel great and you will see positive results eventually. So when you see rain, look for the rainbows and think about the sunshine right around the corner.