brent99’s BodyBlog

We all know its those last few reps that do most of the work, or those reps you do in the latter part of your workout.  But how to get them in?  Here’s a trick I use: let your MUSCLES do the work, not your mind.  More times than not, you’ll find yourself "thinking" your reps.  But unless you have telekinesis, its your body that’s actually doing the work.

Even as your mind gets tired, your body may still be willing to push out a few extra reps.  So don’t let your mind decide "you’re done".  Take your brain out of it and just let the muscles do the work until they can’t.  You may just find your brain has decided its tired before your body has.  I’m sure it doesn’t make too much sense while reading a blog, but try it in the gym and you’ll see what I mean….

I’m a serial yawner.  Seriously, the lions in the zoo can sometimes here my yawns between workouts.  They are legendary, and quite involuntary.  And it doesn’t really matter if I’m actually tired or not.  Well, sure, its worse when I *am* tired, but I yawn between sets like a champion.  I’ve read that this isn’t terribly uncommon, although its not really understood by those who don’t do it.

Yes, I breath when I lift.  Yes, I have awesome lung capacity.  Do I just lift more intensely than other people?  What’s the deal?

Well, there is an answer!  Very recent research into the mystery that is "yawning" has uncovered some fascinating information.  Apparently, "yawning" is a cooling mechanism for the brain!  That’s right, deep in the core of our brain, we can get overheated, so the yawn is a fan for our CPU.

Looking into it more, I found that we have another way of cooling our cerebellum — breathing through our nose!!  I realized that I’m a mouth breather in the gym, to get high volume air intake between my workouts, huffing and puffing.  So last night, during my workout, I focused on nose breathing between sets.  

And you know what?  I didn’t yawn!  Now the lions at the zoo can get some peace.  

"Danielson…in through nose….out through mouth…in through nose…out through mouth"

Oh no, it happened again.  One of my favorite protein supplements has showed up "New & Improved".  I should be excited right?  Ha!!  "New & Improved" is code for "cheaper to make and suckier to take".  I’m sure most people are like me: they’ve gone through TONS of protein products to find one that they like.  And what do they do when you find it?  They "new & improve it".

The latest offender is the Labrada Carb Watchers Lean Body line.  First, they destroyed "Lean Body for Her", which my spouse takes and I’d take sometimes for the lower calories.  And now, they’ve assaulted the regular MRP.  Years ago, when I first started getting into working out, we were doing EAS products, back when Bill was in charge.  I LOVED their MRP.  And then…they new and improve it.

I probably spend hundreds of dollars on MRPs and protein shakes.  My business is no laughing matter to any sports supplement CEO.  So you better be wary that you stand to lose TONS of business when you "new & improve" your products.  And I hope you cast a wary eye at that label too!

Just remember…

"Cheaper to Make, Suckier to Take"

Been a long time since I said much in the blogosphere here.  Ok, so here’s a little recent history…

I put my body to the test following some ankle surgery, apparently determined to see how much laziness and beer guzzling my physique could stand.  Certainly, I was not immune to the effects, slipping as high as 15% bodyfat (a lot for me).  Sounds petty, but imagine getting more than 1/3rd more in bad shape!  And my lean muscle tanked to levels I typically see on severe calorie reduction diets.  Not good.

So the ~3 month road back has been fairly long & steady.  First, my muscle surged and I’m now at about the peak I usually hit historically.  At that point, the muscle seems to level off and I start losing fat rapidly, which pretty much covers the past 6 weeks.  I know it doesn’t always show in the pics, which often look the same to me and it might seem like I was more in shape 3 months ago than today…but the numbers don’t lie.

In June, I’ve been hitting it EVEN HARDER and really taking care of my body, getting in some minor cardio…and it’ll be interesting to see where I can go next.  I’ve been pushing the abs, which I haven’t trained directly in quite some time (just losing bodyfat helps).   Going full out doesn’t mean too much change for me in the gym, but more in diet, sleep, and really hitting the protein frequently and reliably.  I can’t say I’ve seen any increases in strength, so I expect the work continues to show up with reduced bodyfat and superior muscletone.

Some people laugh at my "overenthusiastic" efforts in the gym.  You know, I sit on my ass with the best of them 23 out of 24 hours in the day, doesn’t it just make sense to let my body stretch out regularly?  To me it does.  I take that kind of criticism in stride.  I’m lucky to be able to do what I can do, and I think the best way to exercise that appreciation for your good general health is by USING it!  

The other reason I can take it all in stride is this simple fact:  the difference between going "all out" and just hitting the gym casually is very very very small.  Its more mental than physical, really.  And the difference in results (basically getting "none" to getting "some") is fairly large.  If you are gonna do it, DO IT right???  Granted some of that *is* my personality — I tend to really commit when I do things, but its pretty logical I think too.

I’ve cleaned up the diet a lot (read: less beer) and really been hitting it.  I think I have every type of protein they sell, lol.  I’m cycling my weights as fast as once every 5 days, intense days followed by very lazy ones…and doing a modest amount of cardio.

So far, so good.

I’ve lost 4 pounds of bodyfat and gained 4 pounds of muscle in as little as 3 weeks.  That’s a MASSIVE transformation in that timeframe and far exceeding my expectations.  I’m just outside my more normal fitness range with 11%.  A current photo was just posted of me from about a week ago.  Strengthwise, I’m starting to rep 250 on the benchpress and I got my fitness cardio levels going again.

So I’m on the rebound after a few months on the slide.  And as I chart my aggressive progress, I’m trying to remember the most important thing.

There’s my relentless intense workout sessions.  Splitting the body parts.  Working the cardio.  Constant protein.  Cleaning up the diet.

That’s not it.

The willpower to work out and workout hard!

That’s not it either.

It is…REST.  

Yes, working out 2-3 times a day, hitting all the bodyparts, pounding the protein…that’s relatively easy.  The hard part?  Taking the day off.  Doing NOTHING.  Then taking another day off.  And then…hitting that full speed "go go go" switch again.

I know that its the right thing to do, and the smartest thing to do.  But arguably, it can be the hardest thing to do too when you want fast results, are willing to work for them, and realize that the best way to get there is to listen to your body and know when NOT to be in the gym.

Despite eating and drinking habits that have been less than stellar, I’ve started making gains again.  Specifically, I dropped a pound of fat while muscle was about the same.  This put me under 10% bodyfat again…and I think the outlook for further gains is positive.

Over the last 3 weeks or so…I raged a classic contest of Working Out vs. Eating.  To wit, I worked out steady to recent standards:  about 7 hours a week, 50/50 weights and cardio.

But…the eating slipped substantially.  Excessive beer, fried food, large meals eating out, large quantities of nuts, even *gasp* desserts made large inroads to my clean eating habits.  A C- might be a fair, if not kind, grade.

So what would prevail?  Muscle gains?  Steady fat or fat gains?  

The results are in.

It was a disaster.  I gained 2.5 lbs of bodyfat returning me to February levels.  And to offset that was a very modest gain of muscle, perhaps just 1 lb.  

Granted, I was pushing some pretty lean lows and I think that set me up for something of a rebound.  But…this was a really bad result any way you slice it.  I do have a good 5 lbs more of muscle than I sported in February, so at least that’s **some** net progress.  

This is a valuable lesson for everyone.  With the cardio and working out I’ve been doing, I’d think I could at least hold steady, but I didn’t.  Even my wonderkin body fell prey to some mildly bad eating habits.

In the battle of working out vs. eating habits, eating habits won handily.

I’ve lost 1.5 lbs of bodyfat and held muscle stable, yielding 9%.  So I’ve dropped from 10% to 9% in 2 weeks!  This is a great result although I continue to worry about the tug of war between building muscle and burning fat.  But as long as its positive progress, and this is…I’m good.   I’ll update pics soon.

Program:

14 miles a week
5 30-minute muscle building sessions a week, rotating bodyparts
No fried foods, low-fat diet, eat frequently, eat 30 grams of protein with each eating session (as a goal)
Water, water, water

Ever notice how the more you work out, the better you eat, and the more you work out, etc etc?  I find the two halves of healthy living to go hand in hand.  Even if I’m eating out or eating junk, the effect of working out a lot tends to show up in making better choices, or curtailing the portions of the junk you are eating to a minimum.  

I also am finding my dedication is paying off in other ways.  My workouts are getting better and better, as my body is getting in condition from both good eating and working out.  I know I’m accomplishing more with each visit.  Its like a football team playing with a two TD lead and it just seems to get easier and easier as the opponent throws in the towel and descends into mass confusion.

So your score may be tied right now…but just know that all you need is a few more points on the scoreboard to really get the ball rolling and get the wind to your back!