str8flexed’s BodyBlog

Hey guys
Make sure you guys check out July’s Issue of Ironman Magazine.  I have an ab training article on page 198.

 http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/articles/t/6607-summer-abs.pdf

Hello everyone, I’d like to announce the launching of my site http://www.biolayne.com .  Please stop by and check out my blog, the gallery, and all the other cool stuff on there.  I hope you all enjoy it!

just found out i’m on the front page of the T-Nation website
http://www.t-nation.com/index.do

there is a synopsis of the research I presented at experimental biology in an article by Mike Roussell, another grad student at Penn State:  http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1581181 (scroll down)

Bodybuilding.com has given me my own web cast which will begin airing this Monday.  This is not a two-bit web cast; it is the real deal, shot by a professional film crew & video editors.  The series will be titled "Layne Norton:  Inside the life of a natural pro."  Much of the focus will be on my training and nutrition strategies for taking my physique to the next level as I try to add muscle over the next year  before I begin dieting for my first pro show.  The series will also cover my PhD research, my work in natural bodybuilding, my consulting work with other bodybuilders, and the ins and outs of what I do on a day to day basis.  It will also feature information on nutrition and training strategies for gaining muscle and losing body fat and of course in the trenches training.  Over the course of the show we will feature other natural bodybuilders as I want this show more to be about bringing competitive natural bodybuilding more attention than just focusing on myself.  I hope that people find it to be an informative, fun, and interesting series and generates more interest in competitive natural bodybuilding and the science behind bodybuilding.

-Layne

Thought I should talk for a second about my workout today.  I always say that the workouts that make the difference are not when you feel good; hell it’s easy to go heavy and break PRs when you feel good.  Anyone can do that.  What makes a bodybuilder or breaks a bodybuilder is whether or not they can have a great workout when they feel like crap.  Just some background.  Sunday I did sprints pretty hard and today my hip was still sore where it inserts with my quads (not sure of the exact muscle), I had a slight headache, and my lower back wasn’t sore, but didn’t feel 100% either.  I thought about moving back this front squat workout to later in the week since I also have a big final tomorrow that I’ve been stressed out studying for.  But I made myself go into the gym today because I know that If I want to be able to have a shot against these great natural bodybuilders I cannot let up; period.  Even if I didn’t feel 100% I was going to find a way to break some PRs today, now I’m not trying to sound like my situation was really dire or anything because it wasn’t… but as many of you know, if you are even slightly off it can affect your whole workout, especially when you are doing something heavy like front squats & glut ham raises.  I was determined to make it happen.

My previous personal best on front squats was 365 for 2 sets of 5.  I warmed up and slapped 375 on the bar.  First set: put on Stupify from Disturbed and went for it… 1,2,3,4… barely eeked out the 5th rep.  I take a few minutes to gather myself and think "ok if I can get this next set I will have certainly set a new PR.  I just need to take it one rep at a time."  Next set: time for some Stricken by Disturbed… 1,2,3, 4th rep was rough, slightly off balance.  I told myself to forget about it and get this one last rep.  Put it down and barely eeked out that fifth rep.  I was getting ready to lighten up the load and I told myself "f*ck it… you’ve got one more in you."  Went back for another dose of Stupify: 1,2,3, 4th rep was barely eeked out, more difficult than the 5th rep of my previous set.  I stood there looking at myself in the mirror and almost went to rack it.  Then I thought "one more… one more rep, just get this one rep"… down into the hole, I start to change direction to come up but this is now feeling like 2 tons across my shoulders, but I kept that out of my head and just told myself to keep moving it… slowly the weight starts to move it’s way up and after about 5 seconds I reach the breakpoint at the top of the hole and I accelerate to the top for the 5th rep! 3 sets of 5 with 375… not bad for a guy who felt like ass coming into the gym.    I then went on to set another PR on glut ham raise, and did extensions with the stack + 25 additional pounds for 2 sets of 10 reps… another personal record.

Am I the strongest guy around… absolutely not…not even close, not even amongst natural bodybuilders.  But I was proud of myself.  I felt like crap and I wanted to quit, felt like quitting and almost quit, and I don’t think many people would have blamed me for cutting my workout short or moving it to another day with my final coming up; being sore, and less than 100%.  But I would have known, I would have known that I copped out and I know that simply won’t cut it.  If someone beats me it will be because they are genetically better than me; not because they worked harder than me, I just can’t allow that and the idea of someone working harder than me drives me absolutely insane.

Again, the bad workouts that you turn into great ones are the workouts that make the difference.

I’m not even close to a top pro yet but… I’m coming for you all, believe that.

-Layne "Look in my face, stare in my soul… I begin to stupify"