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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Squat and such

May 19th
Throw for 20 mins

Speed bench / RE bench alt OH press speed and RE
Bar, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275 x 3 x 3
Close grip reps 185 x 22
speed benches felt faster

Box Squat and step up
Worked up to
495 x 3 x 3 sets. Still didn’t want to go for the 5 sets feels better but want to ease back in on that hammy

Then 315 x 20
Easy despite the fact they were pretty much done mostly on one leg


GM’s (3 sets)
135 x 12 x 3 sets
Stretch the hammy

Kroc Rows 130 x 13
I missed my prowler rowing yesterday so did this, harder then they look

That’s it

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

No Place I'd Rather Be

No Place Id Rather be. A lil video I put together for Iron Guts Kelly's (My Brothers Band) song

Spronsored Athletes

Two shorts clips of sponsored Athletes Loreee Smith and Sarah Robles.

Do Your part and help these athletes out, Your pocket Change goes a long ways. Just $1 or more

Paypal donation link
http://ow.ly/1FhG2
Or go to www.lift4hope.org and press donate



Prowler Fun :)

I was training a client Gretchen who totally kick ass on the prowler today. went ahead and joined her in some runs,

Good times I couldn't push all out on the hammy but could go about 85-90% 5 runs

Ill throw a bit this evening.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Mondy Training

May 24th
Monday


Throw squat
155 x 2 x 5
Just concentrate on turning foot to engage hip

KB Throw Drill
Same thing kept doing them between bench and row sets
24kg KB x 2 x 8 sets

Bench
Worked up to 355 and damn it was easy, best 355 in a long while no shoulder issues

Bench Eccentrics
400 x 1 x 5 sets
I have never given time to eccentrics. I am going to give 4 weeks to them and see what happens I can’t get weaker, Im hoping the shoulder stability will come back and add some tricep strength and I need to get back to a 405 bench

Cable Row 90 x 10 x 8 sets each hand
Needed something that would give my grip a break my forearms are smoked

BB rotation work
135 x 10 x 2 sets


OH Snatch Grip Holds
135 x 2 sets for 1 minute
Only made it 45 seconds on second set
Man that should be easy but its harder then you would think to hold a load in the grip for a full 60 seconds.

All In all an OK day, I did some more DLing and Oly lifts sat and Sunday at the seminar but all in all I’m feeling OK just a bit sore everywhere. Mixing it up for a while is helping

Tour Stop #2

Building healthy Snatches

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Get creative

One of our forum members at teamstaley.com getting outside and creative, Sometimes one of the best things you can do when you feel you need a break is just break your norm get outside and get creative

Press and DL

May 20th
OH press and DL
Doing them both in one day as we have a seminar Saturday. Feeling a bit beat up so going to do some volume I may alternate light and heavy days now for DL at least until Ham string is 100% Im just not healing every week from loads of over 700lbs.

Early training session

Strict Press
Bar, 95 115,125, 130, 135, x 10 reps
140 x 6
Just ran out of gas on reps so not used to this many reps with minimal rest
95 x 10 x 3 sets

Neutral grip chins
Bw x 5
BW + 25lbs x 3 x 8 sets
Bw x 10

Felt good first time doing weighted chins inn a LONG while shoulder was fine

PM training session
DL
up to just 405 x 1 x 3

SLDL Reps
365 x 10 x 3 sets
Nice and easy

Hip snatch
95 x 2 x 6 sets

That’s all folks have a great weekend

Friday, May 21, 2010

Being a Salty Old Dog

Being a Salty Old Dog
Aint All Bad

by Phil Stevens

Another of my client's blood results brought this topic up for me again. A topic I seem to face quite often enough I thought I might write something about it.


Write something not to be an end all be all instructional manual on your proper sodium intake (there are others much more qualified than me in that area) but to shed some light, and possibly get people to open an eye to their own possible mistakes when it comes to sodium intake. To possibly get them to do some research of their own possible symptoms of a deficiency and get a simple test done.

Symptoms:
The early warning signs are often subtle and may be similar to dehydration; nausea, muscle cramps, disorientation, slurred speech, confusion, and inappropriate behavior.

At this point, many athletes get into trouble by drinking water because they think they are dehydrated. In fact, water alone will increase the problem of hyponatremia. At the most extreme an athlete may experience seizures, coma, or death.(1) The symptoms can be anywhere from minute to extreme. If you have a case of simple muscle cramping I would suggest a direct look at your sodium first and then other micronutrients.


You here it time and time again, LOW sodium this, no sodium that. Oh man that's a lot of salt your killing yourself. True an excess of salt, a very large over abundance of sodium in the diet, is doing an in service and could lead to real health problems, especially in those (like most of the studies that state it as a hazard) who have pre-existing high blood pressure / hypertension, or renal problems and continue to have a highly processed diet loaded in excess sodium.

Is Sodium Toxic?
Sodium is generally nontoxic in healthy adult individuals because the extra is excreted through the urine. (3)


The problem arises due to the fact these same people lose sight of, or ignore, the fact that sodium is an ESSENTIAL electrolyte in your body needed for proper functions such as:

1. proper distribution of water in the body, as well as blood pressure.
2. maintaining the proper acid-base balance
3. in the transmission of nerve impulses including muscle contraction
4. Maintenance of normal fluid balance on either side of cell walls
5. Sodium helps to keep calcium and other minerals soluble in the blood
6. stimulates the functioning of the adrenal glands.
7. Sodium helps in preventing heat stroke.
8. And more, such as being beneficial for the treatment of diarrhea, muscle cramps, dehydration, and fever, since it has the property of holding water in body tissues.

So you can see this can be problematic when working with not only healthy, but active or even elite individuals. We in fact are not the same as the sick and / or sedentary individuals most studies which are used for their populous of the studies, and we have varied different needs. We are in actuality nearly polar opposite habits.
First and foremost, we sweat more. We work and terrain hard. In this action we both use and expel sodium from the body in large amount. As much as 1-2 grams for each liter of water we expel be it in urine or sweat. Then many make the mistake of adding that liquid back in with a fluid devoid of sodium which then further leads to the dilution of our sodium levels. By making the salt we do have a smaller part of the hydration whole.
Second. We tend to be a LOT more health conscious as it pertains to diet. This means in general unlike our typical overweight sedentary counterparts we pay a lot more attention to what were putting in our pie whole. Were not knocking back sugar and salt laden drinks and foods that top of and spill over our sodium levels despite our escalated need in comparison. Many of us take the "sodium is BAD" thing as far as we have, or do, the "FAT IS BAD" fallacy, which is at the least doing ourselves a disservice as far as it relates to performance and then possible health issues such as, Hyponatremia, a low concentration of sodium in the blood.

Although hyponatremia is not likely to be a major risk factor for the general population, and possibly even many of us hard training iron heads, even those of us who tend to sweat like a whore in church. There is again, a HUGE difference between health risk, and being in an optimal performance state. A performance drop would come well before a genuine health risk, and studies have shown even a small decrease in our optimal levels of sodium can lead to such a decline. I don't know about you but I have no desire to have my muscles tightening up, my fluid retention at the cellular level to decline, and with it my neural efficiency when I am trying to give my all to break a new personal, local, state, national, or even world record. Do you?

NOTE***Ultra-endurance athletes and people with occupational physical activity and heat exposure should however take an even higher attention to sodium reuptake.


I'm sure you don't, so step back take an objective look at your intake. Spend a few dollars and get a Blood pressure and sodium test done. In my opinion every hard training individual who doesn't have an existing blood pressure or health issue should be rather liberal with your intake of salt as well as getting in its much prettier and fancied step sister potassium. 1

After your training when you have worked up a great sweat as well make an effort to replace you lost sodium levels to assure you continue to hydrate, function, and recover at an optimal level.
Studies in this area suggest that if water is consumed, the volume ingested needs to exceed the fluid deficit by approximately 150% to compensate for the urinary losses that will occur with water ingestion. Inclusion of sodium…. in the rehydration beverage reduces urinary water loss, leading to more rapid recovery of the fluid balance. Data are presented…suggest a quantifiable interactive relationship between sodium content and fluid volume in promoting rapid recovery of fluid balance after exercise and thermal-induced dehydration.

Some steps to I would take to assess and avoid sodium deficiency:

• There are no steadfast guidelines for everyone, so learn your individual fluid needs. I suggest getting a simple blood test done at your usual intake.
• Increase salt intake several days prior to competition. The increased sodium concentration will allow additional hydration with water to remain balanced so that the dilution of blood sodium does not occur.
• Use a sodium containing sports drinks during high intensity or long distance events.
• Eat salty foods before, during, and following competition if possible.
• Weigh yourself before and after training and drink enough sodium based fluids to offset any fluid loss during exercise

REFERENCES
1. Sodium - Salt - Needs for Ultra-Endurance Athletes, Elizabeth Quinn; About.com
2. Role of Sodium in Fluid Homeostasis with Exercise, Rick L. Sharp, PhD; Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 25, No. 90003, 231S-239S (2006)
3. Sodium, Benefits Of Sodium , Sodium Deficiency And Sodium Food Sources, Candy Williams; isnarearticles

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Squats and stuff

Speed bench / RE bench alt OH press speed and RE
Bar, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275 x 3 x 3
Close grip reps 185 x21
Minimal rest 60 seconds or so this all felt better this week aside from my arms from the elbow to the hand are killing me woke me up Tuesday night wed morn several times in pain just locked up, used a rolling pin on one last night nand it was great only one arm woke me up nice lil test it hurt like a mother but worked ill do both tonight

Box Squat and step up
Worked up to
495 x 3 x 2 sets. Still didn’t want to go for the 5 sets didn’t feel heavy just cant sit back on that hamstring these were majorly quad dominant

Then 365 x 3 x 5 sets fast.

Set of left leg step ups between sets

Reverse hyper (3 sets)
180 x 12 x 3 sets
These oddly feel good on the hammy / glute

bi and tri light and pull aparts RE work

that’s it nothing great really Just aches and pains seemingly everywhere but I got it done

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Training Advice

If there is one piece of advice I could give anyone on training it would be learn to earn your right to more load. Plain and simple. I have ways I implement it in mine and my cleints training, which Ill likely write more on later, but you need to make more load, more work a positive thing. It is something you earn the right to, not something your punished with when the old work load no longer kills you. Thats for the type B people otu there and those new to training you need to learn the respect of loading.

For those type A sadistic freaks out there like myself who always want and feel they need more load. Wake the hell up just because you did ### that many lbs last time, last week or last month doesn't mean you have some iron god given right to that load now every time you step in the gym. You must earn it each day yiou step in the gym by making the other lower loads crisp an d easy.

Its a respect and an earning process. You have to learn to walk away when its not there and also learn to eat your cake as well when you earn it. Ignoring either and taking when not deserving or not taking taking when smoked the old load and you just move on untested are both a diservice to you and your future progress

earn the load, give yourself bonuses, and also shut the throttle off and make yourself leave when its not there.














I and my cleints get more load imparted on us NOT when the weight no longer kicks our ass. We earn the right to it when we kick the weights ass.

Meat, the good things.

With all the bad press for year on meat and the current craze to poo poo it again in the fitness field I just wanted to simply state some of the great benefits of meat.

1 - All of the nutrients that were slowly, patiently, and persistently accumulated in the tissues of the herbivore turned dinner are now an instant nutrient packed multi-vitamin for us meat eaters or omnivores. Now remember were talking real nutrient total density not some skewed density where you take a nearly zero calorie food like Broccoli and divide it by its few nutrients of course your get a high calorie to nutrient ratio, but still to get the same amount of nutrients by volume or weight you better pull up to a truck load of those green florets to equal a pound of power packed animal flesh.Good luck as well trying to maintain let alone gain mass with them. Meat is truely natures multi-vitamin



2- Quality protein (duh)

3- Vitamin B12 (essential nutrient, red cell formation, energy)

4- Heme Iron (readily absorbed form, fights fatigue in some persons)

5- Zinc (readily absorbed from meat, sub-par in most diets)

6- n-3 fatty acids (potent EPA and DHA compared to the plant-based linolenic acid)

7- Creatine (muscular power and cell volume)

8- Carnosine (cellular buffering, antioxidant effects, longevity)

Just the B12 and Iron alone, meats provide it to us like NO, thats right NO other food source on the planet. That alone is worth sitting done to a plate of bambi. (yes I know I just wrote something on the ill effect of iron but Iron is good, its excess iron thats bad that was the take home message)

You of course can mask a deficiency for the most part with folate but what you cant stop is the inevitable nerve damage from a lack of B12. B12, you must have it it is essential and where do you get it???? That's right. Meat.

Again Quality protein.
Meat contains all the EAA's as well the biological value of beef is 75 and its PDCAAS is 0.92.It also gives a nice slow stream of amino's and nutrients as it is slowly digested as compared to many other protein such as milk and egg based protein which give the blast we need at times.



Omega 3's or n-3 fatty acids. Yup chalk another one up for meat sources, heck even the lesser grain fed sources of beef have some high quality n-3's let alone their mush improved grass fed counter parts or fishy friends. Sure you can find vege sources in the form of algal residues, or the much weaker linolenic acid but they just don't stack up.



While we have fish on the mind do your self a favor and look up astaxanthin, a cartenoid in crustaceans and what makes salmon pink. You'll be thrilled by the benefits

I could go into the rest like the myriad of benefits of carnosine, the superiority of Heme Iron etc etc etc. but that is not my intention. My intention was to merely spark a match. Ill leave it to you if interested to take the time and let your mouse do the walking on the deeper benefits of each I listed. Ill even give you a NICE of references and reading upon request if you like I received via my friend Dr. Lonnie Lowery.

Be it legged or winged, feathered or furred, eating their meat is the best thing I've heard

Tuesday throwing

about two hours of throwing

lots and lot of light weight for distance.
I'm starting to use my hips and core to throw the weight instead of my arm but can feel Im only giving about 25% effort in that just don't know how to give more yet. I guess just takes time

then Some braemar, some x some

my arms from the elbow down are trashed and locked up from all the digging and throwing they woke me several times last night in pain not being able to move my fingers without some pretty bad pain. Need to get all that crap broken up

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Life: We Are here to Live It

Lack of eating is the only more or less proven stimulus to increase life spam due to numerous factors, BUT who wants to exist as a mere shell of a human when they can excell, live, and expereince life and the joys it has to offer to its fullest with a plate full of food, a body made of forged iron and granite, a smile on your face, yelling WOOO Hoo that was a hell of a ride.



Me on one of my many hikes in the middle of a Thailand jungle in the middle of nowhere, experiencing what many have the means to, but few will ever have the balls to enjoy.

Iron: Load The Bar Not Your Bloood

Iron in all its rustic and semi rusted glory. It is the passion that fuels many of is and the center of much of our strength no matter our sport. Its always the game of earning the right to take on more iron.



The same shouldn't be true for your mouth. At least for most men. We lack the monthly visitor that keeps women's iron in check each month and generally eat more red meat. Unless your some kind of self destructive freak or a fighter that gets beat on regularly and bleeds like a stuck pig your iron turnover is not at a level that requires you to have a high intake and it can actually be detrimental to us men. Detrimental to the tune of Iron Toxicity. Another case for sure where more is not always better.

I persoanlly have a close friend who after a successful powerlifting career moved on to be a distance runner in the time when they were taughting iron as a great way to increase your Vo2 etc. due to the increased red blood cell count. fast forward to today he is being attacked by his own blood and has to get regular blood lettings just to keep the hemocrit levels in check as they continually leech from stores in his body. Not Fun

We naturally have more Testosterone than woman as well, and T has long been used in anemic patients to fight the disorder. So of again more evidence we don't need as much Iron as our female counterparts.

Just look at the list of some of these side effects of toxic iron levels.

- Raised cardiovascular disease risk due to its pro oxidative nature

- Pro oxidation alone making that ever increasing search for antioxidants somewhat of a mute point.

- polycythemia- the thickening of the blood via raised hemoglobin, sky rocketing red blood cells, raised viscosity of the blood meaning greater cardiac workload, hypertension (high blood pressure), increased stroke risk and poorer blood flow to tissues.

- DNA damage

- cancer development

- diabetes

- elevated ALT and AST

- abnormalities like hemosiderosis and hemochromatosis

- Hepatic damage,

- M.I. [myocardial infarction]

To make things worse many of us take vitamin C. Right?


"The ironic thing is that ascorbic acid actually enhances iron absorption, potentially leading to more iron overload — and among other things, greater oxidation. Double ugh! (Actually, vitamin E would be a much better choice.) For high-iron guys insistent upon their vitamin C intake, it appears best to take it as far away from iron-containing meals as possible to avoid problems." - Dr. Lonnie Lowery


So what can we do to help combat this. God knows I wont halt eating my red meat and other animal flesh that has iron at a bio-available rate many times that of any plant matter.

Its OK, just get some variety in your protein choices. Thank goodness we have milk, and other dairy products like Whey. Eggs as well are a great choice, and better yet both milk and eggs actually "block iron absorption." (again Dr. Lonnie Lowery)

As well get fishy, go for tuna and crab meat, both of which are low iron protein sources.

Choose other iron blocking foods to be staples such as High fiber foods, coffee and tea (Green tea in particular)

Stop using cast iron or stainless steel cookware. Yhea that cast iron pan is great over the camp so only use it those times All other times get a nice no stick pan or bake in ceramic or glass.

Make sure you get an Iron free multi-vitamin, luckily most men's varieties are this way now. Or opt for the elderly versions which are usually void of Iron.

Iron is ever present on food labels, take your time do some checking and don't make those pesky iron fortified foods a staple.



Last but not least "give the gift of life"

That's right give blood on a regular basis. There is no better or faster way to keep your iron in check then drop a quart of blood here and there. You just may be helping someone at the same time as well

So there you go. Hit the iron hit it hard, just don't chew on it.


Special thanks to Dr. Lonnie Lowery and his article and paper on iron. It made this short message to you all an easy job I just gave the short concise version. If you want more and a long list of references I suggest you google his article "Keep the Iron on the Bar"

Strength is King


"Strength trumps technique.. Strong is the basis of everything else that derives from strength."
-Mark Rippetoe

Monday, May 17, 2010

Lift For Hope Sponsored Athlete Loree Smith

Check out this short little video about Lift For Hope Sponsored Athlete Loree Smith



It will help these athletes a ton if your able to donate even your pocket change, every little bit helps.

Click here to donate

or go to Lift4hope.org

Squat, Bench, and Yoke

Monday
My forearms are tight and whole back side of me pretty damn fatigued

Throw squat
135 x 2 x 5

Bench
Worked up to 355 no hand off went OK for as tired and beat up as I am from digging, framing and pouring concrete all weekend


Foam Bench
340x 3 x 5 sets
These went better

DB Row 70 x 3, 90 x 3, 130 x 3 x 3
Dead hang and explode

BB rotation work
135 x 5 each side
185 x 3 each side x 4 sets

Chain Yoke
245 x 200 feet x 2 sets
Been a long time so just starting light on this and going distance

All in all good punch clock training session I was OK with the bench for as tore up as my arms and sore as my right shoulder is. Its going to be this way for a bit while I build this damn pond the pergola

Onward and upward

Just ordered some more bulk whey, for those who havent tried it you should do yourself a favor and try at least the samples you can get for $2 go here


Squats and pond

Saturday
Pretty damn spent from diggin a pond on Friday but time to get the training in

1)weight over bar 5 swings 5 throws


2)DL from Floor warm up
Things felt light but off, hammy is tweaked so stopped my warm ups on the floor at 515 x 1 x 2 sets

3) Deadlift rack just below knee
515 x 1
605 x 1
700 x 3
That was prob everything I had on this day but all were good

3) tire
3 sets of 2
Just easing my way back into this next week three x 3

That’s it then more pond digging for two days


more progress

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Throwing and ponds

Thursday night more throwing a bit of everything

then yesterday began building a huge pond and pergola train today then more digging

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Weight Gain Algorithm

A nice little algorithm my friend and colleague Lonnie Lowery pioneered that people can follow if they are having trouble gaining weight. A nice little tool if you are they type of person who like to take a bit of a scientific approach to gaining weight.




NOTES: PRO, P = protein; CHO, C = carbohydrate; FAT, F = fat; AM = morning; PM = evening; exr = exercise; para-exercise drinks = pre, post and sometimes mid-workout; lifestyle problems may include alcohol, stress, sleep disturbances, etc.; genetics may involve intolerances, diseases, body shape/ fat distribution, endocrine factors, etc.


Or go simple like has worked for me. Train hard, eat harder. Set a base diet that has you eating 12 gram of protein per lbs roughly and .6g per lb of nice healthy fat, then fill in the caloric gaps with more fat or carbs. Set yourself a target weight get their and hold is 90 days.


"I think a purposeful drive toovereat, in a strategic way, is superior to a slow-and-steady approach to muscle mass. Beyond any ludite focus on the nuances of nutritional periodization, mypersonal experience has repeatedly revealed that guys who try to stay leanwhile simultaneously gaining muscle end up small."
-Dr. Lonnie Lowery

I have said the same thing for a LONG while. Agree 100%

Snatch Prowler

May 14th 2010



Tri level snatch (hip snatch, mid thigh, hang snatch)
25 x 3 sets
30 x 3 sets
45 x 3 set
55 x 1 set
60 x 1 set
65 x 1 set
That was a good starting load haven’t snatched in a while just doing full power not squat to try and get as hard a hip extension as possible



-Prowler jog
Empty x 200 foot
+66lbs x 200 foot x 2 sets
66lbs x 100 foot

OK lil session ham string could feel the snatches. I’m going to have to let this heal it’s not bad I don’t think but I don’t want it to get bad

Weights, squats and presses



Weight for distance practice (5 cast, 5 spins, 5 throws)
28lb weight
Mainly trying to get the correct cast I cast it to high and working on the spin, the proper footwork inside the trig. I got much better now I need to just get 10,000 reps in to make it permanent so I don’t have top think about it

Speed bench / RE bench alt OH press speed and RE
Bar, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275 x 3 x 3 Minimal rest 60 seconds or so
Close grip 185 x 18
Wow I suck at close grip. I can get the same reps with 90lb moe on the bar in my competition grip. I am going to stick with these and try and raise it

Box Squat and step up Concentrate on explosion
135, 225, 315, 405 x 3
490 x 2 x 2
I was working on a pause on the box then explosion. The plan was to progress and do 5 sets of 3 at 490 it just wasn’t happening today. That hamstring tweak from the games hurt on the heavy set and I would have popped something had I pushed it I stopped there and will try again next week

• Set of left leg step ups between sets

Reverse hyper
180 x 10 x 3 sets
Just some blood flow

OH Carries 100 feet
135 x 100ft x 2 sets
Started light but these were great today. Man really stretched the back and hams out to keep the bar up over your ears and the shoulder stability

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Why You Weigh more After Training?

Just an interesting Tid Bit I thought I would share. Ive been telling people this for years but I finally have a graph to share that proves the point.

have you ever noticed that the day or days following an aggressive resistance training bout that your scale weight goes up? Or had that, usually female client or no recently male meterosexual, client who is stuck on scale weight come to you and and notice that after one session they have magically added lbs to them and they think they are going to get HUGE and bulky. Well sorry not even I am good enough to add a few lbs to you in one day.

What is happening is a fluctuation in hydration. It is two fold. The first i often tell people is that they have caused a stimulus for inflammation. Think of inflammation externally what first comes to mind aside from pain?? Swelling, swelling in large part due to excess fluid flooding to the area. The same is true to the muscle tissues you train and the inflammation you cause them. Your going to carry a bit more water as these tissues heal which then will subside.

Now onto the graph and sweating














The start at the right is plasma Volume PV (which is 50% dependent on hydration water) baseline prior to exercise. At the start of hard training you see an immediate drop that continues for two hours. After that and for the next 48 hours you see a sharp incline in your stored water, Hydration, to levels well above your norm. Water is heavy hence the scale weight increase. This increase is a natural response to our hard training and a safety mechanism to reduce chance of harm. Its pretty cool really, our blood volume adapts to anticipate future stresses and sweating, loss of hydration we may put upon it.

This is also why if your looking to gain you need to keep cramming your pie hole the days after a hard session even if you made this miraculous 4 lb jump to hit your goal.

Its not real weight, its temporary and natural.

So there you go there is your answer to that pesky scale swing after hard training. This should arm you for your own questions, those of scale addicted clients, or aid you in dropping weight for a competition by giving you even more evidence of why it is beneficial to halt all hard training about 1 week out.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Have you given your $1 to Strength Athletics Yet?

Your $1 Can buy USA a Gold
You probably have one in your pocket right now. Personally I reminisce about the days when it only took one to go to a movie, to buy two cans of soda, or more recently a 4 piece McChicken Nugget. It is the $1 bill. Today it is seemingly not what it once was, but your $1 can buy help buy gold for three USA athletes.

Sometimes we don’t think to give in small amounts because we don’t think it will be enough to make a difference. Giving a donation of $1 to a cause seems almost a joke. Consider, however, an often-cited statistic in the discourse of international development and aid: “Half of the world’s population lives on less than $1 a day.” This fact turns that kind of thinking on its head. $1 can mean life, education, food, water and health to millions of people around the world. And $1 mobilized from each person in a community or network has the power to effect a great deal of change (the pun, of course, is intended).
It is with that exact line of thinking that I come to you asking for donations in the amount of just $1 (or more but $1 is great!!) to support a great event and cause headed up by Strength Coach Phil Stevens and his charity strength event, Lift For Hope. We know, myself, Phil and the others who are spreading word, that if we can get this message out to you, and you give just $1, we can all have a HUGE impact on making Lift For Hope III a huge success.


















Sponsored Athlete Loree Smith

What is Lift For Hope?

Lift for Hope is a 3rd annual Charity Strength Sports Event. This year’s "Lift for Hope" again will be a one day NAHA sanctioned Highlander State Championship and APF sanctioned deadlift meet held in Gilbert Az.

A Charity Strength Sports Event, By Strength Athletes, for Athletes

In 2010 the founder Phil Stevens has decided to take the charities giving’s in a new direction. In the two previous years he used the event to raise money for first an American Cancer Society camp for children, then last year The Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Az. This year he is changing the focus to a by strength athletes for strength athletes event. Proceeds raised will support three strength athletes that compete on the international level for the United States Of America.

Strength athletics in the USA, unlike our international counterparts, have become the unfunded evil steps sister to team athletics and other single athlete events such as gymnastics, sprinting, and swimming. Heavy athletes as a whole have taken a huge hit in the USA. Across the board the athletes put years of dedication, blood, sweat and tears in the hopes of bringing home gold for our country with little to no accolades and recognition let alone funding. These athletes are scrapping by, training endless hours in our honor to shoot for a goal greater than most even dare to dream, all the while scrapping by on a few peanuts and chicken soup while working a part time job that will allow them to keep the training schedule of an elite athlete. A schedule that athletes around the globe, and athletes in other sports in their own country, get to keep while being funded and allowed to vent all of their energy into their training. In Other words without the hassle of having to make a living.

It’s amazing that we still stand as very competitive in some of the sports with such a variance in the support received compared to our competition, and there is no question as to why we are not more competitive. It’s the lack of funding. It is time we the people lend a hand to even our playing field for our hard training strength athletes. That is what Phil is doing, and you can help with your $1 donations for Lift For Hope III. The charitable profits raised will go to support three athletes that compete on the international level for our country. One Olympic Weight Lifter (Sarah Robles), one Power lifter (IPF Masters Class Team USA) , and one Thrower (Olympic Hammer Thrower Loree Smith) will receive equal checks from Lift For Hope to help supplement the cost of their training and hard work in representing us.

That $1 in your pocket is worth far more than you think. Your dollar and just one dollar from every person who will listen will make literally zero negative impact on your and their lives. It will however make a huge positive impact on the lives of these athletes. An impact in aiding funding these athletes and their training / travel while representing you, and your country on the international stage. As well positive impact on you by knowing your simple $1 sacrifice went so far.
Please take the time to follow the pay pal link below and make a simple donation of $1, then pass this email on to every person you know who may listen and contribute. If we all join together we can make a huge difference letting these athletes do their part for us.

Paypal donation link
http://ow.ly/1FhG2
Or go to www.lift4hope.org and press donate

Also my friend Bill, publisher of http://blog.Muscle-Build.com, The Muscle-Build.com Blog, is donating all of his May AdSense revenue from the blog to http://lift4hope.org. drop in and give his site a look

Monday, May 10, 2010

Prescott Highland games

All I can say is it went better than it should. I hit PR's and I guess enough to win the B class and move up to A class. Parts of me knows I am not ready the other larger part of me is glad I am in the A class now. Its time to get serious with this sport.

I won on pretty much nothing but shit form and high strength, that wont work in the A class even if I am stronger then most guys. I need to get technical and explosive.

Highlights of the day breaking well over the 30' mark with braemar and getting 79'11" with the heavy hammer for a BIG 12'6" PR, that and I did better with the Caber

Low lights I suck with the weights and had a shit day at an event I should be good at weight over bar

In the end I won over my training partner by 1 point against a not stacked B class but a B class none the less. Time to get to work

Hangin w the Boys last few days

A great camp, great guys great times had by all.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Hangin w the Boys day 2

Couple clips of the guys in my group today

Meat and greet

Day 1 of the Spring Steaks, Shakes and Weights, hanging with the Boys camp, Just a few shorts clips of the Meat and great last night and a few of the guys

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Happy mothers Day, I will always miss you mom.

Almost five years have passed, Man it seems like yesterday. Though your gone from this earth you will never be out of my mind and heart. I miss you more than words can express still think of you every day, but above all I cherish every single year, month, day and minute we were able to share. Good moments, bad moments, and everything in between. You know the real things we shared, no one can take those from me and that what I have to keep me going, knowing that those are mine.

Man those last few years were a ride mom and we made a hell of a run at it and kicked some ass. They were the hardest and the best times of my life. I learned more in a week during that time then the rest of my life combined.

Here's to the memories and the constant struggle to NOT dwell on losing you but to celebrate the times we did have, the things we got to share, and the fact I was lucky enough to have been born to, raised by, and loved by and close to you mom.

Love Phil

And to everyone else out there GO tell, see, call or what ever it takes to get in touch with any and everyone you love but especially your mother on mothers day. Life is short enjoy the ride, cherish every second you have with those you love, and damn it live life, grab those reigns hang on and let er rip, life is to short to just exist.

Couple Personal Favorites



Squats and throws

Wednesday May 5th 2010

OK just getting some work in without going crazy have to be rested for the highland games
Box squat a bit lower
Work up to 315 x 3

Then a new variation of squat to work on my throwing keep feet planted turn as far as I can to the right then squat deep and fire up and turn.
Wow tough this was all on one leg pretty much but allows me to load healthy hip and keep bad hip high.
Worked up to 225 for 5 doubles I alternated in step ups on left leg



Hip drive drill 2 sets

Throwing
Light hammer, light weight for distance and a few stone puts.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Bonehead Nutrition

by Dr. Lonnie Lowery

You know the type. Small. The T-shirt they wear on bench press day reads: "185 Club." They blame their thinness on genetics and euphemistically refer to each other as "hard gainers." They lift six times per week and eat tuna and rice three times a day. They are the BONEHEADS OF BODYBUILDING.

Hey, I’m not being judgmental, I was a bonehead, too. I just want to waft the coffee fumes in everyone’s direction. There are definite nutritional pitfalls that we all fall prey to — and the ones who succumb most frequently are the boneheads who stay small. In fact, you may know someone who has never graduated from this group of self-defeating stick figures.
Let’s take a gander at some of their mistakes…

Bonehead Move #1: Placing too little emphasis on nutrition


Listen, I weighed in at a whopping 155 when I graduated from high school, despite regular intense lifting. Free weights, pulleys, machines: you name it, I used it. I also trained my butt off daily at tae kwon do, track practice, and swimming. After a few years of consuming Weider mags and following the advice of pro bodybuilders, I was ultra-disciplined. And a bonehead.

My problem was that I was so focused upon physical training that food was a secondary concern. Oh, I controlled my diet — when I was actually eating. But when does one sit down to eat while in school and performing two or three different training sessions every day? It wasn’t until I cut out two of my four physical endeavors that I accidentally started to gain weight. Finally, the energy balance equation was leaning in my favor.
There are other boneheads, of course, who do the opposite. They think that their training — no matter how brief or mediocre — allows them to eat garbage ad libitum (whenever they want) and so commit little thought to it. Bad call. Training changes one’s body right down to the sub-cellular level over time, but these adaptations create all new demands. They don’t allow or excuse poor dietary practices. The "see-food diet" may feed the machine but it fails to do so properly.

Whether it’s an over-emphasis on training or an under-emphasis on food choices, lack of equal attention to diet can be a bodybuilder’s downfall. Many are too busy to identify this pitfall so they continue to train their asses off, but remain small and/or soft. Even those who know better often don’t commit. Is this YOU? Be honest with yourself. Optimal nutrition is just too bloody time consuming and uncomfortable to maintain.
But let’s not over-obsess about diet; that’s a loser-move as well…

Bonehead Move #2: Practicing misguided dietary discipline

Ten years ago, my diet was basically fat free yogurt, skim milk, tuna and spaghetti. I had all the discipline in the world and yet it was backfiring on me. I avoided fat like the plague and wouldn’t even consume anything with over 300 mg of sodium. Believe it. It was a classic case of a neophyte bodybuilding bonehead over-applying health information. My family had no history of cardiovascular disease. I had all of 6% body fat from endless workouts. Yet I was hell-bent on "eating right."

Boneheads who learn just enough to hurt themselves get no variety. They tend to over-consume some nutrients while under-consuming others. Have you ever considered that? Do you eat just five or six foods repeatedly while eschewing all others as "bad?" The more you learn about nutrition, the more you’ll realize the vast number of nutrients and interactions that are required for health. And fitness creates even greater demands. Micro-managing your diet by consuming some exotic herb or micromineral supplement won’t fix matters. That’s like putting a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. We could get clinical-sounding and call deluded dietary discipline "inadequate nutrition support" but we’ll simply call it lack of "high octane" fuel.
Of course, getting enough fuel and variety isn’t just an issue when you’re hungry…

Bonehead Move #3: Letting hunger dictate your eating schedule

When training, recovery and supplements are optimized, the stage is finally set for growth. But what is "optimized" anyway?

We can review a simple glucose tolerance test for a clue. After ingesting 75 grams of glucose, it’s clear that blood sugar and insulin levels fall significantly by two hours after the "meal."(3) The pancreas responds to the carbohydrate (and, in mixed meals, to the amino acids and fats also) and by the time we’re 120 minutes "post-prandial" our most anabolic hormone has ebbed and the tide of circulating nutrients has subsided. Thus, eat every two hours or so to keep the anabolic environment primed.



But what if you’re not hungry? I don’t care. A famous (and freaking HUGE) pro bodybuilder once said, "The real battle in bodybuilding is the one with the knife and fork." Amen.

Plus, the data don’t lie. The numbers on the graph may be obvious to some readers but we all need to be reminded of the practicalities sometimes. Just as thirst lags behind physiological needs, so does hunger — at least for the size-craving bodybuilder. After two hours it’s time to eat again. Scheduled eating is especially critical before and after a workout. Try drinking some of your calories if you must. Set an alarm wrist watch if you must. Time (and growth) waits for no one. If you have to wait until three or four hours have passed, you’re forgiven… this time.

In stark contrast, however, some boneheads skip breakfast after an eight-hour fast. A quick cup of java and it’s off to work… it’s blaspheme. What do you think is keeping you alive, coffee boy? Where do you think blood glucose comes from after an eight-hour snooze and a morning of fasting? Your ever-charitable liver has done its best pumping out glucose but its stores of glycogen have fallen overnight. And even if you were willing, your muscles lack the enzyme to help donate blood sugar directly from their glycogen reserves (glucose-6-phosphatase, for those who care).

That leaves the screaming cortisol concentrations in your morning bloodstream to play smack-down on your muscles. Can anyone say "proteolysis?" How about "alanine efflux?" Listen, your body will do whatever it takes to maintain glucose availability and keep you alive — including chew-up muscle. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
There are other physiologic examples of why fasting beyond a few hours is a no-no, but I think the point has been made. Waiting on hunger is for boneheads.

And so is blaming your size on genetics…

Bonehead Move #4: Identifying one’s self as a "hard gainer"

Try as I might, I was unable to make serious gains when I was in my late teens and early twenties. It would have been easy to blame my parents for creating me from the shallow end of the gene pool but that wasn’t my problem. I was a victim of the laws of thermodynamics. Yes, they hold true for bodybuilders too.

Energy is neither created nor destroyed — it just changes form. So why not convert it into muscle mass?
(Granted, this is a simplification but energy balance is critical.) Here’s an idea. Seriously focus on increasing your food consumption while keeping a diet log. Then after a week, assess your intake. Did you really eat more? There are free (university) diet analysis calculators all over the Web. Use them. (Type "diet analysis" into a search engine like Yahoo or Google to find them.)

If your kcal intake is indeed up, maintain it for a month and then assess your weight gain. Did you put on two or three pounds? If you’re not gaining weight, try eating more! Don’t just blame your genetics. Ultimately, physics dictates that you WILL gain weight at some point! If a third of it is fat mass, tolerate it for now. You’ve still acquired that elusive grail of MORE MUSCLE and hopefully STRENGTH. You can think about slowly removing the slight fat gain later. Getting huge and shredded simultaneously is for heavy drug users only, not ectomorphic young guys struggling to scrounge-up 40 bucks for another can of whey protein. It’s generally not good to attempt improvements in both concomitantly.

Identifying oneself as a "hard gainer" is a copout. Although genetic predispositions for acquiring muscle mass certainly exist, they do not dictate your size. Strength appears to be about 30% attributable to genetics and 37% due to environment.(2) In other words, your environment appears to be a bigger deal. Similarly, genetic contributions to body composition (like obesity) have been estimated to be about 25% of the picture while (non-cultural) lifestyle factors account for about 45%.(1)

When I lecture, I call this the "pie graph of hope" because it puts progress within a person’s control. Of course, such numbers are controversial but we can certainly say that environment (eating, training, recovery) weighs-in substantially. Use it to your advantage and stop having your little hard gainer support group meetings at the gym.

But all of this pales if you don't keep trying…

Bonehead Move #5: Failing to maintain the effort

This is the biggest bonehead maneuver of all. Nothing you read will do you a bit of good if you don’t follow through with it 100 percent. Time to lie back on the psychiatric couch and tell the truth: Have you ever failed to fully complete a new diet or training regime? C’mon… be honest with yourself. Chances are you have — and you probably don’t feel much satisfaction from your half-assed attempt. Life’s too short to waste time on mediocrity. People only feel good about an effort when it’s 100 percent. Then, regardless of whether you win or lose, you’ve got a critical answer about what works (or doesn’t work) for you.

In order to better commit, try a little behavior modification technique I learned back at good ol’ SDSU. Write down what you plan to do on a calendar. Show it to other people who will grill you for failing. Make it known that you WILL complete your goal. Print-up and sign a self contract that has real consequences of some kind. Stick post-it notes on your bed stand reminding you to eat. Post them in your car reminding you to eat. Aggressively focus on keeping-up your dedication until 11:59 PM of the very last day you’ve got charted. You’ll be glad you did. (By the way, the same can hold true for training strategies.)

I’ve learned my lessons. Have you? Over the past ten years I’ve made some decent progress in turning a bonehead 155-pound kid into a wised-up 205-pound grownup. Being rather ectomorphic by nature, that’s pretty good. Just to recap, here’s how I graduated from being a bonehead…

1. I stopped over-emphasizing training and daily schedule at the expense of nutrition; I made time to eat.

2. I traded my obsessive discipline and limited food choices for a much wider variety of foods.

3. I ate (at least usually) on a two- three hour schedule — especially when I wasn’t hungry.

4. I refused to brand myself a "hard gainer."

5. I maintained the effort with as few relapses as possible.
And so ends this treatise on nutritional bonehead-ism. So good luck, classmates. And remember, we graduate from being a bonehead on a daily basis. Anyone can return; make sure it isn’t you.

References

1. Bouchard, C., et al. (1988). Inheritance of the amount and distribution of human body fat. Int J Obes 12: 205.
2. Perusse L., et al. (1987). Genetic and environmental sources of variation in physical fitness. Ann Hum Biol 14(5):425-34.
3. Sexton, T. and Lowery, L. (2001). Effects of eccentric exercise on glucose kinetics and insulin concentrations in resistance-trained athletes. O J Sci (Med Biol) 101(1):13.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Read Blog, Click links, Help Athletes



Another Chance to help out. My friend Bill davis is donating all his Adsense money collect fro the month of may to Lift For Hope. Take the time check out his site he has a constant strem of great info and is helping this great cause.
http://blog.muscle-build.com/46472/lift-4-hope/

Throwing

have my second highland games this saturday went and practiced throwing again

heavy weight for distance and light hammer

Progress baby!! just went and practiced heavy weight for distance threw prob 15 throws each with three spins and I got it down didnt fall on my ass once. No more one spin for Phil

Ill throw stones and Weight over bar tonight

Meat MMMM

Red meat and the fat in it is GOOD FOR YOU!!!





Monday, May 3, 2010

bench and throw may 3rd 2010

Training
May 3rd 2010

Just trying to train and rest up / get ready for second highland games I haven’t dedicated near enough time to throwing

Bench (Speed)
Bar x a lot
95 x 5
135, 185, 225, 275, 315, 285 all x 3
225 x 15

Rows
10 x 10

Throwing braemar and open stone for an hour

Sunday, May 2, 2010

DLing saturday!!

DL day
30 minutes throwing weight over bar or heavy swings

Dead Lift from floor warm up
All these x 3 = 135, 245,335,425
Then these x 1 = 515, 605 and 625
Still thinking to much not on heals way to in front of bar but the 625 set was much better then the others


Work up to a heavy single (what ever that is that day)
Week 1 above knee
615 x 1
705 x 1
795 x 1
856 x 1
Thought for about 10 minutes about going heavier the trying to get a PR at 910 BUT decided against it 865 was SLOW!!! And I have a meet next week this was a nice good chunk to bit off for a good start back

Sumo DL
405 x 3 sets 5

Clean grip snatch
Few sets, for a few reps

Tire about 5 singles just going to ease back into these next training session Ill do doubles this was easy
Throwing Lots of hammer and a bit of weight over bar

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Friday Pressing and Lift For Hope $1 Donation

OH press Log
Work up to 255 x 1 everything felt heavy today stopped there

Strict 180 x5 x 3 sets

Neutral grip Chins paused
10 sets 3 then
Paused dead hang chins
14 getting better at these when I go back to drop and go on a god day should be able to knock out the 20 soon

DB OH press
70 3 x 10
Wide grip pull downs
3 sets 20 just get the work in
1 minute rest

Remember to support the lift for hope Pocket change donation rally. Help support these strength athletes bring home gold for the USA.

Paypal donation link
http://ow.ly/1FhG2
Or go to www.lift4hope.org and press donate