Journal

AM:
Agility Drills 2×20rep
Slalom Hop
Wide Out
Ali Shuffle
Hip Twist
One foot Hop

Shoulder re\pre-hab 2×15 rep
Band Pull
OH Band Pull
Internal\external Rotation

Core 2×20rep
Rollout
Russian Twist

Power 2×10
Pylo Pushup
Scissor Jump Lunge

Strength (endurance) 5×10
Sandbag Shoulder @ 50lbs

Shadow Boxing 2×2min rounds

PT:
2×20 Pushup
2×20 Sit Up
Run 2.5mi

PM:
Boxing…drills.  Trying to dial in the punching.
4×25 Sit Up

Notes:
The shoulder would catch doing the rotations if going too much in the ROM so I tightened it up on the bad side.  Everything else went well enough.  My tummy is sore from all the danged ol sit ups!

Journal

AM
Warm Up
20min Sub Grappling
Stretch

PM
28min BW circuit

Notes:
Joe worked out with us this morning and just beat the piss out of me and Jay. I don’t feel too bad about it considering he’s 70lbs heavier but damn.

Evening circuit was tough but I’ve been slacking here lately so maybe I’m due for a little toughness.

Odd thought

I was going through my daily highlight ritual, checking the mail.  I had the famous little yellow card, this signifies that you’re the lucky recipient of a package.  So I’m standing in line basking in the glee of knowing that there’s some cool shit waiting for me just a few minutes away and I chat up a friend.  She’s holding her new copy of some female magazine and makes a comment about every month there’s the “best, most effective workout for toning your tummy” and yet none of them produce.

The reason…you’re fat.  It’s OK to be fat but there ain’t no amount of crunches that are going to make up for it.  Eat less and miraculously your stomach looks better.  It’s magic I says.

Time

Imagine if you will a calender. For those of you that are too lazy to imagine a calender or those of you that do not know what a calender is I have one here that you can stare at for a moment, love it.

OK, so everyone is on the same page. Good? Good. I’m talking about time here people. Time of what you might ask? Time of progress. I like the TV Show “The Biggest Loser”. 99% of it is bullshit, but that other 1% is enough entertainment for me to get my fix. Tony likes to watch fat people cry. Why are they crying? They only lost 1-2-3lbs. Boo hoo. Is that good or bad? If you’re expecting super awesomeness TODAY then it earns a “meh”. HOWEVER the average person on this show could probably lose 150lbs. OK (math alert). If they maintained that “meh” number for 52 weeks DISCIPLINE PEOPLE…they would have lost ALL of their excess weight. All of it…FREAKING ALL OF IT…in 12 months.  In ONE year with that progress they could make up for a lifetime of abusing themselves…and they’re crying. What if they were on the low side? OK…so maybe it takes 3 years to go from Willy to skinny. Good lord’a willing you’re going to live a little while…could you give up three years of “slow” progress to live an extra 20? What happens if you’re not? In a year they’d be 50lbs lighter…well that just sucks now doesn’t it?  Wait a second…that’s freaking awesome is what it is!

Unless there’s a pretty good dang reason, you have until you freaking die to do what ever the hell you want to do. If you work on something and not give up. If you progress, no matter how small and still move forward then you ARE winning the war. If you want to bench 300lbs and are adding 5lbs a month. You’ll get there…for a fact. If you want to run a marathon and add just one mile to your runs a week then you will get there…for a fact. Progress is progress. Getting better IS training. Getting better IS training. Getting better IS training. Stick with it. Add up the weeks, months, years. Know you’re moving forward….or quit and never get there. The choice is yours to make.

Mini-Wisdom: Truth

Leigh Peele makes me think every once in a while…it’s an annoying thing she does, but otherwise she’s pretty cool.  I just finished her newest version of the “Fat Loss Troubleshoot” and the real theme to the book is “The Universal Truth”.  Really when you look at it, most fitness programming for your average mom\pop trainee is really only working for one goal, using one method, with an indefinite period of time to work with.  In a way this is pretty cool because it means that you really don’t have to worry about too many things.

Now the trick is that the popular thought is that there are about 10billion things to worry about.  The truth of the matter is that the body is infinitely complicated in it’s functionality but it has a pretty dummy proof input system.  It’s like a nuclear missile.  There’s a billion things that are involved, but all you have to worry about is pushing that big shiny button.  If you push it…it fires…you win.  If you don’t push it, regardless of anything else in the world…that bad boy is going to stay just like it is.

Coming back into practical application, ponder if you will that there are three books (recommended to you from a trustworthy source).  One is $5, one is $50, the final $100.  All three promise the same results.  Which will give it?  Which is best?  The bottom line is “It probably doesn’t matter”.  Assuming that each is working for the same goal there’s going to be similarities between the three and these similarities are the important ground….everything else is fluff.  The goal of the trainee is not what program works…they all work.  The goal of the trainee should be to figure out “why” they work.

Fat loss, muscle gain, performance increase….regardless of what program you pick, it’s going to work on the same principles…figure out what those principles are and spend your effort into observing them and you’ll succeed.

Motivation

A: Big thank you to Leigh Peele for granting me the opprotunity to be heard. You can catch the interview by going to her blog. If you don’t know where that is, look at the lower left hand side to my blog roll and you’ll find a link.

B: Request Page – I added a page specifically for reader requests. If you’ve got a product or bloggy topic that you’d like addressed then drop me a note and I’ll check it out.

C: Motivation- Let’s break down one area motivation into two simple categories goals and tasks. A goal orientated motivation would be to complete something. It doesn’t matter how you do it, only that the end result is X (A new PR, or a sexy 6-pack). A task orientated motivation is that there is a measure of improvement in a given area but not necessarily a hard one. In this case you might be mastering a skill…how to improve your bench press or how YOU can lose fat.Both sources of motivation are important and it’s important in either case that you create a method of measuring success.

One commonality that I see is people that do something and become discouraged when they don’t meet their goals, but they haven’t created a system in which they know if they’re progressing or not. This is especially deadly in the goal orientated person. They want X result, and after X time they don’t see it and BLAM…they give up. More often than not that person either had an unrealistic goal to begin with (either it was flat out unrealistic, or it was unrealistic at their level), OR they weren’t creating a system to see if they were actually moving towards it. A task oriented person has a little more wiggle room since it’s the act of improvement against their own standard that they’re seeking. Assuming that they’re improving then…they’re improving. Ideally you’re going to have a goal AND a task motivation. You want to get better at “something” and the end result will be “something”. You measure your success by improvement towards that goal and when your goal is completed then you create a new goal set (or build on your current set).

So look where you are today. Ask yourself what you truly desire and are willing to put the time and effort to achieve. Create a realistic goal post of the final result and master the task at hand by using data. If you want to lose fat then set a mark that you want to achieve. Take measurements (scale\calipers\tape\clothes) and periodically reassess your success. If you’re improving then congratulations! You’re a stud(ette). Don’t go for a month with no way of knowing if you’re moving closer to your end goal and become discouraged that you’re not making progress when in actuality you truly are.

Goals

IMO it’s a really fine line in between being really good\dedicated and being blinded by an unrealistic goal.  When I say unrealistic, I’m not saying that the goal itself isn’t achievable, I’m saying that the feelings or sense of accomplishment\pleasure\happiness from achieving that goal aren’t realistic.  It’s easy to set a goal and drive towards it, racing, shoving little kids out of the way…push, push, push.  You get it…you make it.  What do you have?  Nothing.   You killed yourself and perhaps you have an extra ab or some extra wheels on the bar.  Your satisfaction lasts about 2 seconds.

In my little perfect world.  Setting goals is massively important. You HAVE to have a destination in mind if you’re going to go on a journey.  The journey is the “critical” part of the whole scheme though.  Making forward progress.  Pushing through.  Challenging yourself and overcoming.

“What’s the difference?” you ask.  Good question.  The difference is the satisfaction isn’t coming from the final result.  The satisfaction comes from putting one foot in front of the other every day walking that journey knowing that the “goal” is always moving and always changing.

Rewards

Some people start a diet, do a good job and in reward for doing such a good job they violate the diet.

Ponder if you will your child is doing a good job with it’s potty training.  You want to reward your little precious so what do you do?  Do you tell it to take a crap in its pants?  No?  Why not?  Because pooping your pants isn’t a reward right?  There’s a reason you don’t poo your pants right?

There’s a reason you’re not eating bad things.  Bad food is NOT a reward.