Looking for something to take with you on the road, or a snack to munch at your desk? Forget about those awful Powerbars and other various soy bars. Granola bars are OK, but they don’t have much protein. High quality protein bars are available at the store, but for $5 a pop! We are looking for something cheap and easy, and here it is. Do-it-yourself, homemade protein bars.
The Recipe
3 1/2 cups rolled oats 1 1/2 cups dried milk 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1 cup lite syrup 2 scoops protein powder 2 large egg whites or 1 egg 1 1/4 cup orange juice 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup raisins or dried fruit
Start by preheating the oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper, or spray on some non-stick butter flavored Pam spray. In a large metal bowl, mix all the ingredients until the oats are well coated. Spread the mix onto the cookie sheet and press down to make 10 cutting lines so you can separate them into 10 protein bars later. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. While still warm, cut them apart and allow to cool before wrapping. The bars can be stored airtight at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Optional Upgrades
Nutty Bars – use 1 cup chopped nuts instead of dried fruit or raisins.
Fruity Bars – experiment with various extracts other than vanilla to change up the flavor.
The Protein Bar Diet – make a whole bunch of these bars with various fruits and nuts, and various flavors of protein powder. Eat the bars for 3 out of 5 meals each day and make the other two meals small. Do this for a month and see if you don’t drop a couple pounds.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again and again and again. You know you’ve always loved pancakes ever since you were a kid. Well you can eat them today AND you can stay on your diet.
The Recipe
2 c. Bisquick Heart Smart baking mix 2 bananas, mashed 1/4 c. Eggbeaters 1 1/3 c. skim milk 2 Tbsp. granular Splenda (optional) 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. banana extract 1 tsp. almond extract water
Mix together all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, either with a spoon or with a whisk. Batter will be thick, so add water until the batter is to the consistency that you like. Thicker batter makes smaller thicker pancakes, while thinner batter cooks quicker and spreads out to make thin pancakes. Be sure to grease the pan with either fat free Pam Spray or with a Healthy Balance type of margarine spread. Pour batter by 1/4-cupfuls onto a hot griddle or frying pan.
Makes approximately 18 pancakes. 67 calories each.
Optional Upgrades
Protein Pancakes: Add a scoop of either banana or vanilla flavored protein powder. You’ll just have to add extra water to thin it out more.
Banana Jelly Cakes: Spread a thin layer of no sugar added jelly, I prefer strawberry, on the top of the pancake. Replaces high-sugar maple syrup as well as that grotesque low-calorie syrup that you find in the diet aisle.
Add Calcium: Just have a nice glass of skim or 1% milk with your pancakes.
We know cardio is essential to improve the cardiovascular system. This goes without saying. When many people don’t realize, is that cardiovascular exercise can be useful for losing weight as well as gaining weight; for increasing endurance as well as increasing power, size, and strength. The difference is in training energy systems. You can train your anaerobic energy system (builds power and strength) while participating in a cardio workout, just as easily as training you can train your aerobic energy system by performing super-high-rep circuit training on the weight machines (boo).
When trying to determine which form of cardio you should do, you need to evaluate your goals. Are you trying to:
Lose as much weight as possible without regard for muscle or strength?
Train for a specific athletic event such as track or a marathon?
Improve leg power and leg speed along with cardiovascular endurance?
Build as much muscle as possible in the shortest amount of time?
Endurance Cardio
If you want to be skinny and have high endurance but very little muscle you will probably want to do endurance running; long distance cycling; or use the elliptical trainer to prevent wear and tear on your ankles, knees, and hips. Other monotonous exercise equipment includes rowing machines, treadmills, stair climbers, and stationary bikes. These are all OK for burning calories and ‘toning’ but they will not make you stronger, faster, or more muscular.
Intense Cardio
If you want to be thicker, stronger, more powerful, and develop aesthetically pleasing muscle tone, you should give interval sprints or weightlifting complexes a try. When you use maximal force in your cardio workout, as you do with sprints, you are training the anaerobic energy system and facilitating neurological efficiency to those muscles. This will increase speed and strength, and will ultimately help you gain muscle. For you women out there, this will do a better job of ‘toning’ than those treadmills and stationary bikes.
Interval Sprints
With interval sprints, you can sprint on a flat surface, up hills, or up stairs. Sprint for 30 seconds, walk for 90 seconds, repeat 10 times. On your first sprint workout you might want to consider sprinting for 20 seconds, walking for 180 seconds, and repeating only 5 times. Each workout should become progressively harder. At one point in my training, I was sprinting stairs, timed by a stopwatch, for between 50-70 seconds and only resting enough to walk back down the stairs.
Complexes with Weights
With complexes, you will want to string together several compound exercises like deadlift, hang cleans, push press, and back squats, into one constant exercise. Do 5-7 reps with perfect form, rest 30-60 seconds and repeat 5 times. I talk about this complex all the time in this blog. There are about 1000 different exercise combinations that you can turn into complexes so be creative.
If you get tired of all this stuff, give thai kickboxing or jumping rope a try.
Don’t forget to stretch and drink lots of fluids. I recommend Gatorade.
If you have ever heard of the UFC, then you know about MMA cage fighting. At Tokyo Joe’s in Hooksett, NH we have a team of amateur and professional MMA fighters. The team is Team Woo, and their current record (as of 3/16/08) is 19-4. Not too shabby. Roger Woo of Team Woo is promoting his company’s first ever cage fight promotion. You should come!
Black and Blue Entertainment, LLC presents its first ever cage fight mixed martial arts (MMA) event!
If you live anywhere in or near southern NH and you enjoy MMA, Cage Fights, or UFC, please attend this event to help establish a new following. There will be many more events like this to come so help us generate some momentum for our sport!
Welcome to Project Swole 2.0! This swell new layout goes right along with my new goals for Project Swole. I am still in love with powerlifting and strongman training, but I have found vacant spot in my heart for martial arts and conditioning.
The Old Goals
Previously in my training career, it was all about size. I trained like a bodybuilder, in the 8-12 rep range, 5 workouts per week, keeping myself lean, with medium weight. Progress was acceptable. My muscles got slightly puffy and I looked OK naked. The downside was that I looked big when I was pumped up after a workout, but much smaller half a day later when the pump was gone. I wasn’t very strong either. My lifestyle was that of diet logs, egg whites, bodybuilding forums, and posing. This left something to be desired.
Next I Decided to Take Up Powerlifting
I learned the ‘secrets’ of The Westside Barbell Club and followed the writings of Louie Simmons, Christian Thibideau, and Dave Tate. My diet became much more liberal, my reps dropped down to 1-5, training frequency to 3-4 workouts a week with heavy weight, and my exercise scheme moved to a max effort, dynamic effort protocol. The results were good. I maintained my pumped up bodybuilding appearance full-time as my muscles became dense and strong. On the downside, my tendons and joints hurt at times, my cardiovascular health went out the window, and I bulked up to about 210-220 lbs. Over time I realized that 190-200 was the upper limit of a comfortable body weight for me.
On the upside, my efforts to learn all the best exercises really paid off:
bench press – with chains, boards, max effort, dynamic effort, floor-press, wide grip, narrow grip, etc…
deadlift– off blocks, off racks, half-rep, quarter-rep, with chains, bands, stiff-leg, max and dynamic effort
squat – back squat, front squat, jump squat, half squat, box squat, one-leg squat…
overhead press – seated, standing, behind head, in front of head – this is a key exercise to overall strength!
rows – barbell, dumbbell, t-bar, etc… “Big back, big bench” – a powerlifting mantra
abs – heavy crunches, weighted situps, rotations – your abs are at the core of every movement you make
curls, flys, leg extensions, cardio, calves, forearms – directly training these things is a waste of time and energy that could be better directed towards powerlifting (this is not one of the powerlifting beliefs that I necessarily support)
The next phase of my lifting career saw me try to embrace olympic lifting and functional training in combination with powerlifting. I started training 2-3 times per week with full body workouts, and added an extra workout or two per week with olympic lifting complexes. This resulted in my staying strong, my cardiovascular system got healthy, my tendons and joints stayed strong, and my muscles stayed strong as I kept the powerlifting aspects as part of each workout. The downside is that I got bored. Each workout consisted of bench, squat, deadlift, overhead press, abs, and calves. On a bad day, I would push through the workout and it would take me over 60-75 minutes to get everything done. I limited myself to the most effective exercises only, and rarely tried anything new. For some folks who only care to lift weights, this IS the best form of training. For me, I still needed something else.
Enter Mixed Martial Arts
MMA, Jiu-Jitsu, Taekwondo, Judo, Karate, Kenpo, Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Jeet Kune Do… call it what you want, martial arts are great. Of course I learned and practiced by watching Bruce Lee and Jean Claude Van Damme in my teens and early twenties. Chuck Norris is the man, Bruce Lee is the king, we all know these things. But what could I learn by myself? I had always wanted to take martial arts classes, but had never had the time or resources to get involved. Recently I discovered a Thai Kickboxing class at my local Toykeo Joe’s karate school. Finally I could get in shape with serious conditioning, learn a martial art, possibly get involved with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu down the line… exercise was finally looking fun again.
Future Goals
I still hunger for powerlifting and olympic complexes, for strength and conditioning. On the other hand, I refuse to give up my newfound love for martial arts training. Thus my plan is as follows:
Thai kickboxing 2-3 nights a week for 1 hour.
Max effort (1-5 reps) bench, dead, squat, overhead press, once every other week.
20 rep bench, dead, squat, overhead press, try to get one workout in per month.
If possible squeeze in one Olympic complex once every two weeks.
If possible squeeze in one bodybuilding style workout once a month.
Eat heartily: high protein, moderate everything else, lots of water.
Proper supplementation: vitamins, 5-HTP, melatonin, amino acids, Bone Boost, and anything else that I think can contribute to proper over-all health, recovery from workouts, provide energy, and isn’t too expensive.
Watch strongman and martial arts competitions for inspiration.
Join me in my quest to kick some ass, have emergency strength, stay healthy, and look good naked! Project Swole is a place where we can discuss these matters at length; where we can teach each other and learn from our mistakes. Motivate yourself to get Swole!
I’ll start off by saying that I never thought I would be writing an article touting the benefits of a Cardio Kickboxing class. On a similar level as cardio kickboxing, one might think that a class called Thai Kickboxing is targeted towards overweight women. Not true. The class I’m in is one of the best conditioning programs I have ever been involved with, aside from some stair-running/jump-roping drills I used to do back in college in the stairwell of the dormitory, and a heck of a lot more motivatingly diverse.
Right around the end of January I visited my local Tokyo Joe’s School of Self Defense in Hooksett, NH. They specialize in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, MMA, and Thai Kickboxing. Now, like I said, my particular class is more about conditioning, but we do learn and practice some Muay Thai combinations. We frequently put together combinations with moves such as jab, hook, cross, thai kick, knee kick, and elbows. For an hour straight we pretty much push it without more than a 1 minute break for air and water. Leg day is pretty fun too, as we get to complete a circuit of squats on the toes, duck walks, 1/2 bottom squats on the toes, duck walks, 1/3 bottom squats on the toes, duck walks, lunges of some sort, and finally lying leg presses with your partner lying on your legs. It’s great stuff.
If you are bored with your current conditioning program, or maybe you are just getting back into fitness after a layoff, or perhaps you have some other reason not to hit the weight room; give Thai Kickboxing a try. At the very least it will cut down on your body fat ratio while strengthening your lungs, heart, muscles, and joints.
Why do I need to exercise AT LEAST three days a week?
There are plenty of reasons why you should be exercising and exercising consistently. There is not a single person that cannot gain something from some level of physical activity, whether it is walking around the neighborhood or lifting heavy weights at the gym. Simply put, exercise is an integral part of the journey toward good health; weightlifting helps keep bones and muscles strong, while conditioning helps keep the cardiovascular system healthy. Literally everyone should exercise at least 3 days a week.
The Benefits of Exercise
What kind of benefits should you come to expect from working out three days a week? Exercise can alleviate many problems that some of us may deal with regularly. For instance, regular exercise helps to lower excess blood sugar and improve circulation in order to help with diabetes. Exercise helps to lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and elevate good cholesterol (HDL). Most trainees that I have talk to over the years are in agreement that exercise also helps curb nasty eating habits, helps increase energy levels during the day, and helps them to fall asleep at night. Of course, exercise has noticeable effects on blood pressure, cholesterol, and, therefore, heart disease. Exercise effects all aspects of our lives.
For those that think that exercise might be too hard on your joints, exercise can not only strengthen the muscle around the faulty joint but strengthen the tendons and ligaments too so that discomfort is kept to a minimum. Consistency with exercise, especially resistance training, can also lead to higher bone density, which can help keep osteoporosis at bay. A good number of studies have now determined that senior citizens can actually peel the years back with exercise, not to mention strengthening those brittle bones too. Some cases have been so extreme that the most feeble of 85 year olds will begin exercising only to become as fit as an average 55 year old.
So, even if you feel like a lost cause, don’t give up! Now, everyone knows how good it is to be active, but what exactly should you be doing for exercise?
Resistance Training
This could mean bodyweight, dumbbells, weight machines, or surgical tubing. I would recommend spending about 30 minutes at least three days a week performing total body workouts.
Make sure that the pace is challenging, the weight is not too heavy so that your technique deteriorates, or too light so that your workout wasn’t demanding enough. This takes trial and error.
I might suggest to a client or friend 4 simple movements that utilize a push, a pull, a leg exercise, and a functional core strengthener. To keep it simple I would recommend any combination of the following: pushups/bench press/dumbbell press, pulldowns/pull ups/rows, squats/deadlifts, and situps/weighted ab rotations/side bends. For these four movements, I would have them perform 20 repetitions for each movement, then 15 repetitions, then 10, and finally 5. This should be done with as few breaks as you feel you need and with as much passion as you feel you got. Once again, 3 times per week is the goal, but switch it up for each workout.
Cardio Exercise
Cardio is best described as an exercise performed for extended periods of time. This could mean 30-45 minutes of biking at a moderate pace, jogging, elliptical, or stair-climbing. All of these options burn significant calories, but some prove to be more demanding on the joints for some people. It’s all personal preference. Many people choose to perform cardio on two days sandwiched between the three resistance training days.
Just remember that you exercise to make yourself stronger, not to make yourself comfortable. Also, stop reading this article about exercising and just go do it!
Do you own a heart rate monitor? If not, then you are not alone. However, heart rate monitors are becoming increasingly popular, especially among athletes and those with certain health conditions.
In the days before heart rate monitors, people would have to stop and manually count a pulse by placing fingers over the carotid artery. Not only would this pressure on the artery distort the reading, but would cause some to get light headed by their pressing too hard in an attempt to find a pulse. Now, with a heart rate monitor, one doesn’t even need to stop to get an accurate reading.
The most important reason to buy a heart rate monitor is for safety.
Most fitness professionals will tell average clients to keep their target heart rate between 55% and 85% of their maximum heart rate. In order to calculate one’s maximum heart rate, simply subtract your age from the number 220. Next, you can then use this number and multiply it by 0.55 to get the lower end of the target zone and by 0.85 to find the cut off point.
Those with threatening conditions would be advised to exercise in the 55-60% range.
Still, let it be known that heart rate monitors are also a vital tool for the endurance athlete. Not only do heart rate monitors make readings simpler, they also make monitoring progress a lot simpler as well.
With a heart rate monitor, an athlete can better determine how to set the pace in an effort to optimize race performance. Without one, endurance athletes would run the risk of either over-training and exhausting the body or under-training and not pushing the body hard enough.
One thing is for certain though, heart rate monitors are useful tools that can simultaneously help and protect both the fittest of the fit and those at extreme risk.
Those trainees that regularly participate in cardiovascular activities can benefit by constantly gauging their heart rate, thus targeting their intensity to more effectively burn fat.
I want to address a real issue here today, and some of you may think I’m soft or catering to those will low self esteem and low willpower. The fact of the matter is this: your family and friends will not always be positive when they hear about your weight loss or fitness goals. They might even belittle you or belittle your dreams when you start to show progress. You need to prepare yourself for this in advance. The reality is that it is important that those closest to you serve as cheerleaders to motivate you and remind you that your hard work has paid off, but that you need to prepare yourself for the opposite.
We all like a little encouragement, especially when the weight loss plateaus or stalls temporarily. However, many of us are not so lucky and in fact might have to deal with hostility toward our weight loss. Maybe they think you are “better than them†by making such drastic changes, which is absurd. Whatever you do, don’t allow their negative energy to dampen your excitement. Plus, this negativity demonstrates that they are simply a poor excuse for a friend.
It is good to have a workout partner, or to have friends with the same fitness interests as yourself. Often times we can find people who share our goals online. Try searching for a popular form or blog, like Project Swole, and begin to post your comments and network with some of the members. This can be very motivating and the competitive aspect can be very good for progress. You could also try working with a personal trainer if you are just beginning, or if you need a supervised, motivational boost to your workouts.
In any case, remember that the weight won’t lift itself and the spare tire won’t get out there and run sprints. Get in the gym or out on the field and motivate YOURSELF to set new personal records today!
I am currently applying the principles of Project Swole to running and building a business full-time. Until I can clear out an hour or so a couple days a week, I will only be working out at home with light weights. This might actually be a good thing for Project Swole, because when I get back into the lifting scene like I want to, I will be really starting over from scratch.
On a positive note, I can now shoulder press 110 lbs 21 times and I did 18 bodyweight pull-ups the other day. My legs are falling apart though, as are my chest and tris. I will keep trying to post to this site at least once a week. Perhaps some articles are in order. Just remember, nothing is ever over!
There’s nothing better than to be able to walk outside, or go down stairs, and lift some weights. Sometimes it is expensive to build a full home gym set up. This is why I am starting to build my arsenal of used exercise equipment for extra workouts around the house. Clearly I will need more, newer, and better equipment that I currently have, but this is a start.
To date I have the following equipment:
two 45 lb Powerblocks
two ab rollers
springs
one rusty 45 lb olympic bar
one rusty 20 lb e-z curl bar
200 lbs of old plastic weights that only fit on the e-z curl bar
one big ass heavy bag hanging from a hook in the shed + gloves
two pullup bars, neither of which are currently up
one grassy park with a river across the street from my house, which I will use for sprinting, doing pull-ups in the trees, tree climbing, boat rowing, and a variety of other activities
one piece of really awkward driftwood that is useful for lifting and carrying in various ways
I shall take some pictures and post them shortly. It is only July, so Project Swole is still in effect for the next two months. This will be my first week of being 100% my own boss and I anticipate weight training to resume in a 3-workouts-per-week schedule.
Ever since I was 8 years old I wanted to be a millionaire. Even in my youth I immediately realized the importance of money. It began with collecting comic books and baseball cards. Strategically collecting the ones that I thought would be worth most, in hopes of reselling them for future profit. This led into my first multi-level-marketing experience around the age of 18. I have attempted various schemes and scams, tried doing exactly what the rich did, and tried my hand at eBay and other various retail sales ventures. I even started personal training because it was ‘my own business’, but made the mistake of working for a gym rather than working for myself. For the most part, all of my ventures have been failures, EXCEPT for the one vital component that we must never forget: Every failure has at least one groundbreaking lesson, and the only true mistake is the one we make twice.
Ultimately, my lessons and studies led me to my final decision regarding how I could be a millionaire. It involves a step by step process that virtually guarantees success:
I must work for myself, making money for myself, charging my own rates.
I must do something that I love.
I must become an expert in the industry.
I must network like crazy, building a list of professional affiliations and associations.
I must sub contract the grunt work to minions.
I must develop a stream of residual income.
I must partner with someone, or train someone to run the business like it was their own.
If possible, given the timeframe of life, repeat these steps until rich.
How Do These Things Relate to This Post?
Well, I have developed a business with Tasen Software wherein I design, build, and maintain custom computer software and websites. My backlog of work is so tremendous, I am still completing projects from 2006 in June of 2007. Every day that I get out of work, I am forced to go home to my office and work. There is no time for family or relaxation, or even for getting all of my work done. I have decided that I must quit my full-time job and join the ranks of the self-employed, and so this is what I have done.
I am planning on working as a contractor for at least two days per week, and working on my own business three days per week, plus nights and weekends. To this extent I believe I am on my way to making my first million, AND I should be able to get back in the gym three days a week now. Three cheers for self-employment!!
Now, let the REAL hard work begin. I am coming for YOU Gates!
Once again I have gone on hiatus for about a week. I have been experiencing some sort of GI track bug which was causing my body to reject food in a wide variety of ways. This would not be condusive to deadlifting or squatting. In fact, walking around was annoying enough to me, nevermind hoisting iron all around the gym.
In any case, I am back again. I now have about 3 weeks to get ‘Swole in a Month’. Candlebox tickets have been purchased for the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, and I must prepare myself to be shirtless for the better part of 3-4 hours.
The Slacker
I am starting to feel like this guy. Do you know who I’m talking about? The Slacker is that guy that you’ve seen at the gym for the last year or two, who never seems to get any bigger, stronger, or leaner. He’s spinning his wheels, slacking off for a week here and there, taking a month off when life gets busy, or he just goes home at night and decides to stay home and drink a beer rather then coming in for some overhead presses. This is the guy I feel like right now. I am not doing what it’s going to take to get in shape. I am Mr. Lazy American.
Yesterday I got back in the gym for my first workout in 6 days aside from some fooing around at home. It was not a bad workout, but definitely not spectacular. If nothing else, I am definitely maintaining. =(
This is my second lunchtime workout under my new mid-day workout plan. So far, so good. I am clearly way too out of shape to excel at the complex that I tried today, but I did it anyway, and made it through unscathed.
Tip of the day: To promote maximum growth in your calves, train them every other day while varying the exercises. For example you might try standing calf raises Monday, seated calf raises Wednesday, and a wide stance incline calf raise with bent kness on Friday. Be creative!
Current Weight: 186.6 lbs Current Bodyfat: too much
Diet: protein bar, coffee coolatta, ham/egg/cheese on english muffin, dried fruit, fruit, turkey/roast beef on whole grain bread, and tonight I shall dine on meat and vegetables.
Supplements: NO-Xplode, and X-Tend pre-workout, 1 serving of Gatorade during the workout, 1 serving of Biotest Surge post-workout. Multi-Vitamin
1a – Dumbell Bench – 60 x 10, 90 x 7, 100 x 6, 100 x 3 1b – Incline Calf Raise – 180 x 12, 180 x 12, 205 x 10 2a – Stiff Leg Deadlift – 135 x 10, 225 x 7, 275 x 7, 315 x 5 2b – Ab Machine – 130 x 10, 130 x 10 3a – Deadlift/Hang Clean/Push Press/Back Squat/Push Press Complex – 135 x 5, 135 x 5, 135 x 5 3b – Ab Machine – 130 x 10, 130 x 10 4 – Dumbell Cross Eyes – 40 x 7, 50 x 7
Conclusion: I am enjoying the complexes right now. Originally I was supposed to do the complexes on my off days, Tuesday and Thursday, however I am out of shape and I really enjoy the way the complexes tax my entire body. For now I will keep doing them on regular workout days. Also, I am still weak.
I am going to Candlebox on July 6th. The show will be at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom (in NH), in the middle of summer, in a swarming crowd of people, and I refuse to be forced to wear a shirt due to man boobs and love handles! Therefore I have roughly one month to kick it up a gear.
The Plan
I will exercise five days a week for four weeks. This exercise will occur during my lunch break at work. I will lift heavy Mon/Wed/Fri and Tues/Thurs will be additional workouts of high intensity cardio or complexes. For cardio, I will occasionally participate in the elliptical machine, but more often than not I will choose to workout on the heavy bag. On elliptical days, I will toss in 20 rep, light weight sets to stimulate blood flow and assist recovery. Complexes are also quite enjoyable, as I will go and and hit up a deadlift/hang clean/push press/back squat/rear push press combination.
The Goals
When I am as out of shape as I am right now, a deadlift/hang clean/push press complex is difficult enough, but in a month I want to be in solid enough shape to complete 5 sets at 135 of the full complex. It would be nice to be able to rep 315 x 5 again in the squat. This is not that difficult to attain. My deadlift should get back up to 405 x 5, 455 x 1 in a month. Benching shouldn’t cause me any trouble to get 225 x 5 and 275 x 1. I would also like to increase my current level of leanness, which I know will happen along with my other goals. Due to my intensity and the muscle memory theory, I believe I can accomplish these goals by 7/5/2007.
Notes to Self
More protein and water, less everything else
You will arrive at work no later than 9:30 am on any given morning
Somewhere between 12:00 and 3:00 you must get in 30 minutes of exercise minimum, 5 days per week
I have taken much time off. In fact it has been a solid week and a half since I have set foot in the weight room. Friday, May 18, just when I was starting to feel strong and alive, I had just about the worst workout of my life. All my weights were down 10% or more, and I couldn’t get out of my own way. Then I struggled through a muddled weekend; made it through some kind of depression/funk on Monday and Tuesday; battled a fever and a really sore body, upset stomache, and headache on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; Friday I took off to recover but ended up in a day-long fight with the girlfriend; and finally I struggled through a long weekend of project work and yard work. At least some exercise was had from yard work.
Today I am feeling tired from only sleeping for 4 hours last night, but I will lift w8 today after work. At least if I can get in there and grind out a maintenance session, maybe I can get my body to hold on to the last bits of remaining muscle tissue.
On a positive note, I scored a rusty old standard olympic bar over the weekend and I’m going to try to hunt down some cheap plates. Slowly I am adding to my home gym arsenal… eventually I might actually be able to get a workout in with all this stuff. =)
I shall be more dilligent with updating this blog, for much knowledge must be distributed.
Awww jeah… I’m starting to feel normal again. I can jump again, my grip strength is coming back, I can lift washing machines and driers again… weight training is good. Of course I still only weigh about 185 and I’m still pretty much weak compared to my previous peaks, but it’s coming back. So why is everything falling into place for me during my fourth week on Project Swole, even though I took it pretty easy for the first three weeks? There are three reasons that I can think of, and I want to explain each of them just briefly. The main reason for my quick recovery is muscle memory, which is assisted by my straight up intensity in the weight room, and I have helped everything along by starting slowly and working up to the higher weights and volume.
Muscle Memory
Since I have been weight training seriously since about 1995, my body remembers how to lift. My muscle fibers and neurons remember how to optimize themselves for power, strength, and performance. The rumor is that for the general athlete, you will lose strength in a quarter of the time that it took to gain it; and it will take twice as long as it took to lose it, to get it back. This basically means that you cut in half the time it takes to get back to your optimal performance level after a short layoff or injury.
Intensity
If you go into the weight room and train like a Sally, you will make about as much progress as a snail on fly paper. The general rule of thumb should be to treat the weights like you would your worst enemy. Those weights’ entire purpose for existence is to stop YOU from moving them. The weights don’t want to move, but if you don’t move them, the world will surely come to an end. This is how you must set your mind before each set. Just remember not to confuse intensity with forced reps, negatives, or overtraining with either too many training sessions or too many exercises. Training smart is the key to making progress.
To help build my intensity, I take a bit of inspiration from two of my favorite lifting songs, which I repeat to myself just before each max effort or heavy work set.
Mudvayne once said: “Dig!! Bury me! Underneath! Everything that I am!!”
Corey Taylor of Slipknot once said: “Get this or die! Get this or die!! Get this or DIE!!!”
I also snag a bit of psych from the great Ronnie Coleman who once said: “Yeah Buddy!! Light Weight!! Light Weight!!”
Easing into It
Whether you are just starting an exercise program, coming back from a layoff, or coming back from an injury, a HUGE facet of getting in shape again is to take it easy for the first 2-4 weeks. Don’t attempt any max efforts, don’t hit up forced reps and negatives on each exercise (actually don’t do this anyway), and don’t start lifting 5-6 workout sessions a week. All you will accomplish is to make yourself so sore that you can’t move around in everyday life. This week’s workouts have been really intense, and I have been paying for it since yesterday. Fortunately I am not too sore today, so I’ll be able to function in the weight room tonight when I try to pull (deadlift) a Project Swole PR.
If you do hit the iron too hard and end up with extreme soreness, you can do some of the following to assist in recovery:
Use a foam roller to massage and stimulate your muscle fibers.
Deep tissue massage to force blood into your injured tissue and release adhesions.
Find some weights, springs, bands, or use isometrics to do some exercises for the sore muscle groups with like 20% of your usual work weight, for 20 or so reps.
Don’t forget to eat and sleep properly.
With these tips and tricks, anyone can ease into a new workout program, or come back from an injury or layoff. Always remember to make it fun and be intense, but also remember not to mistake overtraining or unnecessary forced reps, for intense work sets. Lift w8 everyday.
Diet: 3 pieces of loaded pizza was the highlight of my day. I also enjoyed a coffee Coolatta, ham/egg/cheese muffin, protein bar, trail mix, chicken and rice, and a PB&J sandwich.
Supplements: NO-Xplode, and X-Tend pre-workout, 1 serving of Gatorade during the workout, 1 serving of Biotest Surge post-workout. Also, I do take a multi-vitamin like every single day.
5 minutes of warming up with dumbbells, barbells, and light power cleans.
1a – Bench Press – 135 x 20, 185 x 7, 225 x 5, 245 x 1, 245 x 1 1b – Standing Calf Raise – 240 x 12, 260 x 10, 280 x 10, 300 x 8 2a – Barbell Lunge – 135 x 10, 185 x 7, 205 x 4, 205 x 4 2b – Chest Press Machine – 210 x 3 3a – Pre-Made Bar EZ Skulls – 90 x 8, 110 x 4 Close Grip Press x 8, 110 x 4 Close Grip Press x 8 3b – Dumbell Curls – 50 x 8, 50 x 7 4 – Side Raises – 20 x 16
Conclusion: My bench press is pathetic. I have repped 275 before, like 3 years ago. I feel like 275 is far, far from my grasp. Lunges were pretty good, but I need to work on my stability. 110 seems very light for skulls, but I’m sure it will increase pretty quick. Overall this was a good lift, but I haven’t been sleeping well so I was exhausted by the end of the workout. Better luck on Friday.
My weight is up to 186! Now I must draw the line between bulking and just eating enough to keep getting bigger and stronger without getting fat. I no longer wish to bulk up anymore, so I will stay off that side of the line, although I won’t stress too much if I get just a little soft for a while.
Diet: Ideally I would start a diet log and start keeping track of the number of calories I eat everyday. I think perhaps I have conditioned myself to not get too fat over the last couple months and now I don’t eat enough. Why else would I weigh like a buck eighty?
Supplements: NO-Xplode, X-Tend, and one Balance Gold bar pre-workout, 1 serving of Gatorade during the workout, 1 serving of Biotest Surge post-workout. This will be my normal supplement regimen until I decide to go ultra-hardcore balls-to-the-wall for a month or so.
5 minutes of warming up with dumbbells, barbells, and light power cleans.
1a – Pronated Bent Over Row – 135 x 10, 185 x 5, 225 x 5, 245 x 2 + 205 x 6 1b – Fly Machine – (120 x 10) x 3 2 – Squat – 135 x 10, 225 x 7, 315 x 3, 315 x 3 3 – Pause Squat – 225 x 4 4 – Deadlift/Hang Clean/Push Press Olympic Complex – 135 x 5, 155 x 5, 175 x 4, 185 x 1 5a – Standing Overhead Press – 135 x 5, 135 x 3 5b – Dumbbell Curls – 50 x 10, 50 x 7
Conclusion: My bent over rows continue to improve even though my grip strength leaves something to be desired. The tragedy of the day was squatting. 315 x 5 used to be a warm-up set for me and I really struggled to complete the THIRD rep. Something must be done. I believe I have identified the weakness as powering out of the hole. Basically I am coming up WAY too slow and I think I need to work on my lower back strength and my hip drive. The olympic complex continues to improve as I managed to get a single rep with a push press at 185. The goal is 200 x 1. Once I got to standing shoulder presses though, I was completely spent.
Diet: Eating a little more these days. An extra protein bar or ham/egg/cheese sandwhich gets thrown in where appropriate.
Supplements: NO-Xplode, X-Tend, and one Balance Gold bar pre-workout, 1 serving of Gatorade during the workout, 1 serving of Biotest Surge post-workout.
1a – Sumo Deadlifts – 135 x 10, 225 x 7, 315 x 5, 405 x 5, 435 x 1 1b – Reverse Fly Machine – (100 x 7) x 3 2a – Incline Bench – 135 x 7, 185 x 5, 195 x 3, 195 x 2 2b – Standing Calf Raise Machine – 160 x 15, 240 x 12, 260 x 10, 280 x 6 3a – Close Grip Floor Rack Lockout – 135 x 7, 225 x 5, 245 x 1, 225 x 4 3b – Alternating Dumbbell (DB) Curls – 45 x 7, 50 x 7, 50 x 9 4a – DB Side Raise – 25 x 10, 25 x 8 4b – DB Side Bends – 60 x 10, 70 x 10
Conclusion: I am OK with sumo deadlifts, although I have identified the lockout as a weak point. In order to combat this I will do some of the following: rack pulls from the knees, rack-pull shrugs, heavier hang cleans, good mornings. My chest is both really weak and really small. I need to start hitting a heavy ass chest exercise every workout, 3 times per week. A 225 incline press should not be too hard to achieve as long as my triceps and shoulders continue to get stronger. Now, don’t get me wrong I’m not trying to be a chest and biceps guy, but in my efforts to attain a 315 bench, I feel that I need to accelerate my chest and triceps training for a month or so.
