Band Training

           I have been doing this program for some 89 weeks and during this whole time, I had never used those elastic bands with the handles in my workouts. I just assumed they were wimpy resistance training with little old ladies with artificial hips. And then I read an article regarding the science behind them.

           Now, I am not saying that you should train exclusively with bands. There is no way a band is ever going to replace good old fashioned dumbbell work. But let’s looks at some science here. I want you to imagine performing a Barbell Bench Press with chains hanging off the ends of the bar. This is not just a length of dangling chain. It is a length of chain that is piled on the floor. At the bottom of the lift, there is more chain making contact with the floor (therefore less weight) and as the bar is lifted high, there is more chain being suspended in the air. This way, the higher up you lift the weight the heavier it becomes.

           Bands are the exact same way. The farther you stretch them the more resistance is created. Typically, with Dumbbell Curls, the hardest part of the curl is the start of the lift. If failure is going to occur, it is going to happen between the start of the lift and halfway up. Typically, if you can get that weight past that “point of no return,” you should be able to complete the rest of the lift because you have made it past the crux of the lift. Everything else is “downhill” so to speak. Another way to classify the rest of that lift is with the term “garbage time.”

           Band training offers you the exact opposite. The further up you get with a curl using the bands, the harder it is going to be to complete. This allows you to achieve maximum contraction and you will feel the difference in the morning.

           Obviously bands are not something to build a workout around but, holy cow, what a way to finish a workout. You can achieve multiple lifts very quickly which is going to fire those fast-twitch muscle fibers. 

           Remember what I have stressed from the beginning: attacking from multiple angles. This is an entirely different muscle attack because the resistance is unlike what you can get through dumbbell or barbell lifts. It is very easy to rip out as many reps as possible, going to failure, and really exhausting those muscles with a technique that cannot be achieved through dumbbells.

           Now, it is tough to feel manly working with bands. Again, it feels like the same tool that little old lady with hip replacement uses but if used correctly to finish off your workout, they are phenomenal.

Tough but Truthful Talk

          I hear women talk all the time how they want to have the butt of this pop star or the shape of this movie star. Just diet and genetics are not going to do it for you. If you want a big butt (or strangely if you also want to get rid of your big butt), you HAVE to squat and deadlift. That is going to build those butt muscles more than hours on the treadmill.
          We are told all the time how men like women with curves. No one wants to cuddle with a stick at night. And “boys like a little more booty to hold at night.” Speaking for myself as a representative of Man Nation, I can tell you that this is true.
          In February 2015, it was national news when Ashley Graham – a “plus size” model made it into the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. (For the record, she didn’t make it in the issue. She was the spokesmodel for an ad for Swimsuits For All which ran in the issue.) In an article I was reading, she was labeled as a “size-16 beauty.” She was quoted as saying: “Jennifer Lawrence is the media's poster girl for curves — she's tiny.  There needs to be more education in schools, because that's where eating disorders start. It's not just about being healthy; it's also about loving who you are."
          And Ms. Graham is right. Earlier that year, Jennifer Lawrence was labeled as “curvy” and did a picture shoot with a boa constrictor. I think it is the new socially acceptable way of calling a girl “fat” much the same way that “thug” has now replaced describing someone without using the N-word. But if you think Jennifer Lawrence is fat, you have a seriously skewed view.

          And then lo and behold, last week, guess who is featured on the cover of the 2016 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Yep, Ashley Graham. And you better believe she looks amazing!
          Yes, I will go on record that Ashley Graham is an amazingly beautiful woman. She is billed as a size 16 but she can wear a bikini and make it look good. To paraphrase Walder Frey, I bet when she takes that dress off everything stays right where it is.
          So let’s be real honest here. Curves are sexy. Fat is not. Cellulite is not attractive. When things begin to fold and hang over other things, it is not attractive. I am sorry, ladies. It is the truth. But I am talking for both men and women here. This is why you see more pictures of Channing Tatum without his shirt than Jonah Hill.
          I think that people just get too darn caught up in the numbers. I am 5’11” and (as of this writing) I weigh 249 pounds. Conversely, WWE wrestler John Cena is billed as 6’1” and weighs 249 pounds. I have a very distinct feeling that his 249 and my 249 are way, way different.
          But what if told you that it swings the other way too? Just because you can fit into a size 4 dress does not mean you are going to immediately be more attractive than someone who is a size 10. That woman wearing a size 10 might have a rear end that looks like an upside-down heart that country music guys write songs about. If it is big and shapely and swallows up a g-string, yes, most men are going to find that more attractive than a stick figure. 

          This is where I think women need to quit obsessing strictly over their dress sizes. Do you really think Gina Carano or Ronda Rousey are worried about the diameter of their thighs? I seriously doubt it. Because of their work ethic, if they gain an inch diameter on their thighs, it is going to be because they are packing on muscle. No dude ever in the history of dues is going to complain about that.
          So if you are a woman picking up the weight for the first time, I would judge your progress not by your body weight and/or dress size but by the amount of iron you are pushing. Yes, you might gain pounds on the scale but what if you elevate from bench pressing 45 pounds to 75 pounds? To me, those are numbers to be proud of.
          But I think women are afraid to pick up weights because they have a stereotypical image in their mind of a female bodybuilder. We think of those Eastern European “women” who you are convinced might be taking horse steroids. “Eww, I don’t want to get all big and bulky.” To which I want to reply, “I have been doing this for a year trying to get big and bulky and I cannot accomplish it!!!” If you are looking at women in bodybuilding competition photos, these are the 1% that train like machines.
          I guarantee you that every woman in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue does some sort of weight training. I am not saying they are slapping on four of the 45 lb. plates and squatting 225 pounds but they are doing some sort of weight training.
          If you are afraid that you are going to get all veiny and have stuff start bulging out in places… don’t. Again, doing one Google Image Search is going to represent the top 1% of these female bodybuilders. And like all photo shoots, they are getting oiled up and working out beforehand. It is not a representation of real life.
          And if it makes you feel any better, guys have the same kind of “body envy” as women do. Or at least I do. I see guys like John Cena, Chris Evans, and Hugh Jackman and I want to look like them. But Hugh doesn’t look like the Wolverine 24/7. And Chris Pratt likes beer way too much to be in Star Lord shape all the time.
          What I am saying is don’t let your dress size determine your success. I think if you ask 100 men, they would tell you that they prefer a size 10 that is filled out and shapely over a woman that is a size 4, never visits the gym, and is rail thin simply through diet and genetics. 
          So, seriously ladies, don’t be afraid to get clanging and banging.

Posture & Power

           There is a belief that the body follows the mind. George Patton has a quote where he talks about the body is always tired but if the mind is not tired the body will not be. Strangely enough, scientists have discovered that it works the other way too.

           Remember when you had to take standardized tests as a kid? One of my teachers encouraged us to wear our favorite shirt on that day. Because when you wear your favorite shirt, you get happy. Happy performs better. Think about going out on a date. Are you going to wear that pair of jeans that makes your butt look good or are you going to wear sweatpants? Happiness breeds confidence and confidence breed success.

           A friend once asked if I only workout in super hero shirts. I honestly didn’t understand the question. Why would you work out in anything but super hero shirts? For me, comic book characters are our modern mythology. The Flash is our version of Hermes. Wolverine is our Achilles. And Superman is likened to Apollo. How many of us as kids tied a towel around our necks and struck the “Superman pose”? Why do we do that? Because kids already inherently know the power of that stance.

           Think about your posture. When you sit, do you sit small? Do you try to occupy as little space as possible? Do you place your hand on your neck? These are all defensive and submissive positions. Now, look at the animal kingdom, species seeking dominance strike big poses. Silverback gorillas, cobras, blowfish, raptor birds, they all strike big poses.

           Athletes across all cultures instinctively raise their hands and spread their arms in moments of victory. And yes, I do this in the gym before preparing for big lifts. I do this to psyche myself up and I look at myself in the mirror wearing Superman’s emblem on my chest. I am representing Big Blue when I wear that shirt. Combine that with music from MAN OF STEEL by Hans Zimmer and I am unstoppable. This is why you won’t see me working out wearing Strawberry Shortcake clothes. (If super heroes aren’t your thing it might be your favorite sports team – college or pro – or maybe your favorite professional wrestler.)

           So what if I told you scientists discovered that the mind can follow the body? Striking those power poses (be it Superman’s posture, the Wonder Woman stance, or any victory pose) triggers testosterone in your system. They had test subjects spit in a vial, had them assume power poses for two minutes, and spit in a second vial. After two minutes of power posing, the testosterone levels in their saliva spiked.

           When your power is up, your confidence is up. Confidence gets you hired. Confidence gets you that date with the pretty girl. Confidence gets you elected. Confidence allows you to achieve your goals. So today, if you have something important to do, take two minutes before and strike your power pose. Take two minutes to flood your body and prepare you for the fight ahead.

           Now, you might be thinking (as you stand there with clenched fists on your hips), I am an imposter. I am fraud. Some would argue, “Fake it until you make it.” No, fake it until you become it. Because as you put in the work, confidence will breed success. Think I am crazy? Ignore all this and go about your day. But give me two minutes and this just might change your life.

           Fortune favors the bold. And he who dares wins. Now, go forth and do likewise. And the next time you need some inspiration, ask yourself, "What are you going to do when you are not saving the world?"

 

 

Active Recovery

           Today we are talking about Active Recovery which I believe is going to help alleviate that soreness that you are encountering in your workouts and is going to help give you overall improvements. As I mentioned in an earlier blog article, soreness is the result of micro-tearing of the muscles and the soreness you feel are the muscles knitting themselves back together. Remember, soreness is a good thing. It means that you are working hard and your muscles are growing.

            Now, my workout patterns are divided into four different muscle groupings with both an A and B workout. So, let’s take for instance the Chest & Back workout which is the focus of this particular pretend week of training. We are performing Chest & Back A on Monday, we will run through the other three workouts and then shift to Chest & Back B on Friday. The goal of these workouts is hypertrophy which means we are sticking with the plan of 10 reps (8 reps with surgical form and slight cheating to get those ninth and tenth reps).

           What I am suggesting is that two days after Workout A, you perform a number of “active recovery” reps to help alleviate the soreness that you are feeling. I want you to imagine the hypertrophy workout as heavy lifting with a goal of 100 reps for a muscle group. If this seems like a lot, keep in mind that by performing 3 set of 10 reps through flat bench, incline, and decline, you just achieved 90 reps. Add on flyes and some ancillary exercises and you are actually doing more than 100 reps. So, you have performed your Monday workout and you are satisfied with the results.

           Now allowing the muscles to rest is very important for growth but if we do a little active recovery, you are getting blood flowing back into those muscles and, like the alcoholics, you are getting a little hair of the dog that bit you. Reference back to your tracking that you did on Monday (see, tracking is important!), I want you to target muscle exercises at 60-70% of the weight you performed on Monday with a total goal of around 45 reps.

           If you did a Flat Bench Press of 100 pounds for 10 reps, now let’s get 70 pounds for 8 reps. You want enough weight to stimulate the muscles and get blood flowing back into them but you don’t want to over-train. If this seems like a lot of work to add into an already packed workout, consider this. If you only do 1 set of 8 reps in a flat, incline, and decline position, that gets you to 36 reps. Toss in some flyes or a few ancillary exercises and you are done. You are not racking weights and setting up for three sets at each position. It is one set, switch position, another set, and so on.  

           Now, on Monday, after resting up for the weekend, Active Recovery might not be as essential as the Active Recovery performed on Wednesday or Thursday. But a little more active stimulation of the muscles fibers on Monday (when energy levels should be highest) is never a bad thing.

           If you worked chest and back on Monday, include some active recovery reps on Wednesday. You could even do this as part of your warmup reps before you really get started. If you do Shoulders and Lats on Tuesday, do some active recovery on Thursday. Legs on Wednesday get active recovery on Friday. And so on and so forth down the line. By doing this, you will feel a lot better about conquering that soreness issue. 

Change or Die

           I have developed many reiterations of my Furyan sets over the course of its development and I can pretty much guarantee you that I will not be performing this exact routine between the time of writing this post and the time it gets published. As I have mentioned, the human body is remarkably adaptive. You begin by “teaching” your body what you want it to do. Once it understands the basic dynamics of an Arnold Shoulder Press and you have perfected your form, this is when you will start to see dramatic gains in the amount of weight that you can lift.

           Because of this adaptability and the previously referenced Law of Diminishing Returns, you have to keep finding new and different things to work into the rotation. Even now, as I am writing this I am experimenting with Shotgun Rows to attack my lat muscles and a variation of the squat called a Landmine Squat for my quads. You have to always be on the lookout for new exercises to try.  

           Some exercises, like the One-Armed Linear Jammer, look freaking intimidating on paper but once you execute them, you realize they are really fun and explosive to do. Now, it is the first thing I do in my Shoulder & Lat day but when I started, it wasn’t even in my arsenal.

           You might look at a Hanging Leg Raise and scoff. Trust me, you will get there eventually. So you have to keep looking for new and exciting things to do. My splits and my antagonistic sets are probably never going to change because I feel it is a very solid philosophy. But don’t let the list that I have provided be your sole set of exercises.

           Be constantly expanding in your quest of fitness health. Find exercises that you really like and then build a program around them. Maybe you have health issues or medical problems that are going to limit what exercises you can perform. That is absolutely fine. Adapt. And this is where it is very nice to have access to a personal trainer that can help you design a program around such medical limitations.

           There is also nothing wrong with doing some research and experimenting. Give something a try. You never know what may fire your imagination. Let me stress this as well. Have FUN! The more fun you have, the more likely you are to keep this up.

           When I first was getting started, squats were murder and deadlifts literally made me want to puke afterwards. As a result I dreaded leg day. This is where you have to experiment with weight and reps. Before I understood hypertrophy, I was doing squats at a lower weight for 12 reps. And I thought that was the way to go with deadlifts as well.

           Then I changed my thinking. Why keep muscle under tension for such a tremendous amount of time, when it was an exercise that I hated? Instead, I thought, Let’s just pack the weight on and get in and out as fast as possible. I started doing sets of 5. I started to see real legitimate gains and suddenly getting to 8 reps was not nearly as torturous. Now, I can do sets of 10 and not feel like vomiting.

           You have to be constantly adapting and changing because your body is going to adapt and you will start seeing diminishing returns. Just remember, if you want to increase your bench press, you don’t just do bench press. You do a variety of chest muscles that will stimulate growth and strength. So, keep things changing to see more improvement. 

No One Cares

           A while back, I was at the gym doing my thing and a newbie gym goer asked me for advice on how to perform an exercise. (He wanted me to show him how to do a Dumbbell Shoulder Press and then I also showed him the Dumbbell Arnold Press variation as an alternative.) He was a young kid, probably in high school, who was there at the Wellness Center with his mother.

           Now, first of all, the kid was there which means he had taken a greater step than half the people that want to get in shape. Just showing up is half the battle. So he was asking me how to perform a shoulder press and I gave him a brief tutorial. He picked up 25-pound dumbbells and began to attempt a press. His arms were shaky and his form was poor. So I switched him out to 15-pound dumbbells. I was adamant about proper form being the right building block. You perfect your form and then the weight will come. Here were some of the inherent flaws.

           1) Never Lift to Impress. I am starting to get comfortable in my own skin and I like how my arms are developing. I have not (nor will I ever) refer to my arms as a “gun show” but I do feel that they are coming along. Here is a 150-pound kid who probably has minimal lifting experience. He was humble enough to come and ask for help. [If you don’t ask, you will never learn!] But I think he didn’t want to appear as a “girlie man” so he lifted a weight that was far too heavy. You could tell because of the way his arms were shaking and his horrible form. I am telling you people, poor form gets you hurt!

           By dropping the weight, he was better able to control the weight and focus on his form instead of focusing on solely lifting the weight. So when you see that pretty girl in the yoga pants, don’t go lifting weight that you cannot lift thinking you will impress her. It won’t end well.

           2) Worry About You. While there are always going to be lunkheads gym-ratting about, I would say that 90% of the gym goers are not paying attention to how much weight you are lifting. If you are executing to the maximum of your ability and executing flawless form, that is much more impressive than lifting an astonishing amount of weight while blowing a gasket and cheating to get your reps. No one is paying attention to how much iron you are pumping so never feel bad about regressing with weight to achieve better form.

           3) Muscle Memory. Any time that I incorporate a new exercise into my routine, I just anticipate being sore the next day. It is incredibly important to attack your muscles from multiple angles by using different techniques. So if you have never performed an Arnold Press, you first have to teach your body, “Okay, Body, this is the exercise I want to perform.” It may take several sessions for your body to start putting 2 and 2 together. But once it understands what you are attempting, your muscles will “remember” what you are trying to achieve. And once that happens, you can then start progressing with strength gains.

 

           So now if we start putting all three of the elements together, you will start to see a recurring theme. It is not you versus other lifters in the gym. The only person you have to better than is the person you were yesterday. Do not concern yourself with what other people are lifting or how much weight they are doing because serious (or should I say considerate) lifters are not paying attention to what you are doing. They are focused too much on their own program and their own concerns.

           Now, by all means, I am not telling you to use this as an excuse not to push hard. Sometimes we do need a spark to reach the maximum of our potential and break through barriers. But if you are listening to your body and going to the maximum of your ability, everything is going to be fine. Just do you. Just worry about you.

           And if “haters” are gonna hate, just remember what the 21^st century philosopher Childish Gambino once said, “Don’t be mad ‘cause I’m doing me better than you doing you.”

The Importance of Goals

          Having both long-term and short-term goals are tremendously beneficial for anything you want to accomplish in life. I know this sounds strange but you have to have the courage to write your goals down. It seems like a very simple thing but many people are afraid to do this. Writing goals down makes it concrete. This can be intimidating because here is a tangible record of what you want to accomplish. The problem with writing down a concrete goal is that now it is something that you can fail at. It is kind of along the theory of Schrödinger's Cat in that if you don’t write a goal down, you can’t experience failure because the goal was never written. (And some people cannot mentally handle failure. They can be discouraged by it.) The problem is that a goal that is not written down can be forgotten or the margins can be fudged to simulate success.

          I have found that writing down goals can also help you stick to a schedule. When I am working on important writing projects, I actually print out a calendar and map out my page count of where I have to be on any certain date in order to hit my deadlines. If I don’t do this, it is easy to let a Saturday slide by without anything getting done. But if I write out a tangible record that says, “You have to have 56 pages done by the 17th,” it helps keep me on task. You will be surprised at how this written record keeps you focused be it at work, doing household chores, or setting up schedules for a new activity. The same is true of your lifting strategy.

          It is important to set short term goals and long term goals. And these are not goals that you set because of someone else. You set them up for you. For what you want.
          For instance, my long term goal is to slim down to 215 pounds. That is 35 pounds that I want to drop. Within the last few months – if you just look at the weight numbers – I have been failing in that goal because my weight loss has stagnated. But my biceps are gaining in size and my strength goals continue to increase. So, I feel like I am gaining muscle. This is a greater victory than just losing pounds simply for pounds sake. Sure, I could ensconce myself in those garbage bag suits and just do cardio if I only wanted to lose weight. But I want to lose fat at a healthy pace while continuing to grow stronger. You have to be able to look at the bigger picture.
          My other long term goal is to join the 1,000 lb. club. Inspired by Hugh Jackman and his video posts of him joining this impressive club, you have to lift a combined weight of 1,000 pounds across 3 exercises – the deadlift, squat, and bench press. You have to perform a minimum of 3 reps with each exercise. I figure if I can deadlift 405, squat 345, and bench 250, I am there. As of right now, I am in the 890 lb. club but my long term goal is 1,000 pounds.
          I remember when I was first getting started, I read Joe Manganiello’s book EVOLUTION. In that, he was talking about how he would squat his body weight to warm up. When I first stepped back into the squat rack, after being gone for over 20 years, and looking at my starting weight, I knew it was going to be physically impossible for me to just squat my weight, much less warm up with it.
          Now, I was trying to listen to Manganiello’s advice and I was performing reps of 15, 12, 10, 5, 10, and 15. I went back and looked at my tracking and in Week 9, I was doing 135 pounds (which is one 45-pound plate on each side) for this insane rep count that he was suggesting. [Again, this is where I was developing my belief that you need an “Average Joe” workout before you can get to that professional level.] I changed up my techniques, I went to a more reasonable rep range and slowly, over time, I have starting seeing the numbers begin to increase and recently I summoned enough gumption to squat 300 pounds for as many reps as possible. (I got 4.) A few weeks later, I tried for 350 and I was able to achieve 1 rep. I mentally now knew that I could do it once. I just need to be able to add three more reps to that lift. This is not to say that I will not go back and revisit Manganiello’s theories but for now, I know I am not nearly at the level I need be to follow his program. And that is okay. I will get there eventually.
          As my strength increased and my weight began to drop, I thought about what Manganiello said.  In April 2015, my rep range was around 8 reps for 225. Well, if my long term goal is to weigh 215 pounds and if I am doing 225 now to work out, then warming up with my body weight at 215 sounds pretty darn reasonable!
          But when you are sitting at 275 lbs., getting to 215 pounds seems like a pretty large mountain to climb. That is where short term goals come in. So instead of focusing solely on the mountaintop, let’s get work our way up a series of plateaus instead. You set short term goals. “Last week I benched 100 pounds for 3 set of 10 reps. Next month, I want to be benching 120 pounds for 3 sets of 10.” That is a good short term goal. Ask yourself what you need to do to accomplish your goals.
          Short term goals give you something to strive for and it gives you a sense of accomplishment that can become more tangible in an immediate timeframe. Again, this is where you have to embrace the concept of building a wall. You are laying things down brick by brick and when you eventually come up for air, you will look back and be amazed at how far you have come over the course of six months.
          Set your goals. Be realistic but also challenge yourself. Again, you want to give it 100% every time. 

Realistic Expectations

          We have heard countless stories of body issues in America. Women develop self-esteem and body issues when they see all those cover models like Kate Upton and Charlotte McKinney. And there is the endless parade of beauties like Sofia Vergara, Katy Perry, and Scarlett Johannson. This is where things like Photoshop, professional lighting and talented photographers all manage to distort reality. Truth be told, all those magazine companies know (and use) all the tricks to make any average woman look like Playboy centerfolds. Women fall for it hook, line, and sinker. But this is not a problem that is exclusive to females.

          Even as a heterosexual man, I look at male physiques and I do tend to idolize men. I think to myself, “I wished I looked like them.” For me, the ultimate is Schwarzenegger. There are so many professional wrestlers and action heroes out there that I aspire to look like. The Rock, Hugh Jackman, John Cena, Chris Evans… I do lurk quite a bit on bodybuilding websites, looking for helpful articles, strategies, and exercises to try. And low and behold, those fitness magazines and website pepper their articles with professional bodybuilders.

          And much the same way that Playboy uses professional lighting, perfectly tailored clothes, and artistic makeup to “enhance” their models, I am quite certain that the bodybuilders did not just wander into the studio right out of bed and after a 12-stack pancake breakfast. I am not saying that these guys are not cut and jacked but I would bet dollars to donuts that they only shoot those photos at the tail end of a massive workout session and they have professional lighting, makeup, and spritzing water bottles to simulate sweat for those photos.

          When you are working out, you might be trying to compare yourself to these professionals and you are wondering why the veins on your arms don’t look like a highway road map. That is how discouragement sets in…. So consider this. 

          Hugh Jackman’s regiment for him to become Wolverine had him eating boiled chicken and brown rice every four hours. And they had a technique where you overload your body with water for 7 days and then don’t drink anything for 24 hours. This helps get you that “shredded” look.

          Even Chris Pratt, Star Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy, said that the massive training he did was to get to that one sequence where he knew he was going to be filmed with his shirt off. It is like those orchids that take months to cultivate and then bloom and die in a matter of seconds.

          Go lift up Gerard Butler’s shirt right now and I guarantee you he is not in King Leonidas shape from 300.

          Another thing to keep in mind; when Schwarzenegger was competing, his program was 6 days a week, where he basically did 3-day splits, twice a week, working out morning and afternoon. I don’t have that kind of availability. Few of us do. I have a 9 to 5 job and live in a single parent household. I cannot spend four to six hours a day in the gym. Sleep and work has chewed up 16 of my 24 hour day. It is not fiscally possible and it is not financially prudent for me. Unless I just want to give up sleep and double the miles I put on my car every year.

          I remember when I first got started in the gym, getting through 45 minutes (with cardio) was a nightmare. Eventually, I worked my way up to a solid hour. And now my time in the weight room is averaging closer to an hour and a half. You hear tell of guys spending six to eight hours in the gym. I don’t have that kind of physical stamina to begin with.   

          Now, you have to make time to hit the gym but we all have responsibilities we have to tend to. I’ve got bills to pay and mouths to feed. I’ve got my 40-hour a week job, parental duties, boyfriend duties (if I am dating), laundry to do, meals to prepare, a house to clean, a lawn to maintain, and the beat goes on and the beat goes on…

          Four hours in the gym would leave me only 4 hours left to handle all the other things I have to do in my day. I’ve got pages to write. You have to factor in time to shower. Eat. Commute back and forth. If I went this route, my whole life would be career, sleep, and they gym. There would be no time for anything else.

          See, this is the trap that we often fall into because I idolize the bodies of professional wrestlers and action movie stars. But John Cena’s job requires him to look like he does. When he spends 8 hours a day in the gym, it is like me spending 8 hours at the office. The gym is his office. So it is often an unrealistic standard for me to compare myself to Cena, when he is literally doing four times the work in the gym than me. I am not saying that you shouldn’t have goals. You can look like that. But do not let yourself fall into that “why don’t I look like” trap and get discouraged.

Tracking Weight and Ditching Scales

           When I started on Week 1 of my journey, I was too afraid and ashamed to step on the scales. I had an estimate of how much I weighed but stepping on that digital medical quality scale would have made that number concrete. It would have made it real and I would have been certain how much trouble I was in. Truth be told, it had to be over 280 lbs.

            When I finally stepped on the scales a few months in, I was at 275. So I started to go to work. My inevitable goal is 215 lbs. As of today, I am somewhere around 240. But I can tell you that my body has changed dramatically and I think just focusing on a random number on a scale is a mistake.

           I remember going through this strange phase where my pants were getting looser but I was gaining weight. Even now (as of the time of this writing), my weight has remained consistent for the last few months but I have shrank in clothing sizes. I am officially now in a size Large pants and a XL shirt (down from a XL and XXL respectively).

           This one girl that I was dating was obsessed about just getting down to a target weight as if she could just hit this magic number then her body would be perfect. I tried to use a velvet hammer to pound into her psyche that men do not care about how much you weigh. We care more about form and shape. Remember when Batman asked Vicki Vale how much she weighed? “Umm, about 108.” Like that was some magic number that he – as a man – would find appealing. Just for future reference, the only time a guy cares about how much you weight is if he is wearing a cowl and he is mathematically calculating if his retractable grappling line has the torque to lift both you and him to safety. That is the only time he cares.

           

Do think she is concerned with thigh size?

I am aware that the fashion industry marginalizes women based on their size. They don’t make sexy lingerie in Size 16. Mostly that size is catered to by way of a flannel onesie with some sort of cartoon character on it. But if you think you cannot be sexy as a Size 12 you are sorely mistaken. And what is even worse is if you think is a Size 2 is sexier than a Size 10 simply because they are a smaller number. This is just flat out the wrong mentality to have.

           There are times where it is easy to lose focus and get discouraged if you are solely looking at the scale as measuring your progress. Scales rarely share with you the “whole picture.” It is just a number spit out.

           Do not get too obsessed over your weight numbers. Instead, focus on how much weight you are gaining… on the bar. Instead of focusing on how much weight you are losing on the scales, focus instead on how much strength you are gaining in your bench press, the squat, and all your other exercises.

           You will gain so much more satisfaction knowing that you went up 10 pounds on the bench or the squat than if you went down 10 pounds on the scale. Because that weight loss is eventually going to stall. But if that those strength totals are starting to increase, that means you are packing on the muscle.

           Do you really think John Cena cares that he is 249 pounds?

           Don’t let those weight numbers discourage you because there is going to come a point where you will gain weight from the amount of density you are gaining. Just keep clanging and banging and things will eventually fall into place.
***Nerd Alert: Yes, I did just reference 1989's BATMAN as a way to motivate you.***  

Theory Thursdays

           As I mentioned earlier in this blog, Americans don’t want to be told to do something. They want to be told why to do something. By doing this, it gives someone a greater general understanding of the principles behind the practice. This helps you digest the theories and then adhere to them later down the road. So I felt that on Thursdays, I would spend time talking about why we do things.

           I know it is easy to confuse this with Technical Tuesdays and even as I write this I am aware that the two entries may end up blending together. But think of Tuesdays as articles like “How to Bench Press” where Thursday articles will be more along the lines of “Why to Bench Press.”

           I think that by explaining my theories of why I do what I do, it will help inspire you to tweak your own program and make it your own. So on Thursdays prepare for more of intellectual approach to these articles, ways to generally improve, and maybe more than a few anecdotes that will hopefully be informative but also entertaining.  

           This is what Thursdays are going to be about. And while that leaves today’s article a little shallow, here is some inspiration for you. I truly wish more women would take up this attitude. We need to quit celebrating Do-Nothing Bitches and take pride in those that are truly talented and making their own way in the world.

           I want to infuse my daughter with this kind of confidence.