Category Archives: Figure/Bodybuilding
re·bound verb \ˈrē-ˌbau̇nd, ri-ˈ\
Rebound: Return, bounce back, setback, backfire, move backward.
I recently took 18 competitors from my gym, Max Fitness, to compete in the NPC Southeast Classic. The goal was hitting the stage. Not winning a trophy, but using the stage to make us push harder and be our best.
The goal was made, and the goal was met! What we do now defines what we learned on our journey to accomplish our goal. In the “realm” of goal acquisition, focusing solely on the goal can be a tragedy. What I mean is, the goal is just that: “a goal” – a means to an end. How we develop, the wisdom we gain, and the way we develop along the way is the real reward for meeting our goal. Goals are not the real rewards.
Lets think backwards for a second. By creating a goal to shoot for, you are inviting some level of adversity into your life. How much adversity we will endure is measured by how grandiose the goal. The “Goal” only gives reason to validate and hold accountable our hard work, our long suffering, our perilous effort to make our bodies fitter, our will stronger, our bellies hungrier. I have never seen anyone train harder than when they were stretching themselves to reach a new goal. These guys did just that. Josh Gay‘s 60-day before & after picture shows just how hard they worked. Then, they hit the stage, and celebrated, and then they went home…
Score! Now What?
What happens after we reach our goal? It is good after hard training to back down, enjoy the “win” and celebrate the goal acquisition. For me, it was going on a vacation (cruise). We hit the keys, then Mexico and then headed to Disney shortly after we got home. Yes, there was a lot of food involved. But, at some point, we must get back in the game.
We don’t pay off credit cards just to go on some huge spending spree waisting our money, discipline and hard work. It is ok to go charge a dinner, but then we pay it off immediately to avoid getting in the bad position we were once in. Whether the goal was physical or financial, it’s important to remember what you learned along the way and how you felt while you were working so hard.
The best way to prevent rebound is to give yourself a marked amount of time to enjoy your hard work. But after that time is finished, it’s time get back to work. It’s time to make new goals – both long and short term.
Before you even reached this goal, you should already dream about what is next. Don’t take your eye off of the immediate prize. Don’t focus on your future goals until you accomplished the one set right before you. However; you should already be thinking about what is next. This will prevent your downtime from turning into a complete train wreck and a complete rebound.
Doesn’t matter if we are talking about finance or weight loss, enjoy your success but don’t throw away your investment. Remember what you learned along the way. This is what makes you better, stronger, and more patient. Make some goals, so you can push your limits!
Geared Up & Ready
Even something like a new pair of shoes can get you motivated to get back in the gym and hit it hard again. I got these new Reebok ZigCarbons and love them. It was just what I needed to want to do cardio again.
My next new gym toy is Reebok’s Bose Headphone set. They help get my mind focused, shut out distractions and make the most of my time at the gym. Totally what I needed to tune back into my routine.
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Formula for Success
“If you take your eyes off the goal, for even a second, doubt will rush your mind like a band of brutal thieves.”
Doubt intends to kill your dreams, destroy your desire, and beat you down with fear. Evidence of this is obvious in the most trying times. When we are hungry, when we are tired, when we are angry, when we are in despair…
Be Hungry
When you are hungry, let that hunger be your purpose. It is a burning reminder in your gut of what you want to accomplish. When you are tired and your eyes grow heavy, don’t be the martyr the world excuses you to be, no one owes you anything. If there is something you want, you stay up one more hour and you go out and get it!
Be Productive
Anger?, rage? Make it productive, and focus the intensity of this moment into success instead of resentment. No one can control your emotions but you. And when you are in complete despair — Stop. Shhhhh. Be still, and listen. You are more than “just being”. You have the potential to be even more than your desires. You have the ability to accomplish things you havent even dreamed of …yet.
One of my favorite quotes of all time comes by way of the late Henry Ford. He reminds us that we can decide what happens next… he said “he who thinks he can, and he who thinks he can’t, are usually both right“.
Go Beyond
“Attaining the goal isn’t success. Success is found in the pursuit, attaining your goals is the icing on this cake we call life.”
Lastly, it isn’t enough to just dream. I love visualization. Wondering what if, thinking just maybe… Hoping, even praying, for that desire of your heart. Instead of praying for “the goal”, pray for the opportunity to make a way for your goal. The satisfaction of accomplishment comes in the effort – the blood, the sweat, the tears, the years, in pursuit of the “goal”. Attaining the goal isn’t success. Success is found in the pursuit, attaining your goals is the icing on this cake we call life.
“Vision without execution is just hallucination” Henry Ford
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #LiveWithFire
So You Want to Compete? Encouragement for the Future Competitor
Have you ever been interested in body building or physique contests? Have you ever wondered what its like on stage, back stage, or even in the crowd on the night of the event?
Preparing the Body
I know how I felt when I first thought of getting on stage and seeing what this whole competition things was all about. I was terrified. I didnt know anything about diet, tanning, posing, how to pump up, what suit to buy, what to eat the night before, and on and on and on. I realized I probably wasn’t alone, and that this “abyss”of the unknown may be keeping many from trying one of the toughest sports in the world when it comes to training and nutrition.
Competitors don’t risk falling off of a balance beam after years of preparation, or getting knocked out by one rogue lucky punch but, instead, the competition is soley in the preparation. The day of the show is merely an unvailing of a sculpture (or science project) that took months, and even years, to perfect – or at least improve.
Preparing the body for a show takes a lot of planning (and, as you can see in these pictures below shot at the hotel competition day, a lot of packing, cooking, supplementing and planning ahead).
Preparing the Mind
This type of discipline is grueling – and takes a lot of mental fortitude and drive to keep going till the day of competition. This is when, as a coach, a little encouragement can go a long way. I have close to 20 people that are going to compete with me in an upcomming physique event, and the following is a letter I wrote them to encourage them to persever till the end. I wrote this letter to encourage them to say the course no matter what their brain or body is telling them. I wrote this letter to push them to keep faith that in 5 weeks their bodies will be the most amazing aesthtically that they have been in years, if not ever.
Dear Competitor,
Letter to my clients and future competitors out there where ever you are:
First, I want to applaud you all for your commitment, drive, discipline and self-denial – and your courage and your desire to step out into this scary world of physique competitions.
Secretly I am hoping you find it very fulfilling, beyond the seemingly narcissistic focus it may have at first glance. I promise you, this level of commitment, self denial and discipline has perfect carry over into our daily lives. It teaches us to be better parents, boss’s, moms, dads, husbands and on and on…
Here we are guys… 5 weeks to go. Some of you are still on the fence, and that is ok. But next week we are either crossing the line of committing to April 6th, or we are going to gracefully bow out for another show. I am asking you to humbly allow me to help you with that decision. Lets decide together if your physique will be show ready or not.
Please don’t let fear into your heart, or head, when it comes to this decision of competing. It is only a question of being ready or not physically. Emotionally and mentally you will be wondering “what if” all the way up to and even the day of the show. So get that out of your head.
You guys have already overcome so much. We have only been training as a team for 5 weeks so far, and every single one of you has amazed me with your level of commitment. We still have 5 weeks to go. I’ve never had a team with so many firsts, so personally I am overwhelmed with excitement.
What If’s…
Guys (and girls), I know the inbody is messing with your head, I know the scale is your best friend in the morning and then your nemesis by noon. You feel so weak trying to finish the most menial tasks around the house, never mind making it into Max to train. When you finally do have time to train you may feel like you’re letting something else go, or putting other priorities on the back burner. You are paying the price, you are paying your dues. You will all have different levels of sacrifice depending on your support structure at home. Some friends and family are supporting your every move, keeping you accountable, reminding you of how amazing your commitment is – and others… not so much.
Your spouse may feel left out. You may have guilt about picking your kids up at school only to drop them off again so you can train. Your best friend may miss her drinking buddy, or even be jealous that she doesn’t have the guts to commit to this epic training. Get all of this out of your head, because when your friends and family see you on the stage, all will be forgiven.
I have seen my clients go to a show with a skeptic husband, and I watch his face as his bride walks out on stage and his jaw drops. He stands to his feet and screams, number 17, number 17… Or the look on the faces of your kids shouting from the crowd, mom… mom… As a coach, this all plays a part of why I drive you guys, and beg for more when you have nothing left to give. If you are struggling with this, stay true to training, stay true to yourself. The one thing they can’t argue the day of the show is that you deserve the applause they are hearing for you right now.
I would like to encourage you, however, to arrange your schedule to train early or later or in the middle of the day as to not affect your friends and family as much. The less impact our training and diet has on disrupting our social lives, the more supportive our loved ones will be. It is a sacrifice to get up early, to get that extra cardio before your spouse or kids wake. It is a sacrifice to make PB&J sandwiches for the rest of the family when you’re dying to lick the spoon. It is a sacrifice to go out for drinks with friends and sip on un-sweet ice tea in a martini glass – but you didn’t think that all this sacrifice was just in the gym, did ya?
So here we are… 5 weeks out. We feel too fat, too flabby, too skinny, too hungry. By now, I think I have had a chance to talk to each of you about dialing it in for the show. If not, lets talk Saturday so we can straighten out these questions. But in the mean time, stick to the program. Regardless if the scale doesn’t move, stick to the program. If you feel skinny, it doesn’t necessarily mean eat more, and if you’re having a fat day it doesn’t mean you need to starve yourself.
You must “stay the course”. I know you are hungry, tired, emotional, scared, insecure… because I feel these things too – but guys, I can tell you what its like the day after… the accomplishment, the pride, the feeling as though you worked so hard and you deserve the compliments that people give you. It is worth it in the end.
Lets all commit to taking our training and diet up another notch. Don’t put your family and friends second, don’t let fatigue and hunger slow you down, don’t let your eyes tell you your not going to be ready, and never, never, never give up.
StevO’
Think It’s Too Late?
Dr. Josefina Monasterio STARTED competing for the first time when she was 60. She is one of our Team Max members who will compete in the upcoming Southeast Classic in Hollywood April 6th, even after hip surgery. So, NO it’s not too late. Read Dr. Josefina’s story…
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #respectyourself
Sculpting Better Legs: Simple Leg Workout to Improve Your “Sweep”
If you have been following this mess I call a blog at all for the last 5 months you may have heard me whine and whine about my knee. If not, you’re in luck because here I go again. 5 months ago I was getting ready for my first ever MMA tournament. I know,… shut it! But anywho, I was gonna try. Here’s a shocker: my 42-year-old butt got tore up by a 19-year-old monster. I tore my medial meniscus and sustained a 90% tear to my MCL. I was devastated, but now I’m back and I want to not only return to competing, I want my quads bigger and stronger than ever. The area I want to focus on for this workout is the Vastus Lateralis, the largest and most outer portion of the thigh.
How to Improve Your Sweep
How do we isolate out the vastus lateralis muscle, or as we call it in the physique world, “the sweep”? Vastus externus or vastus lateralis, depending on your A&P professor, is the largest of all the quadricep muscles. The action of this muscle is to extend the tibia or shin bone at the knee, but I’m here to help you learn how to perform knee extension to isolate out the other muscles that synergistically aid in this action. In sculpting, it is very important that we learn isolation. Whether we are a bodybuilder, a bikini competitor or a stay-at-home mom that wants to scult their body, we can all use these principles to learn to sculpt nicer legs.
Target Training
Fat burn or spot reducing fat can not be limited to specific areas of the body, no matter what ”bogus science” and pills tell you. However, sculpting most assuredly can be reduced to a single area, action, and in some cases, specific fibers of a specific muscle – all based on how we execute the exercise. You don’t need a degree in kinesiology to learn these principals, just a little common sense is all.
So, how do we excite and fatigue the fibers of our outer quad to hypertrophy our SWEEP?
Narrow-minded
Ok, so here is one exercise you should be narrow-minded about. Narrow is better when we talk about our stance to accentuate or facilitate the contractile tissue of the outer quad. So lets think narrow when doing squats and leg extensions. Whatever exercises you do, stand with a more narrow stance (feet together). You may stop and ask, does that mean if I stand wide, I will work my inner thigh and medial quads? Yeppers! Now you are getting it. (another blog perhaps) Moving on…
Self-Centered
With leg extensions, it’s all about being self-centered – literally. If you point your toes outward, you are working the vastus medialis, the tear drop shaped muscle on the medial side (inside) of the legs close to the knee. Since we want to work the opposite side of the legs, then (yes, you guessed it) we want to point our toes in the opposite direction, pointing toes together. Note: this doesn’t work by just pointing the feet from the ankle down, the whole leg must internally rotate to the center to excite the appropriate muscles.
Here is an example of my own leg workout where I use these same principles to improve my sweep.
Yesterday’s Leg Workout
Warm up: 4 sets / 20 reps
Deep weighted walking lunges (35-50 pound dumbbells) 45 seconds rest btw sets
Couplet: Leg Press & Leg Extension Super Set
(zero rest between super set, 1 minute between sets)
#1 Heavy leg press
5-8 plates each side, narrow stance (4″ apart) and push only on your heels
10 sets / 15 reps
#2 Moderately heavy leg extension
Moderately heavy leg extension (130lbs-160lbs) internally rotate your femur’s in (toes are pigeon-toed), and squeeze your outer quad in terminal extension.
10 sets / 12-15 reps
Repeat Super Set 10 Times
Puke and repeat for 10 rounds(sets) with 1 minute rest between (rounds) sets
Here are some pics from my last show, the Daytona Classic, just 10 days after getting hurt.
Synergy in Your Routine: My Workout Schedule
Two of the best questions I get asked at the gym is” how many days a week do you workout?” and, how many times do you hit each muscle group.
Before I answer, you should first know my goals. I work mostly for aesthetics but I put a definite emphasis on performance as well. I want to be as strong and conditioned as possible, without sacrificing size or leanness.
Barring any schedule conflicts or injuries, the following is my typical training regimen… I hope this is helpful.
7 Days a Week
Mondays:
6:30 am 40 minutes Cardio (usually elliptical)
10:30 am 45 minutes of chest (5 exercises)
2:00 pm 45 minutes of Back (5 exercises)
2:45 pm 45 minutes bag work or shadow boxing
Tuesdays:
10:30 am 45 minutes of shoulders (6 exercises)
11:15 am 45 minutes cardio/abs (supersets 10/5)
2:00 pm I hour of arms (3 exercises triceps/3-biceps)
5-7 pm 2 hours Jujitsu (1 hour drills/1 hour rolling)
Wednesday:
6:30 am 45 minutes cardio (tread15/stairs15/elliptical15)
10:30 am 30 minutes of hamstrings(3 exercises) 20 minutes of heavy abdominals(3 exercises)
2:00 pm 45 minutes of quads (3-4 exercises)
2:45 pm 45 minutes bag work or shadow boxing
Thursday:
6:30 am 40 minutes cardio (usually elliptical)
10:30 am 45 minutes of chest (5 exercises)
2:00 pm 45 minutes of Back (5 exercises)
5-7 pm 2 hours Jujitsu (1 hour drills/1 hour rolling)
Friday:
9am 45 minutes of Kickboxing on LiveExercise
10am 45 minutes of full body conditioning and Plyometrics (Chiseled Cardio Show on LiveExercise)
12:00 pm 45 minutes Treadmill Conditioning on LiveExercise
5:30 pm 45 minutes of shoulders
Saturday:
8am 35 minutes of Cardio (elliptical)
10 am 45 minutes of arms (3 exercises triceps/3 exercises biceps)
Sunday:
7am 45 minutes of cardio/abs
11:00 1 hour Boxing and sparring
6 pm 1 hour of quads/hams (3 exercises quads/3 exercises hams)
Note: I like to break up my workouts, but you can also do it all at once.
Putting Supplements to the Test: Performance Vs. Physique
Here we go again.
The story began 5 months ago when I had an opportunity to try a line of supplements from GNC. It wasn’t a challenge as much as it was an experiment. I used this 90 day experiment to get ready for a few media events that BCX was contracted to complete. If you read my story you already know how aprhensive I was to rely on a new, and unknown, supplement regimine. Any trainer or nutritionist will tell you, training and diet is extremely important – but we were talking about taking it to the extreme. You know, I’m talking about the last little bitty pounds…. the ”miniscule” amount of water and fat that seems impossible to rid our butt and gut of. So, tried and true was the extreme transformation, it was truly “Beyond Raw”. So what now?
Physique vs Performance
I saw my physique change, but what about performance. Aesthetics is one thing, but what could Beyond Raw do to how my body could perform? My “huckleberry”, Alfonso Morreti (AKA “The Angry Trainier”) and I are not afraid to put our phsysiology on the line to give you guys answers. He and I are average Joe’s with a passion for results. We want to know what works – and what is just fluff. No doubt, Beyond Raw can chisel a 42 year old body, but can it take this physique to a level of performance that normal biology would deem, EXTREME?
I want to know if Beyond Raw can increase performance – and if so, in what disciplines. I know I can get leaner and build muscle at the same time – proved that already. Now I want to know, can these supplements make me stronger, more powerful, faster, create endurance, increase repair, and maintain leaness?
I want to know what discipline of exercise, in what arena’s, and what environments, could these supplements be employed to take both aesthetics and performance to a level that is Beyond Raw. (side note… every time I write “BEYOND RAW”, in my head, I say it like an announcer with a really deep voice).
My next experiment:
I plan to test the limits of GNC’s Beyond Raw line beyond aesthetics. To put these supplements to the test, we will see what they can do to take this physique from competing against aesthetics of body building in july, to a ½ Iron Man in September, to a MMA tournament in October. For some, this may not be crazy. But I promise this is already sounding insane to me – “beyond insane”. I havn’t competed in body building in over 6 years, I have no experience with marathons or tri’s (NONE!), and I just started training in mma late last year.
My goal is to “compete and complete” each tournament. Semper Persevera… never give up!!!!
Stay Tuned…
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this Campaign. All opinions are my own.
If you Run from the fight, you might miss the Glory!
The temporary pleasure of sin will never out weigh the devastating long term consequences, as the temporary pain of training will never out weigh the amazing long term consequences!
Bonnie and I were both brought up in the south, and for many of us that means that we were in church everytime the doors were open. One of the phrases you hear a lot in the church is “we really hate SIN”. Don’t tune me out, I’m about to make a point. As much as church, Bon and I in our adult lives spent a lot of time in the gym as well. One of the phrases we hear all of time at the gym is “I love my workout”. So “we hate sin and love our workouts” hmmm
Hate Sin? Not at all.
We love sin, its exciting, feels good, it’s attractive, it taste good, it’s a total rush… No we don’t hate sin. What we hate is the consequences of our sin. Sin can lead to drug addiction. divorce, obesity, disease, or even death – not to mention total seperation from the Dude who created you. (another blog, another time). But to say we hate sin, well, that just isn’t true – but to truly hate the devastating affects of sin is such a huge reality it isn’t a lie to say “I hate sin”. Hold on, here it comes…
Love your workout? Not truly…
Right now I am doing 315 pound shruggs. I think I just popped every vertebrae in my back, just ripped a callous, my legs are trembling and I have sweat in my eye and a charlie horse in my calf. Love my workout? …not so much.
HOWEVER, I absolutely love the consequences that I experience from working out. Health, aesthetics, energy, increased self esteem, confidence, the ablility to defend myself and my family against danger, and vitality are all considered bliss – directly related to the suffering and drudgery of the afformentioned workout. Knowing the amazing results of hard training, I can honestly say, “I love my workouts”!
The same way a person who has been caught up in SIN becomes so hurt and disgusted with that lifestyle, another can honestly say they love working out becuase of the amazing results and positive influence, that it can acutally be said, “I love my workout”
In short...The temporary pleasure of sin will never out weigh the devastating long term consequences, as the temporary pain of training will never out weigh the amazing long term consequences!
How do we change our belief system to be able to honestly say… “I love training”?
1. Set goals and BELIEVE you can attain them.
2. Visualize the prize (end game) seeing the goal as if its complete.
3. Make a plan that is realistic and effective to meet your goal.
4. Grow a pair. Dont be afraid to “gut it out”. Know it will be worth it.
5. Start over a million times – but dont quit, not even once!
Majoring in the Minors
Yesterday I saw this young guy with a completely trashed car that barely ran, and he put at least $2000 dollars worth of “spinner” rims on it? I even saw someone wearing target jeans, and when I looked down they had on $200 dollar shoes?… Okay, bad example, cause I do that… but you get what I mean.. right?
What does this have to do with fitness? (Insert soap box) I can’t tell you the countless times I’ve been at the gym and have seen the meticulous biomechanical strategies that some people come up with to make their lifting routine more effective, or the countless times I’ve listened to people who are extremely overweight, discuss food on a totally microbiological level. Instead of looking at calories, they are “buggn” about if it is free range or not. I am not arguing that biomechanics and microbiology doesn’t have a place in training and nutrition, but by god-man, look at the bigger picture.
I call this “majoring in the minors”. As a trainer, blogger, or just exercise enthusiast, it is so vital that we realize the importance of fundamentals. My back ground is very clinical, but I have never deviated from the application of fundamentals. I am not saying that details are not important, however, $2000 dollars worth of wheels and tires on a $300 dollar car is a waisted investment.
Biomechanics: When you evaluate your body and decide you want to tone and tighten specific areas, start with the basics. There is no need to do complicated movements when your time and energy will be better suited using fundamentals. i.e. you want to tone your glutes. Let’s begin with squats,lunges, and maybe straight leg dead lifts. Why begin with 1 legged Romanian dead lifts or cook hip lifts, when simple basics will reach deep fibers at rich angles and are superior to intricate complicated movements. Do these other exercises have their place?… Of course, but after exhausting the basics!
Take home: When you sit on a machine for the first time, do it as designed. Do not begin to invent your own way or make up a complicated movement to target some erroneous area of musculature.
Nutrition: Many people, in there quest to find the “right diet”, dissect micro-nutrition to a fault. At the end of the day (listen Paleo Freaks) no matter how clean you eat, if your caloric intake exceeds your out put, you are going to store energy. Your body prefers to store energy as fat because, for the same amount in grams stored, your body can yield twice as much energy from fat as glycogen or lean muscle. This my friends is MACRO-nutrition. It is the science of metabolism of four general substrates: Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats, and Alcohols. If you are eating more calories than you burn, regardless of your “blood type’, “zone”, “points” or any other thing else you measure… LISTEN… YOU WILL GAIN WEIGHT!
Take home: Before you get involved in vitamins and minerals, the ph of your blood, even the glycemic index of foods, first figure out how many calories you burn per day, and eat less than that. It’s just science. Anyone who challenges this statement (Dousch-tard) would be saying, “if you are dropped off on a deserted island for two weeks, with nothing but water, and luckily found, you would have not lost any weight”.
Fitness is simple guys… Our industry makes it complicated. Quit looking for the magic bullet, trying to find the “little pill”, or doing the perfect gluteal exercise for 30 seconds every morning. You give me fundamentals, hard work, and discipline… And I’ll give you your magic bullet!
“The magic bullet IS fundamentals, hard work, and discipline.”
“The Contest of Will”, The World of Figure & Bodybuilding
The starvation… the deprevation… the deteriation. For a trophy? Of course not! This blog is for anyone who has ever thought about competing in figure, fitness, or bodybuilding. This past-time seems to have no functional ends. We dont play in a tournament, we dont test the strength of our muscle. We dont test the agility of a motor skill, we dont even have to get out of breath. Yet compared to any other sport in the world, who deprives themselves more, who trains harder, who else is stripped of there clothing in front of hundereds of strangers?
A Contest of Will
Unlike other contests of skill, this sport is a contest of WILL – especially for those of us who dont have great genetics or perfectly symetriical bodies to start with. But we train through what we dont have. Not that it is ever overlooked, but maybe for our weakness’s to someday become our strengths. If we cant be the biggest, we will be the most shredded. If we cant be the most symetrical, we will train to overwhelm the judges with Read the rest of this entry
