Monday, June 29, 2009

Mon - June 29th

It's been a while, eh? Well lets keep brief and meaningful.

updates:

Still training clients at the Y and doing kid stuff. Loving it all
Hanging out with family every single day and I love it more by the day. (Dad is up from Florida)
Still fighting the good fight of faith and feeling good about it.
Still loving strong, smiling bright, and striving to better myself, daily.

Fitness: Been doing a lot of just barbell complex stuff ~two-three days and HIIT/Jumping rope about two days a week. I've actually started training my abs pretty hard too. Always just had a naturally good core, but finally accepted they are a muscle group too and need to be trained hard to grow, haha.

Nutrition: Need I say more besides fruits, vegetables, nuts, real whole foods, and grandmas cooking? Eat good, eat less.

BIG JULY NEWS UPDATE!

I am going to make a big July nutritional challenge. I thought hey, it's time I change things up for a while. Been doing fairly the same old nutrition system for such a long time. So..

For the WHOLE month of July (July 1st - Aug 1st)

I am:

- Going vegetarian
- Cutting out all refined sugars
- No caffeine
- Possibly no dairy either.

Extreme right? Well, I figured it would be a nice break for a while. I eat a lot of meat and dairy and my grandmas baked goods intake has been pretty brutal. It's all been semi-catching up to me so I think its time to take a break and try something new for a month. Join me!

Faith: Striving to fight this good fight. Its been a challenge but a worthwhile one. Things just keep seemingly somewhat decline amongst people and this world. Sad, but reality. Have to push on and strive to stay above this mess.

Keep praying, keep smiling, keep shining. Keep on keeping on everyone.

-Adam

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

It's been a while round 2

So dang. I would like to say that I have been keeping busy. But honestly, I think I have just been too lazy to update!

Few quick updates:

- Now training clients at the YMCA
- Doing a lot of youth sports program stuff (writing, coaching, etc)
- Still eating tons of fruits/veggies daily!
- Started eating a lot of Cashew butter (so good)
- Hanging out with my family (Uncle has been up from Florida) EVERY DAY.
- Miss some people in my life
- Still coming up with crazy exercises and nutrition stuff.
- Eating more legumes (Beans)
- Still smiling as bright as ever
- Still fighting the good fight of faith.

Reminder: Keep smiling bright and strive to better yourself, daily. : ) progress, not regress.

-Adam

Friday, June 5, 2009

Training Tips, Tricks, Hints

So I haven't updated in a while. I have been soo stressed with studying for my ACE exam (which thankfully, is now over), and staying active/keeping quite busy. But I figured I am about due to throw some nifty new tips about your nutrition/fitness. Now mind you, these have been ones that work well for me personally. It may not for you, but I found it helpful.

Before I say anything, let me inform you guys of what 'having a fit body' means to me because if you enjoy/follow my tips, you must know the style/way I train and for what...

***Being fit to me, means being an athelete, regardless of playing a sport or not.***

And I am talking the 'lean and ripped' kind of athelete. Not the bulky body building look, which I personally find kind of lame. I rather be able to squat 200-250 and run a ~5-6 minute mile,than squat 500-600 and run a 10 minute mile miserably. I want to have speed, agility, flexability, endurance, etc..

Yeah, Edinboro doesn't have a soccer team and it sucks. But that doesn't stop me from training hard. Period. This is why you generally NEVER see me with a lifting parter. Just on brief occasions. I like to get in, train very hard, and get out. Gyms aren't meant for social butterflies.

SO, back on track. Here are some general tips:

- When working out, superset or circuit your workouts. I love to go ape at the gym and from one thing to another without much rest. Working out is all about quality, not quantity. For what takes some guys an hour or even more, I can do double in twenty minutes. Training is all about activating your fast twitch fibers. Train higher volume, higher intensities, and keep rest to a minimal. This is where I have noticed the greatest results personally. (Apart from what matters most, nutrition).

- I never do the same thing. Monday - Chest, Tuesday - Arms, etc... No. This is dumb. With correct approaches and right training, I am all about muscle confusion. Our body STRIVES for homeostasis. It likes balance. Why do the same thing over and over every week? Your body just expect its, and becomes attuned to it. I keep things mixed up. in one week, may do incline barbell bench for chest superset with decline flies. Next week I may do declined weighted push ups, with cable flies. Keep your body out of balance so it is constantly adapting, growing, guessing, etc.

- Change intensities. One thing I just got big into was transitions from high rep/low weight to low rep/high weight, training. One week I may train for pure strength (1-5 sets, 3-5 reps @ about 80-90% my 1RM (rep max)), and next week for hypertrophy (1-3 sets, 10-12 reps @ 60-70 1RM). Certain weeks I go heavy, other weeks I go light and train faster. I've already noticed differences and gains in doing this routine. So I enjoy changing sets, weight, reps, weekly.

- Full body routines. That or upper/lower body splits. I was never really a big 'isolation day' kind of guy (ex: monday - chest. The general dude bro lift day). The -more- muscles you work in a session, the -more- calories and fat you burn. (Now there is great expansion on this comment, but its just spoken generally). The more muscles you work and harder, the more your body is burnin'. But I must admit, I have been doing some isolation stuff this week and its been painful, haha. Body isn't used to it. I may start doing it more often just for sakes of throwing my body off. Been doing the same stuff for way too long.

- Jumping rope! Enough said. If you haven't guess it or known me, I love jumping rope. ~10 minutes of jumping rope = 30 minutes of SLOW BORING STUPID OVER-RATED THAT DOESN'T GET YOU NEARLY AS FAST RESULTS cardo. Anyone who knows me, knows I HATE cardio. I don't get how people can run for an hour on a treadmill. Outside is understandable, but frig. It's so boring. I consider myself pretty dang fit with a Resting heart rate of ~44, and able to still bench double my weight almost, yet a 20 minute steady state run hurts and just sucks. But hey, if you like it, more power to you I suppose.

- Do more pull-ups and push ups. Heck, do them everyday. I've never heard of anyone having health issues from doing push ups daily. I do. Push ups are the BEST upper body exercise, period. Do 50 when you wake up, 50 before lunch, 50 later in the afternoon. Push ups rule. I put a towl on my bedroom door and do wide grip pull ups daily too. They feel great. Do more compound/body weight stuff.

- Work your core like you never have before. Carry something over your head and brace your abs. Seriously. Grab a 45 pound plate, a tire, or something heavy, lift it over your head (elbows slightly bent for me personally, but straight if it feels best for ya) Brace and tighten your abs and walk around for a while. You'll work your core and abs probably like you never have before. A minute of this is more then your 1000 crunches.

- Stay positive, work hard, and anticipate gains. Enough said I suppose. Just stay positive. Keep your head up. Train real hard when you do lift. Test your pull ups, push ups, 10 second sprint, and others before you begin a work out regime so you can test yourself again every month to track progression.

There are a handful of 28958235 lifting tips I have. Either tomorrow or Sunday I will post a same blog but about nutrition which will likely be huge. Haha.

God bless, stay tuned!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

It's been a while!

I haven't posted in like two weeks. My apologies guys. Been a combination of very busy with people, YMCA stuff, studying, etc.

Off to Buffalo tomorrow *says a prayer*

Updates:

Been staying cut. Keeping ~1000-1400 calories a day in me. Lean machine.

Thinking about starting a "bulk" (whatever that means) phase. But more less aimed at gaining lean mass (I am sure I will get a bit a fat. Can't avoid it but I can afford it at ~4% body fat). Staying cut and doing what I normally do is beginning to bore me, so I want to change things up so I don't burn out and lose my will power and motivation.

Going to take a week off of lifting/cardio/whatever before starting that to just recoup. Maybe do some brisk walking daily and a little yoga while taking my week off.

Working on some more nutrition/personal fitness posts for you. Should be up here within' a week. Things will slow back down after tomorrow.

Miss everybody. Edinboro friends, Family away from here, etc.

Still fighting the good fight of faith. Striving to love God, daily. It poses it's challenges, but I am willing to take them on head first.

Keep in tune. Keep blessed, not stressed. Love others. Smile big and shine bright.

-Adam

Friday, May 15, 2009

Friday 5-15

May is already half over? Holy Crap.

First off, I finally scheduled my ACE exam. June 3rd in Buffalo. Ahhh!! Why I have test anxiety is beyond me. Scared I am rushing a bit fast into it maybe? Who knows. We'll see none-the-less come the 3rd!

Breakfast: - V-Bean oatmeal with an orange.

-1/2 cup instant oats nuked with 3/4-1 cup water. (Yes, water. Not milk. But you can use milk if you want.)
- Once you get the consistency you want, add 2 Tbsp vanilla whey protein and a Tbsp of vanilla extract and stir it in.
-You can opt for some cinnamon too if you'd like to add that!

Had an orange with it. The heck with orange juice, eat who fruits.

Fitness: Yesterday was a brutal cardio session, so my lower body split is still recovering. Did a good chest/back routine today with a focus on pre-exhausting muscling groups with isolation moves before doing compound.

1a) bent rows with dumbbell
1b) Inverted rows on a power rack
2a) Chest flies
2b) Incline barbell bench
3a) Wide grip pull ups
4a) decline push ups (elbows/arms <-- keep them close in your body)

Did a running in place, burpees, and jumping jack body weight interval to finish it off.

Faith: 2 Tim. 4: 7 - I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

I felt like it was time to take a quick step back. Many of my faith blogs have revolved around the simplicity of Christianity. I wanted to take todays to remind everyone, being a Christian is brutal, tough, hard, consuming, draining, and even possibly burdening at times. Sure, I just made it almost seem like it's a bad thing and makes life harder, right? Well, I over exaderated a bit to convey an emotion that hey, nobody ever promised you a free ride and people speak too much for Gods word, rather then letting God speak his word through us. You don't declair war, then win it right away. It takes time. Battle. Fighting. Pushing onward. Producing a rigerous offense. Most of this, I mean spiritually/mentally. Not literally.

If I had to make a list of the top five things people have done to absolutely rip apart Christianity, one would definitely be this (excuse my silly way of summing it up).

-****Ohhh, come to God. It's so easy. He'll take away all your burdens and lift you right up on high. It's so much easier with Christ.****

False. Shut up whoever you are preeching that. Scripture does talk about leaving your burdens at the door and also on God helping you with them. BUT, scripture also talks about coming to God WITH your burdens. You cannot escape life. It's impossible. You still have to likely go back to dealing with whatever it is you are dealing with even if you do accept Christ. One of the BIGGEST difference between a believer and non-believer, is simply the way we look at things. Being Christian changes our perspective completely. Doesn't make us any different from a non-believer, just see and think differently. We're all humans, regardless.

I struggle too. I'm no super Christian. I have days of my doubts and hardships. I have days where I just want to crack. I see the disgusting filled garbage of this world, and even find myself getting too involved with it at times. I see people hate on this faith I value sooo much daily and it isn't easy. But todays simple few word scripture is an amazing reminder to keep up the good fight.

You don't walk into a boxing ring, and ask your opponent to drop his gloves and let you punch him in the face for a free win. You have to fight to your victory. You have to protect yourself from defeat. You have to keep pushing and pushing until you almost want to puke. Yet you STILL keep pushing because you want that victory soooo much. Brothers, Sisters, let us keep the heart. We should be in this for the long haul. I don't go down to the gym, do 1 push up, then leave and never return. I go to the gym about daily to keep progressing and it gets harder.

Life is full of curve balls, unexpected bumps in the road, crazy roller coaster twists, and so much more. Let us remember that Christianity is not as easy as woofing down a whole ice cream pie from DQ (That sounds like a legit cheat this weekend for me!). It's more like trying to take a bite out of a 4 inch thick piece of steel.

“I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders.” -Jewish proverb



Have a wonderful weekend everybody. Keep the heart. Push onward. Keep truckin'.

-Adam

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Tues 5-11

May 11th and we're still dealing with frost/cold issues... Wickedddd.

Breakfast: Very Berry Smoothie.

Liquefy in a blender with either 8 oz skim milk or 8 oz water:
-1/4th cup blueberries
-1/4th cup blackberries
-1/4th cup strawberry halves
-Tbsp of whey protein powder

I'd recommend the berries be frozen. Makes for a more thick and refreshing breakfast smoothie.

Fitness: Did some classic sprints today at the soccer field. Incorporated hill sprints as well.

~8 intervals. Each being ~20 seconds of sprinting all out as hard as you can.
For the rest phase, I walk back the distance I just sprinted, once I get to the starting point, I start my next interval. If I feel I need a bit more recovery, I take a few more seconds after walking back. I try to never take more then 100 seconds of rest.

Felt really awesome after sprints. Decided ehh what the heck, went to the gym and did some planks and stability ball jack knives for abs and jumped rope for a few minutes.

NOTE:: It is vital, for any high intensity cardio training, that you properly warm up and cool down. Don't just go jet into sprints. Heck, don't start sprints if you are very aerobically unfit.. Work into it.

Faith: We live by faith, NOT BY SIGHT. 2 Corinthians 5:7

Listen. For anybody that wants hard physical proof of a God, count yourself out I guess. I've met too many people that walk away from the life of following Christ because they have no concrete evidence, science, or any other mumbo-jumbo crap to account for proof of a God. "I'm tired of praying to air', 'If God is real, I want to see him with my own eyes'. Blah blah blah. Guess what buddy, you're screwed! That's not what this faith is all about. Sure, we have miracles and other crazy fathoms that we could attain to as a 'God-send'.

The issue is, what would be the use of faith, if we had concrete proof of God? If we knew it was all said and done, then what would be the use of fighting this good fight? Someone once argued with me 'well, if you saw God and it was concrete, wouldn't that only strengthen your faith in him?' Not really. Why? A part of faith, is hope. A part of hope, is trust. These things kind of become eliminated once you can say 'OH, yup. Gods got it. No problems'. We wouldn't struggle, ever. It would always be a God send.

Why is it that majority of our generation is taking on this 'take risks/chances because we don't know tomorrow' yet won't take a chance/risk with God? Our generation has greatly adapted this motto to REALLLYYY play with fire. You have NOTHING to lose with giving God a chance. There are no negative risks involved. Period. Tell me one flaw about trying to build your own personal relationship with God? Oh, you have to stop having promiscuous sex? Oh, you should probably quit drinking/smoking? Hmm, all these sound worthy of dropping for time being rather you want to give sincere Christianity a try or not.

Now granted, nobody said you have to try and be perfect to become a Christian. It's JUST NOT POSSIBLE. We'll never be .0001% of Jesus left hand alone. That's why I hate this 'I try to be more like Jesus' thing. Sure, we strive to be better, but quit trying to be like Jesus. Be you, just strive to be better. I'm NO better than a lying, stealing, cheating drinking, smoker out there. God loves him as much as he loves me. Heck, God probably loves him more because that person needs Gods love! We all have room for improvement.

When we kiss, we go according to the feeling. Why do you think everybody kisses intimately with their eyes closed?! The BEST things done in life, are unseen! haha. When we love, we feel it in our hearts, not literally see it floating around.

So keep the hearts folks. Remember, even concrete can still have cracks and break. Faith, Hope, and Trust. We can give it to our friends, family, and spouse. Even when we can't see our spouse, and they go away to war for 2 years, we trust them. We have faith in them. We love them. Even when we won't be able to see em'.

Shine bright and smile big!

-Adam

Monday, May 11, 2009

Monday 5-11

a week of summer so far, and it already rules. Started training my grandparents. They were scared at first, but now realize wow, I need this. Stoked about getting them fit!

Breakfast: Cocoa oatmeal

-1/2 cup instant oatmeal
stir in a Tbsp of Dark Chocolate pure cocoa powder
Then add a cup of skim milk
Nuke for 3-5 minutes. Stir it every 30 seconds.
Cut up a banana in it.

Enjoy an extremely delicious form of oatmeal.

Fitness: My back was sore all weekend from a brutal body weight interval session Saturday. Good thing I relaxed yesterday and did nothing. Today was simple.

1a) Deadlifting a bit
2a) Barbell Bench
2b) DB Flies
3a) Decline push ups on a bench
3b) chin ups

Cool down.

Faith: Dear brothers, you have been given freedom: not freedom to do wrong, but freedom to love and serve each other. Galatians 5: 13

Amazing. One absolute amazing piece of scripture. Now granted, this is generally turned into a HUGE debate with the whole 'If God is so loving, why does he let bad things happen'. -or- 'If he gives us the freedom to love and serve each other, then why are we so rotten?' It's almost as if God is saying hey, I'm programming you to do good. Don't do bad. Right? Wrong. Why? Let's take a step back and examine 1 word that makes a huge difference in all this.

'Programmed'

God did NOT create robots. When we were conceived at the moment of conception, we were not programmed like robots to an exact pin-point. Sure, God has a plan and program for us to follow, but let me just say this...

If God programmed us completely, then what would be the use of life on earth? We have to screw up, to understand good. We eventually end up 'sinning' to understand right from wrong. Sure, scream all you want 'it doesn't take a christian to understand that kind of difference'. Well why God then? 1 word answer (and seemingly generic) Love. If we ONLY ever knew good, and no bad... Would it be 'good'? I mean this is going to sound crazy but hear me out...

Why can't robots feel emotions? (Unless its a DNA computer based machine! Sorry, geek alert). Why is it that they are constantly at basically the same state of mind. Doing the same thing over, and over, and over. Never complaining, never whining, never upset, never 'happy', neither sad. Because they don't understand one, without the other. That and they just don't have a brain. If God gave us life, and only a life of 'happiness', how would we truly feel/know it's happiness? We have to have bad days, to experience good days. If God made everything good and great and ONLY that ever, it was the only thing we experienced, how would we truly know the feeling of 'good, great, etc'.

We're not going to change the world. It's impossible. There is always going to be 'evil' or bad. What's that? Look at what Gandhi did? Or Martin Luther King? Yeah, they made a HUGE impact and are in history, but things are still as bad, IF not worse. Freedom doesn't come free. Period. Good feelings doesn't come always. Period. The idea is, God did make people to be good, but he had to allow us freewill. If he didn't, then we would be programmed robots with no emotions and human nature/life. We would go through everyday, as if it never changed before.

Now take this or leave it. Argue it or share your opinion. Call/Text me if you want to discuss it more. I am quite frankly tired of the faith I value so much, being ruined and ripped apart by these TV-evanglist who steal money, 'pastors' or 'priests' that are doing an amazing job of ripping the church apart, people saying their Christian, and just living complete garbage without a frail attempt to be better lives. These are the people, that make even certain Atheists look like good people. And I agree. I've met Athiests who are honestly wayyy better then Christians. But then are they Christians? No. Is that my place to say though? Not really. I just know it's those 'Christians' who are making the faith I value, look bad. Then again, maybe I am too? Maybe I suck as well and don't know it?

According to Christianpost.com """
Christian Research indicates that by the middle of last year, 2.14 billion people made up the world’s Christian population – a 140-million-person increase from five years earlier. Christians, therefore, now make up one-third of the world’s population of 6.45 billion people."""

How many of these are legit 'Christians'They should probably re evauluate that number. It's off by 100 fold.

Have a great Monday and week! Be blessed everybody.

-Adam