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
Monday, June 29, 2009
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
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!
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
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
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