Becoming an Athlete

We are all guilty of taking on too much too soon and burning out or getting overwhelmed.  The most successful selling fitness and weightloss programs are the  ones that are marketed as the most extreme. Lately, there has been a trend towards truth in advertising: extreme efforts will produce extreme results. That's great, but I've chosen a path of consistency.  I see my progress over the last decade and I am happy to say I am not the same man.  Most of my progress has come in the last 2 years, and much of my transformation has been spiritual and cognitive.  Christ has been growing his roots deeper and deeper into my heart, which has allowed my thoughts to become different. Panic, anxiety, and self destruction are no longer my go-to choices or reactions. Consistency of prayer has led to consistency of spirit, whcih led to consistency of thought, which led to consistency of action.  I no longer fear success or failure.  I fear only God, in the healthy ...

That's how a friend of mine greeted me on Tuesday night at the gym.  I think I look the same and have a further ahead of me than behind, but that comment from a friend at the gym (whom I haven't seen in about 2 months) reminds me that I'm my own worst critic, with one or two exceptions. I'm still hovering between 205 and 208 and need to hit 195 ASAP for Highland Games on 11/07, but I'm every bit as strong as I was in 2011 weighing 235 pounds.  My deadlift is up to 475, my squat up to 385, and my overhead press up to 180.  I haven't maxed on bench press in a long time, so I have no idea where that's at.  I'm stronger, leaner, and lighter. I just hope I can turn this strength into performance on the field.  I've been doing a ton of cleans and snatch grip high pulls to work on my explosiveness, but I have been more worried about making weight than sport-specificity of my training.  I don't expect it to come together for a peak till San Antonio i...

Last week I ran into a friend at the gym and we both happened to be doing legs.  I had been warming up for a while and he walked up and just jumped in.  I lost count of how many sets I did, but my method was wave loading: A work set of 5 reps, followed by a heavy single A heavier set of 5, a heavier single I worked up to 5 reps with 295 and a single at 365.  I tried for 5 reps at 315 but got dizzy at the second rep. Yesterday, Sunday 27 SEP, I did the same on my own with new-found confidence and worked up to 295 for 5 and a single at 385.  I really happy with those numbers but I feel it in my knees today.  I'm working diligently to shift the pressing to my heels.

I've decided to do a little less lifting and a little more cardio.  I need to cut to 199 for the last two light weight Highland Games competitions of the year: Austin Celtic Festival 11/7 Salado Celtic Festival 11/14 I did pretty poorly at Sherwood, but I know why and I'm fixing it.  I've been training for aesthetics for most of 2015 and even though some lift maxes have come up, my overall performance has taken a hit as I've divided my training into smaller and smaller body parts. Performance is all about integrating the body as a single unit to develop power, speed, endurance or whatever your particular sport calls for.  The benefit off all the body-part bodybuilding training is that I've worked on several weak links.  Now it's time to connect those links into a strong kinetic chain. The new schedule is: Monday AM: Whole body lifting for power and strength Monday PM: Boxing workout to cut fat and increase anaerobic endurance Tuesday AM: Sh...

I've been all over the place, gym-wise.   I tried the EDT thing but it was trashing my elbows, messed around with progressive overload on Olympic lifts for a couple months, switched to 6-days per week following the old-school split (chest&back, shoulder&arms, legs&abs, repeat, 1 day off) and got some solid gains in size and strength, but noticed a bit of a gut forming. Now I'm back to seeking balance and capitalizing on my higher work capacity / recovery ability. I have been neglecting cardio all summer, ever since the boxing program ended.  So to make time for it, I've decided to lift twice a day on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and run Tuesday and Thursday mornings, with the evenings open for play.  My kids moved with their mom about 2 hrs away, so I suddenly find myself  with a need to fill my evenings.  If I had my kids during the week, I wouldn't be training twice a day. I've made some solid progress in my strength and am at least as stro...

Holy smokes!!!!   In 1 week I've noticed a change in my body.   Its happening fast, despite the reasonable levels  of fatigue and soreness.  Every muscle is fuller and more vascular.  Abs look just as defined as competition weight of 198, but now I'm up to 203. Biggest changes: Quads blowing up from 5 min squat sets.  So far I'm up to 55 reps with 135#.  Soon as I reach 100 reps I'll increase to 185#. Chest, shoulders, and triceps filling out from the 15 minute EDT set.  I'm up to 100 reps dips & 100 reps curls in 15 minutes. When I hit 150 of each, I'll add 25# on dips and another 20# on curls. Mid back filling out from the clean & press, especially the final Rest Pause set. My stamina is ridiculous!!!  I can run all day, or do bodyweight movements all day.   Boxing workouts are really filling in the conditioning gap I used to have. Now to stay the course and not get too greedy with the weights. I need to avoid inj...

Thank you, Father, for the gift of perseverance, and the wisdom of humility. I put my ego aside through these last 9 weeks or so to cut weight and just  stuck to the plan. Every time a deceptive thought entered my head, I tried to pray it away and just stick to the plan. You're stronger than this.  Why waste time with these light weights? You can drop weight faster than this. Just enjoy a pizza night with the kids. You're better than your competition.  Why push so hard? Ego is a motherfucker.  It is the seed of complacency and mediocrity. Humility, ironically enough, is the driver of confidence, patience, and maturity.  I kept my weights according to plan, didn't accumulate any new injuries, dropped 4 inches off my waist, and feel faster and more athletic than I have in a decade. I placed Second in my first outing as a Lightweight at the San Antonio Highland Games.  The guy who came in first was untouchable!!!!  What a great thrower, and...