2-21-2011

Whoa what a day!

Todays training for our upcoming powerlifting meet: Max Effort Lower Day

Working up to a max on our back squat! I hit my opener which at my last meet around thanksgiving was my old max!

So today I hit 1x405lbs, I made a pretty big jump and tried 420lbs and was pretty close to getting it up but was unsuccessful  after two attempts. Following I did 330lbs for 10 reps, which was a new PR on a 10 rep squat and amazingly hard I might add. Following our squat session we decided to deadlift! I did 90% of my projected max attempt (525lb) for a double, so 2x475lb which felt good. We finished off today with some hip extensions, 3x19x60lbs.

I think apart of my missed squats today was my sore abs and lats from saturdays workout. I am a bit bummed I didnt hit my squat today but at the same time, two weeks prior to my last powerlifting meet I could barlely squat 400lbs and I ended up squatting 407.9 pretty easily. So gotta keep my chin up and kill it in two weeks.

Its been a few days since I have written but my weekend was pretty good, I had an amazing turn out for bootcamp on saturday morning and really hope everyone keeps coming.

Todays going to be a pretty short post, I am slammed with trying to get prepared for my best buddy from home's bachelor party coming up this weeeknd, were going skydiving at staying at the Blue Herron Inn up towards Mt. St. Helens. Now because I know I am going to be eating not so good foods and enjoying a couple adult beverages, it will be crucial that I eat clean this week! Its okay to have fun, provided that we are responsible for ourselves.

Good luck this week guys and gals! Thanks for reading!

HOLY SHIT WHAT A DAY!

Well today started off pretty amazing! I had a couple really great workouts with my clients and then I took one for the team and cleaned out our break room. Now for a bunch of people who are health conscious we can be quite complacent, the downfall of us all bringing our own food to the gym is often times our tupperware is forgotten in the fridge.....yes you all know where this is going....so I took a couple hours and cleaned out the break room to make it squeaky clean! Following this activity I had an amazing workout! Today was a dynamic effort lower body day:

Clean for a double with an extra front squat after the second rep.

1x2x80kg
1x2x90kg
1x2x100kg

Then I wanted to test the waters and try a PR clean and jerk with 112kg which is 246.4lbs and I made it!

Following was dynamic effort box squats 8x2x255 plus bands with 45 seconds of rest

Finally we finished with 45 degree hip extensions for 3x6x100lbs

Upon finishing my workout and my post workout shake my buddy steve who is one of my training parters, co-workers and a beloved bouncers at the Dixie informed me of terrible news a regular at the will no longer be with us!

Will was a pretty funny guy, always a bag of smiles in the gym and there religiously, we crossed paths quite a bit and shot the shit here and there, most of the time about Gonzaga vs. UP Basketball!  Will seemed to have it all, fun loving personality, tons of friends, a good job and had just recieved a new job in which he was going to earning a significant pay raise and move up to seattle and then we hear of this! BOOM! WOW! Such a shock to here this tragic news after the last time we talked it was the happiest day of his life!  I am a pretty happy person as it is, but to have someone my age go through this was amazing! I am not really sure how to feel right now, I wasnt super close with Will but definitely will miss him!

So on that note, keep your chins up, there are plenty of people who love and support each and every one of you! PLEASE ENJOY LIFE TO ITS FULLEST BECAUSE SOME DAY....

RIP WILL, YOU WILL BE MISSED!

I leave you all with a video that my friend Nikki showed me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xavFb4WH7o0

11-16-2011

You know the life of a trainer has its ups and downs business wise, see we are only paid when we are actually with a client so when someone goes out of town, has surgery or etc....and  they miss their session, we don't get paid. Now usually this isn't so bad except when it rains it pours, multiple people get sick, go on a vacation, have surgery you name it I have someone that has it but none the less this is truly like owning your own business. If I want to make more money, I simply need to be there at the gym and out networking. Getting new clients is far from my problem its just keeping them in town haha. So as of recently I have a fairly light schedule compared to normal, see I make my availability from 6am until 830pm, the way I figure, if I had a lot of extra time to myself my spending would go up ten fold and I do'nt need that so I just try and book up as much time as I want so that when I want to miss a day and go do something it isn't a big deal. Anyway, enough about my random hours.

Today for our workout we did Maximum Effort Upper Body day, we are working off a modified West Side Conjugate Program. West Side Barbell is an elite powerlifting gym out in Ohio. Our work out today consisted of:

Bench w/ Chains: working up to heavy singles

I managed to get 1 rep with 250lbs on the bar plus about 30lbs of chains at the lengthened position which means my arms are all the way extended and the bar is at its farthest point away from my chest. 

Then we just benched for heavy double without the chains. 

Here I did 2x2x255

For our isolated auxiliary triceps exercise we did barbell skull crushers.

1x8x95lbs

2x5x105

Finally we finished with off with a seated row

5x12x135 Close grip

Sometimes I have a hard time training because its hard for me to focus and zone out at our gym, there are so many people wandering around, people always come up to us and ask what were doing which is fine, I dont mind but it pulls us away from our own training session. But the name of the game is being able to consistently find the zone as much as possible. Not every workout is going to be amazing, but you have to fight through and make it the best you can. Lets face it, everyone including trainers get tired, stressed, sleep deprived, calorie deprived etc...but its how well do you block all those stresses out and focus up...its when you are able to do that on a consistent basis that makes us the best possible athlete. Just remember stick with it and dont fall off or stress out because a workout didnt feel amazing! We have to realize that sometimes we have to struggle in order to grow and help ourselves improve in any aspect of life. 

Well enough from me for now, please have a great night! I will talk to you all tommorrow! 

2-15-2011

Wow! What a day! Last night I had the worst time trying to fall asleep even though I was exhausted...I managed to finally get myself to fall asleep about 3am at which point I almost came out from my room and did some writing for you all in response to reading some of the yelp comments about my gym which if I dont fall asleep at the table I may touch on. However, after falling asleep at 3am I was back up at 5 to get ready for my early morning clients. My typical routine is I walk out of my room, straight down to the kitchen, pour myself a cup of coffee and walk right back up to the shower I turned on. After feeling somewhat like a normal person I still managed to make enough time to make some scrambled eggs and get myself to the gym in time for my client. After a few session with some new clients I headed off to the Lloyd Center to get fitted for a tux for my best buddy from home's wedding! Upon walking back from the max I really wanted to stop and get a burrito because A) they are one of my favorite cheat foods and B) it was cold and something spicy sounded good...I chose the high road and chose to go back and eat more of my turkey burger and broccoli but then something amazing happened, someone brought a box of Chipotle into our break room so I couldnt resist and I had a burrito :) I finished my day today at 8:30 pm after training one of the most inspirational individuals I have ever met. Dr. Robert Stuckey is a pretty phenomenal individual, his conditions include: Fused Discs between C3:C4, C4:5, C5:C6 and L5:S1, he also has residual nerve damage from the C4:C5 fusion which causes nerve damage towards the right arm, because of this he lost alot of mass to his right lat, he also has had rotator cuff surgery on his right arm and previously broken his left clavical, he has had full knee replacement in his left knee and has no cartlidge left in his right knee....Now you would think someone who has had this many injuries/surgeries would be pretty overweight and somewhat of a downer, but on the contrary he is one of the most upbeat adn smiling individuals you would ever meet. We are working on strength and stability mainly focusing on the PT that he never did....oh yeah I should probably touch on the fact that this man is in his 70's and to be honest I hope I am walking on my own merit and feeding myself let alone have some 24 year old running me around a gym :) I just have to say that every time I train him I walk away more inspired to live my life to the fullest and stay positive, sometimes we are dealt a shitty hand but hey you know what its your life, lets make the most of it. On my way home from the gym I came very close to stopping byBridgeport Brewery which is one my favorites in town for a beer and a bite because I didnt really feel like eating more turkey burger or broccoli...once again I chose to come home and make 6 scrambled eggs with some teriyaki sauce and siracha hot sauce which I feel much better about now that I am no longer hungry. As I tell my clients we have to set ourselves up to succeed and when I work really long hours at the gym like I did today I most of the time dont want to eat the food I have brought to keep me from stopping at a local watering hole along my walk home. But its about staying strong and evaluating our goals and as soon as I was done eating I was much happier I didnt stop off for beer and whatever I else I chose to eat which when I stop at bridgeport is usually the wings, the quesadilla and the burger haha seriously! :)

Well I almost didnt write to you all tonight because its not apart of my traditional habits, but as I tell my clients we will work on this new habit for 21 days straight at which point you will wonder how you ever lived your life without this habit. I really want to use this blog as a means to help keep me a little bit more accountable because  in all honesty I feel as I should be a bit leaner considering my job but you know what I am a real person, I struggle like anyone else, I love burgers, burritos and beer...so keep me in check guys and gals and keep reading!  Have a great evening!

P.S. Ill touch on the Yelp comments later! Too tired!

Monday 2-14-2011 Valentines Day

Today turned out to be a filled with great joys of my own personal workout and the success of my clients training and happiness, yet it still turned out to be somewhat of a downer due to the downfall of being a personal trainer who truly cares about his clients. 

My day today started off somewhat hazy when I woke up still feeling the after affects of being a little under the weather, yes even those of us who try and treat our bodies like gold ;) still get sick. I felt that a few more hours of sleep would do me good so I asked my beloved early birds if I could reschedule. Luckily, I have amazing clients and they were all happy to help. Upon waking up from my second attempt at sleep I felt quite amazing so I decided that it would be good to get in an attempt of training being that I have a Powerlifting Competition coming up that I have been training for since Thanksgiving. It turned out to be a pretty solid day of training for myself and my partners. Our program today includes:

Spider Bar Box Squat: Heavy Single (1x)

1x405

1x415 PR (personal record) Up from 410

High Bar Back Squat: Heavy double (2x)

1x2x375

1x1x375 (I failed my second attempt at my second rep)

High Bar Back Squat: Extra Volume

1x10x315

Deadlift: 90% of projected max for a double

I attempted 2x470 and failed, my back was very tired from the previous squats and just didn't have enough energy, I am blaming it on being sick :) 

My session after my own workout is typically Felix, someone who came from the circuit training world and hasn't had a lot of exposure to lifting heavy weights. Even with a job in which he travels a great deal he has seen REMARKABLE RESULTS! He is stronger and leaner than he ever has been and feels great! Upon starting his session he was excited to tell me that he is down a few more pounds and loves our sessions, words that every trainer loves to hear!!! We had a pretty solid workout and made some great progress! On a side note he has made a new years resolution to not eat anything that comes out of a box, what a great resolution. After finishing our session I checked my email and received notice that one of my original clients upon starting training at the Pearl will be relocating to San Francisco for work...this really bummed me out! Vrushali is another amazing client who when starting with me could barley squat her own body weight and since our beginning adventure in August has lost over 25lbs  and more than 6' from her waist and 4'' from her legs! BOOM! Thats so awesome, I should probably add that she can also squat 110lbs for 5 reps now....It wasn't long ago that I had received an email from her that told me how much she enjoys exercising now and how she truly looks forward to the gym and now uses it as a stress relief effort and place of true happiness. I am sad to see her go but wish her the best of luck in all of her endeavors and hopefully she can keep up her amazing process. 

After finishing my work day I stopped by the grocery store, picked up some ground turkey burger, eggs and broccoli crowns. For dinner I had left over grass fed beef with red kale and I may or may not have had a beer left over from Super Bowl. I cooked my ground turkey in organic butter with pepper and rosemary and simply steamed my broccoli. 

This is the first entry to my "Life as a trainer" Blog, I hope that this can become a place to find inspiration, training ideas and some stress relief that even trainers aren't perfect and its okay to live life to its fullest but also with a responsible twist!  Have a great night!