T-Buck’s Blog I Rock

It’s that time again….time to change up the weights routine.  This time around, trainer Steve has me doing a gymnasts weight lifting regiment.  It is very tough, and taxing, and focuses on the core more than any of my other routines.  I did Day 1 for the first time yesterday, and it took me 2 hours to get through it.

Day 1/3   ( Monday and Thursday) Chest, Abs, and Biceps

• Flat Bench Dumbbell Chest Press 15-12-10 reps
• Level 4 Abdominal Hip Lift- 20 to 15 reps
• Standing Dumbbell Curl with a twist at the top 15-12-10
• Repeat the exercises in a tri-set circuit

• Decline Bench Pushups 30 reps then last two sets to failure
• Flutter Kicks-  15 to 20 reps per leg
• Standing Barbell Curl:  15-12-10 reps
• Repeat the exercises in a tri-set circuit

• Incline Dumbbell Chest Press 15-12-10
• Abdominal Plank 30-60 seconds
• Ez Curl Bicep Curl Gripping out wide 15-12-10

• Dumbbell Fly’s On The Physio Ball:  15-12-10
• Scissor Leg Kicks On The Floor:  15-20 per leg
• Seated Elbow Against The Knee Dumbbell Curl 15-12-10

Days 2/5(Tuesday/Saturday)  Legs, Back, Shoulders Triceps

• Dumbbell Lunges In Place:  15-12-10 Per Leg
• Pullups With Strict Form:  10+ reps -3sets

• Dumbbell Bulgarian Lunges With Bench: 4 sets of 10
• Dumbbell Plank Dumbbell Rows:  4 sets of 10 per arm

• Hamstring Curls On Stomach:  15-12-10
• Lat Pulldown’s Behind The Neck:  15-12-10

• Dumbbell Arnold Shoulder Press:  15-12-10
• Tricep Bar Dips:  3 sets of 15+ Reps

• Ez Curl Upright Row’s:  15-12-10
• Ez Bar Tricep Skull Crushers:  15-12-10

• Dumbbell Side Shoulder Raises Arms Straight:  15-12-10
• Tricep Rope Pressdowns 15-12-10

Jeremy has said this line a lot of times, about a lot of things.  When you enter into a situation, you have to realize what you think you know, usually isn’t what is happening.  The same applies to fitness…

Fitness is a crazy thing.  It is fun, challenging, uplifting, social and many other things.  People work out for a lot of different reasons.  Not everyone wants to look like a fitness model.  Some do.  Not everyone wants to work out till they want to puke.  Some do.  No everyone wants to dance around for an hour.  Some do.  Not everyone wants to ride a stationary bike in a small room.  Some do.  Not everyone wants to lift iron repeatedly, in the same motions.  Some do.  Not everyone wants to run and run and run, till they can’t run anymore.  Some do.  Not everyone wants to zen out for an hour and stretch themselves like they’ve never been stretched before.  Some do.  I think you get my point.

I am approached a lot about what I do for fitness, and what I suggest people start doing to get in shape.  I always tell people that I don’t want to scare you off, so I’m going to tell you what I think you should do “to get started”.  If I tell you exactly what I do everyday, and eat everyday, you might freak out.  I am one of those people that loves to cross train.  I love to feel like I have finally mastered something, and instead of being complacent and happy about it, I change direction and start ground up on something that I suck at.  I did the running thing for a long time, culminating in a marathon.  Then I did spinning for a long time, many days a week.  Then I started weight training.  Then I started bootcamps.  Then fusion.  Then yoga.  Now I do a combination of everything.  I have no hangups about myself, I have no problem working out with all women.  I also have no problems lifting weights with all men.  To me, it’s all an experience, and it’s all about learning.  I am not one of those guys that makes fun of those women that rock it out in a cardio class.  I’d put money on the table that most of those women are in better shape than most “meat heads”.  I’ve actually seen it happen in some of the bootcamps, and fusion classes.  Those guys can’t hang for half of the class.  And most of these classes aren’t “dancing” cardio classes.  They incorporate basic plyometric movements.

Anyways, back on topic, the reason I am writing this is because you will hear a lot in the fitness world about how what you are doing is wrong.  That the real way to lose weight, or put on muscle, is: xyz.  There is no “magical” way that beats out all of the other ways to exercise.  Just think for a second about how many different ways people can exercise, and things that have been around for a long time.  Jazzercise, Spinning, Running, Swimming, Bootcamps, P90X, Jane Fonda, Richard Simmons, etc etc.  The people that get off on telling you what you are doing wrong, are missing a MAJOR thing when it comes to exercise.  YOU HAVE TO ENJOY IT, OR YOU WILL NEVER STICK WITH IT.

Sure, you can weight train hardcore for 3 months, and build muscle and look great.  But if you hate lifting weights, a year from now, you’ll be chubby, and wondering what happened.  You can make yourself get up 4 times a week, and run 5 miles.  But 3 years from now, if you hated running, you won’t be running anymore.  Fitness is a lifestyle.  The fun part about it, is there are a lot of options to get in shape.  You just have to find what works for you.  And what your goals are.  The quicker you can figure these out, the happier and healthier you will be…

So 2009 has come and gone, which means I’m also turning another year old on January 3rd.  It seems that since I was 23 I have done some very memorable fitness things each year.  Usually dealing with running, first 5k, first 10k, first half marathon, and then first full marathon.  This year was a little different.  I have nothing to show for it, well sort of…

I didn’t really run this year, I did the Omaha 10k on a whim, but that was about it.  2009 was the year of me changing gears and trying to “look” like a fitness enthusiast.  I spent the last 3 years in the best shape of my life, but still looked anorexic, and not very fit.  Which at the end of the day just pissed me off.  How can one run 26 miles, but not look as good as the guys that lift weights 3 times a week.  So after my marathon, I decided I need a trainer.  Someone to tell me what to do, so I could build some muscle mass.  I did some checking around, and was pointed in the direction of Steve Auxier (www.fitnesslincoln.com).  I made my first appointment with him, mid January 2009.  After discussing with him, it became very apparent that doing cardio everyday of the week, and on the off day that I do lift weights, having the same weights routine for 3 years wasn’t going to cut it.  It doesn’t seem like rocket science to figure this out, but you have to remember I was a runner, that was all I knew.

So Steve met me at the YMCA, with a new weights program, and a limit to how much cardio I could do per week.  I was also heavily obsessed with spinning.  So if I wasn’t running, I was spinning.  Cardio, cardio, cardio…I was now limited to 120 minutes of cardio a week.  Or 2 hours.  At first it was very hard, very very hard.  Running was my go to exercise.  If I couldn’t run outside, I ran on the treadmill.  For 3 years, that’s all I did along with spinning.  In addition to my weights program Steve said he also had bootcamps he was conducting throughout the week, and I should come and check it out.  I can still remember the first saturday I went, and I wanted to die.  The warmup, was a 3 mile run.  This was usually my workout during the week.  3 miles and I was done.  After the 3 miles, we went right into a lot of plyometric work, situps, pushups, lunges, all of that stuff that looks easy but can bring a man to tears in minutes.  I loved it.  I remember calling my dad on my way home, and explaining how I have never felt so much pain in my life, but it was a different kind of pain.  I was used to the pain from running, and not only tolerated it, but began to like it.  This was a whole other pain.  And I quickly realized how weak I really was.

So thus began my year of circuit training, weight lifting and just general muscle building.  Steve would change up my weights routine frequently throughout the year, and I attended bootcamps regularly, as well as a Fusion class taught by one of his trainers, Marika.  My goal was to never get comfortable.  Whenever I felt something was easy, I switched.  I’d go back to spinning, or run, or do both.  Just trying to confuse the hell out of my body.  So in closing I don’t have any medals, or PR’s, or much to show for 2009, except I look the best that I ever have.  On a whim for Halloween, I decided to be a Chippendale’s stripper as kind of a joke.  But you can see the me as a runner, and then me now as I broaden my fitness horizons.

If you read any biographies about successful business people, there usually is a common theme: they’ve failed at some point in their rise to the top.  In terms of business success, failure comes with the territory.  It is only after you have experienced some sort of failure that you learn how to succeed.  The failures are what you learn from, help you grow, and guide you to where you want to be.

It occurred to me last night, when I was 2 hours into my workout, which was basically 2 bootcamps back to back, that failure is very important in exercise as well.  You need to be able to push yourself to your limits and beyond.  And the only way to find out your limit, is to fail.  Those that do fitness with themselves as a guide usually never get to their breaking point.  I mean lets face it, who is gonna do 40 minutes of ab work, most of us, if we were alone would do 5 minutes and as soon as it started to hurt, we’d quit.  Or doing as many pushups as you can, which for many might be already decided mentally as 20.  Well actually it probably is way more, and only at the point that you about face plant because you can’t hold your body weight, that is when you know your top.  But most stop well before that, because they don’t want to look stupid.

I think there is a real mental block to failure in exercise.  People don’t want to be that person, that can’t do it.  But THAT person is making strides, and bettering themselves more than the person that looks effortless doing it.  Our bodies are unbelievably efficient, and constantly are trying to figure out the most optimal way to do things.  So if you run 3 miles, 4 times a week, for a year, by month 5, your body has it pretty much figured it out, and you are no longer building muscle or burning fat.

So you have to get over the fact that going past your breaking point is bad, it is good.  It sets a new standard, something to constantly try to work towards, and to go beyond.  Exercise can be very complex, and if you are trying to get results, then you must train to fail.

I’ve seen a lot of movies lately, so here’s some quick and dirty reviews of each:

Bolt: Funny, but Miley Cyrus’ voice annoys me

The Reader: Very, very good. It started off a little too artsy for me, but got really interesting half way through.

Australia: Widely viewed as a horrible movie. I didn’t mind it. It was more of a western, than anything.

Grey Gardens: Good flick. If you like history, I’ve always been a little intrigued by the Kennedy’s.

Slumdog Millionaire: Awesome. See it. Now.

Role Models: Horrible.

Yes Man: Not impressed, but they do travel to Lincoln, NE so I give it one star for that reason alone.

The Duchess: Another good historical drama.

Religulous: Not too bad. Obviously one sided, but still good.

Lakeview Terrace: The worst movie I’ve seen in a while.

Wall-E: Ridiculously long and drawn out. Not funny at all. Disney failed on this one.

Rachel Getting Married: Got about 5 minutes into it, quickly learned it was shot in that “artsy” “documentary” way, where the camera bounces a lot. Made me want to puke, so I didn’t get to finish it.

That’s about it.

This is a question I am asked a ton, because I tend to not lack motivation to go to the gym. I go there every day after work. There are some days I take a rest day, but only when I think my body needs a break.

So how have I stayed motivated to workout no less than 3 days a week for 3 years? I found something I enjoyed doing. Simple, right? But people don’t take the time to figure out what they REALLY like to do, and it ends in failure. I can’t take full credit for this revelation, because it actually came from my mom, when we were discussing fitness. She is a Jazzercise instructor and has been for 18 years. I began my fitness trek with running, and I asked her one time if she wanted to run and she responded very quickly with a no. And I was like, you have done Jazzercise for years, you can definitely run a couple miles. And she was like, but I don’t want to, I don’t like to run. She went on to explain that if she felt like she had to force herself to workout, she never would have kept doing it. That is why she does Jazzercise. Its enjoyable to her, and thus she is able to stick with it forever.

So how does this apply to everybody else. Fitness should be the core element to anybody’s life. So instead of getting down on yourself, and thinking, well a lot of people run, its cheap, I just need shoes and I’m ready, if you don’t like to do it, then maybe take the time to explore other options. There are tons of things that you can do to stay in shape. Including, but not limited to: running, lifting, spinning, biking, boot camps, kickboxing, Jazzercise, Yoga, Pilates, swimming, boxing.

So that’s it. Ask anybody that works out regularly how they stay motivated, and I’m sure they’ll tell you that it isn’t about the results, etc (results are nice though), they enjoy it. Its not something they have to force themselves to do every week.

It has been about 3 months that I’ve been doing my current weight routine. So yesterday I met with my trainer to get a new weights program. Before I was doing 2 days weights, 1 day cardio, 2 day weights, etc.

This new program has me going 3 days consecutively weight lifting, and then 1 day cardio. So 3 on, 1 cardio, etc. Another difference with this plan, is that between the 3rd and 4th reps there is no rest period. And the 4th rep is till failure.

Day #1
Incline Dumbell Press
Flat Dumbell Press
Chest Press
Cable Fly’s
Tricep Bar Dips
Tricep Cable Pressdown
Tricep Skullcrusher
Diamond Pushups

Day #2
Precor Squat
Leg Press
Smith Lunges
Leg Curl
Standing Calf Extension
Lat Pulldown
Precor Lat Pulldown
Low Cable Rows

Day #3
Shoulder Press
Rear Delt Machine
Dumbell Side Raises
Dumbell Front Raises
Standing Palmup Dumbell Curls
Seated Curl Machine
Bar 21’s
Low Back Extensions

So a typical week will look like this:
Monday: Lift
Tuesday: Lift/Spinning
Wednesday: Lift
Thursday: Spinning
Friday: Lift
Saturday: Lift/Bootcamp
Sunday: Lift

I recently began adding in one bootcamp class a week. A local trainer, Steve Auxier, has a crossfit inspired bootcamp class that is pretty intense. If you have never heard of crossfit, it is definitely something to check out.

Muscle confusion is a key to being in good shape. Your body naturally gravitates towards workouts that you feel comfortable doing. For instance, marathon training, is teaching your body how to optimally run 26 miles. Thus, why after you have ran a few marathons, it doesn’t hurt near as bad to run that many miles. Your body has figured out how to do it, and to do it well. This is bad if you trying to lose weight, gain muscle etc. You need to constantly change up the things you are doing, so your body doesn’t know what is going on.

If I had to recommend something to someone trying to lose weight, take this bootcamp class 3 times a week and you would be set. The exercises that you perform in an hour, will keep you feelin sore for days to come….

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So anybody that runs regularly, knows how important good shoes are. And if you are anything like most runners, once you have found that pair, you always buy the same one each time yours wear out.

Well my shoe of choice is the Brooks Adrenaline, it is a motion control shoe, but isn’t too built up in the instep that it causes problems. I ran the KC Marathon in this shoe, and really liked it. So its time for new shoes, and this particular shoe runs anywhere from $105 to $120. Ouch. Especially when you buy shoes as often as I do.

So yesterday, I’m walking around with my parents as they are shopping and they wanted to check out the Birkenstock store. So I go in, not really looking for anything, and surprisingly they have running shoes. But only 1 pair. The Brooks Adrenaline. And not only did they have this specific style, it was on sale for $59. Score!

I should have bought 2 pair. But, I should be set for 3-6 months with my new pair of shoes. Pretty happy with my bargain buy…

It really really annoys me when I’m in the parking lot of they YMCA, and you have those people that are circling the lot to find a parking spot close to the door. These are the same people that impede traffic when they see somebody getting ready to back out, and they sit there with their blinker on.

This isn’t fricken Wal-Mart, it’s the gym. Wouldn’t you think if you were driving someplace to work out, that parking a little further from the front door, might not be a bad thing?

How about next time you are circling the lot at the Y for a better parking spot, you just keep driving and head on over to Wal-Mart where its perfectly acceptable if not encouraged to drive around wasting gas. I know how important it is to limit the amount of physical exercise it takes to get from your car to the door.