This Past Week (7/18-7/24)

This past week I was back on my grind both mentally and physically. On Sunday I started with my squat day for SMS 9. It was week 2 so I did all of my filming for SMS 9 this week. After taking the week off, my legs felt GREAT! I had so much pop in my squat it was awesome!

Monday was my bench day and I could definitely feel that the week off helped my shoulder heal. I also did a bunch of reading on Monday, finishing "How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy" by Paul Chek.

Tuesday was my first of three interview days. In the morning I had a plyo session and after that I drove down to Chicago to interview at XSport Fitness. The interview went really well, and I drove back to Wisconsin that afternoon.

Wednesday was going to be a long day for me so I just did yoga in the morning. Then I drove back down to Chicago for two more interviews, one at HealthQuest Fitness and the other at FFC Gold Coast. After those two interviews I checked out apartments in the Gold Coast area and then headed back to Wisconsin.

Thursday morning I had my deadlift day. After pulling conventionally for two months it is really nice to get back to pulling Sumo style. After my lift I drove down to Chicago for my fourth interview in three days, this time at UNICUS Fitness. Before my interview I looked at another apartment building and really liked what I saw. The interview went well, and after the drive home I called the building manage of the apartments I looked at earlier that day and let them know that I would be taking one. I also called FFC Gold Coast as I rode the Metra to my car to let them know that I would be accepting their job offer.

Friday afternoon I had my fourth lift of the week, and even with all of the travel that had taken place in the previous days I still was able to lift really well.

Saturday morning my mother and I drove up to Madison to shop at this HUGE farmers' market around the Capital. There were a ton of people there, and what was really interesting to me was that the percentage of overweight and obese people at this farmers' market was miniscule compared to the rest of society. Coincidence? I think not.

Well, that's all for this past week. Now it's time to go live this one.

Get big or die tryin'.

This Past Week (7/11-7/17)

This past week I was in Cleveland on vacation. I didn't have any intense workouts during this time, rather, I just used the time to let me shoulders heal. I did attend a yoga session on Tuesday for an hour, and that was a new experience for me and one that I really enjoyed. I had always done yoga in my own home before, never in a studio, but having an actual instructor there brought a whole other dimension.

My nutrition was less than perfect during this time. I didn't eat any junk food or drink, but my ability to stick to my metabolic typing diet was very limited due to the fact that I had little to no control over my meals. When I would eat at restaurants I did order steaks and salad, but the consistent high fat, high protein, lower carb diet that had made me feel so well in the previous weeks was definitely not the same. Needless to say, my blood sugar suffered.

Well, that's all for this past week. Now it's time to go live this one.

Get big or die tryin'.

This Past Week (7/4-7/10)

This past week I began SMS 9. The biggest difference between SMS 8 and SMS 9 is that I have added complexes to the main lifts every day. So, for example, after performing a working set of squats I will immediately perform 5 box jumps. I have used complexes in my training for a couple years now and have experienced great gains in strength while using complexes so I felt it was very necessary to work them in to the SMS series.

Monday was my squat day and after my deload week the week before I felt very strong. After my lift on Monday I sent out the July issue of The Source. In this issue I wrote about the final three lessons I learned from the bike ride. To read part one, check out "The Bike Ride" in the articles section on my site!

On Tuesday I was definitely feeling the complexes from the day before. I went to the weight room and had my bench day, and the deload week most certainly helped my shoulder. I also had a plyo workout on Tuesday. Wednesday was my deadlift day, and it was a welcome switch back to Sumo style from the Conventional style I was using to pull in SMS 7 and SMS 8. After my lift on Wednesday I spent the day sending out resumes and cover letters to gyms in the Chicago area. I received a lot of good feedback and am very excite about what the future holds. Wednesday evening I played basketball for the first time in a three weeks, and unfortunately I rolled my ankle during the first game. It wasn't a major sprain, but it was enough that I stopped playing after that game.

Thursday morning I had my military press day, which contained some lower reps for the arms and some higher reps for my chest and overall it was a very good lift. I mowed the lawn when I got back and was able to move fairly well on my injured ankle.

That was all my activity for the week as Friday morning I left Wisconsin bright and early and drove to Cleveland. So that's all for this past week and now it's time to go live this one.

Get big or die tryin'.

This Past Week (6/27-7/3)

This past week was my deload week for SMS 8. After going really hard for the previous three weeks it felt really good to have a less intense week in the weight room. Monday was my squat day and I used this session with the lighter weight to really push my range of motion on every set. Also on Monday I put up a new article on the site, "Timed Sets For Auto-Regulation", which explains the theory and method behind SMS 7, SMS 8, and SMS 9.

Tuesday morning I did plyos and then had to make a trip to Chicago. On the way back I listened to two podcasts by Sean Croxton of Underground Wellness. These podcasts can be found on iTunes, and if there is one source for nutritional and wellness information that I could point you to I would point you to these podcasts. Every time I am in my car I plug in my iPod and listen to this blogtalk radio show, and every time I learn new and exciting information.

Wednesday was my bench day, and because my shoulder still hasn't completely healed, the lighter day was much appreciated. Thursday I deadlifted, and once again the lift went really well. I was in a great mood after my lift, then I picked up my phone and found out that the job I was supposed to begin two weeks later had fallen through. This really sent me for a loop, and as much as I tried to not stress, I have to admit that I was out of whack the rest of the day. I tried doing a yoga session to de-stress, but that didn't work at all as my mind struggled to grasp my new reality.

Friday I finished out my deload week on a strong note with a solid lift despite my new-found unemployment. I had my second plyo session of the week on Friday as well. Later that day I put up SMS 8 for sale in the Store on my website. This program can be downloaded right to your computer for only $10!

Saturday I ran hill sprints in my court for 20 minutes. My current routine for hill sprints is to find a hill that I can sprint up in 6 to 8 seconds when I'm fresh. Then I sprint up and walk or jog down for twenty minutes, trying to get 30 sprints in during the twenty minutes.

Well, that's all for this past week. Now it's time to go live this one.

Get big or die tryin'.