Rotation Training

Here is an article by Josh Bryant on the importance of developing rotational power in athletes.

Rotational Power Development by Josh Bryant

Get big or die tyrin'.

This Past Week (11/14-11/20)

This past week was the start of my hypertrophy phase, which will last until the end of 2010. I am doing basically all bodybuilding routines and cutting down my cardio in an attempt to put on as much size as possible by the end of the year. Numbers wise, I'm about 229.5 right now and would like to try to get up to 238 by the time I finish this phase. Looks like I have some serious eating to do.

One of the benefits I have heard of from taking Protandim is a significant decrease in muscle soreness in the days following workouts. I decided to put this theory to the test this past week and do workouts that I knew would make me sore. For example, on my leg day I pair eccentric back squats with leg press. Leg day was Monday, and unfortunately for me I had only been taking Protandim for about 5 days at this point, so it hadn't been in my system long enough to reduce my oxidative stress levels to the point of no soreness. Needless to say, I woke up Tuesday and could barely walk.

I soldiered forward, however, and had my chest day on Tuesday. Wednesday morning I woke up to the same story: quads still tight as can be from Monday and my upper chest tender to the touch from Tuesday. Sweet. I did some box jumps and rolled out on Wednesday. I put a lacrosse ball on the ground and positioned it right under my pec minor as I laid on top of it haha. That actually felt pretty good.

Thursday it was time for back day. By this point I had been on Protandim for 9 days. I blasted my back on Thursday with equal intensity to how I hit my chest and legs in the previous days. Friday morning I woke up, got out of bed, and felt like I had taken a day off. No joke. There was absolutely no soreness. I went in to work on Friday morning and hit my arms, shoulders, and upper traps. I could barely lift my arms by the end of the workout I had pushed so hard. Saturday morning I woke up. Same thing. No soreness. It was the most ridiculous recovery time I had ever experienced. I am really excited to see how my body reacts when I do the leg and chest days next week, because those were the two that made me so sore before.

That's all for this past week. Now it's time to go live this one.

Get big or die tryin'.

Pull More Weight

A lot of people have trouble pulling their own body weight, but for those of us who have been there and done that, adding more weight to pull brings a whole new challenge. Check out this article by Ben Bruno on how to increase the amount of weight you are using on chin-ups and pull-ups.

Tracking the Weighted Chin-Up by Ben Bruno

Get big or die tryin'.

This Past Week (11/7-11/13)

This past week was my general prep phase week. On Monday, Thursday, and Friday I did 30-minute body weight workouts. On Thursday I also did box jumps, completing the second to last week of the Self Made Plyo Program. The GPP week was similar to a deload week for me, allowing me to get work in without have to blast my CNS or my muscles. This allowed me to recovery from my testing the week before.

On Sunday I played in my weekly basketball league, and Saturday brought an off day. Wednesday was my only other off day of the week as on Tuesday I ran a timed mile again, making it in 6:14, 9 seconds faster than when I ran it 10 days prior.

Saturday was an off day because I was in a conference all day from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM. The conference presented information in an attempt to blend the fields of personal training and physical therapy. It was a ton of biomechanics, anatomy, and discussion, which I loved. Surprisingly, the day went really fast. I had a great time and learned a lot.

The biggest thing that happened this past week was the at I became a distributor of Protandim. Protadim is a supplement that has been scientifically proven to reduce oxidative stress by an average of 40%. For more information on Protandim, please see http://selfmadefitness.com/protandim.

That's all for this past week. Now it's time to go live this one.

Get big or die tryin'.

Recession Proof Foods

Here's a list of five foods that are still remaining affordable and nutritious despite the tough economic times. Is it purely coincidence that The Big Three are part of this list?

Five Recession Proof Foods for the Serious Athlete by Jason Colenzo

Get big or die tryin'.

This Past Week (10/31-11/6)

This past week was my testing week after I finished up SMS 12 the week before. I only tested bench and squat this time because I didn't have rubber plates or a platform to test my deadlift on. After playing basketball on Sunday night I decided to take Monday completely off before testing my squat on Tuesday.

I forgot my belt at my apartment on Tuesday, and although I don't normally wear a belt when I train, I do like to wear one when I test. So I hit 425 without a belt and then put 445 on the bar. I missed it and was caught by the crash bars. Embarrassed and pissed off, I found a random belt around the gym and put that on, then put 455 on the bar. I hit 455 and called it a day.

Wednesday was the day I tested my bench. Boy was I a space cadet this day. First off, I decided it would be a good idea to try a bunch of pushup variations the night before. Secondly, I forgot to take caffeine before I went to warm up for the bench. Now, I take caffeine every once in a while before I train if I am feeling sluggish, but I most certainly try to always remember to take it before I test. Obviously this didn't work out. Long story short, my mind and body were very disconnected on this day and, as a result, my performance suffered.

Thursday I took completely off from working out. My nervous system was still trying to recover from what I had put it through the previous two days. Thursday night I became a distributor of Protandim, a supplement that has been proven time and again to reduce oxidative stress by up to 40%. For more information on Protandim, click here. If you are interested in trying Protandim for yourself, click here. If you are interested in becoming a distributor, contact me at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.

Friday morning myself and Chris Shalvoy timed how long it would take us to do 100 pullups each. We finished in 19 minutes and 11 seconds. I have the entire thing recorded; I just haven't taken the time to edit it into a reasonable-length video. Look for that soon though!

Saturday my lats and biceps were killing me from the pullups marathon the day before. I didn't work out at all on Saturday, and instead used the day to read, contact people about Protandim, and send out The Source.

That's all for this past week. Now it is time to go live this one.

Get big or die tryin'.

Walk In As King

Need motivation? The ability to do whatever you set your mind to is inside of you, you just need to find that strength. Check out this article by Chris Vaughn on how to bring swagger in to the weight room.

Walk in as King by Chris Vaughn.

Get big or die tryin'.

This Past Week (10/24-10/30)

This past week was my deload week for SMS 12, which I started on Monday. Per usual, all of my deloads lifts went well. Sunday I had another basketball league game at DePaul, and I felt pretty good running up and down the floor. I also had an hour of yoga earlier in the day.

Monday was my squat day, Tuesday was bench, Thursday was deadlift, and Friday was my military press day for this deload week. Wednesday I did my box jumps and then did some barefoot sprint work as well as some hip mobility work. Saturday I ran a timed mile, ala the conditioning test we had to do for basketball. The goal was to break the 6:00 mark, so I wanted to see how close I was despite my only aerobic conditioning being an hour or two of pickup basketball once or twice a week. I ran a 6:23, which I was pleasantly surprised with. Right now I am planning to continue to run the timed mile each week until I break 6:00.

I finished reading Transfer of Training in Sports this past week, and made significant progress inSupertraining as well.

I cooked salmon for the first time in months on Saturday night. I think I want to make that in to a weekly ritual. I would much rather do that than go out to eat, because, quite frankly, I feel awful every time I eat a restaurant due to the poor quality of food and the higher carbohydrate meals. I have come to accept the fact that pizza is probably no longer an option for me because of how it skyrockets my blood sugar for hours after, and pasta dishes and breakfast foods (waffles, pancakes, etc.) do the same thing. It is remarkable how much better I feel when I cook for myself and really limit my carbohydrate intake.

The articles page on my site is still messed up, but I am hoping to have it fixed today.

That's all for this past week. Now I need to live this one.

Get big or die tryin'.