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CALGON & RUBBER DUCKY – TAKE ME AWAY!
Are you a novice exerciser who was, are, or have been suddenly consumed with overwhelming sore muscles during an enjoyable sleep?
Maybe, you’ve never experienced that, particularly. How about wake up the day after or a couple of days from a workout and have the greatest difficulty standing, walking, or sitting due to a great workout?
You know the kind
The workout when you left the gym and went straight home afterward, ran through your normal evening routine before bedtime, laid your head down feeling highly confident, fall into a deep sleep, go to roll over, and BAM!
You’re stiff. Swarmed with that achy feeling in your muscles. Newbies, typically, are surprised to this reaction and innocently question why are they experiencing this.
The weak hearted tend to raise the white flag and surrender quickly.
What they don’t know, this state of body shock, is the best litmus test for their level of being “in shape”, good pain tolerance, and intensity of workout.
Or in other words, small muscle tears that lead to a process where the body adapts and heals the injury, which, equals to you become stronger.
What’s The Deal
About.com describes
this familiar affect as DOMS or better known as Delay Onset Muscle Soreness:
Although it can be alarming for new exercisers, delayed onset muscle soreness is a normal response to unusual exertion and is part of an adaptation process that leads to greater stamina and strength as the muscles recover and build (hypertrophy).
Personally speaking, I embrace the soreness. I’ll admit I’m a radically, insane exerciser. Starting back in my earlier years at West Virginia. Though I wasn’t the strongest or fastest on the team, I was, should I admit, still in a category by myself. I enjoy the torturing, burning sensation that’s associated with training – especially concerning my lower body.
So, with the start of this week, I dialed up a workout with greater intensity then the previous four weeks. The irony is I only used three movements.
Boy o’ boy it was tough, but, I set a small goal to complete first, thereby, validating my efforts. Though mentally I had a larger number of rounds to achieve, by creating a strategy to get through half first, I ensured triumph was in reach.
End Result
Reduce Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
Delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, is part and parcel of an exhaustive workout typical of that experienced at fitness bootcamp. There are however some methods which help reduce this soreness. In the following paragraphs we’ll explore two of these methods that sufferers have claimed reduces the severity.
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SMALL GOALS ON GETTING HEALTHY
How do you go from unhealthy to healthy, or from ok health to super health?
If you don’t have the slightest idea, a great start would be asking yourself, what are your personal “health” goals?
That’s exactly where I and anyone else who’s looking for change in their health need to start.
Know Your Goal
Let’s look at the most common “health” goals I come across:
fat loss
improve strength
prevention of disease
better quality of life
advancing athletic performance
energy
Or
getting rid of all your BELLY FAT just to look good in your “birthday suit”.
So what will it take in order to fulfill any of the above?
Laser focus on the things which take precedence.
What to Eat
- Consciously eat nutrient-filled food
- To improve gut absorption which leads to gut health
- To improve your body’s composition and lessen the chances of disease
- Sufficient amounts of quality food to deliver your body its macro and micro nutrient requirements
Steps to take => BEFORE YOU EAT – THINK OF THIS?
What NOT to Eat
- Cut back on the body’s main fuel form – CARBS!
- What are carbs?
- Everything that TASTES good, but AREN’T the best choices for you.
- Don’t drink your calories – instead water, water, water.
- AVOID foods that harm you
- Likewise, NOT eating enough meals harm your objective.
When you skip meals or don’t eat enough meals the end result is an impedment in your metabolic goal.
Your Goal
Mind your business of SPEEDING your metabolism to BURN FAT, effectively. And that’s how you go from unhealthy to healthy, or from ok health to super health.
STRUGGLES OF WORKING OUT
Are YOU at wits end struggling on making exercise a part of your lifestyle?
Contemplating on throwing in the white towel?
Do you feel overwhelmed with the vast armies of diet and exercise regimens?
Take a deep breath – then exhale.
Envision about where YOU would like to be, physically.
Think about how great YOU will feel when are there.
Is it worth fighting for?
I would like to believe YOUR overall health and fitness is worth fighting for.
Here’s how:
Since 2010, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, claimed the tallest building in the world title.
It stands at an amazing 2,723 ft from the ground to the top of its antenna, and took construction approximately six years to complete.
Could you imagine, what would have happened if the chief architect assigned thought to himself this project is impossible?
We all know since this building does exist he didn’t say nor even think it.
And I bet the lint in my pocket I know his secret.
He set small goals.
Setting goals
Winning the “tallest building title” can only begin with the first brick.
By setting small goals, you can track you’re immediate progress. The benefits, will help you push toward YOUR larger goals.
Realize that with any goal, struggle presents its dastardly face; though an uncomfortable moment and unexpected fear, spearhead them dead on and take small steps to triumph.
Transparency
Share your goals with a trustworthy friend, family member, or coworker who has YOUR best interest. You need the strength of others, however, do NOT ask the help of someone in your position.
Seek counseling from individuals that deliver wise, positive seeds.
YOU are a tree of good fruit producing abundantly and bountifully.
SUPPLEMENTS: I NEVER LEAVE THEM OUT
There’s a huge seesaw battle on the significance supplements should play in a person’s regimen.
I eat clean.
My plates are colorful.
My water intake is plenty.
And I don’t count calories.
However, I was curious to see what the outcome would be if I used About.com’s Calorie Count Meter.
My Report Card
By the end of this day I earned a B+ rating.
Why?
Well, the end result read like this:
Carbs = Too Low
Sat Fat = Too High
Fiber = Too High
Vit A = Too Low
Calcium = Too Low
Iron = Too Low
(only noted the “poor” grading)
Not being an expert on nutrition, I reflect my daily meals selection, and from what I can recall I did really well by my own standards.
So, where did I go wrong?
As I mentioned yesterday, “Through the hustle and bustle of extracurricular activities, parent-teacher conferences and homework, making sure we are getting proper nutrition can be difficult.”
My Opinion
Unfortunately, even if you’re eating right, you’re still probably not getting enough vitamins and nutrients from your diet for optimum health. Many of today’s foods don’t pack the nutritional punch they did years ago. According to a report published in the Journal of HortScience, the average vegetable found in today’s supermarket is anywhere from 5% to 40% lower in minerals (including magnesium, iron, calcium and zinc) than those harvested just 50 years ago.
“Most people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone. It appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements,” according to the statement in JAMA. Physicians are paying attention.
Did you know that 72 percent of physicians personally use dietary supplements?
Obviously, supplementing is an ideal road map for health.
EYE OF THE TIGER
LIFTING POWER FROM WITHIN
RAGE <—-click
Dictionary.com defines it as angry fury; violent anger.
LOVE <—-click
Dictionary.com defines as profoundly tender, passionate affection.
As a seasoned athlete and experienced weightlifter, I overheard one of the greatest conversations at the smoothie bar last night that really intrigued me.
By The Power of…
When it comes to working out, and you’re on that last set – the set that epitomizes your intensity, respect, and inner strength for this sport – where does an individual draw that power from?
Is it RAGE, or is it — LOVE?
I, listened in carefully to a man with over 30 years training experience, who shared that his toughest sets (the ones when others in the gym stop and watch him) are only capable because of LOVE.
He shared how, one night prior to this convo, he had to channel in his “source”, while working out with a group of guys.
Big “G”, as we call him, told us as he and the others finished up their barbell incline bench routine with 405 lbs, the majority of guys repped it out for a mere 3 times. Big “G”, on the other hand, gets under the bar, after a quick meditation break, and reps out a clean 10.
Mind you he’s all-natural and 47 years old.
Should age matter? That’s another conversation.
However, Big “G” tickled me, as he sat back on the bar stool, eyelids getting heavy, wearing a weary grin, and uttered, “Not bad for an old guy“.
So, I ask again, where do YOU draw that power from?
USE YOUR MIND TO LOSE WEIGHT
How grateful would you be if a simple thought of shedding pounds could solve the dramatic increasing obesity rate?
Doctors, personal trainers, and all those involved in the health profession would be quickly dismissed.
As the common cliché goes: “A mind is a terrible thing to waste,” and rightfully so.
Fat On Your Dollar
From nation to nation, gyms are quickly constructed, as fast as the old mom and pop joint down the road closes the minute Wally World settles in their town.
I’ll be the first one to embrace your community gym or I wouldn’t have a job. More so, our highly appreciated members wouldn’t have a gym to call home. They would have no other choice,but to use the residential gym, which most times shares no comparison in size nor equipment. For the most part mainly cardio equipment and one universal machine. I bet you wonder sometimes, when your rent goes up, what expenses is this additional money going towards. Noticed any new renovations to “club house”, guess who picks up the tab? But, you’ll still have the same ol’ janky equipment, which, takes months to repair or never does.
To Go Please
I neither used a traditional or residential gym to burn off 50 lbs. I am a product of my own environment – in this case my dining room area. You see, it dawned on me one day that after 17 years of formal training I had everything I needed. All I had to do was unlock what I already stored up.
Even though, I had a gym membership I wanted to see what gains I could obtain on my own. End result – LOTS. Without any long, boring cardio machines I burnt fat off in intervals of 10 – 40 minutes.
Now, I won’t bash cardio training at all. You need cardio, if you want to lose weight and burn fat. HOWEVER, there’s a right wayand a wrongway to do your cardio workouts.
Train Like An Athlete
Next time you’re at the gym, look around and see how guys or girls look like this:
More than likely, the numbers are low. Mostly because athletes aren’t commonly found at your neighborhood gyms. Primarily because as an athlete you need a specific environment. Free from all the distractions and useless machinary.
Athletes need space for something like this:
Typically, you won’t notice any traditional training or body building program, however, what you will find are short, intense, full-body workouts for a lean, defined, muscular, athletic physique.
LADIES: these kinds of workouts CAN equally give you a sleek, feminine look also. So, don’t be concerned with looking bulky or masculine.
In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen with a gym membership seek a certified trainer. Even licensed hairstylists need another hairstylist to work on their hair. Do some research on the training. There’s no one best program. Almost every short, intense, full-body workout world as well as the rest.
Being The Best Average Joe
Over 20 years ago, as a grade school pup, I embarked on my first love. If I can stamp a moment in my life when I knew, unequivocally, love at first sight existed this was it. My heart raced rapidly. Palms went through a cycle of clammy to sweaty. I had laser focus as I watched unblinking, without movement. No man or woman could pry my attention away. I was transfixed on my love’s beauty. Even when this first experience came to an end, which lasted approximately 3 hours, the feeling – the love – did not expire.
January 28, 1990 will forever be the date embedded on my heart. The San Francisco 49ers faced off Denver Broncos in New Orleans, Louisiana for Super Bowl XXIV. Final score: 49ers 55 Broncos: 10. A magnificent display of competitive fortitude and athleticism.
I declared from that day, I am and will play this game.
Years went by
In 1990, I was 11 years old and weighed close to 175 lbs. Needless to say, I was at the mercy of being overweight. By pop warner standards, I couldn’t weigh more than 135 lbs. So, years went by before I suited up. Yet, that didn’t prohibit my efforts to gain a general knowledge of the sport – my first love. You see, during the winter weekends in New York,neighborhood friends and I ventured off to Soundview Park in The Bronx and engaged in hours of tackle football.
No pads.
No line markings.
No referees.
It was just a couple of pubescent kids and a football.
Mount Saint Michael’s
Summer of ’92, I finally saw my dreams realistically come true. Not only did I make the team, but, I started as a defensive lineman and did so for the remainder of my high school tenure.
It was during the ’92 – ’95 season, I grew a partiality towards working out and eating right.
A Mountaineer Again
After graduating high school, I left my mother’s home and jourpneyed west.
West Virginia University campus represented my thoughts and desires for college life. A student body of approximately 23,000 it had a plethora of nationalities and diversity. But, what I enjoyed the most was the rigorous hours spent at Milan Puskar stadium.
Tires, Sprints, and Weights, Oh My!
Need I say more. Total body transformation. I stepped on campus an Average Joe and walked on the football team as an Average Joe. However, in 3 years time I was the best Average Joe walking around campus, under supervision strength conditioning coach guru, Allan Johnson, now at Univ. of Northwestern.
Coach Johnson not only impacted my life, more so, modeled how to ensure athletes were in top shape, through an assortment of workout regimens. These regimens consisted, but not limited to, hurdles, agility ladders, jump ropes, weight training, circuit training, interval training, resistance training, and more.
It looked something like this:
New Arena
Years later, I found myself wanting to continue my football career, however, the reality that only the most prosperous and elite players (with a smidgen of political push) obtain attraction from the greatest level of football, I was lost.
Or was I?
The new year began, 2001, and I had two options. 1. Play for Coach Perez and Ohio Valley Greyhounds in the Indoor Football League (IFL) or 2. Play for Coach Rodriguez and Roanoke Steam in the Arena Football 2 (AF2). I chose the latter.
Only God knows what would have become of me if I went with option one. I’ll say this after 9 years of playing Arena Football I have no regrets.
Johnny Quest?
With my football days happily behind me, I’m fastened on my next quest.
To transform my body, mind, and spirit.
Here’s to being All Out in 2012
foodfrommyheart 
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