The Trip: IMMERSIVE FITNESS by Les Mills

The newest, most innovative, and most motivational form of burning calories is here. Hungry & Fit enjoy working out… most of the time. It’s not a challenge for us to stay healthy because the highlight of our day is pushing ourselves to the limit. Whether it’s in the gym, on the field, in the forest, on the court, in the ocean, or anywhere else you can imagine, we feed off the energy around us and create an environment for success in our physical fitness.

Well, I know what you’re thinking. I can’t do that. I workout because my doctor told me to. I workout because I have a wedding coming up in a few months. I workout but I don’t want to workout! It’s frustrating and it only makes your life harder. Imagine if that wasn’t the case. Imagine if burning calories on the treadmill, bike, elliptical, or whatever piece of equipment you use was more enjoyable. Imagine if you were transported into a world where your success was guaranteed. Imagine IMMERSIVE FITNESS.

Image source

Nov192014

The Gym as a Community

Crossfit. One of the fields that Crossfit excels in is its tendency to build communities. Most of the boxes that I have visited or heard about are very supportive environments for the athletes that are either regulars or guests. Now, I’m not going to go into great depth in this post about the nature of the community. I won’t discuss the dynamics of the community in terms of the quality or availability of help and advice, just overall encouragement, support, and comfort.

As a member of many gyms, fitness facilities, martial arts studios, and public workout areas, I have a lot of experience with different fitness groups. The reason I continue to provide my services at a YMCA is because of the community aspect that it offers to the members and guests. Every day, individuals come in to check out our facility and as I give them a tour, they realize how much of a more supportive and friendly environment we offer. I ask them where they workout and the most common answers, in order, are Equinox, Spectrum, Dave Barton, 24 Hour Fitness, and LA Fitness. (We are in LA right now.) They change their memberships often and are much happier.

Now, without calling out any single organizations directly, every facility offers something different. Some open in order to make a lot of money, some want to work with celebrity clientele, some enjoy doing what they do, and others wants to help people. Most do it for multiple reasons. I’ve always worked at the places that REALLY want to help people. (Because I can achieve the other three through my private services, when I want.) So why is that supportive environment so important to others? I won’t tell you my reasons, I will tell you what the people say.

They don’t like it when the front desk staff doesn’t say hello and goodbye. They don’t like it when other members ignore them when they ask a friendly question. They don’t like feeling as if they’ll get in trouble for doing something wrong, when it might not even be the wrong thing to do. They don’t want to feel like an employee, member, or guest is going to steal their stuff. They don’t want to feel like people are talking about what they’re doing for their workout behind their backs. They want to feel comfortable, because they’ve earned that by paying for a membership and being a respectable member.

Everyone going to the gym is making an effort to look, feel, and/or live a better life. I respect that in almost every instance and recognize that these people, whether they are health-seekers, elite athletes, or any other level are doing something that they might not entirely want to do or enjoy doing, but are trying to make a difference. Maybe they are having health issues and need to strengthen their heart; perhaps they have come from hard times and becoming a professional athlete could help support a large family, or maybe they are retired, bored and looking for some friends and activity through a group exercise class.

The reason almost doesn’t matter, what matters is that they deserve an environment that is conducive to creating a healthy lifestyle. That doesn’t just mean reasonable rates, great parking, and the best equipment on the market. It also means a friendly and knowledgeable staff plus some members that at least have the courtesy to tell someone, “Sorry, I’m in a bit of a rush, maybe next time.” Now, I’m not trying to change the world or force people at the gym to alter the way they workout. We all know what gyms are more welcoming and those that are a little colder.

If you like to workout alone with your playlist and hoodie on, I’m not stopping you, but if someone asks to work in with you, don’t ignore them. Give them an answer. If some popular facility hired you to work the front desk and you can’t help someone with a question because you’re too busy flirting with the attractive guys and girls that come in, well… to be honest, I’d fire you but maybe your supervisors are okay with that. Says a lot about the facility. Have some respect for the industry and leave some feedback about your facility and what category it falls into below! Finding a great community that supports you is one of the best ways to stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Jun232014

Fitness Meets Virtual Reality

Today we bring you something truly awesome. Something future-like that we’ve always dreamed of. Something bordering on virtual reality. Something that heightens fitness to another level. Enter Immersive Fitness from Les Mills.

Tell me that doesn’t pump you up and you’d be lying to me. Our journey to fitness shouldn’t be a drudgery, it should be fun. It should be empowering. You should look forward to your workouts. This is what Les Mills is trying to encourage.

We know you can’t throw yourself into different worlds without some help. With Immersive Fitness, there’s a huge screen in the fitness studio, immersing you into the scene or action. The instructors cue the exercise moves for the class to go along perfectly with the music, graphics, and excitement to truly get you into it. So as the video fights monsters, you’re doing a synchronized kickboxing routine. As you’re trying to flee pursuers, you’re pumping hard on the bike or sprinting. It’s exciting! It’s not run-of-the-mill stuff, it’s Les Mills. Combination of creative design, exercise design, and technology.

As you know, Hungry and I work at a gym. We take and teach our fair number of group classes. I’ve never even come close to taking a class like Immersive Fitness. Yeah, it’s fun to work on fitness in a group, but imagine kicking virtual reality butt at the same time! That’s what I’m talking about! You can see in the above and below pictures that instead of just focusing on how much your legs are burning, you can zip down a virtual race path or settle into a peaceful pose in front of a beach.

I’m hoping this will come to a studio or gym near us as soon as possible! I would love try it out, it’s something that perfectly suits my interests. To stay up to date with this new program, follow @thepr0ject on Instagram and their site. And seriously, watch that video again! I love it! With this sneak peek into the Immersive Fitness program, I know that many people will be excited. Cheers for making fitness into an adventure! And for even more bonus points? Les Mills was founded in New Zealand! As always…stay hungry and fit!

Let us know if you have any questions about this program and we can be sure to answer them or steer you in the right direction!

The next level of fitness is here. IMMERSIVE FITNESS™ surrounds participants with cinema quality video content projected onto screens of a purpose-built studio. Exercise moves synchronize perfectly with music and graphics, creating a truly immersive fitness experience. Learn more!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Les Mills. The opinions and text are all mine.

Feb122014

What’s in Your Gym Bag? Part 1

This is labeled “Part 1” because you will get Fit’s gym bag in a few posts later! There is no definitive answer to this one since I have so many gym bags for different gyms and types of workouts. I stock different bags depending on what and where I plan on working out. We have a huge amount of our own workout equipment and once again, depending on my goals and plans, this can change greatly. I will, however, say what I always have in my gym bag… 90% of the time.

Creepy picture of my gym bag!

Tiger Balm. A lot of it. Ultra Strength tins and Muscle Rub tubes. Whenever I am sore or stiff, I like to apply some muscle rub to my muscles and/or ultra strength to my joints. I have a pocket that holds about two of each.

The other side pocket has a few locks. I usually keep a combination lock and a key lock, with the key in it. I workout at a few facilities and most of them provide lockers but no locks. I don’t typically bring a wallet to the gym and I keep my phone on me for music and recording my workouts but I would rather someone not steal my clothes while I am swimming so I have to drive home in my towel.

The front section, in my normal gym bag that I have been using lately (one of Alana’s old soccer bags), holds my staple swimming gear for my post-workout recovery swims. I have my towel from Korea, a size 30 Dolfin ugliezzzzz drag suit, Speedo contoured paddles, and prescription Speedo vanquishers with a bungee.

In the big section, I usually keep my Flexsports elastic wrist straps, an old leather belt, a heavy resistance band, two utility jump-ropes, a clean gym towel, my Big & Little’s snapback/trucker hat, some knee wraps, two Captains of Crush (right now a Trainer and Level 1), a Lacrosse ball, ProGryp circle grips, 3B Kinesio tape, an Aylio heavy hand extensor band, and a pair of Madgrip utility gloves.

Those are the staples. Clothes change, supplements change, footwear changes, and additional gear changes, again, depending on the workout. I might bring a weight vest, ankle weights, wrist weights, different grips, fins… who knows… we have a lot of stuff.

I didn’t include all the details such as color, brands, sizes, etc but there is a lot of information here. I usually try to workout with as little equipment as possible, but it is nice having it available if I decide to use it. So there you have it, that is my current staple gym bag.

If you are looking for something specific but you are unsure, feel free to ask and we can point you in the right direction! Remember any additional equipment should be used a tool but never a crutch! Use it to improve but use it in moderation and don’t let it use you! And as always…stay hungry and fit!

Question of the Day: What do you have in your gym bag?

BONUS KITTY PIC

Oct282013

4 Golden Rules of Spotting in the Gym

First off, we apologize for the lack of posts recently. As you can see, the website has gotten a makeover and will continue to be tweaked and such since we’ve moved to a new platform. Thank you for your patience and loyalty!! Alrighty, on to the post.

This applies to everyone. Whether you workout alone, with others, at home, or in a gym, you should know how to properly “spot” others. What does “spotting” mean? It means helping and guiding a friend, a workout buddy, a stranger in need. When they’re lifting weight that’s heavy for them and they need that extra push or that extra set of hands to make sure that dumbbell doesn’t fall on their face (from experience, this doesn’t feel good). Let’s look over a few tips that can help:

1. Take out at least one earphone. You need to be able to listen to your workout buddy. They may not be able to talk well, they may be under some stress from heavy weights. They may be grunting something to you that’s hard to hear. You need to give them your undivided attention so that if they need that quick help, you’re there to give it to them.

hoorah

2. Keep eye contact on your buddy at all times. And I mean at all times. It could be that split second you look over at a new person doing who-knows-what that your buddy drops the dumbbell on his face. Not okay. Put in the patience and dedication to helping your partner or stranger friend and focus for the maybe 30 seconds that they are doing their set.

3. Maintain proper form. This is not only important for the person doing the exercise, but also the spotter! If I’m in the wrong position to help Chris with bench press, I might throw out my back. If I am in the wrong form for helping him in chest press, there goes my knees or my groin! It’s important to be ready before they start the exercise, to have ample control and safety over your body–whether that means crouching or kneeling down on the floor. Be ready!

Digging deep for a squat

4. Do an honest evaluation. Are you sure you can deadlift the amount of weight your friend is benching? Because that’s what it comes down to. If they completely fail, you have to be ready to deadlift that weight. This goes for everything. Is your friend putting up too much weight for you to be able to properly spot? Be honest. There should be no pride in this evaluation because it could cost both you and your friend an injury if you are foolish about this one. If I don’t think I can handle spotting some of Chris’ sets, I tell him we could find someone stronger. Do the right thing.

There are others that we could mention, but they don’t come near the importance of these four. Learn these four and you will eventually become a master spotter and a popular gal or guy at the gym. Everyone loves a good spotter! “Just one more” depends on it and, often too, so does injury prevention. Use these rules to stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Chris’ new Skyrim hat

Sep152013

Happy 25th Birthday, Chris! (aaand #boulderflood)

This is going to be a joint post, written by the both of us, about Chris’ birthday and the flood that erupted on his very birthday here in our home of Boulder, Colorado. And it isn’t stopping. As I sit here, I’m watching more rain pour down as it has since 8am. We got a few dry days, but now the rain is here for a while. Where to begin? Let’s just start with Chris’ actual birthday. I’ll be writing most of it, and he will pop in here and there for certain things.

6:30am, Thursday, September 12th. Chris is still sleeping in bed, I need be at work by 8, but I want to go to our favorite bakery and surprise him with croissants. It’s been raining for a few days now, started Monday and worked its way until today. It’s still raining now. I slip socks and crocs on and head out. I get to the bakery but I am kind of dumbstruck and don’t know where to park. The entire right side of the street is flooded. Now this is before we had any flood alerts or thought there was a problem. I turned around and parked on the other side of the street. The bakery was open and I wanted to get him croissants! There was a worker outside and I asked him how to get through it, and he said, “I just got my feet wet.” I still looked for a way, but it was useless. Water was pouring from the north and streaming into the streets. I ended up walking through a foot and a half of water and they had no croissants! Wish I had taken a picture.

A now-famous picture taken by someone at the library

So I get back, wake Chris up, wish him happy birthday and give him breakfast. We turn on the news and see that it’s pretty bad all over. Highways buckling, houses flooding, people trapped. We eat breakfast and open presents, all the while he is communicating with his coworkers. (It’s Chris now) I want to thank everyone for all of the awesome gifts. I’ve always been quite spoiled. I received a gift card to Macy’s, Amazon, and AMC cinemas along with $30 cash. I also got some nice Burberry cologne, a handmade snake-like bottle opener, and a handmade Giraffe head cork wine topper. I was upset with Alana for getting me so much. She got me the newest iPad with a case and keyboard attachment. She also got me two hoodies: one sleeveless one from H&M and a Legend of Zelda one from Woot. I can’t say what I like the most but all of the gifts were very thoughtful and will fit in this household nicely. I am excited as always to use the AMC tickets for two free movies for the two of us. Especially since there are a few movies coming out next weekend that I want to see. Thanks again to everyone for the kind wishes whether it was family or friends.

Birthday breakfast!

Back to Alana. The 119 (how I get to work) is flooding and Longmont is bad. Chris and his staff decide to close the shop and he goes to make sure the flood damage is okay. Everyone advises me to stay home, so I do. This is all very new and not exactly sure what to expect. It was nice for Chris to have his birthday off of work, but we felt for everyone suffering. Luckily, our apartment is 3 floors up, and we are on a safer side of town. We didn’t do much that day, played video games and stayed inside.Chris loved being able to do that, since normally we have too much on our plate. We just made sandwiches for lunch and enjoyed the down time.

We get a call around 3pm from one of our good friends who lives a block away. He is driving home from Littleton (highways are an absolute mess) and his wife and kid are at home with a flooded bedroom. We run to get the shop vac and bring it over to their place. They were the lucky ones. The western building of their apartment complex got completely flooded with 2 feet of water. We immediately begin to vacuum the carpet out which is saturated and getting worse. A battle we can’t win against the pelting rain coming at us. By the time our friend gets home, we have already dumped out 32 gallons of water.

Shop vac

Pouring out gallons of water

Kicking up water

We knew we couldn’t suck up all the water so we go outside and decide to dig a trench away from the windows and then use the mud to create a barrier. It was messy, wet work, but it did give some layer of protection.

Those rainboots ended up having holes in them…surprise!

Packing as fast as we can

Flexing, obviously

After we finish up, we wash the mud off in a flooded street. We go inside for a little bit more clean-up. Chris is bummed so many places are closed. I had this elaborate plan for the day, that I would take him out for lunch, that after work we would workout and then surprise him with China Gourmet and a birthday cake. Nope, not gonna happen. However, one of our most favorite places in town was miraculously open. They know us well at Korea House and invited us with open arms. We were soaked, muddy, and tired, and this meal invigorated us. We got a fixed menu with beer, bulgogi, korean soup, soups, salads, and mochi ice cream. Because it was Chris’ birthday and because the chef loves us that much, he served us with a big beautiful plate of some of the most flavorful sushi I’d ever had. He also gave us a large bottle of hot sake and another beer for free. Happy Birthday, right? It was just what we needed to bring our spirits up. We told them if they needed a place to stay (they live in Longmont), that they could always come to us. We left happy and it was pouring harder than ever.

Korean birthday feast

We get back safely, though main streets are flooding. We play some more video games for a while and then we get into bed. Things are only getting worse. Chris passes out, but my stomach is in knots. So before I continue, let me just tell you about the wonderful Twitter #boulderflood. Online news can’t do enough. I have been on the #boulderflood this entire time, getting minute-by-minute updates from news agencies, emergency agencies, and real-life people struggling in the flood. It has been an absolutely amazing resource, I still follow it now. So as I’m lying in bed, reading the #boulderflood hashtag, things start getting worse. The Emerson Gulch has broken and now a 30-foot wall of water is heading straight for the Creek. I know college kids can be drunk and stupid and people reported seeing some near the creek, fooling around. I stress about their lives. About how the death toll might rise. After a few hours, I finally get to sleep, only to dream more about the flood and wake up too much. Here are pictures from the house we house-sat at:

Beginning of the day

End of the day…that used to be a back yard

Friday. Despite only a few hours of sleep, we wake up semi-early. The rain has stopped and light can be seen. We stay inside for a bit and then decide to go venture out with Marga and Michael to see the damage. The “unaccounted-for” toll has risen to around 130. There is a lot of debris everywhere, but things are drying up. Mud is the problem since there were massive mudslides the previous night. I hear Lyons is an island and Longmont is incredibly flooded. The YMCA where I work at is closed. Our old street (we just recently moved) got flooded and now instead of pavement, it is a mud street. Our previous neighbors are carrying buckets of mud-water out of their house. It is all mucked up. We continue on for about 5 miles total, seeing the damage. But we don’t even go to the bad area, we get tired and head back.

Our old street

a parking lot nearby

Goose Creek where I run next to

The creek rose to ridiculously high levels

We end up going to the gym, finding a bit of normalcy in our recently turned-upside down life. After a great shoulder workout (my traps are still sore!), we head back home. More video games. We are happy for the lack of rain. I can even see a star or two. We also watch From Up on Poppy Hill, the newest Miyazaki film. We go to bed around 2am.

Saturday. Another dry morning! Evacuations continue at a much higher rate now. The National Guard is here and you can see and hear the military helicopters going here and there every minute (no exaggeration). Our friend (with the flooded bedroom) invited us to go play frisbee golf as we often do on Saturdays. Sure, why not! Well, half the course had some bad flooding, but that didn’t stop us. Afterwards, we went to Glacier (our favorite ice cream joint here) and Chris finally got his free ice cream (because it’s his birthday). We go back to the apartment for a little bit and then head out to the gym for a good chest workout (yes, my pecs are sore). As the day continues, formidable clouds begin to form. We come back, watch Castle and play video games. And have mac n cheese and ramen for dinner, good comfort food.

And now it’s Sunday. Still raining strong. Flood alerts are back. Road closures are back. Unaccounted-for toll is up to 530 people. Tragic stories on the news. I hope I can get to work tomorrow. And I truly hope everyone stays safe. I wish I could reach out and help more people, but it’s hard to get to most people right now. Chris certainly had a birthday that nobody will forget. I will stay vigilantly attached to the #boulderflood to stay in touch with everyone and all events. Please send good energy this way. And some dry weather. And despite all these horrible events, everyone reaches out to each other to help. That is what is keeping spirits up, when everything else is gone. Stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Nymeria staying warm

Jul222013

Gym Reviews: Ironhouse Gym (Mason City, IA)

This product is a result of the work of the worker and not the place they are working. A true talent can create without any tools or resources because they make everything work by themselves. But some nice equipment and a great working environment can really help maximize those results sometimes! In Northern Iowa, about two hours from Des Moines and Minneapolis, lies Mason City, the home of the Music Man. It’s a large town with a small population but it has one of the best gyms in the country that no one knows about. Welcome to Ironhouse Gym.

Outside of the building

It is what you would expect due to the name. A small building made of sheet metal that absorbs the extreme temperatures and weather conditions of Northern Iowa, but you would never know that while inside because of the great temperature control. I’m not one who cares how hot or cold it is where I workout but it’s nice for other people who have those needs. Another major perk is that the facility is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you’re a member and you have a keycard, then you can key in whenever you want. This is the kind of place I would love to have to myself at 2:00 a.m. although all of our workouts were mid-morning. The three days we were there it certainly wasn’t busy during those normally peak times, but it wasn’t empty either. All kinds of people were working out, but no one that unnecessarily threw weights and stacks around. They actually are pretty strict with behavior, which I can appreciate. If you’re deadlifting twice your body weight and need to drop it, okay I get it. Lately however, guys at our gym in Boulder (big guys) have been tossing the 35s on flat chest press like they were lifting 140s. Oh well.

Speaking of equipment, Ironhouse has it all. I don’t want to tell you what they have because it’s like a spoiler in a good story. However, I will say that the dumbbells do not go very heavy. I think the heaviest were in the 120-140 lb range. I would expect up to 200 in such a great place but that’s fine! There are plenty of other ways to get your heavy lift on here. Full and half racks, roman chairs, captain chairs, wide chest press, elevated stand for back exercises, standing shrug machine, tons of plate loaded stuff, lots of cable and stack based machines, every bench you need, places for pullups and dips, tons of cardio equipment, and more and more and more.

I was like a kid in a candy shop. I wanted to do something on every machine because no place in Boulder has anything like this. The only gym I have found in Colorado that can compare so far is Armbrust Pro Gym where Phil Heath trains. The amount of cable based machines with stacks is ridiculous. They have nearly 5 machines just for triceps in that section alone. It’s absurd and everything is this bright firehouse red, which is awesome. I want to go back!

The dressing rooms are modest and the lockers are on the floor. There are no showers but who needs those anyway. There is also a supplement and apparel store attached to the gym that is open during normal business hours. They have great deals on great supplements and I bought this awesome tank the second that I saw it. They also have an honor-based mini-store in the gym itself for when the store is closed. If you need a pre, intra, or post workout you can grab it out of the mini-fridge and throw some cash in the cash box if you’re an honest man or woman. You can buy belts, lifting straps and other gear too if you need it. They have everything you NEED and a ton of stuff you WANT.

We did a push day, lower body day, and a pull day while we were there and it was a blast. Check out the website or leave a comment if you have any questions but if you need the best gym in Northern Iowa and maybe even a greater area around that, Ironhouse Gym in Mason City, Iowa is your place. Bring one to Boulder! Bring one everywhere! Very nice employees, awesome facilities, great products, and the best equipment makes Ironhouse Gym an easy place to help you stay hungry and fit!

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Jun262013

Ultimate Chest Workout – Machine Militia Meetup

Last Thursday morning, after sleeping about zero hours for two nights in a row, amidst an absurdly busy 70-hour work week, I “woke up” at 4:30 a.m. in order to travel down to Wheat Ridge, Colorado in order to meet an expert in the fitness industry. Marc “The Machine” Lobliner of Tigerfitness.com and iSatori (A Golden, CO based supplement company) was hosting a meet up at Armbrust Pro Gym.

Armbrust Pro Gym in Wheat Ridge is the home of Phil Heath and many other professional bodybuilders, including Alina Pope. Let me start by thanking Armbrust for letting us all work out that morning. It was the best weight lifting and strength training facility I have seen in Colorado and one of the best in the country. If you ever have the opportunity, stop by for a workout. I hope to return in the future. It isn’t too far from Boulder. It is clean, well-organized, well-run and the equipment is legitimately top of the line.

David Sandler, iSatori’s Director of Science and Education, was accompanied by some other iSatori representatives. I would like to thank him and the company as well for helping put this together. I left early so I’m not sure what happened at the end of the workout and I have not yet finished watching the YouTube videos of the event. David has put together some great natural products and I might even sell some of their products in the future. They stand apart from competition in the industry by offering more natural supplements. I think they could be extremely popular in Boulder, Santa Monica and other health-conscious cities. I will keep you all informed on my relationship with them.

The real reason I decided to wake up so early and train chest for a second time in 72 hours was because of Marc. Tigerfitness is one of my favorite online supplement and fitness equipment stores. They offer products you cannot find anywhere else, including Marc’s own “Machine” Whey and Drop Factor. Fit is currently using that same whey in her week long Spartacus challenge. Marc is the CMO of Tigerfitness, a pro heavyweight bodybuilder, the CEO of his own supplement company, and the vice president of the ANBF. Here are three of the reasons I dragged myself down there.

1. I wanted Marc to write Fit a motivating note in one of his books. He did it without a second thought and I appreciate that greatly. Whether it’s helping her or not, I think she was happy that I got it done so it had to have been beneficial in some way. It reads: “Alana, winning contests is not a game. ML”

2. I wanted to introduce Hungry & Fit to Marc and his 60,000 plus subscribers and fans online. I tried a cheap plug while they were filming me doing cable flyes and asked him jokingly if it would make it onto YouTube. He said of course. I thought it wouldn’t happen but Marc seems to be a brutally honest person and sure enough… it made it. Hopefully this will help spread the word about what we are doing here. Although we are not aspiring professional bodybuilders we are all in a similar industry.

3. Tying into the last point, I wanted to ask Marc about professional physique competitions. While I have no interest in becoming a professional bodybuilder, I am interested in earning a pro card in natural physique competitions. I asked him what organization I should involve myself with and as I expected he answered the ANBF. Unfortunately, the majority of their events are on the East Coast, but if I ever return home there will be plenty to do. I can always travel as well, if I feel I am ready to compete and win, of course.

Basically, we all met up and split into groups. You can see this all on his YouTube video by following the link below. I recommend subscribing to his channel for great information about anything related to fitness. He knows his stuff, obviously. He’s also a very honest family man and although the language isn’t always G-rated, I don’t mind. The substance is worth it and it’s entertaining.

Marc and I

Despite training chest on Tuesday and being extremely sore and in recovery mode, I pushed myself relatively hard. Although I wasn’t putting up 365 for reps like in 2010/2011 I was proud to push 245 on the incline, despite a spot from Marc that gave me a ton of help. Marc said that he got the workout from the great Dorian Yates while they trained in Australia. Once again, see the video for the workout. Otherwise here is a quick summary of what I did.

Incline Bench – 3 sets working up, one main set to failure

Flat Chest Press Machine (looked like a transformer) – 2 sets to failure

Incline Dumbbell Flyes – 2 sets to failure

Cable Flyes – 2 sets to failure

Then I left to make it to work right on time. Not a minute early. I believe they threw in some biceps after. I hope I didn’t miss any free giveaways but I can always buy another blender bottle or t-shirt. Still would have loved to stay until the end but life is life and work is work. All in all I am very grateful to all the parties involved for the opportunity and remember, staying hungry and fit IS NOT A GAME!

The link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ8v0zfkquk&feature=c4-overview&list=UUzzYnZ8GIzfB1Vr3hk2Nj9Q

Oh, please ignore the comment section below the video. YouTube viewers are known to “talk” quite a bit and it doesn’t bother me one bit. I have seen that problem grow ever since I joined YouTube the year it was introduced. There is an unfortunate lack of support and positivity in that community.

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Jun212013

Do NOT Mix Thermogenics and an “Empty” Stomach

If you don’t know what I’m doing this week, please read here. Now that you understand my Hell, please know that I made a big mistake last night. So yesterday was Day 2 of this awful protein-shake-only thing I’m doing. And I know I have a tough workout coming up, to be more specific, the Spartacus workout—3 circuits of it. So I was thinking…I should probably take a pre-workout so I have enough energy for the workout. Unfortunately, the only thing we had left was little thermogenic sample packs. If you don’t know what a thermogenic is–it’s basically a fat burner. However, it also has energy in it–concentrated caffeine. If any of you know me, you know caffeine tears my body apart.

So I take it. Feeling alright, feel as if I have enough sustenance in my body (because I previously just had my #4 protein shake) and head over to my workout. Now I am proud of myself for this workout. Nobody was watching me, I set up a timer, and did every set, every rep as hard as I could. When I felt like giving up, I would push on and fight harder. So that felt awesome–3 circuits through, 10 stations, 1 minute each. And I did it. Felt shaky by the end, but I was expecting that.

Near the beginning

Then I get home. And it just hits me–I get the shakes all over and become incredibly nauseous and cold. I really felt like throwing up, but didn’t. All I could do was lay down on the couch, trying to watch the NBA Finals game (boo, Heat!), but feeling so tremendously awful. I have one last protein shake to drink, the one I probably needed the most, but I just couldn’t do it. So I go to bed very early and have a rough night of tossing and turning with the taste of bile in my mouth, but I woke up feeling better and hungry.

How I felt

Still feeling a little off today, but it’s Day 3 and I’m hoping it will be easier from here on out. My body is getting accustomed to less food, so I will be less hungry. My body is pretty sore, especially my back and rear delts, but it feels good. I brought an ice cube tray to work to munch on and it feels like I’m eating real food!

My cute ice cubes

Moral of the Story: DO NOT HAVE THERMOGENICS ON AN EMPTY STOMACH. Period.

Cheers! Stay hungry and fit!

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Dec162012

Responsibility of Guardians Does Not Stop in the Gym

This is for you, parents, guardians, care-takers, and so forth. You’ve made it to the gym. Good job. You’ve brought a tag-along (no, not the cookies, a child) and feel satisfied that the gym is a good, safe place they can roam around and have fun. Wrong. Let me share with you a few ways kids unsupervised in gyms can go poorly:

1. They can injure themselves via weightlifting. We saw this yesterday. A kid, no more than twelve, somehow wearing weightlifting gloves (I don’t even wear them) doing curls. And he was lifting way too much weight. Which is when he compromises the proper form and uses his shoulders instead. It is so easy to injure your shoulders. Do your son or daughter a favor, and watch them if they are lifting, don’t let them build horrific injury-leading motions that can hurt them in the future. We were wary of the guardian nearby, because sometimes poor form comes from them.

2. They can distract, injure, or anger someone else. This may seem odd, but sometimes meat heads hit the gym. And they often come with a temper and seriousness to accompany their workouts. As if those workouts are the most important event occurring at the time. Obviously wrong, but many do exist. Say your kid is running around, hopping over weights and bumping into equipment. Besides messing up a roider’s reps, who could release some serious anger at your kid and, ultimately–you, but he/she could also injure someone. Say somebody is far down in their squat and the youngster bumps into them. Wham goes their knees. And wham goes your pocketbook when they sue you.

3. They can injure themselves simply moving around the gym. The gym is not a safe area. It is for people to increase their fitness, which includes heavy machinery, weights, long bars, and lots of pointy edges. Can you imagine how easy it would be for them to trip and fall face-first on an 80-pound dumbbell? Not a pretty sight.

Gym

Those are a few reasons off the top of my head. I’m not saying don’t bring your kid to the gym, I’m saying watch your kids if they’re performing exercises or doing some type of exercise. It’s great for them to be active and healthy. Just keep them close to you and under your eye. Put them in child-watch, most gyms have them nowadays. You don’t want to risk their injury or someone else’s. You don’t want to risk getting booted out of your favorite gym. Just a heads up as safety is always most important to us.