So, I'm a little confused. When did men decide to forfeit their man card and women decide that it is attractive. I was out on a leisurely stroll with the wife one hot summer night getting some ice cream when I noticed these two women holding hands. As the wife and I got closer I realized that one was a man (only biologically). This immediately inflamed me. The lady this man (only biologically) was with was very cute. So I thought, what about this frail, girlesk, feminine body was attractive to this lady? But even more than this, his swagger, if you can call it that, was equally as feminine. Look, I'm not harping on dudes that don't workout. There are plenty of men that display their man cards proudly that have never hit up a gym in their lives. I'm just trying to understand how women find this attractive:
Men, I'm calling all of you to step your game up! When you fall into anti man card category you represent all us men poorly!! I challenge you (first step to being a man, you can never refuse a challenge) to go out to Play It Again Sports (or any athletic sporting goods store) and pick up a 300 lbs. bar and weight set. This will range from $100 - $200. You can afford it, put down the palm aid and blow dryer, sell some of your girly cloths that won't fit after you start eating and lifting appropriately; take the money you have saved and pick up this simple tool. Start lifting and you will soon find the advantages of being a man!
Today is my last workout until I take my monthly week off. As mentioned in last post I read Jim Wendler's "5/3/1" book and it has inspired me. The training intensity that I am on right now is awesome, but only for a short amount of time. Wendler emphasizes a life long lifting mentality; not, do something for 90 days and quit. Apart of his program requires me to find my one rep max on Squat, Bench, and Deadlift. It's been about 6 months or so since I did a DL 1RM and performed outstanding, but I don't like doing them very often. It takes A LOT out of you, at least it did for me. The answer; Wendler came up with a simple program of finding a hypothetical 1 RM that is not absolutely accurate but will help you find a good number to start with without actually doing a 1 RM. This is what I did this week with my Squat, Bench, and today Deadlift. After today I will take a week off by performing active rest and then start Wendlers 5/3/1 program the following monday. The program that I made and have been doing the last 6 months has been awesome. I am not psychologically or physically burnt out and my numbers are going up consistently. I don't want to push it to that point where I'm overtrained and have to do longer recovery. So I'm changing it up while I'm still in the green and will hit up 5/3/1 for 6 months or so and see where I'm at.
What I did this week: Mon. Squat 270lbs max reps, Got 10 Wen. Bench 190lbs. max reps, Got 10 Fri. Deadlift 360lbs. max reps Got 6 (Disappointed with this number, goal was 8)
I received Jim Wendlers book "5/3/1" in the mail this weekend and read it through in one day. It's not a very big book but has a lot of good information in it. I would highly recommend anyone looking for a new program or just a well rounded lifting mentality to pick it up. I ordered it from EliteFTS.com and it came with a free "mystery" shirt. Mine just so happened to be a long sleeve shirt in the middle of summer.
What I did: Squat 270lbs 1 set, max reps. (Goal was 8, I got 10) Really good day! then Light conditioning
Wendler is a beast!! You could hide small children in that beard.
I'm very excited to start looking into Powerlifting Competitions. You can click on this link Powerlifting Comp's to get a list of competitions throughout the nation. I was looking into one that meets Sept. 11 but found that it will not work out unfortunately; but there are plenty of other competitions to choose from. From what I have found there aren't any that are within 4 hours of my home town. This raises the question, how can I bring powerlifting comp's into my town? Most of the gyms in the area are fluff gyms. This does not discourage me from going gym to gym asking if they have thought about or want to look into hosting a PL comp. If you have any suggestions or know of competitions that are closer to Huntsville, AL email mail me at mattpittman75@gmail.com or leave a comment.
The girls that I am training have just finished their first month. I can already see small changes in there strength levels and fine tuning their technique. I do not have any of my clients sign a contract to stay with me X amount of time, but I do ask that they stay a minimum of 3 months in order to see some very clear results.
What the girls did:
Squat 3x5 then 3 pull ups 5 push ups 7 body squats max rounds in 10 minutes
I love the deadlift. It is a very good power movement that builds the trainees confidence. Most everybody that I have run into or trained can lift the most with this movement. I have also seen peoples eyes get bigger then there strength. You will see this in most gyms. Guys will load up the bar, regardless of strength level, lift it up looking like a question mark (back rounded putting all the pressure on the lower back), and then say they lifted..... Primary example of the eyes bigger then the strength syndrome combined with lack of education, or the "trainer" is allowing them to do WAY more then they should be which in turn means that the trainer and trainee are both lacking in education (not trainees fault, that's why they pay the trainer). This motivates me to educate myself very well in the primary barbell movements. When a client comes to me with lifting goals I will put them down the right track and educate them on how to perform the movement properly, using the right amount of weight. I do not care about the numbers that come out of my gym, I care about getting my clients to achieving there goals.
What the girls did:
Deadlift 5x3 then 30 second Mountain Climbers 30 second Jumping Jacks 30 second Sit ups 30 second Burpies 30 second Swings 1 minute break 4 rounds
This is a really good example of very strong women that do not look manly. They are in the 52kg category (114 lbs.). The whole video is a good example, make sure to look at minute 13:50, she lifts 413.4lbs!!
I am officially a Nationally Certified Personal Trainer through International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA). I planned on taking out a good 3 to 4 months of studying for the final but my motivation pushed me to complete it in 7 days. This is the power of motivation. When you combine that with your passion the sky is the limit. I woke up about 7 each day and had my nose in the book till about 9 that night. I have officially had an information overload but pulled out a 93% on the final. After testing for 12 hours in an open book test my brain was gone. I dreamed that night that I made a 23%, it was horrible. The next morning I received the good news. Anybody that is serious about become a quality certified personal trainer I would definitely recommend going through ISSA. It teaches the body on a cellular level, how we create movement, anatomy, how to handle injury, kinesiology, nutrition, body fat calculations, and a lot more. What they lacked in was the actual biomechanics of basic movements that every trainer should know. For example, squat, press, bench, and deadlift. These are the primary barbell movements that every trainer should have an in depth knowledge about and how to train them. There is no test at the end of it but if you want to be a better trainer read Mark Rippetoe's books "Starting Strength" and "Practical Programing"; and if you have the opportunity, go to one of his seminars. At the least look up his educational videos on YouTube or buy them as a part of this "Starting Strength" book combo. Lacking in either book or biomechanics knowledge will always leave the trainee out to suffer and ultimately tarnish your name as a trainer.
Yesterday July 26th
What the girls did:
Squat 5x3 then 5 pull ups 10 push ups 5 bent rows 10 push press 3 rounds for time
Today July 27th:
Press 5x3 then Run 400 meters 15 Body Squats 4 rounds for time
Body weight 116lbs Clean and Jerk 231.48 lbs. Increadible. I love finding example like this to show that women do not turn into men when they get stronger. Each female trainee that I have train Squat, Press, and Deadlift with low reps high weight then paired with conditioning.
This finishes week three of the two new clients I have been training. They have no lifting background but are picking up very fast. It has only been 3 weeks but I can already see improvement in there form and strength.
Deadlift 5 x 3 then Burpies Bent Rows 21, 15, 9 for Time
She Clean and Jerks 96 kg/211.64lbs at Body Weight of 47.88kg./105.6lbs!! Increadible!!
