Strong Mind

There will be no class on Monday at 6am.

There is a quote by Thomas Jefferson that states "A strong body makes for a strong mind." In order to change your body whether you are trying to get leaner or stronger it takes some mental toughness. What kind of mental toughness am I talking about? When the workout gets hard and you want to stop it takes some mental toughness to keep pushing and finish what you started. It also takes mental toughness to stick with your eating plan when you are surrounded by temptations. Changing your physique is not always easy and the mental toughness that you gain through your workouts and nutrition carries over into everything you do in life. Not only will you be mentally tough in the gym but in everything you try and do.

Workout of the Day
2 min sets of
jumprope
burpees
turkish get up sit ups
sumo high pull
rowing machine
wallball

What is Wrong with Magazine Fitness Programs

After spending some time with Alwyn Cosgrove one of the things that he talked about was how ridiculous it was that people followed the workouts in many of the major fitness magazines. He said that the articles that he and other trainers write for the magazines do not contain the actual workouts that they use with their clients. Why is this? He said that often times the magazines will approach him with a set article in mind and ask him to create a workout to fit the story. For instance, he was recently asked to write an article for a magazine that contained a workout that used only 6 bodyweight exercises. He says that the odds of him using this program with an actual client were not that high. He said that it could happen but that the odds were not that great. You have to remember that the programs in magazines are general programs that provide basic princples. They are not for everybody.

Workout of the Day
Backsquat 4x6
45 sec work/45 sec rest
reverse lunge, pullups, pushpress, hollow rocks
3 rounds

What is Your Weakest Link

Often times someone will come into our facility with a weak link and when that weak link is identified and corrected all their lifts tend to go up. This weak link could be caused by a lack of flexibility, mobility, or strength. An example of this would be someone with a weak core. If a person comes in who can do lunges with a good amount of weight but they cannot squat well it means that they have a weak core. The body is not allowing the person to squat a lot of weight because it wants to protect then spine. Your body will always try to protect itself and thus will not allow you to lift as much weight. Once you strengthen this persons core then their squats will improve. Once their squats improve their legs will get stronger and all of their other lifts will also improve. One of the secrets to a good program is working on your weaknesses. By eliminating your weaknesses you will be able to stimulate your muscles on a whole new level.

Yesterday's Top Performers
Male Bob 5;41
Female Ashley 5:41

Workout of the Day
Fundamentals Day (Practice Your Technique)
5 db snatch each arm + 5 sumo high pulls
2 min work/1min rest for 3 rounds

5 1 arm clean and press + 5 box jumps
2 min work/1 min rest for 3 rounds

Have A Goal

One of the biggest things that we went over at my seminar last week was goals. It is important to have a single goal that you are pursuing. Too often people have multiple goals that they are trying to accomplish and then they get overwhelmed by all of the things they are trying to do. Pick a goal and work hard to achieve it and once you have achieved it then pick another goal. One concept that Alwyn and Rachel went over is that when you are trying to accomplish something worthwhile your life is going to be slightly unbalanced. An example of this would be if you are trying to get leaner. Your life will not have the normal balance that it normally would have because you will have to focus quite a bit of attention on getting leaner. Once you reach your desired goal then you can restore the balance in your life.

Workout of the Day
Db Complex 4 x 5
Deadlift, Hang Clean, Thruster, lunge
2x20 Air squat, db swing, pushup, ring row

Posture

The average person today spends most of their time sitting down either driving or at a computer. This has caused most people to have poor posture in which their hips are tight, their glutes are not functioning properly, and their shoulders are rounded forward. In order to combat this we need to strengthen the muscles on the back side of the body and stretch the muscles on the front of the body.

Workout of the Day
6 deadlifts
8 pullups
10 burpees
4 rounds

Workout of the Day
30 seconds of work/ 15 seconds of rest
R leg lunge, L leg lunge, squat jumps, pushups, plank
6 rounds with 1 min rest between sets

Workout of the Day
1 min airsquat, pushups, pullup/ring row, rowing machine
Rest 1 min repeat for 4 rounds