Personal Fitness
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Check out this awesome video of me helping Julien Greaux train with France’s M.A.C. (Martial Arts Community). Watch Julien in action, honing his Mixed Martial Arts skills.
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Pushups are one of the ultimate measures of fitness. If you complete pushup sets easily, you might be able to step up your workout by incorporating one of the many variations of pushups. The most challenging is the decline pushup.
Because these pushups are the hardest on your body, we have to remember to perform them in safe conditions. These should NEVER be done after a cardio workout, and should not be done by anyone who has difficulty with one of the more common forms of pushups. If the decline pushup is not performed correctly, there are many risks, including stroke, damage to spine, or back and shoulder injuries, among others.
To perform the decline pushup, place your feet on a raised surface, such as a box, a step, or even a curb. Perform the pushups like normal, but make sure you exhale as you push your body off the ground. Inhale slowly as you press your chest towards the ground again, and stop about three inches from the ground. Keep your pectoral and abdominal muscles contracted during this exercise. If you feel pain in your back and shoulders, you should stop immediately. Once you master the decline pushup, you can add another challenge – try performing them on a medicine ball!
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Positive Thinking
Once you have set your goals and created a clear picture of the physique you wish to attain, it is inevitable that you will run into obstacles. However, you can’t let this defeat you in reaching your goals. Everyone has come across roadblocks at some point in their quest for success. You can’t let that stop you. Figure out how to go through them, climb them or go around them. Stay on track and committed to your goals. Having a positive attitude and how you deal with obstacles is 99% of the battle. So keep pushing forward and don’t lose sight of your goals.
Your attitude is what is going to carry you through to achieving what you want to accomplish. A common characteristic of bodybuilding champions is having a positive attitude. They can focus completely on achieving their goals and shut out any negative thoughts. They have total confidence in their ability to become champions, no matter how many times they fail or how long it takes. They don’t let other people’s opinions and negativity dissuade them from their dream.
Believe in yourself and don’t ever give up. If you feel like you are worthy enough to be where you want to be and do what you want to do in life, then go for it. Don’t let anything hold you back. Anything. You only have one life to live and it should be spent doing the things that make you happy. If you feel like you are worthy of the best life has to offer, you will have the best chance of having that vision become a reality. On the contrary, if you don’t think you’re worthy, you will make THAT vision of your life come true.
“All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea”, Napoleon Hill wrote. Energy follows thought. You should think about what you want in life, not about what you don’t want. What you focus on in life will expand and eventually will become a reality. Your thoughts and actions will lead you to where you feel you ought to be. You must focus on what you really want in life– not on what you think you can have. No matter what has happened to you in your past or what obstacles you have come face to face with, you must keep a positive attitude and work through it. If you think you are going to achieve your ultimate physique, you will. If you are convinced you cannot reach that level, you won’t.
You are where you are in life right now because of your way of thinking. Your way of thinking will dictate your actions and therefore determine your results. It is your thoughts that first lead you to any outstanding accomplishment or disappointing failure. Athletes, entertainers, artists, businessman, doctors, educators and politicians have all used the power of positive thinking to get them where they are today. Positive thinking can be applied to any life endeavor. Passion and enthusiasm toward any goal creates positive energy and becomes contagious.
Drive and Determination
Your will to succeed and drive forward comes from inside you. Nobody can do it for you; you have to want it to happen. People can give you advice and that’s all. It is your efforts and nobody else’s that will give you progress and success. Like Bruce Lee once said, “To know is not enough, we must apply”. You have to apply what you have learned on nutrition, training, goal setting and positive thinking in order to reach your goals. You can plan what you are going to do all you want, but if you don’t actually do it– nothing is going to happen.
The greater the adversity you must overcome in obtaining your goal, the greater the enjoyment you will experience. Know that everyone eventually experiences a setback or makes a mistake. We are going to fail one way or another as we travel along life’s path: we’re only human. It will all come down to your passion, your conviction, your desire to keep going and your refusal to quit. You’ll find a way to get around a setback if your heart is truly in it and you believe in yourself. No matter what knocks you down you just have to get back up again.
Trust your decisions and stand by them. Don’t suddenly doubt yourself if you trip up. Don’t let other’s pessimism dissuade you. Be patient and believe in your abilities. If you are persistent enough, you will eventually attain your goals. My formula for success has been hard work, self-confidence and positive thinking. Keep striving forward, no matter what happens. Realize you can do it. If you really want it– then go for it.
Mind in the Muscle
Going through the motions means nothing and you will achieve little results by doing this. You have to have what is called the “mind-muscle” connection. The ability to make this connection is something that is very difficult for many people to master. I feel that establishing this ability is what separates those that excel from those that don’t. Focus on the muscle that you are working, not on the weight in your hands. Visualize how you want that muscle to look and concentrate on how it feels throughout the movements. This will allow you to establish the “mind-muscle” connection.
As a personal trainer, I often encountered clients who had difficulty establishing the “mind –muscle” connection. While training the back, they often gave me feedback on how they felt excertion more in their biceps than anything. I explained to them that they have to imagine their arms as simply hooks or links to the weight. Focus on pulling with your lat muscles. As their concentration grew and they gained more experience, they soon found it easy to grasp the “mind-muscle” connection. It is important that you are feeling the muscle being targeted and controlling the weight during each and every set you perform. Soon you won’t even have to think about it.
Fear of Failure
When you face challenges, it is always the mind that fails first, not the body. The fear of failing can get in the way of achieving success. This fear prevents you from trying really hard, releasing all of your energies and mustering up total motivation. Norman Peale once wrote, “If you put everything off until you’re sure of it, you’ll get nothing done.” You have to be willing to take risks and step away from being totally secure. Failure can actually be a good learning tool. It instructs which part of your plan is working and which is not, it defines limits for you. Do not fear to test your limits. There is an enormous amount of satisfaction that comes from stepping over your supposed limit.
Push yourself as far as you can go, until you run into a wall and can go no further. Attempt to make a lift you know will be a great struggle to make. What is the worse that can happen? You cannot get the weight up. If you can’t lift it at this point in time, keep working at it. Once you have experienced failure, you will know that much more about yourself and your training program. Then you can plan the next stage more intelligently. Knowing what worked and what didn’t work will allow you to grow from the experience.
After each workout, reflect back on how you felt while you trained. On a scale of one to ten, how was your intensity? Were you focused? How were your energy levels? Did you get the most you possibly could from each and every rep? What could you have done better? By performing a self-evaluation after each workout, you make yourself more accountable. A workout summary can teach you what went well and what you need to improve upon next time. Concentrating on maximizing your workout will maximize your gains.
You have to put yourself in uncomfortable situations and take risks. In fact, the only time you are actually growing in life is when you are uncomfortable. Making changes is not a walk in the park. We all possess the personal power required to make changes. Cultivate that power, you are in charge of your own life. You can change the quantity of personal power you possess, from weak to strong. Only you can decide which power flourishes within you. Before you attempt to make a lift, say to yourself, “this is going to go up” and don’t doubt it. Like Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman always says, “Light weight baby.” His personal power is so strong that he has absolutely no doubt that the weight is going to go up.
A Credo for Success
Seeing tremendous growth and change in yourself can help you attain a new and better life. Bodybuilding has taught me how to set and reach goals effectively. It has taught me the power of positive thinking and how to overcome adversity with determination. My self-esteem grew along with my muscles and I learned discipline and dedication. My work ethic became much stronger. I have been able to apply these same principles to other areas of my life as well– such as my work, education and personal relationships. I truly believe success in bodybuilding can teach you to become successful in anything in life.
When you utilize the power of your mind, nothing can stop you– you can accomplish anything. Albert Einstein claimed that you cannot achieve a new goal by applying the same level of thinking that got you to where you are today. Take these concepts and start applying them. Set your standards high and have no fear of failing during your pursuit of success.
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Generating Mental and Physical Intensity
Building muscle is just as much mental as it is physical. Remember that the mind controls the body. If the mind does not want to go through hard and heavy workouts, the body will not want to either. You will end up going through the motions, but not doing the kind of heavy training necessary to properly develop your body. So, start with the mind and the body will follow.
You need to have motivation in order to generate the intensity required to spark muscle growth. Find the inspiration you need to fuel your workouts. You can possibly do this by flipping through a muscle magazine before heading off to the gym. Find pictures or videos of bodybuilders that inspire you to train hard and push yourself during each workout.
Before each workout it is important to mentally envision your entire routine. Picture each exercise you are going to do for that day. As you play through your workout in your mind, envision the weight you will use for each set. Define your goal by establishing a weight you want to lift for each movement. By picturing a successful execution of the weight for your exercises, you will become focused and, as a result, generate mental and physical intensity.
Never just walk into the gym without a clear plan of action. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Without a plan, you will walk into the gym with a lack of focus. With that lack of focus, your workout will most likely be unproductive. You must be mentally prepared for intense training and primed to go through the pain. Otherwise your goal will become merely a wish.
Goal Setting
In bodybuilding, if you take care of the improvements that need to made every day the long-term goals will take care of themselves. Without a goal to shoot for each day, you are wasting your time; you are training for no reason at all. Your mind will not get excited and your training becomes a half-assed affair. You need to be totally involved in the effort you put forth in the gym and exert yourself to the extent necessary for success in bodybuilding.
I always set obtainable mental goals before heading to the gym. A mental goal allows for flexibility and gives you motivation to improve. It’s not enough to go to the gym and say, “someday I want to be a pro bodybuilder.” That’s too vague and too far down the road. That would be considered a long-term goal. Everyone needs small, daily goals to give their workouts meaning and intensity. Small goals break your long-term goals into incremental and more manageable segments.
For instance, if you did 225 pounds on the bench press for 10 reps during your last chest workout, you need to try and do 235 pounds during your next chest workout. Keep working until you can do 235 pounds for 10 reps and then add more weight onto the bar again. If you did 10 chins during your last back workout, try getting 11 the next time you train. Your training should be progressive, trying to beat what you have done previously. This will give each workout special meaning and is the only way to keep making improvements. If you are not training progressively, you are just spinning your wheels.
When you see a person at the gym who always uses the same weights and exercises, who always does the same sets and reps, and who never improves, you know you are looking at a person that has forgotten the importance of setting small daily goals. Training without goals is meaningless because you have nothing to aim for and no sense of purpose.
You also need to set long-term goals, goals that are currently unobtainable. By setting unobtainable goals, you are able to train at an ultra-high level by striving for that big, long-term goal. “Aim for the stars and maybe you’ll reach the sky” is a phrase that I keep in mind. Then by achieving my short-term goal, I maintain continued motivation by meeting or exceeding my intermediate expectations. Never set a goal too low just to be able to achieve it, always try and push yourself. You are capable of great things when you set your sights high.
Long-term goals may include what competition you want to win, what body fat you want to get down to, and the kind of physique you ultimately want to create. Your long-term goals should be SMART– specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. An example would be: I want my calves to measure 19 inches by the end of December. It is not enough to say, “I want bigger calves.” That’s not specific enough, nor is it measurable and timely. For a goal to be effective, you have to make them specific, measurable and timely. The goal should also be attainable and realistic. Obviously if your calves measure 16 inches, it would not be possible to make them grow 3 inches in a year or less. They have to be built up to 17 inches first, then 18 inches.
Sometimes focusing on long-term goals can be discouraging. But as the saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. That is why you need to learn how to set smaller goals along with your big goals. It will make your long-term goals less intimidating. Write your long-term goals down and review them each day, keeping them fresh in your head. Reviewing your goals daily is a crucial part of your success and should become a part of your everyday routine. This process will start both your subconscious and conscious mind on working toward your goals. It will also replace any negative self-talk you may have and replace it with positive self-talk.
If you write your goals down, you increase your chance of attaining them by 50%. You should also share your goals with others. If you share your goals with others around you, you increase your chance of achieving them by 95%. It is a lot easier to let yourself down than to let someone else down. So start thinking big and dream big. Get charged up about what you are trying to accomplish, because wonderful things can happen when the mind is excited.
Don’t necessarily get caught up in how you are going to accomplish your long-term goals. That is one reason why many of us fail to set goals, not knowing every precise detail in reaching the goal. The mind doesn’t work that way. Once you set an ambitious goal, no matter how far away you think it may be, your subconscious mind will search for every possible way to reach that goal. If you look on a map, and you’re trying to get from point A to point B, there are several different routes you can take in order to get to point B. In other words, there is no exact way to reach your long-term goals. The key is to be positive, self confident, determined and consistent.
Visualization
Not only should you define goals with the poundage you lift, you should also define your physical goal. How much muscle do you want to develop? How big do you want your arms and calves to measure? How wide do you want your back and shoulders? How thick do you want your chest to be? Brand this image of yourself in your mind. By visualizing where you want to be, you keep a focused mindset throughout your entire workout.
I used to visualize myself becoming more and more like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Although I was tall and skinny as a teenager, I believed one day I could develop a massive physique like Arnold’s too. I felt like he was the bodybuilder I should try and emulate, because our genetics were similar. We both were of Austrian descent, tall with similar frames, and had similar muscle bellies and insertions. I decided to make Arnold my mentor and I learned all I could from his writings.
The more I focused on his image and trained and grew, the more I saw the real possibility of being like him. Focus on negative thoughts and you fail, focus on positive thoughts and you succeed. Some bodybuilders state, “I want to have 20-inch arms someday”, but then in the same breath add, “but I just don’t think that’s possible.” They will never develop 20-inch arms with that attitude. They have already defeated themselves mentally. Lots of people compare their talent to someone else’s and when they find themselves lacking, they give up. The bodybuilder who thinks, “I don’t have the genetics to become Mr. Olympia, so why even bother to try” doesn’t even use the talent that he does have to reach his own capabilities.
Bodybuilding is very much like sculpture. You have to look in the mirror and see yourself as you are and then as what you want to ultimately achieve. I studied Arnold’s photographs constantly and focused on building a physique more and more like his. I mimicked his training style and used his strategies. This helped me to individualize my workouts, learning what specific movements worked well for me and what did not.
I advise other bodybuilders to do the same. Find a bodybuilder to emulate, based on your genetics. It wouldn’t make sense for someone who is medium-sized and aesthetic to use Dorian Yates as their role model. Visualization would not be a powerful tool because the transformation would be unrealistic. That bodybuilder would be better off choosing someone with a similar build, like Frank Zane or Shawn Ray. Use someone who represents your ideal physique and study photos of them. Get a clear picture of where you want to go, and then you can devise a plan of how to get there.
Trying to create a plan from scratch takes too much time. Don’t try and reinvent the wheel, so to speak. Research the proven routes of success and you will be giving yourself the best chance to duplicate it, in a quicker amount of time. Model what other successful bodybuilders have done to make your training, nutrition and supplementation most efficient. Uncover their philosophies and you will cut your education time drastically. Continue to learn throughout your journey as a bodybuilder because knowledge is power.
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There is a fine line between true exercise and mere increased activity. Someone can walk everyday and still not exercise enough to help them lose weight. Although increasing activity can improve your health, it is not as effective when it comes to weight loss.
What is the difference between exercise and activity? A good example for activity would be walking your dog or a taking a morning stroll. Exercise is typically more structured and purposeful. Good examples would be a power walk, jog or aerobics class.
For most people, your heart rate is probably the best indicator of aerobic exercise and caloric expenditure. In order to find out the range in which you should exercise, you need to figure out your maximum heart rate. According to the American Heart Association, your maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age. Using that number, multiply that number by 0.65 for a low-intensity workout or 0.85 for a high-intensity workout.
Here is an example for a thirty year old:
220 – 30 = 190BPM (beats per minute)
Heart rate for a low-intensity workout would be 123.5BPM (190 X .65)
Heart rate high-intensity workout would be 161.5BPM (190 X .85)
Tracking your heart rate can be pretty easy when using a treadmill. Most treadmills have a chart on the machine to tell you where you need to be, but what if you are out walking in your neighborhood? You can either buy a heart rate monitor or you can get an estimate by counting your heart beat within a ten-second span and multiplying it by six.
For example, the same thirty-year-old would need to maintain a heart rate of twenty-one beats over a ten-second span for a low intensity workout. For a high-intensity workout the ideal heart rate would be twenty-seven beats. Of course it is not as accurate as a heart rate monitor but it is much more convenient.
Although heart rate is normally the best indication of caloric expenditure, there are some exceptions. Some people’s resting heart rate is slower than normal, a condition called Bradycardia, or it can be faster than normal, a condition called Tachycardia. However, for the general population, the heart rate is the best way to monitor aerobic exercise and calories burned.
So, if you are not sure if you are exercising at the right pace, just ask your heart.
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As I prepare for another competition this July, finding the balance between work, relationships, and volunteer coaching (in addition to training and dieting) can be quite overwhelming. My obligations pull me in every direction and I tend to worry if I’m neglecting one or the other.
When it’s time for me to diet and become more meticulous about my food intake, I tend to worry about the quality time I spend with my fiancé, friends and family because sharing a meal is a considered a social activity. When I bring packed meals to events, I feel that it seems to make others feel uncomfortable - I find myself apologizing for the broccoli and tilapia that end up stinking up the place! Sure, I’ve been competing for four years in this industry, but by nature I’ve always been a ‘worry wart’ and have always conformed in order to make others happy, sometimes before myself. As I prepare for my upcoming competition, I have to keep telling myself that I am doing this for me: I can only do the best I can do and should not worry so much about what others may think. Regardless of how I place or the sacrifices I need to make, competing is something that I enjoy; I cannot compromise on the path to improving my performance.
While researching Sports Psychology today, I found an article by Dr. Patrick Cohn. Dr. Patrick Cohn is a master mental-game coach who works with professional and amateur athletes, sports parents, and teams of all levels. Dr. Cohn’s article really struck a chord with me and I wanted to share it with all of you. ENJOY!
“One big challenge for many athletes today is the fact that they worry so much about what others think when they perform that it becomes a huge distraction.
It is extremely important to care about other people. However it becomes unhealthy when athletes worry too much about what others think of them to the point that it distracts them from focusing on the task.
We call this social approval or acceptance. It causes athletes to look for status from their peers in the form of respect, admiration, popularity, or wanting to fit in or be liked. Many people in today’s society crave these qualities.
When you worry too much about what others think, you can’t focus on what is really important - your performance! In addition, this mindset also causes you to avoid mistakes or bad plays - not a good mindset to instill peak performance.
Let’s face it, many athletes want respect from their peers. But at the very least, you have to let go of what others may or may not be thinking about you when you compete. To get your head in the game, focus on what is truly important during your performance!”
Article Source: ezinearticles
As you take on resolutions to become a healthier version of yourself, you will be making changes. Some of the changes you make may, and will, impact your current relationships. If your partner isn’t up to making the same changes you are, keep in mind that the changes you’re about to make will help you become a better person not only physically but emotionally. As selfish as it may sound, you have to put you first. Oftentimes the ending result will be more than you could ever expect. This 2008 season I plan to do just that and I can only imagine how much more I will accomplish when I worry less.
-Mona Liza Reyes
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James Kohler demonstrates his unique variation on a push up. Kohler’s Medicine Ball Push Up targets the inner-chest, triceps, and core and also aids in the development of functional strength.
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