Finding Success at the Gym

What is success for you? How do you define it?

For me, one way to define success is achieving/accomplishing goals.

Today I found success at the gym.

It was another Legs/Abs workout, and after taking my pre-workout C4 and warming up on the treadmill, I was ready to go beast-mode on my exercises!

I started off with some Barbell Squats at 90 and 95 lbs. to get my quads ready. (A quick note: 90 lbs. refers only to the weights added to the bar. It does not include the weight of the bar. This is my method for recording my lifts.) After that I wanted to hop on the Leg Press and get my workout started, but some dude was busy on it. Boo.

*Let me quickly share something about this dude. He had four plates (my term for 45 lbs.) on either side, making his push 360 lbs. As I was walking past the machine, what I thought were calf presses were in fact his way of training his legs. He brought the weights down only several inches, accomplishing nothing. I kid you not, his knees barely bent. Remember this, newbs: It doesn’t matter how much weight you’re pushing. Without proper form you run the risk of hurting yourself. Not to mention, you’re wasting your time.

Okay, I moved past the Leg Press and decided to get my Seated Leg Curls done while I waited for this guy. I did four sets at 90 and 105 lbs., the dude moved on and I was ready to do one of my favorite exercises. The Leg Press is where I found success today. You see, inside the big goal of being in shape and such, I continuously set and meet small goals such as weight amounts. When I first used a Leg Press two months ago I only put two plates on the machine, keeping the total at 90 lbs. While I certainly could have done more from the get-go, I made a commitment before I started this journey that I would emphasize quality lifts over heavy ones. 

Fast forward two months and slowly adding weights, today I pushed two sets with four plates. That’s 180 lbs. One half of what dude was pushing with his inches. I set a goal of hitting the four plates level, and I made it. Talk about motivation!

*Let me mention again that it means nothing if you load up the weights and don’t exercise proper form. Read some fitness advice articles and you’ll quickly learn that the number one mistake people make is elevating their ego in the gym. It’s pride that makes you pack on the plates to impress those around you. While 180 lbs. isn’t much, especially for a Leg Press, keep in mind that I’m bringing my thighs to my chest when I do this exercise. 

Next time you’re pushing 360 lbs. or whatever you think your max is, try executing proper form and watch what happens.

*Also, the regulars are more than aware of any newcomer. They’re also aware of said newcomer’s improper form, and none of them are impressed. They’re only annoyed that you’re sweating all over the equipment and not wiping anything down…

Success comes in many forms. The success I found today adds fuel to the fire that is my commitment to fitness. Get out there and tackle your own success. You’ll never know what you’re made of until you try.

You are stronger than you think.

Cheers, and stay motivated

S

The Results

Greetings, motivated readers!

I hope you’re enjoying SpeedyFit and are already on your way to a leaner, healthier you!

Today I’d like to talk about my 5K. It happened last Saturday, May 19 and was quite the spectacle. Imagine 800 people milling around the Tampa Forum and you get the idea. I’m not much on big crowds, so it was a challenge. Despite my distaste for large gatherings, I was as prepared as I could ever be to run!

I woke up bright and early at 5:30am. I proceeded to eat a light breakfast and prepare myself for the event. My wife woke up a little later, and once she was ready to go, we headed downtown.

The weather was perfect. An intense weather pattern had just passed through, leaving us with some dryer air and cloudless skies. We arrived as the sun was peeking over the buildings, bringing that encouraging morning warmth you can’t help but feel energized by.

We found the registration tables where I received my number and time chip for the race. I attached the number to my shirt and began prepping for the run.

At 7:45 I made a decision that, looking back, I wish I hadn’t. My wife, being the sweet, supportive woman that she is, bought some Gatorade G1 to help give me that extra boost during the race. G1 is basically a syrup-like mix of carbs and sugar which can bring life to your muscles and provide energy for a workout or run. While I didn’t want to use anything “new” on race day, I also wanted to honor and respect my wife and her efforts at assisting me. For that reason, I drank the G1.

It didn't taste the best.

Apparently, you’re supposed to follow up your G1 with a healthy dose of water. You know, to move that syrup mix around and actually aid your body in absorbing the nutrients. Wouldn’t you know it, Speedy took only a sip or two and headed to the starting line, stomach full of intense sugar and carbs. 

Hey, I was confident.

Why, yes, I'd love to stand in a massive crowd at 8am....

Well, at about one mile, the left side of my stomach started cramping…bad. At a mile and a half, I could no longer maintain the strong pace I had started with. My first mile was just over 6 minutes. When I hit the second mile around 13 minutes, the right side of my stomach decided to join the party. At this point, I’m done. If I wasn’t in a race I would’ve stopped. The pain was terrible. My pace continued to wane as the pain continuously throbbed. I actually stopped to walk several times, praying it would subside. As soon as I began running again, the pain came back. Talk about disappointing!

By the time I made it to the final leg and noticed my picture-happy wife leaning out with her camera, I decided I must try my hardest to look professional and pain-free.

Not very convincing....

So, I ran my first competitive 5K in 26.30 minutes. Three days prior I had run 3 miles in 24.30 minutes. The G1 fiasco caused a two minute increase. Oh well. My goal was to run a 5K, and I did. That’s one goal accomplished.

The next race will be more successful.

Til then,

Cheers, and stay motivated

S

The 5K

Runners unite!

My very first competitive run is in two days! At 8am on Saturday morning I will be lined up with complete strangers, awaiting the start of a 5K. I’m pretty excited about the whole thing.

Back track, I must confess: this is not my first “competitive run.” Now that I think about it, I ran track in High School. To clarify: I ran one track event in High School. I went to a private school, and we didn’t have much to offer in the world of sports. In my freshman year, I remember being on the track team. Why? No clue. The result? I busted my shoulder…

It was one of those short races—the 500 meter or something. I was doing my thing, running as hard as I could. When I reached the end of the race, despite every important thing related to running that I had forgotten, I recalled that I should stick my neck out, which I proceeded to do. As I crossed the finish line in all of my awkward stretched-neck’d glory, I lost my balance and went down…hard. Luckily I had the sense of mind to turn my face away from that awful turf and thus allowed my shoulder to take the brunt of the crash. Blood, blood, blood. I never returned to that track team. But hey, I can at least say that I ran track in High School. Can you?

Perhaps a deep-seated fear or psychologically-related traumatic episode…thing is the reason why today I hate running. Regardless, I decided to get over it and joined a 5K to force myself to do just that. Fast forward two and a half weeks and here we are: two days out. I hope/plan to do well. I enjoy meeting goals. I really enjoy surpassing them. I ran a practice 5K on Tuesday morning and had a shorter time than my practice 5K from the previous Saturday. Keep this up and who knows, maybe I could be the Flash’s side-kick.

Let’s talk about that for a minute. Nearly every superhero out there has a name that can be manipulated in some way in order for a side-kick to ride his/her success. E.g., Superman has Superboy and Supergirl, Batman has Batgirl, Aquaman has Aqualad, etc., but what about Flash? Flash boy? Boy Flash? Zip? Kid Zoom? Lame. All lame.

So, yeah. I'm running my first 5K in two days. 

Hey, want some advice on running for weight loss? Too bad, because I’m giving it. If you think it’s beneficial to always beat your butt and sweat buckets while you run, you’re wrong. While it feels great, your body is most likely dipping into its muscles to look for the energy needed to sustain that intense cardio. This is counter-productive, people. Your muscles need development in order to allow your body to develop into a fat-burning machine. This doesn’t mean you need to be a massive body builder. It simply means you need to do strength training and primarily run with your heart rate resting in the fat burning zone.

The fat burning zone is a lower intensity that, when maintained over a longer period of time, will allow your body to look to its fat source for energy. This isn’t to say that high intensity cardio doesn’t have its place. There’s a balance that is needed. High intensity will help you bust a lot of calories, specifically fat calories, but like I said, you could be using up your muscles in the process. Most people see how many calories they burned and figure that means they can eat more, which is a big problem.

So, pick your poison. You could burn more calories and play the mind game of “can I eat more since I burned so much” or burn less visible calories while targeting the fat % of your body.

*My workout advice: Do strength training and low intensity cardio several times a week, and do high intensity cardio only once or twice a week.

Cheers, and stay motivated

S

Goals!

Greetings!

Today I hit the gym super early, as I love to do, and gave my all on a biceps/back workout. Normally I do three back-focused exercises and two biceps-focused ones. Today I threw in a third biceps exercise, the hammer curl, to give my little arms some extra workout. I’m finally noticing a change in their appearance, and it’s motivating me to push harder!

Yesterday I talked about my goals. Let me share a little more about them.

Short term goals:

•          Lose weight and get down to 150 lbs.
•          Be more comfortable in my favorite clothes.
•          See ab definition when standing relaxed.
•          Attain a cut between my bicep and my shoulder.
•          (Recently added) – Run a 5k.

Goals 1 + 2 – Since starting this program a month and a half ago, I have lost roughly 8 pounds! I don’t have an effective means for measuring my body fat %, but I know that it has gone down too. This is exciting! Because of this 8 lb. difference, my clothes already fit better. Perhaps the most enjoyable change is that my pants no longer feel so tight that I must loosen them whenever I’m sitting down (yeah, I was doing this).

Goal 3 – Hello abs! It’s been far too long since I’ve seen you guys. When standing relaxed, I can now visually make out the top four abs. When I flex, there’s no denying it. Every trainer will tell you: “Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym.” This is true, since most of us store fat in the midsection.

*SpeedyTip: Want great abs? Start by changing your diet. All the ab exercises in the world won’t remove the fat stored on top of them. All the work you’re doing is certainly making those abs look sensational, but if nobody can see them, then what’s the point?

Goal 4 – I can finally see where my bicep meets my shoulder. They curve in slightly before they meet. I think this increases the biceps’ appearance of size. At any rate, I’m happy with what’s going on.

Goal 5 – Oh golly. The mother of all goals. I registered for a 5k! I hate running! I hate cardio in general, but running takes the cake. Mmmmm…cake….

This is the coolest cake in the world...

Focus! I decided that I want to be a runner. I decided to take something I hate and make it something I love. So far, I don’t love it. I certainly don’t hate it as much anymore, but I definitely don’t love it. In the spirit of setting goals I figured, “Why not set a running goal, Speeds?” “Because I hate running, Speeds.” “You should work on that.” “Okay.” “Well, that was easy! Let’s do a 5k!” “@#%&#$%!!”

This is currently where all of my attention is. I have boosted my cardio significantly in an effort to quickly condition my lungs to withstand the punishment. To my credit, it’s going well. (Not “going good”, because “good” is not an adverb. Read the SpeedyTips at SpeedyEdits.com for more information on that.) Here’s an image of my “Speedy’s ‘Get Ready for the 5k’ Conditioning Plan”.

Surprisingly enough, I’m enjoying all of this running. Setting a small goal and accomplishing it sends “good feelings” to my brain.

Do you like “good feelings”? Well, why not set a small goal and get after it? Make it a goal to take a 15-20 minute walk after dinner every night for an entire week. After seven days, think about what you’ve accomplished. That’s an easy goal to reach, and may just be the first goal you take to changing your life.

Who knows?

How about sharing your goal with me? I’ll stand by your side and encourage you until you reach it.

Till next time,

Cheers, and stay motivated

S

The Regimen

Hello again, fellow fitness-minded/interested people!

Today was another cardio day, and I made sure I gave it my all. The intensity we display in the gym can foster healthy, “gung-ho” attitudes in our regular lives. So if you find yourself in the gym in the next couple of days, try pushing to the max and discover what you’re really made of. I’m sure you’ll find that you’re much stronger than you think!

Last time I talked about the process in choosing my workout program. Today I will go over the regimen and talk a little about goals and their importance.

As I said in my last blog, I started the “Lean Body Program” by Lee Labrada. It’s a twelve week program, and I’m currently in its seventh week. Since beginning this journey, my strength has increased, and my weight has decreased. I’m encouraged, excited and motivated to finish strong.

The program follows a two on, one off plan. This means I do strength training for two days and not on the third. However, my third days are spent doing cardio, so I don’t actually have any “off days.” In fact, Labrada suggests I run 30 minutes at least four times a week. I tend to do a lot more.

Day one is Back/Biceps. My back exercises have been familiar ones such as barbell/dumbbell rows, as well as unfamiliar ones such as deadlifts. The biceps exercises, for the most part, I knew before starting the program: alternate curls, standing barbell curls, preacher curls, etc. This day is also a cardio one, as I am supposed to do 30 minutes.

Day two is Chest/Shoulders/Triceps. This is a touch day, as chest workouts are very foreign to me. Only after seven weeks of doing bench presses have I finally begun perfecting the form and to cease struggling with balance. I enjoy doing dumbbell bench presses more, as I’m not so intimidated. My shoulders/triceps exercises have all been very enjoyable: side lateral raises, shoulder presses, triceps extensions, bench dips, etc. This day is cardio as well, so I do 30 minutes.

Day three is cardio. As I stated, on the third day I get a break from lifting weights, but not from doing cardio. I am supposed to do thirty minutes of high intensity training. I tend to use a bike or the elliptical; however, very recently I have begun using the treadmill quite consistently.

Day four is Legs/Abs. This day is a doozy (I have a cousin whose name is Doozy). Before starting this program, I don’t think I had worked my legs a day in my life. Now it’s become a favorite! The leg exercises include: squats, deadlifts, leg extensions, lunges, leg curls, etc., etc. The ab exercises are typical: crunches, leg raises, etc. Labrada suggests I don’t do cardio on Legs/Abs days, as it’s already a heavy workout.

Day five is back to the beginning with Back/Biceps, and day six is cardio. This path continues, staying consistent with two on, one off.

There you have it. I have been following this plan consistently for six weeks. Technically I should be in my eighth week, but I took a week off to deal with a cold that had developed. It’s an awesome program, and I recommend it to anyone with similar goals. Ahh, goals….

I don’t care what your mindset is, but goals are imperative for success. I made short-term goals when I started “Lean Body” that I focus on daily. Here are a few of them:

•          Lose weight and get down to 150 lbs.
•          Be more comfortable in my favorite clothes.
•          See ab definition when standing relaxed.
•          Attain a cut between my bicep and my shoulder.
•         (Recently added) – Run a 5k.

I also made some long-term goals:

•          Be in better shape at 29 then I’ve ever been in my life.
•          Have six visible abs.
•          One day compete on stage in a men’s physique competition.
•          One day be a personal trainer (maybe).

By having these goals, I’m able to keep my focus and stay motivated. In the next blog I’ll talk more in depth about these goals, share which ones I have reached, and how I’m staying motivated.

Till then,

Cheers, and stay motivated

S

New Habits

 “Before something becomes a habit, it must first be practiced as a discipline” (Pipes).

Wise words from a wise friend. I've heard numerous comments and advice tips on creating a habit. One thing is certain, it takes consistency and discipline.

Ouch…discipline. Believe me when I say, I know how difficult being disciplined is. However, I truly believe that when you want something—truly want something—you’ll hop on that discipline train quick.

While I’m not sure whether or not my discipline train is ready to leave the station and make a non-stop journey to success-ville, I’ve certainly bought my ticket and packed my bags. I’m dead-serious about this trip.

If only...

I think it’s time to let you in on what exactly my “trip” looks like.

If you haven’t heard of BodyBuilders.com, well, you just did. I am not a spokes-person for them, but I would certainly do a good job of it. The site is incredible. I won’t ramble about it and waste precious blog space; so, visit the site and learn something.

Okay, BodyBuilders.com is an excellent resource tool for all things pertaining to Body Building. Who knew, right?

*SpeedyInsert – I’ve received grief and jabs from people when I mention this site. Apparently, “Body Building” means monstrously huge dudes wearing speedos and flexing their ‘roid-induced bulges in silly little contests. Hey, push the rock above your head out of the way just a tad and maybe, just maybe you’ll learn something. Body Building is simply that: Building your body. It doesn’t mean building to mass proportions. If you remodel a home and add or remove stuff, you’re a builder. If you remodel your body and add or remove stuff, you’re a builder. That means: If you’ve ever gone to a gym, gone for a run, changed your diet, etc., in order to change your body, that makes you a…body builder. GASP! The horror! The horror!  Heart of Darkness, anyone? No? I digress….

Case in point: It's the first picture that showed up when I searched for "Body Builder."

Back to the topic, BodyBuilders.com has an insane amount of workout regimens that span everything from a couple weeks to full-on, several month “Get Your Butt in Shape” plans. I made a goal (I’ll talk about the importance of goals soon, I promise). That goal was/is to follow one of these several week plans faithfully and to completion. I input my data (did you know that “data” is plural, and “datum” is singular?), told the website what I wanted to gain (fat loss), and voila (did you know that “voila” is French and translates roughly: “There it is” or “There you have it”?): a plan was suggested!

The website recommended I follow Lee Labrada’s “Lean Body Program.”

By the way, Lee Labrada actually is one of those dudes who wears a speedo and flexes his beef in “silly little contests.” Now, let it be known: I don’t think it’s silly.

“Lean Body” is a 12-week program designed to teach healthy eating habits while utilizing a regimen consisting of targeted workouts intended to burn fat and lose weight. Perfect! Each day of the program has a several minute video in which Lee explains the day’s exercises, teaches healthy eating habits and encourages by giving his advice on topics ranging from eating smart at restaurants, making good food choices and maintaining your motivation. I just finished the sixth week and am still motivated to push through the second half of the program.

The results? Well, in six weeks my strength has increased while my weight has decreased. I have muscle definition which I never saw even in my glory days, my small shirts are loose again, and I have to tighten my belt to keep my pants up. Oh. Happy. Day.

Next time I’ll expound on the “Lean Body Program” and let you know what exactly I’ve been doing.

Till then,

Cheers, and Stay Motivated

S

It's Time to Get Serious...

Let me share a bit on how I got here.

When I got married back in 2010, I weighed around 145 lbs. I greatly enjoyed my size, which allowed for small t-shirts and pants with either a 30 or a 31 waist. Growing up I was always a smaller dude, which I liked. I was fast at sports and agile enough to escape the hands of bullies and would-be pursuers (young girls included—elementary school was a strange time). In college I put on minimal weight, but it was nothing I was afraid of.

*Notice how I ignore the lame-o rule where you shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition. Rules were made to be broken, right?

Moving on…. Shortly after I got married I took a job in a call center. I never imagined I’d find myself working in a cube and sitting down for 8 hours at a time (sometimes my shifts moved up to 12 hours). The hours were insane. There were times when I’d go in at 3:30 pm and not head home until 2 in the morning. Talk about brutal. Working in a call center is incredibly painful: the hours are horrible and the stress makes you eat the kinds of food you wouldn’t even find in a prison. I became self-destructive, and my body started showing it. I was simply trying to survive the 50-60 hour work weeks that eventually became the norm. I remember breathing a sigh of relief when I saw an 8 hour shift on my schedule. That’s crazy.

After a year working in that cube, my weight was around 167 lbs.—quite the change. And how was my mindset? Miserable. I hated what I saw in the mirror. Sure, 167 lbs. is still small, but you have to understand, I hadn’t added healthy weight, only fat. I no longer looked like a small guy in a small shirt, I became the large guy who still wears his high school t-shirts. Add to that the fact that my pants had become tight. Snug doesn’t even describe it. I was so unhappy. I can’t properly convey it.

In August of 2011, I decided to make some efforts to get this snowball under control. My company made a deal with a local gym which provided all of the employees with a serious discount. I hopped on that. Also, I downloaded a calorie counter application on my phone. I tried my hardest to get my butt in that gym. The problem was that I didn’t know what I was doing. I would basically do cardio for 20 or 30 minutes and then walk around the rest of the gym, using random machines that didn’t seem too complicated. Utilizing the calorie counter proved useful, as I was gaining knowledge into just how terrible all the food I was eating actually was. This encouraged me to start dropping pointless stomach-fillers and begin striving towards healthful alternatives.

My calorie counting/random “gym-ing” proved unsuccessful. I wasn’t seeing any results. By the time January 2012 rolled around, my weight had dropped to around 163—not exactly the success story I was hoping for. By March we were sitting pretty at 162. It’s in this same month that I became 28. Oh man…28 and unable to wear my “go-to” dress pants or my favorite band shirts. I hit a new bottom. I knew this couldn’t go on. I made a decision as March came to a close to take my “gym-ing” seriously….

Here we go!

A friend recently said I should start writing a fitness-related blog. I jokingly responded that I know nothing about fitness, but maybe one day I could take a stab it.

Now, after thinking about it, perhaps I’ll take that stab. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen, right?

Regardless, I’ve officially started a brand new blog that will focus on all things fitness. In it I plan to share my new life as a “gym-goer” and all of the excitement, frustration, highs and lows, insights, discoveries, progress, etc. that goes with it. Sound exciting? I’m not going to lie: I’m pretty excited about it.

*Side note before we begin this journey. I make money and provide for my wife by writing/editing. It is literally my world. With that said, expect to find literary references, grammatical quips, Dickens-styled narrator interruptions and all sorts of English-language-related insertions that may or may not be necessary—or called for.

Still reading? Good.

Welcome to Speedy’s Fitness Blog! …we’re still working on the name….

First things first, I need to let you know how and why I got here.

 1.  How – I started going to the gym. Yeah, it’s that simple. But wait! There’s more!

     

     -I committed to going to the gym. That’s a LOT different than simply going. I’ll talk about that more in detail in a later blog.

2.  Why – I got tired of being what’s known as “Skinny Fat.” Scratch that. I’ve always been tired of it. I decided to do something about it. By the way, the relationship between saying and doing is something you’ll probably hear me run my mouth about often; so, prepare yourself.

    -For those who don’t know/can’t figure out what “skinny fat” is, it’s when you’re not exactly skinny, and you’re not exactly fat. It’s a very popular body type that’s prevalent in good ‘ol America: The Land of Fast Food.

So with all of that out of the way, and now that we seem to know each other, yeah, I go the gym. I go the gym a lot. I also don’t use “alot”, since it’s not a real word. The little red squiggly is currently making my eye twitch. I try to go to the gym every day, and I don’t often miss. When I do, it’s typically for a legit reason.

Bodybuilders say that working out is addicting. I agree. I look forward to it. I love the feelings I get when I’m there. I crave the highs I experience immediately following a good lift. When I miss a day, my body knows it.

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, I want you to know what’s up. I want you to know why I’m doing what I’m doing. If you care, you’ll check back. If you couldn’t care less, I’ll shed tears later.

By the way, it’s “couldn’t care less,” not “could care less.” For goodness’ sake, get that right!

And so concludes the first entry into Speedy’s Fitness Blog.

Again, we need to do something about that name.

*Editor's note: I changed the name to "SpeedyFit".

Next time I’ll share my workout plan and talk about setting goals. Interested?

Be there.

-Speedy