Little steps

I'm gonna be honest. The only reason I'm writing anything right now is because it's part of a checklist I made for myself. Taking little steps to increase discipline. The idea is to make a list of daily things that I try to get done everyday to help improve myself (originally just for physical health, but I added some additional things). Some of the items include at least 1 high fat meal, reading my bible, or writing in something (such as this blog). I will admit, working on a checklist everyday makes me have to up the ante a bit.


I got this idea from Matt Marshall of Tried and True Fitness. This is all for a competition he's hosting, and I am trying to get in shape by midnight of March 31st to try and win. To do so, I must take little steps which build on each other. Similar to my last post, "Lessons from Minecraft (et al)".

This is the information for the contest I am entering: http://www.triedandtruefitness.com/contest/

And taking these little steps of organizing my time by even writing on this blog will help me achieve my goals.

This is the specific picture I am trying to build myself after, at this point

So for now, wish me luck! And maybe you should consider taking a few small steps to improve yourself as well.

Lessons from Minecraft (et. al)

I am sure many of you have heard about the popular online game Minecraft. The game is made out of block graphics and allows the player to take advantage of their imagination (and lack of realistic physics in game). It is a very addictive game... but fortunately I was only absorbed in it for about three days (then Skyrim came, and examples from that can also be used for this post).

What has all this got to do with anything I would want to talk about? Why am I even mentioning this? Well, I noticed something very interesting while playing. Nothing happens at once. The biggest castle, the deepest underground city, the most elaborate maze, none of it is created at once. Sounds obvious? Well, yeah, it is. But there is a significance to this. When you play in "survival" mode on this game, you start with nothing and have to gather all your materials and make all your tools. And step 1 is punching trees to get wood (fortunately that's not a life lesson).

Everything is built gradually. I have had multiple games building a big project: a giant keep, a tree forest, a large wall village, etc. It always works with me starting with a little hut, hunting some animals, and mining a few basic materials.  I gather enough materials for a local farm, start mining deeper, get more materials, explore more, and so one. No major, immediate changes. But then suddenly, I will realize I have the resources to start building a bigger, better house. So I may lay a foundation, then go back and farm some more, then mine some more, come back and build a bit, etc.

If I stand back after several hours of playing and compare what I have done to what it all looked like when I started, there is a major difference. But that difference came through little bits here and there. It reminded me that real life works that same way.

You don't graduate high school in one day. You go there for years, day after day. You don't notice any immediate changes, but when you stop and look back, you see a difference.

When you train, you don't go from a scrawny kid (or fat kid) to a Greek Statue overnight. It takes years of dedication. Doing workouts that improve your body little by little, and eating a diet that improves you bit by bit. Then one day you look back, and realize you have a six pack, or lost 20lbs, or whatever.

And of course the old saying, Rome wasn't built in a day. It was  built over centuries. And as what happens to me in Minecraft, it is never finished. There is always a little more I can do. We should live life the same way. Don't expect major, overnight changes. They happen, but work towards the gradual, steady progression in life. I will be trying to live as such myself. Always remember to continue doing these little things (exercising, studying, writing, etc.), because although I may not notice an immediate difference, over time they will add up. This applies for negative things to. If you eat a large pizza every day it adds up over time.

So just remember, take it steady. This is my lesson from Minecraft, and many other games.

Cold Steel and Winter's Fury

I wanted to pick a dramatic(ish) title for today. It seems I'm taking a temporary leave from the deep, philosophical stuff for a little while and going onto the simpler stuff.

Winter's coming. My least favorite time of year. Why is that? The cold. I really, really do not like the cold. The part that makes it worse is that I adjusted to the Texas summer a little to well. Anything below 70 degrees felt a little chilly at first, once things began to cool off. It will get much colder now. And since I prefer to sweat as opposed to shiver if I have the choice, this will not be fun or easy.

Oh, but it gets better! I actually mean that too. Bova's back! If you don't know who that is, don't worry. Check out my last post. Anyway, because of this I've been inspired to spend the next little bit of this year getting in tip top shape! That means, however, that not only will I be continuing training during the time of year where most people slack off and when it's coldest, I will actually be training harder and being more strict. I also train in my backyard, which will suck. No heating, just winter's cold bite. So that means if I want to keep warm, I gotta dress it. But I still have to work. And... the barbell will be really freaking cold.

So, that's the reason I named this post "Cold Steel of Winter's Fury". I will be lifting cold steel out in cold of winter's "fury". When pretty much the entire world will be slacking off because of the cold and the holidays, I will be trying to ramp things up. If I can keep it up, New Year's will come around and I'll be in the best shape of my life, and everyone else will be recovering from their holiday binge and starting their New Year's resolutions. From there, I can just sit back and watch everyone else mess around for a few days/weeks/months until they give up.

Beyond that news, about the love/hate relationship I will be having with my weights, there are a couple other things:

One, Bova's back! I'll probably be mentioning him in almost every post from now on as well.

Oh, and Tried and True Fitness has made a new book that I would really like as well: http://www.getaclassicbody.com/ (to a certain few people reading this, that's one of my Christmas wishes ;).

Jackie is coming with a new cd on the 1st, waiting for that. Also listening to a pre-released single from the cd as I work on this post (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwk2lQOdE7I) Can I go a single post without mentioning her?

Skyrim! On the 11th, one of the best games ever will come out. I am also hoping to get in great shape for that so I can take a week off training for "recovery" as I play a barbarian in the snow topped mountains hunting dragons. My plan is to be as muscular as my character.

So, I think that's it for now. One more thing though! Don't slack off on a healthy life style just because it's cold and it's the holidays. Be better then everyone else, and push through. If you don't want to be weak like everyone else, you can't live like everyone else. If you want to be strong and healthy in a way normal people aren't, you can't live like normal people. Want to be better then everyone you know? Live better then everyone you know. Don't want to feel sick this year like everybody else? Don't be like everybody else!

May you join me in feeling the Bite of Cold Steel and Winter's Fury!

Man's "Perfection"

The name of this post might imply another rant, but that's not what it's actually about. Here I'm just talking (or thinking aloud) about the closest to perfection that man (as in, mankind) can reach, and my experiences in that. I once heard a quote to the effect of "perfection is right in front of us, yet always out of reach". Basically that means we can always find something to do/add/remove/change/etc to improve something, make it a little closer to perfect, but it will never achieve that perfection. This is the only way man can move towards perfection. And this is what I'm doing.

I've been doing just that with my workouts. I remove some stuff, add others, and am otherwise refining it. I keep on taking steps to make my workouts, and there for myself, a little more perfect, even though I will never actually get there on my own. This will be a continuation, in a way, of a previous post, "The perfect workout".

The basic premise I outlined in that post for making the perfect workout was:

1) make it simple and

2) DO IT!

Just those two steps. It may sound simple, and that's because... it is. I don't want to repeat that post, so if you want more info read it yourself. I will just be explaining how I have been "perfecting" my own personal routine.

Right now the routine I'm trying to work with (meaning use and refine) is in two parts, routine A and routine B, used on alternate workout days. I workout Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and alternating between A and B would look like this over two weeks:

Monday: A, Wednesday: B, Friday: A
Monday: B, Wednesday: A: Friday: B

This allows me to work very hard on the selected exercises, lift heavy weights, workout the entire body throughout the week, and exercise three times a week, while still getting plenty of rest. Now to tell you what each routine actually is (mind you, I'm still refining it).

Routine A:
Moderate weight (enough for at least 5 reps) cleans
Heavy weight (enough for about 3 reps) power cleans
Light (enough for usually 8-12 or more reps) overhead press
Moderate-light behind the neck press
Heavy Dumbbell overhead press
Light Barbell curl
Light Good morning

Routine B (this is the one that's really under construction):
Light weight Front squat
Light weight Overhead squat
Light weight bench press
Light (might try moderate) weight incline dumbbell bench press
Light weight squat

So in theory, I should have plenty of time to recover so I can always see improvement without risking over training. This has gone through some work, for instance I was originally planning on one routine I did three times a week, but some of the exercises (mainly the cleans) required more resting time. I also have taken out a couple exercises I didn't enjoy (therefore wasn't putting lots of effort into, wasted energy on, and might have one day made me not do the workout), mainly the bent over row (barbell).

I decided to do the two alternating routines after I had done the first part (A) and was very sore on the next workout day. I had still wanted to workout, but I knew if I did it would be over training. So instead I did different exercises that for the most part left alone the muscles that had been heavily stressed before.

Now I have in set up so that routine A hits mainly the arms, shoulders and back while routine B hits mainly legs, chest and core. Of course since these are compound movements, every exercise uses nearly every muscles, but only certain ones are stressed heavily enough to worry about. I don't know how much this routine of mine will change, but I will be sticking with it for at least this month. Who knows what it will be like next month?

Anyway, this is just me learning and gaining experience. This is how man's "perfection" works in everything. Adding, removing, changing things to try and (hopefully) improve them and move towards perfection. And for right now, this workout routine is pretty close to perfect as far as I'm concerned.

The perfect workout

I haven't talked much about my interest in bodybuilding, but here's a little lesson I learned just the day before writing this regarding it. Now quickly let me explain what I mean by "bodybuilding". To me, bodybuilding is building a strong, healthy and attractive body inside and out that can function fully as a whole. And by inside and out, I mean mind, body and soul.

Anyway, I have recently narrowed my workout down to just three exercises. The squat, overhead press and weighted chinup. In no particular order, just whatever order I feel like that day. However, because I don't have lots of weight (125lbs at most) I have to do very high reps (repetitions) for squats. I usually load the barbell up to approximately half my bodyweight and squat it as many times as I can, taking all the breaths I need between reps. This takes a lot of energy and concentration though. So much, in fact, that it caused me to not workout for nearly two weeks in a row because I knew what would come. So instead, I dropped the squats and just did overhead press and chins.

Recently though, I decided to incorporate additional bodyweight exercises into my lifestyle. So I have it out that I do either some Hindu squats and pushups everyday or some ab exercises, along with the days that I weight train.

Many people, including possibly most of those who are reading this, have heard that keeping in shape has to be complicated and maybe even boring. I call whoever says that either stupid or ignorant, depending. It is completely untrue. I also see lots of advertisements for the "perfect" workout and all that crap. Well, let me tell you the two steps to the most perfect workout that man can make.

Step 1: make is simple, after all, "Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away" That is way I brought my workout down to three, and now two, exercises. I picked those I needed the most, and the ones that would benefit me the most. That way I can go all out on those two.

Step 2: make it something you will do. This is the most important step. It doesn't matter how great, long, short, easy, hard, complicated, simple, fat burning, muscle building, cheap, expensive, elaborate, boring, entertaining, or whatever type of workout you have. If you will not do it, the workout sucks. The perfect workout, for whoever's doing it, is the one that is as simple as possible and one they will do. It should be a given that it works to, therefore put together smart and done properly (with intensity and intelligence).

So for me, right now, I have found the perfect workout. Just two exercises, and I do them. I do them hard, with proper form, and I go all out. Hopefully when summer is done, and I have grown stronger and accustomed to more heavy lifting (and maybe have more equipment) I can gradually move up to six exercises, overhead press, bench press, deadlift, squat, weighted dips, and weighted chins. These are all big, compound movements. They will allow me to build strength, size and speed. But right now, I'm sticking to my "perfect" workout. One day this six-exercise workout may be perfect, but not right now. It's still plenty simple, but I wouldn't do it. That screws over step two, the most important step in my book (which I should probably write).

And I still train my legs because of the bodyweight Hindu squats I do, I just don't hit them nearly as hard as I did with the rest/pause weighted squats I did before. I also don't have quite as much testosterone and growth hormone flowing through my veins... but that's my choice for being a wimp. And I'll still be a bit of a wimp until I can be doing all six of those exercises at full intensity, meaning to where I push myself so hard that I possibly even throwup in the middle of a workout.

So, once again, how to achieve the perfect workout. It first must have the base of being put together smartly and you (or whoever's doing it) being willing to actually do it, with proper intensity and form, but that's all wrapped up in step one. To make any workout perfect for the person working it, you must:

1) make it simple and

2) DO IT!

I think this was one of my most simple posts yet. So by definition... or at least the one I'm using... this is nearly a perfect post!