Staying Focused

Are you on track to meet/exceed your goals this year? If you are than power to you and keep pushing through life's obstacles. If you can't say the same...why not?

Is it because of your diet? Is it your strength training? Is it your conditioning? How about your recovery? What if it's a combination of these, or lack thereof?

Whatever it is....fix it! I mean now, ASAP!

Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today because tomorrow's not guaranteed.

If you just don't have the knowledge to put the right pieces into place that's ok, just ask someone who does. If you don't want to, well, you just need to wake up!

There will come a point in your life where you ask yourself, "How did I let this happen?".

We live in a country where comfort is not only available, it's demanded. Being comfortable is what denies people of achieving greatness. It prevents you from soaring to higher levels and fulfilling your true potential.

Potential lies within each and everyone of us in various forms. Yes, your potential was given to you, but was meant for you to spread throughout the world. It was never intended for you to keep to yourself and hoard.

The sad part is that so much of this potential is never actually freed, it remains enslaved and dormant until it reaches the grave and goes back to where it came from...the dirt. Just imagine the amount of potential that is buried every day!

So again I ask, why haven't you reached your goals? Have you been reluctant to step outside of your comfort zone? Have you been hoarding your full potential and not even realizing it?

It's not about losing, or gaining, X amount of lbs. Nor is it about having the body you've always desired. Yes, those things are good and we can strive for that, but most importantly, it's about releasing your full potential so you can bless someone else.

Getting your body functioning optimally means you can: live longer, be happier, want to help others instead of focusing on yourself, help motivate others, and release to the world what you have within you to make this a better place to live. Yes, if you look at it like this, exercising and taking care of your health can save the world!

If you don't take care of your car it will literally break. Please don't do the same to yourself, the world needs you! : )

Have fun, train smart, get strong,

Nelson

My light day

Hi,

Today was my light day in my program. I usually do it on Saturday but I don't think I will have the time tomorrow so I did it today.

I did 5 singles with the 32kg of C & P and I did a few snatches with the 24kg as well. I did 5 x 5/5 of snatches. Nothing crazy, but effective.

Yesterday was my variety day and I played around with the good ole' Turkish Get-UP (TGU). I did one TGU to the top ---->Overhead (OH) walk 10 yards---->performed the decent---->switched arms and repeated for a total of 4per arm with the 24kg. After that I did one set of 3/3 with the 24kg and I finished it off with 2 sets of 1/1 with the 32kg.

Wednesday's session was my Heavy day and I did one ladder of 3 (1,2,3 per arm)and I finished off my ladders with doubles (1,2/1,2/1,2/1,2 per arm)instead. I was supposed to do 4 ladders of 3 but something didn't feel right so I listened to my body and didn't push it.

Have fun, train smart, get strong,

Nelson

Light day

Today was my light day in my training schedule. It wasn't intense at all but it was still a success because our bodies need the varying levels of intensity. Here's how it went:

C & P 32kg for 5 singles
Snatch 24kg for 5 doubles

I obviously warmed up and had a cool-down at the end but that was it. I did some get-ups in my warm-up to make sure everything was moving properly and I finished off with the bretzel.

Monday is my moderate day -I'll keep you posted.

If anyone has any questions about any of this don't be afraid to leave a comment or send me a message any other way. I know by looking at my training it may seem like I'm not doing nearly enough but I'm trying to show everyone that more is not always better. Sometimes less is more.

Hope everyone has a good weekend and don't forget the men and women who gave their lives on this day 9 years ago.

God bless and remember -have fun, train smart, and get strong,

Nelson

Today's Session

Today was my first heavy clean and press day with the 32kg. I took my time getting them done, but I got'em done!

After my presses I've been doing snatches with the 24kg in preparation for the snatch test in Oct. The ROP doesn't call for doing snatches in this format but I've modified it slightly to allow for more volume before I head out to MN.

My session went like this:

Clean and Press 32kg-3 ladders of 3 (1,2,3)
Snatch 24kg -3 ladders of 6 (2,4,6)

If you've noticed, it's very basic. I have a goal, a straight and simple road to get there, and the determination to get it done.

Your goal will determine the path you take but the blueprint should be the same:
1) Clearly define the goal
2)Figure out the most effective way to get you there
3)Stay on the straight and narrow path until you've reached your destination

There are obviously many other variables involved such as time, equipment, fitness level, knowledge, etc. but keep it more simple than complicated and you'll be in a better place -I promise!

Have fun, train smart, get strong,

Nelson

Movin' on up

Monday was the first day using the 32kg (70lbs) bell as part of my program. I've used it occasionally for cleans, presses, swings, and get-ups; but Monday was the first day of it being a part of my program and it felt good! Challenging yes, but good.

I'm doing the Rite of Passage (ROP) from Enter the Kettlebell to prepare for my snatch test in Oct at the CK-FMS -and to build my pressing strengt so I can one day be able to press The Beast (106lbs kettlebell). I did 70 snatches in 5 min with the 24kg on Saturday and I wasn't even going all out so thats a good sign.

This is how my session went on Monday:
Clean & Press 32kg 5 ladders of 2 (1,2)
Snatch 24kg 5 ladders of 4 (2, 4)

That's it! Nothing complicated, just simple and effective. Monday was my moderate day so Today will be my heavy day and will have to do 3 ladders of 3 for my presses and 3 ladders of 6 (2,4,6) for my snatches. When I can do 5 ladders of 5 and 10 respectively, then it's time to move up again but for now I'm working on conquering this monster.

I'll let you know how today goes.

Nelson

Happy Mother's Day!

I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all the mothers' today. Today is a day where you get special treatment if you are a mother, but they should get that everyday. One day out of 365 is not enough to truly appreciate what it means to be a mother.

I hope everyone enjoyed the day today no matter where you where and what you did.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Strength be with you,

Nelson

To eat, or Not to eat…..

Good question huh? Depends on who’s asking. If it’s somebody who’s trying to put on some weight and pack on a little extra muscle mass, the answer is YES. It it’s somebody who’s trying to lose some weight, or better put, reduce body fat, than the answer is still YES! Yup, you have to eat to gain and lose weight! I’ll give you a couple of reasons why, Thermic Effect of Food and increased metabolism.

Did you know that about 10% of your daily caloric expenditure comes from the Thermic Effect of Food? In other words, every time you eat, you are burning calories. Yes, your body burns calories when it is breaking down the food you eat, one of the reasons why you should chew your food thoroughly before swallowing it. So wouldn’t you want to take advantage of this more often? By eating 4-6 meals a day, you are actually burning more calories than if you only ate once or twice. It’s not an oxy-moron, it’s actually true. Now a days the majority of people (mainly Americans) tend to think they have to starve themselves in order to see that six pack that’s hidden behind that wall of fat. I blame society for all the confusion that’s out there.

When you eat more frequently (meaning more often), you increase your metabolism. On the other hand, if you only eat once or twice a day, you decrease, or slow down your metabolism. Let me use this analogy to help you visualize this better. Close your eyes…actually don’t close your eyes because then you won’t be able to finish reading this. ; ) Pretend you’re sitting at a camp fire that was just lit and it’s a pretty good size fire. In about 2 hours that fire will dwindle down, in about 3 hours it will be almost gone and in 4 hours it will be completely gone. But…if you throw some fire wood on it what will happen? Eeeeeexactly….it will spark up again!

If you haven’t figured it out by now, the fire is your metabolism and the fire wood is the food you eat (your calories). Your body works the same way. If you wait more than 3-4 hours between meals, your metabolism (the flame) slows down or decreases, but if you eat every 2-3 or 3-4 hours you are actually sparking your metabolism and increasing it.

I have another analogy for you. If you were to take a long drive somewhere and your tank was on empty, would you risk it and drive anyway? You probably wouldn’t right? Well that’s exactly what you are doing to yourself when you don’t eat frequently. If you did that to your car it would physically stop running if there wasn’t any gas to fuel it. If you don’t believe me just ask my sister! ; ) On the other hand, God designed our bodies so that we wouldn’t just stop functioning just because “we didn’t have time to eat”.

So then what happens? Well, your body will not let it starve and die so it will feed itself. How? It will go to your muscle for its nutrients. Yes, say goodbye to your hard earned muscle . See, your body stores its nutrients in the muscle, so if you don’t feed it, that’s where it’s going to go first. Another thing, if your body senses a pattern of you not eating frequently enough, when you do eat, it won’t use all of it as fuel. Instead, it will use a portion of it for fuel and store the rest as..…drumroll please…….FAT. Just think about it, would you rather have a lean piece of steak or a nice glob of fat??? Hmmmm… So If you don’t eat frequently enough your body stores what you do eat as fat and breaks down muscle tissue for fuel. So you eat less, thinking you are smarter than your body, and store MORE fat and break down MORE muscle. It’s a viscous, viscous cycle!

Now do you understand why it is so important to eat about 4-6 meals a day? WHAT and HOW MUCH you’re eating is important also but that’s a monster to tackle at another time. If you would just focus on this concept first you will definitely see improvements in how you look and feel. I recommend keeping a food log to help keep you on track.

So that’s a very brief explanation on why it is so important to be eating frequently throughout the day. I think I should mention that a “meal” doesn’t necessarily mean a 3 course meal. It can be something as small as a handfull of nuts and some fruit that you eat as a snack. So generally speaking, 3 meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and a snack in between will help your cause. This applies for you guys that are looking to put on slabs of muscle as well, you simply just have to take in a lot more calories.

I hope this was of some help. Feel free to leave a comment.

Strength be with you,

Nelson