Training while traveling

I am visiting my father; my sister, Karen, and brother, Derek are with me. Friday I went into work, left at 11:30 to meet Roy to train shoulders, then off we go on a three and a half hour drive south. It would only take three hours but we stopped in King City for taco's.


The top was down, and poor sis got the back seat, although she was a trooper and didn't ask to put up the top for quite some time. She missed all the music and the conversation. (Email readers will need to navigate directly to the blog to view the video below).

Before heading off to bed Friday my dad says "Are you training in the morning?" and I think this is significant, I mean how many people use the word "training" besides people like me? Ha ha! dad knows me well, he doesn't say "working out" cause that's not what I do.

"Yes indeed I am!" Off I go to sleep on the floor in the office. There are two couches in the living room and I can have one, but I go to bed much earlier than everyone else so this seems like the best idea.

I sleep fine but wake up with a headache, very unusual for me, but I have set my alarm and am up at 6:00, the gym there opens at 7:00 and is 13 miles away.

It's quad day, it will be tough since I have a headache but I am hoping I will forget about it soon.

I walk in, the guy at the desk greets me like he knows me and says "Hey how's it going? Have a good workout!" so I walk past and don't bother to pay or fill out a waiver. Either he recognizes me or I just look like I belong here.

I warm up on the treadmill and think about what I shall do. They have some equipment here that my gym does not so I want to use it. I like this gym, I imagine that this is what a prison gym would be like. 

I have actually been in the yard of San Quentin before, this is a high security prison in California. I was subpoenaed to show and testify against an inmate and since he was so dangerous they made me come to him instead of letting him come to me.  They told me "don't wear blue and don't run under any circumstances." I remember, after I was told to take off my shoes, and received a full body pat down that I had to walk across the prison yard, unescorted while the men walked all around me. Now I know why I couldn't wear blue, they all had on faded blue shirts. I was frightened and just looked straight ahead, walking slowly, looking at the door across the yard which only seemed to get farther away even though I walked closer and closer.

This gym reminds me of that, although I am not frightened or uncomfortable, because it's all men and they all wear wife beaters, white or black. Many wear hoodies, it's cold in here and big, there is no heat as it would cost way too much to heat the place. The men move slowly through the huge gym, almost in a trance. Most only train upper body, they are concerned with how they look in their tank tops, they have big puffed out chests, muscular arms, and thin, skinny legs.

I started with front squats, every quad day will have squats. The headache made it difficult, I couldn't go real heavy. I warmed up then did 5 sets of 10 with 95 pounds. I then used the hack squat, I love this and wish we had one but we don't. Since I have only used a hack squat a few times I have no basis for comparison, but I threw 2 big plates on each side and went as low as I could. 5 sets of 10. Then the leg press, again, I knew I could do more but the head got in the way. I had only 3 plates on each side, let's see...that is only 270 pounds, but add the actual machine and it's a bit more. Finally a leg extension machine with weight stacks for each leg, this is hard to master and I like it. I had 50 pounds on each side, so it's like uni-lateral raises with 50 pounds I suppose.

One hour, 15 minutes and the headache has prevented me from going as heavy as I would like, but it was still good. There was no space for me to do my conditioning as a "body pump" class was starting, and now in were coming the women. I used the step mill for my cardio. 

I showered, dressed and drove back in search of coffee. 

When I got home at about 9:15, everyone was up waiting for me, they were hungry. They all offered their solutions for my headache. K.K. (Karen) offered Advil, Dude (Derek) showed me an acupressure technique to relieve the pain. He took my left hand and gently squeezed the fleshy area between my thumb and first finger, I yelped in pain. "Yes he says, you have a bad headache." And we start laughing, "Um, that's my hand, not my head you squeezed." 

He explains that if you have a headache, you squeeze this area and gently massage until the headache goes away. I start massaging.

Dad tells me to sit back and relax and tell him about the headache, where is it, what color is it, how does it feel. I describe it as a pomello, red and encompassing the entire back of my head. 

More coffee, breakfast and soon my headache is gone. I don't know what made it go away though, time; Advil; massage; or imagery.

Keep this in mind when embarking on a training program. If you do too much, or switch programs too soon or often, you may never know what exactly was effective. Stick to a program long enough to be able to determine if it is successful. 

Rice Cakes

I know most people think rice cakes are a "girl thing", but really, they are for everyone! So for those who don't eat a "bodybuilder" or "figure gal" diet, you may not be aware of just how important rice cakes are to us.

Rice cakes are one of the few crunchy things (outside of a carrot or celery) that can be eaten when on a super strict diet, they don't have many calories or carbs and provide a quick energy boost.

At a competition they are typically eaten backstage with honey and peanut butter- the starch, sugar and carbs fill out the muscles (eat about 40 minutes prior to going on stage).

I have always eaten regular rice cakes- Quaker brand, you can find them anywhere. I have never tried a flavored one, I figured if I liked caramel or chocolate too much I would end up with a bad habit I cannot easily break. 

I would typically eat salt free rice cakes, one cake is 9 grams in weight and is 35 calories and 7 grams carbs. They are brown rice, (even though they look lily white), but they are puffed. They are light and have the consistency of Styrofoam, in reality all they are is a vehicle for peanut butter. 

Recently I bought Lundbergs Organic Brown Rice cakes. Each cake weighs twice as much- 19 grams, and has 60 calories and 14 grams carbs. Wow- so twice as much of everything, which means if I eat two of the Quaker I can only eat one of the Lundberg.

But it's OK! The flavor of these things are amazing! They are nutty and chewy, with texture and flavor. Everything the puffed ones are not. Its quality versus quantity.

Now I really am an addict. I wonder which meal I can skip so I can have one rice cake and peanut butter instead- sick huh?

I thought I would pass this on, I figured that if I had only recently tried the Lundberg, (I avoided them due to the double calories), maybe others have avoided them too...

Try them, they are wonderful!

Vegan Diet

This was my purchase from the farmers market- hardly vegan. I bought grass fed ground beef (3), beefalo, pasture raised eggs (2), turnips (2), frisee (2), radicchio (2) and the big green thing is an Emu egg (I will be writing about that later).

My haul contains a lot of animal sources, a lot. 

Alix, a reader, sent me a very nice email and this article, which I found very, very interesting. As I explained to her when I replied, I know many vegetarians and they frequently ask me what they can eat to get enough protein. I tell them what I know, but it isn't much as I tend to shy away from soy products and a lot of starchy carbs make me big, bigger than I should be.

People will make a decision about what they want (or don't want) to eat for many reasons, and as long as they are their own personal reasons, they should be respected. Some reasons may seem silly to others, like I will avoid anything that comes from Monsanto, but I think they are akin to "The Evil Empire" and should be destroyed, so fat chance I will support them! By the way, avoiding Monsanto is difficult, they have spread like a cancer. 

A vegetarian would find no problem foraging for food at my house! A vegan might not have such a great selection though. I love meat and eggs, and could never imagine giving them up, but I still enjoy learning about other successful nutrition plans.

Here is a link to the article (and I love the sleeve on this guys arm!)

And you may want to visit Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness for some more information!

Thanks Alix! Happy Surfing!

The back is second fiddle now

I have always been able to develop a nice wide back, and a good V-taper. I usually train back twice a week, and now I am changing it to once a week. I may lose a little detail, but I can dial that back in when I feel I need or want to.

Why?

Change is good!

Especially for a training. The human body is a master at adaptation. Look at the various populations of the world, they all adapt to their climate and terrain. Look at the people at the gym who do the same thing over and over, day in and day out, they look the same right? Their bodies have adapted to their workouts, their bodies are expecting the same old thing everyday. 


So while I have a very well defined and muscular upper body, I still need to increase the development of my legs, they need some size!


It seems to be more effective to split the hamstrings and the quads into two different days. The hamstrings are primarily fast twitch and get exhausted quickly, and the quads are primarily slow twitch, they can go on forever. 


I have been training hams one night with Roy, and then quads another night, and combining them together one day on my own (hitting the hams first of course). 


I am changing it up to increase the volume, and that means I need to take something out, one of my workouts needs to go, and that will be one of my two back days.


Here is what my training split will be:

Monday - Hamstrings

Tuesday - Shoulders

Wednesday - Quads

Thursday - Hamstrings

Friday - Shoulders

Saturday - Quads

Sunday - Back/Arms

It is going to be tough, my legs have actually been sore every single day for the last two weeks anyway, and I am a little hesitant to add yet another day in, and a day devoted only to Quads (or hamstrings) as it means a much more intense workout on that bodypart.

But I love change, I love a challenge, I love a new experience. And when you see my back, if it's starts lagging- shoot me an email and let me know!

Xtend (by Scivation)- BCAA's

One of the BCAA products I have been taking for a few years is Scivation Xtend. I usually buy the orange, it has great flavor!  I am no longer buying or using Xtend due to the dangerous dyes that are added to the product.


I fell into the same trap that many other people do, listen to what others say and read what the supplement companies want you to read. I know BCAA's are good for you, and this product won several awards as "supplement of the year", but what I didn't pay attention to were the nasty, deadly dyes in the product. That is until Roy started telling me about it.


If I didn't care about my health, or what dangerous drugs or supplements can do to my body, I would just be taking steroids and growth hormone and get it all over with a lot faster! It sure would make it easier to achieve my goals. But I do care, I care quite a bit, so I don't take dangerous or illegal drugs and I don't (knowingly) ingest things like this.


I have found a much better and safer product with no additives what so ever. I am also experimenting with natural flavorings and should have a report in a week or so.


It's really a shame that a supplement company would put poisons in their product, but they do and unfortunately, they are not alone. 


So just what is in Scivation Xtend beside BCAA's? 

FD&C Yellow #5

FD&C Red Lake #40

They "reformulated" Xtend recently and the taste is not the same, not as tart. Why did they reformulate it? To reduce the two dyes Yellow #5 and Red Lake #40, but they didn't eliminate them.


What do these two dyes do? 


FD&C Yellow #5, also known as Tartrazine:

A variety of immunologic responses have been attributed to tartrazine ingestion, including anxiety, migraines, clinical depression, blurred vision, itching, general weakness, heatwaves, feeling of suffocation, purple skin patches, and sleep disturbance.

Certain people who are exposed to the dye experience symptoms of tartrazine sensitivity even at extremely small doses, some for periods up to 72 hours after exposure. In children, asthma attacks and hives have been claimed, as well as supposed links to thyroid tumors, chromosomal damage, and hyperactivity.

Because of the problem of tartrazine intolerance, the United States requires the presence of tartrazine to be declared on food and drug products and also the color batch used to be preapproved by the FDA. The FDA regularly seizes products if found to be containing undeclared tartrazine, declared but not tested by them, or if labeled other than FD&C yellow 5 or Yellow 5. 

The use of tartrazine was banned in Norway, and was also banned in Austria and Germany until the ban was overturned by a European Union directive.The United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency in April 2008 called for a voluntary phase-out of tartrazine, along with five other colorings, due to a reported link with hyperactivity in children.


FD&C Red Lake #40 also known as Allura Red AC.


It is one of many High Production Volume Chemicals. Red AC was originally manufactured from coal tar, but is now mostly made from petroleum. 


It is banned in Denmark, Belgium, France and Switzerland, and was also banned in Sweden until the country joined the European Union in 1994. The European Union approves Allura Red AC as a food colorant, but EU countries' local laws banning food colorants are preserved. In Norway, it was banned between 1978 and 2001, a period in which azo dyes were only legally used in alcoholic beverages and some fish products.


On April 10, 2008, the Food Standards Agency called for a voluntary removal of the colors by 2009.

In addition, it recommended that there should be action to phase them out in food and drink in the European Union (EU) over a specified period.


UK ministers had agreed that the six colorings would be phased out by 2009.

On June 30, 2010, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) called for the FDA to ban Yellow 5 and Red 40. Executive Director Michael Jacobson said, "These synthetic chemicals do absolutely nothing to improve the nutritional quality or safety of foods, but trigger behavior problems in children and, possibly, cancer in anybody. 


***Now, I have been looking at all of my supplements and am discontinuing anything with the dyes in it. I plan to contact the companies and tell them why also. One product I am able to switch from a lemon lime flavor to a chocolate and that way eliminate the dyes, but this may not be the case with all products.


I think that it is important to review everything you are ingesting, you may find that you have many products that each contain dyes, so they are compounding in your body.

Sardines and Soo Foo

Salad, Sardines, Soo Foo. 

Sardines are very good for you, but you must be careful about the ones you buy. Often they are packed in oil, and since sardines are high in calories themselves, it's best to avoid the oil. Also, most are packed in soybean oil! I avoid soybean oil (and soy in general) due to the Omega 6 fatty acids. The Western diet includes way too much Omega 6 fatty acids, don't make it worse by ingesting vegetable oils! If you must choose a sardine in oil, look for one in olive oil.


I found these sardines on sale and bought several cans. Smokey, great flavored sardines. You don't need much, 55-60 grams is a good serving, although I need a bit more protein, that's why I added the hard cooked egg.

What is in this can of sardines?  Sardine fillets and salt! And they are from the cold waters of Maine.


Read a little about the excellent health benefits of sardines. Omega 3 fatty acids is what they are known for, and we all need more of those!

Below is a picture of Soo Foo. This is a yummy mixture of 9 different grains, legumes and rice and that can be served hot, room temperature or cold in a salad. I buy this at Whole Foods grocery in the bulk section, but you can also buy it online.

So just what did this great salad contain? I made it before training hamstrings, it gave me the energy I needed without a great deal of heaviness.

Cucumber, carrots, snow peas, savoy cabbage (chopped), frisee, 2 ounces cooked Soo Foo (less than a serving), 56 grams sardines, 1 hard cooked egg, balsamic/mustard vinaigrette (no oil).

Monday Morning Motivation

“There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth...not going all the way, and not starting.”

 `Buddha 

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”

 `Seneca 

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.”

`Unknown

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

 `Lao Tzu 

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”

 `T.S. Eliot 

“The secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings than endings.”

 `David Weinbaum 



"The secret of getting ahead is getting started."
~ Sally Berger


"If we wait until our lives are free from sorrow or difficulty, then we wait forever. And miss the entire point."
~ Dirk Benedic