Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Thoughts about life, training, crap and stuff

I'm in a total movie slump.  I haven't watched anything that is new (and good) in a while.

Two more weeks and I'm considered 100% healing wise.  That doesn't mean I'm going to be pulling 600 that week.  I will start off slow and steady and move things up at a deliberate pace.

I've seen more and more people borrowing ideas from me and not giving any props.  This isn't completely new, but I would at least like SOME credit, thank you very much.  Like at least someone named the pjr pullovers, pjr pullovers.  Those were mine yes (if you aren't sure what I'm talking about google that exercise name).  Now if I only I could find a way to make money every time someone does some reps of that exercise.

Ok I'm going to go ahead and say what I'm playing with on my diet.  I am doing a no/low carb day on Friday and half a day Saturday.  On Saturday night I load up on carbs (going to Olive Garden tonight for unlimited PESTA bowl!) then I fast half the day on Sunday.  I have used this strategy on a female client recently and both times she did this on cheat day (once every 14 days for my trainees) she dropped around 2-3 pounds that week.  I eat moderate carbs through the week, generally coming from fruit only.  I have pretty much eliminated grains from my diet.  If you want to give it a shot just make sure you try to deplete as much as possible on Friday and Saturday.  I generally have a workout on Thursday and at least an hour of conditioning on Friday.  Then Saturday is lifting again.  You get the idea.  I don't know how long I will do this because I HATE low/no carbs.  Update on this - All three of my clients lost weight again doing this.  One lost 6 pounds.

I have been seeing more "posturing" on the net lately about shit related to lifting and life.  I'm not going to get into it, but I will say this...be your own man.  Don't live vicariously through the words or actions of other people.  I have three daughters and they paint my toenails and think it's awesome.  I care more about that turd I flushed down the toilet than what some internet "hard ass" thinks about this.  We can always knuckle up and find the F out now can't we?  If someone tells you "don't do that, that's gay" and it's something that you enjoy, tell them to get bent.  I have about had it with the "alpha males" that run boards and run mouths.  Be who you are, not who someone you think the person you look up to will like.  Because ultimately you always come away disappointed in yourself and in life.  For example, I was always a relationship guy, and didn't run around just trying to bang chic after chic.  I wanted to find someone who complimented me, was faithful to me, and loved me for who I was.  My friends thought this shit was silly, and all they cared about was nailing anything that moved.  Now, I've been with an awesome, supremely beautiful woman for 16 years and the majority of those "friends" have lives that are paved with failed relationships, misery, distrust, bullshit, and heartache.  I have someone that will stand by me no matter how bad I F up (and I do) and I reciprocate that with fervor.  Was I lucky?  Maybe.  But I believe you make most of your own luck, and I have what I have because I didn't fall into the trap of trying to please my friends.  Be your own man, and be a good one, and do the things in life that make you feel good about living.  Damn what anyone else thinks about it, so long as you aren't hurting anyone.

If anyone wants to contact me about training online, feel free to do so.  I am cheap but I am NOT free.  Thanks.

I haven't actually written about powerlifting on here, for example peaking for a meet for raw guys.  I think it's about time I went over that.  And speaking of which, I hope I can make it through the next year injury free somehow and put together a good total.  I've have two major injuries (the recent bicep and the shoulder from years ago) that have kept me from putting together a good total on the platform.  It's not an excuse, but the fact is I am not one of those guys that wants to show up just to "show up".  Unless I feel like training has gone well enough to show up for a good meet, I don't.  Why?  Because as I noted earlier, I am my own man and that's how I do shit.  I just feel like the money and time it takes to travel and the energy required should be centered around doing a good job.  That's my own philosophy.

Football season is upon us.............and I don't care.  Every year I become more apathetic.  I did decide to do fantasy football this year but I don't know how much attention I will ultimately pay to it.

I think in the end, your life can be narrowed down to about half a dozen decisions that you make.  If you are fortunate enough to lay on your death bed an old man or old woman, I think you could narrow down everything that significantly impacted your life to 6-8 choices.  Ever wake up one morning and thought "holy shit what happened?"  I don't mean from a night out drinking either.  Life can change in the blink of an eye.  Be wise about the choices you make and never let anger, guilt, or coveting guide them.

Be the best husband, father, son, and friend that you can be.  And don't text while you're driving dipshit.

Short and sweet (or not) this time.  Work has been strangling me so my mind hasn't had a lot of time to wander from it.

13 comments:

  1. Good post, thanks. What does the pjr part of that lift stand for? Shit like that eats away at my brain....

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  2. That was my name at intensemuscle.....

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  3. Paul,

    Ever considered doing an e-book? It would be great to have the meat of the training/nutrition/conditioning posts in one package. I like free shit as much as the next guy, but it would be well worth throwing some $ as you for the time and effort. Raw powerlifter-centric, of course.

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  4. bigs -

    I may at some point. But I want to heal up, get a respectable total in the books and then maybe do it. I think people need to have some "go" with their "show". Yeah youtube is fine, but still...

    I'm going to have some powerlifting centric stuff coming up real soon. I've been getting more guys asking about meet prep. I have a guy based out of OK city that I am helping right now and I think he's going to blow his old lifts out of the water. Will post everything up after his meet.

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  5. Hi Paul, I'm really looking forward to your post on peaking. Also, here is a link by Jack Reape on peaking that I'm reading:

    http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/111/

    If you have any thoughts on the article, I'd be interested in hearing them...

    BTW, I like the eclectic nature of your posts. The mix between training and general life makes the blog much more interesting IMO.

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  6. Jack is a smart guy, but this is one of those articles where you need a math guy to help you figure out what's going on.

    Not my cup of tea and a lot of theories I don't espouse.

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  7. Damn, looking back at the intensemuscle posts it makes so much sense...I'll have to go back and reread some of your older posts.

    BTW, I enjoy these posts alot so don't feel like your audience will be disappointed if you don't directly post about lifting.

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  8. Good stuff Paul!

    Still learning something from every post you make.

    Gr.

    Mark From Holland

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  9. Paul, I enjoy reading your posts. So much that your blog is one of my firefox homepages. Your squatting articles have helped me tremendously with my form. I struggled for years trying everything (at least I thought) fix my problems.

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  10. Awesome to hear Blake! Glad I could have helped someone along the way.

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  11. hey paul, great post. congrats on 16 years. i'm the guy from the marriage rant the other week. keeping promises is ALPHA. that's what a man does. on another note, my bench press seems to be linked to my weight. as long as i'm gaining weight it goes up. but the second i lose a few pounds, it goes to the crapper. i just can't figure it out. i am 33, 5'10" 230 pounds and about 20-25%BF. i carry my excess weight in my chest belly and back. i've been lifting for about 4 years and my best ever bench was 230x2. at a body weight of 230. do you have any ideas you'd be willing to share, or info you'd be willing to point me to? i know you're not free, so i'll understand if you don't wanna give it away. i have been using the conditioning advice you gave me, which is why i'm losing weight. so thanks for that. anyway, i was mainly just glad to see another guy keeping his promise to his bride. that's great stuff man.

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  12. Adam -

    Yes, keeping promises and being a good husband and father is the ultimate alpha. Period.

    Put the bench on the back burner for now. What I mean is, focus on your conditioning first. When you get your conditioning to a high level along with a solid diet plan the bodyfat will take care of itself. Then go forward with trying to improve your strength. If you need to run several blocks of the conditioning program then do so. I will talk about this in the last installment of the ultimate beastdom series.

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