JUST DO IT!!!!!!

Nike has it right with their slogan Just Do It, that is what it is ALL about.  For EVERYTHING sports, work, school, relationships JUST DO IT.

When I was a kid growing up I was paralyzed a lot by fear.  Fear of failure, what people thought of me, being wrong, even talking to girls or anyone for that matter.

There were a lot of things I just did NOT do even though the opportunity and potential was there.  I have said it before but I will say it again I used to regret a lot about what could have been if I had worked harder in all aspects of life. 

But now that regret is gone because I now have a huge opportunity in front of me and it does not matter what I did or did not do in the past.

What matters is that I have found my passion and purpose in life, and am doing it now.  I have the opportunity to make others’ lives better.

THE Logo

I got things together and trained 6 football players this summer.  Every kid that trained with me got better and had a good time in the process.  I had a mother come up to me their first game and tell me that I did a great job with her son.  I had never met her before but she recognized my T-shirt and came up to me to say this.  That was one of proudest moments in my life, I will never forget it.

None of this would have ever happened if I did not JUST DO IT, plain and simple.  Up until this point I was not even sure if I could because I had very little practice in JUST DOING IT.  For a while there was a lot of doubt and second guessing if I was ready.  I mean I still have not finished my certification, but I have always had a hunger to learn about training and always will along with experience to back it up. 

I was told by Elliott Hulse at a Seminar that it does not matter how experienced you are or how many certifications you have, he said if you are passionate about it and if they know you care that is all that matters. 



My First Group Outide the Shack



I did know that any high school football player would be better at the end of the summer under my watch then on their own.  And I finally JUST DID IT, Uncle Paul and I made some renovations to the shack and got some flyers made up.  Then with the help of an old coach I ended up with 6 football players for the summer and even a few female athletes after that. 



It may be small but I love it



This past summer validated 2 things for me.  Number 1 is that I found what I need to be doing in this life, before I decided to do this the meaning of my life was real unclear to me.  I would literally be in bed thinking why am I even here on this earth doing this job or any corporate job for that matter.  It was a very empty feeling and one that made it an easy decision to pursue this profession.  With that said I have always been more than happy with my family, but everybody know you have to spend most of your life working if you want a good one.

Number 2 hard work pays off.  This is something I still need to step up with, but as of late the momentum is really starting to build.  As I type this it is 11:28 p.m. on a Friday night and I have to be up by 6 tomorrow to work overtime at my 9-5 job.

I am happy but not satisfied, who knows when or if I ever will be completely satisfied.  But I can tell you what the next proudest moment of my life will be when I am doing this as my main source of income.  It is time for me to take it to the next level.

What is going to be the next proudest day of your life?  You will never know if you can do it until you JUST DO IT!!!!!!!  Best Slogan Ever, it applies to everything. 

There should be a T-Shirt that says DOING IT, but the people that are DOING IT are not worried about wearing them.   I am sure only fakers and haters would be the ones wearing it.

Comback Compilation

Yes, That Good!!!

What’s up guys, I am way late on getting this updated but a few posts back I started to explain to you how I was getting myself back into shape after a good few months off from training.  Well that phase is over with now and I am back in the gym full time and feeling good, I am not back full strength yet but I do feel strong again.

This is a wonderful feeling, it makes you realize how important it is to keep yourself strong and conditioned.  Being strong just feels so damn good, everything is easier from moving around to picking up my kids as well as the extra energy and confidence.

Those are the real reasons for lifting weights and trying to get as strong as possible, not to be a fake tough guy or attention hog.  The side effects I mentioned above should make you consider getting back into the game or just getting in the game at all.

I am an ex college athlete and a lot of guys/ girls I know or have talked to call it quits with training once their sports careers are over.  It is so bad sometimes that when they are telling you how sick they were in high school or college you can barely believe that they were ever in good enough shape to play a sport. 

I was the MAN in '96

Their attitude is “I put in all that time busting my ass for sports my whole life that I am going to take it easy now”.  And all that drinking and eating they are used to being able to handle when they were active in sport starts to catch up real fast.  Now it may not show up right away when you are in your early to mid-20s but the effects will be right around the corner.  Once the effect show up the bad habits are already formed and it is tough to break them.

Now when it gets hard they may start thinking about how their parents gained weight and feel like crap all the time and that must be the way life is supposed to go.  That’s bullshit too many people settle for that and it is no way to live your one and only life.

Not me I want to always be in better shape than my sons, so now not only strength and condition are important to me but more than ever my health and the way I eat is a huge priority.  I am still learning all the aspects of true health freaks and the best things to eat but I am on the way and looking to make it a full lifestyle change.

Now back to the comeback phase as I am calling it, the whole thing lasted about a month and it was far from perfect and not everything I laid out ahead of time was done.  But that is fine because at the end I accomplished what I wanted to with this phase.  I was able to start building strength again in a safe and effective manner.

Some of the things that made me veer off course a few times was the face that it was the middle of the holiday season and the fact that we got a blizzard once a week for about a month.  And I have no snow blower so that means good old fashion shoveling.

 Every week after the first I only actually had a training session once a week because of the snow.  I was getting such a good work out from shoveling that it would be silly to push it too much. 

So I treated shoveling like I was training and sometimes I had no choice because I had to toss snow over a pile just about as tall as me.  Now this only flew because of how much snow we get in such a short period of time, most winters the shoveling is not nearly as bad so do not use shoveling as an excuse to not train when you know you can.

But the fact that I had to change things up and still had success is an important lesson.  Number one is life is not perfect and we have to adjust often to be successful.  And number two is to listen to your body, my back and legs were fried after shoveling a lot of these days.  So I could have said to myself stop being a pussy and train, but the fact of the matter was I was smart about it. 

Even though I was only training once a week for the last 3 weeks all my reps and weights were going up and I would have a little extra pep in my step each session.  Progress in the weight room can be a very hard thing to come by some times, so if it’s not broke don’t fix it. 

So instead of showing you each of my sessions and breaking down my reps and sets I am just going to show you a highlight reel of all the movements I did throughout the phase.  You will see similar movements with different objects.  And again this was all done in my basement with little equipment and sometimes my son running around as well. 

So please enjoy and let me know if you have any questions.

Stay Strong

BREAKING NEWS: HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TESTOSTERONE BOOSTING METHOD DISCOVERED

                With all of the over rated and expensive supplements out on the market today it is great when someone can find a cheap yet effective way to improve our performance and wellbeing.  That is exactly what Uncle Paulie and I have discovered recently.  Now I have to give credit to Uncle Paulie for this amazing groundbreaking revolutionary discovery.  The thing is you may be doing this already but have not realized it or have not been able to harness this powerful method to your benefit.

                I bet you are dying to know what we have discovered aren’t you!!!!  Well once you realize what it is I am sure you are going to say to yourself why have I not thought of that before.  If you have not figured it out yet do not be ashamed between Paul and I there is enough smarts to fill Encyclopedia Britannica 4 times over.

Now without further ado watch the following video and the answer will be at the end of the video.  This is absolutely ground breaking stuff so please if not already doing so, grab a seat and maybe a hand full of tissues.

That’s right baby we have the Spanish station locked in during our training sessions.  There is no better way to keep that testosterone pumping like the good old Primer Impacto, well besides the illegal way and I have no plans on touching that shit myself. 

I mean the Spanish stations have been famous ever since I can remember for having smoking hot chicks.  I do not think the science can be argued with on this particular topic.  FACT: hot chicks get the blood flowing.  FACT: checking out chicks is more of Americas great past time than baseball ever will be in my book.

I know my Mom probably does not get it but my Dad has said several times “if I ever stop checking out the lovely young ladies you have permission to pull the plug”.  Actually now that I think of it there are probably times my Mom cannot wait for that day to come.

My wife knows that she is the only one for me and the only one that I will ever love so I have no problem making the above comments.  In fact anyone who would deny they still do not take a peak here and there is a liar and that is a FACT as well.

Back to the Spanish Station, I know we have a unique situation compared to most of you who go to commercial gyms I mean we could have porn running if we really wanted to.  And if you go to a commercial gym I am sure there are plenty of sites to see but no one likes to get caught staring.  So before you leave for the gym pop on Primer Impacto and get that great rush of manliness that you need before hitting the gym.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We take our training serious and are not dicking around staring at the TV instead of training.  It is just something to gaze at in between sets which are all timed anyway so there is no slacking.  Plus Paul just does not do it for me and there is very little talking when we train anyway.   Also they are speaking Spanish so it is not like we are riveted by what they are saying.

So what is the moral of the story you ask?  Don’t Know Don’t Care just wanted to share.  And have some fun!!!!!!

Stay Strong

Mike

Training With the Weather and a Cool Snow Hill I Built for My Son

Not quite that bad this year but close!!!!!

The wonderful months of winter in the Northeast?  I have lived in the northeast of the United States my entire life I grew up in New Jersey moved to Massachusetts half way through High School, went to prep school in Maine than college in Connecticut and now I am settled back in Massachusetts.  So I am used to my full 4 seasons.

We have received a lot of snow fall over the past week, that combined with my parents getting their big house ready for sale and helping 2 other friends move into their condo I have been busy with some physical stuff outside of training.

Because of that I have cut back on my actual training, shoveling snow and moving old heavy awkward objects can defiantly be a workout.  Besides a little lower back pain from so much activity I am defiantly benefiting from relaxing on the training.

This is more important than people realize, if I tried to work out the days of these snow storms and even big moving ordeals not only could my form suffer from already working my muscles and risk injury I just could not give it all my energy. 

So I am trying to get wiser as my years pass, right now I am just training for me not a competition or sport so I just mark these events as training days and make sure I recover well before hitting the gym.

When you do not have a snow blower and have to clear a huge deck along with the drive way, believe me that is a workout.  The past two snows have left me wiped out after shoveling.  But I will tell you what, I have a son who is almost 3 and that makes the snow fun again.  Check out the video below and the hill I made off the back stair case of my deck.

The neighbors were over and not only did the kids enjoy it but us adults took a few trips as well.  Just some more evidence on why you should keep yourself in shape for your kids.  It took some extra effort for sure but not only was I building something cool for my son I was getting in one hell of a workout.

Check it out

Comeback Mode Is In Full Effect

A couple blog posts ago I went into a little bit of how disappointed I am in myself for not staying on top of my physical condition, and I mean every aspect of it strength, conditioning, eating etc…  So from this point on I am going to post all of my workouts so you can see how I get back on track.

This way I can show exactly how I progress and how you can as well if you are in a slump or just need a fresh start.

Right now I plan to do all my sessions in my basement, convenience is one reason the other reason is I do not have a lot to work with down there and will have to focus on mostly body weight exercises.  I believe this to be one of the best way to get back into the swing of things.  I need to build up that force field of core strength that everyone needs before the get into the real heavy stuff. 

Now I understand that these videos and posts may not be as impressive as the 300 pound overhead presses or 800 pound squats.  But, I do feel that you can learn a lot more from what I will show you.

Most people who post videos of themselves training want to wait until they are real strong so they can show off to everyone.  The look at me guys, you know the type.  That is not what lifting should be about for me it is to be strong for myself because it feels damn good and my family so I can protect them or get them out of a bad situation fast.

I also want YOU to be strong. 

All the workouts I have done are the same week to week, the only thing that changes are the reps or weights.  All going up of course.

Below is the intro followed by the breakdown of the workout with links to YouTube for a video of the exercise I am performing.  Let me know what you think enjoy.  As I go along these will get better and better I promise, super new to this and will only get better.

COMEBACK WORK OUT #1

A1. Blast Strap Push Ups - 13 x 10 x 9 (32) = total reps

Pull Ups * (I did each set of pull ups right after every set throughout the entire session)

3 sets 2 x 1 x 1

A2.  Lunges w/ Kettle Bells - 11 x 7 x 7 (25)

Pull Ups 1 x 1 x 1

B1.  Rear Lateral Raises 5lbs – 11 x 10 x 9 (30)

Pull Ups 1 x 1 x 1

B2.  Squats w/ Kettle Bells – 8 x 10 x 11 (29)

Pull Ups 1 x 1 x 1

C1.  Russian Twist 45lb Plate – 18 x 14 x 14

Pull Ups 1 x 1 x 1

C2.  Pinch Farmers Walks 20lbs each hand x 6 trips, 30lbs each hand 4 x 4

Pull Ups 1 x 1 x 1 (19)



Stay Strong and Stay Tuned

PATHETIC NEW YEARS FITNESS COMMERCIAL

With the new year now here the fitness craze is in full effect, I was in BJ’s last week and all of the vitamins, weight loss pills and exercise equipment was right up front ready to be sold.  Every year it is the same thing gyms get packed people start their fad diets and barely last a month.

First off there is no reason to wait until the New Year to get started on your resolution.  When it comes down to it isn’t it just another day, in fact my dad calls New Years Eve amateur night. 

But besides that I saw a Planet Fitness commercial that made me sick, here it is below if you have not already seen it check it out.

No matter how dumb they portray the bodybuilder to be he had to work hard to get the muscles and physique that he has.  Are they trying to say everyone with muscles is stupid or something.  Are bodybuilders are going point and laugh at you because you are not as strong or skinny as them. 

Everyone has to start from somewhere, and everyone was weak or fat at some point of their life.  In my opinion atmosphere has a huge affect on your training, if you are surrounded by a bunch of fat weak people where is the motivation?

On the other hand if you see big freaks like that in your gym it should be motivating to you.  Can they be intimidating?  Sure they can but they earned that intimidation through years of hard work.

It is like these gyms just want everyone to stay the same, you can’t let out a scream if you need to because the alarm will go off.  You probably are not even allowed to sweat in fear of too much strain on your body.

This all comes back to the pussification of America, it is sad but true. 

It is said in all aspects of life to surround yourself with good people and learn from the best in the particular field you want to pursue.  If you are looking to get into good shape I can be pretty sure these types of gyms are not the place for you.

I had to let that one out because of how pathetic I thought that commercial was.

Stay tuned for my comeback series where I show you how I am getting back at it starting in my own basement.  I have a bunch of video already shot but am having major problems with the editing software.

Til then Stay Strong.

HOW TO STAY IN SHAPE WHEN ITS FREEZING

Today  here in Massachusetts  it is freezing right now.. literally!!!!  The weather report said it was like 15 or something but felt like 1 degree with wind chill.  This is the time of the year when hibernation is on the mind and we are still saying “When am I going to get my christmas shopping done, I haven’t bought anything yet”  With all the chaos of the holiday season as well as cold ass weather depending on where you live, things can get away from you.

A great strength and fat burning exercise can be the cure to your sickness though, I am talking about complexes.  Don’t know what a complex is?  Pick 4-5 exercises that will cover the whole body with a weight that can be handled with good form throughout the entire set try shooting for about 8-12 reps each exercise.  And all you do is perform them all in 1 set with no rest, may sound easy but believe me you will be humbled.

Below is a video of me doing them with a sandbag, there is no excuse why you can’t do these.  They are affordable and take up very little space.  What I am using in the video is just a 50lb sand bag wrapped in 2 contractor bags duct taped shut.  The sand bag was less than 3 bucks, contractor bags were about 10 but you get like 20 of them so sounds like a good deal to me and who does not have duct tape kicking around the house.  Duct tape is king.

This should eliminate any excuses for not exercising when it comes to the cold long winter months.   

Complexes can also be done with many other things as well, maybe all you can handle is your own body weight that will work for a while.  If you need more of a challenge find a heavy stone outside or anything taking up space in the garage/basement you have to have something in there that has some weight to it.  Rip it off the floor, press it over head use it to squat it does not matter what you use for weight as long as it can be done safely.

So check me out in action and come up with some cool ideas of your own.

Stay Stong,

Let me know what you come up with