Time Travel Part II

A more modern time travel machine

Glad to see that you have come back for more, I will now continue on to Part II of my Time Traveling fantasy.  In part I we went over 3 very important factors for training success but please note this is not a count down and each aspect is equally as important as the next.  These are especially important when you are starting out but even the more experienced lifters need to be reminded of some of the basic fundamentals every once in a while.  And guess what I am one of those guys at times as well.  I think it is a good practice to look yourself in the mirror from time to time and ask yourself a few questions and reflect on what you are doing, there should be no lying or BS in that conversation. Please enjoy.

4.      Work on flexibility and mobility.  If you are muscle bound and stiff like most body builders you may look great but you will not be able to move well, and there is no sport beside bodybuilding where appearance matters.  People call this all show and no go.  Plain and simple strength + flexibility = speed, and that is what can separate the good from the great and a win from a loss. 

Speed is determined by how much force you can put into the ground, and as I am sure you have heard for every action there is a reaction.  So the stronger the force of the action the faster the reaction will be.  And the more flexible and mobile we are the more efficient we are at using our strength to produce speed.  Just look at any high level sprinter and you will see strong legs that move gracefully, and let’s not forget to mention they are usually a blur.

Doesn't look like muscle is slowing him down

Adding greater range of motion will also allow your body to get into better positions when doing such things as avoiding defenders or something as simple as staying in the athletic position.  Think about when your leg or arm gets bent in a funny position during a play if your leg can move a couple more inches in that direction naturally you can avoid a pull or strain and can continue to compete.

Greater speed and agility along with injury prevention what more do I have to say?

5.      Eat healthy and eat often.  No matter what your age nutrition dictates how our bodies operate and look.  This is very obvious by looking at all of the obese children in our country today. 

Eating healthy should not be a hard thing to figure out, but here are some very simple rules to help.  Eat a lot of lean protein (Chicken, steak, eggs etc..), eat a majority of your carbs (sweet potatoes, rice, oatmeal etc...) before and after your train, cut out sweets and sugars as much as possible.  And with every meal eat some good fats (nuts, olive oil, fish oil pills etc...).  But most importantly eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible have one of each with every meal.  But do not be afraid to combine, a veggie omelet with a side of your favorite fruit is a great way to start the day.

Eating this way alone without any rules attached to it will help you shed some fat and stay healthy.  Another thing to consider is the quality of food you are buying; organic is the way to go.  Although it is more expensive in my opinion if there is one thing it is ok to splurge on it is your health.  I really do not like the thought of splurging on medical bills later because organic eggs cost a buck or two more.

Eating every 2-3 hours or 5-8 meals per day is important to keep your body building muscle and recovering from your tough session the day before.  This will also keep your metabolism revved up which will keep you from gaining excess body weight.  Do not forget that you must eat the proper foods for this approach to work. 

The reason this is so important is that good healthy food is what makes us strong and the more you feed your muscles the more they will grow.  This is more powerful than any legal supplement out on the market, so stop wasting your money on them.  If you really need to save some dough cut out some of the over hyped and overpriced supplements that are full of empty promises.

Eating healthy is a performance enhancer and with the lack of care most people have for this it could be just what you need to get that extra advantage on the field and in the gym.  And let’s not forget to mention all the added health benefits, that is a win win in my book.

6.      Going all out all the time is not always good or needed.  If you play or have played a sport especially like football which I did for 16 seasons you get a certain mindset about competition and how you approach the game.  For any half way decent athlete it is the mindset of giving it your all, playing with injuries and having no regard for bodily harm.  Now these are absolutely 100% necessary when you are on the field, court or whatever it may be but when it comes to training for these sports that is not always the case.

Do not forget to relax and recover

I used to try to get as many exercises in a workout as possible while staying in the gym for well over an hour and if I was not going all out on one day I told myself I was not trying hard enough.  The fact of the matter is your body needs some recovery time from the damage you put it through during tough training sessions.  While I was real proud of the work I was putting in, my results were less than stellar and I actually felt horrible.  This brings me back to point #2, I did not catch on to this until I went looking for help.  On a side note no matter what the subject always try to find out what the successful people are doing or have done to get where they are.

Now back to the topic at hand I am by no means saying you do not need to work hard in the gym to get the results you are looking for.  There is absolutely no way around achieving superior strength and condition without hard work.   

When you are in the moment of training you are not actually building muscle but damaging it and you need the healing process to go through its stages in order for muscle to be built.  This can be assisted by rest, lower intensity work outs the day after and the biggest factor of all GOOD NUTRITION.  The healing process needs to run its full course for the gains to occur, if you rush back into some intense training day after day the gains will come to a grinding halt and your will actually be going in reverse.

In my own training I have made great gains while hitting the gym 3 day per week, sometimes less is more when it comes to the iron game.