Plate Pinch

Last week I felt completely broken down and it was most likely due to overtraining, so I decided to take a break from Wednesday to recover a bit. Hitting the gym for almost two hours 5 days a week was perhaps also not ideal, so I also decided to also reduce my training volume for a while.

I decided to try a modified version of the Westside Barbell training method and is enjoying it thus far. Hopefully, even if I don’t really increase in size, my strength will increase a bit, which is always nice.

One of the exercises I did this morning was plate pinching (an exercise with the purpose of increasing your grip strength) and discovered my right hand is far stronger than my left. I think this is kind of a cool exercise and have never seen anybody else in the gym even attempting it. So check out the video below and give it a try!

Getting Frustrated

Every once in a while I look in the mirror and think, shit, is it really worth punishing myself like this? Do I really want to get up at 4 in the morning every day to go to gym and have sore muscles all over when I don’t see much change in my reflection?

My wife said feeling like this means I am human after all. I think it means I am getting extremely frustrated...

Here is a good quote to read when you are feeling like I am feeling today:

"A man goes to an old-fashioned well to pump some drinking water. The man pushes the pump's lever over and over again, and is seemingly making no progress whatsoever. The man is indeed making progress, however, it just isn't visible to him at the time. Deep in the underground pipes, suction is being created and is slowly siphoning the water to the surface. If he gets discouraged and stops pumping, the water will fall again, and he'll have to start all over." - article by Skip La Cour.

Food Pyramid

I've learned many things since I first joined the gym, one of them is that you need plenty of the right nutrients if you wish to grow.

Even Marilyn Manson agrees with this! Have a look at the video below where he dispense some valuable advice, especially regarding eating sweets.

Today At Gym - 10/28

...or rather "today not at gym"

Up to this point I've been going to the gym 5 times a week, every week, and since I've been gaining only a little bit of weight (mostly fat) I decided to try something new.

For a while I am going to drop my 2 cardio sessions per week and only go to the gym Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for weight lifting.

Today is therefore the first day of the week I did not go to the gym, and I must say I feel great and full of energy. Hopefully these additional 2 days of rest and recovery will help me build some more muscle than I have been able to in the past.

Sure more fat is to come, but I will get rid of that once my arms and legs no longer look like twigs...

Don't Procrastinate

Today At Gym - 09/04

It was once again a cardio machine only session at the gym today. I must admit, I actually struggled quite a bit since my muscles were still pretty sore from yesterday.

Start Time	06:20
Duration	80 minutes
Calories Burned	1076 kcal
Session Type	Cardiovascular Training
Session Focus	Rowing Machine (20 min), Stationary Bike (20 min), Arm Cycle (20 min), Elliptical Trainer (20 min)

Today At Gym - 09/03

Today was squat day again - I used the same weight on the barbell as last Wednesday and it actually went a lot better this time.

On the very last rep of the last set I wanted to make sure I squat deep enough and when I did this "deep squat" I was unable to get it up again... Thus next week it'll be the same weight again until I get it right!

I am also starting to really enjoy deadlifts. They really make me sweat quite heavily, but that's just part of the fun!

Start Time	06:20
Duration	65 minutes
Session Type	Strength Training
Session Focus	Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes

Have a look at this video in which Mark Rippetoe illustrates what good deadlifts should look like. Next Wednesday I will be sure to follow his guidelines.