Friday, December 26, 2008

Chasing Rabbits



“If the dog hadn't stopped running to take a sh*t, he'd of caught the rabbit."

My grandpa used to always say that for some reason. I think it was usually when I made an excuse about something. The good news is I got older I heard it less and less (maybe I learned to quit making excuses). That quote has nothing to do with this blog except the fact that it reminds me of another saying about rabbits:

"If you chase two rabbits both will escape."

I see this all the time, people who are trying to obtain way too many goals at one time. They want to bench 300 pounds, lose 50 pounds of fat, gain 20 pounds of muscle, run a marathon, increase their vertical and swim the English Channel without floaties all at the SAME TIME. People end up chasing 10 rabbits (actually goals) and catching no rabbits (actually accomplishing nothing).

I compete in power lifting and bodybuilding and train for other goals as well. The catch is I don’t train for them all at the same time. I will take a block and hit it hard with one goal in mind. My training and diet will change to reflect that goal. By doing this and focusing on 1 goal at a time you catch the rabbit. You just have to say screw everything else except your number 1 goal. Once you reach it then set another.

Here is a great example. Say you want to drop some body fat? Hit it hard for X number of weeks and kick some ass. At the end of the block you will be a lot leaner and happier you reached that goal. Now you want to increase your bench max? Now work on that for X number of weeks while maintaining your body composition. Now you want to increase your 40 yard dash time? Work on that for X number of weeks while maintaining your body composition and new strength. You get the picture?

Now go catch A rabbit.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I would like to wish all my clients, friends and readers a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Don't stress about a few bad meals over the Holidays. Remember it is your nutrition and exercise between New Year's and Christmas that affect how you look, not what you eat between Christmas and New Years.

I'm going to end this short blog post with 2 tips:

This is for fat loss/maintenance people:

You will slip during the Holidays. That's normal, just don't make an entire day of it. Eating a few bad meals over the Holidays could still lead to 90% or better compliance for most people. However, taking a whole day and eating crappy all day automatically will take most below 90%. Do not skip your normal meals either.

This is for my athletes looking to gain weight:

EAT, EAT, EAT! Literally stuff yourself with everything you can at each dinner you eat at. Don't vomit though. You will lose precious weight gaining calories.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Merry Christmas, Bob




Merry Christmas, Bob
by Chris Shugart



The following Article was first featured in Testosterone Nation four years ago. It's often regarded as one of the most inspirational, get-off-your-sorry-ass articles and, given that it has a Christmas theme, I thought it appropriate to run it again this Christmas.

"So, what are you doing for a living these days?" Bob asked me. We're sitting on the couch at one of those tedious holiday get-togethers, you know, the ones where you're supposed to be nice to family members you never see except during major holidays and funerals. I think Bob is my wife's brother-in-law's second cousin or something.

"I'm the assistant editor and a writer for Testosterone magazine," I say. Bob looks at me with a blank expression on his face, as if I'd just told him I sell handmade testicle warmers beside the freeway and was looking to open franchises across the nation.

"It's a bodybuilding magazine," I say.

Blank expression. Deer caught in the headlights. Ronnie Coleman doing trigonometry.

"Oh," Bob finally says, "I heard you were, like, one of those bodybuilder guys or something. So, what's that like, you know, working out every day and stuff? I just don't have time to lift weights all day, but I have been meaning to get rid of this beer belly." He takes another sip of beer. "What do you suggest?" Sip.

At first I was a little offended. I wanted to grab him up and say, "You can't tell I'm a bodybuilder?! Look at my ass! Now, if that's not a nice round squat-built piece of sirloin, I don't know what is! You think that comes naturally? I can crack walnuts with this puppy! Wanna see? Huh, punk? Do ya? Do ya?"

Then I realize this just might cause a scene and could cost me several Christmas presents. I was planning on returning any presents I got and using the money to buy a power rack, so I didn't want to jeopardize this gift getting opportunity. I also realized that old Bob probably had a certain preconceived image of a bodybuilder and I just didn't fit that image. I'm not gorilla huge; I weigh about 205 at 5'11" right now. (When I first started lifting I was a pudgy 159, so that's not too shabby.) Also, I wasn't wearing clown pants, a fluorescent string tank top, a hanky on my head and one of those little fanny packs. And isn't that what real bodybuilders are supposed to wear?

Bob continued to sit there drinking his Natural Light, smoking a cigarette and waiting for an answer, oblivious to the fact that he'd come this close to seeing some serious walnut- crunching ass power. I tried to figure out how I could explain to the average guy what the typical T-Man does and why he does it. How could I get him to understand what it is we do, how we feel, how we live? So I took a deep breath and told him something like this:

"Well, Bob, I guess you could use the term bodybuilder if you really need a label for what it is we do. Most of us actually don't stand on stage and compete, though. We lift weights and manipulate our diets so that we'll look good naked. Sure, it's healthy too, and we'll probably live a longer and more productive life than the average guy, but mostly it's about the naked thing. Truthfully, it goes beyond even that.

"Let's be honest here. We do it because of people like you, Bob. We look at you sitting there with your gut hanging over your belt and we watch you grunt and groan just getting out of a chair. Guys like you are our inspiration, Bob. You're better than Anthony Robbins, Bill Phillips, Deepak Chopra, and Zig fucking Ziglar all wrapped up into one. We love it when guys like you talk about not having time to exercise. Every time we see you munching on a bag of potato chips, you inspire us. You're my shot in the arm, Bob, my living and breathing wake-up call, my own personal success coach.

"You want to know what it is we do? We overcome. We're too busy to train, too, but we overcome. We're too busy to prepare healthy meals and eat them five or six times a day, but we overcome. We can't always afford supplements, our genetics aren't perfect, and we don't always feel like going to the gym. Some of us used to be just like you, Bob, but guess what? We've overcome.

"We like to watch 'normal' people like you tell us about how they can't get in shape. We smile and nod sympathetically like we feel your pain, but actually, we're thinking that you're a pathetic piece of shit that needs to grow a spine and join a gym. You smile sheepishly and say that you just can't stay motivated and just can't stand that feeling of being sore. (For some reason you think that admitting your weaknesses somehow justifies them.) We listen to you bitch and moan. We watch you look for the easy way out. Because of people like you, Bob, we never miss a workout.

"You ask us for advice about diet and training and usually we politely offer some guidance, but deep inside we know you won't take our advice. You know that too. We smile and say, 'Hope that helps. Good luck,' but actually we're thinking, 'Boy, it would suck to be you.' We know that 99% of people won't listen to us. Once they hear that it takes hard work, sacrifice and discipline, they stop listening and tune us out.

"We know they wanted us to say that building a great body is easy, but it just isn't. This did not take five minutes a day on a TorsoTrack. We did not get this way in 12 short weeks using a Bowflex and the Suzanne Somers' 'Get Skinny' diet. A good body does not cost five easy payments of $39.95.

"We like it that while you're eating a candy bar and drinking Mountain Dew, we're sucking down a protein shake. You see, that makes it taste even better to us. While
you're asleep we're either getting up early or staying up late, hitting the iron, pushing ourselves, learning, succeeding and failing and rising above the norm with every rep. Can you feel that, Bob? Can you relate? No? Good. This wouldn't be half as fun if you could.

"We do it because we absolutely and totally get off on it. We do it because people like you, Bob, either can't or won't. We do it because what we do in the gym transfers over into the rest of our lives and changes us, physically, mentally, maybe even spiritually. We do it because it beats watching fishing and golf on TV. By the way, do you know what it's like to turn the head of a beautiful woman because of the way you're built? It feels good, Bob. Damned good.

"When we're in the gym, we're in this indescribable euphoria zone. It's a feeling of being on, of being completely alive and aware. If you haven't been there, then it's like trying to describe color to a person who's been blind since birth. Within this haze of pleasure and pain, there's knowledge and power, self-discipline and self-reliance. If you do it long enough, Bob, there's even enlightenment. Sometimes, the answers to questions you didn't even know you had are sitting there on those rubber mats, wrapped up in a neat package of iron plates and bars.

"Want to lose that beer belly, Bob? I have a nutty idea. Put down the fucking beer. I'll tell you what, Bob. Christmas morning I'm getting up real early and hitting the iron. I want to watch my daughter open her presents and spend the whole day with her, so this is the only time I have to train. The gym will be closed, so I'm going out in my garage to workout. You be at my house at six in the morning, okay? I'll be glad to help you get started on a weight training program. It'll be colder than Hillary Clinton's coochie in there, so dress warm.

"But let me tell you something, Bob. If you don't show up, don't bother asking me again. And don't you ever sit there and let me hear you bitch about your beer belly again. This is your chance, your big opportunity to break out of that rut. If you don't show up, Bob, you've learned a very important lesson about yourself, haven't you? You won't like that lesson.

"You won't like that feeling in the pit of your stomach either or that taste in your mouth. It will taste worse than defeat, Bob. Defeat tastes pretty goddamned nasty, but what you'll be experiencing will be much worse. It will be the knowledge that you're weak, mentally and physically. What's worse is that you'll have accepted that feeling. The feeling will always be with you. In the happiest moments of your life, it'll be there, lying under the surface like a malignant tumor. Ignore it at your own peril, Bob.

"Don't look at me like that either. This just may be the best Christmas present you'll get this year. Next Christmas, Bob, when I see you again, I'm going to be a little bigger, a little stronger, and a little leaner. What will you be? Will you still be making excuses? This is a gift, Bob, from me to you. I'm giving you the chance to look fate in those pretty eyes of hers and say, 'Step off, bitch. This is my party and you're not invited.' What do you say, Bob? Monday, Christmas morning, 6am, my house. The ball's in your court."

Okay, so maybe that's not the exact words I used with Bob, but you get the picture. Will Bob show up Monday? I don't know, but I kind of doubt it. In fact, Bob will probably take me off his Christmas card list. He probably thinks I've got "too much Testosterone," like that's a bad thing. I think Bob is just stuck in a rut, and as the saying goes, the only difference between a rut and a grave is depth.

The way out of the rut is to make major changes in your life, most of which won't be too pleasant in the beginning. The opportunity to make those changes seldom comes as bluntly as I put it to Bob. Most of the time, that opportunity knocks very softly. What I did was basically give Bob a verbal slap in the face. You can react two ways to a slap. You can get angry at the person doing the slapping, or you can realize that he was just trying to get you to wake up and focus on what you really want and, more importantly, what it'll take to get it.

If you're a regular T-mag reader, I doubt you need to be called out like Bob. But maybe you've caught yourself slacking a little here lately. Maybe you've missed a few workouts or maybe you started a little too early on the usual holiday feasting, like, say, back in September. Just remember that the time to start working on that summer body is now. The time to get rid of those bad habits that hold you back in the gym is now. You want to look totally different by next Christmas? Start now. This isn't because of the holidays or any corny New Year's resolutions either. The best time is always now.

Christmas day I want you to enjoy being with your family and friends. I want you to open presents, sip a little eggnog and have a good meal. But if your regularily scheduled workout happens to fall on December 25th, what will you be doing at six o'clock that morning?

That's what separates us from guys like Bob.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

What I've Been Up To...


(PIC: Me doing some pull ups)



Lately I have been crazy busy. Here is a run down of what all is going on in my life:


• I recently got engaged on December 5th. I couldn’t be happier. We are planning on a wedding in September.

• I have signed a contract/agreement with a new website that is starting January 28th. I would consider it an “All things Paducah” type site. I have my own health/fitness/nutrition page on the site. I have a ton of great ideas. It should be really interesting.

• I have an article running in Paducah Parenting in January. It isn’t exactly how I wanted it to look but the editor wanted me to “soften” it a little. It has to do with personal training certifications just to give you a hint. Apparently comparing some certifications difficulty to obtain, to as easy as waiting for your check to clear, would leave a “bad taste” in some trainer’s mouths. I wonder why?

• I finished up the semester with all A’s and B’s and made the Dean’s list. I just wanted to brag a little.

• My training is going great. I’m training myself very similar to my athletes and love feeling athletic. Mobility work, foam rolling and old school static stretching has made me feel 10 years younger.

• I read two great books this week by Christian Thibadeau. Anyone interested in learning some more in-depth knowledge of training should check his books out.

• I am attending the NSCA Sport Specific Conference around the first of January. I hope to learn some awesome information and meet some really good speakers.

• Just to give everyone a heads up, expect to see some really cool things from me and Argonauts in the next year.

• To all of my in-season clients I wish everyone good luck and kick some ass.

• Biotest’s Spike is the closest thing to crack I would imagine there is. First of all, for the record I have never tried crack nor plan to. Spike is very addictive though. Actually I can live without it, but Spike is the best pre workout energy drink since the old school thermos w/ephedra (which is now illegal). However; here is my reasoning behind this. I ran out before I had placed my next order. I remembered GNC sells Spike with one hell of a mark up rate. So, I paid damn near 4 dollars per can of Spike. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Friday, December 12, 2008

“The best inspiration is not to outdo others, but to outdo ourselves”




As some of you know I compete in bodybuilding and power lifting from time to time. I have no desire to go pro in either sport but I use it as a means of competition. I have been a very competitive athlete all my life. From football to racing motocross for 8 years, competition is in my blood.

I was looking through last year’s workout log the other day and came across a page. It wasn’t my typical workout log page though, it was a paragraph. The paragraph was in my writing, but for a split second I didn’t remember writing it. As I read through the paragraph it all came back to me. I was training for a bodybuilding competition at the time and it was a late lower body day. One of those 9 pm, I’d rather be at home days. As I remember I had just finished my first set of squats and was disappointed in myself. I wasn’t pushing it like I should have. I was alone in the gym, besides the Pantera blasting from the speakers, and I had no one to push me. So in this haze of pleasure and pain my emotions took over and this is what I wrote:

“When I’m too tired to train, don’t feel like cooking a meal, don’t want chicken and broccoli again…. I think. I ask myself, “What is my competition doing?”. I picture them training harder, eating better than me and it lights a fire deep inside. I train harder and eat better than my fictitious competitor. That way I know when it comes down to it, trophies are handed out and I’m walking off that stage the best man won. That I held nothing back in my pursuit to be the best I can be. I can smile and know what it feels like to live.”

I think this paragraph sums up a whole lot more than just bodybuilding. I think its how people should view a lot of things. From business to training to dieting, its all about being the best you can be and doing what it takes. That’s what living is.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Nutrition Seminar / Athlete Training Article




I would like to thank everyone who attended my “Athletes: Are You Performing at Your Highest Level?” nutrition seminar. It was definitely a success and I hope everyone learned something applicable.

Here is a link to a recent article I wrote about athletes training programs. It is worth taking a look at:

www.builtforshow.com/resources/


(Copy and paste link into your browser)

It is the second article from the top. Also, check out the main page. The “Built for Show” book is a great read and I highly recommend it.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Athletes: Are You Performing at Your Highest Level?



ARGONAUTS FITNESS PRESENTS:

1st Ever FREE Athlete Nutrition Seminar

Saturday December 6, 2008
11:00-11:30 am

3031 Broadway
Paducah, KY 42001

Chase Karnes, NSCA-CPT

Presents:

“Athletes: Are You Performing at Your Highest Level?”

Free to all athletes, coaches and parents.
Seating is limited. Standing room is also available.