Believe it or not, I’ve done a bad thing. I’ve let my livit plan go soft and unfortunately haven’t been as dedicated to my workouts as I was a few months ago. Life happens and quickly you can find yourself going back to bad habits. Darnit!! I’ve lost size and strength and am not as lean. It is amazing how fast you lose all you’ve worked so hard for. So, play time is now over.., back to 6 meals a day (3 protein shakes); 2 cardio sessions a week and 3 strength training sessions. Our workouts will be amped up as well. Back to old school steel pushing. I will miss my late night chocolate cookie craze. (Recently my ritual was 4 cookies and a big glass of milk.) You can’t get lean chowin’ down on sugar!!!
Are u ready for this? The #1 reason I spend sooo much time at the gym is…..if I don’t expend energy towards my overall health and wellness, my body starts to weaken and my mood turns toward depression. Example: Last week I tweaked my lower back and was down and out for 5 days!!! During those 5 days I could barely move.., getting out of bed was a 10 minute process and forget about even trying to lift something off of the floor. Getting into a position where my back wasn’t killing me was virtually impossible. I was in SERIOUS pain. I believe the pain was caused by performing heavier than normal squats that I haven’t done in weeks. Our leg routine lately has been more of a cardio exercise than a build muscle exercise, so when we went a little heavier my back didn’t appreciate it much. In those 5 days of downtime, I started to revert back to my lazy & lathargic moods. Not Good!!
While I was trying to find a comfortable position on the couch, I was thinking about the people who are affected by pain every minute of every day of their lives. That is really not good. How could they live a productive life? It is so hard to concentrate on nothing else but the pain. I couldn’t imagine dealing with this all the time and fortunately, I don’t have to. Today I feel 90% better and even made it to the gym for a chest/shoulders/tricep workout.
Conclusion - take care of yourself inside and out. When my body told me to slow down I had no choice but to listen. I’ve always pushed hard during my workouts and may have to ease back a little on certain exercises(mainly squats). I’m 33 yrs old and don’t need legs like Tom Platz :)
So I’m at the mall the other day, and while shopping for a new pair of jeans at Express (they have great designer jeans for cheap by the way) I see the mannequins. Has the world gone soft? It must be the “in” thing now to have man boobs. Check out the pics below:

and then:

Unbelievable. I guess the world is okay with male boobies showing through your shirts and sweaters. In my world, you’d be (spoken in my best Schwarzenegger voice) a “girly man.”
I’ve done a lot of talking on this blog since March and want to put next weeks questions and answers up for the world to see. Ask your question(can be about anything) in the comments area and I’ll do my best to give you my answer. Now of course, my answer is only my opinion based on my life experiences so don’t get too crazy!!
Fire Away!!
This weeks workouts were challenging for me. You should always challenge yourself to be better, but the challenge was the energy and motivation to get the job done. It all started with Mondays bench presses. Rooster had a great idea to do 5 sets of A.M.A.P.(as many as possible) with 225 lbs. First set I struggled to get 12, 2nd set 10, 3rd set 9, 4th set 7, and lastly the 5th set 7. That’s only 45 total reps. The Monday prior I did 12 sets of 8 reps!! It wasn’t just me struggling with the weight, Rooster was feeling it too. I believe this volume training regimen takes much more energy out of you and requires more rest as well. We barely finished the rest of the workout performing dumbbell shoulder press then dumbbell tricep extension.
Tuesday-Crazy leg circuit training. 5 sets of the following circuit. 20 kettlebell raises using a 45 lbs. plate; 20 squats using 135 lbs.; running for 2 minutes at a 6.0 pace on an incline of 2.5. This thing is a killer!! Your heart rate immediately soars to new heights and your legs burn from the constant pounding on the quadriceps. It is great. If you want to lose a quick 5 lbs., I strongly suggest a circuit workout 3 times a week. You are forcing your body to change with this routine. Next week, 6 sets. I’m already nervous.
Thursday-Back/Biceps. Pyramid style pullups from 2 reps to 11, then back down to 2. Went old school by doing dumbbell pullovers laying across the a bench perpendicular with just your upper back touching the bench and pulling the dumbbell over your head while keeping your arms straight. Last a combination of dumbbell bicep curls and rope curls to finish the week.
Personally, this week was tough for me. My energy levels weren’t up to par and I’ve noticed my Livit eating hasn’t been great. I will make a few adjustments to my eating and fire it up next week.
Message to Shoemoney - You are in for a dandy next week! Bring some ibuprofen, gatorade, and a cooler full of ice for the Shoemoney tingles
Shoemoney™, Rooster, and myself all hung out at Max Muscle here in Lincoln, Nebraska to meet up with UFC Fighters Houston “The Assasin” Alexander and Ken Shamrock. Also, Corry Matthews an IFBB Figure Pro Fitness Model was onsite. You can check out the pics in the gallery at: www.livitnotdiet.com/gallery/MaxMuscle
Had a great time talking with the fighters. Houston invited us up to Omaha to train with him for a day and hang out. Very Cool! Shamrock was a lot more reserved and didn’t like to talk much.
The t-shirt I’m wearing is my new line of fitness apparel called HitemHardWear.com I wanted to kick off the shirts with a bang and thought the MaxMuscle Special Event was the perfect place. Thanks to Chad and his crew down there for making my day a huge success!! Check out MaxMuscle for all your nutrition/supplement needs. We spent 4 hours down there hangin with the fighters, the Max Muscle girls and our fellow steel pushin’ brethren. Tomorrow, we’re back in the gym…Chest & Tris!!
Today I felt strong! I mean real strong! I was focused on the task at hand and my mind and body were totally insync ( go JT!) Our exercises were pull-ups (aka: chins) and bicep curls. Pull ups were pyramid from 2reps - 11reps - 2reps. Looks something like this:
11
10 10
9 9
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
That’s 119 Total Pullups!!!
Next was Standing Bicep Barbell Curls with the eZ bar. 12 sets of 8 reps. Used 80lbs. for 9 sets then stepped it up to 90 lbs. for the last 3 sets. 96 total reps/7,920 total lbs.
Next week, we change it up again to completely shock the body and make it grow. Livit, brothers & sisters!!!
Are you just trying to get through everyday doing the same ole boring stuff? Wake up, go to work, come home, sit on the couch, then go to bed? No wonder a huge part of the population is depressed. I chose fitness to better my mind and body, but it could be anything that you are interested in. Photography, painting, reading, gardening, teaching…, are just a few examples.
Warning! The second you stop moving forward, you start moving backwards!
We all get one chance at this “life” thing. Make it count every single day. Search yourself every morning during your daily wake up routine and find what makes you.., you! Challenge yourself to get moving on something that will make you feel more alive and that motivates you to be a better person. The world needs better people not just braindead consumers destroying the planet aimlessly.
My wife and I have decided that we will set weekly goals for each other. She says I want you to try this, and I do the same for her. She picked cooking three meals this week, and I picked attending 3 fitness classes this week.
It’s a good idea to mix things up a bit to spice your life up! Challenge yourself. Be a better person today than you were yesterday. Just Get It Done, don’t question yourself!
-End of rant
Do you want your muscles to grow and your body to lean out?
You Must Shock Them With New Exercises and Different reps/set combinations!!!
-Quick side note here is an example livit eating plan that I posted a few months ago.livit eating plan
Okay, back to the subject at hand, an example of what I’m talking about follows below:
3 station circuit training:
Station 1: Squats - 5 sets of 20 reps
Station 2: Treadmill - run until someone relieves you of that station and then onto the next.
Station 3: Kettlebell throws(using 45lbs. plates instead) 5 sets of 20 reps.
Your heartrate will be through the roof and blood engorging your legs and arms(especially with the kettlebell throws). I’ll post a video of this interesting exercise soon.
With this style of training, your body cannot help but react and adjust itself the the pounding you are giving it. Think big to be big!
- parelle
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