Back to the West Coast - Back to the Routine

Hello,

Well I have finally made it to my home town of Ventura, California and loving it so far.  The transition is always a little rough but it has not been to bad.  The local 24 hour fitness is definitely a different crowd than I am used to but the view is insane amazing.  It over looks the harbor and has a great view of all the boats and water.

Since getting into town on Wednesday I have been able to make it to the gym to lift 4 times (I took Saturday off).  I said that I was going to keep better track of my actual workouts of the day to post them but I completely spaced out on them until yesterday.  I know I know…I have tracked my workouts from yesterday, today and will continue to do so.  I would LOVE to hear everyone else’s workouts if you want to post them in the comments section and/or if you had any suggestions for me. 

I do have to share that I had an amazing hike today though.  Anyone that knows the Ventura area knows that there are great views from The Cross.  I found some great hilly trails that really got the heart going. It has been a long time since I have been on a good trail hike like that…Check out the view from the top.

WORKOUTS

Lately I have been using dumbbells more than anything and really concentrating on very slow movements and keeping constant tension as much as possible. (I wrote a bit about constant tension in a previous article if you are curious) There are many different schools of thought on how to break up your days and what your going to lift to get the most benefit.  Some think that you should always group together 1 push and 1 pull movement.  Some believe they get better gains by grouping together back/chest and then their arms.  To my knowledge, it is all preference.  I do not want to give information without doing research so that is actually what I am going to do.  Look for an upcoming article explaining the different thought processes of why people group together certain body parts.  Either way…MAKE SURE YOUR HITTING EVERYTHING.  Do not skip certain areas.

Sunday – 12.22.2013 - Chest/Biceps

15 Minute Warm up.  5 minute jog then 10 minutes of HIIT. (1 min @ 5mph, 1 min @ 9mph)

Decline DB press – 12, 12, (increase weight) 10

Incline DB press – 12, 12, (increase weight) 10

Flat Bench DB flys – 12, 12, (increase weight) 10

Cable flys – 12, 12, (increase weight) 10

Flat DB press – 50

Incline DB curl – 10, 10, (increase weight) 8

Standing barbell curl – 10, 10, (increase weight) 8

Preacher Curl – 10, 10, (increase weight) 8

LVL 3 Resistance Band alternating hand curls – 100.

Monday – 12.23.2013 – Back/Triceps

Wide Grip Lat Pull Downs – 12, 12, (Increase weight)10.  I Super-setted these with sets of 20 push-ups.

Barbell Back Rows – 15, 15, 15

Cable Rows – 12, 12, (increase weight) 10

Straight Arm pull downs – 12, 12 (increase weight) 10

Back Extensions – 15, (increase weight) 12, (increase weight) 10, (drop all weight) 15

Dips – 3 Sets to failure

Standing Overhead Low Pulley Triceps Extensions – 12, 12, (increase weight) 10

Skull Crushers – 12, 12, (increase weight) 10

DB kickbacks – 50

——

So I know this may be jumbled and I do apologize.  However, I have some great ideas for upcoming articles.  I just want to complete some research on specific topics first.  Along with the articles I will continue to post my workouts and progress from my initial beginnings.  If anyone has any sort of feed back or comments please feel free to leave them in the comments section or you can send me a private email at LifeOfCouncil@gmail.com

Until next time…

-Ryan

Twitter - LifeOfCouncil

Instagram – LifeOfCouncil

How I Survived a 1,900 Mile Road Trip without Soda or Fast Food...

Hey Everyone,

Sorry it took so long to write this post.  I was moving from Saint Louis, Missouri all the way back to Ventura, California and then had to unpack everything yesterday.  The journey was long, boring, and kind of lonely but I wanted to challenge myself to make it the entire way without drinking soda or eating fast food.  This is how I made it..  

*disclaimer — I do make sure to do my research from reputable sources before I publish any information on my posts, HOWEVER, I am not a dietitian and do not claim to be.  I am only writing my suggestions based off my research and what has worked for me.

So I set off with a plan to start the long trek on Monday morning and stop in Wichita, KS for the night to visit one of my best friends, Caycee and her husband Kyle.  The next morning I left Wichita and set forth to California in one straight shot.  The end result was a very tired and semi delirious Ryan that was very ready for a bed.  

**WARNING: I AM IN NO WAY ADVOCATING DRIVING WHILE TIRED AND WOULD NEVER SUGGEST THAT SOMEONE DRIVE THAT FAR WITHOUT RESTING**

Prep Work:

• 1 bundle of bananas
• 2 packs of trail mix
• 1 jar of peanut butter
• 1 bag of rice cakes
• 4 cooked chicken breasts

Day 1:

The drive to Wichita was nothing special and really took no extra planning.  I stuck with water mixed with energy mixers.  I have tried multiple brands like Crystal Light, However, I have actually found that I liked the Walmart brand, Great Value, the best.  At 120mg of caffeine a serving and zero sugar, it is definitely a nice change from just plain water and gives you a nice burst of energy without the crash.

Before I left the house to go to Wichita I had some eggs and a protein shake so I never got very hungry on the road.  I did have a banana and a scoop of peanut butter around the halfway mark.  Remember that not all sugars are the same. The sugar you get from candy and the sugar you get from fruit are different.  The sugar you get from fruit take longer to metabolize than processed sugars from candy.  The protein in peanut butter is great for long lasting form of energy.

Day 2:

I woke up at 5:45 AM and got on the road at 6 AM.  I started off with a banana, 2 rice cakes with Peanut Butter and a protein shake to get the day going.  I continued to drink a lot of water with the energy shots in them throughout the day to keep going.  In between my breakfast and my lunch I never got to hungry, However, I did keep a bag of trail mix right next to me to snack on.  The nuts will give you a good mix of fat and protein for slow sustaining energy.  Just remember not to have to many at once.  Too many carbs can cause a drop low blood sugar.

Right around 8 hours into the trip I decided to break out the cooked chicken breasts and eat two of them for a meal.  I had another banana and a protein shake to go along with 2 out of 4 of the cooked chicken breasts.  It was no amazing feast but it was also more satisfying to the challenge than breaking down and having a greasy burger.

For the sake of not repeating myself, the next 8 hour block was pretty much the first 8 hour block…on repeat.  I think even the scenery was the same.  Lots of flat land, straight roads and the occasional sign of society.

On my last leg of the road I did semi break the “no soda” rule.  I stopped off and picked up some of the Rockstar Pure Zero Energy Drinks.  They are a great substitute for soda if you really need to feed that urge.  These have Zero Sugar, Zero Calories and Zero Carbs which will help with the you avoid the drastic sugar rush and sugar crash from regular soda.  Give them a try…

After 24 hours of driving on day 2 I finally made it to my home in Ventura, California and went straight into a comatose state that did not last nearly as long as I wish it would of.  

A few last things I wanted to address regarding this topic…

• Road trips are boring.  Try and keep your mind occupied and do not eat just because you are bored. 
• These same principles would be great to apply to people that are stuck in offices for a lot of their days.
• Preparation is key.  Pack healthy snacks, lots of water bottles, and plan your route.

That is all I have for now.  I thank you all for reading again and look forward to the feedback.  

Until next time…

-Ryan

Here are a couple pics from the journey…

Weekly Progress Report - Week 1

Hello Everyone,

Well this blog is still very young but I just wanted to thank everyone that is already reading these.  This was more of an experiment than anything but I have received some positive feedback and am excited to keep going as long as people keep reading.  

First is first, did you work out today?

This week I have really trying to concentrate on just a few things to get myself back on track to where I need to be.  I know that there is plenty more that I need to focus on and there is a lot more that I will continue to put an emphasis on as I progress but for the first week these were the following areas that I really concentrated on:

• Cleaning up my diet – I have not been as strict as I want to be.  I have not been counting all my macros but I have been making sure to cook my own dinners. (besides one amazingly delicious plate of nachos that I had when me and my best friend went out for a celebration…I blame him)  I regularly cook 3-4 eggs for breakfast, home-made tuna/chicken salad sandwiches for lunch, and grilled chicken breasts with fresh spinach salads for dinner.  
• Supplementation – I tend to slack off on taking my regular supplements and really made sure that I started this progression off right and take everything as needed.  I have a protein shake every morning when I wake up as well as one directly post workout.  I add a scoop of Glutamine powder to my morning shake.  I sporadically take a pre-workout powder for an extra boost but did not take it at all this week.
• Constant muscle tension – This has to do with my lifting technique.  Time after time you see people get to their machine, whatever it may be, and rush through their set and move on.  For the start of my new mission I wanted to concentrate on a technique that relies on very slow and deliberate movements during the flexion and extension part of your lift.  Typically this does require one to go down in weight but most people actually see more muscle growth due to the fact that the constant muscle tension closes off the blood vessels leading to the muscles and deprives the muscle of oxygen through out the movement.  What this does is simulate an increase in lactate production as well as 2 anabolic hormones, hGH and IGF-1.
• CARDIO – This one is huge for me because I dread having to do cardio, especially inside.  Sadly I currently reside in Saint Louis and running outside is limited to polar bears and penguins and unfortunately I am neither.  However,  I am proud to say that I did some form of HIIT 3 times this week.  I know, I know…3 times in 7 days is pretty pathetic but c’mon, I am making progress. ha.

So at this point I am sure you are asking…”So Ryan, what kind of progress have you actually made this week?”  Well, I want to start off with saying that I do not like to weigh myself frequently as I believe it adds stress and makes people stress about little ups and downs instead of keeping focus on the big picture.  For the sake of this article I did weigh myself and can report that I am down 2 pounds.  Can be all water weight at this part as far as I know but I do feel better. I feel like my energy is coming back and my endurance is improving.  For this week I did take progression pictures (from here on out I will only be taking progression pictures at the end of every month).

Needless to say, the changes are subtle but I am hopeful.

On Sunday I will be starting my trek across country.  I am moving from Saint Louis, Missouri back to the west coast where I was raised.  I have a lot of ideas for future articles and I am very excited to share.  I will try and post a new article on Sunday before I leave.  If I am unable to complete it then I will for sure have one on Wednesday when I get back to California.  

For the future when I do these weekly progress reports I will make sure to keep track of my workouts so that I can post them.  If anyone has any questions when it comes to my actual workout routine, supplementation, or anything else in general, please do not hesitate to ask them in the comments section and I will be happy to answer them.

Until next time…

-Ryan

p.s.  If any of you read this and are big social media followers please follow me on Twitter, Vine and Instagram.  @LifeOfCouncil on all 3 sites.  Look forward to continuing this journey with everyone.

Hate Cardio? Educate and Maximize your Efforts

Howdy World,

I feel like one of my biggest reasons I have issues hitting my ultimate goals as of lately is my absolute inconsistency when it comes to cardiovascular exercise.  It seems as though it is so drilled into everyone’s mind that to have any effects from a cardio workout that one has to continuously “stay in the fat burning zone (heart rate between 50-65%) for 60-70 minutes.”  Does this sound like you?  Do you have the same problem?  Well this post is going to talk about maximizing your cardio workouts, making them more fun, and hopefully educating a little bit.  I know I learned even more when I did my research for this post…

Luckily for me, you, the lady in the meme and anyone else that would like to do something other than jogging for the next few hours, the school of thought has been re-evaluated and the advantages of high intensity interval training have been proven.  Before we go any further I do want to say that I do think that there is a time, place and even advantages to long distance slow intensity cardio.  There was a time where I religiously ran 3-5 miles a day.

However, if we are talking efficiency and benefits then there are some things you really need to consider when comparing the two.

-Burning calories.  

Low Intensity cardio will burn calories.  You will continue to burn calories throughout your long run, swim, bike ride or whatever it is that you have chosen.  Unfortunately that is where it ends.  With low intensity cardiovascular exercises the minute you are done with your workout your body stops burning calories.  If one was to opt for a higher intensity interval type cardio then their body continue to burn calories for multiple hours post workout and far outweigh the calories burned from a longer low intensity jogging type exercise. 

-How your body stores future calories.  

To understand this though you have to understand how your body fuels your workouts.  For longer aerobic (low intensity) workouts your body gets most of it’s energy from body fat.  With higher intensity anaerobic workouts your body gets it’s fuel from glucose and glycogen.  Now on to why this is important.  Your body is extremely smart and knows how to prepare itself for its next workout even if you don’t know its doing it.  When you put your body through long low intensity workouts your body fuels itself mainly from your body fat and in return will prepare itself for your next workout by making sure it has enough body fat to fuel your next workout.  When doing higher intensity workouts your body is basically thinking that its good that you had  glycogen and in turn will start to break down a lot more of your carbohydrates into glycogen for your future workouts.  This will essentially raise the your levels of usable energy as well as raising your BMR (the amount of calories you burn while resting).

Take a second and consider the body of an elite marathon runner and an elite sprinter…which body composition would you prefer?

Even though low intensity long workouts kill time, puts much more strain on your joints and even breaks down a lot of your muscle composition, I do believe that there are benefits to both.  

LOW INTENSITY is far better for beginners to build a good base and also great for rehab purposes. Personally, I felt like my biggest gain that I got from long distance running was purely mental.  It was great for me when I was stressed through college and needed to clear my mind. 

HIGH INTENSITY is far more time efficient.  As busy as we all are in today’s world, everyone is looking to be as efficient as possible with their time.  Workouts do not need to take hours and hours of your day.  These workouts help grow and strength two of the most important muscles in your body, heart and lungs.  And possibly the most important to those like me who are really trying to hit a weight goal (DID EVERYONE PICK A GOAL AFTER MY LAST POST????) these higher intensity interval workouts will help you burn more fat and train your body to store your food.

Remember…losing weight and losing fat are two completely different things.

I really hope this helped everyone that is just trying to reach their goals and you will incorporate some H.I.I.T. routines into your regimen.  

Have you already started incorporating interval training in your workouts?  What have you found to give you the best results?  I would love to see some comments below if anyone has anything to share regarding their experiences with H.I.I.T.

Until next time…

-Ryan

P.s.

Remember I told you that I once religiously ran 3-5 miles a day.  I got all the way down to 160 for a while (at 5’11”)…Here is a pic of how small i was.  

Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals: A Recipe for Success

Hello World,

Today I wanted to talk about goals.  I continually see patrons come in and out of the gym (especially with New Years coming around) with no real direction and I believe that a huge part of the reason is that they have not truly thought about their goals.  Throughout business and fitness I have repeatedly heard about setting SMART goals.  

Make sure that you truly think about your goals and that they pertain to all of the pertaining areas.  

• Specific – Never say “Well I just want to lose a bit of weight.”  How much weight do you want to lose? What do you want your body fat percentage to be?  What do you want to squat?  What ever area that your goal is in, make sure your specific.
• Measurable – How are you going to measure your goals?  Weight? Strength? Speed?
• Attainable – Is it realistic?  Heads up…You are not going to lose 100lbs in 3 weeks just like I am not going to bench press 350 next week.  Be realistic in your goal setting.
• Relevant – Make sure that your fitness goals are relevant to what you truly want.
• Time Bound – I think this is one of the biggest miss steps in fitness goals.  You must give yourself a timeline.  It holds you accountable and accountability is key.  SET A DEADLINE FOR WHEN YOU WANT TO REACH YOUR GOAL…

This is a great way to think when setting those New Years resolutions that are right around the corner!

In the start of 2011 is when I started to work in the fitness industry originally and it was also when I realized I was out of shape terribly (the first time).  I worked at a gym but not as a trainer.  I was spoiled in the sense that I was already there and if I had a question, and I had a lot, I always had trainers around to answer them.  I originally set a goal to drop from 210 down to 180 by the end of summer.  I felt like that was when I was the healthiest and with my build it was very realistic.  Although I had been involved with sports my whole life, I was never really a gym rat and really had no idea what I was doing.  My diet was atrocious and I never worked out going into this experiment.  I was able to clean up my diet a bit and started asking questions as much as possible.  If I could give 1 piece of advice to any new gym member is this: DO NOT BE INTIMATED AND DON’T BE SCARED TO ASK QUESTIONS!  95% of trainers are there because they love their job and they love to help people.  They love answering questions.  I did not reach my original deadline of the end of summer but by Halloween I finally hit my goal and was under 180lbs. 

***I apologize for the awful underwear pic

Fast forward a couple years and I have to admit that I gained about half of it back.  I lost my dedication and got very sloppy.  However, that is also one of the main points that I want to drill into my readers.  Just because you are not where you used to be doesn’t mean you can not make it back.  All you have to do is be dedication, consistent and persistent.  You do not have to be a professional or have the genes of a Greek god to get into shape.  I know that I am not carved from stone but that does not stop me from pushing.  Below is a picture of me that I took today.  Call it a “Before” picture since today I am setting new goals.  I have admittedly dropped off my regular fitness routine since returning from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico this summer (roughly 3 months ago) but I am now ready to be dedicated and turn this around again.

 My two main goals for now:

• I am going to be back down to 175 lbs by April 1st.  I would like to be there sooner but with moving across country and the holidays I felt like it was needed to set a more realistic timeline.
• I am going to enter and finish a 10k by the same date

As this evolves, I will continually update you on my progress and hope that you will also share your goals and progress with me!  I have also been thinking of a year-long mileage challenge for myself.  I used to love cardio and now I just get bored doing it and feel like with a challenge I can push myself harder to reach it.  What would be a fair challenge…run 500 miles a year?

I would love if some of you commented below with your thoughts on everything.  What are your goals?  What do you think would be a good mileage challenge?

Until next time…

-Ryan

...And it has begun

Good Afternoon World,

I really wanted a discussion forum where I can speak about fitness, my goals, my challenges, and my progress throughout them all and that is why I decided to start this new blog.  My goal is that everyday people will read this blog and realize that you do not have to be a bodybuilder or professional athlete to reach your fitness goals.  I would love for others to share their progress along the way as well as to continually inspire people.

Along with fitness, I am admittedly obsessed with films of all genres.  Any conversations regarding movies is welcomed with open ears.  I do not want to open up to what my favorite movies are right now but I will be doing blogs later on of my favorite movies and genres and cannot wait for the discussions to come.

I will be updating this very regularly.  I am aiming to put up a small entry after every workout and full blogs with a range of topics at least 2-3 times a week.

Tomorrow, 12/5/2013, I will be posting all my physical stats and my new goals so that I can track progress with everyone.

Until next time…

-Ryan