Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote

Tags

Beauty, Happiness, Love, Power, trailblazer, Zhuangzi

“Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.” – Zhuangzi

“The wise man knows that it is better to sit on the banks of a remote mountain stream than to be emperor of the whole world.” ― Zhuangzi

“A path is made by walking on it.” ― Zhuangzi

Hello, all!

I was feeling a little philosophical today, so I went out and dug up some quotes from Zhuangzi. I really enjoy some of the Chinese philosophers (Zhuangzi, Lao Tzu, Confucious). I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

The first is about having a “state of being”. You are either happy or you are not. If you are trying to be happy you will be trying forever.

The second quote has a few meanings for me. I think the most relevant is the importance of love and beauty over power.

The last makes me think about all of the trailblazers throughout our history, like Lewis and Clark, Emilia Earhart, or Marco Polo. The paths these people created, did not exist until they created them.

Have a great rest of your Sunday!!

Daily Ramblings – Workout Log

Today’s workout was a non-template workout, but a good one. Since I’ve completed Week 1, Phase 2 of the Shortcut to Size Workout, I decided to do some weight-lifting, but for cardio purposes on Saturday and Sunday. Today’s target was lower body, Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Abdominals, Obliques, and Lumbar muscles.

Today’s workout:

• Squats 4 x 30
• Leg Press 4 x 30
• Leg Extension 4 x 30
• One-leg Hamstring curls 4 x 30
• Romanian Deadlift 4 x 30
• Machine Crunches 4 x 30
• Wood Cutter 4 x 30
• Machine Back Extensions 4 x 30

Macros from yesterday:

Carbs 254g; Protein 216g; Fat 98g A little over on carbs.

Enjoy your Sunday. Week 2, Day 1, Shortcut to Size commences tomorrow.

Until tomorrow!!

Daily Ramblings – Workout Log

Tags

Cardio, Reps, Upper-Body

Today’s workout was a non-template workout, but a good one. Since I’ve completed Week 1, Phase 2 of the Shortcut to Size Workout, I decided to do some weight-lifting, but for cardio purposes on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was upper body, targeting the back, shoulders, chest, biceps, triceps, and forearms.

Today’s workout:

• Wide Grip Pulldowns 4 x 30
• Seated Rows 4 x 30
• Dumbbell Press 4 x 30
• Dumbbell Flyes 4 x 30
• Smith Rack Shoulder Press 4 x 30
• Smith Rack Shrugs 4 x 30
• Cable Tricep Pushdowns 4 x 30
• Dumbbell Seated Tricep Extensions 4 x 30
• Cable Curls 4 x 30
• Preacher Bench Curls 4 x 30
• Dumbbell Forearm curls 4 x 30
• Only 15-30 seconds between sets; 1-2 minutes rest between exercises.
• Got in a great sweat and the gym was empty–LOVE IT!!!

Macros from yesterday:

Carbs 231g; Protein 242g; Fat 108g All below my thresholds–Awesome!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I’ll post my lower body cardio workout tomorrow when I’m back from the gym!

Until tomorrow!!

 

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quotes

Tags

Emerson, Friends, Friendship

“A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Saturday everyone! The weekends are meant for rejuvenating, spending time with friends and family, and maybe even doing a little self-exploration. These quotes from Emerson are about the infinite capabilities that lie within us and the pricelessness of true friendship.

My weekend started off with a great upper-body cardio workout (lots of reps, minimal rest periods, and light weights).

Today we went to Richmond, MI and visited one of their flea markets. My folks love antiquing and flea markets so we spent the day rummaging through all kinds of things displayed by the numerous vendors there. We also had a great breakfast at a place called the Village Cafe. It was really busy for a small town like Richmond. I had a pork chop and eggs breakfast that was phenomenal. My Dad had his typical eggs and toast and my Mom had a Tuna Sandwich without the bread (she is allergic to gluten). A great meal, once we got sat down.

The rest of my day will be reading, getting caught up on my writing, and preparing for another day of cardio at the gym. I hope everyone’s weekend is going well!

Here’s to adventure, recharging batteries, and hanging out with friends and family.

See you tomorrow…

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quotes

Tags

Achievement, Dreaming, Goals, Harold Klemp, Perseverance, Planning, Sam Levenson, Stephen Hawking, Walter Elliot

“Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson

“Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.” – Stephen Hawking

“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.” – Walter Elliot

“If you can dream something, you can do it. As long as you do not align your actions with your dreams, you are not fulfilling your destiny.” – Harold Klemp – The Language of Soul

Today’s quotes are all about perseverance, curiosity, and following your dreams. I felt these would be good quotes to offer in front of the weekend when all of us have a little more time than the frantic weekdays.

This weekend, dream a little. Think about where you’d like to be. Think about where you’d like to go and do. Once you come up with these things—be, do, and go. Come up with a plan to achieve who you want to be, to do the things you want to do, and go the places you want to go. Once your plan is in place, keep going, using small little increments to get there. It’s just that simple.

Have a great weekend everyone! I’ll post some more quotes on Monday!

Until next time…

Daily Ramblings – Workout Log

Tags

Abdominals, Hamstrings, Jym, Jym Army, Macros, Quadriceps, Stoppani, Supplements

Today’s Exercises

Legs

• Squats 4 x 15 (345lbs)
• Front Squats 3 x 15 (285lbs)
• Leg Extension 3 x 15 (140lbs)
• Romanian Deadlift 4 x 12 (135lbs)
• Standing Leg Curl 3 x 15 (30lbs)

Abdominals

• Hanging Leg Lift 3 x 20
• Crunch 3 x 30
• Plank 3 x 45 seconds

Workout Overview

Today’s workout is Day 4 Week 1 Phase 2 of Jim Stoppani’s Shortcut to Size (www.jimstoppani.com). This workout works in three 4-week cycles starting on week 1 with rep ranges of 12-15. All exercises this week will be in the 12-15 range. Today was the final weight lifting workout for the week. Week 2 starts next Monday.

This workout attacks the Quadriceps and Hamstrings hitting both on the Squat, concentrating on the Quads with Front Squats and Leg Extensions. We attack the Hamstrings with Romanian Deadlifts and Standing 1 Leg Curls. You’ll notice that the 1 leg curl weight is quite low. This is purposeful, as I have nerve damage in my left leg from a major back surgery in 2003 that left me with a weaker left leg. It is not impossible to train, but the progress on my left leg is much slower than my right, which was unaffected. Subsequently, my left leg dictates the weight my right leg will lift so I don’t end up looking lopsided with my right leg looking larger than the left. Note: This only affects the back side of my leg. The nerves running down the front of my left leg are also unaffected. Finally, we wrap up the workout with another day of abdominals, attacking the lower abs with leg lifts, the upper and mid abs with Crunches, and the entire core with planks. The goal by the end of this 12-week program is to hit 3 sets of 75 seconds on the planks (40 seconds kicked my butt today).

Current Bodyweight

My current weight is 235lbs and I am 6’ tall. The goal is to be around 245-250 by the end of this 12-week workout and maintaining my body fat percentage, which is around 20%. This is higher than I’d like, but during any bulking phase, it is quite common to gain some body fat or stay where you started because of a large amount of food a mass building program requires.

My Macros

My current macros were calculated using Jim Stoppani’s recommendations. He recommends 1.5 to 2.0 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, .5 grams of fat per pound of bodyweight, and 2.0 grams of carbohydrates per pound of bodyweight. Since I am trying to maintain my body fat percentage, I’ve reduced the carbohydrate intake to 1.0 gram of carbs per pound of bodyweight.

235lbs (current weight)

235 x 1.5 = 352.5 grams of protein per day

235 x 1 = 235 grams of carbohydrates per day

235 x .5 = 117.5 grams of fat per day (rounded to 117 for ease of tracking)

Yesterday’s macros

208g of Carbohydrates; 124g of fat; 118g of Protein. Still dealing with being bound up. I added flax seed to my oatmeal in the morning to cure this. Again, another day without protein supplements in light of this blockage and let my digestive system catch up.

I use my MyFitnessPal (I the iTunes App Store) to track my macros each day.

Supplements and Water intake

Water

Water intake is more than a gallon a day. I drink a gallon of water just with my pre-workout, during-workout, and post-workout drinks. The rest of my water intake is around my meals (six in total each day).

Morning

• ProJym
• AlphaJym
• ShredJym
• PreJym

During Workout

• Extend BCAA during workout

Post Workout

• PostJym Dextrose and BCAA Matrix
• ProJym
• OmegaJym
• VitaJym
• CLA

Evening

• ZMAJym

 

Weekend

Saturday and Sunday will be Cardio Workouts for 45 minutes/day

My off day each week is Wednesday

See you tomorrow!!

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quotes

Tags

Character, creativity, Emotions, Imagination, Responsibility, Wayne Dyer

“One of the most responsible things you can do as an adult is to become more of a child.” – Dr. Wayne. W. Dyer

This quote is terrific. Children are so open, so creative, so inherently happy—until they are socialized and their dreams and imagination dwindle away. To truly live, we have to capture that child-like curiosity, happiness, and imagination. This life can be a truly rich experience if we can only get these things back.

“I cannot always control what goes on outside. But I can always control what goes on inside.” – Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

This is about our internal attitudes and character. This eludes to one of yesterday’s quotes by Gandhi and Steven Covey. We cannot control what other people do, the weather, or world events. We can only control the way we react to these things. If you are unattached to things you will find that your life will become much less stressful and easier. If you are attached to things, it is like being an inflexible tree. When the winds of change come blowing, the inflexible tree will be snapped. The same things apply to us. We have to be flexible, take everything with a grain of salt, realizing that everything is in its rightful place in the worlds of God and that God will never, ever give us a problem we are not capable of handling.

“Remember that your imagination is yours and yours alone. You have the inborn capacity to use it in any way that you choose. No one else is responsible for your imagination. Anything placed in your imagination and held there ultimately becomes your reality.” – Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Have you ever done the experiment of imagining biting into a lemon? This is one of the typical thought experiments I think everyone has been hit within their psychology 101 class. When you imagine biting into a lemon your mind communicates this to your body and you start to salivate. The same thing happens when we worry about things, get angry about things, feel afraid, or sad or any number of emotions. We create them. This all drifts down from our emotional level of thinking and comes right into the physical body.

If you want a pleasant and calm life, imagine a pleasant and calm life and let go of the negative things, the anger, the jealousy, the fear, the attachment to a thing, place, or an idea, the lust for things. If you can focus on positive things, things that you are grateful for, happy, or excited about, your life will follow these imaginative thoughts. It’s the way this world—your world—works.

I hope you enjoyed today’s quotes.

See you tomorrow!

Daily Ramblings – Workout Log

Tags

Calve Presses, Calves, Carbs, Fats, Lateral Raise, Macros, Proteins, Shoulder Press, Shoulders, Shrugs, Trapezoids, Upright Row

Today’s Exercises

Shoulders

• Dumbbell Shoulder Press 4 x 12-15
• Smith Machine Upright Row 3 x 12-15
• One-Arm Cable Lateral Raise 3 x 12-15
• Bent over Lateral Raise 3 x 12-15

Trapezoids

• Barbell Shrug 4 x 12-15

Calves

• Seated Calve Raise 4 x 25-30
• Leg Press Calve Raise 4 x 25-30

Workout Overview

Today’s workout is Day 3 Week 1 Phase 2 of Jim Stoppani’s Shortcut to Size (www.jimstoppani.com). This workout works in three 4-week cycles starting on week 1 with rep ranges of 12-15. All exercises this week will be in the 12-15 range.

The workout today attacks the Deltoids (Shoulders), the Trapezoids, and the Calves. As you can see above, 4 sets dedicated to attacking the Deltoids from different angles, utilizing different methods (dumbbells, Smith Machine, Cables). The Trapezoids get one exercise of 4 sets (Barbell Shrug). The calves get two 4-set exercises of Seated Calves and Leg Press Calves. You’ll notice that the rep ranges on the calves is higher than the rest. This is due to the Calve muscles and how they are built. Lots of reps are the key in light of this muscle’s construction (your calves are stressed all day long regardless of a workout and thus need to be attacked with endurance-type work. As we progress through the cycle these numbers will decrease, because we will be adding more weight to the exercises.

Current Bodyweight

My current weight is 235lbs and I am 6’ tall. The goal is to be around 245-250 by the end of this 12-week workout and maintaining my body fat percentage, which is around 20%. This is higher than I’d like, but during any bulking phase, it is quite common to gain some body fat or stay where you started because of a large amount of food a mass building program requires.

My Macros

My current macros were calculated using Jim Stoppani’s recommendations. He recommends 1.5 to 2.0 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, .5 grams of fat per pound of bodyweight, and 2.0 grams of carbohydrates per pound of bodyweight. Since I am trying to maintain my body fat percentage, I’ve reduced the carbohydrate intake to 1.0 gram of carbs per pound of bodyweight.

235lbs (current weight)

235 x 1.5 = 352.5 grams of protein per day

235 x 1 = 235 grams of carbohydrates per day

235 x .5 = 117.5 grams of fat per day (rounded to 117 for ease of tracking)

Yesterday’s macros: 250g of Carbs; 182g of Fat; and 151g of Protein. I’ve been a little bloated the last few days and avoided protein shakes, which normally gets me to my 300+ grams per day. I made a mistake and used a brand I’ve not used before and it through my system out of whack. I’m going to minimize protein powders for the remainder of the week and just eat a lot of small meals throughout the day, along with a lot of fiber to clear me out (so to speak 😊).

I use my MyFitnessPal (I the iTunes App Store) to track my macros each day.

This workout only happens on Mon-Tue and Thu-Fri.

Tomorrow will be the final weight-training day for this workout week. Friday’s focus will be on legs and abs.

Oh! I will also be adding the weights I am using starting next week, as this workout routine will remain the same for the next 3 weeks.

See you tomorrow!!

 

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quotes

Tags

Anderson, Cummings, Gandhi, Integration, Responsibility

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” – Mohandas K. Gandhi

“Wellness is the complete integration of body, mind, and spirit – the realization that everything we do, think, feel, and believe has an effect on our state of well-being.” – Greg Anderson

“At the end of the day, you are solely responsible for your success and your failure. And the sooner you realize that, you accept that, and integrate that into your work ethic, you will start being successful. As long as you blame others for the reason you aren’t where you want to be, you will always be a failure.” – Erin Cummings

Today’s quotes revolve around integration and responsibility. Gandhi states that you can achieve happiness when you are integrated. Anderson states you can achieve wellness. Cummings gives us some advice about responsibility.

Of the three I gravitate toward Cummings. His advice is quite wise. Steven Covey offered the same kind of advice, when he stated, “The moment you think the problem is out there; that is the problem (paraphrased).” He speaks about personal responsibility and our need to understand that the problems we have are of our own creation. So true. Sometimes problems are created in our mind. We think we have a problem, someone else doesn’t see it. The same goes for happiness.

We can either choose to be happy or we can choose to be miserable. Happiness is not a journey; it is a state of mind. When someone tells me that when they do, get, or become something they’ll be happy, I pity them. Don’t get me wrong, goals are great things to go after, but not for the purpose of being happy. If you chase happiness, you’ll be chasing it your whole life.

Be happy today. It is nothing more than making a choice.

Until tomorrow…

Daily Ramblings – Workout Log

Tags

Abdominals, Back, Biceps, Macros, Obliques, weight lifting

Today’s Exercises

Back

• One Arm Dumbbell Row 4 x 12-15
• Behind-the-Neck Lat Pulldown 3 x 12-15
• Seated Cable Row (close grip) 3 x 12-15
• Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown 3 x 12-15

Biceps

• Standing Barbell Curl 4 x 12-15
• Preacher Curl 3 x 12-15
• Behind-the-Back Cable Curl 3 x 12-15

Abdominals and Obliques

• Hip Thrust 3 x 20-30
• Crunch 3 x 20-30
• Oblique Crunch 3 x 20-30

Workout Overview

Today’s workout is Day 2 Week 1 Phase 2 of Jim Stoppani’s Shortcut to Size (www.jimstoppani.com). This workout works in three 4-week cycles starting on week 1 with rep ranges of 12-15. All exercises this week will be in the 12-15 range.

The Back, Biceps, Abdominals, and Oblique muscles are the focus of today’s workout. 4 sets of back exercises, attacking the upper, middle, and lower back from different angles and using different apparatus (gravity and cables). 3 Sets of Biceps work attacking both the short and long heads of the bicep (gravity, barbells, EZ-Bar, Preacher Bench, and cables). The abs work is 3 sets using a Smith Rack for the weighted Hip Thrust, Mat for the crunch and oblique crunch sets.

Current Bodyweight

My current weight is 235lbs and I am 6’ tall. The goal is to be around 245-250 by the end of this 12-week workout and maintaining my body fat percentage, which is around 20%. This is higher than I’d like, but during any bulking phase, it is quite common to gain some body fat or stay where you started because of a large amount of food a mass building program requires.

My Macros

My current macros were calculated using Jim Stoppani’s recommendations. He recommends 1.5 to 2.0 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, .5 grams of fat per pound of bodyweight, and 2.0 grams of carbohydrates per pound of bodyweight. Since I am trying to maintain my body fat percentage, I’ve reduced the carbohydrate intake to 1.0 gram of carbs per pound of bodyweight.

235lbs (current weight)

235 x 1.5 = 352.5 grams of protein per day

235 x 1 = 235 grams of carbohydrates per day

235 x .5 = 117.5 grams of fat per day (rounded to 117 for ease of tracking)

Yesterday’s macros: 217 grams of Carbohydrates; 98 grams of Fats; 309 grams of Protein. Not bad.

I use my MyFitnessPal (I the iTunes App Store) to track my macros each day.

This workout only happens on Mon-Tue and Thu-Fri.

 There will be no post tomorrow because it is a rest day. See you again with another update for day 3 of this workout on Thursday.

 See you Thursday!!