Are You A GAMER

I (re)read an article by Joe Defranco a little while ago. 

In that article he defined what it means to be a GAMER. Basically, he reckons that the people he trains who have the qualities defined by this acronym are the athletes who are/will be  successful.

In a large part I agree:
Goal-oriented. If you dont know where you are going, you are never going to get there. You need to sit down and define those goals.
Accountable. If you dont achieve, you admit your guilt. You are the one who has to drive the process. If you fail fail, its your fault.
Motivated. Sure, Guru-Bob can help raise your motvation, but he wont be there every morning with a speech to psych you up. Ultimately you need to develop the internal drive that will keep you on the road to your goals.

Exact. Goal=Method. You train for what you want to achieve. No messing around with fluff.
Resilient. Every now and then life will kick you between the goalposts and you will fall down. You need to have the strength to stand back up. Setbacks, problems and unforeseen occurrences may slow you down. They should never stop you. 

This list is not a bad place to start looking if you are failing to reach your goals.
If I think about the number of people I know that have achieved their goals, I realise that its a very short list. Most never get very far.
Are you one of the achiever or one of the dropouts?
In the end its all about you. 

If you want to read the actual article: Are you a gamer?

Patience

They say patience is a virtue. That means our modern world is not very virtuous.
Everything is about immediate instantaneous results. "six week" abs anyone?
Nobody wants to try the "6 years to a big bench" routine. No thanks, I want to do it in 12 weeks or less.
The same people who avoid setting a 6 year goal, are the same ones who haven't changed very much 6 years later.
I am one of them. I hate long-term. I want results now. This makes it extremely difficult for me to stick to a plan. So, I developed a plan to counteract my lack of patience.
I call it my "long term instant gratification" plan. (Not in public, though).
I take my long-term goals and break them down into specific exercises. Those get targeted with progressions that I can measure. Then I pad some other stuff around that. Currently that is some rehab work on my gimpy shoulder. I may even move things around within the week, but the main exercise will get trained at least once a week, and checked against the goal.
My real desire is to jump around and try everything, but that achieves nothing. Sometimes, even the variety that I have built in is not enough to overcome my impatience to be awesome right now. On those days, I simply have to buckle down and force myself to keep going. A bit of hard graft builds character, I've been told.
Progress is a lifetime pursuit, not a drive-thru takeout order.
.

Workouts 57, 58, 59

WEEK 1 of the new plan. It's mostly tweaking of the previous method.
I will have to give it a fair shot of at least one cycle. 
It's not perfect. (Is it ever?). But, I think I might be getting the basic pattern right.
Time (and increasing strength) will tell. 
Hopefully the shoulder stability work will keep me from breaking down.


MON
 SQUAT
65x5, 90x5, 110x5, 110x5, 110x5
 BENCH
50x5, 70x5, 85x5, 85x5, 85x5
 RACK CLEAN
60x3, 60x3, 60x3, 60x3, 60x3


WED
 TGU                             24x3
 REVERSE CRUNCH      8,6
 WALL SLIDES              10,10
 PLANK                        45s, 15s
 YTLI + WING                10+5
 DISLOCATIONS             5, 5
 INV ROW                      10,10,10
 SCAP PUSHUP            10,10,10
 SWINGS                     24x15,15,10,10


FRI
 SQUAT
70x5, 90x5, 113x5, 113x5, 113x5
 PRESS
20x5, 30x5, 35x5, 35x5, 35x5
 DEADLIFT
70x5, 95x5, 120x5 
CHIN
15x3, 15x4, 15x3

Workout 54 55 56

Mon [13/02/2012]
 Heavy Deadlift
 Shoulder Press
 Squat

Wed
 Turkish Getup
 Pushup
 Swing
 Goblet Squat
[Skipped some exercises]

Fri
 Squat
 Bench
 Row

This arrangement didn't work out exactly as planned. There were one or two logistical issues that upset the week too. In the end I just didn't feel that I had the balance right for my goals.

Next week will be similar, but a better arrangement, and hopefully better matching with my prehab/rehab and goals.

Workouts This Week v2

Well, some more tweaking went on, and things changed a little.

I needed to make one or two changes to my new plan, so it's actually very close to the previous one again.
I've got Wed a bit more firmed up, and include Kettlebells, which I've missed a bit.
I also trimmed the Bodyweight stuff to bare bones. Plus a little bit of rehab work for my shoulders thrown in.
Hopefully I have the balance right now. We'll know in a few weeks.

There is still inspiration from "Power to the People", "Madcow 5x5", 531, "Enter the Kettlebell".
It's a bit eclectic, but so are my goals.

Along with all this I've changed my eating plan. I've tried a couple of Intermittent Fasting approaches, but none of them have really worked for me. The LeanGains approach is a bit more to my liking. It's been almost a week already, and so far, so good.

The next cycle is under way...

Where Did Cord Caldragin Go?

He wanted his own space... http://caldragin.blogspot.co.nz/

The Itch

You know the feeling. You suddenly develop an itch right in the middle of your back, and you just can't seem to reach it. Its infuriating.
Do you have a similar feeling about your training and goals? If, for some reason you can't train, does it annoy you? Not because you are missing training, but rather because you know that your ability to achieve your goals is being compromised.
For some reason my shoulder has been niggly this week. Thankfully I'm having a rest week, so it may not be a major issue. It has prevented me from entering a powerlifting comp, but that is secondary to my primary goals.
I have the itch that can only be scratched by training, and the thought that my shoulder might not be back to normal by Monday does annoy me. A lot.
That itch is a necessary evil in training. Without it you will lack the drive needed to persevere despite obstacles.
I know that even if the shoulder is an issue, I will find a way to accomodate it, fix it, and then work it all the way to success.
Yep, the itch is what keeps you going. Its what makes you work hard in order to soothe the irritation of not yet having reached the goal.
If its not there, its time to double-check your goals.
Do you truly want them? Cos if you do, the itch will be there.

Giving It Horns

How much do you bench?
How many pullups can you do?
How much do you weigh?
These are queations that we don't want to answer because the vast majority of the time we feel our number is not good enough.
Even if we have been working fervently towards a goal, the inevitable question often seems to pop up when we are least prepared for it.
Oh well, such is life.
But, I'm sure that there is a number that you can think of that you would be happy to give as an answer.
What prevents you from giving it? What has been responsible for you not being able to give it?
You may get asked the question again today, or next week. What will be different? Will you be closer to it than you are now, or still just as far off?
Now is the time to take action. Decide what your number should be.
Fix that number, and then plot the steps you need to accomplish in order to reach it.
When you have your goal, and you've created your plan - go for it!
Give it horns, and refuse to quit until the day when you get asked for your number, and you can reply with a number that you feel is good.

Workout 51 52 53

Week 5 of the 12 week plan.

Day 1:
Squat: 5x 60,75,90,105,120
Bench: 5x 55,65,70,80,90
Deadlift: 5x 95,110,125 [cluster of 5]

Day 2:
Pushups: 20 20
Inv Row: 20 14
L-Handstand Pushup: 10
Face Pulls: 10 10
Short Bridge: 20 20
Asst 1 Leg Squat: 6 6
Dips: 20 14
Chins: 5 5 5 3
Bench Lying Raise: 20
Supermans (5Sec): 10

Day 3:
Squat: 5x 60,75,90,105
           3x125
           8x90
Bench: 5x 55,65,70,80
            3x 90
            8x 75
Pendlay Row: 5x 40,55,60,70
         3x 75
         8x 60

The volume is accumulating...
I'm thinking of entering a powerlifting meet next week, we shall see.