2011 Goals
1.) Keep God first
2.) Keep off-season weight under 220
3.) Want to compete at 210-212 with 3% body fat
4.) Go for my 11th National title at the Team USA in Vegas.
5.) Compete and Win 6th Gold and Overall Amateur Mr. Natural Olympia Title in November in Reno, NV.
2010 Goals
1.) Keep God first
2.) Keep off-season weight under 220
3.) Want to compete at 210-212 with 3% body fat
4.) To win my 10th National Heavy/Tall title at the Team USA to get ready for the Natural "O" in Reno.
5.) Compete and Win Overall Amateur Mr. Natural Olympia Title in November in Reno...
Reflection:
1.) Not acquiring #2-5 doesn't mean much if number one isn't done first, which is also the hardest. We all fall short of the glory of God,
but that doesn't mean we give up.
2.) This year was the highest off season weight I have been since 2004. I took out some of my morning cardio and got back some strength.
The downside was that it took me longer to cut down for shows this year, but in the end was worth it.
3.) My weight stayed around 202-205.
4.) Won 10th National Tall/Heavyweight titile at Team USA and got ticket to Natural Olympia in AU, but didn't win Overall this year.
5.) Got back my 5th Gold Medal in Reno, but lost the overall.
Fried Food Trick-Everyone now and then gets that craving for fried food. Mine is fried chicken or country fried steak. Here is a little tip to almost
get the same taste but far less fat and calories. If you use a George Foreman grill one easy way is to overcook it until the skin gets a little hard or
crisp, but here is another way that tastes really good. Take and ground up of whole wheat crumps and mix a little egg in with it then dip the chicken
breast in it to get a layer around it. Also, while it is on the grill you can just sprinkle break crumbs on the top portion while cooking. I know it isn't
deep fried but its almost guilt free.
Foul Language- For those of us that attend church many of us don't like to hear many of the four letter words at any time, especially in the gym,
but for me when I'm teaching P.E., coaching, training, and especially working with my own kids there is one word that I hate even more than all
of those. That word is "CAN'T" I don't know if it just me or how the current generation is being brainwashed with political correctness but for
many of my students they think if they say the word "try" than everything is alright. My response is how do I evaluate try, and is your try as hard
as my try. Usually after try then comes the word can't, and it is scary how automatic they are with it. "I just can't do it." A little over a year ago,
I outlawed the word in my classroom, I told them I hate that word worse that the f-word or s-word. It was amazing how just in a few days my
students would finally get stuff done. I would explain to them that all I understand is done. You are either done with what I want you to do
or your not. This weekend I was reminded of this with my 5year old. We were playing bball in the backyard and she shot once and missed the
basket by about a foot. She yells I CANT do it. I looked at her and told her we don't use that word do we. I show here another way to shoot
the ball up higher, and she hit the rim this time, and got a little smile on her face. Then as I walked away she kept shooting and made
three baskets and ran to high five me. Now, if I would have after the first basket said it's ok you tried lets go inside, she still would have failed
and would have known that she failed. For her, and many of us that talk ourselves into taking a shortcut or making an excuse during our workout,
we let ourselves down, and in my opinion that is one of the worst things you can do.
5 Quick Tips for losing weight-
1.) plate size/portion control
2.) longer/darker compex carbs (rice)
3.) the darker the veggie the better for you
4.) don't use an elevator, use stairs at all times
5.) if it's close walk or bike, leave the car, save the gas, burn the fat!
Side saddle dumbbell preacher curls- This is an interesting exercise. I started doing these recently on a whim because when I would try regular
preacher curls with on or two dumbbells it felt very awkward. One day I was sitting and resting sideways (legs 90 degress on either side of the
preacher bench) and was just kind of stretching my arm out. I noticed that this felt much more natural and decided to do a few single dumbbell curls
from top to bottom, focusing on the entire movement of the exercise. I recently like how it felt. The stretch was deeper and the focus was more
on the peak of my bicep. When I sit with my feet forward I notice my arm wants to pull towards the center and takes away from the stress on the bicep.
Tip-when starting these use a very light weight and superset with kickbacks for a great pump.