Developing a Freak

[booneman77]

I'm a huge Star Wars geek too man! Have adored the series since I was 5 years old.

I thought R1 was great. Not a disappointment at all and I left the theater surprised at how satisfied I was.

I really enjoyed a story totally unattached from the main driving story of the franchise. A separate story in the same universe was just very cool. To me, it made the "Wars" part of the Star Wars way more real.

Excited to hear what you think about it!


Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Enjoying a football Sunday and enjoying an early Christmas present from my in laws

Saw it last night and loved it as well! Satisfied is spot on how I would describe it.

I love how well it ties in with the original and the characters that overlapped were done to perfection. Tarkin especially was impressive as he was such an odd/accented/old guy even in the original.

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Saw it last night and loved it as well! Satisfied is spot on how I would describe it.

I love how well it ties in with the original and the characters that overlapped were done to perfection. Tarkin especially was impressive as he was such an odd/accented/old guy even in the original.

Couldn't agree more. I thought they did very well on that front.

I was really glad to see Tarkin had a fairly prominent role that fleshed out his character. I really enjoyed that. I can't wait to see it again!

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Story time. We are going to learn why we shouldn't get caught up in the minutia of things as it pertains to the effort required to reach a goal.

Its also a story of me having to chose to discontinue working with a client.

Not too long ago I had an online training client who I also trained in person at times. He was a new, young lifter and was very enthusiastic about it. He had set the very achievable goal of participating in his first ever full power lifting meet in the fall of 2017 and had roughly a year to pre-pare.

He came to me and asked if I could help him. I told him that while powerlifting is not my primary focus I knew enough about the sport but more importantly about the "big 3" lifts and how to program and coach to see some decent gains to his current numbers, especially as a beginner, and told him that if he was willing to give my guidance a fair shot that I would then be happy to help him.

He agreed and off we went. I developed a sound plan that was the first phase in a training block to see his numbers increase and get him used to some basic powerlifting focused training.

After I had sent him the plan and we met to discuss it in person as well as email back and forth about it as well as do some training in the gym it became very evident to me that he was very caught up in the minutia of the sport. He had been training for powerlifting for a VERY short time prior to us working together and he already had:

- multiple powerlifting belts
- multiple weight training bands
- several variations of knee sleeves
- several variations of elbow sleeves
-at least two pairs of both knee and wrist wraps
- a sling shot (a product that Mark Bell produces)
- heel elevated squat shoes
- a TON of chalk
- a gym bag big enough to cram all of this in


Now there is nothing wrong with having any of these things. They are tools that serve a purpose when needed.

But humor me here: Lets say you came across a big gym bag with all of this stuff in it. You might think to yourself "wow, this person who owns all of this gear must be really strong and must be able to handle a ton of poundage."

A very normal and observant thing to consider yes?

The problem? The client really had no business having any of this. He had advanced equipment, and he was a novice beginner.

But it wasn't just the equipment. I could tell from our initial consultation and my new client questionnaire I had him fill out for me that he was very new to the sport and so a simple and basic program would go a LONG way. He would see some awesome progress by milking the basics.

However he was very quick to want to try and do some variations of training techniques and philosophies that were very beyond him and not needed at his point in development at all. Frankly, he hindered himself when he chose to do these things opposed to basic and sound powerlifting training principles that have taken thousands of people to very respectable numbers on the bench, squat, and deadlift regardless of their starting point.

What was more difficult was that he was an avid reader about all things powerlifting. This is good and bad. It is good to want to learn and master your craft. It is bad when you read something and don't think critically for a moment to consider if it is appropriate for you to apply to your personal scenario whatever it is you just read, watched or heard.

He would have, and still could, make a TON of progress by simply following tried and true basics before throwing all of this extra fancy pants stuff at the equation. But his focus on the minutia was keeping him blind to reality.

And the worst thing about it was his progress was so small compared to what it could have been and his current ability did not warrant the use of any of that equipment. Sadly, this was a client I had to let go and not work with anymore because he was not willing to follow the coaching he brought me in to do.

He had the cart before the horse and missed the forest for the trees.


Point being is this: FOCUS on the" meat and potatoes". A ton of progress can be made via the trade and true basics. The cherry on top is when things like advanced techniques or equipment are needed.

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Man is Tier 3 of Fortitude training tough! On paper it might not look like much but if you really push yourself it is very challenging.


Today was lower body loading sets. 3 work sets for the main Lowe body movement and one work set for a hamstring specific lift and one set for a quad specific lift.

As I lay here in bed my legs are fried. Completely. Love it.

I have fallen off the horse when it comes to video and pictures and I have to rectify that immediately.

However I did take one pic and my face should tell you how I felt during the session lol.

12/19/16 FT Basic Tier 3 Day 1A
Cardio: none
Front squat machine (two additional loading sets) ZZ SLDL zz LF leg extension: 7x7pps/8x315/12xstack, 8x5pps, 7x5pps (F)

LF Straight Leg CR (no more donkey calf machine at gym: 10x215, 9, 8, 7, 7(F)

Magnum Flat machine Prime Seated Row Pump Super Sets: 20x180/25x70, 20/20

DB laterals/lateral machine/rear delt fly: 40x10kgs/20x60/15x96, 40/20/15, 40/15/12

Front to back iso cable curls: 20x17.5/5, 16/5
Straight bar cable press down to over head cable extension: 20x52.5/5, 15/5


Weight was 246.0 today.


https://vimeo.com/196375870

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Good session today. Still felt fairly torched from last nights sessions, especially legs, but I still got in and had a good one none the less and made sure I improved from last time around.

12/20/16 FT Basic Tier 3 Day2A
Cardio: none
Rack Deadlift zig zag with prime plate loaded pull down: 7x495/6x4p, 8x405/8x3p+25, 6/6, 10x315 F/7.5x3p F

***did not do, battling costochondritis for a while and need to give it a rest***Incline Smith Barbbell press zig zag with flat DB fly: 9x3pps/6x30kgs

***was in use, did HS seated press instead*** Seated smith Barbbell press zig zag with prime lateral raise machine: 7x205/12x170

HS SP ZZ prime lateral raise: 9x2pps/12x90, 8/12x110, 8/10x130, 8/12 F

Leg Press: 15x2pps (wide), 20x2pps (close)
Prime leg ext: 30x2p
Prime Lying leg curl: 20x1p+25p
Seated calf raise: 20x175, 20


Vid of one of the sets of 405 on rack pulls

https://vimeo.com/196497401

 

[Cole Dreyer]

For general weight loss goals I am not a proponent of a meal plan.

Meal planing meaning you have set meals that are the same or have some variation day today but largely keep you eating the same things over and over again.

For clients who have come to me to saying that they want to lose "x amount of pounds" and ask me if I will develop a meal plan for them I work to help them realize that that probably won't help them in the long run.

Why? Two reasons primarily.

1. Few people have the long term discipline to stay on a the same meal plan to lose a significant amount of weight (lets say 30 + pounds). The lack of variety and fun really kill any progress.

2. If the person does stay on the meal plan and does reach their weight loss goal...then what? What do they do once they reach their goal and meal plan isn't needed anymore? Well we see what happens - they go off it and typically gain some weight back.

So what do I recommend for most people? I will tell you - its not exciting or sexy but it works!!!

I like a simple calorie count or a simple daily set macronutrient intake or a combination there of (because they kind of are the same thing).

Why do I like this?

Because it is simple to follow and can be applied to almost any scenario in life and you can lose A LOT of weight doing such.

Heck you can get down right shredded doing simple things like that provided it is coupled with a solid training program.


So for those who want to go on a set meal plan (especially any of the fancy shmancy marketed ones you say that "guarantee" all kinds of results) understand that you don't have to do that. It is arduous and really sets a lot of people up for failure.

Rather some planning and little reading can have you feeling in control of weight loss or gain with some simple tracking and recording.

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Just when a muscle round day doesn't look like much on paper is when it gets ya! Legs still feel like jelly a solid 4.5 hours later.

Hacks felt good but my left hip must be a bit off from my right because my left foot is always sightly higher up in my stance and is always rotated outward a bit more then my right so I gotta figure that out. No pain in the leg though - all the tension is kept right on the muscle.

It felt good to do the compound movements after the isolated movements - all the blood from those movements in the muscles really caused some great activation.





12/22/16 Basic Tier 3 Day 3A
Cardio: none
Prime leg extension MR: 4x5p:4/4/4/4/4
Prime lying leg curl: 4x2p+10/4/4/4/4/4
Hack squat: 4x4pps/4/4/4/4/4, 4x4pps/4/4/2/4x3pps/4
Smith machine CR: 4x2pps/4/4/4/4/4x3
Prime preacher curl: 4x120/4/4/4/4/4

An important thought to consider when goal sitting is to consider how willing you are to be uncomfortable and choose delayed gratification.
Your willingness to experience both of these things will largely impact how successful you are and how quickly you are successful toward your goal.
This applies to weight/fat loss, especially in significant amounts, tremendously.

 

[Cole Dreyer]

https://vimeo.com/196809571

 

[Cole Dreyer]

For those looking to build the most muscle possible and be the biggest freak possible:


Really consider and dive into some research regarding high frequency training. Something where you might train each body part 3-4 times a week. There have been some great examples of people who have built enormous amounts of muscle who followed this type of training programing.

I have found for myself and others, especially us who are not "genetically gifted" that this style of training along with the focus to progressively overload (get stronger) as much as possible really slaps on the tissue, provided diet is conducive for such.

Not that your standard body part split with a frequency of 1-2 times a week is not effective - because there are many examples where it is - but just something to consider as I know many of us "meat heads" don't try what isn't normal or comfortable for very long because are afraid "it won't work" and that we will waste time.

Be willing to try something new or different from what you "believe" is the only way to do it - you might just strike some gold.

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Good quick session today before family started rolling in for Christmas.


Hope you guys have a stellar holiday season and merry Christmas! Catch you all back next week!


12/23/16 Basic Tier 3 Day 4A
Cardio: none
Mag nuetral grip MR: 4x170/4/4/4/4/4, 4x140/4/4/4/4/4
Prime Seated row machine MR: 4x150/4/4/4x190/4/4, 4x150/4/4/4x170/4/4

***didnt do chest cause of costochondritis**

Prime Shrugs: 10x2pps, 10, 6x3pps

Prime SP MR: 4x2pps+25ps/4/4/1/4x1pps+25ps/4/4 - only 1 MR today because press for time.

 

[booneman77]

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Thanks boss man! How was your Christmas and New Years!?

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Well boys and girls happy new year! I had a nice time traveling and being with family and am now back into it full swing. Here is today's session. This is blast 2 of Fortitude Training for my wife and I. We have the following 6 weeks planned to go as:

Week 1 Basic Tier 1
Week 2-3 Basic Tier 2
Week 4-5 Basic Tier 3
Week 6 Turbo Tier 1

Its gonna be good!

I got about 30 or so pounds I want to drop and it is full tilt towards that.

1/2/16 Blast #2 Basic Tier 1 Day 1A
Lower load
Legend squat machine/SLDL/Prime Leg ext: 7x7pps/8x315/12x4p
LF calf raise: 10x235, 7
Upper pump
Magnum fly/Prime seated row machine: 30x168/17x150
Magnum reverse fly/lateral raise machine:15x96/20x60
Iso cable curl front to back/straight bar press down: 17.5/15 to 5/25x42.5

Most would agree to various extents that our behaviors should be a product of our values.
This absolutely applies to our fitness goals and desire to enjoy our physical bodies. However I find that a lot of people don't quite always apply this to their exercise and eating habits.
You will see a person who seemingly has a good set of values and who lives a life that is driven by such as it relates to their family, their work, life in their community etc.
However when it comes to their health and fitness that same value driving force doesn't have the same carry over or at the very least it is not as powerful as it is in other areas of life?
Why is this? In my experience that is really harder to say then it might seem. The easy cop out answer is to say "Well, if your are value driven in other areas of life and are successful in those areas then take that same drive and apply it to your fitness goals."
This has been proven to not help most people who are not reaching their goals because gyms are filled with very unhealthy and overweight people who are KILLING it in other categories of life.
But I think there lies part of the problem. Too many people segregate their life. They say I have a:
"personal life"
"family life"
"job life"
etc.
The thing is, no part of life is truly unattached to any other. The same goes for our "health and fitness life" and any who disagree are lying to themselves. All components of our lives add up to a greater whole that is affected by each part
I don't have the answer to why it is so hard for many to achieve the same levels of success in this part of their life as it is others but I think the key to beginning to figuring out why is to really examine your values, how they drive the other aspects of your life and why you are successful in those aspects because of your values, and then consider why there isn't the same carry over for you.
I think too many people have a desire to reach a health and fitness goal, just as they do in the other parts of their lives, but for whatever reason they do not sit and think critically on how they are going to be about achieving that goal.
Give this part of your life the same credence as you do others and then watch how it acts as a catalyst to really add a lot of more value to the other parts of your life.

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Vids from today. Ready to get all that Lard off me

https://vimeo.com/197830747

https://vimeo.com/197830782

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Fairly good session today. Wasn't outstanding but was not bad at all. Humbling in that I really need to dig in and work on my pressing strength. I believe my upper body is lacking because of direct correlation to not having the strength needed for BIG size. Looking forward to seeing how strong I can get while stripping fat off over the next several months.

1/3/16 FT Blast 2 Week 1 Basic Tier 1 Day2A
Cardio: none
Upper load sets
HS iso horiz row ZZ prime high pull down: 7x3pps/9x1pps+25ps, 7x2pps+25ps/8
Smith incline press ZZ legend fly machine: 6x2pps/12x100 - wary of lingering costo chondrites here
Prime seated SP ZZ white lateral raise machine: 3x3pps/6.5x2pps/ 10x100
Lower Pump Sets

Leg Press: 25x2pps
LF leg ext: 20x150
LF seated leg curl: 20x105
LF standing calf raise: 25x175

 

[Cole Dreyer]

https://vimeo.com/197979597


https://vimeo.com/197979779

 

[Cole Dreyer]

The best way to develop a young kid/child into the best possible athlete they can be?

Encourage them to play multiple sports and DON’T try to have them train or be trained like they are professional athletes.

I read a very thoughtful and well backed article on this topic. I found it interesting to me because youth sports, in some arena’s, have become seemingly as competitive as elite levels of play within the same arena’s. When a young athlete is lead to participate in one sport and become “sport-specific” it can really hamper their overall athletic ability and athletic development and even increase their risk of injury.

If you have a young athlete in your family this would be worth a read I think. Especially if you are a competitive parent. It has taught me as a man who someday hopes to be a father that if I have a child who wants to play sports that I will encourage them to play as many different types they want.

https://drjohnrusin.com/early-sport-specialization-is-killing-the-health-of-our-kids/

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Read a great article today about the exercise almost every women who regularly trains does: glute bridges and hip thrusts.

A very common exercise that is seemingly uncomplicated. The problem? I think to many people do not use enough intent (specific thought and focus) in the execution of this movement. The most common issue I see when people do this movement is that instead of making the glutes do the work people will actually use the back and hyperextend their back to move the weight while performing the movement. Doing this will place unneeded stress on the spine/low back area and will rob the glutes of tension and work of the movement.

Remember, we always want to be sure that we keep the tension and use the muscle we are trying to train to perform the movement. Make sure your glutes are doing all or the bulk of the work in either a glute bridge or hip thrust. Keep the weight to where you can ensure this happens and focus on progressive overload increases that keeps the glutes the muscles doing the work.


Check the article out for some other thoughts on these movements.

Article: http://www.meghancallawayfitness.com/my-blog/glutes-glutes-and-more-glutes-breaking-down-glute-bridges-and-hip-thrusts




Lower body muscle rounds on tap for tonight. Thinking with starting with Prime plate loaded extensions into lying leg curls and then going into hack squats for the total leg MR. I did that combo two weeks ago and loved it so I think I will do the same again tonight!

 

[booneman77]

Thanks boss man! How was your Christmas and New Years!?

Very hectic but good. Travelling for a living and then travelling more for holidays is always a PITA ha. Got plenty of food and sleep tho so that's what I really wanted!

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Very hectic but good. Travelling for a living and then travelling more for holidays is always a PITA ha. Got plenty of food and sleep tho so that's what I really wanted!

I am glad to hear it was satisfying in that regard man!

What does this month have on tap for you as well as the first half or so of 2017?

Everyone else feel free to chime in too! Life is cooler then just bodybuilding talk haha

 

[booneman77]

I am glad to hear it was satisfying in that regard man!

What does this month have on tap for you as well as the first half or so of 2017?

Everyone else feel free to chime in too! Life is cooler then just bodybuilding talk haha

Well the next week or two I'll be mostly at home/in the office so lots of housework, good eating and lifting schedules, and really just prepping for my gf to move down in March.

Gonna start cutting in feb for a few weeks leading up to a cruise (only planning on tightening up a bit).

Will start traveling again like mad the end of this month. First few weeks will be multiple cities each week, maybe South Africa for a couple days (crazy).

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Well the next week or two I'll be mostly at home/in the office so lots of housework, good eating and lifting schedules, and really just prepping for my gf to move down in March.

Gonna start cutting in feb for a few weeks leading up to a cruise (only planning on tightening up a bit).

Will start traveling again like mad the end of this month. First few weeks will be multiple cities each week, maybe South Africa for a couple days (crazy).

I'm glad you have a bit consistency for the first part of the 2017 before life change begins with your gf moving and then getting into the full tilt of work travel.

I don't know that I have asked you but what like of work are you in? Curious to know in light of your travels.

 

[Cole Dreyer]

FT is funny: you have two hard and heavy pounding days are the full body is trained on both days with lower body doing one set scheme and upper doing another and then they swap on the second day.

Then you have a day off. You might have some DOMS from the first two days but by the time you wake up on the first training day after an off day you feel pretty good.

Then you go train and while the session isn't much on paper you immediately feel all of that work you just did the few days prior and boom, your humbled lol.

That may or may not have been me tonight while training haha.

1/5/16 FT Blast 2 Week 1 Basic Tier 1 Day 3A
Prime leg extension P set: 20x3p/15x2p/20x1p
Prime lying leg curl P set: 15x2p/10x1p

Hack squat MR: 4x5pps/3/4x4pps/4/4/4

Seated calf raise MR: 4x115lb/4/4/4/4/4

Prime preacher curl P set: 16x100/6x80/10x25



https://vimeo.com/198289473

https://vimeo.com/198289521

 

[booneman77]

I'm glad you have a bit consistency for the first part of the 2017 before life change begins with your gf moving and then getting into the full tilt of work travel.

I don't know that I have asked you but what like of work are you in? Curious to know in light of your travels.

Manufacturing process improvement consulting. Basically I go to factories and work with/show them how to make stuff better/faster/cheaper/safer. 50% tell them what they already know, 50% convince them they just need to change

 

[cubsfan815]

Manufacturing process improvement consulting. Basically I go to factories and work with/show them how to make stuff better/faster/cheaper/safer. 50% tell them what they already know, 50% convince them they just need to change

Lean/Six Sigma type stuff?

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Manufacturing process improvement consulting. Basically I go to factories and work with/show them how to make stuff better/faster/cheaper/safer. 50% tell them what they already know, 50% convince them they just need to change

Ahhhh I see. Do you enjoy it? I could see that being very enjoyable in several ways but also tough.

 

[booneman77]

Lean/Six Sigma type stuff?

Exactly! I actually teach my company's version of the Toyota production system. I'm the "lean guy" ha

 

[booneman77]

Ahhhh I see. Do you enjoy it? I could see that being very enjoyable in several ways but also tough.

Love it. It's an interesting mix of love/hate for me. I love being able to teach, coach and guide people to discover their own solutions. I'm a total introvert tho so I kind of hate dealing with people all day tho too ha.

It's extremely rewarding because I love to see the results and the benefits of the work I put it, as well as the fact that I get a bit of a power trip mentoring and guiding people twice my age and experience. At the same time, it's mentally exhausting because I have to basically "fake" a personality to convince and generally work around all the people all the time. The best part tho is that it feeds my need to be constantly challenged and to have new "problems" or opportunities all the time. Even long projects are only a couple months long so I never have time to get bored or complacent.

 

[cubsfan815]

Exactly! I actually teach my company's version of the Toyota production system. I'm the "lean guy" ha

Awesome. The company I do sales for just started running lean under our new upper management. We are employee owned, and 1st year since the change our stock tripled! Great stuff.

 

[booneman77]

Awesome. The company I do sales for just started running lean under our new upper management. We are employee owned, and 1st year since the change our stock tripled! Great stuff.

Its truly amazing the impact a little common sense can have... People think lean is a big secret or some magic formula but 95% of it is just common sense. Everyone does it in their personal life but at work we love to complicate everything and never question things that are difficult. Very funny how easy it can be when the right level of management makes changes.

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Its truly amazing the impact a little common sense can have... People think lean is a big secret or some magic formula but 95% of it is just common sense. Everyone does it in their personal life but at work we love to complicate everything and never question things that are difficult. Very funny how easy it can be when the right level of management makes changes.

Glad to hear you guys are enjoying your work! Life is too short to be miserable at the thing you spend such a big portion of life doing.

 

[Cole Dreyer]

I am a big proponent of making small tweaks to various lifts/exercises to make them as most effective in terms of a tension-placement standpoint as they possible can be. I think it takes a certain amount of time in the gym training to find and feel these small tweaks to various lifts. Sometimes they are personal to your own biomechanics and how your body moves within in a certain exercise movement and others might be some what universal and apply to many people.

Regardless, I think spending time discovering how to make exercises the most effective for you is time very well spent. This article below takes several very common and good exercises and talks about how to improve each of them slightly to get the most out of them. See if the tips and tweaks it recommends helps you. Maybe they do or maybe they don’t but either way how might this article spark you to think critically about seeking to improve other exercises you do regularly?


Article: https://www.t-nation.com/training/make-8-great-exercises-even-better

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Good upper muscle round today. Strength was so so and I have a long way to go but I am fired up to get it!!

I want to push close to 4 and rack dead 7 plates for reps by years end!


1/6/17 Blast 2 Week 1 Basic Tier 1 Day 4A
Weight: 240.4
Lever edge iso row MR: 4x3pps/4/4/4x2pps/4/4
Cable pull over MR: 4x52.5/4/4/4/4/4
Lever edge flat chest press MR: 4x1pps/4/4/4/4/8 - costocondritis flared a bit on this movement so kept weight low and held each rep for a squeeze and went to failure on last
Cybex lateral raise MR: 12x70/12/12/10/8/8 - need more intensity here
EZ bar press down MR: 4x62.5/4/4/4/4/4

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Snow day delicacies

 

[Cole Dreyer]

My wife and I have simple tastes. One such is the salad bar at Giant grocery store and we have a "Sunday salad" tradition. Love salads. So good and so easy to make macro friendly.

Also nice to drink out of this mug as a victor fan!

 

[booneman77]

My wife and I have simple tastes. One such is the salad bar at Giant grocery store and we have a "Sunday salad" tradition. Love salads. So good and so easy to make macro friendly.

Also nice to drink out of this mug as a victor fan!

Better to watch my steelers blow Miami out

I love salad bars but have a problem... my salad never fits in the containers ha

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Better to watch my steelers blow Miami out

I love salad bars but have a problem... my salad never fits in the containers ha

Haha I watched the game man, I see them in the AFC championship game.


Haha dude I can hardly fit mine too!!!

 

[booneman77]

Haha I watched the game man, I see them in the AFC championship game.


Haha dude I can hardly fit mine too!!!

I hope so. We shelled kc earlier this season so I'm hopeful they can just repeat. New England is on a bury Houston so at least we know who we would play ha.

 

[Cole Dreyer]

I hope so. We shelled kc earlier this season so I'm hopeful they can just repeat. New England is on a bury Houston so at least we know who we would play ha.

If that Steelers offense gets hot in KC I can see them giving, what I believe is just a so-so pats defense (even though they are no. 1 scoring D, some real problems.

 

[Cole Dreyer]

So we were pressed for time this morning. 100% my fault, I just didn't budget enough time.

While on paper it might look okay but it felt a lot left to be desired.


That won't happen again.



1/9/17 Blast 2 Week 2 Basic Tier 2 Day 1B

Lower Load sets
Hacksquat/good morning/close stance leg press: 3x6pps (over zealous here/8x225/12x8pps, 6x5pps

Seated CR: 8x140, 7
Adductor: 30xStack, 20

Upper Pump Sets
HS Incline press/ HS high pull down: 30x60ps/20x1pps+25ps, 20/15

Prime lever edge SP/Magnum rev fly: 15x1pps+25ps/20x96, 20/20

Rope press down/rope curl: 20x42.5/20x42.5

 

[Cole Dreyer]

One of my favorite things about weight training in the gym for progressive overload is the fact that it never lies.

You either progress via more weight or more reps or you did not.

In the numbers there is now subjectivity. Just you and your ability to perform.


Who wins?

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Off day today. My wife's work schedule has made it so we have had to change our training days which is cool because training together is incredible. So our week will look like

Monday: Train
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Train
Thursday: Train
Friday: Off
Saturday: Train
Sunday: Off


Looking for another 2-3 pound drop this week, especially since in tier 2 of basic FT which means more activity done in the gym which should mean more calories burned. Would be great if I am 237/238 by Friday.

 

[Cole Dreyer]

I have talked before about how injuries should be vehicles of improvement. While an injury will (depending on the degree of severity) probably cause a degree of set back in the short term they should, if steward properly, catapult you to new levels of improvement from a metal and movement aspect.

However I firmly believe an athlete or fitness person demonstrates a higher level of "physically active maturity" when they identify the threat of possible injury and combat and deal with that threat so injury does not occur.

Say you have back pain every time you squat. An individual who takes the time and work to identify why that pain is present during the squat and deals with it and overcomes it and corrects it will have made some great strides as an athlete or fitness person will have a much higher "physically active maturity" and will probably see an increase in progress across the spectrum opposed to the clown who just says "no pain no gain" and continues on their crusade ignoring the obvious and ends up setting themselves back because they end up shooting a disc across the gym when squatting one time.

Choose to be a thinking man's athlete/fitness person and watch how seemingly isolated events actually have the potential to give you improvement across the board

Article: https://exercisegeeks.com/2016/12/11/how-an-injury-can-actually-make-you-better/

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Upper loading sets and lower pump sets tonight.


My body is ready.



As a personal trainer/coach both in person and online I am a proponent of simplicity when it comes to coaching and training. What do I mean by this? It means that when I take a client on and sit down to program out their training, nutrition, supplementation, etc. I do so with the goal in mind of being as simple as I can.

At first thought that might sound like I do not go in depth with my programming. That is not at all what I mean. Rather, it is my goal to produce a program that is fundamentally sound but specific to the goal at hand of the client. A program is at its best when nothing else can be taken away from it. There is no fluff or extra stuff "just because". There might be recommendations for extra things but they are always "cherries on top" and are not inherently a make or break component of the plan.

Why do I do this? Because it gives the client the best value. You see fitness is not as complicated or difficult that many like to make it appear to be. The best coaches in the world, in my opinion, have the art of simplicity down pat with their programming and this typically results in stellar results of their clientele.

In fact you can probably prove this true for yourself. When have you had the best seasons of success when it comes to your fitness? It was probably when you were adhering to a plan that was inherently simple but specific to your goal.

You have heard the phrase "less is more" ad nauseam. It is absolutely true in fitness and it is how I like to do fitness with my clientele because it works!

Check this article out for some more thoughts on this.



http://tonygentilcore.com/2016/12/the-lost-art-of-simple/

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Tonight's session started very well but as it progressed it didn't FEEL like a top quality training session. That doesn't mean it was bad, if just didn't feel good.

I think largely because I had to restructure my day due to ice all over the roads this morning. It was no joke for Mose of the morning. Had to train after work when the gym is packed. I had very little control being able to do the movements I had originally programmed so I had to adjust on the fly which wasn't fun and was frustrating.


Furthermore my chest loading set training might related to machines for a time because the free weight movement I planned to do really aggravated my sternum. If I have costochondritis, or a degree there of, I need to be careful to get it the rest it needs but still train chest hard. So it will be fun to see what I can do.

The positives now is that my body feels like it had a good session from a general worn out feeling. That and I PR'd on my back movements which was very positive. I love rack dreadlifts. I perform them online/just above the knee cap as I feel pulling that distance makes my back do all the work and doesn't allow for glutes and hamstrings to really kick in.

Off day tomorrow and then it's back at it for the muscle round days to finish off the week.

1/11/16 Blast 2 Week 2 Basic Tier 2 Day 2B (with the exception of back training this day wasn't a great day)
Upper load
Rack Deadlift zig zag with prime plate loaded pull down: 9x495/8x4p, 6x495/6 6x405 F/6x3p F

BB shrugs: 6x315
HS decline press/flat DB fly: 12x2pps/6x30kgs, 10x2pps F/ 7x25kgs F (not the movement I had program. Would have done DB flat bench but that bothered my costochondritis (or whatever is up with my sternum) and so swapped it for this.)
HS seated press/ DB laterals: 6x2pps/10x25s(seated), 5x2pps F/6x20kg F

Lower Pump Sets
LF leg ext: 15x150
Prime lying leg curl: 12x2pps
LF leg press: 15x215
LF calf raise: 15x175


https://vimeo.com/199098558

https://vimeo.com/199098603

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Maybe this is a weird analogy but whatever.

But when it comes to progress, particularly in fitness, bodybuilding, dieting, strength increase, etc (or really most things in life) you should view your progress like a spinning top.

When you spin a top to hard it will go really fast for a short time and then typically crash into something or topple over and stop spinning. If you spin it to slowly it also will spin for a short time but will soon become wobbly and topple over and stop.

But when you spin a top with the right amount of force (think effort, or work) it will spin (progress) smoothly for a much longer time. This is what we want progress to look. When we "spin" like this our progress is smooth, consistent, and typically will continue on for a longer period of time. If we try to force progress by "spinning" faster we might see great progress initially but it doesn't last and might sputter out and we suffer a period of no progress.

Like wise if we don't give the proper effort we progress very slowly and will get frustrated with the seeming lack of progress.

Finding the balance of effort that will give us sustainable progress will often be a much more sustainable and often times efficient way to achieve our desired goal.

Please note: I am NOT saying we shouldn't seek to optimize our actions to improve efficiency, we always want to do that because we do not want to waste anytime reaching a goal as we all want to achieve it as quickly as we can. Its when we focus completely on the speed of which we attain a goal that we get into trouble - especially when it comes to physique change.

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Good lower muscle round day today. Increased on all lifts and felt like I really placed great tension through the tissue. A shorter day but not less intense. Weight down only a pound for last week. Going to weigh again monday and see what pictures say before adjusting diet as I feel that I will probably make a good drop over the weekend.

Looking forward to some great NFL playoff games this weekend! Go Hawks!

1/13/16 Blast 2 Week 2 Basic Tier 2 Day 3B
Weight: 239.4
High/wide prime leg press MR: 4x9pps/4/4/4/4/4
High/wide prime leg press: 4x9pps/4/4/4/4/4
Prime leg press CR: 4x315/4/4/4/4/4x2
Prime plate loaded preacher curl: 4x70/4/4x45/4/4/4

 

[Cole Dreyer]

I find that those who are relatively interested in their health/exercise/physique goals will typically set a time and schedule when they train, normally the same time each week on the same days and at the same times.

I find that those who are more serious not only do this but also evaluate and watch what the other “regulars” at the gym are doing while you are there. This is a wise practice because you can learn a lot by what you observe. You will see things that might be helpful and in turn you might look to try and emulate in your own fitness endeavor to find progress. Conversely you will also see wacky, wild and flat dumb things that you would never do but the observance there of is quite helpful because you will see what NOT to do (this is especially good for those you are just getting into training.)

You want to be a wise and thinking man’s (or women’s) fitness and training person. Something you will probably witness at some point in your training that is NOT wise is the frequent lack by people to properly spot themselves when performing challenging compound movements.

You will primarily see this in free weight squatting and various forms of barbell bench press.

I cannot stress this enough. ALWAYS use safety pins when you squat that are HIGH enough to catch the bar when you are at the deepest segment of your squat so that the bar falls maybe 1-2 inches.

With benching, if you think you might be in danger of not getting the weight up (or even if you don’t) humble yourself and ask for a spot.

Please do these things. Be a wise lifter. Value your longevity of training. You would feel pretty stupid and be pretty mad if you suffered any form of injury because you didn’t use safety pins or a spot.

I see this SO MUCH. I have witnessed people, some how, avoid catastrophic injury squatting because God in His grace didn’t allow the bar with a heavy load they couldn’t finish crush them.

You are NOT hardcore if you squat without safety pins or do any kind of heavy compound load lift without a spot. I don’t care how advanced you are or how novice you are. You are a complete FOOL if you do this.

Don’t be so arrogant to think that you are above simple safety actions. And if you think or want to combat this by saying “well I like the fear it gives me because I know I have to get the wait up or I am screwed so it makes me train hard and intense.” then you have ZERO clue about intensity because there is no correlation there. You can absolutely train insanely hard and intense and still be wise.


PSA for the day = done.

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Great upper muscle round sessions for the end of the week. Got in about 7:10am and was out just before 9am. Felt good and my body feels it.


1/14/16 FT Blast 2 basic Tier 2 Day 4B

DB row MR: 4x105/3/4x90/4/4x75/4, 4x75/4/4x60/4/4/4

DB Shrugs: 11x80s
MAG neutral grip MR: 4x180/4/2/4x150/4/4, 4x150/4/4/4/4/4

HS incline press MR: 4x2pps+10ps/4/4/4/4/4
MAG chest fly: 4x216/4/4/4/4/4

Lever edge seated press MR: 4x1pps+25ps/4/4/4/4/4, 4/4/3/4x1pps/4

Over head cable ext MR: 4x67.5/4/4/4/4/4

 

[Cole Dreyer]

Now to dig in and support the Seahawks! Go hawks!!!