I did my workout earlier this morning and already I feel the effects of it.  This right here is why I love deadlifts so much.  I did not work my traps or shoulders at all today and yet they are both extremely sore.  Why?  Because I worked them indirectly as part of the deadlift process. 

Today I hit a personal best on the deadlift, lifting 225 pounds for 10 reps in 4 sets.  It felt amazing to get that much weight up off the ground repetitively.

It got me thinking about being sore and what that means on various levels.  I've been talking this week about goals, planning and discipline.  I did a podcast today on tips to motivate yourself at the gym.  It all fits in with soreness.  You can be sore because you hurt yourself or because your angry, but you can be sore because you worked hard or lifted alot of weight.  Obviously, hard work leads to wonderful things, so that type of soreness is a good thing.

Today, after my third set of deadlifts, I felt like I had been completely drained.  I started to think about the fact that I'd be posting the workout log and that accountability factor got me back in there for one more set.  While I managed to do just 6 repetitions for that final set, I did manage to complete the fourth set.  I'm not sure I'd have done that without the accountability factor. 

It is all about ratcheting up the positive pressure as Adam calls it.  Putting yourself out there in front of the world is not something I would have normally done.  However, I read Adam's article on accountability and decided to give it a try.  The more that people come to my blog and read it and leave comments, the more bold I feel.  I have started to feel like anything is possible because there is such immense power in numbers.  I know that if I want to accomplish something, all I have to do is post it here and I won't have any choice but to accomplish it.  Failure isn't an option at that point because all of you will call me on it.  I can see myself reaching every single goal I have and that's just not something I felt prior to this blog being made public.

“Accountability breeds response ability.” — Stephen R. Covey

“A duty dodged is like a debt unpaid; it is only deferred, and we must come back and settle the account at last.” — Joseph Fort Newton

Until tomorrow…

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

Today I veer off the favorite exercises path to discuss some tips for getting the most out of your trips to the gym.  I offer up some of the things I personally have found work well.  I end with a discussion about obsession and why it might not be such a bad thing.  I hope you enjoy this podcast.  If you do, please remember to share it with all your friends!

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

Today I hit the second in my series of podcasts about my favorite exercises.  I discuss the squat and how to properly execute that exercise.  I include some tips for overcoming some of the more common squat problems.  I hope you enjoy listening to my latest podcast.

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

After reading about other people's experience with chin ups and my own situation wherein I've been trying to do a single unassisted chin up, I want to issue a challenge to all shredders.

The Challenge

Complete the most unassisted chin ups.

I challenge all of you who currently cannot complete a single unassisted chin up to see who can do the most unassisted chin ups by March 22, 2008.  It is important that you currently cannot complete a single unassisted chin up.

How do you get involved?

Leave a comment letting me know you want to be involved.  I will post an entry outlining my plan for how to accomplish some unassisted chin ups and in that entry will be the list of people interested in joining the challenge. 

What is involved?

Starting on Sunday, December 23, 2007 (80 days from the end of the challenge), I will begin a weekly post regarding the challenge.  Each of you should provide me (via email) your current progress regarding chin ups.  I will post this every Sunday for all the world to see.

My workout log for today (everything between each gray line is a superset with 60 seconds full rest):

I don't know what has happened to me the past couple of days, but I'm on fire for the goals I've set myself.  I am not accepting failure and refuse to be beaten by the workouts.  Today I posted personal bests on every single exercise.  For the first time ever, my deadlifts were taken to complete and total failure.  I could not get a 7th rep on that 4th set if my life depended on it!  I've been done for an hour and already my legs are on fire.  At the same time, I feel exhilirated.  I want to do more and more.

I decided today that on February 23, 2008, I will run in a 5k race.  I will complete the race in less than 30 minutes–that's the goal.  Again, failure is not an option!

Podcasts are coming later today.  3 days until I unveil my surprise.  Hopefully, the suspense is killing you.

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

The feedback on yesterday's blog (Mission 1, Day 56: Do you know what makes you successful?) points to another issue that's been on my mind lately.  The concept of decisions and how they effect us is something that I've spent some time thinking through and I want to share those thoughts today.

Every single decision we make is important.  When we decide to plan out our programs, we are conciously moving ourselves towards our goals.  When we decide to have a cheat meal, we tend not to overdo it because it is a planned event.  When we decide, spur of the moment, to cheat on a meal we tend to feel guilty and that guilt eventually drives us to cheat again.  It is almost as though we feel we've failed, so what does it matter if we fail again? 

Failure to consider our decisions carefully is a big cause of failure in any plan.  We can either be spontaneous or we can be methodical.  If we are methodical about our decision making process we tend to make better decisions, decisions based on properly addressing our needs.  When we are spontaneous with our decisions we tend to be impetuous.  We tend to just go with the flow, thinking that we can make up for lost time later.  We end up procrastinating because our spontaneous decisions seem so good at the time.  However, when we are methodical we look at all angles and make decisions that lead us towards the completion of our goals.  This is what breeds success.

Don't get me wrong.  There is a time and place to be spontaneous. I just don't believe that decisions regarding our health or finances should be spontaneous.  Those are the types of decisions that need to be methodical. 

I've noticed myself doing more and more planning where it relates to my exercise and nutrition.  I think the reason I enjoy the Metabolic Surge nutrition plan is that it is very methodical.  There is a rationale behind why we are told to eat the way it says to eat.  That brings me to a comfort zone.  It helps me understand what the goal is and because of that, I am much more successful at sticking to the plan.

Podcast listeners, you will get two podcasts tomorrow (Saturday).  My surprise is coming on Christmas day.  I decided that was a good day for it.  Who can guess what the surprise is?  Leave a comment and tell me what you think the surprise is going to be.

Until tomorrow…

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts