As I look around me in the world I have to wonder, where's the effort?  Today was the primary election here in California.  The people I know who complain the loudest about the government couldn't be bothered to do a thing about their complaints, not even going to the polls to vote.  Where's the effort?

In the gym each day I see people who are clearly stopping way short of where their maximum effort should be.  It is obvious they are only there for the ability to say they “workout” when the reality is they cruise.  Where's the effort?

If you are going to give push ups a go and try to improve the number you can do, shouldn't you actually push as hard as you can?  If you watch my video, I actually started for #46 and had complete failure.  That's effort.  Why do people constantly say they “try” to do this or that?  Where's the effort?

“Do or do not, there is no try!” — Yoda

I just don't get it.  Why bother getting up at 4 a.m., going out into the cold, entering a gym, taking up precious space and using the equipment if you aren't going to give it your all?  Who are you fooling anyway?  Where's the effort?

People tend to take the easy way out on things.  I really can't understand that.  I don't mean to be harsh, but come on already!  If you are going to complain about the government, get out and vote or shut your mouth on that subject.  If you are going to complain about your physique, get out and do something about it or shut your mouth on that subject as well.  If you're going to hit the weights, give it everything you've got or don't even go at all.  Where's the effort?

I can't say that I love getting up every day and falling to sleep early every night, but I do it because I know I need to be in the best shape possible and this is the only way I can pull it off.  I give it my all because there's no point in being there if I don't.  I make it a point to never try.  Trying gets you no where.  You have to do or you aren't progressing.  That's all I have to say for the day.

Accountability Log:

I missed my 9:30 a.m. meal today and had it at 10:30 a.m. because of an emergency at the office.  Hence, I get a red mark for my 9:30 a.m. meal.  The rest of the list was spot on.  I guarantee I'm going to gain some weight this week because I feel like all I do is EAT!

Nutrition log:

Workout log:

3 supersets.

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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I was thinking about the Super Bowl today and another issue came to mind.  What exactly happened in that game?  The Giants hung around and managed to strike a knock out punch with just 35 seconds left in the game.  The Patriots ran out of time.  But what would have happened if there had been more time for Tom Brady and the Patriots?  We won't ever know, bu twe can certainly take an educated guess.

My guess is that with extra time, the Patriots would have come back and taken the lead.  Would they have won?  If time ran out, yes, but if there was even more extra time, the Giants would likely come back and take the lead again.  It would be a seesaw battle.  This is why sports like football, hockey, soccer and basketball all have time limits.  If they were to just let the football teams fight it out there might never be an end to a game.

It is much the same thing with fat loss programs and physique transformation missions.  There is a time limit whether we like it or not.  If we were allowed to just continually extend the time limits, eventually we would get tired of not making any real progress because the fact is that when we are given more time, we take more time.  It is human nature.  Faced with a deadline, people become very efficient.  Faced with unlimited time, people don't make any changes for the better.

You can't have the attitude that you can just hang around.  Hanging around only gets you so far.  At some point, you have to decide that enough is enough.  You have to take massive action and get things to happen for you.  That's the only way to successfully change your physique.

These are all my thoughts on the need for a deadline. 

Accountability Log:

Nutrition for today:

Clearly I've met my goals again today and that makes me happy.  I have learned the value of a plan today.  I keep wanting to go back to Max-OT, but I realize that my plan was done for a very specific reason and I don't want to get off track with my plan.  If I didn't have a plan, I'd be jumping around from this workout and that workout without getting any real results.

With clean eating and intense weight lifting supplemented by HIIT cardio and some steady state cardio, I am going to shred fat like there's no tomorrow! 

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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My review of The New Rules of Lifting in video podcast format!

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Starting with this mission, due to popular demand, my pictures will be full body.  I am looking to find a better pair of shorts that can show my sexy thighs.

I had a great workout this morning.  I managed to practice what I preach.  The last time I did this workout (on Tuesday of last week) I had trouble with the form on two of the exercises.  Even though this was supposed to be a heavy day, I backed down to the empty bar so I could perfect the form on these two exercises.  It helped alot because I managed to actually feel the movement and do it correctly.  I was able to develop that mind-muscle connection that you need when you lift in order to meet the form requirements.  Not the macho thing to do, but definitely the safe thing to do.

Weight training log:

* = Empty bar to work on form
(ss) = Superset

I was able to watch an amazing Super Bowl game today, with the New York Giants scoring a major upset over the New England Patriots 17-14 with seconds left in the game.  The Giants are a team that nobody gave a chance to even make the Super Bowl. They started the season 0-2 and were losing big in Week 3 of the season, but managed to win 6 in a row to go 6-2.  Eventually they won 10 straight road games to finish the season (including 2 playoff games).  They were a 14 point underdog in the Super Bowl.  Why did they win? They believed they could.

We need to have the same attitude when shredding.  We need to believe we can achieve our goals.  We need to have the confidence that by following a plan we will be successful. 

One of the things I got out of Adam Water's interview with Tom Venuto was counting of calories.  Tom made the point that alot of people complain about counting calories, but the reality is that they only have to do the counting once a week when they plan their menu for the entire week.  By planning ahead, the calorie counting is done.  There is no need to count the calories as you eat because you did it all during the planning time.  This is why planning is essential and it is what inspired me to detail my entire plan on this blog. I was originally only going to post the goals, but I decided it might be helpful to others to see the entire planning process and how I arrived at the goals.

Accountability/Nutrition Log:

Nutrition today:

I want to close today's post with some thoughts on never giving up and present an idea I have.  People lesser than you or me have accomplished great things because they didn't ever give up.  “Can't” should be removed from your vocabulary where it relates to what you can accomplish with your physique transformation.  Focus on what you can do and not on what you think you might fail at. 

When I was planning for Mission 2 I wondered if my goals were possible to achieve.  After some review and reflection, I am now wondering if my goals are going to be too easy to achieve.  It is all a matter of perspective.  When I was writing my goals I realized that I was going to lay them out in front of the world.  That's a scary thought and it was the kind of thought that made me think I might not be able to achieve them.  I am proud of myself that I did not “dumb down” my goals even though I wondered if I could achieve them.  I stuck them out there for the world to see and now I am being held accountable to achieving each and every one of those goals (see the sidebar for the Mission 2 goals).

My idea?  I just finished reading a book called The Portable Empire by Pat O'Bryan.  In that book he discusses the necessity of a “Mastermind Group” and I want to put it out there to you.  I need 4 people to join me in this “Mastermind Group” concept.  If you are interested, leave a comment with your email address (your email address isn't shown to the public, only I get to see it) and I will email you with an explanation of what it is all about.

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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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 began 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.

Participants:

Tea [visit her blog]
Lynda [visit her blog]
Suzette [visit her blog]
Lilla [visit her blog]
Jeff
Michael [You are here]

Progress:

Tea — ?? Need an update please
Lynda — ?? Need an update please
Suzette — Suzette is figuring out how to get the training in to do the chin ups. 
Lilla — ?? Need an update please
Jeff — Assisted Chin machine: 2x (part of back routine)
            Assisted Chins: 3×10,4×10
Michael — Completed 2 unassisted chin ups.  Training with 5 x 5 with 40 pounds assistance.

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