Over the past two days I've observed a youth hockey team play against two very different level teams.  While the end result was ultimately the same, the way the results were achieved was completely different.  What I observed got me thinking about exercise and physique transformation and how mental both issues really are.  Read on, as I explain throughout the post.

On Thursday, the team in question was paired against a far superior team.  In fact, the better team is probably the best in the state at their age level.  The talk going into the game was that the better team should win by 11 goals.  Yes, 11 goals is what I said!

The underdogs came out and immediately took control of the game.  In fact, they got the first 3 shots on goal and were pretty much dominating the favorites.  Other than a mistake by the goaltender, leading to a 1-0 lead for the favorites, the underdogs took it to the favorites in the first period.  In the second period the referee started to call alot of penalties against the underdogs.  As an outside observer, it appeared that this particular official had it in for the coach of the underdogs.  The underdogs played 15 minutes of the second period shorthanded and gave up 3 goals as a result.  You could hear the spectators who were cheering for the favorites saying that the third period was going to be an avalanche of goals in favor of the favorites.  Anything but that happened.  The underdogs again took it to the favorites and dominated the third period.  Neither team scored, so at the end of the game, the score was 4-0 the favorites.  Anybody who has ever bet on a sporting event knows this is really a loss for the favorites.  They failed to cover the spread. 

What happened?  The answer is simple.  Mentally, the underdogs believed they could beat the favorites.  All of their actions showed this to be true.  The executed better, hustled more and had crisper passes.  They played with a fervor not often seen at this level (and I've been an observer and a coach at this level for a long time).  Everyone left with a smile on their face.

Today I watched this same team play a team that is much inferior to the favorites of the previous day.  From the opening drop of the puck to the final whistle, it was evident that our heroes from yesterday, the underdogs, were not in the same frame of mind.  Today they didn't believe in themselves.  They played with hesitation and lacked any fire whatsoever.  They just looked awful.  It was like a different set of kids stepped onto the ice.

What happened?  Again, the answer is simple.  Mentally, the underdogs thought they were going to have problems with the latest team.  There was history between the two teams.  Prior to the game, the new team told our heroes they were going to hurt them physically.  This got into the heads of our heroes and they played with such hesitation that they couldn't muster a shot on goal for half of the first period.

It is no different with exercise or physique transformation.  If you believe you can do it, it will happen like you want.  If you don't believe you can do it, failure is imminent.  When attempting to burn fat you must come out like our heroes did in their first game.  You must approach it with the attitude that you are going to win.  You need to have the attitude that nothing is going to stop you.  People will tell you that you are going to fail (just like our heroes being an 11 point underdog), but if you push past that and believe in yourself, you will succeed.

Today was my 5th B workout in the Fat Loss III sequence.  My log:

Exercise	Weight/Reps
Front Squat	140 x 10 140 x 10 140 x 10 140 x 10
Chin-ups (assisted)	(140) 10  (140) 10  (140) 10  (140) 10
Step ups	40 x 10 40 x 10 40 x 10 40 x 10
Dumbbell push press	50 x 10 50 x 10 50 x 10 50 x 10
Back Squat	80 x 20 80 x 20
Lat pulldown	75 x 21 75 x 21
Step ups	25 x 20 25 x 20
Dumbbell overhead press	35 x 21 35 x 21

With today being Thanksgiving, I wanted to be extra careful about emptying the tank, so I did a Body for Life type HIIT session.  I did four intervals of 1 minute at 3.5 mph, 1 minute of 4.5 mph, 1 minute of 5.5 mph, 1 minute of 6.5 mph.  I finished with 15 more minutes of steady cardio for a total of 35 minutes of cardio.

That's all I have for today.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Tomorrow is back to the weightlifting for me.

Until tomorrow…

As I did my morning cardio, I started to think about progress and what it means to people.  There seems to be a small debate amongst the Shredder Council about numbers and their place in the process.  I am on the side that says that numbers are pretty much essential for measuring progress.  While I can see the reasoning behind not focusing too much on the numbers, I feel like not focusing on the numbers is failing to plan.  I've always been taught that failing to plan is planning to fail.

Now, if you don't focus on numbers I am not saying you are destined to fail, so don't get me wrong.  At the same time, can you truly say numbers don't matter.  One person, Lilla, commented that at one point she was 92 pounds and now she is about 110 pounds.  She says that her body fat percentage was the same at 92 pounds as it is at 110 pounds.  I say this proves the point that knowledge of the numbers is important.  Let's say that Lilla was 18% body fat at 92 pounds.  This means she had 75.44 pounds of lean body mass.  Now she is at 18% body fat at 110 pounds.  That's 90.2 pounds of lean body mass.  At which point was Lilla healthier?  Clearly she is in better shape now at 110 pounds than she was at 92 pounds.  Without knowledge of the body fat percentage number we would not be able to come to this conclusion.  Most people would immediately say that Lilla was healthier at 92 pounds in the absence of the body fat percentage number.  Thus, that number is extremely important in the determination of how healthy a person is.

To me, the scale is irrelevant.  I've proven, through crunching numbers, that I can stay at 230 pounds and still be extremely healthy just by dropping my body fat percentage down.  It all depends upon your goal.  There are reasons for having a low body weight as a goal.  If a low body weight is your goal, the scale becomes extremely important.  If having a low body fat percentage is the goal, the scale is extremely irrelevant.  In fact, I could go up to 250 pounds, as long as my body fat percentage is dropping.  However, I would not be able to be comfortable with this concept had I not crunched the numbers.

Society places alot of emphasis on the scale.  In each post that rails against the number crunching I see the author discussing the scale and how we shouldn't be upset by what it says.  I agree with that 100%, but I say that the scale is completely irrelevant and that is why we should never be upset by what it says.

Until tomorrow…

Last night I went to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. As I went off to bed I was thinking about my deadlift workout in the morning. As soon as I went to sleep I dreamt about my workout.

I'm up at 3:30 a.m. and getting prepared for my workout.  I have a protein shake blended with a portion of oatmeal.  I down that and fill up my shaker with a portion of protein, glutamine and some glucose for the insulin spike when I drink the shake after my workout.  I head off to the gym and begin thinking about my workout and what I'm going to try.

I walk into the gym and it is farily quiet as this is a holiday week.  I step onto the treadmill and do a 10 minute warm up.  I then head over to the squat rack that I use for my deadlifts.  I have been increasing my weight by 5 pounds on my deadlifts and this time I feel strong, so I add 10 pounds.  I am about to attempt a 195 pound deadlift for 10 repetitions.  I step up to the bar and squeeze my hands tightly.  I squat down and grip the bar with alternating grip on my hands.  I push my heels hard into the ground and with locked out arms, I begin to lift the bar off the ground.  I'm full vertical and my traps are squeezed together at the end of the lift.  I lower the weight.  That's one repetition.  This repeats for 10 repetitions.  I have completed one set of deadlifts.  Without any rest, I immediately drop and do 11 explosive pushups.  I follow that with 10 Bulgarian Split Squats.  Finally, I end the set with 10 two-point rows on each arm.  I rest for 60 seconds and my mind starts wandering to that deadlift I need to do on the next set. 

“Why am I trying to lift so heavy today?  I should've stuck with 190 for today.”

My mind is playing tricks on me.  I step up to the bar and again, I squat down and grab the bar.  I push hard with my heels and the bar is in motion again.  I complete 10 repetitions and move right into explosive push ups.  From those I move to the Bulgarian Split Squat and end the set with 10 two point rows on each arm. 

On the third set of deadlifts, I still manage 10 repetitions.  I move on to the explosive push ups.  The sweat is literally dripping off my head onto the mat on the ground.  My arms are shaking as I do the explosive push ups. 

“I wonder if I should drop the weight on the final set of deadlifts?” my mind is thinking.

I finish off the Bulgarian Split Squats and the two point rows and get ready for the next set of deadlifts.

“I need to push through” is what I'm thinking, so I don't change the weight. 

I push hard through the next set of deadlifts and manage 9 repetitions before I reach the point of failure.  I drop the bar to the ground and feel quite satisified with what I just did. 

“Why do I do this?” my mind wonders. 

I move through the 2 sets of the second giant set and then it is off to the cardio area.

“I have hit a pretty high heart rate during my workout, so maybe I can do cardio later?”  I think.

Despite what my brain says, I step onto the treadmill.  I am aiming for 20 minutes.  After 5 minutes I start to think strange thoughts.

“This is boring.  I can't believe I forgot my mp3 player in the car!”

I continue on and work towards that 20 minute goal.  Steady cardio at 4.5 mph with an incline of 4.0.  I am sweating profusely as I walk quickly on the treadmill.

“Why do I do this?” my mind wonders yet again.

It is now 10 minutes into the cardio workout.

“I should just go into the cool down now.”  my mind is working on tricking me again.

I continue pushing forward.  I am now at 12 minutes.

“I should stop now.”  my mind thinks.

I continue to work.  I am now at 16 minutes.

“Why do I do this?”  my mind continues to wonder.

Finally I hit 20 minutes.  What a dream this has been.  Except…

This wasn't a dream at all.  It is what really happened at the gym this morning and it gave me the answer to the question “Why do I do this?”  There's a selfish answer and a not so selfish answer.

The selfish answer:  I do this for the triumphs and victories I get at the gym like today's personal best on the deadlifts and because it is taking me closer to my ultimate goals.

The not so selfish answer:  I want to inspire others to do the same thing. I want to inspire others to workout as hard as they can and to get them to leave it all on the gym floor.

I do it because my goals have propelled me forward and I almost feel compelled to do my workouts.  Stong or weak on a given day, I give it my all and in the end, I feel better about myself (witness the smile on my face now).

My workout log:

Exercise	Results (Weight/Sets/Reps)
Deadlift	195 x 10   *[PB] 195 x 10  *[PB] 195 x 10  *[PB] 195 x 9  *[PB]
Explosive Pushups	BW x 11 BW x 11 BW x 11 BW x 11
Bulgarian Split Squats	25 x 10 25 x 10 25 x 10 25 x 10
2 Point Bent Row	40x 12 *[PB] 40 x 12 *[PB] 40 x 12 *[PB] 40 x 12 *[PB]
Deadlift from a box	85 x 20 85 x 20
Dumbbell Bench Press	35 x 20 35 x 20
Walking lunges	25 x 20 25 x 20
Seated Cable Row	80 x 20 80 x 20
*PB=Personal Best

I got up at 3:15 a.m. and headed out to the gym.  Today was my cardio day, so I got on the treadmill and cranked out a nice HIIT session with 1 minute intervals.  I did that for 30 minutes and then went to work.  I had a jam packed morning followed by a meeting filled afternoon.

After my afternoon meeting, I headed to the gym for HIIT session #2 for the day.  It felt great to be consistent and get to the gym as scheduled.  I had alot of energy during the workouts.  I am looking forward to more deadlifting tomorrow, but for today, the cardio work will suffice.

I spent some time in the car today listening to the new Led Zeppelin station on XM and thinking about what it means to be consistent.  I am not talking about the obvious meanings, I'm talking about the deeper meanings.  Consistency means so many different things.  The following are some quotations I found on the matter:

“A consistent man believes in destiny, a capricious man in chance.” — Benjamin Disraeli

“Without consistency there is no moral strength.” — Owen

To me, being consistent means doing things regularly.  It means not missing a workout as best you can.  It means working hard constantly.  Consistency is what brings you to the gym to do your workouts.

Until tomorrow…