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02: Surviving a Fiery Crash

October 4, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

02: Fitness Freedom Podcast by Michael Mahony



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Surviving a Fiery Crash

Who is Collin DuCharme?

Collin is a fitness industry professional and is currently coaching a nationally ranked powerlifter. He loves experimenting and trying new things in the gym. He is a real leader and believes in leading by example. His story is motivational because he explains how his training saved his life when he was hit by a drunk driver and his Jeep burst into flames on the highway.

“I'm not a do as I say, not as I do kind of person.” – Collin Ducharme (2:16)

 

How Collin Got Started at the Age of 16

Collin discusses how he started training due to a JROTC program he was involved with. He was put in charge of 30 kids. He wanted his group of 30 to pass the annual physical fitness assessment. He did some research and realized how much knowledge was available to him on the internet.

“I started looking up the best way to get better at push ups.” – Collin DuCharme (2:43)

 

What excites Collin about the fitness industry?

Collin tells us that when he realized how much there was to learn he got excited because he loves learning. He found out that he knew very little about supplements, so he began to study that topic. He realized that the fitness industry changes, but that as a result, it is something where you will always be learning new things. He actually used the internet to find a lot of the information he was learning (which 10 years ago was much harder than it is now).

“Back when I started the forums I use now were very well hidden.” – Collin DuCharme (4:18)

 

What is the most important thing he learned?

.He has experimented with almost every method of eating and he realized that how you've been trained to eat as a child is probably what you should eat now. If you grew up eating potatoes then that's what your body will likely appreciate the most. Listen to your body because until you realize what works for you, you're not going to achieve the results you want.

“I grew up every day eating a pot of rice” – Collin DuCharme (5:48)

 

The activity you choose can shape your body

“It is interesting how what sport you choose, what activity you do on a regular basis shapes your body” – Mike Mahony (11:28)

 

How to motivate yourself to train

Collin refers us to his car accident as his motivation to train. As he was stuck in his Jeep and people just stared at him, he realized he had a reason to live (his wife) and so he managed to get out of that burning vehicle. He feels that if he had not been training regularly he would never have made it out of the vehicle. We all need to be prepared for eventual issues.

“My car was on fire. I had to pull myself out. ” Collin DuCharme (13:04)

 

How has training changed since the accident?

Collin teaches us that we need to work on body parts we would normally ignore because the entire body works as a unit. We need to improve our weaknesses before we build muscle.

 

Tip of Show

“When trying to lose weight, the most important variable is what you eat.” Mike Mahony (32:56)

 

No Baloney Moment

“Cardio is just one tool in your tool belt.” Mike Mahony (33:22)

 

Resources

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Filed Under: Fitness Freedom, Podcast

01: Shredders on a Mission

September 7, 2017 By Michael Mahony Leave a Comment

00 Fitness Freedom Podcast Michael Mahony

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Shredders on a Mission

Who is Suzette Mayne?

Suzette Mayne is a 48-year-old mother of four. Her 10+ year journey in fitness and weight loss started when her youngest child was 2 and she weighed 240lbs. The next 18 months saw her lose over 90lbs through sheer hard work and determination. Today we hear her inspirational story and she shares her best and worst moments on that journey.

“It’s a journey of the mind before it is of the body.” – Suzette Mayne (1.25)

 

How to overcome obstacles, maintain focus and stay consistent

Suzette goes into detail about what a crucial part your mind plays when it comes to being motivated, consistent and making a commitment to yourself. You need to have that end goal in mind and know what you want to achieve, but you have got to break it down into manageable chunks, work on losing the next 5lbs and the next, and the next. That way you get yourself moving in the right direction and don’t get overwhelmed by the task ahead.

“Making that commitment to yourself, I’m doing this and nothing is going to stop me and there is no option to quit.” – Suzette Mayne (6.22)

 

Suzette’s biggest motivations and inspirations

The biggest motivation for us all to keep working out is feeling good. Of course, we all want to look good on the outside but it’s all about feeling good on the inside too. It’s a circle, if you work hard at your training you feel good on the inside, you see your muscles grow and allow yourself to feel good on the outside. Suzette talks us through how she found some inspirational people, podcasts and blogs online when she first started her journey and where that lead.

“Everybody needs to get to the point where they are self-inspired.” – Mike Mahony (21.29)

 

Advice for those out there just starting their journey or are finding it hard to stay on track

Life will always give you the opportunity to give up, sometimes life will throw problems at you that you must deal with. It might be your health, it might be family, friends or your relationship but you have got to stay positive. When you’re not feeling good mentally and physically it can give the chance to fall back to how you were before. You need to remember you will get through these bad times and so long as you never quit you will get positive results.

“If you're having a setback in your life, use that as a springboard to come back stronger and better than before.” – Suzette Mayne (38.15)

 

Tip of Show

“Always arrive at the gym with your workout prepared ahead of time.” Mike Mahony (41.15)

 

No Baloney Moment

“Creatine – this is a supplement that can be quite helpful for some people. While other people report absolutely no results at all.” Mike Mahony (41.49)

 

Resources

Follow Fitness Freedom on Facebook

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Follow Fitness Freedom on YouTube

Connect with Me on Linkedin

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Filed Under: Fitness Freedom, Podcast

Competition Goals

August 25, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

competition goals

Competition goals can vary from person to person. When I competed I always wanted to improve upon the last package I brought to the stage. For some people this means getting better conditioning while for others it means to build more muscle. This is the key to competing–coming up with the right competition goals.

When preparing for a competition you need to keep in mind what you hope to accomplish on stage. If you are looking to be bigger than everyone else in your division, your approach will be adjusted according to that goal. If you are looking to be leaner than anyone else in your division, that's an entirely different approach.

Goals when preparing for competitions are broken into two things–preparation goals and competition day goals.

Preparation Goals

Here is where you pay close attention to your progress. Track your body fat percentage to insure that you're heading in the right direction. This will help you know whether or not you need to increase or decrease cardio. I personally think that body weight is a useless measurement when competing unless your division has weight limitations, so I don't worry at all about that number.

Competition Day Goals

You will work on these goals throughout preparation and will see the results on stage. These goals can include a good posing routine that is smooth and understandable, increased mass, showing the best version of yourself, hiding flaws, etc. Make sure you keep track of these goals so that when you do your next competition you know what to change and what to keep the same.

Take the time to write down all your goals. I personally use Google Sheets for this purpose.

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Filed Under: Contest Preparation, Featured

How Competition Planning changes everything

August 23, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

competition-planning

What happens when you start planning to compete in a bodybuilding show? Is it any different from normal training and planning? Unfortunately many things do change.

Meal Planning Changes

When preparing for a contest you have to be more focused on your nutrition. You are going to need to tough out some major changes in your nutrition to help get you ripped. You cannot cruise with your nutrition when you are working towards getting on stage. Planning becomes an all the time thing.

Training Approach Changes

For me I have to focus on bringing up lagging body parts. That's why I have planned so far in advance. I want to be sure I have the focus and time to get the job done. I need (for myself) to look big enough when I hit the stage. That is extremely important to me.

Training Schedule Changes

As you get closer to a competition there tends to be more visits to the gym. Generally I find myself in the gym twice a day for the month prior to the show. This means planning my life out more carefully. It is something that you have to do carefully.

Overall Lifestyle Changes

While I try to live the bodybuilding lifestyle all the time, when preparing for a competition it is extremely different. I find myself looking at every angle. I pay more attention to my sleep schedule, my eating schedule and my training schedule. It just is what I do.

Conclusion

In order for all of these changes to happen you need a good support system. This is where you may have to make the biggest changes. If someone is standing in your way consider eliminating contact with them during your prep. The key is to remove all roadblocks on the way to the competition stage.

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Filed Under: Contest Preparation, Featured

Monday Madness: Splits that Work

August 21, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

Splits that work

Training splits that work is kind of a misnomer. Most training splits work quite well. Some obviously work better than others. Let's have a look at a few training splits that work and examine the details of why they might work.

Push/Pull/Legs

This split takes your workout and spreads it over 3 days. You do pushing exercises on one day, pulling exercises on another day and legs on another day. You could do this then take a rest day and repeat. This type of split is great for hitting body parts multiple times in a week.

Upper/Lower

This split simply has you do upper body on one day and lower body on another day. A typical approach would be to do the following schedule:

Sunday – Upper
Monday – Lower
Tuesday – Off
Wednesday – Upper
Thursday – Lower
Friday – Off
Saturday – Off

This also hits all body parts twice a week.

Full Body

Full body splits are a great way to get your training in with less time available. You craft your training to hit every body part 3 times a week. It is typical to train Monday, Wednesday and Friday with this plan. You will hit your body parts 3 times per week. It is easy to mess with intensity when doing this split. Volume is handled as well. This, to me, is the perfect split for someone who is just starting to train or someone who doesn't have a lot of time to train.

Training Splits that Work

Give these a try and see what you think. You will find that each has benefits and each has elements that bring them down. It is all about what works best for you, so conduct your Experiment of One and see what happens.

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Filed Under: Featured, Training

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