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Be the Best You that You Can Be

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Be the best you that you can be. That's the advice I was given when I decided to get involved with bodybuilding. it is one of the best pieces of advice ever given to me. It is the reason I love bodybuilding so much. You see, when you are trying to transform your body it doesn't matter what anyone else is doing. The only thing that matters is what you do.

Compete With Yourself in the Gym

One of the best aspects of lifting is that you get to compete with yourself at the gym. My approach is to always do a little bit better than my previous training session. If I hit 365 for 4 reps on a deadlift, next time I need to lift more weight or more reps or both. It is a competition, but not with the person next to me. I am strictly competing with myself. It gets me to a new place mentally.

Compete With Yourself in the Kitchen

I am always aiming to hit my macros dead on. Most of the time I fail, but I get them very close. My goal in the kitchen is to beat my previous day. I want to get closer and closer to my final macro numbers. This competition with myself gives me focus that I don't usually have. It is amazing and fun.

Compete With Yourself in the Mirror

Bodybuilding is all about asthetics. By competing with yourself in the mirror you are doing whatever it takes to improve your overall look. Is one shoulder looking smaller than the other? Fix it through hard work at the gym.

Competition Builds Your Body

Each of these three competitive ideas will help change your body into what you are wanting it to be. The hard work you put in will always pay off if you are competing with yourself. By beating your previous best in all areas you can do nothing but get better and better.

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Tracking Body Measurements for Success

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When you are travelling somewhere you can take many roads to get to where you are going. I personally use an app called Waze to cut down my driving time. When trying to transform your physique, tracking body measurements is like using Waze.

We are all going to produce results–positive and negative–by the activities we partake in. If you take the time to plan then you should also take the time to measure. I personally measure weight, body fat percentage and my circumference measurements weekly. Here is an example of the spreadsheet I use.

Click for larger image
Click for larger image

This type of tracking really keeps me dialed in. For instance, have a look at the above. It is my actual current log. I am looking to burn fat and maintain the muscle I worked hard to gain. On 2/28/2015 my scale weight increased more than 3 pounds. That immediately concerned me. However, take a look at the body fat percentage. It dropped 1.3% for the week.

Taking your body measurements on a regular basis is going to be your road map to success. You will know when changes you make are working and when they are not. Instead of taking a stab in the dark, the picture will become very clear to you. It is easy when done this way.

I have avoided a lot of stress by using this spreadsheet. I am going to make something like this available in my upcoming membership area here on Fitness Expose.

So, if you are not tracking your progress start doing so today. You are going to see that body measurements don't lie and they will guide you towards the right path just like a good road map or Waze.

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Eat So You Hit Your Macros

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Macros are extremely important in attempting to hit your fat loss goals. Macros are an often overlooked aspect. Your macros enable your diet to be healthy and nutritious. They insure that you are not leaning too heavily on one particular type of food.

I often laugh because of the debate about “clean eating” vs. “If It Fits Your Macros” style eating (see Saturday Sharing: My Thoughts on the IIFYM Debate and Expose Podcast #1: Let's Talk IIFYM on this topic). My good friend and mentor, Chris Albert, had this to say on Facebook about the topic:

Chris Albert IIFYM comments
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Chris is 100% correct. While the “clean eating” group would frown on eating a pop tart, the IIFYM people are not wrong when they say it is OK as long as you hit your macros. The most successful ebook about fat loss, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto, teaches us to use macros to hit our fat loss goals. This is not a new concept by any means. So how do you do it?

For me it is about planning ahead. When I first started closely tracking my macros I planned every single meal ahead of time. I observed what combinations of foods brought what macro ratios. I then learned how to build a good menu without the need for massive advanced planning. However, it all started with planning.

I use the MyMacros app on my iPhone. I would sit down and plan what I wanted to eat. I would enter it into MyMacros as I was planning. I would then see what the macro ratios were and adjust them accordingly. I did this for weeks. It was at that point that I could just do it instinctively. Yes, there are still times when I am low on a particular macro as I near the end of the day or I am short on calories, but I simply grab a food choice and eat to bring the numbers in line for the day.

Please note that I do not obsess about the macros, but I do try to get them as close as I possibly can. I focus more on getting in the calories I am supposed to be eating.

Give this a try. I do not think you will be disappointed. It is an awesome system for keeping things in line. You will feel better in the long run.

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Monday Madness: HIIT From Hell

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Cardio is an extremely important element in fat loss. Today I want to talk to you about a type of cardio that will push you hard and get results–HIIT from hell!

HIIT cardio is going to give you the best bang for the time you spend. The idea is that when you complete your work interval you should need some significant rest in order to be able to complete another word interval. If you are able to go again after 60 seconds you have not worked hard enough. With HIIT from Hell you definitely will need a minimum of 2 minutes rest.

The HIIT From Hell Workout

This is going to really get your heart rate going. You should not be able to talk after doing a working interval. Take the rest and then hit each working interval that follows as hard as the first one.

Using a treadmill with incline control

5 minutes – Warm up at 3.0 mph and flat
0:45 – 9.5 mph at 3%
2:15 – 3.5 mph at 3% rest
0:45 – 9.5 mph at 6%
2:15 – 3.5 mph at 6% rest
0:45 – 9.5 mph at 9%
2:15 – 3.5 mph at 9% rest
0:45 – 9.5 mph at 12%
2:15 – 3.5 mph at 12% rest
0:45 – 9.5 mph at 15%
2:15 – 3.5 mph at 15% rest (15% is the max on my normal treadmill)
0:45 – 9.5 mph at 12%
2:15 – 3.5 mph at 12% rest
0:45 – 9.5 mph at 9%
2:15 – 3.5 mph at 9% rest
0:45 – 9.5 mph at 6%
2:15 – 3.5 mph at 6% rest
0:45 – 9.5 mph at 3%
2:15 – 3.5 mph at 3% rest
5 minutes – Cool down at 2.5 mph and flat

This will total 37 minutes of very hard work! Enjoy!

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My Focus Journal Entry #10

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This week we changed up a couple of variables–longer and more frequent cardio sessions along with a new approach to weight training. The changes produced some very positive results.

Body weight: 256.8 (up 3.4 lbs)
Body Fat %: 18.7% (down 1.3%)
Reduced my chest by 0.5 inches
Reduced my abdominal area by 0.25 inches

I feel good and strong, but I am very sure I am holding water. That's the only way to explain the massive increase in scale weight while seeing a reduction in fat percentage.

I continue to be focused on my eating and getting my training in. The cardio is especially important to get done.

No pictures this week. I will begin posting them every other week (a decision I made because results don't come as fast as one would think).

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