Is there ever a time when you can say that it is enough?  I am going to tell you that I don’t think so.  The habits you are creating are for a lifetime.  You must think of it that way all the time.  Don’t ever get caught in the idea that there is an end in sight.  Even when you reach your original goals, you should pick some new ones and head towards those.  Even maintaining your body is something that is a lifetime pursuit.

It will never be enough for me. I  am going to continue to work on and perfect the muscles in my body.  I will work harder and harder to shape things the way I want them. I will not quit.  It will never be enough.  This is what I will do for the rest of my life.  I will push myself and mold my body into great shape.  I am in no real hurry, but I do know that 2009 is going to be the year where I hit some major milestones.

As you all know, my 14 year old son, Matthew (we call him Matty) has been working out with me.  He started this mission with me and has been alongside me for every single workout.  He has busted his butt.  You’ve all seen his workout logs, so no doubt you are seeing his progress as far as the weight training goes, but there has been an unexpected (for some, but I expected it) side effect.  Allow me to explain.

Matty is a goaltender on a Bantam aged ice hockey team.  I have finally seen a major side effect of his training. 

Today Matty played a game against a team that had beaten his team handily several times before.  Today the story was different.  Matty was faster, stronger and more agile than he has ever been.  He has to do something called a butterfly slide.  It involves him being down in his butterfly position (legs in the splits basically) and he has to push hard with his left leg to go right or his right leg to go left.  Today he was moving in his butterfly slide so quickly that he was in position each and every time.  The other team’s coach commented that he seemed alot stronger physically this game.  It is so true. 

The boy has upped his squat weight 20 lbs. in just 5 weeks.  That doesn’t sound like much until you realize that is a 20% gain already in such a short time.  He has almost doubled his bench press during that time period as well.  It is pretty amazing.  Not only is his body shaping up nicely (he needs to do better with nutrition), but he is now seeing results in his hockey playing.  I would say that is an awesome benefit to his training regimen.  He is now seeing that the reason for training is to improve all areas of your life, including your sports.

Yes, I am a proud father!

I know that counting to 5 isn’t that hard, but what about when you are doing 25 repetitions?  If you just straight up count to 25 you run the risk of losing count or worse, falling asleep while counting!  You need something to keep your brain engaged while counting.  Additionally, if you are using a specific cadence when lifting (like 3 seconds up and 3 seconds down), how do you keep track of that and the repetitions you are doing?  There are numerous ways to handle this and I discuss those below.

Break up the monotony

Assume you are trying to do 25 repetitions.  In order to keep your brain occupied, count to 10, then count to 10 again, then count to 5.  By breaking up the count you insure that you won’t lose count and you keep it interesting.  Your brain stays engaged.

Metronome or just your own?

If you are using a specific cadence and are trying to get to 25 repetitions you have your hands full.  You can use the “break up the monotony” strategy and incorporate it into your counting of the cadence.  A typical count would be “1-2-3-1-2-1-1-2-3-1-2-2-1-2-3-1-1-2-3-3…” and so on.  This is the “just your own” strategy.  I personally use the “metronome” strategy.  I have purchased a small electronic metronome and I use that to time my repetitions.  I have it set to a 3 second click.  This means that I need to be at the end of the “up” portion of my lift by the first click and then at the end of my “down” portion of my lift by the second click.

Straight up or every other one?

A problem unique to arm exercises where you work one arm and then the other in alternating fashion is easily solved.  I’ve tried two different ways they both work well.  One way is to just straight up count it.  If you are aiming for 10 repetitions for each arm, just count to 10 twice.  “1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10”.  My favorite is the “every other one” strategy.  Assume you are doing dumbbell bicep curls.  You do the lift on the right arm and don’t count, but then you do the lift on the left arm and count “1”.  This cycle repeats until you hit your target repetitions.

Conclusion

The reality is that your brain needs some brain candy to keep it engaged during your lifts.  You will find that no one strategy for counting works everytime.  You will soon learn that combining the various strategies is what will work best.  Have fun with it and try different ideas.  You will keep your brain engaged and have a better workout as a result.

Matty’s Workout Log:

We had another great workout today.  On the advice of Matty’s goalie coach we canned the wrist curls for him.  He is working his wrists with a handle and a weight dangling from it.  He rotates his wrists to lift that single plate.

I am a big proponent of remaining focused in all areas of life for there to be success.  Before we talk about focus, let’s discuss what focus isn’t.

Focus is not spending long hours on something.  It is not just “paying attention” to something.  It is not just being consistent about something.  Those things don’t even approximate focus.

Focus is the unbridled passion for something.  It is the ability to be single-minded about something.  It is getting into the zone and not leaving it.  You can’t be focused if you are distracted all the time, so focus is also about removing the distractions.

What distractions can derail your fitness routine?  There are so many that it would be impossible to list them all.  The most common distraction is just life itself.  Life can get in the way by making you too busy.  However, I find this to be a poor excuse.  We make time for the things that are important to us, so how can we claim that we don’t have time to workout and get in shape?  Another common distraction life throws at us is work.  We work long hours and we are tired at the end of the day.  Even this is a poor excuse.  You can always get up earlier if you need to so that you can fit your workout in before the workday ever begins.  This is exactly why I workout in the morning. I do not want work to become a distraction for me.  It works and my consistency is the highest it has ever been.

Remember that focus is what will bring you success.  Without it you will just float from this to that, never really accomplishing your end goal.

As I worked out today I realized just how important it really is to me.  I felt like I had been reunited with an old friend.  It felt so good to feel the metal bar in my hands.  I felt incredible doing the exercises.  It relieved alot of stress and tension from my body today. 

I will leave you with some more thoughts about social networking and then I am going to call it a day.  I’ve really started spending alot of time on Twitter and I enjoy it.  It is so interesting to follow conversations that go on.  It is awesome to share thoughts and get immediate feedback from other people.  Be warned that it gets addictive in very short order.  At the same time, you connect with some very amazing people.  No matter what the topic, there is someone on Twitter who knows alot about it.  You can follow me on Twitter by clicking on the Twitter icon at the bottom of this post.

Matty’s Workout Log: