1.  Intensity.  You need to lift with intensity if you expect to make gains.  Simply showing up at the gym and throwing weights around isn’t going to do it for you.  You have to push yourself to the limit.

2.  Consistency.  You can workout with all the intensity you have, but if you only hit the gym once a month, you aren’t going to see any gains at all.  Consistency is the key ingredient here.  You must get into the gym on a regular basis and be compliant with your schedule of workouts.

3.  Observation.  Be observant to how your body reacts under certain training conditions and then leverage what you learn to make awesome gains.  Know your body and you will make a connection between the weights and your muscles that you never thought was possible.

The irony of this situation is that just the night before I was speaking to Carlos DeJesus on the telephone about this very thing.  Read on and you will understand.

It was a typical workout morning.  I hit the gym alone because Matty was sick.  I got in and did my leg extensions, leg curls and calf raises.  I was ready for my squats.  I was not yet ready to up the weight, so I loaded a relatively light 210 lbs. onto the bar, got under it and unracked the weight.  I went down for repetition number one and paid extra attention to my form.  Things looked good.  The bar was lower on my back like it should be for proper alignment and my depth was excellent.  I came back up using hip drive just like Coach Rippetoe teaches.  I went down for repetition number two and came back up. I went down for repetition number three and came back up.  I was being careful not to bounce or get out of alignment.  I went down for repetition number four and came back up.  I went down for repetition number five and upon hitting the halfway point I felt a twinge in the right side of my lower back.  I immediately came up (carefully) and racked the weight.  It wasn’t much of a twinge, just very slight.

I stretched my back and felt pretty good.  I managed to continue with my workout and didn’t feel any pain at all.  When I got to the deadlifts I realized that I should skip them. From past experience, the deadlifts really tax my back.  As any smart person would do, I skipped that exercise and moved on to the treadmill.  My idea was to walk slowly for a little while to warm up the muscles even more before stretching some more.  Everything seemed fine.

When I got home Matty ran an electric massager over my lower back.  I felt good.  About 2 hours later my back was in full spasm mode.  I was having a major muscle spasm and could barely stand up straight!  I knew right then that I should have just ended the workout the moment I felt the twinge.

I spent the rest of today taking care of my back.  It is sore and stiff, but it seems to be getting better.  I know this is going to throw off my training this week and that upsets me.  I hate injuries!

By testing things out, over time you will see what works for you and your body type.  Everyone is different.  You wouldn’t dream of wearing my custom made shoes, so why expect to be given the exact program that will work for you?  You can be taught principles and guidelines, but it is up to you to find out what works the best for you.  At that point, you have to work with the things that have done the best for you and leave behind those things that haven’t worked for you.  It is really a simple process.

I measure my body fat and body weight weekly.  I have a chart that shows my fluctuations for the past 535 days.  I have also mapped to that what I was doing at the time.  Using that chart I can make decisions very easily about which principles I should apply to my training and nutrition and which principles won’t work for me.  The specifics of setting up a good plan then become extremely easy for me.

Today is Easter and it is a huge reason to celebrate.  This is the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead.  He shocked His followers by fulfilling 29 prophecies in just 24 hours.  They came to His tomb expecting Him to be dead.

”And as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them ‘Why do you seek the living One among the dead?’” (Luke 24:5)

The message is clear.  Jesus is alive.  He is no longer in the tomb.  The man whom these women expected to find dead is actual living.

As I thought about this passage from the Bible today on Easter Sunday, I realized that it applies to alot of people and their pursuit of fitness goals.  They are going to the wrong place for their information.  It is no surprise since the internet is a mass of confusion, especially where it comes to fitness.  My advice is to seek your information from the doers. 

If someone has been an undefeated champion, I’d say you should listen to them.  If someone has reached the pinnacle of their sport 6 times by winning the national championship, I’d say you should listen to them.  Stop seeking the living among the dead.  Get your information from the people who have been there and can sincerely answer your questions.  If possible, learn directly from them and if not, learn from those they have mentored.

Remember, a good mentor equips his pupils to succeed on their own.  This means teaching them the principles of success that worked for the mentor.  There are three people I can think of who have wonderful credentials in this area:

Carlos DeJesus
Skip La Cour
Tom Venuto

These are all men who have lived the information they are providing.  They are extremely knowledgeable and have a wealth of information that can bring you to the next level.  They are the living among the dead in the fitness industry.  Then there are those who have learned from these people (like Marc David) who are also a wealth of good information and advice.

Since the title of today’s post is about change happening, I thought I would address the topic of change.  Change is something that the majority of people shy away from.  I honestly feel that while people enter a physique transformation with every intention to be successful, their inate disgust for change sabatoges them at some point.  They get complacent naturally and thus, fail to really transform.  This is a cycle that must be broken for success to occur.

Change is about small steps.  It isn’t about taking one giant leap ahead and staying there.  Change should happen in small, digestible increments.  Anything greater than that is sure to result in failure.  Taking things in manageable increments will help to insure that you are successful in the long term.  As mentioned in my video a few days ago, it is quite alright to change your eating 5 days a week and then eat what you want 2 days a week.  Will your results be as quick?  No, they will not be as quick.  However, I do believe that you will develop a consistency that you might fail to develop if you aim for 7 days of good eating right away. 

I know this is probably a heretical statement for me to make and I’m sure other fitness experts would disagree to some extent, but I believe in the statement I just made.  I feel that when you make that small change to eating right 5 days a week you will stick to it.  You will eventually begin to see results rolling in.  At that point you will start to be compliant even on the 2 days you have set as “free days” because you won’t want to put your progress in jeapordy.  The 5 days a week is a catalyst to get you to that next level.  It will insure the consistency that you need to get going. 

It is the same with working out.  If you simply just start working out 3 days a week, you will begin to see results and that will lead you to working out 6 days a week eventually.  It goes back to creating a consistent set of behaviors that lead you to the ultimate objective.

Matty’s Workout Log:

Honestly, the Saturday workout, while doing it, didn’t feel like a great workout.  Afterwards I realized that I’ve been on a 3 week cut with very low carbs and my energy is hitting rock bottom.  Thus, the weight I am pushing isn’t as good as it usually is, but I did get every single rep on every single exercise.  I have one more week on the very low carb system and then I get to recharge for 2 weeks before hitting this 4 week cycle again.