Training for an event is my favorite way to train! When you know there is a specific deadline and a reason for why you need to be in shape, it helps you harness much more intensity from your workouts. When I am preparing for a competition, I try to pull out all the stops for my diet, workouts and general health as best as I can. This allows me to go much further than I ever thought possible!
People who train for events such as 10k's, swimming events, triathlons, marathons and Ironmans workout with far greater intensity than people who come to the gym just to get into shape. When you have a reason for your workouts, your workouts will explode! When I train for a bodybuilding competition, I am constantly focused on the deadline of the current phase that I am in.
Bodybuilding Training Phases:
Bodybuilders who compete tend to follow 2 main training phases. The leaning phase and the gaining phase.
Leaning
The leaning phase is the preparation phase for a bodybuilding event. This is usually a countdown of approximately 12-16 weeks before the competition (depending on how much weight needs to be lost). During this time, the competitor is trying to lose as much bodyfat as possible and preserve muscle. Their routine is typically focused on consistent cardiovascular exercise sometimes twice each day, 5-6 times/week along with weight training. Their diet tends to be pretty lean during this period as well so that they can hopefully see all of their muscle groups when they are on stage. The end of the leaning phase is the moment the competitor gets up on stage and poses. Once that is complete, the "gaining" phase begins (and some bodybuilders start the moment they step off stage!).
Gaining
The gaining phase focuses on trying to build as much muscle as possible. Many competitors tend to not put as much intensity into this training phase as they do with the leaning phase which I think is a major mistake! Many bodybuilders call this phase the "off-season", mainly because bodybuilders take the majority of this time off until it's time to start the leaning phase again! However, if a real competitor uses the same amount of focus as they do with their leaning phase during the gaining phase, he/she can make some tremendous gains.
The time period for this phase is dependent on when the next competition in scheduled. It's best to give at least 3 months of proper gaining before leaning begins again. This way, you can give your body ample time to see significant strength improvements. It's this time that makes the real difference for the competitor. If a bodybuilding competitor consistently sees strength improvements during this phase, then it is just a matter of time before he or she will win each show that he/she enters!
Personally speaking, this past year I was able to put on 14lbs of muscle during the "off-season" and this helped me move from 4th place in the heavyweights in 2008 to 1st place in the heavyweights this year! Keeping the training focus makes a big difference!
Maintenance mode
This is the mode that a competitor follows when he or she just can't consistently workout for some reason. This may be during a time of family emergencies or other life events. A typical maintenance mode plan may be working out 3 days/week with some cardio and some weight training. Doing these activities 3 days/week is just enough to hopefully slow the muscle atrophy and keep the competitor relatively the same (Often bodybuilding competitors tend to get on "maintenance mode" during the off-season when they should really be following a proper gaining plan).
Bodybuilders are very much focused on their events and keeping this focus can keep bodybuilders leaner and stronger than their non-bodybuilding counterparts! However, training for any event can really help you strive harder and achieve more! If you have questions about a training event that may be appropriate for you, just ask!
"Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." 1 Corinthians 9:25 (NIV)
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Fear of Failure!
Fearing failure is what holds most of us back from achieving ultimate success! Regardless of your endeavour, fearing failure can stop you in your tracks!
As a kid, I always had a difficult time in school. I was often not paying attention in class. I would daydream about summer, playing video games and how to take over the world (you know, typical childhood thoughts)! As a result, I often failed a good amount of the classes I took. I remember one day when I received a report card and I received all "D's"! Both my parents and I were so elated with this report card because I didn't fail anything!
Eventually, I did get my act together and started putting as much attention into school as I did playing video games and I did a lot better in school. However, going through that and many other trying experiences in life has allowed me to realize that failure is what helps me move forward in life and not hold me back like I thought it would.
This is one of the aspects of training that really separates the champions from everyone else. Failure during a workout is what the goal is! Becoming familiar with how you feel when your body completely fails on you can help you propel your conditioning from mediocre to extraordinary!
The concern I often get with training to failure is: "Won't I get hurt?" The truth is: if you do it right, most likely not. If your form is as good as it can be until the last few repetitions, then you shouldn't worry too much. However, if you have sloppy form throughout the entire set, then you might get injured. This is why having a spotter or a trainer help you during these sets can help make sure you are doing it right. When done correctly, training to failure can bring results significantly faster than any other type of training, period!
I often train to failure in most of my basic exercises. I always try to get a spotter to help me with these sets. I try to get as many repetitions with a challenging weight until I think I can't do anymore and then I ask myself "can I do just one more?" and then I try. Most of the time, I find that I can do one more. Then I ask again "can I do one more?" again and again until I absolutely can't!
Training this way can completely blow away your expectations for how strong or fast you think you are! For example, if you think a challenging weight for you when bench pressing is 35lbs with dumbbells and then you try to do this exercise with 30lbs and you find you are able to do 25 reps....that will prove you can go heavier!
Training to failure can really take your own self-limiting beliefs off of your workouts!
Failure can often lead to great success in life! As God tells us: when one door closes, another one opens. Also, everything works together for the good for those who believe in Christ Jesus!
To me, the best part of our family trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania was hearing about the life of Milton Hershey! To help illustrate how not fearing failure can make a big impact on your life, read about his story:
Milton was born in the mid 1800's. He barely had any formal education. He became an apprentice to a candy-maker in Pennsylvania when he was a teenager and soon thereafter tried to start his own candy business but failed! He then moved onto New York city to try again and failed again! He moved to New Orleans to try again and failed again! By this point he had gone bankrupt and needed someone else to help him finance another venture if he was going to follow his passion.
He then went back to Pennsylvania and convinced his aunt to remortgage her house so he could try yet another business. Just 2 days before the bank was going to foreclose on his aunt's home, Milton received an order from England that more than completely covered all of his debts and Hershey Chocolate took off!
What's even better about this story is what Milton did with his fortune. In addition to creating a huge business that employs an entire city, he also opened a school for orphaned and underprivileged boys. He created state-of-the-art teaching facilities for these kids. Today the school teaches approximately 2000 boys and girls from all states of the U.S. who have very little means. They can attend K-12 and when they graduate they are given $77,000 to use toward any college of their choice. All of this is provided to the child at no cost to the family whatsoever!
Milton Hershey was a man that would not quit regardless of how many times he failed! He had the faith to keep striving in the face of failure! He was handsomely rewarded because he didn't care that he failed! Among his personal belongings that were on display at the museum was his own personal bible that he read. It is obvious that faith was the key to success for Milton!
"Jesus looked at them and said 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" Matthew 19:26 (NIV)
As a kid, I always had a difficult time in school. I was often not paying attention in class. I would daydream about summer, playing video games and how to take over the world (you know, typical childhood thoughts)! As a result, I often failed a good amount of the classes I took. I remember one day when I received a report card and I received all "D's"! Both my parents and I were so elated with this report card because I didn't fail anything!
Eventually, I did get my act together and started putting as much attention into school as I did playing video games and I did a lot better in school. However, going through that and many other trying experiences in life has allowed me to realize that failure is what helps me move forward in life and not hold me back like I thought it would.
This is one of the aspects of training that really separates the champions from everyone else. Failure during a workout is what the goal is! Becoming familiar with how you feel when your body completely fails on you can help you propel your conditioning from mediocre to extraordinary!
The concern I often get with training to failure is: "Won't I get hurt?" The truth is: if you do it right, most likely not. If your form is as good as it can be until the last few repetitions, then you shouldn't worry too much. However, if you have sloppy form throughout the entire set, then you might get injured. This is why having a spotter or a trainer help you during these sets can help make sure you are doing it right. When done correctly, training to failure can bring results significantly faster than any other type of training, period!
I often train to failure in most of my basic exercises. I always try to get a spotter to help me with these sets. I try to get as many repetitions with a challenging weight until I think I can't do anymore and then I ask myself "can I do just one more?" and then I try. Most of the time, I find that I can do one more. Then I ask again "can I do one more?" again and again until I absolutely can't!
Training this way can completely blow away your expectations for how strong or fast you think you are! For example, if you think a challenging weight for you when bench pressing is 35lbs with dumbbells and then you try to do this exercise with 30lbs and you find you are able to do 25 reps....that will prove you can go heavier!
Training to failure can really take your own self-limiting beliefs off of your workouts!
Failure can often lead to great success in life! As God tells us: when one door closes, another one opens. Also, everything works together for the good for those who believe in Christ Jesus!
To me, the best part of our family trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania was hearing about the life of Milton Hershey! To help illustrate how not fearing failure can make a big impact on your life, read about his story:
Milton was born in the mid 1800's. He barely had any formal education. He became an apprentice to a candy-maker in Pennsylvania when he was a teenager and soon thereafter tried to start his own candy business but failed! He then moved onto New York city to try again and failed again! He moved to New Orleans to try again and failed again! By this point he had gone bankrupt and needed someone else to help him finance another venture if he was going to follow his passion.He then went back to Pennsylvania and convinced his aunt to remortgage her house so he could try yet another business. Just 2 days before the bank was going to foreclose on his aunt's home, Milton received an order from England that more than completely covered all of his debts and Hershey Chocolate took off!
What's even better about this story is what Milton did with his fortune. In addition to creating a huge business that employs an entire city, he also opened a school for orphaned and underprivileged boys. He created state-of-the-art teaching facilities for these kids. Today the school teaches approximately 2000 boys and girls from all states of the U.S. who have very little means. They can attend K-12 and when they graduate they are given $77,000 to use toward any college of their choice. All of this is provided to the child at no cost to the family whatsoever!
Milton Hershey was a man that would not quit regardless of how many times he failed! He had the faith to keep striving in the face of failure! He was handsomely rewarded because he didn't care that he failed! Among his personal belongings that were on display at the museum was his own personal bible that he read. It is obvious that faith was the key to success for Milton!"Jesus looked at them and said 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" Matthew 19:26 (NIV)
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