Are You Serious?

Tonight at the gym my girlfriend was in the middle of her workout when she was approached by a guy. She was in the squat rack doing her sets of close grip bench and a guy from the basketball court approached her with the following dialogue:

Guy: Hey, what are you doing?
Girlfriend: Lifting
Guy: Oh, well how old are you?
Girlfriend: 22
Guy: Do you have a boyfriend?
Girlfriend: Yea...
Guy: Oh, well can you have a friend? What's your number?
Me: (Johny Cage Shadow Kick to the chin)

 

Ok, well i didn't deliver a Shadow Kick. I was actually at another part of the gym finishing up a session with my final client of the evening. I am not on here to rant about my girlfriend getting hit on and I am not jealous in this situation. What I am on here to do is discuss gym etiquette (and make fun of this guy a little bit).

First of all, I wasn't aware that the new pickup line of the day was "How old are you?" I think I might ask the next girl I see "A/S/L?" Honestly, I hate the fact that so many guys are so forward with their pick-up lines, especially in the gym. It' no wonder why females are timid to lift weights down in the gym where all the guys are. A girl is just trying to get her lift on (actually lifting may I add. No pink dumbells here) and she has to worry about some fool bothering her between sets to ask if she has a boyfriend. I understand there are attractive girls in the gym and nothing is more of a turn-on than a girl lifting some heavy iron. But there is no reason to ruin a set to spit out a line to try to pick up a girl, especially when you can't even complete one pull-up. I see this all too often and it just frustrates the shit out of me. LET PEOPLE LIFT! If you are interested in what a person is doing then ask them about that during a rest period. But if you want to just ask a girl if it hurt when she fell from heaven then wait until the bar Friday night.

Some people actually go to the gym to train and get stronger and better. Now that you understand this, please leave those people alone and refrain from bothering them with stupid shit.

I want to thank you for listening to me rant. Gym etiquette is something that should be taught in school. It's simple yet so many people have issues with it. All it comes down to is respect, so have respect for your neighbors and hopefully they will return the favor.

Do You Need Some Help?

I was waiting on a client to arrive the other day when this lady approached me. I asked her if I could help her and she explained, in a agitated tone, that she had joined the gym 3 days ago and was yet to receive a tour and had no clue what to do while she was there. I asked her what she needed to b shown to her, thinking she wanted to know a few exercises for this or that, and she responded with, "Everything." Thrown off by that comment I explained to her the complimentary intro to personal training and asked if I could schedule her an appointment. She didn't want that and instead explained that she wanted to use one of the machines in the cardio theatre and needed someone to show her how to use it. Trying to be courteous, I asked around but all the trainers were busy so I just directed her to the front of the gym to request a tour. On the inside however, I was rushing with insults and confusion. I just don't understand how people can be so helpless. They all want everyone else to do things for them instead of doing it on their own.

I realize the gym can be an intimidating place, especially to the new member who may not be in the best shape. However, it is not an impossible task to come in, not knowing anything, and figure out how to use the equipment. Most of the cardio machines are as simple as getting on and pushing start. Beyond that, there is a track which all you have to do is walk. We do that everyday, some less than others but regardless. The resistance training machines are similar in that regard. Each piece of equipment has a written and picture description of how and what. And if you want to get real crazy, people could go on the Internet and so some research on working out to figure out some simple workouts and exercises to do while in the gym. WHOA!

Don't get me wrong, I have a job because many people are ignorant to exercise and need that help. I'm a specialist. However, people need to learn to take some responsibility. I have talked about this before and will more than likely talk about it again. It is your life people. Why wait for others to direct you or hold your hand while you go through it. Take control and figure it out on your own. You will be much more successful this way and when that time comes that you have no one to lean on, you will be prepared to go to battle. There is always a way to get something done so figure it out and do it. Research, try things out, experiment. You may not always be right on the first time but you can learn from your mistakes and figure out the best way to do something without relying solely on others to do it for you.

Book of the Month

Outside of training and life I try to get in some reading whenever I can. Most of the time I try to stay within the realm of fitness but I like to read self-improvement books and even some random topics such as "the law of attraction". I recently got a Kindle so I am pretty excited to start using that and get a nice and extensive e-library built up. Reading is one of those things that I evaded for the longest time and regret doing so. I got back into reading about 2 years ago and have read a decent amount of books. It helps me with my knowledge and learning but also helps me with my writing and most of all, makes me look like a nerd.

With all of that being said I thought it would be nice to start a post entitled "Book of the Month" to share what book is sitting on my night stand at that very moment. So without any more wait I will introduce this month's Book of the Month...

 "Book of Secrets" by Deepak Chopra is the book that I am just about to open. I have read some of Chopra's other work and I am really in to his style of thought. It comes from more of a Buddhist outlook on life which deals a lot with living in the Now and not worrying too much about the past or future. It gives me a break from a lot of the scientific jargon and training based reading a deal mostly with and helps me relax my mind and refocus. Sometimes life gets me carried away and frustrated so it is good for me to read something that is going to focus me back on life at that moment and not get carried away with the small things. I am really looking forward to diving into this one and next month I will let you know how it was.

Focus NOW

The future...something we can't control. Yet I find myself constantly thinking about it and trying to determine how it will turn out. I was once told that time is our only currency and once we lose it we can never get it back. Ever since I have tried to live with that mindset and take life one step at a time. Yet I still tend to look at the future and overlook the present. To focus on the present and what we have now is to live life to the fullest. Take in everything the present has to offer for once it's gone, it's gone. I hope that I can fully take in and appreciate every moment I am granted and fulfill everything I am capable of.

What happens to us down the road is determined by our actions today. I personally expect to better myself day by day while enjoying the life around me. It's not always fun and it's not always positive, but that's what makes it life. Things will tear us down and that is where we have to be strong and rebuild to a better person. Overlooking life because of a bad situation can create holes in out lives which can cause our character to be weak. Attack instead of avoid and embrace instead of fear. These are the ways that life will be mastered.

Step Back to Go Forward

Linear periodization has always been a foundation of many strength training programs. But let's be serious, the body does not adapt in a linear fashion. The body goes through periods of stagnation along with periods of explosion. Many times gains can come in a burst after being at a sticking point for months. So, to say that linear periodization is the best way to go leaves a lot to be gained. There are many other philosophies on periodization but I am not going to get into all of those today. I am more interested in discussing the idea of a deload, or rest period for the body.

As you may know when training, in some way, the idea is to make increases. Whether it be the intensity, the volume, or maybe the exercise itself, increases are ideal. Progression. Well for most of us weathered trainees there are points in our training where a wall is hit and gains are not being reached as we had hoped for. Sometimes we have just hit a ceiling but many times our body has just been pushed so hard for so long it just needs a rest. And that there is the idea behind a deload.

Deloading can be done in many different ways. It can be one week or multiple weeks. It can involve decreasing the load lifted or the volume of the workout. It can be a week of totally different exercises that cause less strain on the body mechanically. Depending on the goals and type of workout really determines the type of deload. When working towards greater strength and power the ideal of a deload would be to decrease the volume, maybe even to 50%. By doing so one can keep the intensity high and maybe even get a few more pounds on each lift and still have the body rested because of the decrease in volume. A person who looks more at volume for their workout, maybe an endurance athlete, might keep the volume normal but cut the weight. The body is still pushing through the same number of reps but the amount of weight being lifted is not nearly as tough as normal, therefore the body can recover. Those who do a lot of running, whether long distance or sprint-type training, may take a week where they avoid foot contacts during training. By this I mean avoiding the treadmill or track and doing a bike workout or going to the pool and doing some water training. This type of deload takes the strain off of the joints and allows them to recover since they have been beaten on so much over the past months of training.

You may be wondering why not just take a week off period. Well for most of us gym junkies, it's almost impossible to be sedentary and stay out of the the place we call our church. Beyond that, doing absolutely nothing would give us rest, but engaging in an active recovery (a deload) gives our body the rest it needs while still making gains and improving our performance. There are instances where a person or athlete does need to just take a couple days off. Overtraining, or the verge of it, is a good reason to just sit back and do nothing for a couple days. Either way, let the body heal. Dropping a workout down a notch for a week can catapult you into the next phase of your workout where you could see some great gains that you hadn't seen in a while. Not to mention after a week of reduced load you will be itching to get back at it 100%, I know i can't wait for the week following a deload.

If you are new to the gym, or you are a trainer with a client who has just began weight training then a deload will not be as necessary at this point. Beginners are going to see a lot more gains than are experienced lifters plus for the first 8-10 weeks of training there are going to be a lot of neural adaptations. So their strength is going to rise on more of a linear path. With a new trainee there may be 10-12 weeks of hard workouts before a deload where as with athletes or lifting vets it may be more around 4-6 weeks of hard training before a week of recovery. Everything is individual and it needs to be played around with to find the best fit for each person. Just know at some point there needs to be some type of recovery. The body can't constantly be pushed to the edge without it falling off at some point. So give it a step back every now and then.

If you are interested in more info about deloading there's an E-book by Eric Cressey called "The Art of the Deload". Its very helpful in teaching the different ways of deloading and some reasons behind them.

New and Improved

After two years of posting blogs and thoughts over at swonkdiesel.blogspot.com, I have decided to change it up and create a new site. Welcome to chancecianciola.blogspot.com! I decided to make the change because I wanted my name on the site but also to create a new drive in me. I had gotten a little lazy with my blogging at the previous site so I figured if I started a new site I would have to build it up again which would give me more motive to keep my blogs regular. I hope that you all enjoy the new site and what I have to say. Leave comments or send me emails for any topics that you would like me to discuss. Stay tuned for future posts!