What's This Ringing In My Ears?

When I first started working at the gym over two years ago, I pretty much took on any job opportunity I could get my hands on, whether it was checking the equipment, reorganizing the floor pieces or picking up a large group class to teach. Yesterday I took over the class I started with back in my very rookie days as a trainer - and I'm pretty sure I scared 15 out of the 16 women in the class with my music selection.

Yesterday's playlist consisted of the following songs:
Calvin Harris - You Used to Hold Me
Icona Pop - I Love It
The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger
Bayside - Already Gone
Paramore - Emergency
AFI - Days of the Phoenix
Anberlin - Feel Good Drag
Paramore - Decode
Love, Robot - Criminal
A Day to Remember - Best of Me
Beloved - Insult to Injury
Black Tide - That Fire
A Day to Remember - All I Want
Cartel - If I Fail
Silverstein - Replace You

When Beloved's song came over, I walked over to one of my clients who was taking the class (who shares similar a taste of music) and said, "It's about to get heavy in here," and sure enough it did. One member gave me a look that showed her displeasure in the music as others stopped performing their crunches and started covering their ears. Needless to say, next week's playlist will be different, softer, and much more member-friendly, but I still might sneak in an "angry" song here and there.

Now Playing - Brand New - Jaws Theme Swimming 

151... And Counting

One hundred and fifty-one days out from the triathlon. We're finally experiencing some spring-like weather in the area, making outside runs much more enjoyable. This past weekend flew by and unfortunately I didn't get a chance to get out and get some miles in. Yesterday I ran a short two miles (17:32) around South Orange and everything felt good. Tracy has already warned me I'm not going to like Wednesday's workout so that should be interesting!

My workout plan for this week is looking like this:
Tuesday - Lift
Wednesday - Run
Thursday - Run
Friday - Lift
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Run

We'll see if this week continues to go as planed.

April 15 - Muse at MSG
May 17 - Birthday at Medieval Times
May 19 - Skate and Surf
May 25 - Attack Attack! at Gramercy in NYC

Now Playing - Bring Me the Horizon - "Sleep Walking"

End of Week Musings

The Anberlin show this past Wednesday was awesome! They had really good energy and stage presence and played some serious hits. 

This song, "Modern Age" was awesome! Give it a listen!

See more Instagram photography of mine here.
I had some good lifts yesterday and earlier today. I'm working on building up my muscle endurance so the heavy lifting is going away for a while... until the fall. Here's how they went...

Chest

SS
DB press 60# - 15x, 15x, 12x
DB Fly 30# - 15x, 15x, 12x

SS
Incline DB Press 45# - 15x, 15x,
Incline DB Fly 30# - 12x, 12x, 12x

SS
Cable cross over 40# 15x, 15x, 18x
Stability Ball Pull Over 50# 15x, 15x, 15x

Back

Lat Pull Down 100# 12x, 110# 12x, 120# 12x
Single Arm DB Row 50# 12x, 12x, 12x
Pull Ups 10x, 10x, 9x
Rhomboid Row 40# 15x, 40# 15x, 50# 12x

SS
Stiff Arm Pull Down 90# 15x, 15x, 15x
Single Arm Cable Row 60# 12x, 12x, 12x

Reverse Lat Pull Down 90# 15x, 15x

First Day of Spring

Spring has finally sprung, or at least it was supposed to, but it looks like Old Man Winter didn't get the memo. Some brisk temperatures are still lingering, but hopefully for not much longer.

Tonight I'm going to see Anberlin at Irving Plaza. It will be my first show in a while and the first of a few to come. Excited for A Day to Remember next week - hopefully I'll return without any battle wounds. Last time I was at Irving Plaza was for an Escape the Fate show in May 2012. A crowd surfer kicked the back of my ear and cut it open pretty badly getting blood all over one of my favorite shirts. I doubt history will repeat itself tonight since ETF and Anberlin are quite different.

_____________________________________________________

Today's Workout -- LEGS

Box Squat - 135# 15x, 15x, 15x
Dead Lift 185# 15x, 12x, 12x
Walking Rope Lunges 25# DB 30 steps 3x; 30 reverse steps BW final set
Leg Curl 70# 15x, 80# 15x, 90# 15x
Leg Extension 70# 15x, 80# 15x, 90# 15x

Cardio 20 mins

Valentine's Day Crepes

Sorry it's been a few days since I posted last. This week filled up and got away from me a bit, but now with some free time I can catch up on some posts.

Last night I made some V-Day crepes that were amazing and... paleo! The recipe is very simple and only yields on crepe at a time so it's easy to manage the portion sizes. I made two different style crepes. The first was a plain crepe with a mixed berry reduction (at least that's what I'm calling it). The other option was a cocoa crepe with almond butter.

Crepe Recipe:
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/3 tbsp Coconut Flower
1 Egg White
Sprinkle of Cane Sugar

Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl and fry in a pan with a little of olive oil. The amazing, and delicious results are below!

Now Playing - Brand New - Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades

Monday Morning Musing

Hope everyone had a nice and safe weekend. I personally enjoyed the snow storm and didn't mind getting snowed in for a day. It was nice hype for skiing this weekend!

Last night I ventured out into the city to see my roommate's band, Jonesy, play at Highline Ballroom. It was a good show, with some good music. Thankfully, coffee exists and I'm able to survive this morning.

So the diet is still going well and I've managed to level out the weight a bit more. I'll do measurements again this week and see how they compare from two weeks ago. This weekend I was a little bit more relaxed with the eating which is where I need to be. Like I said earlier, I don't want to lean out too much just yet.

The one thing I miss most - bread. However, not having those processed carbs has caused a good change in my body composition. Stay tuned for measurements on Wednesday. As for today?Shoulders!

Now Playing - Armor for Sleep - Basement Ghost Singing

OK, so I cheated

Yep, I cheated on my paleo diet and caved in and had a protein shake. One of my favorite post workout meals in fact is a protein shake especially after a hard and heavy lift. I know this may sound like an advertisement for our juice bar, but having a protein shake after a workout reduces muscle soreness and fatigue, reduces muscle breakdown and increases overall muscle protein synthesis. Consuming the protein in liquid-form provides for quicker absorption of the protein in your body.

 Enough about my cheating... Paleo is going well... almost too well. I'm losing more weight than I expected and wanted to, so I'm going to try and tweak it a little more. I know that may sound ridiculous to some, but right now I want to maintain my current weight. As we get closer to summer, I see following the paleo lifestyle as an excellent way of cutting down for time in the sun.The reason paleo is working well is because it eliminates all processed foods... even the carbs. So breads, whole grains, rice, beans - all gone. All of my carbs have been coming from fruits and veggie so my diet has tighten up a bit.

I'll be doing measurements early next week and post if there are any significant changes in my body composition.

That's it for now... Tomorrow, clients, back, abs, snow. Stay strong.

Now Playing: Paramore - Hero (Electronic Cover)

One Week Down; Seven to Go

What's up everyone? Hope all had a good weekend - I sure did! Tough loss for the 49ers, but at least the game got interesting.

So I've been eating paleo for one week now and I'm starting to see slight changes in my body. The energy is noticeably lower when I don't eat enough vegetables, especially the dark green kind. By eating a lot of protein and low carbs, my body is not getting the iron it needs. If this continues, I could develop anemia.... again. So to counter this I'm trying to eat red meat at least twice a week as well as healthy servings of dark green, leafy veggies as often as possible.

I jumped on the scale yesterday and it showed a two pound loss from when I stepped on last week. I won't know where that two pounds came from until I do my body fat measurement next week. I feel tighter all around and especially in the midsection. Let's see if I can jump back into those 29" jeans comfortably when this is all done!

Today's Workout: Shoulders
Now Playing: Attack Attack! - Stick Stickly

Mid Week Recap

So the paleo diet is still underway (3 days down, 53 days left) and I have made minor adjustments since the first day.

In my first post I discussed how I was low on energy by mid-day and knew I needed to increase my carb intake. Since Monday, I've better managed an appropriate protein-to-carb-to-fat ratio and no longer feel the energy depletion. When I was on a similar diet for my body building competition last year, I felt very low on energy to the point where driving home from work at any hour was dangerous because I might fall asleep at the wheel. I've added more fruits and veggies and will be soon adding more healthy fats into the daily meals.

The weight is still where I want it to be, but I feel tighter and clothes feel looser. I know I'm burning/losing fat and building muscle again (which is good). My next weigh in won't b for another week and a half so keeping the meals up, hitting my calorie goals and managing cardio will all be important in the next several days.

Today's workout: Arms
Now Playing: Memphis May Fire - Without Walls

Day 1 Paleo Diet in the Books

So yesterday was my first day following the paleo lifestyle, and I quickly learned I need to make some adjustments. On average, I need to consume somewhere between 2,100 to 2,400 calories to make it comfortably through the day. With this new lifestyle, all processed carbs are eliminated and to be honest, they were a large part of my previous diet.

Around 4 pm yesterday I was over 1,000 calories away from my target and feeling very run down. To hopefully better plan for longer day today, I've included much more vegetables and more specifically sweet potatoes. I'm hoping the extra two servings will help keep the energy up for my 15 hour day at work.

Yesterday, another trainer and I took my measurements and found my starting point.
Body Fat = 9.9%
Weight = 157 lbs

I really don't want to lose too much weight, so managing the right portion sizes throughout the next eight weeks will be very important. I'm limiting cardio to only 3 days a week and no more than 30 mins per shot. I want to go no where close to as lean as I did for my body building show (<4% BF), so keeping the cardio light and the diet right is very important.

Yesterday's Meals:
Breakfast
2 Eggs
1 Cup Strawberries
1 Small Coffee Black

Mid Morning Snack
Turkey
Banana
2 Eggs


Lunch/PreWorkout
Grilled Chicken
Sweet Potato

Post Workout
Chicken
Banana

 Late Afternoon Snack
Almonds
Turkey

Dinner
Chicken
Spinach
Mixed Veggies

Late Night Snack
Almonds

WORKOUT
Shoulders
10 Min Low Intensity Cardio
1 8:24 Mile Run

Song of the Day: Story of the Year - The Black Swan

Mid Week Musings

Hope all is well with everyone out there. Today seemed to be a very long day - started at 5:30 am and just ending now (11:40 PM). I had some really great clients today who brought their best to each session. I'm very happy with their progress and know they will all continue to do great work.

My mid-day workout consisted of shoulders, abs and 45 mins of cardio. Everything felt really good and I continue to lift heavier weights while trying to lean out. Tonight I went to my fifth jiu jitsu session at Up Top Martial Arts Academy. Tonight was a rough and tough session. Monday's session was a bit of a confidence boost, but tonight brought me back down to Earth. I got gassed pretty early in practice and felt like I didn't have much energy left when we rolled. I went against some pretty experienced guys who definitely gave me a tough time. They were all great and helped me learn while getting my ass handed to me.

It's easy to get frustrated with this sport, throw my hands up and walk away saying, "forget this; I'll never be good at this," or just simply "this isn't for me." That's where determination and willpower come in. I have a tough time accepting "I can't" and plan on giving every challenge my best effort. Although tonight wasn't what I wanted, I'm still very new to this sport and understand it will take time to level up and become better. So my last words I leave to anyone reading this - don't give up on your goals. Just like your body, you mind needs work and training. Mental toughness comes over time; practice on pushing through the tough times and give every effort your very best attempt. Good luck and goodnight.

Now Playing - Gym Class Heroes - Ass Back Home

The Daily Musing

So a little while ago I met with my coach (yes, personal trainers seek help too) to see how my diet has been. Earlier in June I set a goal of getting back down to around 7% body fat. After my last show, I made up for eight months of strict dieting - all in one month. On June 13 I weighed 162 pounds and had a body fat percentage of 13. Today I weighed in at 158 and 9.7% body fat - needless to say, I am pleased with my one-month progress!

In addition to getting back on a regular diet, I changed up my workout to a five-day split and am now working on giant sets for each muscle group. Monday was chest; Tuesday was legs; shoulders today; tomorrow I'll blast my arms; and finish the week with back on Friday.

Some other upcoming events/points-of-mention in my life:

Friday the 13th - Warped Tour with the roommates!
July 21 - New Ink!
August 21 - Depart for New Zealand!

Off to do some abs, then train one more client for the day before I head to jiu jitsu tonight at Up Top.

Now Playing - Thrice - The Artist in the Ambulance

Set Your Goals

For me to remain physically motivated and driven, I need a challenge. I've been putting challenges and new goals in my own path since 2010 when I ran my first half marathon - the Philly 1/2 in November of that year. Two months later I ran my second half marathon down in Disney and shaved 12 minutes off my time. From there I graduated to my first full marathon in San Diego in June 2011. After that much running I wanted to switch gears and that is how I got into body building. After completing three shows earlier this year, I'm ready for a new challenge and goal to overcome.

After speaking with my boss one random day, he suggested competing in a Brazilian jiu jitsu competition. Learning a martial arts discipline is on my bucket list and what better time to start than now.

Last week I joined Up Top Martial Arts Academy in Wayne and have gone twice already. Last night was my first time rolling in a gi and boy are those things, hot, heavy and smelly! I fear what our laundry room might smell like today since I didn't get to wash the gi last night. The next few weeks, I'll be getting a beat-down as I learn exactly what to do, but soon enough I'll be giving them out... hopefully!

I haven't found a competition yet, but I'm sure I'll get in one before the end of this year!

Song of this Post - Set Your Goal - This Will Be the Death of Us

Friday Funday

Today got a little out of hand at work, and the schedule I had planned didn't go exactly as planned. Sometimes it happens and one thing this profession has taught me is that you have to roll with the punches. So since I wasn't able to get my workout in at the gym, I decided to shift gears and go for a run (also knowing that I'm going to get my ass kicked tomorrow...more to come).

Here's all the fun specs of my short run...

And the playlist that got me going...

Skrillex - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites
Bullet for My Valentine - Begging For Mercy
Comeback Kid - Balance
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Factory of Faith

Off to shower and make guacamole for tomorrow!

#NowPlaying Brand New - Sink

Shipping Up to Amherst

Sorry for the incredibly cliche post title, but you knew it was coming with any trip up to Massachusetts. So this weekend I'm up in Amherst, MA helping out my body building coach with a show. It will be nice to see a show and not have to deal with the stress of performing in it. I'm sure after seeing everyone on stage I'll want to do another one, but I know I need my break so that thought probably won't stick around for too long. Here's a picture from my last show to leave you with... don't get caught staring for too long!

NZ in 59 Days

Now Playing - LA Dispute - Safer in the Forest/Love Song for Poor Michigan