Maiden Post

Thought I would start out by giving some background on my current training program/philosophy and some of the websites and fitness newsletters that have shaped it. About 1.5-2 years ago I started to get back into the gym. If you have lifted before this is always depressing since you can't lift very much and you are sore for days after your workouts.

I also travel a lot for work so getting to the gym consistently was a problem and hotel gyms just plain suck. An elliptical machine and a treadmill from the 80s in a room with no ventilation does not qualify as a fitness center! I needed something where I could do a full body workout when I could actually get to the gym.

Long story short, a lot of the fitness industry moved away from body part split routines to full body routines. Men's Health and Men's Fitness became my reading material rather than Muscle and Fitness. I guess the major thing that changed was the end goals of all around health and fitness rather than to get huge. That ego got checked at the door after high school/university.

I now subscribe to a number of newsletters and have a number of books that have influenced the way I spend my time at the gym. One of the early one's was The Abs Diet by David Zinczenko. For the sake of brevity I am just going to list some of the other books and websites here:
Power Training by Robert Dos Remedios
Diesel Crew www.dieselcrew.com
Art of Strength www.artofstrength.com
Pavel Tsatsouline's Books: Power to the People, Enter the Kettlebell www.powerbypavel.com
Craig Ballantyne's newsletter www.turbulencetraining.com
Alwyn Cosgrove www.alwyncosgrove.com
Straight to the Bar www.straighttothebar.com
Gym Jones www.gymjones.com (Also search on youtube for the videos)
Crossfit www.crossfit.com

All of these sites/books have great information and motivational stuff. What they all have in common is about getting strong and fit and less about building the glam muscles. I have learned a ton about strength training and nutrition from reading these.

I don't necessarily have specific goals that I am trying to achieve ie. not running a race or competing in a show. I just want to continue to get stronger in all aspects. I am far from an elite athlete as well. My vice working against me is staying out too late partying and boozing. Trips to Vegas don't help this.

My workout plans are not prescribed which I know is not ideal (like going into a battle without a strategy) but I have developed kind of a mix and match approach depending on energy levels and how often I can make it to the gym. I do like to make sure that I train for Maximum effort, Dynamic Effort, Endurance and Flexibility. There is a great article for download on the Crossfit website that discusses What is Fitness? Long but very worthwhile reading.