Switch it Up

You should always be looking to expand on your current interests and routines. Although we are creatures of habit, and it is important to have a regular schedule; its also crucial to throw new aspects into your daily mix.

An example would be picking up a new hobby, with all the lifting I do I find it fun, beneficial, and relaxing to add restorative yoga once or twice into my weekly schedule. But it goes beyond that, read more books, watch more informative videos, learn more. Engage in activities you don't normally partake and develop a new respect for the practice. It doesn't have to be religious, it doesn't have to be super intense, and it doesn't have to be daily.

As you progress in life you should learn to continuously add new hobbies and interests into your life. My goals are to read and learn more about hypertrophy, gaining/leaning cycles, and tap further into the physchological portion of lifting and motivation towards goals. Another important area to look to make progress in are your relationships, start setting up weekly/monthly dates with close ones. Phone calls are always nice but spend quality time with the people near and dear to you, cherish the moments and let the bond grow stronger, have a genuinely good time with that individual/group. Furthermore it is important to look to create new relationships, grow your network, step out of your comfort zone and find new viewpoints and personalities.

Deep Breathing

People heavily underestimate the power of breathing. Something so obviously important that we don't even really think about it, and often our breaths become short, shallow, and improper. The power comes from the diaphragm and pretty much no one knows how to properly inhale and exhale, and if they do its often cut short and is rapid. This leads to a whole host of problems such as anxiety disorders, poor posture and muscular imbalances.

Once I learned and started practicing deep breathing my energy levels, motivation, and mental clarity/focus/organization made leaps and bounds. I feel better, am much more conscious and aware, and have a deeper level of intelligence and drive. I feel connected down to the most inner self I have. Its helped me develop more empathy towards others, and a need to carry myself and live life in a way that makes people want happiness for themselves. I want to inspire people to be happy through the way I live my life.

The key to deep breathing is understanding the function of the diaphragm, as you inhale your stomach should push out as the diaphragm contracts and moves down, as you exhale it relaxes and moves back up. My favorite way to train the proper functioning of this underutilized muscle is to lie on your back and put a 2.5 weight on your stomach, inhaling through your nose over a ten count the weight should slowly rise and lower upon a ten second exhale, the movement should be smooth. You'll notice as you practice your breath becomes deeper and stronger, and you'll feel a crazy surge of energy and focus.

Summer Bod Post

Folks you know what season is coming up. It's time to set goals, it is time to get focused; it's time to get serious. I am pumped for this summer and cannot wait to make new connections, foster improvement, and help others be inspired to follow their vision. The biggest thing here is staying and remaining motivated through the thick and the thin. External life will happen but you can always control the motivation from within. Hard work and being inspired to be the best no matter what is an intangible; but absolutely vital to your success in the long term. We have to change our basis of how we think, how we approach life, and subsequently how we live it. Be yourself, follow what interests you, and look to gain newfound likes and passions. Yes I will always love lifting, but it is time to expand that passion into other categories. I want all of us to be happy, that is the ultimate goal, and I want to help you guys create it. These intangibles are the key factor to your success, all the products and programs won't mean anything if you don't have the motivation and drive to take the action and put in the work. Why you ask?? Because its not easy!! It's extremely difficult and challenging. Most people will never achieve the level of happiness they want because they lost or never developed the motivation to be willing to sacrifice and work towards their dreams. We're gonna be different.

Minding Your Body Attire

What's new folks. The Minding Your Body site is continuing to grow and expand into more than just a blog. Although I do enjoy posting the blogs I feel this should be something more diverse, it should speak to its members and a sense of pride and belonging should arise from it. I've decided to open up a clothing/athletic performance attire line for the Minding Your Body community.

As I said before I think this will be a great way to start identifying ourselves and developing a family who takes care of one another, and always strives to do their best. Due to this, the product line will only offer attire that is designed and produced to improve your training! That is the main aspect behind all the items that will be offered. Style comes in a close second, but performance will never be compromised for something that looks more fashionable.

The product line is just in its embryotic stage so far.

1.  Men's "fostering physical excellence" hoodie
• Great for warm-ups
• Durable and flexible
• Snug fit for compression
• Classic drawstring and kangaroo pouch
2. Women's "I heart u" t-shirt
• Performance Dry tech to wick away moisture
• RUNS SMALL (FITTED)
• 95% polyester 5% spandex
3. The "minding your body" long sleeve t-shirt
• 100% soft ring spun cotton
• Standard fit
• Ribbed sleeve cuffs
• Imported

*** All items are machine washable

I have huge plans for this line and like I said this is only the very beginning of what will be a high performance brand. If you want the details of my plan check out my landing page where I outline what exactly I plan to do from here, its honestly some exciting stuff! Once you do that head on over to the shop and check the items out for yourself, I guarantee you'll like what ya see!!!

Visit the Shop Here!!!

The Epiphany

We all have ruts here and there, some worse than others, some longer than others, some more severe than others. I'll be the first one to admit I slip into these from time to time. This school year has not been easy for me. I've had short-comings on multiple projects I was working on to start-up my own business. As much as I played it off like it was no big deal that failure took a toll on me and my mindset. I fell into developed some poor habits and before I knew it I felt like I had no control over my life anymore, and it lasted a while.

What changed my way of thinking wasn't an acute experience, but rather a culmination and reflection on how I had been living the past few months. My room was an absolute mess, the bathroom was moldy, air filter broke, no clean clothes, beer cans everywhere... Going through the motions everyday, not paying attention in class, saying what's the point? Even when I was training I almost hated myself and it seemed all my physical imperfections got to my head, which in turn lead to more aggressive and childish behavior on my part.

Even now I am looking back not in any single situation (although some were pretty bad) because it wasn't those single moments that were the problem. The problem was the ongoing negative habits I was living by that only set me further into a negative way of thinking. My view on life was so dismal and I was too caught up in my own fear of failure paired with a perfectionist attitude that I didn't even notice how obvious it was.

Let me tell you guys this. Develop good habits and never stop practicing them. It goes both ways, the more negative habits you have, the less likely you will pursue success and the more likely you'll have a me vs. the world life-sucks type mindset. The more positive however provides a certain uplifting synergy and your at one with the world, you don't carry hatred for others and you want people to chase their wildest dreams (along with yourself). As I write this I am getting this crazy high, focus, and motivation knowing what I've been through and being able to identify what's been the problem all along. I'm sitting here in a clean room, laundry done, food ready, and a certain inspiration that I haven't felt in a while.

I want you guys to take this home with you. Say it in front of the mirror if you have to (I'll sometimes talk to myself on a late-night walk home from the gym). I am capable of anything, with the right mindset and approach there is nothing I cannot accomplish. Through daily practice and a true love for life, I will practice good habits and look to develop new ones, and I realize that the more good habits I have and the more consistently I practice them the better and more fulfilling my life will be. The concept of time is amazing, its power can almost never be fully understood, but what can be understood is our time is not unlimited. With that being said, it is important to understand how precious time is, and how valuable it is to our life. I want to make the most of my time, and I want everyone who has a goal or a dream or a vision to make the most of theirs as well. I want to live life knowing I control who I am, who I want to be, and what I do with this time. I have control of what I do with the time I have, and it will be utilized to the fullest. I've lived long enough on the negative side of life, there is no reason for it. Hardships will happen, failure will definitely occur, there will be times where you are sad, lonely, and beaten to the ground-- Here's the ringer, maybe you gave it your all and you still lost, failed, fell-- whatever you want to call it. Guess what maybe you couldn't control the outcome of that specific event(s), but what you can ALWAYS control is how you get up and respond. That's something I never truly realized up until now, and damnit I'm motivated. I want to live a life of love, I want to love people, I want to understand them, I want everyone to get better and everyone to have passion and love their life, I want to world to get better, I want to inspire and motivate people to achieve what they never thought was possible, I want to spend more time with my family, tell them I love them and owe them the world for the love they have provided me, I will make the most of every single minute, knowing that that's something I can always control.

Stay motivated folks.

Quality Nutrients

Now while I follow many principles when it comes to eating, there is often a disconnect between priorities and what people deem to be the 'most important'. In my opinion there are a lot of aspects important for a optimal diet. The two most vital in my eyes is the quantity and quality. We all know without the right amount of food you won't be able to properly gain muscle/lose fat, but I am a firm believer that the quality of nutrients should be the best you can get.

The goal is to keep the staples of your diet (chicken, red meat, pork, eggs, milk, produce) as quality as you can. Your body will thank you, but more importantly your mind will also. I heard a long-time trainer once say 'when I stopped eating solely for my body and started to eat for my mind, I ended up with a much better body'. So make sure to keep those main items fresh, whole, and organic.

Something I'd really like to see via studies (although the complexity of this isn't necessarily feasible financially) would be to test the performance and progress of someone fitting any kind of food into their macros vs. someone who kept the nutrients fresh and whole.

Plus there is just a 'feel' factor. Whether that be placebo or real (or a lil bit of both) you feel good when your eating the best available nutrients out there. You have better energy, less bloating, I even feel like my movement in general is more fluid and efficient.

What if I told you there's this magic pill where you can eat more, boost your metabolic rate, and keep fat off while gaining muscle? Would you take it?? I bet 90% would, hell I would myself!!!

So bad news first, there is no pill, supplement or even drug that will accomplish for you. However, PhD scientist Layne Norton has developed a systematic approach called reverse dieting. Now here's the thing, I have seen its success first hand on myself, and have witnessed it between multiple clients and competitors; yet it's success rate isn't through the rough. Because unlike the non-existent magic pill it requires methodical adherence, accuracy, and consistency that most people don't have the dedication to sticking to it. I put this on here because I know most of you reading my posts have a different type of mindset, so please check this E-book out and give reverse dieting a try!! P.S this works especially well for those post-competition or those who have been dieting down/in a caloric deficit for some time.
Click Here!

Shoulder Workout of the Gods

One of my strong points has always been my delts. When people ask they expect me to be pressing 120lbs dumbbells for 40 reps. While that's neither here nor there (I totally can't) I find shoulders grow best with longer sets and more overall volume at a lighter weight. Most people train the sh*t out of there front delts, but in reality that's less than 30 percent of the total deltoid head.

That being said, let me outline one of my delt workouts, it might be different from what you've seen but it will definitely help give your shoulders that 3d look.

Warmup:

• Internal external rotation with DB's
• Scapular retraction with resistance bands
• Broomstick up and over's
• Push-up plus (scapular protraction)

**The main focus here is warming up the rotator cuff muscles, stabilizing the scapulas (shoulder blades), and getting blood into the shoulder***

 All warm-ups 2 sets of 10-20 reps, nothing to failure, nothing should be strenuous, just work on achieving a fluid, full range of motion.

Training:

• Y shoulder press (not a typo) 4x20 reps
• Instead of bringing the dumbbells together at the top, slow the motion down and press outside the line of the shoulder joint, you'll hit your delts like never before
• Lateral raise 8x15-30
• Yes that's right, I do a ton of lateral raise, having big capped laterals will give you an incredibly broad and powerful look
• When performing lateral raise focus on dragging your arms across the ground until the delts are fully activation (shortened)
• Keep your head up and chest out, drive your elbows out and back
• Why 15-30, for some reason I've always just felt it out, I never felt like super heavy laterals did the trick do to momentum being lost to many muscles that are anatomically stronger in that position, furthermore, I don't necessarily go 15, 20, 25, 30 etc... I feel it out and see what's appropriate that set to get a deeper burn in my delts
• It's weird and confusing at first but once your start doing them and realizing how many different ways you can hit lateral raises you'll understand what I mean
• Never rest over 1 minute on these, ideally I like it in between 30-45 seconds
• Lateral raise machine 5x10-12 (slow controlled movement, at least 3second concentric, eccentric and iso)
• The key here is constant tension, the shoulder should always be contracted regardless of position/length
• Rear delt fly on a bench 7x12 <30 seconds rest in between sets
• Keep chest on bench the entire time, instead of 'pulling' the weight 'back', think of 'flying' the weight 'out'
• Keep your pinky pointed out

That's a lot of volume in a little amount of time, even in a packed gym I can get in the full workout plus some post lift ROM work within an hour. If you focus on the shoulder joint and how it's supposed to function, you will have a pretty crazy feeling from this lift!!!