Skidiving Naked!

Well, at least I got your attention...LOL!  Today I was thinking how being around other people who are not on your schedule can be a distraction and how you must guard your time in a polite way to do the things you need to do.  Since getting a new gym membership a little over a week ago I have changed my typical schedule.  I am trying to go to bed earlier to get needed rest and to get up earlier to beat the crowd at the gym.  I experienced the same conflict 12 months ago when I was training for the 12 week transformation challenge.  When you have a goal in front of you that you want to attain, you must stay on a planned schedule.  I have heard it said and have said myself that if you fail to plan, plan to fail.

On another topic, I wanted to comment on how God has blessed me recently to encourage you to dream big, pray to God for what you need in your life and to be at peace knowing that God delivers.  A few months ago I wanted a new pair of black chums to hold my sunglasses around my neck, and I wanted a new rear view cyclist's mirror to clip on my sunglasses to see traffic behind me.  If you are not a cyclist you might not recognize both of these as definite NEEDS.  They must be needs because I would not want to ride without them even one mile unless it was an emergency and I did not have them.  God had both items brought to me in the most unlikely circumstances within a couple of weeks.  Recently I wanted a new pair of black jeans and some black snow boots.  I happened to look in a couple of dumpsters behind a second hand store and there were both items that looked brand new and fit me perfectly sitting in the dumpster.  Some people might not recognized this as God meeting ones needs, but when you know what was on your heart and you have these things placed in your path, you KNOW, without a shadow of a doubt, that God seeks to bless those who share their heart with him.  I wanted a new gym membership and some protein powder recently and I also wanted to treat my friends to some GOOD beer for my birthday as a way to say thanks for their friendship.  My mom called me the evening of my birthday and told me she was sending me $200.  This paid for my gym membership, my protein powder, my car insurance, beer for my friends, and some fuel for my car right in the nic' of time.  My mother had told me she did not have any extra money and I was not expecting anything from her at all to be quite honest.  I just thought my birthday was really gonna suck and was preparing for a sucky birthday.  God never ceases to amaze me!  Recently I was listening to an Andrew Wommack audio teaching series titled You've Already Got It! in which Andrew points out that God has already allotted our needs being met in the accomplishments of Christ.  We basically rest in the fulfilled life of Christ if you have asked Jesus to be your Lord.  I personally am very grateful for what God continues to do for me in my life.  I wanted to compete in the 12 week transformation challenge a year ago and did not know where the provisions would come from to enable me to complete the training for the competition.  Somehow with just sheer determination to do the best I could every day with what I had to work with, things came together right down to the day.  People I had to work with at work were not on the same agenda I was, and my energy level did not resemble theirs.  I was full of energy everyday raring to go.  I would practically run to the break room at break time because I had so much energy from getting my day going with good food, a 10 mile morning ride on my bicycle and an hour lifting weights in the gym.  By 5pm I was ready to ride home the 10 mile ride from where I worked, eat dinner, prep my food for the next day, read a little and get another full night's rest.  I did this basic same routine for 12 weeks and at the end of that 12 weeks I was so satisfied because I did not quit on myself.  I stayed the course, and the momentum I built up just carried me through.  I thank God even to this day that my needs were met.  I had the things I needed to eat, to wear, to keep my rent paid, and to get rest.  My landlord was a musician and a drug user.  I did not know he had such an unpredictable lifestyle when I rented from him.  He seemed like a nice person.  Even though we were nothing alike, I managed to compete in this competition and stay on my schedule.  I think God managed to keep me away from him or kept him busy to keep him out of my life.  My landlord thought I was nuts!  Oh well, I knew my own heart, and today I am in the shape I am in because of the decisions I made 12 months ago.  Right now I consider myself to be in poor shape due to not being in the gym much this past spring, summer, fall and now winter, but when you consider the shape other people I am around are in, comparatively speaking, I am in pretty good shape, and it will not be a big deal for me to get back into great shape from where I am now.  How many folks do you know that rode their bicycle 6,000 miles this year?  I did that and had a lot of fun doing it at 41.5 years old.  Today I tried to put on pants that fit me on March 25, 2011 when I weighed 164 lbs.  Just a week ago I was wearing these pants, and now I can not button them.  I have been on the StairMaster every day for the past week for 45 minutes each time, and now I have obviously put on enough muscle in my hips to keep me from buttoning this same pair of pants.  Today I weighed 180 lbs, but I do not really feel that fat.  I attribute the weight I am at and the pants not fitting to taking the Carnivor protein for the past week twice a day.  I noticed that my legs are getting stronger on the StairMaster and now I am doing the 45 minute sessions at level 10 instead of level 7 where I started.  Today I used my mp3 player on my smart phone to play an up beat play list that I put together recently with an app called Music Paradise.  Between that and the 80's hair band station on TuneIn, I can build a nice selection of music, which I add to a play list I titled StairMaster.  Just a few days ago I did not know how I would do this, but now it is working pretty well.  Patience is key to achieving your goals.  Have faith that God will make a way for you to achieve your dreams.  The main reason I decided to start writing this blog is to encourage others to hold on to their dreams and have patience with themselves and God.  You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Philippians 4:13)

My main goal now is to become a personal trainer, but I am not sure what certification to get.  I want to be certified in physical fitness & nutrition.  I want to provide people with a solid plan for achieving their fitness goals so that they can see the road ahead clearly all laid out.  I did not have this type of plan laid out for me in all my endeavors to achieve my fitness goals.  I had to do research on my own and try it out for myself to see how well it would work.  Some things I am still curious about, like how to pack on 40 pounds of muscle without getting fat or using drugs!  One thing I know for sure is that I feel great when I get my daily exercise and that alone is what it's all about....FEELING GREAT!

Peace,

Steven Brick

Building Stamina

Today was a great day at Los Campeones Gym!  Had a great StairMaster session at level 10 in interval mode for 45 minutes.  I started using the StairMaster about a week ago at level 7 in interval training mode for 45 minutes.  My stamina has definitely improved in just a week.  I work up a good sweat in 45 minutes at this level and feel like this exercise does a good job simulating riding my bicycle.  I often imagine myself riding my bike, pumping the pedals, going up and down hills as the interval training modes change pace.  I remember early at the beginning of this year while training for the the 12 week transformation challenge that my heart was in very good condition.  I rarely got out of breath doing any exercise.  I was keeping track of my heart rate with a chest strap sensor and a wrist band heart monitor.  You can see your heart rate go up while lifting weights too.  Building heart stamina is very important to weight lifting as well as aerobic exercise.  Just not getting winded makes a huge difference in how a person completes basic tasks throughout the day.  You rest better when you can get plenty of oxygen to your blood which significantly reduces your over all stress level by just getting better rest.  To me life is sort of like fencing and fencing is very much a mental sport.  If you are strong physically, you will also be strong mentally.  Staying in the game of life mentally which is a spiritual battle is a lot easier if you are strong physically.  You don't hesitate to take on tasks and complete tasks because you are accustomed to doing so much more strenuous activities during your physical workouts.  I notice that the momentum of my early morning workouts carries me throughout the day.

A couple of years ago I broke a rib on the right side of my chest when I fell off a mountain bike two times in the same day landing on my chest.  The pain had completely gone away, but when I did a full body weight lifting workout a week ago when I first got back in a gym, I must have aggravated the injury.  It has been difficult for me to breath and perform movements that involve my rib muscles on the right side of my chest.  I can do the StairMaster without much discomfort, but raising myself up from a flat bench is almost impossible at the moment, or getting up out of bed while lying on my back for example.  I remember going through physical therapy 5 years ago after an accident I was in at work where the therapists would do deep stretches with my back muscles on a weekly basis to get the muscles to heal.  What they did worked, so I have been doing a similar approach to my rib condition, stretching the chest by using light dumbbells in the incline press position, and slowly lowering the dumbbells all the way down and stretching the chest.  I noticed after a few days of doing this that the pain in my ribs is getting less and less.  Today I did not lift weights at all after my StairMaster session.  I listen to my body, and today it was saying REST!  I eat good on rest days because I know this is when I will get stronger if I put in the nutrition that's needed.  I had done some seemingly light tricep pushdowns yesterday, and today my triceps are pretty sore.  Frank Zane was really right when he said you do not have to use a lot of weight when lifting to build muscle.  Good form and moderate weights can do a lot if you take the time to really feel the muscle when lifting, and not just throwing the weights around.  I have noticed this too with Kai Greene.  Kai spends a lot of time focusing on the quality of his movements, and not just throwing lots of weight around.  Look how big he is!

Steven Brick

Another Great Day @ the gym!

I got up early today at about 6 am, did my laundry, took my friend to work, got some fuel in my car and headed to the gym.  I started to use the StairMaster as usual and my cell phone connection was not good, so I could not listen to my favorite music right away.  The reception eventually improved and I got to listen to some Queensryche & Scorpions tunes.  Great riffs for high tempo StairMaster level 8 for 45 minutes.  I love imagining a high tempo ride on my 10 speed at a fast gate out of the saddle blowing with the wind like a bird flying effortlessly in bliss.  I have been wanting to set up my mp3 player with a playlist of my very favorite motivating hair band rock songs but so far have not came across a convenient way to do that yet.  I will get it done and I can't wait for the steady playlist to be there to wake up to in the morning.  I even manage to pray to God while I listen to my favorite music, seems to give that added sense of confidence toward God being motivated by the up beat music.  I know that is silly.  God listens to me no matter what I am doing or listening to.  I just like the up beat environment which music seems to provide.  Arnold made a comment that if he got his early morning workout routine in, the rest of his day just seemed to fall in place.  What I have noticed is that most of the world is in a very lethargic and often up-tight frame of mind, and that it seems to be perfectly logical that if a person got up and started their day in a positive, up beat sort of way that put them in a positive momentum, that the rest of the day would sort of fall in place.  It happens for me as well.  You have to guard your time to keep the positive momentum going.  Keep your priorities straight because NOONE ELSE WILL!  Peace, Steven Brick

Back in the gym December 2011!

Today was another fantastic day in the gym.  I have spent the past 4 days in the gym.  The first day consisted of 45 minutes on the StairMaster for 45 minutes at level 7 in interval training mode.  I was really sore from basically a full body workout with weights.  The next 3 days including today I was on the StairMaster for 45 minutes again, same settings.  Got a good sweat going every time.  Today I raised the level to 8 instead of 7 and had no problems what so ever.  I feel myself getting stronger fast.  I started taking the chocolate Carnivor protein from MuscleMeds and can tell it is definitely working!  I really like the taste too, which is a relief for me, because I had heard some folks complaining about the Punch flavor, which I avoided.  I have done some light weight lifting for chest, back and legs since my full body workout 4 days ago simply to get good stretching in all movements, which I feel helps me get rid of the soreness faster.  Right now I am focusing on cardio for the most part and the StairMaster specifically because it strengthens my legs fast for cycling.  I primarily lift weights for being a stronger cyclist but I also love being strong in every part of my body, which entails a bodybuilder's lifestyle.  When I am on the StairMaster I like to listen to up beet 80's and 90's rock music of some flavor as long as it has a POSITIVE & MOTIVATING up beet message of some sort.

See you next time, Steven Brick