2-a-Days= 8 Week Success Story Part 2

My 2-a-Day Journey

Believe it or not, the hardest part of my journey was preparing for it. Every night I would pack my gym clothes, lay out my work clothes, pack my lunch and protein shakes for the following day.
Waking up early was pretty tough too, but after the first two weeks I actually looked forward to getting ready to get my "lift on."

A normal 2-a-day for me:
Roll out of bed at 6 am and clumsily drag myself into the kitchen to consume a bowl of cheerios and a pre-workout shake.

7 am- Arrive at the gym ready to workout--- I had a workout partner, which made it easier to get motivated. (I will post later about the positives of getting a workout partner.)

Here's a brief look at how my workout evolved through the week:
Monday: Morning-Chest & Triceps; Afternoon- Back& Biceps
Tuesday:Morning-Legs & Front Delts; Afternoon-Traps, Rear Delts
Wednesday:Morning- Back & Biceps; Afternoon- Chest & Triceps
Thursday: Morning-Traps, Rear Delts; Afternoon- Legs & Front Delts
Friday: OFF
Saturday:The Gauntlet--- Everything (Only 2 exercise/muscle group)

I only did 3-4 exercises per separate muscle group per day. I made sure that I did different exercises for that muscle when I reached the second and third workout of the week. For example:

• Session 1 Chest- Flat Bench, Incline Fly, Cable Crossover

• Session 2 Chest- Incline Bench, Flat Fly, Cable Pullups

• Saturday Session 3 Chest- Decline Bench, Decline Fly

I could usually knock a workout out in an hour, but it was fast-paced and usually super-setted.
8:15 am--Post workout Shake w/ simple carb snack ( I will post on this later).

I would then go to work for the day and gain my recovery.

6pm- I would do my afternoon session and every other day do cardio for 15-20 minutes.
7pm- Post workout Shake w/ simple carb snack
8:30pm-- Eat Dinner
9:30pm--Prepare for next day
10:30-11pm--Bed. REST IS VERY IMPORTANT-- otherwise your workouts will be crap.

Were the results worth the effort? Look at these pictures and you decide--- remember this is only 8 weeks working out and a proper diet.Plus I'm not gonna lie, I really wanted to show someone these pics ;) And no I didn't cheat by using "superior supplementation" --



In part III, I will show you how to customize a 2-a-day program for beginners and intermediate fitness levels.

I'm Out..




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Now playing: 10 Years - Waking Up
via FoxyTunes

2-a-Days= 8 Week Success Story Part I

I remember back when I was playing ball if I even thought about the phrase "2-a-days" I felt like throwing up. Nothing was worse than practicing twice a day in 100 degree,100% humidity, August, Alabama heat! Okay so maybe I'm exaggerating it was only 99.9% humidity.

The two-a-days I want to tell you about have nothing to do with football--in fact they took place in an air conditioned facility!


It all started when I had hit a major plateau in my workouts. I wasn't getting any stronger, leaner, and was losing motivation. So I started thinking to myself... What is something I haven't tried yet in my workouts? I thought I had pretty much tried everything!

But there was something I hadn't even fathomed of doing at this point in my life-- working out (lifting weights) twice a day. Everything I have ever read was extremely against it.-- So I did some research.

I came across the training diary of one Sylvester Stallone--- call me crazy but have you ever noticed the difference in Stallone from Rocky I to II? The man definitely put on a ton of lean mass. I took a look at the workout out and made some customizations to fit my training style.

Basically, everyone usually breaks down the muscle groups they want to train into five groups--- Chest, Arms,Back,Shoulders,Legs.

I took it a little deeper and broke the muscle groups into -- Chest, Biceps, Triceps, Back, Front Deltoids (shoulder), Rear Deltoids, Traps, Legs. This way I could target individual muscle groups twice-a-day without doing it two days consecutively. I hit each muscle group 3x in a five day period. So basically I canned the whole one muscle group per day,once per week --- and traded it in for four muscle groups per day, three times per week. I then began my eight week journey!




In Part II, I will tell you exactly how I did it and provide you with a sample plan. I will also show you the results I gained from it and how to customize for any fitness level!

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Now playing: Hurt - Losing
via FoxyTunes

Beware of Leaches-- Crashing Workouts at a Gym Near You

I am going to step away from the nutrition posts for today and mix it up a little bit.

Beware of the Leaches-- Crashing Workouts at a Gym Near You

I know you think I am probably making nonsense posting a title of such nature--- bet let me explain what I mean.

Leach-- Someone who you swear to yourself takes great pride in distracting you from your workout by either and not limited to:

• Waiting to make eye contact to initiate never ending gym conversation.
• Believing they are a personal trainer when they obviously aren't and persist on giving you unwanted gym advice.
  
• Doesn't know that Google exists and believes you are the end-all for all questions fitness--- answering occasional questions is cool--- 20 per workout--c'mon
• For women-- someone who believes they can impress you with their bicep curls and follows you around like a lost puppy
• The list goes on--- every gym has them!

In short--- the "Gym" is your time that you should designate to yourself and your body. Short conversation is cool--after all you don't want people to think you are a jerk--- but don't ruin your "workout high" by talking about pointless random junk. It can wait till after your workout. Remember the goal of going to the gym is to improve your body-- not social hour-- if you want to talk go to a club, bar, book-club!

5 Tips to Avoid Leaches without Looking Like a Jerk

1. Wear an ipod and listen to music--- Most everyone I see does this-- but someone looking for conversation usually looks elsewhere if you appear to be in to your music. Besides-- if they talk to you and you ignore them just say you didn't hear them!
2. Avoid eye contact and go straight to your next lift/machine- If you regularly go to the gym, you most likely have already identified the leaches. Leaches stand back checking the mirrors to see if you notice their presence--- They pounce on their prey the moment someone slows down to give them the time of day!
3. Continue to workout and don't stop-- If the leach latches on and doesn't let go, don't give up! Continue to workout and make it aware that you are really involved. Hopefully the leach will become aware that your not really paying attention and release.
   
4. For women-- If you can't stand Meatheads that constantly try to pick you up in the gym-- Take a close look at what you are wearing.-- Chances are it was that sports bra or spandex shorts that got the leach hooked. This won't completely stop the leach so see steps 1-3.
5. Tell the Leach off!-- This shouldn't ever have to be used-- but if the leach persists, politely tell him that you would like to workout and let you have your time. If they can't take a hint and they are really annoying--- just let them know. That should solve it!
   

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Now playing: Led Zeppelin - You Shook Me
via FoxyTunes
I'm out--see ya next time!

Mr. Consistency

For most of us, eating is :

Morning--- rushed breakfast or nothing at all
Lunch-- Eating out during work, with limited healthy options
Mid-afternoon-- Hit up the vending machine
Dinner-- Whatever takes least amount of time to cook, or drive- thru

These days our lives are so fast paced that we rarely have time to eat prepared meals or even think about what we are putting in our bodies--- All we care is that it satisfies the hunger cravings without taking a lot of time or money!

If anyone were to ask you--
How many calories do you think you consume daily?
How many grams of protein/carbs/fats do you consume a day?
--Unless you have tracked what you are eating, it would be extremely hard to answer these questions.

The hard truth is, that in order to correctly achieve your weight/strength/performance goals you would need to know these numbers.

I will tell you what these numbers do for you in later posts, but for now let's talk about the easiest way to track what you put in your body.

• Pre-Schedule your eating times

-Aim for 6 smaller meals a day
-Easiest way to do this is eat a smaller breakfast, lunch, and dinner and then add in snacks
- Go ahead and set times to eat and stick to them
For Example, here's my eating plan:
8:00 am -smaller breakfast (Honeynut Cheerios w/ low carb protein shake)
10:30am- mid morning snack (Protein Bar)
12:00pm- smaller lunch-- (Turkey sandwich on wheat, carrots, granola bar)
3:30 pm-- Mid Afternoon- (Wheat crackers and protein shake)
5:30 pm -- Pre-workout snack-- (banana or sugar-free energy drink)
7:30 pm-- Post workout snack-- (protein shake and 1/2 cup low fat yogurt)
9:00pm -- Dinner (2 Grilled Chicken breasts with broccoli)
11:00pm-- Bedtime snack --(Protein Shake before bed)

NOTE **The key is to eat about every 2.5 hours. Never let yourself go hungry. By not letting yourself get hungry you will tend to choose foods more wisely instead of waiting for the cravings to kick in!**

This meal plan is about 3,000 calories. Which is fine for me (6'2 250lb active individual) because I need the calories to workout. I also could tell you how much protein, carbs, and fats I usually eat because I use food diary websites to help me out--- Check out the daily plate- Set your daily nutrition needs to suit your lifestyle.

--But hardly anyone has time to put in what they eat everyday into a website!! Well I have a solution!

I tend to eat the same things everyday or stray very little. So entering just this one day's calorie count helps me gauge my calories and protein count for my other days.

- I'm not saying eat the same thing everyday but at least be consistent in the foods you are putting in your body. Maybe have three or four days worth of foods you normally eat that you mapped out on a food diary website. This way you can easily guess what you are putting in your body and how you are coming along on the calorie count! This saves you the time of entering in the diary everyday!!!

Sand in the Tank

Picture this---

You buy a new car decked out with everything--- supercharged V10 engine, custom paint job, 22 inch rims, anything you could imagine-- However, you fuel it with the cheapest water- based gasoline, rarely change the oil, and rag it out like a Nascar driver.You might as well put sand in the tank! It doesn't take you long to realize that your vehicle is nothing more than a glorified hunk of metal that performs like John Goodman in a 400 meter dash.

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My point is that no matter how great your genetics are, if you eat crap you'll never perform at the highest level!

I've learned first hand that NUTRITION is the most important aspect of any type of workout program. For years, I worked out like a machine and ate like crap. I remember eating hot pockets, pizza rolls, and fast foot like it was going out of style. There was one point where I ate the McDonald's dollar menu every night for one month straight!!! I remember thinking--- well I'm working out and running--- I can eat whatever I want. WRONG! I got stronger--- I also got fatter-- I look back at pictures from a couple years ago and realize I had a pretty good pot belly and love handles. Of course, at the time it was ok-- seeing as how I was an offensive lineman--- we're all fat right? LOL

It was about my last semester of my junior year in college when I learned how to eat right. I drastically saw a huge increase in stamina, strength, and athletic performance.

However,It wasn't until after my football career ended that I really got to utilize my nutrition knowledge to change my body image.





Captain Love Handles

What's the first step towards changing ones poor eating habits?

I'm a firm believer in taking baby steps instead of attempting to make an immediate drastic change. Sudden changes usually end in dramatic failure!! So let's start simple:

1. Try cutting out fast food and start preparing your own meals. Try to limit fried foods and start substituting for non-breaded options. Pack your lunch for work, instead of eating out everyday.
   
2. Substitute regular sodas with diet sodas--- I know it's asking too much to quit cold turkey, but more power to you if you can. Simple rule of thumb--- if you want to lose 1-2 lbs a week cut back on your normal calorie intake by 500 calories per day. That's as simple as cutting out your two 20 oz. sugary sodas per day!!!
3. Eat 6-8 smaller meals a day instead of 3 big meals. Spreading out your calories throughout the day will increase your metabolism and prevent hunger!
4. Front load your calories--- Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince, Dinner like a Pauper. Simply eat more calories when your more active, eat less calories when you are less active.
5. Transform from White to Wheat!--- Look at it this way white bread converts quicker to sugar in the body than wheat bread--- guess what unburned sugar turns to fat! Check out the Glycemic Index

Well that's all for now...more nutrition tips to come!

Welcome to True Mirror Motivation!

You have arrived at a pure testimonial weight training, motivation, and nutrition blog designed to help anyone looking to get in shape or achieve better gains in the gym and ultimately live a healthier life.

I believe that the best motivation one can have comes from the reflection he/she sees in the mirror. You decide you need to make a change, or you accept yourself for what you are. Either way, you are what you are willing to be! If you are tired of what you see and want to make a change, then I hope to help you on your journey.


But before I get into any advice, let me introduce myself:

You can call me Grahamo and I am a graduate of Samford University --No not Stanford-- I earned my degree in mass communications. Along my path, I decided to branch out and take many nutrition classes-- does this make me an expert in nutrition?-- NO! However, it has probably been the best decision I have ever made as far as my health is concerned. I always look back and think... "if only I would have known that years earlier"

I played Division I football and had quite a successful career playing center. I gave the ol' college combine try with the NFL. Had several successful tryouts with the AAFL --before it flopped like all start-up pro leagues---and turned down options to play Arena 2 ball in Huntsville and Birmingham to pursue my career in advertising.

So what does your has-been resume have to do with anything?
In short, I have been training the last 15 years of my life..I have been exposed to many knowledgeable strength trainers and picked up a thing or two over the years...

After football ended, I realized that carrying around 290 lbs would begin to be a burden on my well-being. So I decided to make a change--- I'm still on my journey but 40 lbs lighter as of today. Like I said earlier, I don't claim to be an expert.. just a guy who has achieved successful results through my knowledge... which I am here to share with you!!!

Enough about me----- I am looking forward to posting daily tips about weight training, nutrition, and motivation for anyone wishing to benefit!!

HAPPY TRAINING---- TIP #1 Soon to Come!!