30 days to clean eating

So before I take my hike to the 94kg class I figured I should clean up my eating. "1 step at a time" the way the challenge works is over the next 30 days I gain up to six points, this still might change, for completing mini challenges.

The challenges are:

1 point for one hour of training/mobility even on days off

1 point for fish oil

1 point for drinking 1/3 bw in water ounces

1 for not eating artificial sugars(I.e soda, candy, etc.)

1 point for no drugs/alcohol 

1 point for no refined carbs(I.e. Pasta, bread, etc.)

At the end of the 30 days you add the points.

Monday 4-14

Today was my first day under Coach Mash and first on the quest of cleaning up how I eat. After I clean it up I'll shoot for the 94kg class. Below picture is the training log and I also earned 5 out of 6 points in my cleaning up challenge.

Abdominals

GarageGymJunkie,

How do I get washboard abs?

Jared

Hello All,

First of all welcome back to Garage Gym Talk. The question above coupled with how I get a six pack are the two most common questions I get by younger clients. To answer this question everyone first must know that to achieve these abdominals you must be under 10% Body Fat. Now that you know that go achieve it. Then once you achieve it follow these seven rules:

1. 1.      Working on the basics is something you have to do. Period!! If you don’t, none of the advanced core training techniques will be anywhere near as effective.
2. 2.      Sit ups and crunches suck as abdominal movement. Yes they do serve a purpose, but not the one you think.
3. 3.      You cannot isolate one part of your abs effectively, so instead choose compound movements for the best results.
4. 4.      You need to train your abdominal in low reps. Yes, I did say low reps. It is a muscle just like your biceps, quads, etc., etc.. Would you only train these in sets of 100s. There is a time and place for high rep sets, but every day is not it.
5. 5.      TRAIN YOUR GLUTES.
6. They do play a huge role in your abdominal, just as they play a role in attracting a mate.
7. 6.      Every exercise has its progressions for beginners to advanced. Do not just jump in and add reps or more weight, instead work thru the progressions.
8. 7.      Just like I have shown everyone with other exercises. You must train your abs with intensity.

Garage Gym Junkie

Distance Learning

Hello All,

Welcome back to Garage Gym Talk. Today I am proud to present an article by Mike Manning, who is brand new to blogging. He put together an article on a topic that I feel is important to all of the Garage Gym Nation, Training while away from home.

Travel Healthy, Travel Well

How many times have you gone on a trip only to return feeling grouchy and ill? Whether you are traveling for business or pleasure, changes in your daily routine caused by travel can adversely affect your physical and mental health. I personally enjoy doing a lot of power lifts coupled with yoga classes to keep my mind clear. It is extremely hard to do this while traveling without first doing the proper research of the area and the hotel that you are considering for your trip. Fortunately, there are several simple things you can do to reduce this stress and return home rested and healthy.

Research

Before booking a hotel you should do your due diligence in order to select the correct hotel for your budget, personality, and fitness needs. On my most recent trip to San Francisco I researched through a great hotel review site that listed all of the top San Francisco hotels in order of rank. The site allowed me to go through each hotel and by clicking on their link I received a list of amenities and reviews from people who have stayed there. This was invaluable for the trip, as you can learn wonderful things and embrace the fitness industry around you.

The travel Industry is starting to cater to the healthy living aficionado. This is a great trend for many people because it is becoming easier and easier to stay fit and live healthy on the road. The San Francisco International Airport now offers a yoga Zen room to its travelers in order to give them a way to release some of that travel stress and anxiety. Also, The Minneapolis St. Paul International airport now offers fitness walking paths too loosen the legs after a long flight. It is great to see many different industries embrace the healthy lifestyles of individuals whom try to stay fit. 

On the Road or In the Air

Traveling to and from your destination can result in some of the most physically stressful portions of any trip. Long flights that keep you seated in a small area for extended periods of time can result in aches and pains, as can a lengthy road trip. Be sure you have plenty of water with you to help you remain hydrated during the journey. This will minimize joint pain and other problems that result from dehydration. Also, take time to stretch either during layovers or by making frequent stops while driving. Finally, check out a few stretching exercises you can do in your airplane seat or in the car to help reduce the stress of travel and extended periods of inactivity.

Upon Arrival

Give yourself enough time to settle into your accommodations before meetings or other obligations begin demanding your attention, this includes taking the time to find the fitness facilities in the hotel, spending a few moments getting familiar with the new space, and organizing your luggage so that you feel at home. Then spend a short time stretching or moving through some basic yoga poses to get you re-grounded.

During Your Stay

Take steps to ensure that you get plenty of exercise and proper nutrition throughout your stay. If possible, get up early to spend some time exercising before going to meetings or setting off on a sightseeing adventure. Many communities have running trails or tracks that you can enjoy. If your hotel offers classes at the fitness center, participate in one of these, or you may be able to get a good cardio workout utilizing on-demand videos in your room.

Also make wise eating choices as much as possible. Try to keep your diet going well by eating healthy on your trip. Avoid fried foods when eating out, and if you are prone to midnight munchies, stop at a health market to stock up on nutritious options.

 Resources:

About.com - http://stress.about.com/od/travelstress/The_Stress_of_Traveling.htm

Gogobot.com (travel Reviewers) - http://www.gogobot.com/san-francisco--hotels/

Huffington Post - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/26/sfo-yoga-room-terminal-two_n_1235363.html

cnn.com - http://travel.cnn.com/sydney/visit/plane-yoga-18-exercises-healthy-flying-910157

Forbes.com -http://www.forbes.com/sites/juliewilcox/2012/04/25/yoga-for-travel/

Bio – My name is Michael Manning and I am a fitness and healthy living aficionado who has traveled all over the world. I recently began bringing my musings to the blogging world and am enjoying getting my thoughts out there. You can find my future writing at http://mikemanningmusings.blogspot.com/.

Warm-Up Sets

Garage Gym Junkie,

Coming off your series, which was great, I have a question. How should you attack warm-ups?

-Joe

Hello Joe,

Well what I am assuming your talking about is the weight you should warm-up with. This being said I have created a spread sheet, which if you would like I will email to you(garagegymjunkie@gmail.com). The spread sheet you see is the way I warm-up and can be adjusted for any one person. The sheet first has you input the reps for each set. The set you use is normally between 6 and 10, but for less experienced lifters should be more and for more experience should be less. Next on the sheet is the percentages the way I learned It is that you should warm-up with increments on the 5% or 10%. Finally comes the time, with any change in this effects your lifting schedule.

-Joshua Biernacki

Suggested Warm Up Chart
Fill In	Max Snatch		Max Clean and Jerk		Time Between Lift
					3
Attempt	Reps	Percentage		Snatch		Clean and Jerk	Time To Warm-Up
1	3	Bar		45		45	3
2	3	35%		0		0	3
3	2	35%		0		0	3
4	2	45%		0		0	3
5	2	55%		0		0	3
6	1	55%		0		0	3
7	1	60%		0		0	3
8	1	65%		0		0	3
9	1	70%		0		0	3
10	1	75%		0		0	3
							30
Floor Attempt
1		80%		0		0
2		95%		0		0
3		105%		0		0

Warm Up Room Etiquette

Hello,

As promised here is the full Bob Takano Article

Warm-up Room Etiquette

By: Bob Takano

The function of the warm-up room is to provide a facility where the competitors can adequately prepare for the performance on the competition platform. In a session with a large number of lifters, the lifters will outnumber the available bars and platforms. Since lifters need to warm-up in accordance with the progression of the competition bar, everyone does not need to be in the weight room at the same time. This concept needs to be understood by all parties involved.

It's also not uncommon at local meets to have novices, masters and a couple of national level competitors all in the same session. Furthermore it's also not unusual to have males and females in the same session. All of these factors make the importance of good warm-up room etiquette all the more important.

The warm-up area can often require careful management of several lifters with bare equipment essentials. Etiquette makes things go more smoothly.

Focal Points: In real weightlifting gyms the world over, lifters make use of focal points while lifting and so it is considered boorish to walk through a lifter's line of vision when he or she is preparing to and performing a lift. The same holds true for the warm-up room. Cross through someone's line of vision at critical junctures and we know that you haven't had a proper weightlifting upbringing.

Share the loading: When two or more lifters are sharing the same platform it is common to share the task of changing the weights on the bar with each lifter, the one just finishing and the one following, to load one end of the bar. Coaches may also be involved in the loading in the warm-up room. If you neglect to load your end, it's a pretty good show of bad manners.

Don't bogart the 10 bumps: Some stronger lifters who are out of the loop like to start early and keep adding 10 bumpers to the bar rather than exchange them for 20's and 25's. This deprives the lighter lifters from using them and creates an awkward situation at best.

Don't camp out: Some lifters love to monopolize and show-off in the warm-up. They start early, take too many warm-ups and even lift heavier weights than they attempt in competition. They're in the warm-up before the lesser lifters and monopolize a single platform and as much equipment as possible. Clowns!

Ask Before You Borrow: Just because a plate is lying on a platform, unused, doesn't mean that it might not be used very soon. If you need to borrow it, ask the lifters on the platform if you can. This is just common courtesy. Yes, and remember to return it when you're finished!

Don't camp out in the staging area: Some meet directors thoughtfully provide some seats immediately adjacent to the competition platform for lifters who are "on deck" or "in the hole". If you're not one of them, don't occupy those seats. Coaches, friends and well-wishers shouldn't either.

Get in and get out: If you don't need to spend any more time in the warm-up than is necessary leave it to the people who are warming up. I consider it the job of the coach to manage his or her athletes' warm-ups, so the responsibility really lies with the coach. Most coaches I know are considerate and try not to create circumstances that might inhibit others.

I hope this list of transgressions raises the consciousness of newbie coaches and athletes regarding these issues. That will help make the competitive experience all the more enjoyable and efficient for all of us.

Additional Coaching articles can be found at: www.takanoathletics.com

Be sure to sign up for Bob’s free newsletter, “THE TAKANO ATHLETICS NEWSLETTER”

This free newsletter is to inform you of events, and thoughts regarding the training of weightlifters and the incorporation of the Olympics lifts and their derivatives into the training of athletes.

Embracing Exercise to Stay Strong While Going Through Cancer Treatments

Hello Everyone,

As many you do not know I do except articles and write ups from my readers. The author of this article is Melanie Bowen on the topic of exercise and how it can benefit cancer patients. She states that  she recently has been researching and writing about how staying physically fit can be extremely beneficial to people going through cancer treatments. Exercise can be a conduit for healing of many different diseases (including cancer) by giving back energy levels, reducing stress, creating better blood flow, etc..

Enjoy The Reading,

The Garage Gym Junkie

Embracing Exercise to Stay Strong While Going Through Cancer Treatments

Creating a fun and enjoyable workout routine for cancer patients is a positive way to promote overall better health.  There are a few simple things people can do to make lifestyle changes to increase their odds of successfully battling cancer.  Switching diets to include more fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains will provide added energy for a person to begin taking up a mild fitness schedule.
An online article listed on the Oncology Nursing Society states that exercise is helpful management tool for people who are fighting cancer. Socializing while working out is another great thing a person can do to keep positive spirits and to embrace an aggressive stance to battling the disease.  When people are overcome with depression and anxiety, it can be easy to give up.  This is why a great support system and workout partners are so vital in encouraging and supporting a person to keep moving forward in treatments and towards recovery.

Fitness schedules for cancer patients often differ dramatically from fitness schedules for people who are not challenged with a life-threatening disease.  If a person is diagnosed with lung cancer or mesothelioma, it will be necessary to create a workout schedule that is light on cardio. Each individual and diagnosis will differ, and therefore each workout regimen should be created with the consultation of a doctor.

Over time, a workout plan may be slowly increased in small increments as the patient grows stronger physically and more capable of working out for longer periods of time.  Yoga and cardio workout combinations will work together to improve physical strength, promote a healthier heart and to relieve stress and anxiety.  Keeping a fitness routine varied and interesting is one of the biggest things a person can do to maintain motivation and inspiration. Interesting and enjoyable workout schedules help a cancer patient to remain as active as possible while going through endless cancer treatments.

Many people grow weary of doing the same workout every week.  Alternating activities from bicycling, using an elliptical, dancing, yoga, walking and swimming will help to inspire cancer patients to stay committed to growing stronger each week.  It is often common for people to experience a lack of motivation when it comes to getting fit, especially for cancer patients who are struggling with extreme pain or a major depletion of energy levels.  However, each small activity will help to improve the person’s quality of life along with a long list of physical benefits. To name a few, working out can help increase oxygen flow throughout the body, which can improve organ function and immune function. Furthermore, exercise also induces the release of endorphins throughout the body, which improves mood and reduces the occurrence of depression in cancer patients.

Author: Melanie Bowen

   Melanie is currently a Master's student with a passion that stems from her grandmother's cancer diagnosis. She often highlights the great benefits of alternative nutritional, emotional, and physical treatments on those diagnosed with cancer or other serious illness.