My Workout Plan and Motivation

Workout Schedule

Monday: Cardio 1 hr, Legs

Tuesday: Cardio 30min, and Salsa Dancing

Wednesday: Cardio 1hr, chest and tri

Thursday:  Cardio 30min, Back and Bi, Gymnastics

Friday: Cardio 30min, Legs

Saturday: Cardio 30 min, Chest and Tri, Salsa Dancing

Sunday: Cardio 30 min, Back and Bi, Gymnastics

 Diet

Each day 6 to 7 meals reasonably evenly spaced.  A typical day looked like the following:

Breakfast: 2 egg whites 1 serving oatmeal made with water

2nd meal: Chicken breast, steamed vegetables, sweet potato

3rd meal: Same as 2nd

 4th meal: Whey protein powder and creatine, apple or other fruit

5th meal: Light Yogurt

6th meal:  Salmon or casein protein

My motivation, like many of the things I have recently begun, comes from my drive to have new beginnings and for filling endings.  As I have matured, I've noticed the people around me giving up on life in small ways.  I don't mean the basics of life, but I am talking about the vitality of life.I feel that ball and chain getting bigger and heavier.  Recently I realized that if I feel it now, it will only increase with age.  It seems that many of us believe that the realization of dreams must be started at a young age, and if your not on track by age 25 then its too late. That has to be one of the saddest things anyone can think. In that one statement, "it's too late", lies surrender and the death of hope.

Our Toronto Blue Jays

It’s early.

That’s been the refrain from Toronto Blue Jays players, coaches, fans and media as the team has struggled to a 3-6 start heading into Kansas City this weekend. While some panicky fans have already jumped ship – or have at least put on life jackets - others are pleading for patience. There has been nothing to cheer about in Toronto.

While it is early – there are a mere 153 games remaining ahead of Friday’s game with the Royals – there are some troubling signs for the team many folks in the baseball world were picking to win the American League East a couple of weeks ago. The Blue Jays have been all around lousy, struggling with hitting, pitching, and defence. The Blue Jays have yet to win two games in a row. Some of the losses have been downright ugly - a 13-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox, and Thursday’s 11-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers stand out.

The revamped starting pitching staff has been particularly bad, and is the first thing that needs to be fixed if the Jays are to dig out of their current funk. Toronto spent lots of money and leveraged a lot of prospects to acquire R.A. Dickey, Mark Buerhle and Josh Johnson during the offseason. The Blue Jays were supposed to have one of the best starting rotations in baseball, but through nine games it is the worst.

There isn't much more I can say. The Blue Jays need to pick up there game in order to satisfy baseball fans in the GTA. This sub-par performace thus far, isn't going to cut it for members of the public. Things are going to get ugly if the Toronto Blue Jays don't pull a 180.. 

Working in a TEAM!

Can you imagine yourself working on a major project alone in the office/workplace, and no one out there to support and assist you? Definitely a lot harder doing things alone then in groups. We all love to be part of a team and accomplish large tasks and projects, and the feeling we get as an end result of completing it. Teamwork takes place in the everyday working world, and is often needed in order to complete some projects employee's are assigned, because face it, bouncing ideas off yourself is not as beneficial as turning to your teammate and spitballing ideas back and fourth.

5 brains, and 10 hands are better then just 1

Teamwork is defined as an activity or a set of inter-related activities done by more than one person in order to achieve the common objective, the end result. My blog is directed more towards teamwork in the business world and workplace, however it is not only followed only in the corporate world toady, rather it is one of the oldest things known to man. Just to give you an example, think back to grade 7 and 8 history class when you learned about the World Wars, did soldiers go out individually? Did they enter the enemies turf by themselves, or as a team?  Do NHL players win the Stanley Cup by themselves, or as a team? We all have learned about the importance of teamwork, because face it, it is used everywhere, everyday, and in every business.

In grade 12, I had a co-op placement in the Haldimand County Marketing Department. My task was completing the County souvenirs catalogue, taking pictures and building a new book. You may read this, and think, what's the importance to a successful teams blog page? Let me tell you, the very first thing my employer told me when I sat down with him to discuss the tasks I would be given was "TEAM". I looked at him very confused, and asked what does that mean? He said to me - "Together, Everyone, Achieves, More". I sat there for a second and smiled, and realized how right he was. Two brains are better then one. I have heard that term numerous times since, whether it be at my co-op placement, school, my part time job at Dairy Queen, or the gym, teamwork is everywhere. Throughout my blog, I tend to enlighten you on the key characteristics of a successful team, and how teamwork is probably the most beneficial skill to have in order for key success.     

- The importance of Teamwork and Cooperation, because it will only benefit you. 
 

Bench Press - "How to do it properly!"

The bench press is  one of the Mecca of weight bench exercises. The bench press is generally used by most people as a measurement of how strong you are, although using the bench press as a measurement of total strength isn’t a very good indicator of your overall physical strength. However it is a great exercise that will help build your chest as well as your arms and being able to push alot of weight on a bench is a great way to show off to your friends. Many people do not realize that half of the work is in the technique.

Position yourself correctly
Most people, especially beginners do not know how to position themselves on the weight bench. when resting on the bench line yourself correctly so that your forehead is inline with the center of the bar and your arms are of equal distance apart. this will help you balance the weights once you have lifted them from the rack. once you have the balance sorted each arm will take equal load of the weight thus preventing one arm taking too much weight and failing a few reps short of your full potential.

Use full and precise Movements
There’s nothing more important than form. if you cant lower the bar to your chest at a controlled speed its time to lower the weight until you can. on the push action its both beneficial to push fast and push the weight up slowly so from one week to the next or on different sets fluctuate the speed at which you push the bar up. you will gain no benefit in dropping the weight to your chest (you may however cause an injury).

Breath
Breathing is a big deal, if you stop you will fail to circulate oxygen around your body and muscles, which will decrease the amount of repetitions you can achieve as the lactic acid will build up faster. As you lower the bar breath in. as you push the bar breath out – DO NOT HOLD YOUR BREATH!

Mix it up
Don’t allow your muscles to get used to any particular weight or set of repetitions whilst Benching. mix it up occasionally by lifting less weight with more repetitions. Also have a session at least once a month were you try and lift as much weight as possible, even if you only achieve one rep. if you put your body through un-normal stressful situations it will respond better.

Partner up
there’s nothing more encouraging than a training partner. a training partner will give you more focus and will help push you that little bit further. You can also cheat on the last few reps with the assistance of a training partner and they can also be there for safety to help you if you struggle to rack the weights or drop them.

Rest and Relaxation
Do not bench press every time you see a weight bench. Your Muscle’s need to rest every time they have been through a stressful exercise (recommended amount of rest is 24hrs). if you don’t rest, your muscles will never get the chance to repair themselves which will result in a sports injury which could put a stop to your bench press action altogether.

NOW ... NEXT TIME YOU GO TO THE BENCH PRESS, DO IT RIGHT!!!! Prevent getting injured by just knowing the simple facts/tips on how to perform it properly, and to the best of your ability. 

NHL Trade Deadline Re-Cap

I would classify this trade deadline as interesting. First up, Bobby Lou. The Luongo talk came and went once again with Bobby Lou putting on a new jersey. The days preceding the deadline overshadowed the actual day. Neither of those are really surprising, but you had to assume that if Luongo was to be dealt it was going to happen today.

The non-trade of Luongo, in my mind, means one of two things.

1. Luongo is going to be bought out.

If no one was willing to take him right now, for a playoff run and beyond, then why would someone take him in the summer? Mike Gillis lives in this fantasy world where Luongo will get him the moon. Sorry, Mike, thanks to your spectacular GM skills you have made Luongo untradeable unless you give him away.

2. Schneider will be dealt in the summer.

Cory Schneider is a much more appealing acquisition strictly for his contract. He doesn't come with 9 years left on his deal. As oblivious to reality as Vancouver Canuck fans are, they will soon realize that they really can't keep both goaltenders, especially when Vancouver has only $1.3M in cap space with only 15 players signed. Luongo isn't to blame here either, it's the man making the deals happen, Mr. Mike Gillis.

On to the actual trades.

There were a lot of deals made that really don't mean much, so I'm not even going to entertain them. I do have a few words about four trades though. Most of the playoff-impact deals were made before today and I still have to go with Pittsburgh as the short term trade deadline winners for the deals they made. All in all the deadline was a bust and the Luongo saga will continue on into the summer and the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending questions will be tagging along.