Quit thinking about it.

Yes it’s heavier than you’ve ever lifted before.  And yes, you are still making some refinements to your technique.

Maybe you should have better shoes.  Or no shoes.  Or some chalk to help your grip . . .

Forget the minor details.  Discard the excuses of imperfection.  Just pick up the damned barbell.

Don’t over-analyze your reps or your sets or your rests.  The barbell will still be there unaffected by your mental masturbation.  The barbell pines for only one thing – your action.

It doesn’t care if you hit a PR today.  It doesn’t care if you lift more weight than the guy next to you.   It only cares that you’ve come with your best.  Right here.  Right now.

Cell phone is off.
iPod is cranked.
Grip is tight.

How you pick up the barbell is how you pick up your fork is how market your business is how you walk your dog is how you kiss your wife.  How you do anything is how you do everything.  But you must DO.

Just pick up the damned barbell.

__________________________

A few cool links this week. . .

I was a guest on my favorite cooking show!  Check out the awesome cauliflower recipe episode at HilahCooking.com.

I’ve been nominated as one of the top 50 fitness bloggers on the net.  Help me get the top spot with your vote by heading over to FitMole.net.

My good friend Steve Kamb of NerdFitness.com continues to kick ass and his recent video of exercising around the world is pretty damned amazing.  Be sure to check it out!

That’s it for this week!  Many thanks for giving this post a like, tweet, or plus below.

Stay strong,

Vic

10:00am  2 cups of coffee black.  9 cashews.

12:00pm  1 apple.

1:15pm – 1:41pm  Training

Squat: 45 x 8, 135 x 6, 165 x 5, 175 x 5, 185 x 4, 175 x 5.

Bench Press: 165 x 4, 155 x 6, 135 x 8.

Seated Cable Row: 180 x 3, 160 x 6, 140 x 8.

Workout ended early due to shoulder pain.

2:30pm  Stir fry steak with broccoli, yellow squash, and carrots.  Large iced tea.  Omega-3, Multi-vitamin, and K20 supplement.

5:30pm  6 raspberries.  4 walnut halves.  Small piece of dark chocolate.

7:30pm  2 eggs scrambled, 2 strips of bacon, with sauteed peppers, onions, and spinach.  Omega-3, Multi-vitamin, and K20 supplement.

Next.

10:15am  Large coffee black.

12:44pm – 1:22pm  Training.

Deadlift: 135 x 8, 185 x 5, 225 x 5, 235 x 4, 225 x 4, 185 x 5.

Pull Ups: 9, 6, 4.

Push Ups: 30, 12, 10.

Rear Delt Cable Fly: 20 x 12, 20 x 8, 20 x 7.

Rising Cable Cross Over: 30 x 9, 30 x 7, 30 x 7.

EZ Bar Curl: 75 x 9, 75 x 6, 70 x 7.

Triceps Push Down: 70 x 9, 70 x 6, 60 x 9.

1:45pm  2 flour tortillas wrapped with scrambled eggs, ground beef, onions, and peppers.  Omega-3, Multi-vitamin, and K20 supplement.

4:15pm  Large iced tea.

6:30pm  Stir fry chicken and broccoli.

9:00pm  1/2 grapefruit.  1 cup chamomile tea.

Weigh in on Oct. 11: 165.0 lbs

The scale I used for the first week of this experiment broke.  And since I always buy the cheap $20 bathroom scales, I think the readings between my old and new scale are a little off.  So did I really gain 3 lbs since Saturday morning?  Maybe (that Saturday cheat day was a little extreme).  But I doubt it, given the fasting day on Sunday and yesterday’s solid training and pretty good diet.  But the new scale will be used from this point forward.

I’ve been a terrible slacker on recording my diet for the past three days.  But I did record my training.  Diet recording resumes Friday October 14th!

Tuesday October 11, 2011: No Training.

Wednesday October 12, 2011: 12:33pm – 1:13pm.

Squat: 45 x 8, 135 x 6, 185 x 3, 205 x 2, 185 x 3.

Bench Press: 160 x 8, 160 x 6, 155 x 7.

Seated Cable Row: 160 x 8, 160 x 7, 140 x 8.

Push Press: 80 x 8, 80 x 7, 80 x 6.

Hang High Pull: 80 x 10, 80 x 8, 80 x 7.

Lying Triceps Extension: 70 x 7, 70 x 5, 65 x 6.

Cable Curl: 120 x 7, 120 x 5, 110 x 7.

Thursday October 13, 2011: 3:18pm 0 3:32pm.

Feet To Hands: 10.

Twisting Knees To Elbows: 10.

Knees To Elbows: 8.

Recumbent Bike Sprints: 30 seconds of max work, 30 seconds of rest. 8 rounds.  Level 12.

7:15am  2 cups of coffee black.

8:07am – 8:48am  Training

Deadlift: 135 x 8, 185 x 3, 225 x 3, 245 x 3, 255 x 1, 245 x 2, 225 x 3.

Pull Ups: 11, 7, 5.

Push Ups: 30, 15, 10.

Rear Delt Cable Fly: 20 x 11, 20 x 7, 20 x 7.

Rising Cable Cross Over: 30 x 8, 30 x 7, 30 x 6.

EZ Bar Curl: 75 x 8, 75 x 6, 70 x 5.

Triceps Push Down: 70 x 8, 70 x 6, 60 x 8.

9:30am  2 eggs scrambled, 2 strips of bacon, with sauteed onions, peppers, jalapenos, and spinach.  Omega-3, Multi-vitamin, and K20 supplements.

11:45am  4 walnut halves, 1 apple, small piece of dark chocolate.

1:15pm  Large iced hibiscus herb tea.

3:45pm  7 cashews, 5 raspberries, small piece of dark chocolate.

5:15pm  Stir fry chicken with asparagus and peppers.

6:45pm  Not-so-small piece of dark chocolate.

8:45pm  1 cup chamomile tea.

7:15am  Large coffee black.

11:00am  Small coffee black.

3:30pm  1 cup chamomile tea.

7:30pm  1 cup chamomile tea.

9:00pm  1 cup chamomile tea.  12 cashews.  5 blackberries.

Weight: 162.0 lbs.

That’s a 10.6 pound loss for the week.  I think a day of eating and drinking has been earned!

4:45am  2 cups of coffee black.

6:03am – 6:18am  Training.

Feet To Hands: 10.

Twisting Knees To Elbows: 10.

Knees To Elbows: 7

Recumbent Bike Intervals: 30 seconds of max work followed by 30 seconds of rest, 10 rounds.  Level 10, seat position 4.

6:50am  Large omelet with ham, onion, green pepper, cheddar cheese, and salsa.  Small fruit cup with pineapple, cantaloupe, grapes, and blue berries.  1 piece of wheat toast with jelly.  1 cup coffee black.  Omega-3, Multi-vitamin, and K20 supplements.

10:00am  1 apple.

11:35am  10 cashews, 5 black berries.

1:30pm  1 beer.  Tortilla chips with queso dip.

4:45pm  Sirloin burger, grilled asparagus and peppers, seasoned redskin potatoes.  2 beers.

8:30pm  3 slices of pepperoni pizza.  1 beer.  3 mini-sized chocolate cupcakes.

Weight: 162.8 lbs.

6:15am  2 cups of coffee black.

7:34am – 8:22am  Training.

Squat: 45 x 10, 135 x 6, 165 x 5, 185 x 4, 175 x 4, 175 x 4, 165 x 5.

Bench Press: 155 x 8, 160 x 6, 155 x 6.

Seated Cable Row: 160 x 8, 160 x 6, 140 x 7.

Push Press: 80 x 8, 80 x 7, 80 x 5.

Hang High Pull: 80 x 9, 80 x 8, 80 x 6.

Lying Triceps Extension: 65 x 8, 70 x 5, 65 x 5.

Cable Curl: 110 x 8, 120 x 6, 110 x 7.

8:50am  2 eggs scrambled, 2 strips of bacon, red skin potatoes, with sauteed onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, and spinach.  Omega-3, Multi-vitamin, and K20 supplements.

12:15pm  6 almonds, 1/2 cantaloupe, small piece of dark chocolate.

2:30pm  3 almonds, 4 cashews, 1 large apple.

3:15pm  Large iced hibiscus herb tea.

4:45pm  Grilled steak with stir fry asparagus and peppers.  Omega-3, Multi-vitamin, and K20 supplements.

7:30pm  5 black berries, 5 walnut halves, small piece of dark chocolate.

Weight: 163.8 lbs.

6:30am  2 cups of coffee black.

7:59am – 8:23am  Training

Jump Rope

50 lb. Kettlebell Swing

Jump Rope

50 lb. Alternating 1-arm Kettlebell Swing

1 minute of max work per exercise, followed by 30 seconds rest between exercises.  4 rounds.

9:30am  2 eggs scrambled, 3 strips of bacon, with sauteed onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, and spinach.  Omega-3, Multi-vitamin, and K20 supplement.

12:00pm  Large iced tea.

1:15pm  1 apple.  7 almonds.

3:00pm  1/2 cantaloupe.  Small piece of dark chocolate.

7:00pm  Grilled steak, stir fry broccoli and bell pepper, redskin potatoes.  Omega-3, Multi-vitamin, and K20 supplement.

8:30pm  1 cup chamomile tea.

Weight: 165.0 lbs.

7:30am  2 cups of coffee black.

8:44am – 9:09am  Training

Pull Ups: 11, 7, 5.

Push Ups: 28, 15, 9.

Rear Delt Cable Fly: 20 x 10, 20 x 8, 20 x 6.

Low Cable Cross Over: 30 x 8, 30 x 7, 30 x 6.

EZ Bar Curl: 70 x 8, 75 x 6, 70 x 6.

Triceps Push Down: 70 x 7, 60 x 10, 60 x 6.

9:40am  2 eggs scrambled, 2 strips of bacon, with sauteed onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, and spinach.  Omega-3, Multi-vitamin, and K20 supplement.

12:00pm  7 almonds, 1 apple, small piece of dark chocolate.  1 cup green tea.

1:33pm – 1:48pm  Training

Deadlift: 135 x 8, 185 x 5, 205 x 5, 215 x 5, 225 x 5, 225 x 2, 185 x 4.

2:50pm  Small handful of baby carrots.  4 walnut halves.

3:45pm  Large iced hibiscus herb tea.

5:30pm  Grilled steak with broccoli and bell pepper.  Omega-3, Multi-vitamin, and K20 supplements.

8:30pm  1 cup chamomile tea.

Training was split today because someone else was using the barbell in the morning and I couldn’t get to deadlifts.  Yes, the gym I go to only has one barbell and power rack.  But the split day training actually felt great.