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Judo – Judo is a martial arts (I think it qualifies as an art at least) that involves a lot of ground work and taking people to the ground and exerting control over them.  You’ll be struggling against someone’s else strength for most of the time and this builds a lot of muscle and reflex/reaction.

Swimming – Swimming is really great aerobic and muscle building exercise.  This really gives you a charge.

Rock Climbing – I’ve only done this a few times, but talk about a burn.  Lifting weights is just a different type of muscle building that really can’t prepare you for rock climbing.

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Adding to Your Full Body Workout

The “ideal” blood pressure is 120/80 or less and just yesterday I had mine taken and I was 120/78 so if this should tell you anything it’s that more recent medical knowledge is correct.  I’ve lifted weights consistently for 13 years and I have absolutely no blood pressure problems.  If you’re lifting weights and think you have bp problems, look at your diet or lack of cardio for the answers.

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Can Weight Lifting Increase Blood Pressure?

Say it aint so.  Could my weight lifting be hurting my hair?  Yeah, probably.  My hair is thinning and I’ve already lost a lot of hair follicles.  Of course my grandpa was bald so I have genetics at play too.

The research is there, but then again it’s not full proof.  Things have a way of being slanted to prove what the people conducting the experiments want to prove.

My take is if you’re going bald, it was probably because you were going bald anyway.

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Does Weight Lifting Make You Bald?

Each day contains 2 workouts, a morning and an evening workout.

Morning is 1:10 only weight lifting.  Evening is 50:00 running and cardio drills with 20:00 of ab work.

So the workouts combine to 2 hours and 20 minutes and will keep my metabolism running on high.  The idea is to keep it as high intensity as I possibly can for those 2 periods with rest enabling me to peak again later.

Now that I write that, I pondered the idea of a 3 workout day, but I’d have trouble coming up with different exercises at that point and see some overlap.  Undoubtedly, there will be some overlap with my legs, but I’m prepared to make that sacrifice as thinning down is a priority for me.  I’ll continue to research and unfold specific exercises or wrinkles that I decide to involve.

I may incorporate a few of the fat loss exercises in the video below.

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The Best 3 Week Workout Plan

For today’s blog, I’m harking back to when I thought 200 lbs was amazing. I remember when my uncle told me he benched 190 during high school, I was so impressed. Back then that kind of weight seemed so lofty. I didn’t think it was unreachable, but I was probably only getting 130 (give or take) so it seemed like a big deal.

I’ve moved on from marveling at 200 or even 300. Anything I can do, I never really marvel at – even if I used to and this leads precisely to how I want you to think about weight lifting. Don’t look at big numbers and see them as some pie in the sky idea (even if they are). Just get in the gym and start working towards your goals and then if you want to go for the huge numbers, go even higher.

To me, weight lifting and getting stronger is all about acclimating yourself to the weight. That’s it. Just get your body used to it. This is how it happens.

I was going to say there is no magic potion but for some people there is a potion that does inject an unnatural boost into their strength. But if you’re not taking any artificial PEDs, then there is nothing magical about it. If you want to meet your goals of lifting heavier weight, go out and work towards them diligently and you will.

One of the coolest things about working out is how quickly you can get visible results. Two weeks of working out and eating right and you will have them. Exercise and a healthy diet are lifelong activities you should have but it certainly doesn’t take a lifetime to see results.

If you want to lift more weight, put the axe to the grind and get started building muscle. Once you start lifting weight and advancing, the unrealistic weights will come closer and closer into your field of vision.

Transitional Body Video:

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The Mind Frame for Lifting Bigger Weight

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Barbell Military Press – One of the absolute most dangerous exercises. If you’re lifting a barbell full of weight and you suddenly lose balance backwards, you can snap your arms or have the weight fall on your head. Besides lifting less weight, you can help yourself out by keeping the bar in front of your head and err towards losing control forwards.

Squats – Great exercise for building leg muscle – horrible on the knee joints. I’ve heard some of the sickest stories involving squat exercises and seen some stuff I won’t even post here or look at again. Let’s just say not only can you blow out your knees, but the weight can also compress your body.

Bench Press – Your hands aren’t full proof, especially if you press with an open palm (some people do). With bench press, the bar can drop on top of your sternum, get stuck on the way up (if you have no spotter), and fall on your face if you don’t mount it correctly.

Overhead Tricep Extensions – Be extremely careful anytime you pull weight over your head. One drop from any size dumbbell can be life threatening. Always use a firm overlapped hand grip.

I’m not even posting a video of any of this stuff. I can’t look or think of it or I won’t want to do these exercises anymore.

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The Most Dangerous Weight Lifting Positions

• Comparable strength and ability to you – Ideally your partner will have similar strength as you.  Pairing with someone far stronger with you and you’ll find you’re constantly trying to play catch up while you slow them down.  If someone isn’t on your level, you’ll be dropping your workout level to bring them along.
• Similar goals as you – If your partner is more interested in being at the gym than working out, you will have a problem on your hand.  If you’re hardcore, you need someone else just as dedicated.
• Brings synergy – A workout partnership shouldn’t just keep status quo.  If you find the right match, you’re going to help that person out and they’re going to bring out the best in you.
• Happens Easily – Along with all these things, a worthwhile partner isn’t going to be difficult to maintain.  You’re both on the same wave length and won’t cause one another to skip a beat.

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Who is a Good Workout Partner?

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When I hit a huge wall when I finally got to bench pressing 225 lbs, I was searching for answers. Before it seemed that whenver I applied myself, I made gains and lifted more. I was still using the same formula and putting in the time, but it wasn’t working for me. I eventually learned that I had to adjust to the obstacle in front of me because my muscles had gotted “used to” the amount of weight.

If you’re frustrated with poor gains, negative gains or lack thereof, do something different. I recommend trying a completely different workout and see what it has to offer. You will also want to read literature from those with athletic achievements similar to that which you want to accomplish. These people have been where you’re at and come through it so there is certain to learn from them. Whatever you do, don’t stop working out. If you apply yourself, try something else and keep plugging away, eventually you will get through your plateaus.

You never know what you will read that will inspire you next. Sometimes another person’s words or ideas will open up your eyes and elevate you to a new level of training. It’s a great that your not satisfied with your current self and want to continue to improve. Keep in mind this positive even when your workout is on a downslide.

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Handling Disappointment in Weight Lifting

I’ll use Matt from Operacion Repo as an example again. Here’s a video of Matt in action:

As is the case in the video, Matt’s first reaction is almost always to wind up and push as hard as he can. (I know the show is staged but it’s still a good example.) The reason most big guys resort to pushing is to utilize their strength, which is strength. Aside from pushing, you can tell Matt isn’t very nimble or coordinated. So if someone throws a punch, he’s going to be confused and immediately try a headlock or some other strength based maneuver.  He’s also going to be off balance because of his need to throw his weight and muscle into what he does.

Bench press doesn’t make you a better fighter. Nor do curls. You need to train for fighting. What makes you dangerous is when you combine raw strength with fighting attributes such as speed, agility, precision, and skill. Brock Lesnar exemplifies all of these attributes except skill. Lesnar has a tremendous combination of athleticism and power that along with a wrestling background and developing MMA skills has led him to be world champion.

Many weight lifters and power lifters train their muscles to do only one thing: Lift.  So while there muscles grow and grow and eventually become huge, they lose mobility, quickness, coordination, and flexibility.  This leaves a lot of heavy lifters with a lot of pushing power but not much else.

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Why a Lot of Muscular Guys Are Bad Fighters

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First, I determine whether something is just there or whether it’s a new occurrence. For example, I have a good back but I have built muscle over some problems that happened when I was 18. (Story: When I was 18 I was spotting my friend on a 300 lb bench press. He asked for a lift off but when I lifted off he didn’t and so I pulled my back pretty bad. I never got any treatment and eventually it went away but my back will still pull/give me sharp pain if I lift too much weight to this day – though I still do back exercises.) So first assessment is to determined whether the injury is something you have to deal with or whether you need to be weary of it.

Secondly, evaluate the severity of the injury. If it’s extreme, you either need to go to the doctor or do your own analysis and rehab yourself. (Another story: I have twice completely torn my hamstring. I didn’t really need to go to the doctor because I knew what had happened so I just stayed off it for months and then slowly rehabilitated the muscle back. My advice: NEVER EVER pull your hamstring. Stretch at all costs.) If your injury isn’t severe, do a common sense evaluation of what you’re dealing with and resume your workout accordingly. However, when you do pick your workout back up, be smart about it and work your injured area lightly.

Last, continuing from that last sentence, give your injured muscle, joint, tendon, or whatever a break. Rest works wonders. After you’ve had a good amount of rest (relative to your injury) slowly work your injured area back into the regular routine. You’ll have to play catch up for awhile but it’s better to progressively slowly than fast.

With an injury, you don’t want to be a workout warrior or a he-man/she-woman. I’ve made the mistake and plowed right through a twinged back and ended up paying for it by putting my back workouts out of commission for a month. Weight training and exercise should never injure or hurt you in and of itself. If you feel pain, drop what you’re doing and find out why. You may be over compensating, using bad form, or otherwise unnecessarily agitating your body

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Dealing With Injuries in Your Workout