Tag: mental therapy

Overcome

There is a song by Creed released in 2009 as part of the Full Circle album named “Overcome”. Some of the lyrics go like this:

I’m entitled to overcome
Completely stunned and numb
Knock me down, throw me to the floor
There’s no pain; I can’t feel no more
I’m entitled to overcome
Overcome

If you follow the band Creed or know of their story you understand that they have have had to overcome a lot of adversity over their career. We all face adversity and must find a way to overcome. This morning, I faced some serious adversity.

I did not sleep well. I woke up several times in the night. I am not sure why I was so restless. I have anxiety and I am a worrier so perhaps I was worrying about things subconsciously and it kept me awake. Unfortunately this happens quite a bit to me. At any rate, when 4:30 am came around I had a difficult time getting out of bed. I finally managed to do it, got dressed, fed the dogs and let them out. I then took my preworkout.

I was groggy, tired, and struggling. My self talk was very bad this morning trying to talk me out of exercise. My body is sore from the leg workout yesterday, I am tired, and negative self talk was really pushing. I know that if I can just get started I would be okay. So I got out to the gym and started walking around outside to get the blood flowing. I did that for 10 – 15 minutes.

Once I hit the road I was starting to overcome. Today I ran for one minute and walked at a fast pace for one minute. I did this for a little over 45 minutes. There were times during my workout that was better than others but I was able to overcome and get it done. I then did a series of leg stretches followed by 2 sets of 100 triceps press and 60 hammer curls with 15 pound dumbbells. I then did max situps in two minutes which was 67 today, slightly less than my previous few sessions of 70+ but I got it done. I am so glad I did because my mindset is much better now. I accomplished something very hard and instead of being in a bad mood because of lack of sleep I am now ready to conquer the day and kick butt.

It takes a lot of mental fortitude but I have learned that I can take charge of my mind and accomplish things. I am really believing that what I put into the universe is what I will accomplish. Well, now I will get on to the day. Have a great one everyone!

Blessed – Leg Day

There is a song I heard today named Blessed by Fearless Motivation. It starts off this way

It doesn’t matter where you are in life
If you don’t feel blessed you won’t be blessed
You’ve got to know your worth, before you can be worth anything

The song has a great overall message. I like listening to uplifting music in the morning and YouTube music built a very nice playlist based on this song.

Let’s talk about leg day. Previously you’ve seen that my leg days start out with all of these hip exercises with bands. I wanted to explain how that came to be. About 3 – 4 years ago my lower back was constantly hurting and didn’t seem to get better. I went to the doctor and they referred me to physical therapy.

In physical therapy they had me doing all of these hip exercises with bands. I asked the physical therapist “why am I working on my hips when back hurts?”. She explained that my back is just a symptom of a bigger problem. My hips were weak. Because my hips were weak I overcompensated by using my lower back in awkward ways. She was right. Over time as I strengthened my hips my lower back pain went away. Since I finished physical therapy I continue to do a series of hip exercises I learned at physical therapy during my leg workouts prior to lifting heavy.

Once I completed the hip and band exercises, I moved on to squats. Today I did 10 reps at 135 pounds, 6 reps at 185 pounds, 4 reps at 225 pounds, and 2 reps at 275 pounds. I actually did 2 sets of 2 reps at 275 pounds. I am still unhappy with how deep I am going but I try my best to get as deep as I can. I will keep doing this weight until I can get all of the way down. Once I completed the 2 sets at 275, I reduced back to 225 pounds and completed 4 reps. Then 185 pounds for 6 reps and finally 10 reps at 135 pounds. I use a weight belt once I hit 185 pounds and up to limit stress on my lower back.

After this I performed a 20 minute AMRAP of 400M run, 10 Romanian deadlifts at 135 pounds, 24 walking lunges, and 45 calf raises with 100 pounds. I was able to complete 3 rounds. Next I put on a 20 pounds weight vest and walked at a fast pace for a little over a mile.

Overall it was a good workout. I was pretty winded during the AMRAP and it was pretty humid outside. I had to keep pushing through. I will leave you with another part of the song blessed:

When failure tried to take my mind
I wouldn’t let failure take my life
I am not blessed because it all went right
I’ll never give up
I’m blessed because I’ve got fight

Stay positive, stay active, keep fighting, and always do your best. Have a blessed day!

Tuesday – Cardio day

On Tuesdays, I have been running but today I was faced with a massive downpour from the storm that came in from the coast last night. There have been many times that I will still run in the rain. I would put in some water resistant pants and jacket and go for it. However today, I decided to change it up.

My daughters have told me about the benefits of walking on the treadmill at a steep incline and I have also read about this. I know it is good to vary routine so I figured I would try it today. I jumped on the treadmill, put in on 12 incline at 3.2 mph and decided to try 30 minutes.

Let me tell you, what a burn. My legs were burning hard at periods throughout and I have thought about lowering the pace or incline but I decided to push through. As I was getting around the 25 minute mark the pain and stress were very real, but I told myself to push to 30 minutes. I worked up a pretty strong sweat and when I got off the treadmill my legs felt sore. It took me a little bit of walking around to get my legs underneath me.

That was actually a good experiment and I am thinking I should incorporate this workout in my workouts periodically. I remember David Goggins talking about performing very long distance races such as 200 milers. He said that you have to be able to walk at a good pace and up hills. He mentioned that you have to train to walk in addition to run because they are different and work different muscles. I believe him. Walking at an incline like that really showed that I lacked walking strength. I also remember hearing marathon runners talk about how they struggle to walk up stairs even though they can run 26 miles. I have the same problem.

I am now convinced I need to start incorporating walking into my training more deliberately. I was doing it some while walking with a 20 pound weight vest but the road is mostly flat where I live. Perhaps I need to work incline walking into my routine. Exercise and fitness is about experimenting, switching things up, and making sure you are strengthening every part of your body. Today was good and I learned something potentially valuable.

Have a good day.

Rise & Shine – Let’s Push

It’s Monday and that means it is push day. After a weekend of traveling and football, it is time to get back to it. I did get a lot of walking in which was great and it also felt good to let my body recover.

Today started with a good warmup with bands stretching out the chest. I also did a bit of walking to get my body warmed up. Then it was time to jump in and build strength. It was a pyramid day. Why? Because I felt like it. No real rhyme or reason, I just switch things up and try to keep my muscles guessing. Plus it is less boring that way.

I started with bench press. I did 10 reps at 135 pounds, 6 reps at 185 pounds, 3 reps at 225 pounds, 1 rep at 245 pounds, and 1 rep at 255 pounds. I worked my way back down doing 245 pounds for 1 rep, 225 for 4 reps, 185 for 6 reps, and 135 for 10 reps. It felt pretty good and the 255 at the tope felt better than last week. Perhaps I will be looking to move to 265 in a couple of weeks. Awesome!

I then moved to shoulder press. Today I used the straight bar instead of dumbbells. I started with 55 pounds for 10 reps, then 75 pounds for 8 reps, 95 pounds for 6 reps, and 115 pounds for 4 reps and back down to 95 pounds for 6 reps, 75 pounds, for 8 reps, and 55 pounds for 10 reps. My shoulders are weak, probably the weakest part of my anatomy. So for me to hit that weight was good. I will keep working at it to strengthen my shoulders.

Next was skull crushers with the straight bar. Again I did a pyramid. I started at 55 pounds for 10 reps, 75 pounds for 8 reps, 95 pounds for 6 reps and 115 pounds for 2 reps. 115 pounds was tough. I worked my way back down to 95 pounds for 6 reps, 75 pounds for 8 reps, and 24 reps at 45 pounds just because I felt like a high rep set was needed.

Now it is time for HiiT portion. This is a 20 minute AMRAP. Before I started I saw one of my neighbors kicking butt out there I think running sprints. He’s a big guy running at a good pace. I’m sure a lot better than I can do. Perhaps 20 years or so younger also. For Hiit, I started with a 400 meter run followed by 15 pushups with perfect push up, 10 dips on the dip station, and 40 cable crunches with a heavy band. I was able to do 4 rounds in 20 minutes. I was really feeling it on the last round.

Overall good workout which was about 1 hour and 20 minutes. I came in and made a power smoothie consisting of oatmeal, dried peanut butter, skim milk, fat free Greek yogurt and creatine. I also took a shot of Master Tonic and a shot of unfiltered olive oil.

Read a little Nick Saban today. “Success comes when discipline becomes the habit of execution. Goals are the starting point, but it’s the discipline and commitment to act on them consistently and relentlessly that separate winners from everyone else.”

Until next time, have a great day!

Outlaw Shit!

There is a song I heard yesterday and like a lot. It’s by Bryan Martin and it’s called “Everyone’s An Outlaw”. It is a very good song and the main theme is a saying I have heard before “Everyone’s an outlaw, until it’s time to do outlaw shit!”.

This is something that resonates with me heavily. I have a coached football for many years and also been around coaches, they all talk about the process. Everyone is trying to win a championship but you really have to embrace and trust the process to have a chance. The process is messy, it’s ugly., it sucks. But it’s necessary. Not just necessary but essential to perform the process at a high level. There are sayings like how you work in the dark will show up greatly in the light. Doing the things that suck matter the most.

I listen to David Goggins a lot. If you do not know David Goggins I encourage you to look him up as he has a tremendous story. He said something one day. People ask him all of the time how to do what he does. Everyone sees him accomplish the things he accomplishes and they want that. He tells them that even if I told you what I do, you won’t do it because it sucks. He describes the worst pain you can imagine and pushing past it with everything he has. He said most people will quit long before that. They are not willing to sacrifice and do what it takes.

I was watching a TikTok video the other day and there was a young person saying something about how people have steered him wrong. He described that he bought a house based on what people recommended. He said it sucks. He didn’t realize all of the work it takes to keep it up and he hates it. He said he was selling it as soon as possible and going back to a condo and pay someone else to take care of it. You see, a lot of people want the glory of owning a home but is not willing to do what it takes to maintain it. There are a lot of benefits and reward to owning a home. In fact, most of the wealth in this country was accumulated through real estate. Yes, it takes work, it must be maintained, and yes you are responsible, but it is worth it.

I have a pool now for the first time. I hear people talk about how having a pool sucks. It takes so much work and expense to just have it available a few months of the year. They are correct. It takes a lot of consistent work and effort. I have had to learn a lot and am getting better at it. It does really suck at times. But when all of my family, friends and others come here to get together in the summer such as 4th of July, it is so worth it.

Kids watch sports and see the championship and see the people celebrating, having parades, smoking cigars, hugging each other. the media is all over it. It’s celebrated heavily. They want that and a dream is born. Nobody bothers to tell them that the championship game is three hours, the parade is a couple of hours, media covers us for a couple of 30 minutes segments but to get all of that it took hard work, dedication, and consistent effort at a high level every single day for a very long time. It takes a lot to build your skill well enough to be able to play at the level. There is a lot more suck than good feelings. You must be willing to do the outlaw shit to be an outlaw. You must do championship level practice by yourself to be able to win a championship.

Read the lessons from Kobi Bryant, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Lebron James, and others who are the best to ever do it. They will tell you what it takes. If it was easy everyone would do it. Let’s not have the attitude that we don’t want to put in the work because it is not worth it. To have anything in life with a high reward you should understand to get there it sucks. The higher the reward the more the process sucks.

You want the benefits of home ownership including the wealth that comes with it, do the work required. You want the championships, practice like a champion every day by yourself, have discipline. You want to host family gatherings and enjoy the fun a pool brings, do the work. To be anything of significance, it takes a process that often sucks. It’s hard. But I believe that all of that suck is worth it. Let’s go after it and change our mindset!

Pull Workout

Today is Friday and that means it’s time for a pull workout. This started with a 500M row at a decent intensity. Nothing crazy, just warming the body up. About 2 minutes 20 seconds.

The first exercise is a deadlift. Again I worked up to 330 pounds which is the most I can get on the hex bar due to the width of my weight plates. Especially the bumper plate I have. 330 pounds is still pretty challenging as I only did 2 reps and it was a challenge. Once I get that up pretty good I will be looking to increase and will need to get at least a couple of skinny 45 pound weight plates.

Next, I did 4 rounds of 12 reps hex bar shoulder shrugs. I am trying to improve the quality of these and holding at the top for 1 – 2 seconds. A little better today but will keep working at it. After that I went right into hex bar rows. I increased weight this week to 140 pounds total. I did 4 rounds of 10 reps.

Now is where intensity picks up. I do both good mornings for lower back into farmers carry. I do these one right after the other with no break. Only about 30 seconds in between rounds. This week I increase weight on each. For good mornings I increased to 175 pounds and farmers carry I increased to 140 pounds for 70 steps. I did 4 complete rounds.

Now comes the HiiT portion of the workout. That first part took about 50 minutes total and the HiiT will be an AMRAP for 20 minutes. This involves a 400M run followed by max pullups and hammer curls. For the hammer curls I did a heavier weight lower reps this week instead of the 60 rep 15 pound version I’ve been doing. I did 35 pounds on each dumbbell for 15 reps each. I completed four rounds total in 20 minutes. Overall not too bad but intensity minutes were lacking. Per the Garmin watch, I hit 50 intensity minutes today. That brings my weekly total to 381 which is less than last week but adequate. I’ll be taking off the next two days while travelling to a college football game. I will get plenty of walking for that as is always the case. See you next week!

Roadwork Thursday

Thursday is run day aka Roadwork! Took a little bit to get going this morning and I had to dig deep. The serious thoughts through my head of taking the day off were real. My legs were pretty sore from the leg workout yesterday and I was groggy from a restless sleep. Every day is a struggle of different varieties.

Once I mustered up the discipline to hit the road I took it slow. I jogged a mile at a fairly slow pace. After that I start pushing and began a run/walk method through mile 2. This involved running at a push pace until I got pretty tired and walking for a short period. Once I got through mile 2 I picked things up further with a one minute run followed by one minute fast pace walk. During the run portions I pushed hard to almost a full sprint, at least the best I can.

After about 45 minutes total I went back to the gym and did a series of leg stretches followed by 2 rounds of `100 lying triceps presses and 60 hammer curls with 15 pound dumbbells. My triceps and biceps were burning pretty good. Finally I did 2 minutes of sit ups. I was able to complete 65 today which was less than the last two sit up sessions in previous days. Overall I hit 93 intensity minutes today bringing my total intensity minutes for the week to 331, more than doubling my weekly goal by Thursday.

Embrace Pain

Do you really want to achieve your goals? Do I really want to achieve my goals? If so, we must embrace the pain. Pain is where growth happens. When we muster every last ounce of everything we have to push that last rep of a push up, it hurts, it sucks, but is so worth it.

Every time I run, it hurts. Especially the first 1/2 mile. It’s painful. My knees are on fire, my ankles hurt, my lungs are feeling it. When that pain hits, push through it. Take a lesson from David Goggin’s, when most people feel that pain, they quit. That is why they will not achieve their goals.

Pain is not just exercise. It’s painful to get out of your comfort zone at work. I have learned to embrace the uncomfortable. I am scared to death to talk in front of people, always have been. I have been worried about people judging me, being critical of me, not accepting me. I have learned to jump in and embrace this pain. I understand that people will be critical. It has pushed me to another level. I have been scared to write a blog. People might not read it or like it, I would say to myself. So what.

It is painful to do anything in life that is outside of your comfort one. But there is no growth in the comfort zone. Muscles build when you reach and go past the pain. Your mind gets smarter and stronger when you push past what you know into some things you are learning for the first time. It is painful to absorb and really try to understand something new. But getting through the pain is absolutely worth it. When you hit the gym, go after the pain. When you try and learn something new, go after the pain and push yourself to absorb everything. When it’s hard, think to yourself that it must be good. Go after that pain every day!

Building Discipline

I saw this today and wanted to write about it. The person who is willing to get up every single day and go to the gym and get their exercise in even if: it’s too hot, it’s too cold, it’s raining, it’s snowing, I didn’t sleep well, I didn’t sleep long enough, I don’t feel like it, the car broke down, the kids are crying, I had nightmares, I overate, in under ate, my stomach hurts, my leg hurts, I have a headache, etc.

Even if all of those things are plotting against you and giving you every reason to not exercise today. Even if all of those things are present and you are still willing to go to the gym and do it, that build some high level discipline. For me, it seems that every day there is something that isn’t right but I still do it. Even if there is limited time. Even if my workout wasn’t great but I did what I can do the best I could, that is better than not doing it. That is better than sitting on the sofa and doing nothing.

I will tell you that I’ve gotten myself to the point that it is not negotiable. I will do it regardless of circumstance. For a long time I didn’t have a home gym. I did push ups and sit ups. I didn’t have equipment, I ran or walked. There is literally no excuse that can stop me. Yes, even if I am sick. Oh by the way, I swear exercise keeps me from being sick.

This all took a lot of time and this discipline is starting to drift in to other areas of my life. I’ve been wanting to write a blog post for a long time, now I am doing it. Regardless if anyone reads it. Regardless if anyone pays attention or even if I make some mistakes and my grammar isn’t the best. I do it for myself. It’s the discipline I am building. I want to write a book and will do it. I am working every day on it. It may take a long time but I will do it. I must be disciplined enough to do it. There are barriers everywhere and there are critics everywhere. If you are a critic of what I do, I do not care. You may like me or not, it doesn’t matter. I do not do any of this for you, I do it for me. Discipline is the act of getting something done regardless of circumstances or barriers. I encourage everyone to go after discipline. Do not expect immediate results. Do not expect it to be easy. Do not expect it to happen overnight. Stay with it consistently and you will get there.

Last 2 days

Yesterday I performed a run of 3.1 miles for a total of 78 intensity minutes. I did not have a good sleep the night before and it showed in my run. I actually did a run / walk. I was able to get through it and well exceeded my weekly intensity goal of 150 by Tuesday again. After my run I performed a series of leg stretches and did 100 triceps extension and 60 hammer curls with 15 pound dumbbells. After that I completed 70 sit us with the ab mat.

Today is Wednesday and it is leg day. I did my normal band routine and then squats. I worked my way up to 275 pound squats and I think I got a little deeper than last week but not where I want to be. I think if I keep working at it I will get deep within a couple of months. Once that happens I will increase weight to 300 or more pounds.

After squats I did a 20 minute AMRAP involving a 400M run followed by Romanian Deadlifts with 12 pounds, 24 walking lunges, and 45 calf raises with 80 pounds. I was able to complete 3.5 rounds. On the last round I just finished the run portion but didn’t have time to complete the other exercises.

After that, I put on a 20 pound weight vest and walked 1.10 miles at a pretty good pace. Overall intensity minutes today were 78 and that brings my total for the week to 238. Not too bad and I will continue working at it.