Why I lift and maybe why you should start...

     It was a bit after 5:00pm and the evening rush started to come in.  Leaning on my elbows against the stationary bike, they quivered, my arms too weak to support myself upright.  My  shoe laces whipped my screamingly sore legs with each pedal, untied from an innumerable amount of calf raises, as I watched the gym floor become flooded with its after-work patrons.  They shuffled in one by one, in pairs, or in groups; some coming across familiar faces and other seeking solitude to venture solo.  Pedaling on, nobody dilly dallied, everybody was doing something.  Footsteps fell heavy in the aerobics room, cables ran smoothly across pulleys, barbells and dumbbells came crashing down to the ground, and sweat fell onto the belts of the treadmills.  Split tank tops, yoga pants, heavy hoodies, running shoes, straps, wraps, and belts; we were all equipped to go to work.  There is something deeper than the face value.

      The test wasn't good enough, my classmates and I had been shut down saying our grades were not perfect enough and would have to retake out Kanji test.  The day before was a letdown as my marketing test was not as stupendous as it was hoped.  The day before that I was trembling in my shoes proposing an argument of an essay to a leader in the field of modern Chinese history that may have been swatted down. 

But it didn't matter.

     I had 250lbs on the bar and another 200lbs in bands attached sitting my my back as I was going down for the tenth rep, and damned if it wasn't coming back up.  I had 500lbs on the floor, the bar and my palms dusted in magnesium carbonate, belt snugged, and only focused on ripping the weight off the face of the floor.  I had 280lbs in my hands over my neck, lowering the bar, and making its only objective to come back up or face otherwise.  There is only ever one focus.

     This world is full of everything from the bad luck, the accidental, the unfortunate, and the dreadful.  The small things build in the form of annoyances, turning into stress, adding to the tragedy we may call our lives and it's never ideal.

     The car you fixed came back broken down, your boss gave you shit for not making that sale, your teacher hated your thesis, your dog shit on the carpet, you package didn't get delivered on time, you woke up late and started your day off wrong, spouse is fighting with you, death in the family, missed a bill.  There's a lot in life we cannot control.

     Maybe an hour or maybe two hours there is complete control and clear objectives.  There is no failure because there is always success in even trying.  Everything is something to be proud of whether it be five more pounds to your max lift, another rep with a weight you've been working at, a faster mile run, another centimeter to your arms, that extra pound lost; there is no failure in even the smallest accomplishment regardless of me being the biggest or the baddest or not.

     It's a "lift life", a "swole life", the "fit life"; all the same.  Humans all have a desire to better themselves in one way or another and this has never let me down.  Everything I do is in my control whether it's moving a max weight, or making sure my inner traps come to meet my rear delts, it's all the same.  

     There's sweat, tears, and sometimes blood and pain, but there's is always an improvement and solitude.  There's always satisfaction in knowing that although sometimes I can't give my all, I came in and tried.  The shaking in my arms, the swelling in my legs, and the nagging shoe laces whipping against my ankles were a sign of something greater and reaffirm me of a feeling, a feeling nobody wouldn't want even if they tried to ignore it. 

  -Pq

What we learned at camp - Part 1

Although we are a little late in the game to start reporting our coverage, useful knowledge is something that doesn't age.  Back in February I was fortunate enough to attend the 2013 Universal Nutrition Bodybuilding Camp at Fit Gym in Philadelphia with my brother, father and a few other aspiring friends of mine eager to learn from the best.  The event included more swag than you can handle, free samples of their products, six stations with personal instruction from their athletes as well as a question and answer session for the price of $10 (I know right?)  Luckily we were able to attend and can pass the knowledge onto anyone who stumbles across this as it will be broken down into the sections we had encountered; chest, arms, legs, back, abs and shoulders.  In honor of my most recent workout I'm going to go over chest which was taught by Josh Halladay and bodybuilding legend Greg Long. 

Greg Long; don't worry he's still jacked.

We had twenty minutes and there was no time wasted.  Greg Long was a man who knew what he expected out of his athletes and was going to hold you to it ready or not.  The four of us were immediately seated on an incline hammer strength machine unloaded and told to press as fast and tight as possible for fourteen reps, then we got off and the next person went; each with the former Mr. Universe egging us on, no bullshit.  We rotated fast and after each set a 45lb plate was added to each side, and then another.  Why was this so?  During the mayhem we were put through Mr. Long taught us about varying intensity.  The poundage was light but the motion was fast and fierce with a longer amount of reps (14-16 range) to use our own explosiveness to engage differently than a slow repetition.  Without realizing it we also had incredibly short rest periods between sets with some in the 45 second range.  This was all crucial and led to a tempo that was not at your body's normal pace which wore it faster than waiting for conventional rest periods of a minute or longer.  He had also emphasized a training partner, which explains why he was right in our face the entire time.  Not only was somebody cheering us on but when our explosiveness died down a partner was there to spot but also force the repetitions to make the target goal with no exceptions. 

Josh Halladay

After we had spend a few minutes with Mr. Long we were given the Josh Halladay treatment.  After a volunteer was selected there was no questioning this big man telling you to get in a push-up position and put your feet on a bench.  Before we knew it we had a 45lb plate on our backs and were being barked at to pound out push-up after push-up until we kissed the ground.  You'd think the mercy was when he removed it but not a chance.  John was pushing on our backs, ignoring rep count and pushing us further and further.  We all kissed the ground a second time until his hand backed off and we kept going before collapsing and kissing the ground a final time.  After helping us up we realized the torture was a bit of a body weight drop-set.  Heavy presses can be fine and dandy but nothing beats ripping through push-ups at the end of a chest workout to throw it into muscular chaos; and that it did.

Tim getting the good ol' Halladay special.

What we took away was a bit of insight regarding how weight does not have to be the main factor and how much tempo can effect our efforts toward maximum hypertrophy.  Simply exchanging the heavy slow blows for fast, and sometimes forced if necessary, can make the difference between having a big chest and a chest well conditioned with striations to turn heads.

Don't just take this for granted with chest workouts, this can be applied to any spectrum of someone's workout routine as explosiveness is the new slow. 

Two final pieces of advice before parting to the next station was to utilize a training partner as much as possible and the realization that weight is a mindset.  While I typically train alone but after working with Mr. Long it was clear how effective a partner can be so long as they can keep up.  And with regards to the weight, it was almost irrelevant.  "It's not going to be the same workout every time.  What you did last week and how much weight you used might have worked last time but isn't going to be the same this time around."  While I admit that quote was paraphrased the importance lies in what your body is telling you from rep to rep, set to set, workout to workout and week to week.  It's about growing, adapting and making the necessary changes for your growth that makes you good at this sport rather than the quantity you can move.  Unless you want to be a power lifter... whatever floats your boat.

-Pq

Don't worry... they made up.  

This is a filler article before something bigger.... deal.

Well it's been quite a bit since we were able to post an article but Nick and I are still here.  Being full time students is wearing a bit thin but we're looking to launch an article of our coverage as we attend the 2013 Universal Nutrition Bodybuilding Camp in Philadelphia.  Yup.... it's a four hour session with hands-on training with a few Universal athletes such as Antoine Vaillant and Evan Centopani.  We're fully prepared to be emasculated my some of the biggest monsters in the game and hopefully strike a few poses as I will be attempting to prep for the Philadelphia Pro/Am in May.

We will return soon with dieting tips, a plethora of new training ideas from the pro's themselves and coverage of the event itself.

<3

-Pq