No Complaining.....TGIM!!!

TGIM = Thank God It's Monday! That's right! Take a different approach to your week. While you may love your weekends when you get to relax and party, the week is when you are progressive and proactive and you push yourself to get better and achieve your goals. So do yourself a favor, embrace your hustle and stop complaining! Be happy you have an entire week to work on yourself. Along those lines, here is a little motivation for your gym grind. HAPPY MONDAY!

DO YOU

-SideMeat

Dream Team Plus!!!!

The US men's basketball team handled Spain pretty easily last night. Even though they were without Mark Gasol, Spain got trucked and I think Team USA was sending a message. 

Recently, the current team caused a bit of an uproar when they said they feel they could beat the 1992 Dream Team. Since the teams will never play, it is all speculation but, in my opinion, the 1992 team easily wins a 7 game series in somewhere between 4 and 6 games. 

If I had to bet on a number I would gamble on 5. The reason? ANYONE can when 1 game. As the announcers said last night, Spain and Argentina are dangerous because this tournament is single elimination. But, as far as who was the better team, it's not even close. Actually, if you look at the 2008 Olympic Team, they match up better with Dream Team due to having Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh (I can hear all the Bosh jokes now but Coach K even raved about his play at center in the Olympics and he is 6'11"!). With those two and Wade I give the 2008 team a much better chance to win 2 games in a 7 game series. 

My favorite question was: If you could take players from both teams (1992 and 2012) who would you take? Well, if I were to fill out the roster like an NBA roster (2 per position plus a last 2) here is the SideMeat super squad:

Centers: Ewing, Robinson - This is the easiest selection with Dwight Howard not being available. Even with Dwight I don't think I would select him over the other 2 even though he has slightly higher rebound numbers. His free throw shooting is so poor (49%)I would have to rule him out. 

Power Forwards: Malone, Barkley - Probably the next easiest selection. There no true power forwards on the current roster outside of Kevin Love. He is a great player and a "stretch" 4 but Malone and Barkley are all-time greats.

Small Forwards: James, Durant - Larry Bird is an all-time great, however, he was fresh off a back injury and was selected on name recognition. He did not make an All NBA Team that year (Mullin and Malone were first team, Pippen and Barkley were second, Kevin Willis and Dennis Rodman were third). Also, hse only played in 2 games the whole qualifying tournament because of the injury. While I know some people are cringing I would have to go with who I feel are the two best players in the NBA right now. Even Larry himself said these guys are good and atheletic. He actually said if he was playing today he would be "in trouble" in an interview. Just remember we are talking 1992 Bird vs 2012 Durant and James, not about Bird's overall body of work. Chris Mullin is better than people give him credit for and was coming off one the best seasons of his career (25.6 pts, 5.6 rbs, 3.5 ast, 54.4% FG%). However, he comes in 4th in my opinion beating out another all-time great, Scottie Pippen.  

Shooting Guards: Jordan, Bryant - This is actually very close in my opinion. Clyde Drexler was coming off his BEST SEASON EVER with 25 pts, 6.6 rbs, 6.7 ast, as opposed to Kobe's 27.9, 5.4, 4.6, and his aforementioned All NBA 1st Team selection. Overall nod goes to Kobe due to his defense and pure tenacity. 

Point Guards: Johnson, Paul - This was closer than you think and would have been a very tough choice. We hate on Stockton but he came off a 15.8 pts, 13ast, and 3 rbd season AND he led the league in steals...Paul was 19.8, 9, 3.5 and led the league in steals as well but had less than Stockton. However, Paul has to get the pick because of intensity and on ball defense. 

Last 2: Pippen, Drexler - Due to the versatility of the current line up, this had to go to guys who could play more than one position. With all of the forwards being good rebounders (8+ per game), I don't feel the need for a 3rd center. Lebron and Durant can both play power forward as well. Even though Deron, Stockton, and Russell are solid, I feel like you need to get a 2 or 3 who can play multiple positions. I considered Carmelo seriously (HE PUT IN WORK LAST NIGHT!) but, at the end of the day, I feel like Pippen and Drexler are the two best all-around guys remaining.

Starting 5: Johnson, Jordan, James, Barkley (this one was a toss up in my opinion but Barkley makes me laugh so I take him), Ewing (another close one)

As you can see, this is all very debatable but this would be "Team SideMeat". What do you think? Who would be your ultimate combo squad?

DO YOU 

-SideMeat

Today concentrate on doing you...

Try to think about what YOU want..... 

1) out of life..... 

2) out of today.....

3) out of your training.....

When you think about accomplishments, goals, where you are going and who you want to be it is very easy to see others, compare yourself and loose motivation. Try not to do that. Today, just as everyday, you should always start with one goal. To get a little better.....

DO YOU

-SideMeat

Monday Motivation

A little Monday motivation. I know all of you have a vision for something. From the time you hit the ground this Monday morning have only one goal: prove to yourself you are a Champion this week.....

DO YOU

-SideMeat

How to navigate the Hater's Ball in 2012

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that."—Mark Twain

Recently I have spoken with many of you who have started to try to make fitness a way of life. Unfortunately, it seems a lot of you have been met with not only a lack of support but actually discouragement from your friends and peers. I talked with a young lady a few days ago who told me that everyone in her office is making fun of her. Luckily, this particular person decided to use this as motivation to do even more to achieve her fitness goals! 

What you have to understand is that achievement of any kind makes those who are complacent in life uncomfortable. You have to remember this to avoid becoming one of life's daily drones that just go through the motions of living instead of pushing the envelope to see what life has to offer. This is true not only in fitness but in business, faith, and any other thing worth doing. That is another reason I love training, the lessons are transcendent! 

Another thing to think about is that majority of the time, if you are doing something positive and improving, you will always have some haters! I will paraphrase comedian Kat Williams: Having haters is a good thing. The more haters you have the better you are doing! For some reason, it is almost excluded from the genetic make up of most people to appreciate the accomplishments of those we feel are on  our "level". Maybe we feel left behind? Maybe it points out some insecurity in ourselves? Who knows? All I know is that it seems to be true. That "gene" if you will is one thing that good trainers, teachers, and coaches have that I truly admore. When your life's passion is help others achieve and exceed you are truly an anomaly and an amazing person!

So what do you do to get past this? Well, I won't say that you should totally agree with Mr.Twain and say you should avoid them as, unfortunately, they are often times friends, family, and co-workers. What I will recommend is that you seek out those who are supportive in your goals. Spend time with them, talk with them about your goals and be supportive of them in return! Secondly, use your haters as fuel. Just like the lady in the first paragraph, every time you get a new neigh-sayer make it even more of a reason to DO YOU. You are the only person who can stop you. It doesn't matter what anyone else says. Hell, it doesn't matter what they think either, because, deep down in side, they really wish they had the drive to do them as much as you... 

DO YOU

-SideMeat

I just grew some new shoulder meat...

I had a great second workout today so I wanted to share it with everyone. If you are looking to hit every fiber of muscle in your shoulders this is bound to get it done! I ran through four giant sets (a giant set is three or more exercises in a row) doing three sets of each. When doing this, jeep the initial weight moderate and take minimal rest between sets. When switching from one giant set to the next only take long enough to set up your next three exercises and then get it going again! If you are ready to do work, here you go:

Giant Set 1:
    -Hammer Strength Iso Lateral Rear Shoulder Press 15, 12, 10 (increase weight)
    -Bent Over Rear Delt Fly 10, 10, 10 (maintain or increase)
    -Incline Rear Delt Raise (arms to front in "Y" shape) 10, 10, 10 (maintain or increase)

Giant Set 2:
    -Dumbbell Shoulder Press (bench at 90 degrees), 12, 12, 10 (increase weight)
    -Dumbbell Lateral Raise 10, 10, 10 (maintain or increase)
    -Wide Grip Cable Upright Row 10, 10, 10 (maintain or increase), pause at the top

Giant Set 3:
    -Hammer Strength Shoulder Press 15, 12, 10 (increase weight)
    -Underhanded Cable Front Raise (cable between the legs) 10, 10, 10 (maintain or increase)
    -Alternating Dumbbell Front Raise 10, 10, 8 (maintain or increase)

Giant Set 4:
    - Dumbbell Shrugs 10, 10, 10
    - Barbell Shrugs (overhand grip) 10, 10, 10
    - Cable Shrugs (face away from the cable, shrug to your rear) 10, 10, 10

I did hit a few supersets for the calves afterwards but this alone was a blast! I think I could see every vein and every muscle in my shoulders when I was done! Please try this at home and let us know what you think! Enjoy the weekend and find yourself some time to ENJOY some training as well! Every time you make YOU better it should be a great time!

DO YOU

-SideMeat

Dumbbell Cardio! DO WORK!

I am gonna double it up this Friday! In addition to my afternoon weight training session I did a bodyweight/dumbbell circuit this morning. I used a 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off split and 10 exercises. I ran through the entire circuit twice, got my heart rate up and it felt great!

Now I know what some of you are thinking: Cardio with dumbbells? It is a common misconception that cardio has to consist of running, biking or many other forms of exercise that many of us consider tedious. That is not true! Cardio is anything that gets your heart rate up! When done correctly, weight training can get your heart rate up and burn more calories than other forms of training! 

Here is the workout I just finished doing. What do you need? Some floor space, a couple of sets of dumbbells, and a mat if you feel so inclined. THAT'S IT! Give this one a try and let me know what you think. 

1) 1-Arm Dumbbell Snatch Left Arm

2) 1-Arm Dumbbell Snatch Right Arm

3) Dumbbell or Bodyweight Squats

4) Push-up Variation

5) 1-Arm Dumbbell Row, Left Arm

6) 1-Arm Dumbbell Row, Right Arm

7) Dumbbell Swings

8) Dumbbell "Shoulder T" (Front Raise then take the dumbbells to the side, lower, side raise, bring to front, lower, repeat)

9) Dumbbell Split Squat, Left Leg Forward

10) Dumbbell Split Squat, Right Leg Forward

11) Stiff-legged Dumbbell Deadlfts

12) Crunch Variation of Choice

13) Reverse Crunch Variation of Choice

14) Side Crunch Left Side

15) Side Crunch Right Side

16) Dumbbell Russian Twist

17) Prone Cobras

18) Plank Variation of Choice

19) Side Plank Left

20) Side Plank Right

Try to do the same number of repetitions with each side on the unilateral exercises even if it means stopping a second early or going a second late on the second side. As far as weight to use, it depends on your strength, conditioning and overall purpose. I try to keep it light when I do these workouts as I know I have a heavy training session this evening. If you want to use this as a part of your strength training work you can very heavy on some of the movements. Typically, I keep the dumbbells under 50lbs. 

There you have it. I hope you enjoy. Can you get two training sessions in today? Here is one you can do in 20 minutes! 

DO YOU

-SideMeat