What? I have a blog?

Man, it's been a while.

But just like the last post mentioned, I have been getting back to what I love.

Not that I haven't been learning in that time as well, and getting some awesome people to do some awesome things in the process.

I recently had the pleasure of training a young hockey player who wanted to make some big gains before a camp that he had to attend at the middle of July. So, we had roughly 2 and a half months to really kick his ass.

He started with me at 168.5 and wanted to gain some size and strength on and off the ice. I got his baseline strength testing done (ridiculously heavy deadlift for an 18 year old - 300 pounds!) and then we got to the good stuff. We did many things over the course of those 2 months, but never really strayed too far away from the basic lifts, just put a different swing on things that would apply to his position as a defenseman.

During the last 2 weeks, we really worked on his speed and athleticism, and threw in a lot of sled work to boot.

Then the day came for testing. We got him on the scale. .. 168.5 lbs.

Hmmmm. But, I could care less about the weight on the scale as he is a delivery truck driver (with no ac) so he sweats out a ridiculous amount of water.

So, onto the measurements. He gained about 6 inches overall, through his chest, legs, arms, and across his shoulders. His strength and speed gains were phenomenal as well. Overall, I was very happy with the results, as was he... I love training athletes.

Now, soon we will be revealing my year long client who has made the most gains I have ever visibly seen someone make in a year. For those of you who have already seen the pictures, you know what I am talking about. This is going to be big, so keep your eyes peeled.

I'll try to keep the posts at around once a week, as I know my 5 readers were getting pretty antsy there for a while.

Getting back to the things I love.

I have been spending roughly 1 - 1.5 hours a night reading fitness related articles, e-books and anything related to moving our bodies. I absolutely love spending my free time reading about my profession, but I have realized in the last 2 years that I have kind of strayed away from a few of the things that I loved doing before my obsession with fitness. Now, I know a couple of trainers that spend ALL of their time reading, blogging and just literally spending their lives behind a computer. So I have vowed to get back to doing a few of the things that I have put on the back burner for way too long. (while still reading when I can)

1. Guitar - I sold all of my guitars when I moved to Hamilton 4 years ago, and since haven't bought another. I was thinking about picking one up a few years ago, but then I had my accident which left my fret hand pretty useless. It has been a couple of years now and I actually have most of the feeling back in that hand.. I just picked up a used Ovation guitar yesterday and was surprised how much knowledge I retained. It IS just like riding a bike.. . I even remembered a few solos I hadn't played in at least 4 years.

2. Volunteer work - The feeling I got from helping with the climb this year was amazing. It was an incredible event with an incredible turn-out, and I couldn't be happier with the results. I am going to spend some more time this year at various charitable events, giving my time out to whoever needs it.

3. More family time - My daughter just turned 2 last week, and it feels like just yesterday I was feeding her with a tube attached to my pinky finger. She is at the age now where we can pretty much do anything. I recently bought her a basketball net and she loves it, so we are going to be getting her into a few sports very shortly, to find out which ones she likes.

4. Basketball - I NEVER would have thought I would have stopped playing basketball.. From the time I was a little country boy I remember loving this sport. Now that I work nights, it is a bit harder to find some pick up ball to play. I saw a couple of guys playing last week when I was out for a morning run so I stopped by to see if they were out periodically and if they needed an extra man. Turns out they are out there every morning, so I am going to blow the dust off of my high tops and see if I've still got anything left. It's been about 2 years since I picked up a ball, but I am pretty damn excited to see if I can pick up where I left off.

I suggest that everyone does the same. Find some things you LOVE, that you have given up for whatever reason... and get back to them. It brings back a joy that not much else can match. I feel like a kid again. .. Mind you, a hairier, bitchier kid, but a kid nonetheless.

Is Bryan complaining AGAIN!? Yes.. yes he is.

Ok, this blog for me has now become a sort of venue that I can use to went my frustrations on to you, my readers. I know what all 3 of you are thinking. .. "Oh man, all he does is complain" Of course, you are partly right. Now, I would have no reason to complain if humans would just learn how to get up and move around!

This is what I got in my email today from a VERY popular nutritional website. Granted, it is only part of the email, but once I read this far, I just gave up.

"How did going to the gym become such a chore? Why is it so hard to actually want to go? After all, you're in a world of eye-watering odors, sweaty people frowning in concentration and rarely talking to each other, mind-numbing routine, blisters and heavy machinery, while clanging metal and bad music assault your ears.

Sounds more like a steel foundry than a gym. Heck, just take a look at the word: WORK-out. No room for fun there."

Come again?

Going to the gym has become a chore? WHY PEOPLE! Look at the benefits! I preach this to people every day, and then something like this comes out and sets our profession and our ideals back another 5 years.
This is not on the same page as going to the TERRIBLE gym's, but I still think that everyone should read a book I just finished called "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. What an incredibly motivating and inspiring story. In this book he talks about human evolution, and why we were, in essence, born to run. - Talk to me if you want a copy.
Here is a small excerpt from a chapter that I found incredibly fascinating.

“The brain is always scheming to reduce costs, get more for less, store energy and have it
ready for an emergency,” Bramble explained. “You’ve got this fancy machine, and it’s controlled
by a pilot who’s thinking, ‘Okay, how can I run this baby without using any fuel?’ You
and I know how good running (and exercise) feels because we’ve made a habit of it.” But lose the habit, and
the loudest voice in your ear is your ancient survival instinct urging you to relax. And there’s
the bitter irony: our fantastic endurance gave our brain the food it needed to grow, and now
our brain is undermining our endurance."

I have a perfect example of this. Today my daughter was dropped off at daycare. She has been having a cough for the last little while and we are controlling it with a puffer. I recieved a call from my daycare today at around 11:15, saying my daughter was going through a coughing fit and needed her inhaler, which was fine, but my girlfriend takes the car to work. I live downtown and my daycare provider lives on the mountain.
Now, I could have taken a cab, I could have seen if my dad was free to give me a lift, but that was not the fastest solution. I knew what I had to do, and I had to do it quick. I slipped on my Five Fingers and got ready to go. Now, I live by St. Joe's and the daycare is on Fennel and Upper Wentworth. There is another problem. Do you have any idea how many useless zig-zags are used to get up the mountain? Well, not when my daughter is having a coughing fit. I found another reason I love these shoes.. They are great for scaling escarpments. I flew up a few back trails I know about to get to Jolly Cut, then ran up the side of the mountain. These shoes are amazing. I have a few cuts and bruises, but I was at the daycare at 11:35. (Sorry to all the drivers who took their eyes off the road to see the weird guy climbing up the side of the escarpment.) The people at the daycare were amazed.
"You RAN?"
"Of course, it was the fastest way to get here."

I don't understand the mindset of people who don't want to push their bodies to the next level. I don't have times where I am training harder than others, I am constantly ready for anything that comes up, and I hope that's the way I stay.

Ok, that wasn't really venting, as much as it was a bunch of random thoughts. I need a longer attention spa. .. . HEY! A quarter!

I am now a barefoot runner.

This settles it. I used to be one of those people that would look at these early morning runners and think, "Seriously? .. Seriously?"

But now I AM one of them. I got up at 6:30 today, on a SUNDAY, and decided to test my shoes, or lack there of, down at the waterfront. What an incredible run. I hate to sound cliche, but it was exactly how other barefoot runners explain it. You can feel EVERYTHING under your feet, you run on the sand, you can feel it, same with the grass and pavement. I like that. I haven't run 5 km in a long time, mostly because I find running that far incredibly boring, but today I had to stop myself from running farther. I feel completely energized, and my feet feel amazing. It only took a week, but now my feet are calloused enough that it actually feels better to run on the pavement than to run on the grass.
I see much more barefoot running in my future, and in 6 months or so, I may even teach a class on it. I am in love with it. If any of the 5 people who read my blog have any ideas on running locations around the city, be sure to let me know. The waterfront was awesome, I actually made friendly with a couple of white swans who were eying my shoes. Not that kind of friendly..
I am going to try to get up early and run every morning, but a few things threw me off today.

It was mostly the other runners. No friendly faces, no acknowledging nods from runner to runner, they just seemed very cold. Maybe it's just that I am from a small town, and whenever you see ANYBODY walking back home down the street, you always say hello, no exceptions. I tried that when I moved out here.. . no dice. People looked like they wanted to hurt me, or looked terrified as if I was going to hurt them.
Maybe it's just me, but I seem to remember something of a runner's code among the early morning joggers, kind of like people riding motorcycles. Maybe that's just in my little fantasy world.. who knows.
Another thing this morning that was a bit off-putting was kind of what running has become. It is less about the activity, and more and more about personal style and type of clothing worn. Don't get me wrong, I own a lot of expensive running clothing as well, but it just looks as though most of the people this morning put more effort into their wardrobe and hair that into the actual sport. I was in a toque and an old college sweater this morning, and no one would give me the time of day. I guess it would have helped if I had worn shorts too.. .Oh well, live and learn.

So, as I sit here and drink my protein shake with 2 eggs in it (it was my first time trying it this morning, YAY salmonella!) I wonder if I am starting to become a runner again. . . This could very well be.. as I have had absolutely no knee pain of ankle pain since I have started with this no shoe nonsense. If anyone has any questions at all, or wants a little more information on barefoot running, or hell, if you even want to come with me (which a little bit of company at 7 am wouldn't hurt) let me know. I will glady help anyone else change the way they run forever as well.

- I am starting to become one with nature, watch out for me in the summer time, I will be the one with a full neck beard, hyper color t-shirt and hemp cargo shorts. .. playing guitar outside of Jackson Square, going on about the "man bringing me down."

Learning to read your body, and Barefoot running.

I hate going to bed earlier than midnight. I found out a few years ago that 7 hours of sleep is the perfect amount of sleep for me, and it usually works best from midnight to 7am, unless I have a night like last night and fall asleep at 11.. then I am up at 6, which I do not agree with.
Too many people put too much emphasis on a ridiculous amount of sleep every night, and are always exhausted. To counter this exhaustion, they get more sleep. I used to be one of these people. Sleep for 8-10 hours a night, wake up feeling terrible, and just promise myself I would get to bed earlier the next night.
If people would learn how to read their own bodies, I think we would get a lot farther in a lot of ways.
Another example, is with nutrition and exercise. If you have one of those trainers who gives you cookie cutter workouts, from Men's Health, or any magazine like that, you are just not getting anything specialized, or beneficial to you. I take the first couple of sessions to feel out my clients and see exactly what their deficiencies are, where they have noticeable weakness, and really work on those areas.
You need to do the same in the kitchen. If I took the exact same meal plan, and gave them to 2 clients, they wouldn't get the same results. Everyone is different. Some people are a bit more sensitive to carbs, others can metabolize carbs at an insane rate, so can handle a bit more.
People need to pay attention to what their body is telling them. It may take a while, but with some trial and error, you can turn your body into a fat burning, or muscle building machine, and you don't need to buy the latest supplements or magazines, or listen to what "Jason Statham" tells you you need to do to bring up your shoulders.

On a more "superhero" note, I purchased some new shoes earlier this week that I am starting to implement in my own training. They are called Vibram Five Fingers. They basically look like gloves, for your feet. There have been countless research studies based on barefoot training and the benefits. I will summarize it a bit here.

Conventional running shoes have been around for about 30-40 years or so. With so many to choose from, how re we going to know which ones are right for us? There are way too many people walking around with foot problems; drop foot, pronation, supination, low arches, just to name a few. Before my career as a trainer, I worked at Foot Locker for a couple of years while in college, and I saw more foot problems than I could imagine. We are trained how to take care of these people, but shoes are just not individualized enough for most.
That's where the Vibrams come in. They fit your foot perfectly, and mimic walking, or running barefoot.

Pay attention next time you are running on the treadmill to the points of impact when taking a step. Heel-toe, heel-toe, heel-toe. In the studies I read, the compression forces on the spine during the initial heel impact were quite significant as compared to the rest of the foot. Now, imagine how many times this happens during a 5 km run.
Now, try running a bit barefoot. Instinctively (for me anyway) the points of impact are ball of foot-heel, ball of foot-heel. In the graphs produced during the study, the force was almost half when the impact was absorbed through the ball of the foot. Wearing these toe shoes initially produces an overall "foot soreness" that I have never experienced before just going bearfoot. Your toes can actually grip things. The muscles were "tired." It is recommended tha you wear them a few hours a day for a few days before you attempt a run. This is my fourth day, and it just so happens I have some interval training due in about half an hour, so I am going to see how it goes. I did some running yesterday and was surprised at how it felt. I felt faster, and a bit more natural.
Granted, this type of running is not for everyone, but I have read many reviews on how it has solved many foot/knee problems, and here's to hoping it fixes me up a little bit.
I purchased my shoes from "New World Runners" in Burlington at Plains Rd East. The owner is a VERY knowledgeable marathon runner/former chiropractor who had just finished the around the bay race, and noticed more than a few runners with these shoes on. Stop by the store if you have any questions about anything running related, he definitely knows his stuff.

Ok, ok, I'll stop writing. Shouldn't have had that coffee this morning, caffeine gives me more energy than I'd ever need. I don't know how people drink this stuff every day, I feel like I could chase down an adult lion. Then wrestle him, then make him tap out.

WOO STIMULANTS!

New phase, new pains and IMPACT.

Where to start.. .where to start.

I am no longer going to be a fatty. I started my endurance phase last week, and so far, so good. I LOVE doing explosive lifts, so it's a nice change from the slow eccentrics that I have been doing for the last 2 months. This is the workout I have been doing for the last 2 weeks, and I am down 3 lbs already. If you are looking for an amazing anaerobic workout, look no further. But have a few mats ready, because you will want to lay down in between sets.

You are going to do 3 sets of an olympic/explosive lift and superset it with inclined treadmill sprints for 40 seconds. Doesn't sound too bad.. But you have to do all three sets with no break, and as fast as humanly possible.

So this is how it went for me yesterday.

Barbell Cleans - 115lbs for 12 reps.
Treadmill Sprints - 8.5 incline at 9mph for 40 seconds.
Repeat 3 times.

-Rest 3 minutes-

Barbell Jerks - 115lbs for 12 reps.
Treadmill Sprints - same.
Repeat 3 times.

-Rest-

Jump Chins with slow negatives - 15 reps.
Treadmill Sprints - up the incline to 9, same speed.
Repeat 3 times.

-Rest-

Full Body Explosive Push Ups - 15 reps.
Sprints - same.
Repeat 3 times.

-Rest-

High Box Step Ups - 10 reps on each side.
Sprints - bring speed up to 9.5mph.
Repeat 3 times.

-Rest-

And for the final set, I did 2 reps of each exercise then did a 30 second sprint at 10mph at 9 incline, for 3 sets.

It took roughly 55 minutes, and made me feel amazing. (after the white spots went away)

Which brings me to the new pains.. None of them joint related, which is amazing. But I am back to having everything hurt. I love that feeling. . . and I think there is something wrong with me because of it.

Lastly, one of my clients was away tonight, so Ernie asked me if I wanted to do IMPACT. I needed to get a workout in, so I thought it would be a good idea.. What a joke that was.. EASIEST thing I have ever done.

There, now that all the ladies think I am tough, it was a REALLY good workout. There were a few points after my sweat dripped into the astro-turf that I looked into the mirror and saw how red my face was. IT was good. I was really impressed how in shape everyone there was. Those ladies are very tough. And so was the one fella that kept me company. It was a really good workout, and even though it was a "core" day, I can feel it in my quads already.. What? There was a lot of jumping..


And Happy Birthday to my girlfriend Kristin! She will be 26, so I will officially be dating an older woman.

2010 so far.

Ok, so a few things have happened in my life so far in 2010 that I figure I would share with all 11 readers of my blog.

1. I have gained almost 20 pounds since Christmas. Now, that may seem like a lot, but you have to remember, I leaned out for my trip to N.B and was 164 at the break, feeling good, seeing some pretty good definition.. Now, at 181, I feel like this guy. "Get een maaa bellay!!" ----->
Even something as simple as chasing my daughter around the apartment gets tiring. I need to include some cardio in my workout sometime soon.

2. Warriordash.com is the single greatest thing I have ever seen in my life. It brings everything that I love to one place. Beer, meat, running, mud, fire, viking hats and good music and friendship. Check it out, Ernie was the one who sent it to me, and I am hoping he is going to go, but I will be there no matter what. And for anyone who is interested, shoot me an email and we can head up and kick some butt. bryan@allcanadianfitness.com.

3. I have finally decided on a new bike. No motorcylce this year, unfortunately just not in the cards, but a sweet bike will do me just fine this year. On kijiji I found an awesome deal on a 2009 Norco Atomik, pretty much the greatest machine on 2 wheels that I have ever seen.. I don't even think I need to pedal, it is going to be fueled on pure joy alone.

4. So far, 2010is gearing up to be the greatest year to date and I hope all of you are really enjoying life right now, making the right choices and staying fit.