You admirin them Legs?

I came here with a few set goals in mind. SO far a majority of those goals are on track.  One of them I have yet to start. I wanted to really work on my running. I've struggled with distance running my whole career. Mentally and physically I just hate it. I get into the run and within 30 seconds I start thinking to myself " there is so much more shit I should be doing then this right now:" lol    SO I figured when i got here I'd have the time to focus on my running. Well its too goddamn hot lol. I have ran 1 time in the last 1.5 months. So far Fail.  But now the sun has been going down about 6:15 at night and the temps are dipping in the low 90's so its nice and cool out lol.

Another goal was to bring my legs up more. Genetically I just can't get my outter quad sweep to really pop. I have to say the last 3 weeks My leg workers have gotten better and better. TO the point of the good ole days, of hobbling around etc.  I even got a little big boy weight today  425 for reps on the hammer strength hack squat. I really like this machine, it allows me to go real y deep below parallel hitting the hamstrings, glutes, and hips.

Im busier than a 1 legged man in an ass kicking contest at work so I have nothing fun to post this week. I have several rants, but they are mainly political and have to do with budgets Military crap and all that fun stuff.

I do think i will try incorporating swimming into my routine this week.  I also have some great articles are carbs and fat intake that Ill post later this week.

One last thing. 40% off all App Nut products

The New Peach Tea LIT up is dominating on the market right now.  Im shocked so many folks like Peach tea. Im not a fan, but I leave eating peaches.  Weird right.

Anyway  Hit up  www.appnut.com  and enter the code Banaszek40  and take 40% off your order, Unlimited use.

Feeling Good, Leg day always brings a smile.

Pretty productive week. I've been battling the wrist injury after landing on it and 3 people landing on me during a football game. I can barely bend it, hell I can't hit a volleyball back over the net. So all my presses have been with hammerstrength machines and tightly wrapped wrist wraps. 

My first 4 weeks of DCP has been completed. Its a great non-stim fat burner. Only downside is the ingredient in it makes you hold water like a PMS'ing woman. So when you come off you shed it like a migrant farm worker. The first 2 nights I think I got up to piss every hr full pisses. It took 2 days to put 2 and 2 together, Im happy with the run, I was going to extend it to 8 weeks but Im going to save this last bottle for about 1.5 months before I leave here.

So does anyone ( Male that is) use the leg abductor and adductor machine in the gym?  You know the machine, that everyone loves to watch the girls workout on?  I get bert stared everytime I use it. I think it truly has its place in your leg workout. Most will argue that it doesn,t those are also the same clowns that have compensation issues.  I like them for the focus on hips and inner thighs to add some depth to the leg.  Its a great addition at the end of any leg workout and I've noticed that it has helped rid me of ITB pain that started to come on last yr.    Give her a shot, if anything else maybe a good lookin chick will sit on the machine next to you :D

Dynamic Tension, Holding that last rep to increase the shape.

I've read a lot of fitness literature in the last decade. I've seen a dozen and tried a dozen different workouts. In every workout that i've tried that has been one constant. That is Dynamic Tension, or holding that last contraction as tight as you can for as long as you can. It's these little tiny details that really add shape, and depth to the muscle and can benefit anyone in any age shape or sex. For women who are trying to tone to those who want to step on stage, you will often hear those who compete that they still see increases in size and shape of their muscles when they practice posing.   When you hold that last rep and squeeze as hard as you can you create occlusion or cutting off the blood flow to the muscle cell. What this does is increase demand on the sarcoplasm. Sarcoplasm is the liquid glucose in the muscle cells that contain all the goodies, its the energy of the cell, and its just one more component of the muscle cell that you be exerted and effect the strength size an shape of a muscle.  Often you see many routines will do static holds,  slower reps etc.  This is all to create occlusion. I do recall reading some time back about a japanese study that showed increase muscle size with occlusion training. However if I recall they were putting a cuff on the lug and cutting off the blood flow while doing leg extensions. This causes a cascade of hormone reactions in the cells.  I also think it was debunked sometime later. I have to find the study.

What I have been doing the last week is after I am finished with my workout, I find the last isolation exercise i.e  Leg extension, Leg curl, Bicep machine curl etc. and I will do 5 sets of contraction holds.  i will take a weight about 50 to 60% of my 1 rep max, do 4 reps and on the 5th rep hold the contractions.  Most research I have seen says to hold it 30 seconds or longer to get the effect.  Today after legs I did this on Leg extensions and Leg curls,   I had one of the best pumps of the week in my quads and it felt great. Women can benefit from this as well. especially if your looking to tone, drop fat and want to shape up the muscle without adding to much bulk.  Hold that last rep for 30-45 secs   rest  and do that a few more times when finishing each body part. Results should start to show over time.

as with everything in Bodybuilding, nothing happens over night. Be patient and keep hitting the iron.

What Motivates you? Where do you get your drive from?

Everyone has those days, just before they go to the gym where they just do not want to go. They have no motivation, maybe your tired, work sucks, the wife/gf or both suck :D What do you do to get passed that? Do you say F' it and not go or what? Maybe its a larger goal in life that gives you the drive. My motivation has changed a dozen times in the last decade, from football, to chasing tail, to trying to impress my wife, to stepping on stage and everywhere in between. When I first started out it was merely to attract the shallow women who only cared about looks. After all that is pretty my college life right there lol. When I started playing semi pro football, the motivation was to not have my ass served to me on a platter. Those were pretty much the driving force behind my obsession for many years. Ass and football, typical guy but I loved it. Well I havent chased ass in I can't tell you how long. My last football game was the end of 2007 so I had to find new goals and new motivation. As my family grew it became about them, to reverse aging, stay around as long as possible and to keep my wife interested, oh yeah and to beat the shit out of military douchebags who thought it was cool to come around whenever I had to leave on assignment. 

When Arianna was born I kind of flipped the switch back to being big and scary but then I realized at age 60 when i finally let her date I will be too old to do anything anyway. I still try to impress my wife but hell who am I kidding she doesn't give 2 shits what i look like lol. She cares even less about bodybuilding and fitness which brings it's own host of issues. Sure its a plus that she isn't shallow and loves me for me, but hell i kill myself in the gym recognize woman, recognize already. I know there are women out there with fat out of shape hubbys and b/f's that envy you so recognize.

So what do I do when the motivation I use does not care a thing in the world about my passion. I resort back to the old faithful.  My Idol the Arnold. He has the identical body I longed desired for but will never achieve. He wasnt like the juiced up growth hormone unaesthetic freaks of today. Hell is legs where tiny as hell by todays judging standards, but he was a master at the pose and I strive to be close. So i read a mag, crank up the tunes and think one day I too may step on stage at a local show just to say i made it.

Whats your motivation