Wednesday, November 11, 2015

You maintain your car and your home, how about you?




I've pondered on this one for a while.  This week I told people to give me ideas on what they wanted to hear.  You guys sure did come up with some good ones.  I thought and thought on how I could put it all together.  After getting some body snapping done, my Doc told me something that sparked my thought for this.  He said, "Hey just some simple maintenance, your in and out.  You change the oil on your car don't you? Gotta keep that body maintenance up."  I was walking out and my brain went... ding ding ding!



We all do the maintenance on our cars.  We get the oil changed, check the air filter, get a tune up and so on.  We try to keep our yards clean, trimmed and maintained.  We paint our homes when needed, OK - I've been putting that off lol.  We change our air filters on our hvac units.  You get where I'm going with this.  Here is the difference though.  With a house or a car, if you start to not like it or it gets run down, or shit you just want a new one you can trade it in or sell it and get another.  With our bodies we do not have that luxury.  

Now lets look at our bodies like one of these items.  Why not put the little time into keeping ourselves up?

I'm talking about EVERYONE!

Those of you that don't workout or have any kind of physical activity, guess what?  Working out or being active is part of that maintenance.  It would be like letting your car sit for a year, hopping in it and thinking it was going to run great.  Shit it probably wouldn't even start.  What else do we need to look at?  The fuel.  What kind of crap are you putting into your fuel system? You know, that crap you stuff into your mouth.  Also known as that flapper between your chin, or chins for some of you,  and your nose.  Quality fuel equals good performance.



Alright, now back to what my doc was talking about.  Keeping ourselves limber, moving, sliding, and aligned, in my opinion, is a DAMN GOOD idea. For those of us that train, and beat that shit out of ourselves on a daily basis, it is mandatory.  Day to day activities, sitting, bending over, driving, etc. add up over time.  Personally, I like my body to feel like it's moving as it should and when it gets out of whack I sure know it.  Taking care of it through chiropractic and massage before it's out of whack is part of my body maintenance that needs to be kept up on.  I value myself, my body above the car I drive around.  Yes the car needs to be maintained, but my body is priority numero uno.  It's going to be with me until i die. I don't get to trade it in or sell it and get another one.  Wrap your mind around that for a bit.

Think about that shit.




Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Eternia Athletics Foundation... WHAT?


It's Tuesday! From now on out, every Monday I am going to rack my brain, or take suggestions, on what I should write about on the blog for the week.  This weeks blog for me was an easy no brainer.  Since the day we sprouted the idea of Eternia, we have always wanted to be able to reach out and help spread what we love with today's youth.  As of Monday, our site for Eternia Athletics Foundation is up and running.  I thought this week I would go over a few things I'm sure everyone is wondering about and what this is all about.  Here are some questions we have been getting.

What is Eternia Athletics Foundation?
Eternia Athletics Foundation is a non-profit 501(c).  Our goal is to be able to reach as many at risk, under-served, or unknowing youth and being able to provide them with access to the highest level of fitness, nutrition and guidance that we can.  Through weight training, team building, conditioning, nutritional knowledge, and mentoring we hope to be able to reach as many youth to young adults we can.   With today's average of 1 out of 3 children testing at overweight to obese, and growing, something needs to be done.

What programs are you offering?
To start, we will be running a summer kids camp ages 6-14.  This camp was ran last year and we had a great outcome.  We want to be able to offer this to more children and young teens.  This is the age to get them started.  Wether this is to help them with the sports they play, or wether it is to get them active they will have a great time.  Agility, coordination, endurance, strength, speed, injury prevention, team building, self esteem through goal setting and accomplishment, nutritional knowledge are just a few of the things we will be working on with them over the summer.

Next is our age 15-18 in season/off season training program.  With this program we look to help each individual student athlete reach there full potential.  We are dedicated to equal opportunity for all student athletes no matter the sport or ability.  We strive to make each student the best they can be both mentally and physically.  We will follow the Three D's.  Determination, Dedication, and Discipline in our program.  All of these are as important as the other in our program.  Our program focuses on 3 dimensional, multi joint movements with various Olympic lifts and Power lifts with an emphasis on injury prevention.  Each program will focus on the individuals needs directed to there sport.

In the works-
Junior Powerlifting Team-
What if you are a student that doesn't play a sport, or maybe you do but are interested in another.  Powerlifting can be done by anyone.  Athletic, not athletic, quiet, shy, you name it. Powerlifting is for everyone.  Juniors to seniors compete in the sport of powerlifting.  There are plenty of today's youth that are in need of fitness, strength, guidance, mentoring, team building, and general direction.  Through the sport of powerlifting we are able to offer that for these students that otherwise would not have this opportunity.  The things they will learn at Eternia and through the Foundation will carry into there daily lives for the rest of there life.  We plan to offer this locally as well as through online coaching and programming.

Fit Mothers program-
For those expecting moms to keep active as well as new moms to be getting back in shape, this program will be geared directly towards them.  Daycare on site for this program, so moms can breathe easy while their little one is being watched and well taken care of while they are getting back into shape.  Striving to pass on and help start new lives with fitness and nutrition in mind.

How can you help?
First and easiest way to help is to spread the word!  Even if you can't help through monetary means you can easily help online and in the community spreading the word of what we are working on and hope to achieve.

We have set up several ways to help though online means as well.  A super easy one is through Amazon Smile.  We all shop through there and this is super simple.  Follow the link on the site, click a few buttons and it will automatically just set it up for you.  Every time you shop through your Amazon account they will donate .5% to Eternia Athletics Foundation.

If you are looking to donate time, or other items there is also a area under the donate button for you to contact us through there.

Also under the donate button two other payment options to donate.  Anything helps, and tax deductible.

We are also actively seeking partners to align ourselves with to help support our mission.  If you are a business that would like to get involved, head over to the partner section of the site and fill that out with how you would like to be involved.


This has been a vision of ours from the beginning.  Check us out, and please share in our mission.

Here is the link to the site, thank you!
www.eterniaathletics.org

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/eterniaathleticsfoundation/?ref=hl


Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Shitbit....I mean FitBit


Well well well.  It's been a few weeks since you have heard from me.  I know that you have just been sitting there hitting refresh waiting for something new to pop up.  Well, you sob's are in luck.  I stewed on it for a while and just couldn't help myself.

It all started the other day when I for some reason caught somebody throwing away a Micky D's bag away in the trash while forcefully stuffing there face with the last fries they had, finishing it off with a gulp of there soda.  None of this was out of the norm by any means but then I caught a glance as they looked at there wrist, checking that sweet shitbit device looking ever so elegant on there wrist.  This got me thinking about a few things.

1- Do those damn things even work?
2- Sure seems to be going about it a little backwards.

Let's get into it.  First off I'm not here to say that these Fitbits don't have there merit.  They have caught on rather well, don't look horrible, and do seem to get people moving to some degree.  So, I can't say that's not great.  What I am here to say are a few other things.  After looking in and doing hours on hours of research on the subject, guess what I found.  Well, you could have been getting better results with that new fangled smart phone that you already have, than shelling out the loot for that contraption you have on your wrist.  University Of Pennsylvania did a study on 14 different phones/apps that track the same thing as the pretty little thing you shelled the loot out for.  Guess what, your smart phone actually does a better job.  Studies showed a 22 % variance in the range and step counts on your Fitbit, where there was only 6% on your phone.  Now this study was basically just steps and walking, so it doesn't get into the fact that I'm sure the Fitbit would be easier for more intense working out.  I'm sure if the numbers were ran on what these get used for the most though, it's going to come back mostly for general activity.



This also got me to thinking about what these are really used for.  Generally people wear these to see how many steps or cal they burned while moving through the day to justify their shitty diet.  I've got a news flash for you.  If you think that getting a few extra steps in each day, while not eating better, is going to make any kind of measurable difference you are sadly mistaken.  If it sparks you to get active -- awesome.. but just use your damn phone.  Let's stop looking at this as rocket science.  Eat better and get physical activity in every day.  That's it.  That's what it takes.  If you need something to keep you accountable, find someone, a person for gods sake.  This whole world has started to rely on the techy shit way to much.  Find yourself somebody that will hold you accountable.  Shit better yet find somebody to help you with being accountable, working out, and what goes in your mouth.  That's the kinda shit that makes changes, real changes.

I'll close it out with this.  I do believe the idea is good.  That it gets people actively thinking about moving. Just save your money and use that fancy phone of yours.
But, I believe most that buy these things are wanting to get moving to loose a few lbs, not just because they feel like they don't move enough and are happy with there current body image. Studies show that 1/3 of these people will stop wearing this devise completely in the next 6 months, and that number goes well higher after that.   To make real change, the change you really want to see, it's going to take a bit more than focusing on how many steps you took that day.  It's a step in the right direction, but far from where you need to be going.  Now, this may sound rough, but I'd be more inclined to track what and how much of what was in your hand when that Fitbit got close to your mouth. And I'm out.



Monday, October 19, 2015

Take away from bodybuilding/figure show




So this weekend the wife and I got a chance to take a quick drive up to Seven Feathers Casino in Canyonville, Oregon to cheer on one of our own.  Nick Tatom, a trainer at our gym, had a physique competition up there this weekend.  This is the second show we have been to to cheer him on and get the chance to take it all in.  Was great to see some other people up there that I know personally or just from online and get to see them do so well.  This blog I just wanted to give my take away on these events.

1.  These competitors in all divisions deserve a round of applause.  All of them.  For 1 -  I would be nervous as hell to get up there and get picked apart by everyone.  For 2 - the time, dedication and hard work that goes into this shit is amazing.  Blows me away every time.

2.  The people walking around these shows, just makes you want to pack on some damn muscle.  There is equally if not more jacked people, male and female running around spectating.  It's a great environment for some motivation.  You look around like, shit! Looks like bulking season has begun.  Let's do this.

3.  There are tons of categories at these shows.  Personally my favorite is the bodybuilding class, male and female.  It's awesome to see what the human body can achieve when pushed to it's limits.  I'm looking forward to taking in a big pro show in the future.





I don't know a shit ton about this sport, although I trained that way for a long part of my life never having the dedication or balls to take it to the stage.  What I do know is it's pretty damn fun to watch and I appreciate everyone that gets up there's hard ass work.

What I am starting to see is a lot of these bodybuilders, bikini, and figure competitors using powerlifting in combination with there other training and putting together some awesome packages on stage.  Just food for thought for all you competitors out there.  Getting strong as shit, packing on some meat, and limiting how much mindless cardio you need to do.. sounds pretty good to me.




Thursday, October 15, 2015

Why is soccer training stuck in the past?




Well hello there friends.  This is a topic I have been really wanting to write about for a while now.  I have had the opportunity to take in some great soccer spectating over the years.  To be honest I was never really a fan until I actually got into watching it.  I will say this before we even go any further.  I've never been a soccer player or coached a soccer team.  I have been in and around sports all of my life though and they do have allot of the same characteristics.  What I do know something about is training, so that's what we will talk about. 

Now, it's funny....
I can sit and watch a game and tell you in the first 5 min who is going to win generally, unless it's a good match up.  For some reason, more often then not, one team will be more dominant.  One team is quicker, faster, and more aggressive.  The other team generally is chasing them around hoping to get the ball and make some miraculous play that may or may not happen. I'm going to let you in a little known secret of what wins games.  Getting that dam ball in the net.  To get that ball and to be able to get it in the net you best be quick.  Speed and quickness is what that takes.  If you are being beat to the ball every time, then guess who has the ball... you guessed it, NOT YOU.  OK let's say you get to the ball at the same time, who gets that ball?  Not shy little Sally over here being afraid cause she's so frail from all the miles she's been pounding down to "stay in soccer shape".  You know who gets that ball every time? Bad-ass Brenda, who's aggressive, fast, powerful and ready to dominate the hell out of Sally, that's who.  You can pile your team of frail distance runners up around the goal all you want to try to defend but an aggressive quick team will get through that shit.  Guess where that leaves you anyways, 0 points on the board.  Yay, you become the team that the "best you can do is tie".  Who in the hell shows up to play to tie?  Losers, that's who.  

OK, now that we got the easy play by play and obvious stuff out of the way, lets look at what needs to change in my mind.  

1) Soccer is a fucking contact sport.  Anybody that thinks different needs to open there eyes, wake up and quit being a shit-wit.  Soccer is a constant fight for a round ball between two teams that want to battle to get said ball into a goal.  

2) Not getting into different positions of all players, I mean we could get down to how we could train each position different, but that's for another post lol.  Soccer is a game of movement.  We have standing, jogging, running, sprinting, jumping, kicking, throwing.. you get it.  Soccer is not cross country running.  I've seen the training going on and watched what the outcome of that training is on the field.  There needs to be a new way of thinking.  

3) Soccer players need to be trained more like contact sports athletes.  Take a look at how rugby players train.  How fast they are, strong, explosive, oh and they run for basically the same amount of time.  I'm not saying get rid of the long distance stuff, they need that too.  Just don't need that every single day.  Quit shunning squatting, dead lifting, and pressing.  Athletes need to get strong.  Strong explosive athletes, are the fastest athletes.  FAST WINS, SLOW LOSES.  BOTTOM LINE!! 

So there we have it.
Now for all you soccer parents out there - Get them training, get them strong, get them fast, get them explosive.  The benefit to them will be that they will be all around better players.  Benefit to you is they will have less chance of injury out there on the field.  Win Win.  Sounds like a pretty novel idea to me.  






Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Positive Vibes





Well here we are pushing into the middle of the week-ish.  We have some heavy ass squats for us coming over the next few days depending on our training day layout out here.  I've got 3 different blog posts going right now that I'm writing but I stopped those to bring this quick little post.

All over the the internets, the youtubes, the books of face, the twitters... generally anywhere out there on the line in the "fintess industry" all I see is allot of negativity.  So many posts, just about how people are mad at somebody, or somebody is doing something that they feel in there opinion is wrong, or the world is against them or they don't think somebody should be doing something they are doing because they don't know anything.  How about this, try to post something positive.  I'd much rather contact somebody for information or even just converse with someone that has a positive attitude and doesn't need to put others down or talk shit to try to get business.

Hey it's just my opinion, I'm a nobody that knows nobody and knows very little. But what I do know I'm happy to share.  Now back to focusing on these heavy ass squats coming up.  Positive mental state... check!


Wednesday, October 7, 2015

So you wanna be jacked?


I'm writing this as hope that maybe you will watch the video below and take it in.  Most of us do enjoy to have a few drinks here and there, or stuffing our face with some donuts.  On occasion, not a horrible thing.  But, if you are going to the gym day in day out, but not seeing the progress you had hoped maybe it's time to take a look at the outside factors.

What outside factors do I speak of?  I am talking about diet and recovery/sleep.  I'm not talking about what diet or eating style is best.  There are 100's of ways to eat to help make your goals attainable.  What I am talking about here is eating like complete shit, drinking, and sleeping like crap.  These all play a role on one another.  Eating like shit is pretty much obvious.  If you can't figure out that what you put in your body has an affect on how you look...you might need to seek help.  Now lets get into the drinking and sleeping.  I'm including a video at the bottom, that explains hopefully in easy to understand terms the metabolic process of alcohol in the body.  Also, if you think that you are sleeping good because you are passing out from your drinks.  Not so much there either.  


I'll close this out with this.  If you contstantly are looking for the new thing that's going to get your ripped, saying the only way you can get cut or gain muscle is by using steroids, but you can't clean up your diet, eat well, and stop drinking... you might need to take a long hard look at the mirror and see where the problem really lies.  It's really simple.  Eat good most of the time, cut out the booze, and lift heavy shit. Done deal. 

Monday, October 5, 2015

The Biggest Loser Mentality



Good morning Eternians near and far.  Today I wanted to touch on a quick subject that I like to call the "Biggest Loser Mentality".  Now I'll start by saying I am not a doctor or anything close to the sort, so take my ramblings for what they are.

It pretty funny when I think about it, but not on the other hand.  Someone will start on a nutrition program, generally just cleaning up there shitty diet.  First week you always see a good drop in weight (5-8 lbs) once they start to actually drink some water and eat some "healthier" foods.  Beginning week two can continue with a higher number then tapering down to the 1-4 lb per week mark.  Generally speaking a drop of 1-3 lbs per week is the sweet spot.  It could be a few more here and there depending on how much you have to loose as well as other factors.  

This is where we get into this crash diet or Biggest Loser mentality.  Generally its one or the other.

Crash diet- 
It's always hey I have a vacation or event coming up and I need to lose x amount of weight.  That would be the quickest way for me to not work with you.  My first thought when I here that comment is, what a shitwit.  Why can't they just get it.  Grasp the concept that the way you are eating is making you fat. You can't just diet for a month and loose it, come back fatter than when you left, then continue to get fatter when you back and try to crash diet again.  You are wrecking havoc on your hormones and your metabolism.  Now, if you were to get your shit together.  Start eating right and continue with that getting yourself down to a healthy weight and maintaining that with a good diet and exercise, you could go on vacation whenever and be looking how you want.  You could control yourself when on vacation with some splurges here and there without a major affect to your weight or health.  Instead you choose to eat like shit and not take care of yourself for the whole year besides one month where you actually think you are be healthy but you are probably more than likely starving yourself.  

Biggest Loser-
"Well I was just hoping for more".   This comment right here.  Steam generally starts to roll.  This comes from what I call the "Biggest Loser" mentality.  You watch these shows where these people loose double digit weights for weeks on end.  There are plenty of articles written by former contestants going over the wild shit that goes on at the "ranch".  Here are a few examples 

* Workouts from 4-6 hours 
* Intake daily of less than 1K calories 

We are looking for a sustainable weight loss.  Take a quick google search of how many Biggest Loser contestants kept that weight off.  It's not pretty.  

If I told you, over the next year you could loose around 100lbs if you cleaned up the shit you eat and worked out 4 days a week. Wouldn't you think that sounded great?  That's roughly 2 lbs a week weight loss.  So, the next time you weigh yourself to see what you lost for the week.... don't be a shitwit.




Saturday, September 19, 2015

3 reason why food challenges are stupid


Been seeing so many posts on the line about these "food challenges".  For anybody that doesn't know these are generally 30 day challenges of some kind of "healthy" eating.  I'm not trying to say getting people to eat healthy foods isn't awesome.  Just getting people to eat this way for 30 days is stupid.  Here are my 3 main reasons for despising food challenges.

1.  Generally these challenges are done by some sort of gym or group of people.  Little do they know that whoever is putting this together is making a cut of the money they are paying and pretty much doing nothing for it besides saying they are "doing it with you".

2.  The yo-yo.  Awesome you show somebody they eat this way for 30 days and maybe they drop a few lbs. Could be upwards of 10 pounds depending on how shitty they ate before.  Generally all water they drop and maybe a pound or 2 of fat if that.  The first thing these challengers do after the 30 days is go hammer down as much shit as possible they missed out on during the 30 days.  Then it's right back to there shit diet after that and guess what the pounds go back on.  Then lo and behold another challenge comes up and they are right there on it again.  Up and down up and down.  This shit wrecks havoc on your hormones and your metabolism.

3. Thirty days is not enough time or commitment to make an actual change in someones eating patterns.  In the eyes of the challenger it's to just get through 30 days.  These challenges in my mind do more harm than good.

Why not get someone to commit to 90 days.  From my experience 3 months is an adequate time frame to make an actual change in someones diet, daily routine, life and mind frame. Find someone that actually knows something about nutrition, how much you need to be eating and of what and let them guide you and hold you accountable. Every person is different, has different goals and needs different things.

Yes, yes I know all you out there that are furious reading this, there can be some good to come out of these type of things.  All in all, in my opinion for the few that may benefit from these there are way more that do more harm than good.

There you have it.  My take on these stupid ass food challenges .



Thursday, September 17, 2015

The Grind




Over the last week or so I have really thought about what I would write about next.  There were a lot of things that came to mind, but top on my list was what I really think makes the difference in training.  I'm not talking about nutrition, and even though I 100% believe that Westside is the best side, there is one thing that is at the top of my list.  This one thing separates good from great.  Attitude. mindset and the ability to, what we call, love the grind.

I believe there are 2 types of mindsets.  One is a fixed mindset.  A person with a fixed mindset is someone that tells them self they are no good at something and no matter what they do that it will never get better.  This is also the person that when you try to help them and coach them, they have an excuse.  Excuses like, well I've never been good at the squat, or I've never been fast off the floor on my dead lift. In there mind no matter what they do or how much the work, they will never get any better.  Bring in the "Growth Mindset".  People with this mindset know that the more work they put in the better at something they can get.  They don't let limitations of not being good at something or something not coming easy to them stop them from getting better.  People with a growth mindset, can learn to love the grind.  Now looking at those two, you should be able to pick out which one is you.  You should really strive to be a growth mindset and if you aren't, guess what?  You can be!  All you have to do is stop living inside your little box.  Use the power of your own mind to learn to push.  

Now that we have that out of the way and you can see if you are a fixed or growth type we can move on.  Let's get into what the grind is.  The grind, or grinding is not giving up.   Not allowing yourself to say, that's enough.  You must learn to push yourself harder and longer than the average person does.  When they say that's good, you say nope and press forward.  When they want to quit early and cut everything short, you don't stand for that shit.  These people may get slightly better at doing something but they will never, ever be great.  Learn to love the Grind and it will reward you.  

If I told you that there was a way for you to get just 1% better each day would you take it?  I sure as hell hope you would.  Shit lets even say .25 of 1% better each day.  You better fuckin say that you would.  This is what is possible for you if you can learn to grind, push hard, have a positive mindset, and quit with all the fucking excuses.  

Now that you know what's possible, set yourself on the path to make it happen.  Learn to love the grind.  It will reward to 10 fold.  I will leave you with some quotes.  Maybe you have already seen them maybe you haven't, but after readying this I hope you can relate them to your own training and life a little more.  

"People need to quit looking for the easy way out and get to work" 
Dave Tate

"Get your head right.  Training isn't east and won't always be a walk in the park.  There's more to getting strong that just lifting the weights.  You have to get an attitude with the weights and bust your ass.  Louie once told me that he would NEVER train with anyone that didn't scare him in one way or another.  This is the best advice I've ever heard.  I'm not saying that you should be a dick, but there is a HUGE difference between "training" and "working out"." 

Dave Tate/ Louie Simmons 





Thursday, September 3, 2015

Better sign up now.... only 2 spots left




Hello out there world wide websters.  I've been slacking on the blogging, but lucky for you I'm coming back at you with the heat! I'm sure this will make some people get all fired up, that is if they actually read it, but IDGAF.

Now, I'll start off by saying who am I? Who am I to say what I think and have people actually listen to it.  Hhaha, I'm nobody.  Yes, I own a gym.  Yes, I train people.  Yes, some people listen to me.  Yes I do write/coach some clients on the line.  Yes, I have some papers that hang up on the wall... not a shit load but some.  I am a tiny 165er that is reasonably strong.  I have been training for about 15 years now, helping people for the last 4, and owned a gym for the last 2.  Over that time I feel like I've learned a lot of shit from a lot of people that I highly respect and know a shit ton more than me.  Does that give me the right to say what's right and wrong.  Well, I have no idea but I sure as hell am going to give you my opinion on this matter that really burns me up whenever I see this shit online.

I keep an eye out there to see what's shakin on-the-line.  Twitter, Istagrams, Facebooks, Youtubes etc. and there seems to be this one common thing I see.  These online programs and eBooks.  Everywhere you look, every shit-wit out there on-the-line has some 30 day, 12 week or some other bullshit program they are peddling all over the net to anyone that will take the bait.  Here is where it gets good, the bait.  This line right here gets me fired up every time... "Sign up now! Hurry only 2 spots left!"  You know what... Fuck you.  One, don't think people are that stupid that they haven't seen you peddling your shit for the last months in a row and there is always only 2 spots left. Two, if your program is so good and your eBook is so next level, you would't be using tactics like that and plastering the web trying to get people to get on your shit.  If you are one of these guys, please just stop.  Your work should speak for itself without having to resort to that kind of douchebaggery.

In closing on this subject I will say, by no means am I saying everyone out there on the net is full of shit or offering shitty programs.  Hell I even write programming for online clients.  Guess what?  I sure as hell wasn't out there baiting them into anything.  Those people find me. Shit maybe my next writing should be about this great trend of all these "fitness pros" whoring themselves out.  That would be a good one....





Friday, May 1, 2015

Back from paradise to our paradise....

Good afternoon everyone.  Sorry you haven't been able to read my ramblings for a bit.  Things have been quite busy for us out here.  Wedding prep for Codi and I had kept us quite busy.  Now we are back and still at it with the reception coming in two weeks, but I thought I would sneak one in with a quick recap of our trip.  I know I know, most my blog post are about training and shit like that.  Don't worry I'm going to sneak a few things in here about how not to be a douche at the gym.

I'll start of by saying this trip for Codi and I could not have been better.  So much fun and we are so thankful and greatful for the people that made the trip down to share this awesome part of our lives together.  We flew out on Sunday AM early.  Was a long day of flying around the world but totally worth it when we landed in Cancun around 4.  A short trip about 45 min and we were at the hotel checked in and sipping drinks.  



Over the next 5 days people started to filter in every day.  We had a whole week of pool lounging and beach lounging.  Town exploring with taco eating contest.  As well as a Tulum ruins/ jungle cenote /zip line/ crazy ass uni-mog trip.  This seriously was a week of nothing but awesome.  Oh, we squeezed a few workouts in, but nothing crazy.  Lots of awesome dinners and drinks let up to the main event Saturday.  

Couldn't have been happier with the resort and set up for the wedding.  We really didn't have to do anything which made for a great day.  Wedding went off without a hitch and the venue was unbelievable!  I'll just hit the pics to help you get an idea.  


Ok now I want to take a quick second to say how dam lucky I am.  I can hands down, sorry guys, say my lady is the most smokin hot bride ever!  Pics to prove




After the wedding was done and over everyone started to head back over the next few days.  Codi and I were now on our honeymoon and relax city started for the next week.  We had an awesome week laying around relaxing and studying.  We squeezed a few more workouts in but tried to take as much time for ourselves, we know that it's going to be a while before we get to do this again so we soaked it up.  

Now let me get into the small portion of this blog post that will  be about training.  Just a few tips I thought I would give so that the next time you are at a commercial gym you aren't the one being a douche bag.  
1- Re rack your weights.  Few things here.  Don't just leave your shit and take off, no brainer but you would be surprised.  Also, if you are using a set of DB's and there are a shit ton of other people in there and you are going to rest and finger yourself for 5 min between sets take them back and re rack them so others can use them.  I should not have to come over and tell you I'm going to use them, and take them.  
2- Don't stand right in front of the DB rack and block all the weights when there is a shit load of people trying to get in and out of there.  Step back far enough to let others use the shit.  

Some might think these things are just common sense, but there are a lot of dip shits out there.  
Side note- wearing a bandana with a hat on top of it is stupid.  

Ok now back to the story.  Looking at the pics I forgot about speedo day.  Man, that was a hoot and we got some good pics of that.  Somehow my speedo ended up being the most high cut of the bunch haha, but I made it look good.  Pic to prove



After nearly 2 weeks in a paradise known as the Riviera Maya/ Playa Del Carmen, we are back and at it in our own paradise of Eternia Athletics and Grants Pass, Oregon.  Being gone for 2 weeks, even in a place like that can leave you thinking of how much you love where you live.  For me it made me miss my home, my dogs, my friends and our paradise of Eternia.  There truly is no place like home.  



Thursday, April 2, 2015

What should I eat? What supplements do I need to be taking?



Well hello there Eternia! We are getting ready to kick of this Easter Weekend and I thought I would put together a few words on a screen for your reading pleasure.  Today I wanted to touch on a question I tend to get alot. What should I eat, and what supplements should I be taking.

First things first.  Supplements are just that, supplements to your normal diet.  When I say diet, I am referring to what you take in on a daily basis of REAL FOOD.  Sit down and take a real look at what you are eating.  For a male, if you are training with us and eating under 1500 cals a day or a female under 1000 a day we will start there. These numbers are even on my low end of where I would want to see people consuming.  You cannot recover from training by not eating.  I know you all want to loose weight, but the not eating approach does more damage than good.  Food people food! That is what helps you burn fat and recover from your workouts.  There isn't a magic supplement you need to be taking besides good food, water, and rest.  After you address these situations then you can look into the only 3 supplements to your regular diet that you will hear me suggest.
1) Protein
2) Fish Oil
3) Creatine (for some)

The reasons for these is for a whole other blog post, but in general these are things that will be hard to get enough of in your normal diet that have a great impact on your overall life and health.

Next up... setting an example for your family..


Friday, March 20, 2015

Your Duty






Good afternoon Eternia! Sun is shining and it's looking like we have plowed through another week, kicking ass and taking names.  Eternian's here in GP and afar have all been putting up some great numbers this week.  I've been pondering what to write about this week.  After a chat I gave this week to a group of Eternians and some things I have seen, I feel inclined to talk about giving it everything you have and passing that along.

Here at Eternia we foster a pretty awesome environment.  One that I have been told by many that come from out of town is something they haven't seen anywhere, or only in some of my opinion awesome spots.  We take that as a pretty bad ass compliment.  As an Eternian you should feel pretty dam proud of that, because you help build that.  Your duty is to keep doing that.

We ask a lot of each and every person that trains with us.  We know that is a lot.  We ask you to do that because we want you to get the most out of what we are offering.  We aren't in this to get rich, all the money we make goes back into making Eternia even better.  We do this shit because we LOVE IT!

As an Eternian, rule numero' uno.  DON'T HALF ASS ANYTHING.  If you want to come in and just go through the motions, honestly this may not be the place for you.  We expect the best you have every day.  If you are worn down or not 100% that day, and lets say you are 80%. Give every bit of that 80% you have.  I promise you that you won't regret it.

Next I want to touch on a few things that don't have to do with your training but the others around you.  Your duty is to help your training partners to get stronger than you.  If you see somebody slacking off or sandbagging some shit, let them know what's up.  You know it, you see it.  Don't worry we will be doing the same thing as your coaches as well.  Having training partners that push you ads to the environment and fosters some awesome results.  You see somebody just "going through the motions" let them know.  Hey what's that, way to easy lets go, get with it. They will thank you for it.  Along these same lines, if you get somebody new in there and you see something way crazy, help them.  Examples come to mind. Hey man that might be to big a jump.  How about 10lbs not 30.  Or hey, that % looks a bit high lets take some off and move that shit quick(speed day). That's what we do in Eternia.  Take them under your wing and pass on what we have taught you.  Don't worry we will be there as well.

I will end on this.  Our environment is one you will not find in many places and we are dam proud of that.  You guys helped build that, now keep it going.  From that "great" Travis Osborne, "Never half ass anything, always use your FULL ASS"!

Thursday, March 12, 2015

FifteenPointNope





Well well well, I've been pondering what random subjects I should blog about next.  So many good options this time of year, but I chose to go with one that gets asked a lot.  "So what is different between Eternia and CF?"

I hear this question and I'm like... really haha. Joking, well kinda.  I get the question and why it is asked. We do run our structure in a warehouse, we coach in hour blocks, and we train in a group atmosphere.  That is where it ends. Does that mean if our members wanted to compete in some CF style stuff they couldn't. Nope, they could do that if they wanted to. I will say this. With the CF money machine fired up, otherwise known as the CF Open, going on right now our number of members doing that is.....0.  Number of members from Eternia competing in as USPA Powerlifting meet in June...23.

Eternia, as most of you know, runs a WestSide Barbell conjugate system.  WestSide is the strongest gym in the world.  Westide Barbell is ran by the great Louie Simmons.  He has put his whole life into building a system that is tried, and proven.  The system is built for powerlifting, but can be used to get anybody strong as shit and fit as fuck haha! We do not only lift heavy weights, we condition as well.  This program can be tuned nicely for who it's for.  We run 2 separate conjugate programs at Eternia giving our members options.  We, squat and or deadlift twice a week, and bench twice a week. We also, clean and jerk, do a ton of strongman movements, and a SHITLOAD of special exercise and accessory work. In fact 80% of our workload for any given day is acc work. Below I am going to give you an example of a day of our programming, then I will give you a few examples of programming strait from CF.

Dynamic Effort Lower
A) Box Jump to max height
B) Box squat (at parallel) with Safety Squat Bar at 50% plus 25% band tension 10x2 45 sec. rest
C) Sumo dead at 50% plus 30% band tension, 8x1 30 sec. rest between
D) Bulg. Split Squat with SSB, 3x10
E) Dimmel deadlifts 3x20 @ 40%
F) Banded back ext 3x20
G) 3x20 banded ghd situps
Cond-
12 min Air dyne 15 sec sprints, 10 b.w lunges every minute on the minute style
Finisher- 100 banded pull through's

Above is a usual layout from a dynamic lower day with conditioning.  Another form of conditioning on this day may involve some sled drags, atlas stone to shoulder, cleans, sled pushes or sled sprints etc.

Below is taken direct from CF main site

Today- Run 1.5 miles

Yesterday-
With a running clock every minute perform 1 lift and add 10 lbs
Start with Snatch and go as heavy as possible
once you can't snatch it, go to the clean
once you can't clean go to deadlift.

Day Before that
10 rounds of 205lb front squats 5 reps and 5 parallette hand stand push ups as fast as possible

I could keep going but I'm hoping that just that kind of gives you an idea.  This is not to say that every CF gym goes off that programming.  Actually every CF gym can run whatever program they want, witch could be anything from dancing to napping.  Don't take that as I don't like naps because come on now who doesn't haha.

I think most people want to try to group us into that, and we have tried to be different from the get go. We train in group structure, because that is how we like to do it.  Nobody likes training alone, it sucks.  Having a group of like minded people there to push you and keep you accountable helps.

In the end it boils down to this.  Do we not like CF?  No not at all we have plenty of friends in the CF world.  We just have a little bit different goals, and thoughts on what is more important.  Not everybody needs to snatch, overhead squat, walk on their hands, swing around on bars and rings to be fit or use those methods to build strength.   Different strokes for different folks, that's what makes Eternia... Eternia.

Come to the DarkSide.... Your lack of strength is disturbing.... and we have donuts.  






Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Suns out, stop half assing it!




Sunny days here in good ol' Grants Pass Oregon! Yesterday I even set up a pad and a foam roller outside and took in some rays! Felt like I was back in Venice for a second.  I'll take that for a nice change out of the cold fog we have been stuck in.  Vitamin D for everyone fo free haha!

Today I wanted to get into how we at Eternia expect the programmed accessory work to be done. I believe I have went over this a bit, but from time to time I think it's a good idea to go back over it again.  Roughly 80% of our training is accessory work or special exercises.  If you think you are going to get everything (all the gainz) out of the training by half assing 80% of the workload you are highly mistaken.  There is a reason we harp to you about tracking and logging what you are doing on a day to day basis. We expect you to attack your accessory work just as hard as your main lifts.  You should be pushing to push more weight each week in each acc lift.  If you don't know what you did on that movement from a previous week then how will you know what do to the following.  Going through the motions on 80% of your workload isn't going to get you anything.  Eternians don't have ass shit. We have sayings at Eternia for a reason.
1) We Don't Miss
2) All In/ Both feet in
3) Two Footed Jump Kick Shit
4) Don't half ass  anything, always full ass it

From my writings I think you can get a good idea of what we mean by all of those.  Those sayings are there for a reason.  Follow the code and you will be on the way to where you want to be.
Lastly I wanted to talk about the exact opposite side of the spectrum.  Biting off more than you can chew.  We see this happen a lot as well.  You feel like you want to try to keep up with somebody, so you try to do the weights they are doing.  You know that you can't, but you do it anyways.  You either don't get all the reps and quit or you pretend you did.  You're cheating yourself.  The rep layout is there for a purpose.  You getting 5 out of 10 reps isn't what we are looking for. Do yourself a favor and hit the weights you know you can for the amount of reps you are supposed to.

In summary, if you want to get all the possible results of your training you need to be all in and commit to the whole load of work.  Don't just hit the stuff hard that you want to do and leave all the rest on the table by half assing shit.  Buck up, hammer down and get the work in.  You can thank me later.

Sleep easy Eternians


Thursday, February 5, 2015

Weekend at Deuce, WestSide Barbell and golden nuggets!





Good afternoon Eternians near and far! More ramblings coming at you from yours truly.  This last weekend I had the opportunity to fly down to sunny Venice Beach, Ca. for a Westside Barbell seminar at Deuce Gym.  I thought why not write a blog about that since it was such an awesome weekend!

Well where do I start?  I'll kick it off from the beginning and how it all came together.  My brother from Norther California Joey Hoey of the Fitness Coalition posted about Deuce Gym having a photo contest giveaway for a free Westside Barbell seminar taught by Shane and Laura Sweatt.  Now, some of you know we train the conjugate system at Eternia, so the first thought that came to my mind was.. that would be awesome to get to go to that!!   Being the person that never wins that kind of stuff and saving for my wedding that's coming in a few short months, I thought that will never happen.  My boy Joey posted his photo and I kind of felt like I had to at least give it one shot.  A vision popped in my head!! I got to the gym to train that afternoon and told Mike what we had to do.  We got to it.  Here is the outcome of that...


That there is what started this whole thing off.  After a few weeks, Logan from Deuce Gym hit me up and told me if I could get down there I won!  I couldn't even believe it! This was an opportunity I could not pass up and had to make it happen.  Booked a plain, hotel and car and it was on.  The next few months seemed to take forever and I couldn't wait to get down there.  

Friday comes, bags are packed and it's time to roll! Codi drops me off at the airport and I'm all jazzed up! They tell me my flights about 30 min late and that I'll cut it close but should make it to my connecting flight.  Well long story short after a bunch of delays and missed flights I got to LAX around 8:30. rental car by about 9:30.  I was just happy to be down there! Joey was kind enough to keep me posted as to where he was and I hooked up with him and the whole crew for some much needed grub at this place called Clutch.  Now let me tell you, this was my favorite place I ate while there.  The tacos and wings were Clutch at Clutch.  We ate at some awesome places all weekend but this was my favorite.  
OK now to the good stuff the seminar.  Being able to be coached through the movements from Shane and Laura was an awesome opportunity! Picked up some great cues on things I can work on that will for surely help my game.  Next, being able to watch and take in how they cue and coach others is another big takeaway for me from the weekend. I want to go over two other big takeaways from this weekend of awesomeness, both which attack the mental side.
1- Attacking your acc work as hard as you attack your main lifts.  Accessory work is 80% of our training.  If we are attacking 20% of our training at 110%, and going easy on the other 80% that's not going to get us the results we want.  Tracking our Acc work is not only needed but necessary to keep the advancement going.  We also need to be moving quickly though it at a good pace and looking to move heavier loads each weak.  I think allot of people can focus so much on the main lift and just kinda cruise control the accessory stuff.  Attacking the acc movements with as much intensity as the main is an important piece of this puzzle of strength.  
2- Mental toughness.  Mental toughness has to do with what I just went over as well as a few other parts of training.  We also need to look into our mental game.  We cannot defeat ourselves before we even try something.  Just because you haven't done something before, doesn't mean that you can't do it.  Beating yourself up mentally before you even try will shoot any change that you had of doing whatever that may be right in the foot.  Whether that is a weight you have never squatted before, or something else but if you start off by having doubts in yourself that is a major whole in your mental game.  Being mentally strong is just as important if not more important that being physically strong.  Being physically strong will not make you mentally strong, but being mentally strong can help you get physically strong.  

Being able to make this trip and get this opportunity was an awesome experience I am so very grateful for.  Got to hang out with some amazing people, learn, lift, eat, learn, laugh, and eat for an entire weekend.  Can't thank Logan from Deuce and Shane and Laura Sweatt for such a great weekend.  Everyone showed a guy from a small town up in Oregon, which I think Logan has figured out now -hint it's the one above California and below Washington hhah, a great time that will not be forgotten. Pics below from the weekend! Photo cred to Logan from Deuce! 

This is Deuce! 







Saturday, January 24, 2015

Wanna use chains? Set them up right!






As I flip the ol Facebooks, Instagrams, and YouTubes I constantly come across a lot of people using chains in there lifts.  Although I think this is awesome, it seems as though lots of them never got the memo on how to set them up and use them correctly.  So in this little blog I will go over setting up chains, why and also pop some vids.  I'm going to try to not get to technical on you and just give you the basics and maybe some tips to help you out.  After you read all this please take a look at the vids I posted for your viewing pleasure. 

The goal when setting up chains is that we get as much of the chain to unload at the bottom of the lift while maintaining some chain touching the ground at the top in either the squat or the bench. 
 Here is a picture of how NOT to set your chains up.
























In the picture above you will see the chain attached from on end with the rest of it hanging down.  You will see chains sold with some contraption to hook it to the bar as well.  Shy away from places that sell these.  First reason is because you don't need that shit you need leader chains to hook them on the bar and two because these sellers don't have a clue and are just trying to make money off you because they think they are the "cool" thing.  In the pic above if you were to picture somebody squatting you would see as the bar lowers only about 5-6 links of that chain would be unloaded at the bottom of the lift.  Now lets say each link is about 1 lb.  That's a total of 5-6 lbs of resistance accommodated or change of weight through the movement.  So a total of 10-12 lbs out of the 40 lbs of chain that's hanging on there.  Sure doesn't sound like what they are meant to do to me.  Now lets take a look at how it should be done.

























In these pics you can see how as you descended in the squat you would be able to unload most of the chain if not all at the bottom of the lift.  As you ascended back up you would load all the chain back up.  That's how it's done.  A good rule of thumb is to have 3 links as shown in the pic above on the ground when you are setting the height of the chain with the bar in the rack where you will squat out off.  You always want at least a link of chain touching the ground while you are standing before your squat unless you are using the chains for more of a stability work purpose.

Wanted to toss in a couple tips that we have come across when setting chains up for the bench.  One thing I ran into when setting that chains up for bench was the range of motion is shorter in the bech than the squat.  Meaning the bar doesn't have to travel so far up and down, exspessially for my tiny ass.  To work around this and get the chains to be able to fully deload at the bottom we attach the bottom of the chain up higher to make the whole stack of chain a bit shorter.  Below are a few pics to help explain.

























So in the first pic we lay the chain out longer than normal, second pic we take the remaining leader chain and put it through the end links of the chain and attach up higher off the ground. Now when at the bottom of the bench the chain is fully de-loaded.  If I was not to do this we would get about half of the chain de-loaded at the bottom.

Another easy tip, set up both sets of chains on one side together.  This helps get them both the same length quick and easy. 

Next tip, although may sound stupid, was something that just had to be done.  Now we have all sorts of sets of chains.  All 5/8's and a few smaller sets.  Now they all look the same from a distance, but they are from different places and are all different.  We have 3 sets that are the same and others that are from different places.  What happens is some are longer some are shorter.  Some of them have different leader chains  and let me tell you this turns into a mess.  Constantly having to lay them out and match them back up is a major pain in the ass. What we have done now is color coded them in pairs and each pair has a corresponding color for where it is hung.  Now this may sound anal, but if it saves me from having to pull them all down and lay them all out every few days it's worth it to me.



















OK that's it, short and sweet! I'll leave you with some videos that I hope can hammer home what I am trying to get across.  Set your shit up right and get the most benifit out using chains.



Above the man Louie Simmons on chains


Below another of my favorites from EliteFTS.