What's up!?

I've been rolling along with daily blog posts as I feel best when I write every day.

I'm doing things differently by picking a topic for the day that is relevant to what's going on in my own training, and/or my clients training.

Writing keeps me sharp.

It feels ALIVE.

My purpose work, along with helping YOU get stronger and improve your life.

On to the topic of THE DAY:

High-rep Backoff sets, steak and thinking on your feet...

That's a mouthful.

Let's dig in the subject of back-off sets first.

Today I did my light day PRESSING for sets of 5 at a weight that I could hit 8-10 reps with.

After 4 sets, I reduced the weight by 20 lbs. and did one high-rep backoff set.

I'm a big fan of going to a top set of 1-3 reps (not necessarily a true MAX) and then taking some weight off the bar and doing back-off sets.

ESPECIALLY one or two high-rep backoff sets.

As the set begins, the weight feels LIGHT.

By the end you get a nice "pump" in the muscles and it becomes more of an endurance set rather than strength.

It's a solid way to get in some HYPERtrophy work to gain muscle mass. Who doesn't want that?!

Next up- STEAK.

My favorite food.

You may or may not be familiar with a doctor named Shawn Baker. He started this movement of "Carnivores" at his website www.meatheals.com

If you're interested, check it out.

I'm not one to tell anyone what they CAN or can't eat, but I'll tell you this, no food makes me feel better than a steak. 

Strong. Full of energy. No digestive issues. No sinus issues.

Do what you want with that info but I wanted to share because it's something I find interesting and I've been moving in that direction MORE and MOre lately.

You never know what you may try that will work for you.

Last topic of the day-

Thinking on your feet

What does this mean for you?

Being able to adapt and adjust.

With training, diet and life.

Specifically with training... when you are in the gym training and you can't make the prescribed reps/weights that you planned, what do you do?

Learn what needs to be done. Should you do less weight and get the reps in? Take it easy?

Go light and add in some extra dumbbell exercises?

You can answer those questions if you know what your goal is and you know the BIG picture.

For example- 

Today my goal was to hit a top set of 3 reps on my Bench Press (heavy day).

If I didn't get the 3 reps on that top set, that's ok.

The plan is to do back-off sets anyway. If I did one or two less reps on that top set, it wouldn't matter much to the big picture.

The back-off sets are for 4-5 reps and I pick a total number for the day.

As a trainer, I have to think on my feet every day.

Clients come in tired, stressed, sore, hungover, sad, anxious..etc.. I need to see how the weight is moving during the set and if it will be beneficial to add/reduce, change the exercise etc..

It's good experience. The more you pay attention, the more you learn how to adapt in the moment.

To sum today's message up:

Perform some high-rep back-off sets every once in awhile, steak is optimal nutrition and being able to think on your feet and adapt is a USEFUL skill to learn.

I hope your training is moving in the right direction-- building a STRONGER you.

For help with your training program go to my ONLINE COACHING PAGE to get a customized program set up for your individual needs.