30 Minutes a day

Fitness doesn’t cost anything, 30 minutes and a little bit of space and you can be very fit. Pushups, air squats, sit ups, planks, lunges just to name a few things you can do without anything but your body. People have excuses, but not one of them is valid. There are many things in life that we do not have control over, but our fitness is definitely one of them. But the discipline to do it has to come from you, it cannot come from anywhere external. I have somebody I work with that constantly makes excuses as to why he can’t, and I keep asking him to come with me, but day after day he sits at his desk and tells me he doesn’t have time, we all have time, it’s just about priorities, and also, and this is a big one, not lying to yourself about when you are going to do it, so just go do it.

Today’s workout:

5 rounds:

Run 200 meters

10 dumbbell snatches

20 dumbbell squats

Rest 2 minutes

10-8-6-4-2 weighted pull ups

Lateral shoulder raises between each set

Into

10-8-6-4-2 pull ups

Strict shoulder press

Rest 2 minutes

5 rounds

5 close grip pull ups

15 push ups

Here to help

I want to help, with covid all around us and really no end in sight 2 years into this pandemic you might as well start getting healthy now. There is an old saying, “When’s the best time to plant a tree?” For all of you that haven’t heard of this, the answer is, “20 years ago.” However, “When is the second best time to plant a tree?” The answer to the question is, “Today.” So be damned the answer of you should have started getting your body fit early or you wished you would have started long ago. The time to start is now, and we can help anybody that needs it. Don’t worry about it costing too much, if you reach out to the CJ industries page I will help you get started for nothing, if we are able to help you live a better life that is worth it to us. We don’t have many followers here so anybody reading this do me a favor, share it with anybody that might be interested and have them contact us through our page.
Now for the fun stuff, the workout today was a real leg smasher, so next time you feel like getting after a good leg day feel free to give this one a try;

5 minutes of running
10 air squats
10 squats with the bar
From here do a ladder of squats, you are going to add weight for the next 3 sets of squats, and then descend the ladder back down, each set is 10 reps and your rest time is just however long it takes to change your weights.

Rest 2 minutes

3 sets
10 one legged squats
20 air squats

Rest 2 minutes

3 sets
10 hanging leg raises
10 single leg, leg press on each side

Rest 2 minutes

100 walking lunges

Into 5 sets of planks :30 seconds on and :30 seconds off

The Break is over

The holidays are over and training hard is back in full swing. Today I hit a pretty good chest workout: ( real quick, I really like push/pull workouts so I will usually couple my chest days with a pulling movement, so today I did a lot of supersets with strict palm facing away, pull ups)

Warm up your bench press and find a weight at, or close to a 10 rep max, (that was 225lbs for me).

Complete 10 reps at that weight

Rest 2 minutes and drop the weight by 8%-10%
Complete 10 reps at that weight ( I did 205lbs)

Rest 2 minutes and drop it again by about the same percentage
Complete 10 more reps ( I did 185lbs)

Rest 2 minutes

Then complete 1 max effort set at a light weight, and do as many reps as possible. ( I did 135lbs, and got 16 reps)

Rest 2 minutes

3 sets of chest fly’s (reps- 15-12-10)
Superset the fly’s with pull ups (reps- 12-10-8)

Rest 2 minutes

Incline bench press 3 sets of 8 reps with a 1 second pause at the bottom ( I did this at 135lbs)
Superset these with 6 pull ups between each set

Rest 2 minutes

3 sets of 10 dips
And I also superset these with 6 pull ups

I completed this in about 40 minutes, it is a great workout and does not eat up too much of your day.

Holiday Break Grind

If you have decided to keep training though the holiday’s and need a good gym workout you can sneak in give this one a try:

10 Minutes of Cardio

Rest 2 minutes10 Bench Press

5 Rounds:

10 Bench Press

:30 second Plank

40 Step back lunges

Rest 2 minutes

5 Rounds:

12 shoulder press

15 sit ups

20 air squats

 Rest 2 minutes

5 Rounds:

10 Dumbbell curls

5 Pull ups

10 Dips

Don’t get motivated

Here is a little dose of some motivation after Monday.

I was just reading an article about how some people that lack the motivation to stick with a workout routine for an extended period of time. I seem to cringe when I hear the word motivation, because to me exercise is not about motivation. Do you get motivated to brush your teeth, or take a shower, I know I sure don’t. You have to change your perception of what working out is. I say it all the time that, “ it is just like brushing my teeth.” I am sure I heard that somewhere and it is not a original thought but it is also the best explanation I have. I brush my teeth to ward off things that could happen to my teeth in the future and exercise is no different. I work out to ward off all the possible health problems I could have in the future (and because I am a little vain, admittedly). I rarely have the motivation to work out in the traditional sense, I know once I get moving, or once it is over I will have a better outlook on the day and that I am doing something to help myself in the future.

I think everybody needs to quit using that stupid word “motivation” because most of us are rarely motivated, but its discipline that helps us change our clothes and start moving. Plan your workouts out, whether that’s for the week, the month, or just a day at a time and get going, having a plan and writing it down will definitely help. Make sure you know when you are going to workout during the day and don’t let yourself talk you out of it, and at some point it won’t be a chore but a necessity instead.

Time Off

Don’t be afraid to take time off from the gym. This year I will be taking some time off between the holidays. Some people say that discipline and dedication don’t have breaks, and I say that’s bullshit. I love to train, but finding extra time to spend with family, let the body rest, and have fun doing other things is important, you can still practice discipline in other areas of your life. Have fun and be safe

The Doing

“Just do it” – some shoe company

A little note to myself but thought I’d put it out there in case anyone else is a functioning yet semi-pro head case like me.

Luck, talent, ability, genetics, golden spoon… yeah some folks get ahead start. Many squander it, myself included, at times. I often find myself searching for the value, the lesson, the moral of most if not all situations and interactions. Then it hits me… who the f*ck cares. The doing is what matters, not the thought. My old man always used to ask me “wish in one hand and shit in the other.. which one get fullest fastest?” Not as eloquent as Teddy Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena” speech but the sentiment is there.

It’s the doing, the going, the ACTION that will impact and change you and those around you. Whether it’s for business, family, fitness, whatever, no one remembers your intent but they surely remember actions. Be rememberable.

You won’t succeed all the time, hell maybe not even half the time but the lessons that come from the doing, that’s where value and purpose come together.

The late, great Tom Petty once said “…baby, even the losers get lucky some times.”

So go and DO!

Workout for Christmas

Here is another 30-40 minute workout you can do if you want to get a great workout. Great gains and don’t have all day to spend I the gym.

20 minutes of hard cardio, personally I like to get my heart rate to between 150-160, and keep it there for the entirety of the 20 minutes of cardio. Today I did the stair climber for my cardio piece. 

Right in to:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Reps of:

Strict Overhead Press ( I used 95lbs)

Strict Toes to Bar

Hack Squat or Front Squat ( I am dealing with a bit of a back issue so unable to front squat right at the moment, but the hack squat is a great alternative.

Forcing yourself



This will be quick, just a small thought I had.
Forcing yourself to do things is unnatural, and that makes it tough to do. Forcing yourself to workout, get out of bed before you are ready, or go to an uninspiring job is tough for all of us. Some of us see a light at the end of the tunnel, whether that is retirement, wealth, family etc.. We all do the things necessary to keep ourselves and our families alive and happy. If you are like me I always wish I could do more. More money for vacations and family interests, more time off to spend with the people I love the most, a better and more fulfilling job.

So lately I am trying to force myself to see the good things when I am stuck in a rut. I work close to home, and some people have to commute. My time off is pretty good compared to many people, I love to work out and enjoy physical things even if I am not a professional athlete. Striving for better things is important, we all can grow. I believe that we can grow in other ways as well though. Satisfaction is never going to be perfect but allowing yourself to be satisfied with parts of your life at different times and focusing on those things can allow us to appreciate life in the moment now, not just what we want in our future.

So, my point is, force yourself to be okay and appreciate the things you do have and that are going right, even if you are striving for something better. This is all very cliché, but I find myself thinking about it, and if I am so are other people I am sure.

Belated Marine Corps Birthday thoughts

Tonight’s fire is burning low, my fellow Marines. While my military career amounted to fuck-all, I somehow fell into some top tier training that provided a perspective and a glimpse into the warriors of the past and current. The quote “we’re lucky such men have lived” couldn’t be more accurate. I only have to look at my close circle to realize I was a mouse amongst titans. The tenacity and resolve of such young souls was a spectacle to behold. Not just for the nation’s sake, that was a given, but for the love of one another. I was witness to a plethora of conversations that went something like “brother (insert best Hulk Hogan voice), fuck the current political rhetoric, I’d kill for you before my own blood.”

In an age when race, sexual orientation, political party define our peers, this rudimentary logic satisfied a more molecular desire, a desire to live timelessly.

In boot camp, it was made abundantly clear that your status amongst men was not based on a statistical metric but of one of worth. What do you contribute to the team??

Are YOU going to be the one to let down or dishonor the 246 years of Marines that came before you?

To quote Randy Jackson “That’s gonna be a no from me, dawg!”. And that is why the Marine Corps will live forever.