Everyone is guilty of it at some point. You’re in the middle of a workout, maybe going to get some water, and you do something to draw attention to yourself without even realizing it a lot of the time. Of course, a lot of people are aware of it, and are just trying to bring attention to themselves, but we all do it.

Here’s a few examples of some funny gym mannerisms that I’m sure you’ve seen at a gym before.

The Face Wipe Ab Showing Maneuver:

This one can be seen especially when someone does core work. They’ll be drenched in sweat (sometimes they won’t) and they will wipe their face with their shirts. All the while, abs are popping out and are tightened as hard as possible. You never see someone wipe their face with their shirt to conveniently show their abs unless they’re at the gym. They may wipe their face 7-10 times a workout, with the main purpose of showing off the six pack. Very smooth buddy.

The Imaginary Lat Syndrome Water Fountain Walk:

Another personal favorite. This one just reeks of awesomeness. You’ll see a guy getting swole, and while walking to the water fountain after his 3rd set of lateral raises, he will assume a position that makes him out to be 6 feet wide. However, there is a large space in between his arms and his lats that you could throw a football through and not make contact with anything else. These people are incredibly stiff looking too. If you bump into them they will rotate their entire body out of the way as if they have no flexibility.

The Scratch the Head Bicep Flex:

This one is not as common but it can be seen on a somewhat regular basis. Assuming the person has just done a hardcore set of preacher buddy towel forced eccentric curls, the pump with often be way too much to handle. What a coincidence, they also have a nagging scratch in the back of their head, of course from too much dandruff. So they will scratch away at the occipital region of their skull, only to have the guns on display on both sides of the head. This one is often done when numerous females are in the surrounding area.

My Aching Shoulder Pump Feeler Grab:

A staple on bench press days. You and your buddies have bench pressed your hearts out, giving it your all to the iron. Who doesn’t reach across the midline of their bodies to feel on their swollen deltoids. Watch people walk around like they have dislocated shoulders, only to have Dwight Howard sized delts. Something doesn’t add up here!

The Lifted Shorts Peek-A-Boo Quad Exposure:

This one is for the brahs in the gym that actually squat, and I must admit I’m guilty of this one. You’ll be doing your leg work, and you just can’t help but pull up the shorts just enough to look at the tear drop (for those who do possess it). Its very subtle, but is often accompanied by a leg extension in the air to really see the quadriceps explode with vicious cuts.

The Most Muscular Shoe Tying Pose:

This one is somewhat of a rarity but is done occasionally for a good laugh. A person’s shoe will come untied, which in normal situations calls for a quick tie and its over. At the gym though, its a project. You need to assume the tying position, which can take in upwards of 10 seconds, and begin shoe tying. Meanwhile, you’re in a most muscular pose while in this bunched up position to let everyone know you have well developed trapezius muscles.

The 2 MPH Someone Please Talk to Me on the Treadmill Look Around:

This is another fantastic one. You’ll see a person in the gym, usually someone who doesn’t really care to be there. They’re going through the motions, doing intense cardio at around 2 mph or so. They will do everything in their power to look around and see if anyone notices them walking, hoping someone will come up next to them. The poor soul who does hop in on the adjacent treadmill will need to be prepared for non stop questions about anything and everything. Usually this type of person is shunned fairly quickly, but nonetheless is a nuisance.

The Tank Top With Pants Crew:

Last but not least, not necessarily a mannerism but more of a style. These guys like to come to the gym when its 90 degrees outside donning the tightest, smallest strapped tank top imaginable. Only problem with that, they’re wearing pants. How can you wear pants in the summertime alone is beyond reason, but with a tank top? There can be only one explanation for this, and that’s a strong calf insecurity. I have small calves too, you just need to learn to cope with it!

Gym cartoon courtesy of http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/rha/lowres/rhan711l.jpg

Jason Colenzo C.S.C.S

Thats me, I’m the owner, editor, and maintainer of the website. I recently became certified as a strength and conditioning specialist in December 2010, and will be working with various sports team at Herkimer County Community College in the next couple semesters. In particular, the basketball team during the fall, and the soccer teams during the spring. I come from a powerlifting background, with a 1205lb total in the 198lb class (425lb squat, 240lb bench, 540lb deadlift). I hold a degree in biology from SUNY Cortland and am currently attending HCCC in the Physical Therapist Assistant program.

Jeremy Reynolds C.S.C.S

Contributing writer to the website. Jeremy now resides in Connecticut and is the fitness and sports director at the YMCA of Western Connecticut’s Greenknoll branch in Brookfield. Jeremy graduated from SUNY Cortland with a bachelors degree in kinesiology with a concentration in fitness development. Jeremy looks to inspire the youth of America through fitness and health.

Vinny Saporito

Vinny is the design guy for 5 Star Strong, responsible for all the logos. Vinny was the person who originated the 5 Star Strong name with his bulldog print shirt design. Vinny has been working on numerous designs for the website, which we will collaborate on and work towards getting merchandise out. Vinny has a degree in graphic design from SUNYIT and is a powerlifting enthusiast with a 300lb gym bench press and 400+lb deadlift in the 148lb and 165lb weight classes.

More to be added soon.

Here are a couple videos from today’s workout:

The band assisted pullups and chinups are a great exercise to do for people who struggle do regular pullups or chinups. The bands give support at the bottom much like a reverse band, but give less as the tension decreases. In my opinion, this is superior to assisted pull ups on a machine because the machine assists through the entire movement while the band’s support lessens through the movement. Even for people who do well with pull ups and chin ups, this is a great movement to do on a burnout set when you want to pump out 15-20 reps with a little bit of assistance.

This felt really good, especially considering it was 500lbs. Had a bit of trouble crackin it off the floor but once it was off the weight came up with relative ease. I like doing deficit deadlifts because my weakness has traditionally been the floor. Since I’ve been doing more conventional style deadlifting and doing deficit pulls my weakness has slowly transitioned to the lockout area. But for anyone who needs to get power from the floor, it is recommended to add some ROM by standing on plates or another raised stable surface.

References:

Franco Columbu photo courtesy of http://anabolicminds.com/forum/attachments/powerlifting-strongman/11774d1133112381-deadlift-weight-franco.jpg

The human body is an extremely complex machine. There is so much to discover about it, namely in the field of neuroscience, that it is mind boggling. Taking the information from the organ systems to the organs to the tissues to the cells is a daunting task that takes years to perfect. Everyday scientists are researching more ways in which to make our bodies better in one way or another. We are constantly evolving in the sense that we desire to be better then we were the day before.

What athletes strive for when they are in training is to make the most out of their neuromuscular system. They need to rely on not only the force production and strength that comes from the muscular system, but also the mechanics of a movement and how efficiently it is peformed. The ability to sense yourself within the confines of a particular activity is called proprioception. One key proprioceptor is the muscle spindle, which monitors changes in the length of the muscle (2). The other, which I will go into more detail about, is the Golgi Tendon Organ.

Just the name alone is cool, Golgi. Ok thats the science nerd in me appreciating the wonderful names they use to describe things. Golgi Tendon organs are found within the tendon that serves as the connector piece so to speak between muscle in bone. It is aligned in series with the muscle fiber and is used to measure the tension that a muscle undergoes during a specific movement. How does this serve a purpose? Well the Golgi tendon organ picks up on the amount of tension that is being placed on a muscle and sends information to the brain via type Ib afferent nerve fibers. In turn, the body can respond accordingly to the stimulus, whether or not to give up on it or to keep going until failure has been reached.

Can a Golgi tendon organ completely inhibit a muscle from contraction? It has been argued by Tony Shield that the excitatory response of the muscle spindle in response to a muscle contraction will outweigh the inhibitory response that may come from the Golgi tendon organ (2). You can look at the Golgi tendon organ as being security in the muscular system. They can oversee what is going on, but will probably need help from outside sources when it comes to maximal voluntary contraction.

In the case of a super maximal load, the GTO will be able to sense that a load is too heavy, and will “advise” the body to not exert more energy then it needs to lift the object because it is far too heavy (1). It can sense that the body will not be able to handle a load of that size and prevent it from being injured. We can go ahead and not listen to this signal, because we are not totally slaves to our proprioception, but we can get a good idea of what to do and not do.

When it coems to muscle contractions, the golgi tendon organ keeps a lookout for your safety, but is not the body’s be all end all protector of everything heavy. Just like we don’t have someone telling us what to do every second of our lives, the GTO can only provide so much information. This is why it is just one of numerous mechanisms in the body that keep it running like a well oiled machine.

References:

Shields, Tony Golgi Tendon Organs  http://www.exrx.net/Questions/GTO.html

University of Washington, Proprioceptors http://courses.washington.edu/conj/bess/spindle/proprioceptors.html

Golgi tendon picture courtesy of http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10986/?rendertype=figure&id=A1105

RUN OR DIE!!!!! THIS IS YOUR LIFE!!!!!

Its the winter time, and for most people who do any form of running, this means its time to hop on the good ol treadmill. Barring any breaks in the weather where the cold is tolerable, for most people its more convenient and easier to stay indoors. The treadmill isn’t all that bad if you use some variety and mix things up.

Ladies, gentlemen, and those in between, I give you INTERVAL workouts.

I’ve been incorporating interval cardio work into my routine and I must say its been very effective. Not only is it time efficient, but it can also effectively burn more fat. Here is an example of an interval workout:

Walk 3 mph: 2 minutes

Sprint 12mph: 30-45 seconds

Jog 5-6mph: 1 minute

Walk 3mph: 2 mintues

Wash, rinse repeat. It’s really that simple and it gives your body a variety to work with. When you’re in the sprint stage, you’re effectively using your anaerobic energy storages like your ATP-CP system. You get your heart rate up and your speed, and you bring it back down to a jog, which helps you to recover from the sprint. You further bring it back down to the walk, which is like active recovery from both the sprint and the jog.

The great thing about using a treadmill to do interval work is you can control the speed in which the belt moves. You also have a timer in which you can monitor how long your particular intervals are. This makes it easier to control and to plan out accordingly each interval of a run you may be doing.

Another wonderful thing about interval work is there’s no one way to do it. The above example is just one of a myriad of ways you can do it. If you feel like your cardio is feeling good, make your walk period 1 minute, your sprint interval 1 minute, and your jog 2 minutes. Or you can do 3 minutes of walking, 1 minute of sprinting, and 2 minutes of jogging. You can switch up the numbers according to your training goals and/or fitness levels.

It helps to break the monotomy of steady state cardio, where you jog until you can’t take watching the news on the TV’s that are inevitably going to be suspended above the treadmills. If you’re crunched for time and only have 20 minutes to get a run in, crank up the treadmill and get those intervals going up and down!

References:

Running cartoon courtesy of http://coloring-pages.tv/cartoon-coloring-pages/jogger-guy-running-with-sun.gif

While reading through some of the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) Journals, I stumbled across a little niblet of writing that I felt I could elaborate on.

In the article, a woman went swimming at the local gym everyday, as well as an elderly woman. They had similar schedules which meant they saw each other on an often basis. The elderly woman would tell the other lady to “make it a good day” in which it took a bit of thinking for it to sink in. She realized that it meant to take control of your day and to make something happen instead of letting the day happen to you. (1)

Its all about being in control of your situation whether it is good, bad, or so-so. The quicker you realize that you have control of your situation, the easier problems seem to be. For example, two people come into work for an 8-4 shift doing a similar job. One person comes in enthusiastic, driven, and full of energy. The other person looks like they just rolled out of bed, completely miserable, and lacking any sort of motivation. The person with the more positive attitude and energy is going to be infinitely more productive than the person who’s not fully prepared for the day’s tasks.

I see this a lot at work. I consider myself a fairly positive, upbeat person overall and it shows in my work ethic. I do the best I can for that particular day, and I drive myself to do better no matter how menial the task may be at times. I also see people who clearly are there to collect a paycheck and cannot wait until you leave them alone so they can go back to text messaging someone or ranting about how their life sucks.

That right there is the snag. Everyone has shitty days, it happens so you deal with it and you move on. You can’t blame everyone, nor tell everyone within earshot of you that you are indeed miserable. All you are accomplishing by doing this is making everyone around you miserable. No one wants to hear someone drag on and on about misery and woeful situations. They too have problems, but its all in how you choose to address the situation is what really matters.

You should understand that the most successful people got to where they are because they are fully in control of their lives. Sure connections, money, and networking all help, but if that person doesn’t follow through with a good work ethic they will fail miserably. Here’s 3 quick tips to get started:

1) Wake up 15-30 minutes earlier and eat a decent breakfast. Doesn’t have to be anything gourmet. Fry up some scrambled eggs, make a bowl of oatmeal, yogurt with fruit, SOMETHING. You will start your day off on the right track.

2) Change your attitude. Instead of dredding work and hating what you do, tell yourself that today is a new day and you’re going to improve on the skills you acquired yesterday. Made 2 mistakes at work, try to reduce that number to one or zero.

3) The Red Drop Theory. Picture a glass of water, and then add one drop of red dye in it. Chances are you can barely tell any dye is in the cup. Now add a drop of red dye everyday in that cup for a year. Chances are now that the cup will be a dark shade of red. The red dye represents the little improvements you can make on a daily basis. Run that extra 1/4 mile a week, reduce the number of cheat meals, quit smoking, walk during breaks. If you do the little things on the daily basis to improve yourself, the more you will effect the bigger picture over time.

With the New Year just days away, its the time of year everyone reflects on what it is they’ve done. Did you meet all your personal goals this year? If not, what were the reasons? Did you lose motivation, get sidetracked by other activities, or just got lazy? It’s good to gather insight from your mistakes so you’ll be more apt to improve on them in the future.

One of the glaring problems I’ve found with “New Years Resolutions” is that they’re too general with no specific purpose. I’m going to lose weight, or I’m going to improve myself are just fine and all, but they don’t really lead you anywhere. They’re pipe dreams that would be better with some sort of goal attached to them. I’m going to lose 20lbs and 5% bodyfat is much better than I’m going to lose weight. How will you improve yourself? You can say you will dress nicer, you will be more assertive, you will pursue your favorite pastime. Whatever it is, make it specific so you have a clear focus on what your goals will be.

As for me, I look back on 2010 as the beginning of the bigger picture. I went back to school, and have so far done well (even getting Vice President of the Physical Therapist Assistant’s Club, go me!), finally got my certification as a strength and conditioning specialist, and finally got another powerlifting meet under my belt after 2+ years away from the platform (all 3 lifts were PR’s). Video of the meet is shown below:

So 2010 laid the groundwork for me in 2011. Here are some of my goals for the upcoming year:

1) Get straight A’s. I mean this with every fiber in my being. I’ve never been a terrific student, but its something I want to change. I got 2 A’s so far out of 2 classes (only went part time this semester) and I want to continue the streak. I will do everything in my power to ensure that this stays the way it is.

2) Do at least 1-2 more powerlifting meets. I’ve got one planned tentatively for April 30th, and hope to do another one around September or October.

3) Break Top 50 in the Powerlifting Watch rankings for 198 Raw deadlift. I want this more than anything in regards to lifting. The rankings vary every year but a rough estimate of the 50th spot for the deadlift would be around 570 or so. With a PR of 540, I’m close but not quite there yet. I’m giving it my all to get this goal.

4) Get a 1300 total. Got a 1205 total at my last meet, with more in the tank. I’m confident that I have enough room to grow this year to get to the 1300 mark. Preferably in the 198 class, but I love eating so we’ll see how this one goes.

5) Grow my training business. Now that I’m officially certified, I can start doing some work with training. I want to put on some boot camp style seminars this summer if at all possible, and would like to get some experience under my belt improving the lives of others.

6) Put out 5 Star Strong merchandise. I’ve been on the fence for a while since I’m not very good with Photoshop, but we’re closer then ever now to finally getting something of substance. Vinny has come up with some excellent designs that will make print this year. As soon as these are available I will let everyone know.

7) PR in the Boilermaker Road Race. The Boilermaker is a 15 kilometer race held every year in Utica, and my PR is 80 minutes from way back in 2003. I feel this is the year that if I can actually start running ahead of time I can break it. I’m stronger then I was back then, so I hope that will override what I’ve lost in terms of endurance.

8) Last but not least, be better than I was the day before. We sometimes get stuck in the everyday grind of life and just sort of coast through day to day because its comfortable to us. I want to change that. I want to make sure everyday that I’ve improved in some area that was not as good the day before. I want to be a better son, boyfriend, friend, co-worker, that guy, whatever. Its a general goal but it wraps up and encompasses all of my other goals. If I can improve my self-confidence and approach things more constructively, all other goals will be that much easier to accomplish.

Well thats enough of my rambling. The site has been a bit bare as of late but I want to change that as well for 2011. Just got a new camera so plenty more videos will be available for your viewing pleasure. Hope everyone had a great holiday, and good luck in 2011!

References:

Happy New Year photo courtesy of http://www.funny-potato.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/happy-new-year.jpg

If you’re really sore and stiff after a workout, you should try out a contrast bath or shower. They’re extremely easy to perform and work wonders for relieving the aches and pains post workout!

Turn the shower on as hot as you can handle it for 3-4 minutes. Go about your normal washing habits using only the finest fragranced soaps, and then turn the water on as cold as you can handle for about a minute. Since the water was initially hot, you will be looking forward to turning it down to the cold level. Once you get to the cold level, after about 30 seconds you will wish you were on fire!

What the contrast bath does is it alternates between hot and cold treatments. By doing this, you are giving your cardiovascular system a workout as well because you alternate between vasodilation (expansion of the blood vessels) and vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood vessels). This will cause your heart to alternatively pump more or less blood depending on the setting of the water. Your muscles also will benefit because of the alternating treatments. You will feel your muscles relax and stretch out with the hot water, and they will contract and shorten with the cold water. 

Not to mention cold water will wake you up in a heart beat!

So the next time you go to take a shower and you can barely move, remember the contrast shower. Its a cheap, easy, and effective way to relieve stiffness and soreness!  

References:

Shower cartoon courtesy of http://www.clipartguide.com/_named_clipart_images/0511-0901-0516-4420_Man_Singing_in_the_Shower_clipart_image.jpg

11-22-10 Deadlift Day

Deadlifts w/ Quad Looped Mini Bands: 135 3 sets of 5, 185×3, 225×1, 275×1, 315×1, 365×1, (15lb PR), 385×1 (35lb PR), 185 3 sets of 3

DB Rows: 80×10, 90×10, 2 sets of 8

Lat Pull Downs: A bunch of sets

Ab work

11-23-10 Light Bench Day

Close Grip Bench: 100lbs 10 sets of 10

Tate Presses: 50′s 4 sets of 12

Tricep Pushdowns: A bunch of sets and reps

DB Curls

11-26-10 Heavy Bench Day

Bench Press: 45×20,10, 95×5, 135×5, 155×3, 185×1, 205×1 (paused)

DB Bench: 85′sx6, 95′sx6, 85′sx7, 70′sx10

Hammer Curl Presses: 20′s 4 sets of 10

Pec Deck: 4 sets of 10

BB Curls

Overall a solid week of lifting. Was really happy with the deadlifts on Monday, the deadlift workouts have been goin great, and am lookin to pull 550 at the meet. Bench days this week went ok, glad that I’m almost getting back to the 100′s for DB presses again. I’m going to take some time off from flat benching for a while as it seems my progress has stalled tremendously and has been frustrating lately. I doubt I will it miss it much. Cheers to next week being an awesome week of lifting!

If you’re like me, chances are you absolutely hate it when someone puts you down in a way that isn’t constructive. They want to demean you, they want to see you fail, they may even loathe your very existence. So how do you go about doing this?

In the perfect world, you could walk up to this person (or those people) and just slug them in the face numerous times, in upwards of 100 or more. You’d probably feel much better, but chances are you’re going to get slapped with an assault charge and pay heavy fines. So if you’re rich and don’t care about going to jail, mixed martial arts it is! 

For those of us who don’t have the money nor the desire to be locked up, there are other ways of handling your business. Everyone knows exercise is a great stress reliever, and it helps to get the energy out that may be pent up after a long day at work. But heres a quick tip for those looking for some motivation on those days when its just not clicking.

Go back as far as your memory allows you to, and think of EVERYTHING that has pissed you off. Literally everything you can possibly think of that makes you the least bit mad. For some people, this may require thinking back to an ex girlfriend/boyfriend that they want to strangle, and that can set them off to destroy things. Other people may just need to think about their day at work and can present an exhaustive list of items that makes them go bonkers. Use those items to fuel your workouts, as it will help you refrain from getting yourself a trip to prison.

I’m one of those people that has a fairly laid back attitude and it takes quite a bit for me to get angry. However, before workouts I like to go deep inside my cerebral cortex and reach for all the doubters, all the people who put me down, everyone who told I couldn’t do something, and I let it resonate. I let it just build up, and I visualize them standing in front of me while I’m doing a 500lb deadlift with ease with a huge smirk on my face. For me, there is nothing more motivating then to put up with somebody’s shit, and then turn around and make them eat their words.

For your next workout, jog your memory and write down 5-10 things that really make your blood boil and make you a savage animal. Let these thoughts or ideas develop and encompass your mind. Then when the moment comes, you strike down on those thoughts with fury. Picture that person who told you you were a fatass, and go out and run 5 miles as hard as you can. Picture the person who denied you a recommendation for a fellowship, and you go out and ace your exam. Imagine the person who said you weren’t good enough for the all star team, and make a lift that gets your name in the rankings.

This type of motivation helps with both your workouts as well as your life goals such as a job, school, career, etc. Make it your goal to do everything in your power to overcome those negative energies and turn them into something positive. Bitching on Facebook isn’t going to get you anywhere, use your energy to build something great! 

References:

http://cdn2.knowyourmeme.com/i/13854/original/revenge.jpg?1251756630