Unleashing The Beast :: FitBob

“Wax on, wax off.” – Mr. Miyagi

“Wax on, wax OUCH!” – me, at the spa yesterday, having my back tidied up.

#getyourmanscapeon

Spring is springing and I’ve been hibernating for a looonnng time… Fortunately, a week of training is in the bag and all systems are nominal.

Registered for my first century last weekend – The Elephant Rock Ride in Castle Rock, CO – and have three months of training til the June 5 date. Training notes and logs will be posted as soon as I catch up on a few things. (In tonight’s case, sleep!)

Hope everyone is having an excellent 2011! I’ll part for now with a fave tweet from @ApoloOhno:

Face ur fears
Understand ur insecurities
Demolish self doubt
YOU are in control, so drive carefully and mash the gas.
#InspireYourself

(His book, Zero Regrets, rocks btw)

“Modern-day warriors are examples of the best that can be achieved through bodybuilding. You don’t have to be an advanced bodybuilder or a Mr. or Ms. Olympia contentder to be a warrior, but you must possess the personal qualities characterized by the following guidelines. These guidelines can be thought of as the warrior’s code, a summary of the things you need to be in order to be the best possible you.

1. Warriors are disciplined people who are committed to excellence. Warriors are dedicated to bodybuilding and give it a priority in their daily lives. They are not afrid to dream or to aspire, but they go the extra step in putting these thoughts into specific, appropriate, and attainable goals and plans.

2. Warriors are positive people. Warriors know that in approaching any situation they really have only two options: to be positive or to be negative. They actively choose to be positive – to realistically build themselves up and approach every situation with a ‘can do’ attitude. Warriors assert active control over their lives by believing and trusting in themselves. They know that they not only must be positive, they must also exude this positiveness. Right thinking must be coupled with right action.

3. Warriors view training sessions as personal proving grounds. They approach their training as the ancient warriors approached their battles, but modern-day warriors do not battle anyone. They do not even battle the weights. Their goal is to join with the weights to become the best they can. Their challenge is to battle their fears, doubts, and insecurities. Bodybuilding warriors are purposeful people who concentrate fully and imaginatively on the tasks at hand. They focus on churning out quality sets with proper form. They feel an inner sense of satisfaction in training the proper way.

4. Warriors are persistent. They know that they are involved in their training for the long run. Warrriors value and even cherish their striving and struggling. They endure discomfort knowing that this is precisely the time when they are best extending themselves physically as well as mentally. They continually push themselves to their own frontiers of growth and development. Warriors accept and learn from their failures and disappointments to become better at what they do. Warriors are always willing to keep on learning and expanding themselves. They are involved in pumping iron ‘for life.’

5. Warriors live a balanced life. They know that in order to consistently put in quality workouts, they must have the rest of their lives in order. They have integrated their beliefs and practices into every area of their lives so they are consistent and congruent. They have learned how to juggle their life roles in order to give each attention while maintaining an overall rhythm. Being a warrior means being a warrior in all aspects of one’s life.

6. Finally, warriors serve others. These people understand that part of their duty is to give something back by helping others. They teach and assist so others can maximize their own progress. In a way, warriors serve as role models so that the novice and intermediate bodybuilders can eventually also become warriors. By continually sharing knowledge and experience, warriors also advance the sport they love.

This code of the bodybuilding warrior, I propose to you, is meant to be a challenge. Do not blindly accept or reject it, but expand upon it to develop your own standards of bodybuilding excellence.”

- excerpted from Mind Pump

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!

– Kipling

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”
- Sun Tzu

“You can’t out-train bad nutrition.”
-Anon

What goes on in the mind directly influences what goes on in the body.

The Weights Will Never Be Conquered

“I have to stay humble, or I go right back to hell. The minute I think I’ve conquered it, I’ve lost it.”
-Muscular Development

Don’t forget that this holds true outside of the gym too!

The road to success isnt straight
Theres a curve called Failure
A loop called Confusion
Speed bumps called Friends
Red lights called Enemies
Caution lights called Family

But if you have a spare called Determination
And an engine called Perseverance
You will make it to a place called SUCCESS

-Anonymous