90 Minute Delay

When the alarm went off at 4:30am this morning to train legs,.............  I turned it off and said, NO WAY.  After laying back down for five minutes, I jumped up and decided to start my week off the right way.  I heard the wind howling all night long and no idea how cold it be.  I went outside to start my truck and I could hardly breath, the combination of cold air and wind was even more intense than I anticipated.  I came back in....knocked down a protein shake and ended up having one of the best workouts leg workouts I've had in years.

I started out with light leg ext. super set with prone ham curls for 4x20 each just to get some blood flowing.  Then I went over to the squat rack and did a warm-up with the bar 20 reps followed by 135 X 5, 225 x 5, 315 x5, followed by 405 for the first time in over two years.  While playing college football I always squatted and created an incredible imbalance in my physique due to the size of my quads, so I decided to back off and not squat for a while.)

Now back to this workout....my 1st set of of 405 I did 5 reps, next set there was no way I was going to get another 5 clean so I decided to do a drop set.  405x3, 315x5, 225x10......I felt like puking when it was all said and done with.

After this Tony and I went over to leg press and hack squat.  We decided to super set the two going heavy on the leg press followed by  lighter weights on the hack squat.  My final set on the leg press was 14 total plates x 10 reps followed by another 10 reps on the Hack Squat.  After that we ventured over to the seated leg curl where we went high rep 4x20 to blast out the hams, followed by the cybex standing leg-curl super set with seated calf raises.

I was reading Brandon Curry's blog on my-space and he referred to the gym as his sanctuary.  It could not have said any better.  The gym has opened so many wonderful doors for me from educational opportunities, sports, personal training, and bodybuilding.  It also allows me to show everyone around me both the children that I teach and the adults that I encounter the benefits of eating right and making time to exercise.  I honestly don't know where I would be today if Coach Trifone and Coach Sic...didn't pull me into the gym and teach me how to power clean and squat when I was 14.

90 minute delay today so I am able to take my time getting to work.  

Signing off for now, but I may be back later.

Peace and blessings,

Jamel 

First Snow Day

Waking up in the am and turning on the local news station to find out that school has been canceled due to a snow storm is a feeling that words can't describe.  Upon hearing the magnificent news I went back to sleep for an additional two hours before I woke up downed a shake and headed to the gym to train back with Adam.  His style of training is much different than what I am used to so I decided to follow his lead once again.  I have to say my hamstrings are still sore from Monday's workout.  Deirdre came along as well and we put her through our leg workout from Monday in between our sets.  She enjoyed it and was quite sore afterwards.  I let her know the pain intensifies as the days go on and day three she will feel it the most.

Our back out today started off with Wide Grip Reverse Pull downs for 4 sets of 15 pyramiding up in weights on each set.  Next we went into seated hammer strength rows where we focused on the squeeze for for 4 set of 15.  I usually throw around 6 to 7 plates with descent form, however three plates on each side along with perfect form was more than enough this session.  Upon completing this movement we went into these Graviton pull-up with an exaggerated squeeze up top.  We did this by tilting our head back and like we were doing a back flip when we were squeezing up top.  After 4 sets of 15 reps we went into one arm db rows.  Upon completion of the DB rows we went into Seated Cable rows for 4x8 with the stack followed by cable rear delts.  My back felt great today, however I am sure I will be sore tomorrow.

After leaving the gym, Deirdre and I ventured out on the snow and ice filled roads to attempt some Xmas shopping.  She picked a gift for her dad and picked up something for one of my training partners and something for the secretary at the school where I teach.

I also received a very thoughtful gift from Adam today (a Starbucks gift card).  Adam is a very positive kid who is very friendly and always puts forth his best effort in everything he does.  He even picked up this coffee mug for Deirdre which I had all intentions of buying.  Good friends are hard to find so it's important you let them know how much they mean to you.  

Well signing off for now....need to pick up a salad with a chicken breast for my next meal.  Not sure if am training tomorrow.....but hey it's Friday.  Only a few more left in 07.  Until next time stay focused and give nothing but your best.

Peace and blessing,

Jamel

Monday is in the books

Yesterday when I ended my rant, I talked a bit about empathy.  I decided to start this post with a discussion that I had with my class this morning about "placing yourself in someone else shoes."  Of course I had one student that said, "Mr. Keels...your feet can't fit into anyone elses shoes here."  Of course we got side tracked and talked a bit about idioms and then the discussion began.  They were all very receptive and were able to immediately apply what we discussed in classroom situations.  When it was all said done with one of my students came up to me while I was working at my desk and said, "Mr. K....you are the best!"  This caught me by surprise and I said, "Thanks."  He said you are cool like a big brother, but I look up to you like my dad."  I responded by saying, "Thanks that really means a lot to me," and gave him a pound as he exited the classroom to use the bathroom.  Again the people who have an innate sense of empathy are true gems.  Not to say we are giving up on the rest, they just will need  a lot of support in addition to the academic support to bring them to the next level.

Tomorrow's morning meeting discussion will be based on, "Are you doing the right thing when no one is watching."  Of course my kids all think I have eyes in the back of my head and I see all even though I actually don't.

Thanks to Adam today for my workout brutal.  I actually had to start sipping my Vitargo with three exercise left because I felt light headed and dizzy.  We started with Hammer Partial Hack Squats pigeon toed for 4 sets of 20 with only a plate.  Upon completion of that movement we did lying ham curls 4 x 25, followed traditional hack squats 4 x20 with an exaggerated glute squeeze up top.  We then went into seated rest pause leg curls super set with leg extensions for 4 x 20 each.  Not quite sure why I was so nauseous but whatever......it was a great workout and my legs are fried.  Will try and get back to you tomorrow evening.  Peace and blessings.

Jamel

Another weekend coming to an end and once again I have to say that I'm satisfied.  It was a very productive week.  I have been having a little difficulty waking up in the morning for my workouts so I was forced to train a few times in the afternoon which I absolutely HATE.

After my leg workout on Monday I took Tuesday off  and trained chest on Wednesday.  It was a descent workout.....nothing to really boast about.  Started out Incline DB's (only went up to the 100's because that's where they stop.....got 15 clean reps on the first dropped then dropped off  on my second set big time to 6 reps.  From there I went into incline db flys where I just did 3 sets of 15 reps to give my triceps a break before I went into the bench.  I only worked with 225 for high reps in the bench since my chest was so pumped from the prior two exercises.  From their I went on to see Pec for three high rep sets super set with explosive wide grip push ups.

I took Thursday off due a scheduling mishap beyond my control (no comment) and went to the gym on Friday morning and had the worst back-workout I had in a while....was without my training partner and probably should have just gotten the extra rest and trained on Saturday.

Today was a pretty good workout....Deirdre and Tony trained back since he missed it on Friday and my buddy Adam who is town from Cali trained Shoulders with me.  It was a good workout...learned some new techniques to isolate rear delts.  Started with overhead DB presses.  I wasn't feeling as strong today so I decided to stop at 90's and made the decision that next week I will go back to Barbell Overhead Presses.  After overhead presses we went into standing partial side laterals super set with behind the neck overhead presses.  We then went into Push presses super set with DB front raises.  Those Push presses definitely got the heart rate up.  After that I followed Adam's lead and went into some rear delt work from.  To say the least I had hard time turning the steering wheel in my truck while leaving the gym.

Now that I've bored you with my workouts I can share a little about my week in the classroom.  My children actually had a pretty good work of learning considering the excitement of the Holiday Break right around the corner.  We talked about finishing strong and making sure that we make everyday count.  My classroom slogan is "So much to do...so little time." We are already on our 62ND day of school and it seems like we've been there for only 20.  One thing that was reinforced this week was the importance of having a positive male model in children's lives.  The lack there-of manifest itself in so many ways.  In my personal opinion the negative outweighs the bad especially in MOST children

One thing I noticed this week was that a few of my students are truly sincere and have the ability as 3rd graders put themselves in someone elses shoes.  A student accidentally wet themselves and instead of pointing a finger and laughing they attempted to help and stop the other children from laughing and pointing.  Empathy can be a learned behavior, but those who possess it innately are a diamond in the rough.  Signing off for now...I will try my best to post on here soon.

Off to a great start this week.  Today the focal point was Santa Clause and whether or not he is real.  The students are truly in the X-mas spirit and were asking what I wanted to for X-mas.  Before I could respond one of my students blurts out, "How about we get you a bottle of whiskey like Gloria Dump in Win Dixie."  My expression to the comment said it all and I doubt that student will make that comment again.  After that minor incident my students finished the day strong and it was off to the gym to train legs.

My goal is to bring my squat back up to par.  I completely abandoned them the past 4 years in an attempt to bring my upper body up to par with my lower body.  Six years ago when I was squatting 600 plus parallel for 5 plus reps, I would have never thought I say that I could bench more than I squat.  Quite pathetic.  I plan on having my squat back up to 5 plates for a few reps before the end of the January, but today it was just 315 for a measly 5 reps.  Hack squat was pretty strong though...worked my way up to 5 plates on each side.  The rest of the workout was great and my legs were fried.  Had a pretty difficult time demonstrating some functional movements for my clients in addition getting down to stretch them.

Tonight my 6pm worked hard...first day back in two weeks, 7 pm got it done, almost puked, blamed it on the shake he had at 6pm, and my 8pm the workhorse got it done during our conditioning circuit.  

Done typing for now because it's time to get to bed.   I will touch base with you later on in the week.

Regards,

Jamel

Weekend coming to an end :(

Greetings all,

I have decided to get right into it giving you an opportunity to get to know me through Journey of Life as teacher, personal trainer, and competitive bodybuilder.  Today was the first sign of snow during the winter season.  Upon waking I went to D&D to get black iced coffee and made a protein shake where I then headed to the gym and met Tony(training partner) to train shoulders.

I felt rather strong until the 105's literally crushed me on my final rest pause set of overhead presses.  

Thank god for Tony's spot.  After destroying our shoulders we moved onto triceps and concluded a quite productive workout.

In terms of my personal life it was a pretty eye opening experience.  My other half (Deirdre) left for the weekend and I was like a lost puppy.  I had no idea what to do with myself.  I have to complete a few lesson plans to make sure I am adequately prepared for my 18 enthusiastic students on Monday morning.

Signing off now...but will keep you posted this week.  

Warmest regards,

Jamel