John Christy November 2008 Journal Entry

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Johns' Journal

November 2008

It's Time to Take Stock

It seems you need to take a different path than the one everyone else takes now-a-days to be successful in anything; making money, raising children, having a relationship with a significant other, getting ahead in your career (academics, sports), and of course to get stronger and bigger. I say this because the success rate in the categories I've listed above isn't good.

The path most take (and continue to look for) is a 'modern-day' shortcut. I say modern-day because most shortcuts (a better term would be 'efficient methods') where explored and discovered a long time ago and wouldn't even be considered shortcuts by today's standards because they require hard work for a period of time. Today's shortcuts rarely get you where you want to go - but they end up making the guy with the shortcut 'map' a lot of money.

What I am getting to is to take a look at how your training is going - NOW - not January 1 like most do (in a alcohol influenced state). Actually you should be taking stock every three months to see if your training - or you - are working!

I want you to take stock now, in November, so that you have a month to get your butt on track to propel you into the New Year.

If you wanted to get bigger, to gain muscle mass this year, did you? How do you know? Is is because you 'feel' bigger? Is it because your shirt is tighter? Those aren't the best ways to find out if what you've been busting your butt in the gym all year to attain, is working or not. You need to break out the tape measure. Does your arm measure bigger? How about your legs, chest, shoulder girth, calves? If you didn't measure to start do it now so that you have a starting point for the future. Weighing yourself is a good way to measure, but it is the most effective when coupled with measuring, and/or reliable bodyfat testing.

Think about this: it sucks to think that you worked an entire year and your measurements (in this case if your goal was to gain muscle) only increased a little or none at all. Now, if you checked every three months you could make the adjustments necessary so that you wouldn't have wasted an entire year of training! Maybe your eating stunk - you 'tried' to work up to 4000 calories but you only took in 2800. Maybe your training got off track and you listened to some tanned idiot trainer whose only lifting experience is his two years in the gym, his three years lifting the top of the tanning bed up, and of course his college education. So, you spent the last 6 months on a special 'pump and blast', 'plank-based' routine (instead of focusing on getting stronger - which of course he informs you will only get you hurt - further supporting his idiot status ) You worked real hard on his routine, and got a great pump - but your strength dropped off the map along with much of your muscle tissue.

The same applies to all goals. Did you really increase your bench press? Have you tested it? Or have you just 'worked real hard' (trying ten different programs in the process) on it so "you know it must have gone up".

What about losing fat? Tape your waist. Get a reliable bodyfat test. Test every month if you want to lose fat.

What I have described is a simple method of accountability. Testing will get you on track - and it will keep you on track.

So, be different than the masses that fail, or at the least fall way short of what they could accomplish. Take some time to check out if you are really on track to achieve what you work so hard (or maybe not hard enough) for. Do it now - in November - so that come January 1st, you will really have something to celebrate and look forward to building on in the New Year.

Till next month - train hard and train smart.

John