Hey all - many people have been asking about the games.  What are they? When are they? What is involved?

Watch THIS video and you will have a much better understanding and then check out the website for other useful info ont eh competition.  This year we as a club (traienrs) chose to put in  a team of athletes to compete int eh games - our team is as follows;

Men; Chaddy B, Matt Bathgate, Dale Hopkin, Devin Ralph, Jason Trinh, Anthony Dudar

Women; Jen Morris, C-unit, Jamie Benko, Vanessa D, Laurie M, Sarah Stoughton, Val Perry

Follow our performances on line and check out our team HERE.

This was sent to me by my good friend Adam Benn who was reading through some old Arthur Saxon texts and found the following;

“In every other branch of athletics by which relative “strength” can be tested, “skill” enters so extensively into the question of pre-eminence as practically to reduce strength to a secondary consideration.    Now, skill enters into Weightlifting as well.  In fact, it dominates the situation quite as fully therein as it does in boxing or wrestling: but then in Weightlifting, and in Weightlifting alone, is skill synonymous with strength.    A really strong man who is unable to lift really heavy weights can only be described as a man who possesses possibilities of strength, while a man who can exceed 250lbs, with either one or two hands (or even 200lbs., supposing him to be a 9 to 10-stone man) is the fortunate possessor of real strength, having been endowed with power itself, which he has further acquired the ability to use”

- Arthur Saxon

I found this very intriguing so I went through a old Saxon book of my own and found a very interesting (yet long) passage worth a read as I think it helps us understand what we do and we we do it.  I personally have struggled (currently and in the past) with deciding - what is fitness and strength for myself personally? I have bounced back and forth many times on the topic and am sure I will continue to, but the following passage is an interesting point of view from Saxon (originally published in 1906).

The usual idea about strength - I mean the idea of the average reader of health magazines - is generally a wrong one.  Although a weight-lifter (and weightlifters are supposed to be very narrow minded in the view of the subject), I hope that I, personally, am broad minded enough to recognize that a man does not prove himself an all-round strong man just because he is able to lift a heavy weight, especially when the weight is lifted once only.  the following is my diagnosis of REAL strength:-

Genuine strength should include not only momentary strength, as proved by the ability to lift a heavy weight once, but also the far more valuable kind of strength known as strength for endurance.  This means the ability , if you are a cyclist, to jump on your machine and ride 100 miles at any time without undue fatigue; if a wrestler, to wrestle a hard bout for half an hour with a good man without a rest, yet without becoming exhausted and reaching the limit of your strength……

The man who can miss a night’s rest or miss a meal or two without showing any ill effect or without losing any physical power, is better entitled to be considered a strong man than the man who is only apparently strong, being possessed of momentary strength, which is, after all, a muscle test pure and simple.  Int eh latter case, where a man raises, once only, heavy weight, all that he proves himself to possess is muscular control and great contractile power, but this does not guarantee sound internal organs, nor does it prove that a man would come out well in an endurance test.  The man capable of long feats of endurance should live longest, and such a man will find his powers of more avail in every-day life than the man who has sacrificed vital strength for an extra few eights of an inch of muscle, and perhaps the ability to raise pounds more in a certain position in a weight-lifting test……

Therefore is a weight-lifting competition were held, I should like to see quite a number of lifts attempted, as is the method on the Continent, and to see each man go on with the lifting without too many opportunities for rest, so that we should not only ascertain who is possessed of the greatest momentary strength but also who is possessed of the enduring strength as well, and it is a combination of these two which makes real strength.

neither do I consider a man a really strong man if he is in certain parts developed out of proportion to others.  If a man has tremendous arms and chest and weak legs then he is only half a strong man.  If he should have strong legs and arms and weak lungs or a weak heart, then again he is by no means entitled to be called a strong man, and some day the inevitable breakdown will occur which will cause carping critics, always ready to attack physical culture to point to such a broken-down athlete and say “Here is a proof of the harm done by physical culture and weight-lifting”, the cause really being that this man has not properly understood physical culture, and has developed one part at the expense of another.  So you see that is a thorough examination could be made of all so-called “strong men” before the public, that only one is twenty is really deserving of the name “strong man”.

- Arthur Saxon (1906)

Kaizen principle:

Borrowing from Japanese philosophy, this itty-bitty and usually overlooked principle can help  you begin seeing gains every workout!

“Anyone who has has been training for along time eventually reaches a point of diminishing returns, making it difficult to produce even a five pound increase in a particular exercise.  Although the increase is only five pounds, it’s still too much.  The problem is even more pronounced - and frustrating with exercises that use smaller weights (ext rot).”

“in the Japanese language the word Kaizen means “constant and never-ending improvement”.  This word is used in all aspects of Japanese life, whether it is in relationships, learning judo, or improving the balance of trade.  The point here is that the Japanese look for constant and gradual improvement.  The Japanese believe that very small refinements made on a daily basis will compound with interest to bring about in the long run progress that most people will envy.  Interestingly, there is no equivalent in English for the word Kaizen.”

” Applying the Kaizen method to weight training means that instead of making a jump of five pounds, you can make an even smaller jump (such as by just one pound).  this makes the weight both physiologically and psychologically easier to handle.  Imagine if you could increase the weight for reps by half a pound a week - in one year that would be a 26 pound gain!  Gets you psyched, doesn’t it?” - Charles Poliquin

I speak of this in class often so think about it next time you are facing a heavy press or a DB ext rotation, maybe 1 pound is something to cheer about or one extra rep. 

Go get ‘em Milo.

I was almost late getting to the gym to teach the noon hour class and I did not even care….why?

..because I was having an awesome day.

I was listening to John Gormleyand he was speaking to Neil Pasricha the creator of the blog “1000 awesome things“.  This is a blog created to take note and reflect on all of all the awesome things in life that we do not usually stop and think about, the more they talked the more excited I got.  I was so excited that I rushed to the book store to get my own copy of the new book “The book of awesome” only to find out that it was not on shelves yet.  This is why I was almost late for class, but I did not care because I was so happy with all the awesomeness that surrounded me.  John and Neil spoke of babies first smiles, freshly zambonied ice, the cold beer, a perfect golf shot, etc.  I started thinking of all my favourite things and the one that came to mind was Roachie, when I leave Roach kenneled for any amount of time (5min-5 hours), it does not seem to matter how long he greets me with such enthusiasm and love that I think I should lock him up again just to let him out of his kennel to be greeted one more time.  Simple things in life can make the biggest differences, a slobbery smack on the face of a young puppy, a smile from a stranger on the street, fresh fallen rain, the first snow fall or perfectly grilled steak - all of these things are great and make life worth living.  I was very happy today to have heard the conversation on the radio and brought that happiness to the gym, where we discussed awesomeness and what it meant.  Some thought playing hooky to go golfing (Keith), having the one task you hate most at work taken off your shoulders (Brooke), waiting for a call from your wife who is expecting child birth at any moment (Knibbsy), or simply loving the clear skies and sunshine (CamJam) was awesome.  It does not matter what is awesome as long as it is awesome to you!

Sorry if i am rambling, but I am still living high off awesomeness from the energy filled noon hour class.

I also brought out one of my favourite books (it is a picture book mostly) “Guardians of being - Eckart Tolle, and showed the class a few great pics of animals and their ability to just ”be”.

Waht is your favurite thing?

These may be a few of my favourite things;

1. Greeting from Roach

2. A gym filled with energetic, ready to get at it people.

3. Women who think being strong and healthy is sexy.

4. Sundays after class, when everyone is goene I get a moment to sit back and just ”be with the gym” - a little piece of heaven.

5. A freshly made bed

6. A new bar of soap

Like I said it does not matter what is awesome, but if it is truly awesome to you.

 - have a good day all!

Chaddy “Peace, Love and Harmony” B

Hey gang,

If you have not heard, Food Inc the movie is playing at Broadway theater all week and CFS is going to be getting together on Friday evening to check it out.  Here is a short description of the movie from the Food Inc. website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXmF_erEv1o&feature=fvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myAEyV5_0ZQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32o2iEEXJCA&feature=related

Give all of these a look and I think it will make your movie experience even better.

If you are interested in attending please meet us at the theater.  Prices for adults at the Broadway theater are $10 and Schwanbeck informed me that you can get a Broadway theater membership for $20 which gets you $3.50 off every movie you see as well as a few free movies - so if you frequent the theater it maybe worth it to look into this option.