The Truth and Rocky Balboa

Alright everyone! This is the moment you've all been waiting for! My special guest is none other than Rocky Balboa himself!

In all seriousness let me know what you want to read about so I can tailor my blogs toward my followers! Love hearing feedback whether is positive or negative! I'm Out!

HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

The Truth

The Truth on Blood and Guts

Good morning! Today will be dedicated to DORAIN YATES! He's one of the greats in this industry so if you don't know who he is I suggest you find out!!!!!!!

He's got some awesome stuff out there and I talk about his workout video Blood and Guts on my YouTube.

Here it is:

Have you guys seen it? Let me know and tell me what you think!! Over and Out!!!

The Truth

The Truth on Creatine

Hello Again Truth Troops! Check out my YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/FinalWordOnFitness

Here's my blog for today:

Hope you enjoyed my video! There's more to come!

Don't forget to give me your feedback!

The Truth

The Truth On Lunch Boxes

You gotta lighten the mood sometimes and not take yourself too seriously! Check out the video of me with my handy Lunch Box! Yeah....I have a Lunch Box!

Tell me what you think Truth Troops! Tune in again next week! I may have a special guest but you'll just have to wait and see!

The Truth

The Truth on Quads

I have had one hell of a long weekend and its all leading up to this Xmas. Please Santa bring me my sanity this week. It started with my dog having to be rushed to the vet to find out that he is somewhat paralyzed in his legs. He’s a 150 lb plus Great Dane named Miles who is only 3 yrs old. This sucks. He has something wrong with his discs and its causing him to lose feeling in his legs. Second I try to do a good deed and volunteer by helping a needy family near my house by purchasing $100 worth of toys for the kids. (we had 3 bags for 3 kids do the math!) and the first day wasn’t good enough to meet, then the second day wasn’t right then the time finally comes to deliver the toys and I don’t even get a good thank you or urgency of wow we really needed this. Whatever, its the thought that counts right? Oh yeah then Monday I had to go to the Dentist. So my workout plan below will be expressed in a way of aggravation BUT it will kick ass if you follow it correctly.

Lets do a some Quads!

1^st Exercise-

We warm up on the leg extension machine doing a fairly, light weight to pump the blood into this area and warm up. Do 3 sets of 25-30 reps and squeeze.

2^nd Exercise-

Leg press. Do around 4-5 sets of slowly progressing as you go from set to set. For example warm up with 3 plates on both sides and end up on your last set with 7-8 plates on both sides. TAKE THE 5TH SET OR 6TH SET INTO A HIGH REP SET. Let’s say your doing 10-12 reps then step it up to about 20-25 reps and lower the plates down to about 3- 4 on both sides causing a huge flush into this area of the quads. When you roil off you should be feeling this rush or you aren’t pushing yourself. Don’t wuss out!

3^rd Exercise -

Front squat machine. (If you have access to this, if not do regular squats) I love this machine because it locks you into place and you don’t have to worry about balancing the bar across the front of your chest and shoulders. Lets do the same idea as above slowly increasing the plates as you do your 3-4 sets. Try not to lock out as you come to the top of the squat keeping constant pressure on the legs. The 4th set take the weight down and increase the reps once again to get a nice full flush into the area.

4^th Exercise-

Run back over to the leg extension machine and lets do 3 more sets but hold the extension at the top for 5-6 seconds and release. Use a good weight that isn’t too heavy or too light and one that you can squeeze with no spotter needed. After you perform this you should fall off this bench and be pissed off that it hurts this much.

I divide legs into 2 different days with Quads on one day and hamstrings on another. Try this workout and tell me what you think when you’re done!

The Truth

The Truth On How To Put On Weight

Lets now flip gears here and talk about the total opposite of losing weight and go to gaining weight. I am a strong believer in TO GET BIG YOU HAVE TO EAT BIG!! This will apply here today. So lets begin with a "semi watch what I am eating" and “balls to the wall” diet plan. This is for the people who can eat whatever they want and not get sloppy, like me.

First, lets grab us a very good tasting and high caloric weight gainer on the market, my preference being Smart Gainer. No bullshit I do use this 1 to 2 times a day. The Smart gainer is low in sugar (under 30 grams in which only 17 of it is fructose, the other comes from the lactose off the protein.) Many companies don’t tell you this and that’s why some of the larger named companies (I wont say who) give you that nice bubbly feeling about a hour after and your gut is calling out for help!! Needless to say your on the toilet flushing away all the nice calories and protein your body could of been using for energy and muscle building. So instead of investing in toilet paper grab up the Smart Gainer and lets move on.

Here is a typical weight gainer diet plan: 

Meal 1:

1 slice of wheat toast with butter and jelly

1 cup oatmeal

8-10 egg whites

cup coffee

Meal 2:

Smart gainer shake (2 1/2 scoops I always go over the recommended serving size.)

Meal 3:

8-10 ounces of chicken or steak (flank)

2 cups brocalli

baked potato 8 ounces

10 almonds

Meal 4:

2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on wheat bread

Cup of yogurt

Pineapple chunks (1 cup) helps with breaking down food and absorption

Meal 5:   

8-10 ounces of steak 

1 1/2 cup of basmati rice

large salad w/dressing 

1 cup green beans

Meal 6:

2 scoops of Smart gainer (with 1 scoop of ice cream extra calories)

Meal 7:

If your body can handle this and not become a fat ass overnight, take a daily trip to MICKEY D'S to get a quarter pounder  with cheese, fries and top off  with an Oreo McFlurry 2x a week. This gives you extra protein, carbs and of course fats. Some of us can handle this and others can’t. I guess you’ll know after about 2 weeks of doing this if you absolutely have no abs and your waist has gone from a 32 to a 38. If so this will lead up to the following blog later on how to diet for that wonderful beach body or show time physique baby!

Try this for about 6 weeks and see what happens obviously this is just a small idea to add in with your everyday meals. You can substitute in turkey, ground meat, fish, noodles, etc. Always remember this: TO GET BIG YOU HAVE TO EAT BIG!!! Believe that!!

The Truth

The Truth On Funnies

You have to remember to laugh and not take life too seriously. I don't know if you guys have heard of the annoying orange but I watch his videos every night with my 2 little girls. This guy is hilarious! Check it out:

Get's me every time! Send me your favorite hilarious videos!

The Truth

The Truth On Getting A Nasty Pump In Your Chest

To everyone and anyone, this is the king of all body parts on everyone’s mind. However you put it woman, men, kids, they all love BIG chests...myself included…on women. Now the question that always seems to come up is, “how much can you bench press?". It really goofs them up when I say I don’t even workout. Nah I’m joking but why the fascination with people and the bench-press? Because it represents power! Let me tell you, I have seen guys that weigh 150 bench double their weight and then some but they don’t even look like they train. This is why today we will start with some basic and advanced exercises for your chest.

Dumbbell flat press

This is great for that full chest stretch and builds the thickness needed in the quarter turns on stage or when you’re living up north and you have that nice turtle neck sweater on that fits tight on your chest and you walk threw the dance club fist pumping into the air. People will take notice of that size, trust me those boys from Jersey Shore GOT NOTHING ON ME. They just did their thing at the right time. The guys I grew up with in NY know what I am talking about. OK ENOUGH OF THIS YOU WILL DO, 1 WARM UP SET AND THEN DO 4-5 SETS OF 8-10 UNLESS YOU’RE TRAINING FOR THICKNESS THEN I WOULD DO 6-8 with a much heavier weight.

Incline Dumbbell Press

Same philosophy of the flat press but now the bench is on an angle to hit that upper MEATY PART of the chest right below the chin. This is a great feeling when you get that blood flow up into the meaty area. 1ST SET IS A WARMUP AND THEN PERFORM 3-4 SETS AGAIN 8-10 or 6-8.

Smith Machine

Go over to the Smith Machine and set up a flat bench under the bar. Then bring the bar directly down under your chin like doing a Bench Press but much higher up were the bar is literally rubbing across you chin on the way up and down. This exercise has to be performed carefully with less weight than you norally use so you don’t crush your Larynx on the way down. 3 SETS OF 15 REPS DOING THIS MOVE AND YOUR CHEST WILL BE ON FIRE FROM THE NASTY PUMP YOU’LL GET.

Cable Cross-Over

Do 15 reps again and squeeze the chest real tight as you cross over the front of your chest. I like to go nice and slow on this so ONCE AGAIN YOU GET THAT NASTY PUMP in the whole chest.

This whole exercise training for chest should take only about 45 minutes if you move threw it and don’t wave to everyone and stop and stare at all the woman or men (depending on your preference) in the cardio room sweating their a**es off and dripping all over as they pump and pump to the MUSIC BLARRING. YOU GUYS KNOW WHO YOU ARE AS YOU ARE CALLED PERVERT ROW. These are the machines in my gym that are lined up directly facing the cardio room as they perform their class. Dude! You cant imagine how packed this area is on SATURDAY. These people will never have the ability to join in with me and train. You all know who you are!!!

For the rest of you, let me know what you think. Give me some feedback!

The Truth 

The Truth on Basic Supplement Usage

Lets talk about some basic supplement needs for the average person. This is a good one since I see people post ridiculous info on forums and talking about their SO called cycles. They log all the stuff they are using and don’t know a damn thing about the products they use or can’t really tell if its working or not due to taking to much stuff at one time! I LOVE IT!...NOT! Let me give you the real info on what you need.

Multi Vitamins- For Nutrients

First of all everyone should be taking a multi vitamin of some kind to help their bodies out; replenishing it with all the minerals and vitamins it needs. Check out the nutrition facts on the back of the bottle to see how much you are taking in of each vitamin. For example, if your mutli vitamin has 50% next to Vitamin C that means, this supplement is giving you 50% of the vitamin C you need in 1 day based on a 2,000 calorie diet. With that info you can gear your diet to eat foods that will give you the rest of your daily value.

L- Glutamine- For Recovery

The second best supplement that is highly neglected is Glutamine. Glutamine should be taken at least 3 times a day for a total of 20-30 grams; this is the most effective dosage to feel optimum results. I would suggest taking 10 grams first thing in the morning, 10 grams in the afternoon and 10 grams before bed. This will allow you to recover better and faster from the hard training that day and allow you to feel refreshed and ready for the next day’s challenges. New Whey Nutrition makes a 554gram glutamine that has MSM in it, which will also help your joints and bones stay somewhat cushioned and more flexible.

Protein- For Muscle Mass

Next will be a large jug of protein that contains low sugar, low sodium and roughly around 24-26 grams of protein per serving. The body needs protein, and lots of it to maintain growth and recovery from a rigorous training schedule. Studies show that for best results the body needs to take in 1 to 1.5 grams per lb of body weight to promote growth and stability. So the average 200lb man should take in around 300 grams a day to grow. Divide that up threw out the day and have 6 meals with 50 grams of protein. One of my favorites is New Whey Nutrition’s Multi Pro Whey Isolate.

Weight Gainer- Only for those of you wanting to gain weight

In the off season a good gainer product such as New Whey Nutrition’s Smart Gainer would do some good. It’s high in protein and has good carbs not bad. If you choose another product make sure its somewhat low in sugar unless you’re like me and your metabolism is so fast that it doesn’t really matter. This will allow you to also take in more calories if you’re trying to gain weight, your call.

Feedback

These are just a few of the basic things your body needs on a daily basis. What sort of stuff are you guys taking out there? Let me know what it it, why you take it, and how effective you think it is. Thanks for tuning in!

The Truth

The Truth on Staying Motivated

The week is winding down and I know how that goes, you start eating badly, slacking at the gym…etc. Here’s a little motivation from none other than Sylvester Stallone in Rocky!

 Video: Rocky Training!

No one said it was easy!

The Truth on Ab Workouts #1

Today we will be doing abs baby!

I feel abs have to be done at a fast pace with supersets and constant pressure on them.  That way it will not only make your workout that much more effective but will burn more calories thus helping shred up your midsection. The actual time spent in the gym should be around 15-20 minutes tops if done correctly.

Decline bench crunches supersetted with a rope pull downs exercise

Start by doing 20-25 decline sit ups to the point of where you feel your stomach tightening up then come back down and touch your back to the mat and then repeat it. Continue this for 25 reps and then bang out 10 reps to each side squeezing the tension as we talked about before going side to side.

Jump off the decline bench and run over to the pulleys and set the weight needed. Get on your knees reaching up to the rope and pull it down to your midsection creating that tight feeling as you squeeze the tension.

Repeat both procedures until you have done 3 sets of each. One set taking about 5 minutes or less when done correctly.

Leg raises off the floor supersetted with hanging leg raises (May sub with sit-ups)

Start by lying on the floor raising your feet about 5 inches up and holding for about 25 seconds and then bring them down for a short rest.  Do this 5 times. Slowly work yourself up to where you can hold it off the ground for about 60 seconds or more keeping that constant pressure on the abs. Jump off the ground after doing this 5 times and start hanging leg raises.

This is a hard one to do and takes time to master. Start by hanging from a cross bar and bring your legs up to a tuck position and then lower back down. Do this about 10 times or more based on your experience doing this. If you’re a rookie, then go slow and work yourself up to doing 3 full sets of these.If your really want to go hardcore as I do then grab a 25lb plate and place it in front of you and do your sit ups off the decline bench!! 3 sets of 25 reps. No joke if done right!

Keep In Mind

That should be more than enough needed for abs during one gym session. The key to abs is the squeezing and of course your diet. Also, always feel the exercise, don’t just throw the weight around and run from machine to machine.

Comments

Write to me if you have any questions or comments about any of these. I always want to hear from the Truth Army!

Just check your egos at the door and put away the idea that heavy weights and screaming make the person a bodybuilder. A bodybuilder is exactly what it means BODYBUILDER! You are there to build up and sculpt your body. I see the body as a piece of art and each time you train you are creating and recreating that masterpiece of art until one day you will look in the mirror and say “WOW!” In some peoples cases they look in the mirror and say “OH SHIT” I think I need a trainer! No problem, that’s why The Truth is here!

The Truth About Holiday Eating

Hello everyone it’s that time again for us to talk about the ins and outs of dieting. I bet everyone has just gotten done with Thanksgiving and all that tempting food involved. Lets go over a couple ways to avoid those extra 5lbs of dead, unwanted weight.

That is unless you’re like me and eat as much as your stomach can fit during the off-season. I normally get to about 205, which is 30 lbs over my competition weight of 175-176 at show time. So there is a lot of room in this belly and as they say a lot of junk in the truck. But you better believe this is gone when I finish dieting for shows.

Here are some tips to avoid the potato chips and pre meal junk food usually passed around while sitting around the TV while watching football and listening to your in-laws say the same things over and over again! If you feel me out there give me a HELL YEAH!

Snacks

If you have that choice opt to for the vegetables (such as carrots, broccoli, or celery) do it! Unsalted peanuts and cashews are also good. Most people serve the ones loaded with salt, which will affect your sodium levels so be mindful of that. It’s typical to bring a plate to whomever’s house you are celebrating with, so a great way to keep yourself on track is to bring a snack that fits your criteria to share with everyone.

Stay Hydrated

Drink lots of water or unsweetened iced tea between meals. The more you drink the less room you leave for garbage. This will also act as a mild diuretic and cause you to have several trips to the bathroom to relieve yourself of excess water. Not a bad thing at all. This will fill you up enough to eat just enough turkey, and side items to be polite and still maintain your diet.

Curb Your Appetite

If your sitting around and you know dinner won’t be served for a good 2-3 hrs and water isn’t doing the trick, take a New Whey Liquid Protein Vial. Slowly drink it before or while there. This will help curb your appetite and give you the proper nutrients you need for the day.

Portion Control

When you actually sit down and start to manhandle the food, I mean, serve your self, think of a hand full as the measuring stick. For example, the palm of your hand holds about 5-6 ounces. Measure the food by this. Now don’t reach into the mashed potato bowl and squeeze out a palm full! Do it visually. Limit the gravy to as little as possible and don’t soak your food.

Choose the Right Food

Eat as much vegetables as you want. It’s just roughage in the body and the vitamins and nutrients will be used up by the body and the rest will be discarded at a later time. It’s always better to load up on greens especially if you’re dieting. Remember those days way back when your mother use to yell at you to eat your vegetables so you’ll grow up to be big and strong!!! YEAH BULLSHIT. She should of said eat more protein and you'll grow up to bigger and stronger then the little boy down the road eating his vegetables. What I’m saying is, you need those veggies to be healthy and balanced, but to get big like me, protein is the way to go!

Sweet Tooth

Deserts. Yummy this is the best time around the table during the holidays. Look for something light like apple pie or fruit. This is a tough one to avoid so take smaller portions then you normally would especially if you’re trying to lose weight.

Comments

What are your favorite holiday snacks? I’m not talking about Twinkies and French fries, I’m want to know what healthy snacks keep you on track and what keeps you motivated during the holiday gluttony that goes on?

Until next time Truth Army!

-The Truth

Truth Thursday: The Truth About Life

Ten quotes to follow in your daily life:

“Only the strong survive.”

 “Life is short so live each day to the fullest.”

“Smile, its contagious.”

“Don’t ever under estimate anyone.”

“If you think you cant do it you most likely cant!”

“Never give up!”

“Family is forever!”

“The sun will come out, tomorrow.”

“Because I said so!”

“Those who work hard will be rewarded.”

What are some quotes YOU live by Truth Army?

Workout Wednesday: The Truth About How to Act at the Gym

I think we need to start with gym etiquette before we get into workout ideas and routines so you don’t get your heads ripped off by a guy like me who is totally into my routine and doesn’t have time for ignorance or stupidity. Some people don’t know better so if you’re one of those people learn now with five rules to live by at the gym:

Cleanliness

Always bring your self a towel so you don’t sweat all over the equipment or on the bench. This is common courtesy that you would expect from your fellow humans. But there are the few who apparently think they don’t sweat and when they get up leave huge puddles of swamp ass on the seat or bench. Why?

Hygiene

Brush your teeth and spray some deodorant on before walking into this wonderful closed environment we call the "GYM" and I call HOME! You can say this too if you have trained as long as I have. My point being, I don’t go to your house and stink up your place so don’t do it in mine!

Space

Now this one is one of the worst and I see it happen all the time. You happen to be using a piece of equipment or standing there doing an exercise and some nucklehead walks right up on top of you and invades your space! You look to your left and you look to your right and there is enough area to land a plane on but no…this person has to be in your lap. Again I ask myself why? Just remember to give your fellow gym rat the space needed to breath and you will never get that nasty- I am going to knock you out with my dumbbells look. It could save some of you your lives!

Equipment

Next, please pick up your own weights and put them back were they belong. Unless you’re Ronnie Coleman or Jay Cutler you have no excuse to leave the weights or the equipment on the floor! I’m not your mommy or daddy who needs to clean up after you!

Grunting

Last but not least, THIS IS FOR ALL THE GRUNTERS WHO YELL AND GROWL. If you are going to do this make sure you have more than 135 lbs. on the bench press brother if you’re going to have me and everyone else look at you- please...make it worth my time!

If you can follow these basic rules you are ready to work out. Has any of this stuff happened to any of you? If so, tell me about it. Also, leave me a comment with your gym etiquette peeves for those knuckleheads that don’t know. Until next time, chow.

The Truth