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1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?><rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:blogger="http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008" xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/" xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0" version="2.0"><channel><atom:id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410</atom:id><lastBuildDate>Mon, 19 Feb 2024 03:29:28 +0000</lastBuildDate><category>cafeGAINZ Tip of the Day</category><category>I'm Perry'lyzed</category><category>Johnny on the Spot</category><category>Paisley GAINZ</category><category>cafeGAINZ Tip of the Week</category><category>Nellie GAINZ</category><category>Recipes</category><category>Wesay GAINZ = GAINZ MAKER</category><category>cafeGAINZ Etiquette Series</category><category>About cafeGAINZ/Disclaimer</category><category>Disciples of the Scripture</category><category>FRIDAY (...and SATURDAY) NIGHT LIGHTS</category><category>GAINZ Lexicon</category><category>GAINZ-goal</category><category>Johnny GAINZ</category><category>Movie Reviews</category><category>Pilates</category><category>Privacy Policy</category><category>bear-dude</category><category>cafeGAINZ Tip of the Day Widget</category><title>cafeGAINZ</title><description>We're here to provide GAINZ-making information, including training and nutrition tips, anecdotal tales of weightroom valor, and other fun stuff. Hopefully you'll be able to use some of the content to improve your fitness level, health, and quality of life (or to just kill some time...whatev). Feel free to browse the cafeGAINZ blog, including the archives, and leave comments. Remember, making GAINZ is a way of life and a way to have fun.</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/</link><managingEditor>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</managingEditor><generator>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>106</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><language>en-us</language><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>We're here to provide GAINZ-making information, including training and nutrition tips, anecdotal tales of weightroom valor, and other fun stuff. Hopefully you'll be able to use some of the content to improve your fitness level, health, and quality of life</itunes:subtitle><itunes:category text="Health"><itunes:category text="Fitness &amp; Nutrition"/></itunes:category><itunes:category text="Health"><itunes:category text="Alternative Health"/></itunes:category><itunes:category text="Comedy"/><itunes:category text="Sports &amp; Recreation"/><itunes:owner><itunes:email>noreply@blogger.com</itunes:email></itunes:owner><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-2133115790575918567</guid><pubDate>Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:27:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-02-04T13:13:45.066-08:00</atom:updated><title>Throwin' Hands</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.rogerwendell.com/images/skiing/alaw_and_the_lift_line_02-18-2006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.rogerwendell.com/images/skiing/alaw_and_the_lift_line_02-18-2006.jpg" width="640" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
2. </div>Hello GAINZ world!  Sorry for the extended absence...we've all been pretty busy here in GAINZland.  But fear not, Wesay's got your back.<br />
3. <br />
4. I tried Johnny's <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/12/johnny-on-spot-vol-ii.html">heavy bag workout</a> a couple days ago and let me tell you, it's legit.  I started out with a light warm up, then dove right in to the explosive punches followed by the jabs.  Johnny recommended two minute intervals but I forgot when I started so I did about three one-minute intervals in the beginning.  It was only then that I realized Johnny would have said, "hey GAINZ-maker, it's two minute intervals, guy..."  So I stepped my game up and did a few two minute intervals.<br />
5. <br />
6. To everyone's surprise I'm sure, I'm actually not used to mashing my hands into dense, fleshy objects so I focused more on the speed of my hands than the power of my punches.  Also, I wasn't wearing gloves so I didn't want to pull a <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2002/02/22/maggette020222.html">Corey Maggette and break my hand</a> against something that I thought was softer than it actually was.  <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-JA2MDL7UY">Are you ready for Maggette</a>?  Didn't think so.<br />
7. <br />
8. I kept the rest periods to a minimum and checked my heartrate as well.  I think the highest it reached was around 90-something.  Not too high for me, but higher than when I want to go postal on everyone at work...so that was a plus.  (Look out for a feature on heartrate monitors in the future.)  My chest, arms, back, and, especially, shoulders felt a nice pump during the workout....not the 'saturated' pump feeling that comes with lifting weights, but more of a muscle 'buzz' that was a hyrbid between cardio and the aforementioned ferrum lifting.<br />
9. <br />
10. Anyway, the actual workout itself wasn't too difficult for me, but I would imagine it'd be difficult for anyone not used to explosive movements.  And although I didn't find it overly taxing, I was sure as shit sore in my lats for the next couple of days.  No wonder boxers have such coveted V-shaped backs.  So give it a college try.  I would imagine this workout would integrate easily in any circuit training.  I will definitely be sure to incorporate more boxing workouts into my training, not only because of the latisimus dorsi benefits, but also so I'm a little more prepared the next time someone asks me if I "want to throw hands" as I glide into ski lift line.  You never know when shit is gonna go down.  <br />
11. <br />
12. <div style="text-align: right;">Yours in GAINZ,</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
13. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: right;"&gt;-&lt;i&gt;Wesay GAINZ&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2010/02/throwin-hands.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-2485776194609522142</guid><pubDate>Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:48:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-01-20T22:48:06.224-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Johnny on the Spot</category><title>Johnny on the Spot: Vol III</title><description>&lt;i&gt;The world's still abuzz over the news dropped here &lt;a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2010/01/johnny-and-his-next-gainz-goal.html"&gt;last Tuesday that our own Johnny GAINZ is training for an MMA fight&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; Johnny's going to destroy!&amp;nbsp; He stops by with another "&lt;a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/search/label/Johnny%20on%20the%20Spot"&gt;Johnny on the Spot&lt;/a&gt;" to show us how he's started his 'pre-training' for the showdown.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
14. <br />
15. <br />
16. <object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AUiCbjDi45U&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AUiCbjDi45U&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
17. <br />
18. <div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:28 PM  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><b>Johnny</b>: </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUiCbjDi45U" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/<wbr></wbr>watch?v=AUiCbjDi45U</a></span><br />
19. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:29 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">those are the burpees i did today, then shadow boxed for 45 seconds, then rest for a min...did that only 3 times and i wanted to puke</span><br />
20. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">10 of those burpees</span><br />
21. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:30 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: hahaha nice</span><br />
22. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:31 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><b>Johnny</b>: i got the shadow boxing part off of <a href="http://bodybuilding.com/" target="_blank">bodybuilding.com</a></span><br />
23. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: did you use dumbbells?</span><br />
24. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><b>Johnny</b>: yeah...10 pounders my mom has here</span><br />
25. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: send me the shadow boxing link</span><br />
26. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:32 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><b>Johnny</b>: <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/rossboxing2.htm" target="_blank">http://www.bodybuilding.com/<wbr></wbr>fun/rossboxing2.htm</a></span><br />
27. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:33 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">that workout was based on a standard burpee</span><br />
28. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">but i felt like i wanted to incorporate a few more muscle groups</span><br />
29. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: so you did that by shadow boxing?</span><br />
30. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:34 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><b>Johnny</b>: no, i used the enhanced burpee</span><br />
31. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">with weights</span><br />
32. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: oh ok</span><br />
33. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:35 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><b>Johnny</b>: the enhanced burpee does not involve jumping, it is squat down, kick legs out, push up, row, row, jump up, clean squat shoulder press</span><br />
34. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: so after 3 supersets you were dead?</span><br />
35. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:36 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><b>Johnny</b>: yes, extremely</span><br />
36. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: wow, that sounds pretty intense actually</span><br />
37. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><b>Johnny</b>: by the time i got to the shadow boxing after the second and third set, i was basically only throwing jabs and ocassional straight rights</span><br />
38. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:37 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">i could barely keep my hands up</span><br />
39. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: 10 of the burpees would kill me</span><br />
40. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">...if i was doing them at a good pace</span><br />
41. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><b>Johnny</b>: yeah </span><br />
42. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">and they got slower and slower</span><br />
43. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: hahah ok</span><br />
44. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:38 PM </span><br />
45. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: yeah i would imagine....its hard to keep up the quickness towards the end of explosive workouts</span><br />
46. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><b>Johnny</b>: yes, it was my first time doing them so my last two sets i wanted to make sure i gathered myself after every burpee</span><br />
47. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: thats why most trainers recommend smaller sets when training explosively</span><br />
48. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">ok</span><br />
49. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:39 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">is this part of your MMA training?</span><br />
50. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><b>Johnny</b>: partially</span><br />
51. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">i have not officially started training exclusively for mma yet but this is great workout to get into shape</span><br />
52. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:41 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">and it does work many of the muscles i will be using</span><br />
53. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">i want to get into shape cardiovascularly before i jump with both feet into my mma training</span><br />
54. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: cool.  when does your exclusive MMA training start?</span><br />
55. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:42 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><b>Johnny</b>: well, i am not sure on the official date of my fight yet</span><br />
56. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">tenatively end of may beginning of june is when the fight will be held</span><br />
57. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:43 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: i see.  well, best of luck Johnny.  GET AFTER IT!</span><br />
58. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:44 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><b>Johnny</b>: so i am just trying to get into shape and start training some of the muscles i will need to use so when i do start, i wont have to go through the first few weeks of soreness due to having not used those muscles before</span><br />
59. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">thank you Wesay</span><br />
60. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: its like optional workouts before training camp</span><br />
61. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">i like the dedication</span><br />
62. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">thanks, Johnny</span><br />
63. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">1:45 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><b>Johnny</b>: the pleasure is mine</span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"> </span><br />
64. </div>Now don't let Johnny down!  Go out there and try this workout for yourself.  And as always, let us know how you liked it. <br />
65. <br />
66. <div style="text-align: right;">Yours in GAINZ,<br />
67. </div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
68. </div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>-Wesay GAINZ</i><br />
69. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2010/01/johnny-on-spot-vol-iii.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-3512843500209050756</guid><pubDate>Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:09:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-01-18T12:09:30.660-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Movie Reviews</category><title>Bigger Faster Stronger* Review</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cinemademerde.com/Bigger_Faster_Stronger-befnaft.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.cinemademerde.com/Bigger_Faster_Stronger-befnaft.gif" width="400" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
70. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
71. </div>What up GAINZ world?  Yours truly recently watched a movie by Chris Bell called "Bigger Faster Stronger*" which analyzed steroid use in America and the general notions associated with them.  The movie was semi-autobiographical of Mr. Bell and was shot in a similar style to any recent documentary or any Michael Moore movie (yes, there was some "over-the-top-ness").  I went into the movie not knowing what to expect, but it turned out to be an excellent movie; one that pretty much anyone could enjoy. <br />
72. <br />
73. Allow me to put on my Ebert-hat and break down some of the main points/themes of the movie and how they affect the GAINZ world.<br />
74. <br />
75. <b>*********SPOILER ALERT**************</b><br />
76. <br />
77. A running theme throughout the movie is Chris' personal choice not to do the <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/11/cafegainz-lexicon.html">JUICE</a>, while his brothers, Mark and Mike, consistently use.  Chris' decision is based on his own moral view that "steroids are bad" and that the one time he did try them earlier in his life he felt guilty about it.  On the other hand, his older brother (I forget which one is which) juices as a means to chase his dream of becoming a big time wrestler/movie star.  I know the older brother's storyline sounds lame and contrived, but it's pretty sad to see this borderline middle-age man continue to chase a dream that everyone knows he cannot achieve.  He even moves out to Caleeforneeya to become a star.  DERP!<br />
78. <br />
79. The younger brother juices to help him compete for powerlifting titles.  Chris competes in these events too, but fails to do well because he's pretty much the only guy not 'roided up.<br />
80. <br />
81. Basically the line separating the three brother is a moral line which Chris will not cross.  The other brothers cross the line not because they think what they're doing is amoral, but because their views on what is moral differs from Chris'.  Interesting considering they all come from the same upbringing.<br />
82. <br />
83. In the end, I believe one's own "moral line in the sand" is the over-arching theme of the movie for the GAINZ world, but a number of other issues are examined as well.  One of those issues is whether steroids are actually bad for your health.  A number of people in the movie passionately 'testify' that they are not.  Chris' older brother states that the juice shrinks his nuts/sack, but that they return to regular size when he's finished the cycle.  Other lifelong bodybuilders state that juicing hasn't had the negative effects on them that are reported in the mainstream.<br />
84. <br />
85. An AIDS patient argues that steroids saved his life because they gave him an appetite and made him stronger.  I really believed this guy, but that may been because his forehead was larger than Barry Bonds' and his jaw was bigger than Leno's.  So much for the sickly, feeble AIDS look...<br />
86. <br />
87. On the other hand, one man claims that steroids directly caused the death of his teenaged son.  Chris interviews the man who swears that steroids caused his son severe depression, which led to his son's suicide.  It's a very touching subject, but Chris very professionally asks for proof that juicing was the cause.  No proof is given.  The father, in a genuine and passionate fashion, simply says "he knows."  It really feels like the father is searching for something to blame and latching on to it.  In any event, it seems like we still don't really know anything about steroids yet.  <br />
88. <br />
89. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.steroidreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/2007-arnold-classic-victor-arnold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.steroidreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/2007-arnold-classic-victor-arnold.jpg" width="223" /></a><br />
90. </div>Another issue is the hypocrisy of steroid use, which many examples are given.  One example is The Governator.  Simply put, steroids helped him to dominate the Mr. Olympia which led to worldwide fame which led to acting which led to more fame which led to a position in George Bush's exercise committee which led to Total Recall which led to governance of the State of Caleeforneeya.  Undoubtedly Arnold has a will to succeed that surpasses 99.99% of the world's population, but only a <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/11/cafegainz-lexicon.html">fugazi</a> would believe that steroids didn't help him in some way.  And it was hypocritcal when he later denounced steroid use but to this day still sponsors bodybuilding events where the competitors are completely juiced up and <a href="http://www.ironmagazine.com/blog/2009/ifbb-pro-victor-martinez-supplement-store-in-dominican-republic-allegedly-sells-steroids/">some have been suspected of steroid-related crimes</a>.<br />
91. <br />
92. It was also hypocritical of him to have Gold's Gym in Venice Beach take down his photos in an effort to distance himself from steroids.  <br />
93. <br />
94. <br />
95. Another point of hypocrisy is the dudes on the covers of fitness magazines.  They usually look muscular (but not overly so) and lean.  Well, one of them admitted to steroid use and pretty much indicated that it was an industry wide thing.  Thus, they aren't being totally honest when they say Hydroxycut is all that's needed to have a body like theirs.  Again, another example of steroids helping someone advance in their career.<br />
96. <br />
97. The movie also gets into steroids in sports and uncovers some gems:  perhaps Ben Johnson v. Carl Lewis wasn't as bad as it sounded (although I'll always support the American) and perhaps Barry Bonds isn't the steroid-villian he's made out to be (a particularly riveting press conference in which he calls out all the reporters for cheating).  I'm not defending any of these guys right now, but the movie does give you something to think about.  And that's what movies, especially documentaries, should do.<br />
98. <br />
99. There were so many other points/scene I wanted to write about, but I recommend you Netflix Bigger Faster Stronger* and come to your own conclusions.  And draw your own moral line in the sand.  I'll leave you with a deleted scene from the movie.....at least our boy <a href="http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-7300121136952888%3Aoxghhshzmmr&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=cutler&sa=Search">Cutler</a> keeps it real<br />
100. <br />
101. &lt;object height="344" width="425"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vE6uegoRiFk&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp;rel=0"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vE6uegoRiFk&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2010/01/bigger-faster-stronger-review.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-5311636661479317658</guid><pubDate>Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:46:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-01-16T11:46:43.008-08:00</atom:updated><title>This Just In!</title><description>Well, not really, but it's pretty recent:&amp;nbsp; Utah Jazz rookie &lt;a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4708"&gt;Sundiata GAINES&lt;/a&gt; sinks a game-winning 3-pointer against the Cleveland Cavaliers.&lt;br /&gt;
102. <br />
103. <object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tMWO7t0b7d8&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tMWO7t0b7d8&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
104. <br />
105. There's been some rumors that this guy GAINES is related to us GAINZ.  I wouldn't doubt it...we're clutch.  I'll look into it when I finally start the GAINZ genealogy search I promised a long time ago.  <br />
106. <br />
107. <div style="text-align: right;">-Wesay GAINZ<br />
108. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2010/01/this-just-in.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-1734288070681536594</guid><pubDate>Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:37:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-01-12T12:38:17.396-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">GAINZ-goal</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Johnny GAINZ</category><title>Johnny and His Next GAINZ-Goal</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6EimMs4YeRhVPHCNuL3RWUQcupfsYTWichnrAskydRzo-W0DPLw3iVl59M2tkd9KHsoKMQLccx7Ie7XerTj5ocwTq7e_u0Iamtk91xTGcmEqoksmuJvtAU0acbvljFDrTy5EzQyfZRc/s1600-h/prodigy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6EimMs4YeRhVPHCNuL3RWUQcupfsYTWichnrAskydRzo-W0DPLw3iVl59M2tkd9KHsoKMQLccx7Ie7XerTj5ocwTq7e_u0Iamtk91xTGcmEqoksmuJvtAU0acbvljFDrTy5EzQyfZRc/s640/prodigy.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
109. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
110. </div>First off, let me say this:  My mind is blown from the "<a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/search/label/I%27m%20Perry%27lyzed">I'm Perry’lyzed</a>" 3 part series.  Well done Wesay.   It is about time Perry got the credit he deserved in the workout world.  <br />
111. <br />
112. <i>Where is Johnny?</i>  That is a question many of you have probably asked yourself in between <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/search/label/Johnny%20on%20the%20Spot">Johnny on the Spots</a>.   Well, Johnny has been spending most of his time contemplating his next GAINZ-goal.<br />
113. <br />
114. For those of you unfamiliar with the GAINZ-goal, I will explain (although it's pretty self-explanatory).  A GAINZ-goal is a fitness goal one wishes to achieve.   It can be any number of things.   For instance, it can be slimming down to the dress size you have always wanted to wear, or attaining a ripped weight you have always wanted to weigh, or a max you have always wanted to be able to lift.  GAINZ-goals can go even further than this.  You might want to be the starting point guard for your basketball team or you might want to climb Mt. Everest.   All of these are valid GAINZ-goals.<br />
115. <br />
116. Which leads us to Johnny's GAINZ-goal:  I’m going to step into the cage during summer of 2010 for a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_martial_arts">mixed martial arts</a> fight.  I know, I know, you are probably thinking, what in the world would lead Johnny to this GAINZ-goal? Well, Johnny has always been a fan of MMA and boxing.<br />
117. <br />
118. I started training in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Jiu-Jitsu">Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu</a> about 5 months ago and became completely addicted to it.   Let me tell you, jiu-jitsu is pure GAINZ!   Besides the obvious physical GAINZ, there is just as much mental GAINZ that can be obtained from practicing martial arts.   And during my BJJ training I was contemplating my next GAINZ-goal because I hadn’t had a legitimate one in a while.  So I thought to myself, what could be more GAINZ than an amateur MMA fight?<br />
119. <br />
120. The dedication and discipline it takes to cut the weight and train for a fight is almost unparalleled. You know Johnny’s mantra, "Train Hard, Eat Right, make GAINZ!" As simple as it sounds, that’s what first came to mind when I was thinking about my GAINZ-goal, and that is what I am going to be doing for the next 5 months of my life.  I'm going to be training in wrestling, multiple martial arts, and boxing in preparation for the fight, while also watching my diet and cutting the necessary weight.  I am excited for the New Year and achieving the next GAINZ-goal of my life.  You should be too.<br />
121. <br />
122. <div style="text-align: right;">Train Hard, Eat Right, make GAINZ!!<br />
123. </div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
124. </div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>-Johnny GAINZ </i><br />
125. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2010/01/johnny-and-his-next-gainz-goal.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" height="72" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6EimMs4YeRhVPHCNuL3RWUQcupfsYTWichnrAskydRzo-W0DPLw3iVl59M2tkd9KHsoKMQLccx7Ie7XerTj5ocwTq7e_u0Iamtk91xTGcmEqoksmuJvtAU0acbvljFDrTy5EzQyfZRc/s72-c/prodigy.jpg" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-7963966294091471092</guid><pubDate>Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:07:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-01-11T08:07:00.107-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Paisley GAINZ</category><title>A Nasty Monday Surprise</title><description>&lt;i&gt;&lt;a href="http://paisleyesquire.blogspot.com/"&gt;Paisley GAINZ&lt;/a&gt; sent this to me last Monday, and I figured I'd post it today since it's Monday again. This is gold...but I hope Paisley's recovered enough to go to that gym again. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
126. <br />
127. <div style="text-align: right;"><i>-Wesay</i><br />
128. </div><br />
129. Earlier tonight I thought I'd have a regular Monday night workout at the gym. I expected the normal Monday unpleasantness -- a little extra crowding -- every bench being monopolized by meat heads trying to make their chests look like baboon asses. But tonight, another unpleasantness lurked in the locker room. Someone had a very bad night indeed, but how rude of him to scare so many other people, by leaving his shitty underwear in a locker. I'm sorry he totaled his shorts, but how uncool to leave his briefs with a wet doodoo pie center like a booby trap in an unlocked locker.<br />
130. <br />
131. <div style="text-align: right;"><i>-</i><i>P. GAINZ </i><br />
132. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2010/01/nasty-monday-surprise.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-2011506930932191588</guid><pubDate>Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:48:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-01-06T20:05:09.956-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Paisley GAINZ</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Recipes</category><title>Spelt Pasta</title><description>&lt;i&gt;Our resident GAINZ chef drops in for a sick fresh pasta recipe...and yes, it's GAINZ!&amp;nbsp; I need to get myself a pasta maker.&amp;nbsp; Read on!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
133. <br />
134. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiekgO1u-qtnjIy8tWALKfB6tcT9JIy7X-m6N3zULh_rvfDDyXC5dgPwd9zu30l9j-UhPEkujde-Lxd5Nz7aWBSITf1322HksPN76SzZ-H3h0elMTM0iLtpyQjXsxMRSHRvG43PEEQYeT7G/s1600-h/Image042.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiekgO1u-qtnjIy8tWALKfB6tcT9JIy7X-m6N3zULh_rvfDDyXC5dgPwd9zu30l9j-UhPEkujde-Lxd5Nz7aWBSITf1322HksPN76SzZ-H3h0elMTM0iLtpyQjXsxMRSHRvG43PEEQYeT7G/s320/Image042.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; min-height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a>Anyone who's tried fresh pasta at an Italian restaurant knows it has a unique texture that can't be found in dried pasta.  I've seen fresh pasta in my local grocery store, but finding it in the whole grain variety isn't as easy as finding it in the refined flour variety.  I love the fresh pasta texture, but it would just not be GAINZ to eat too much refined flour.  That's why I recently broke out my pasta maker and came up with a nice whole wheat and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelt">spelt flour</a> egg white noodle.  <br />
135. <br />
136. Making fresh pasta is a little labor intensive, but getting a nice fresh pasta texture as well as the freedom to incorporate a variety of interesting whole grains makes the extra work well worth it.  <br />
137. <br />
138. The noodles pictured to the right are made from half a cup each of spelt flour and whole wheat flour, as well as two egg whites.  Just throw the flour in a bowl and mix it together, then toss in the egg whites and knead it into a thick dough.  It should be as dense and thick as bread dough.  The humidity in my kitchen was perfect for this dough, but if your dough just won't come together, you can sprinkle in a little bit of water.  <br />
139. <br />
140. Follow the instructions on your pasta maker to produce your noodles.  This dough is intended to go through the pasta makers that run the dough through two rollers, not an extruder.  I like to roll this pasta out into a sheet of medium thickness before cutting it into linguine.<br />
141. <br />
142. Cook it in a large pot of boiling water for about two minutes.  Mushy pasta sucks, so watch your cooking time.  Fresh pasta overcooks very quickly.  It would be a shame to put all the labor into your pasta, only to end up with a pot of wet oatmeal.  <br />
143. <br />
144. Throw your cooked pasta into your preferred sauce and then toss it together.  I used some lean turkey chili in the photo.  <br />
145. <br />
146. Fresh pasta can be a difficult task, but if you put in the time, you'll find that it's well worth the effort.<br />
147. <br />
148. <div style="text-align: right;">-<i>Paisley GAINZ </i><br />
149. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2010/01/spelt-pasta.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" height="72" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiekgO1u-qtnjIy8tWALKfB6tcT9JIy7X-m6N3zULh_rvfDDyXC5dgPwd9zu30l9j-UhPEkujde-Lxd5Nz7aWBSITf1322HksPN76SzZ-H3h0elMTM0iLtpyQjXsxMRSHRvG43PEEQYeT7G/s72-c/Image042.jpg" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-512335328186167291</guid><pubDate>Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:16:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-01-01T14:16:20.645-08:00</atom:updated><title>New Year's Workout Resolution</title><description>&lt;div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w25/jjh4/Holidays/New%20Years/NewYearsResolution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="400" src="http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w25/jjh4/Holidays/New%20Years/NewYearsResolution.jpg" width="358" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
150. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
151. </div>Ok, let's just get this out of the way now: New Year's Workout Resolutions (NYWRs). We hate them. They're cheesy, they're lame, and nobody ever sticks to them. The only real effect of NYWRs is converting the gym floor into a parking lot a la L.A rush-hour traffic for the first few weeks of January.  <br />
152. </div><br />
153. <div></div><div>They waste the time of all parties involved.  The NYWR-person's time is wasted because any made GAINZ disappear just as fast as they arrived, so said person might as well have saved time by hitting up the Dairy Queen extra early.  The GAINZ-maker's time is wasted because s/he can't move freely around the gym due to the extra congestion.  And Dairy Queen's time is wasted because they aren't making any money in January, forcing them to contemplate shutting down a few franchises......only they remember that the trend is temporary because NYWR-guy is walking through that door in t-minus-2-weeks.<br />
154. </div><br />
155. <div></div><div>I can see the appeal of the NYWR though.  "Let's try this again....derp."  But let me take you through the life-cycle of the NYWR:  It's a new year --- start from a clean slate --- gonna get in shape, gonna make those GAINZ --- proceed to make GAINZ --- then.........NOSEDIVE!!!!  Perhaps you'd like to see it in list form.<br />
156. </div><br />
157. <div></div><div>Week 1:  made GAINZ 6 out of 7 days<br />
158. </div><br />
159. <div>Week 2:  made GAINZ 6 out of 7 days<br />
160. </div><br />
161. <div>Week 3:  made GAINZ 4 out of 7 days<br />
162. </div><br />
163. <div>Week 4:  been busy at work (or some other lame excuse)<br />
164. </div><br />
165. <div>Week 5:  trollin' for Cheetos (and zero made GAINZ of course)<br />
166. </div><br />
167. <div></div><div>Ok, now I'm going to pull a complete 180 on you.  The real problem doesn't lie in the NYWR itself.  It lies in the mentality of the particular person who lacks the will power, effort, and, most importantly, planning and organization necessary to facilitate a life-long commitment to the GAINZ lifestyle.  In fact, the New Year is a great time to start forging that commitment.  But diving in head first is folly.  <br />
168. </div><br />
169. <div></div><div>It's better to start out slow than to just jump in because burn-out will occur.  Anyone that decides to enter the world of GAINZ <u><b>needs</b></u> to have a plan.  Thus, an organized, coherent, thoughtful plan of attack is mandatory for any NYWR success.  Without one, failure is inevitable.  So if you're ready to make the leap and really make 2010 the start of your GAINZ journey, you're plan should include at bare minimum monthly fitness goal benchmarks for the entire calendar year.  Bi-monthly would be even better.  Then tailor your workouts to meet those goals. <br />
170. <br />
171. And make your goals realistic and attainable....START OFF SLOW!  Not meeting goals leads to frustration and disappointment, whichs leads to abandonment of the NYWR.  Setting attainable, legitimate goals will help one stay on track and build momentum.  Eventually, you're workouts will become intense (and you'll enjoy them) and results will come.  As Johnny likes to say, "Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither were my legs."  Real GAINZ take time and effort, but it's worth it; that way they will endure even through minor ANTI-GAINZ setbacks.  In other words, losing too much weight, or gaining too much muscle, too soon is fool-hardy because those GAINZ will disappear the moment one hits a bump in the road.  And there will be bumps in the road; its called life. <br />
172. <br />
173. So if you're really serious about stepping up your GAINZ, take the time to plan it out, just as you would anything else that's important in your life (e.g. career, vacations, etc.).  Seriously, set aside some time to sit down with a calendar or day planner and make a GAINZplan.  Keep notes of your progress on your calendar or day planner so you have a convenient place to look at your new GAINZ in relation to your goals.  And with that, I wish you all a Happy New Year and good luck with your NYWR!<br />
174. <br />
175. <div style="text-align: right;">May the GAINZ be with You,<br />
176. </div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
177. </div><div style="text-align: right;">-<i>Wesay GAINZ</i><br />
178. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-years-workout-resolution.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-3950969733414387655</guid><pubDate>Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:55:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-29T20:57:17.200-08:00</atom:updated><title>Fun Size Elliptical Trainer</title><description>&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
179. <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=c0899-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B000VICRO8" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br />
180. </div><br />
181. <div style="text-align: left;">Hey there mini GAINZ-makers, got a question <a href="mailto:cafegainz@gmail.com">via email</a> today from a devoted reader inquiring about the GAINZ of a certain product:  the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VICRO8?ie=UTF8&tag=c0899-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000VICRO8">Stamina 55-1610 InMotion E1000 Elliptical Trainer</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=c0899-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000VICRO8" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" />.  The devoted reader wrote:<br />
182. </div><ul><li>"its an InMotion elliptical that is super small and only like $100. thinking about adding it to the home gym. having some trouble with my stationary bike because the resistance is too weak. i added weights but its still too easy. suggestions welcome."</li>
183. </ul>Suggestions forthcoming, my friend.<br />
184. <br />
185. When analyzing the GAINZ of any new product, I like to categorize the type of GAINZ it presumes to manifest, its method of making said GAINZ, and, in situations where I haven't personally tried it out, its perceived effectiveness.<br />
186. <br />
187. The elliptical trainer discussed herein obviously emphasizes cardio GAINZ.  Getting your heart rate up and maintaining it for long intervals is a great workout for your heart and your other cardio-respiratory thing-a-ma-jigs.  This type of workout is also helpful, but not the end-all-be-all, in keeping a trim, fit figure.  Diet is just as important.<br />
188. <br />
189. The method of making cardio GAINZ with this elliptical trainer is similar to that of any other elliptical machine.  You hop on, move your legs in a low impact fashion, and, hopefully, sweat.  This particular elliptical trainer, however, is fun-sized and intended for home or office use.  The Amazon product description proclaims:<br />
190. <ul><li>"Forget the gym. Now you can enjoy a full cardio workout in the comfort of your home or office with this compact elliptical trainer from Stamina Products. Unlike full-size ellipticals, this trainer doesn't have arms or a front console. Instead, the trainer is essentially foot pedals only, with a chassis that's small enough to store under a desk or in a closet. Despite the small size, the trainer still packs a workout wallop, letting you burn a similar number of calories as jogging but without the risk of injury to the back, knees, hips, or ankles. Just keep your feet moving on the pedals--which continually oscillate in a low-impact manner--and you're set. Other details include sturdy steel construction, non-slip pedals, and an electronic fitness monitor that tracks the number of strides per minute, total number of strides, exercise time, and calories burned."</li>
191. </ul>Sounds OK, I guess...but I wouldn't "forget the gym" just yet.  Lets look at the pros and cons (perceived effectiveness):<br />
192. <br />
193. <b>PROS</b>:<br />
194. - Low impact workout:  good for those with past injuries or those who simply need a break from running<br />
195. - No arms or front console:  I'm calling this a pro for now because without the arms, it seems like it forces you to balance on the machine.  Balance work is GAINZ and will be a benefit until your body adapts.<br />
196. - Cheap and portable: speaks for itself<br />
197. <br />
198. Now the, <b>CONS</b>:<br />
199. - Size: the elliptical trainer is really small so I question its durability<br />
200. - Boring: I don't know about you all, but it seems boring as shit to me<br />
201. - Lack of programmed workouts:  Full sized ellipticals provide varied resistance according to pre-programmed workouts, which this does not<br />
202. - No arms:  now its a con because the arms can provide upper body resistance<br />
203. <br />
204. Thus, the pros and cons sort of balance out.  I suppose its like any other piece of workout equipment...it's only as good as the workout one puts into it.  That's kinda like our motto....man.<br />
205. <br />
206. So to summarize, the elliptical trainer emphasizes cardio GAINZ like any other elliptical, but allows one to make the GAINZ at home or at the tech job, and one must also incorporate balance because there are no arms.  However, the user determines how much GAINZ can be gotten, not the machine.  If your typical workout is something like "I hop on for 30 mins and crank out some killer cardio," your workout is wack.  Try using the elliptical trainer as part of a circuit.  For instance, do alternating intervals of 'sprints' and 'jogging' on the elliptical for 15 seconds each for 1 - 2 minutes, or whatever you can manage to start out.  Then, to make up for the lack of upper body training, hop off and <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/11/drop-down-and-give-me-50.html">perform explosive push-ups</a>.  Then do some core/ab GAINZ.  Then do the entire circuit two more times!  Keep rest periods to a minimum.  If you're not sweating and breathing hard after that, you're not human.  Tweak the workout to make it more difficult once it becomes easy.<br />
207. <br />
208. I hope the devoted reader finds this helpful.<br />
209. <br />
210. <div style="text-align: right;">Yours in GAINZ,<br />
211. </div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
212. </div><div style="text-align: right;">-<i>Wesay GAINZ</i><br />
213. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/12/fun-size-elliptical-trainer.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-7747792112867048744</guid><pubDate>Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:29:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-25T12:29:16.632-08:00</atom:updated><title>Merry Christmas from cafeGAINZ!</title><description>We hope you got everything you wanted this Christmas...you deserve it!&amp;nbsp; Remember, train hard, eat right, and make GAINZ...starting tomorrow.&lt;br /&gt;
214. <br />
215. <div style="text-align: right;">Merry Christmas,<br />
216. </div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
217. </div><div style="text-align: right;">-<i>cafeGAINZ</i><br />
218. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/12/merry-christmas-from-cafegainz.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-9080252830071194879</guid><pubDate>Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:08:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-22T22:08:57.063-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">I'm Perry'lyzed</category><title>A Very Perry Christmas</title><description>Hey Everybody,&lt;br /&gt;
219. <br />
220. Just wanted to add some final notes to the <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/search/label/I%27m%20Perry%27lyzed">Perry Diaries</a> that graced cafeGAINZ a couple weeks ago.  A friend of mine told me about the website <a href="http://arrivealive.proboards.com/">http://arrivealive.proboards.com</a>.  It's awesome as it's 100% completely devoted to the Legend of Perry.  There, you will find hidden Perry treasures from all corners of the world wide web.  You will also be able to jive it up with fellow Perry worshippers.  Feel free to join the club, they will welcome you with "open arms," as they did with me. They're a real fun bunch!<br />
221. <br />
222. Also, as you can see on the left-hand side of the page and in this very post, I've provided a link to The OFFICIAL <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=2J0dnoDyU2I&offerid=146261.794817532&type=10&subid=">cafeGAINZ - "I'm Perry'lyzed" Playlist</a>.  Do yourself a big favor and make some GAINZ to it today!  You will push past whatever meddling plateau you're currently stuck at.  This stuff is good.<br />
223. <br />
224. And finally, some recent discussion on the Arrive Alive board has centered around the idea of  "what if Perry released a Christmas album?"  Well, that pretty much put everyone into a frenzy.  Seriously, could you even imagine Steve belting out "Jingle Bells" or "O Holy Night"?  My face would melt.  Well, one of the most devoted users of the site came upon <a href="http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/steve-perry-makes-festive-return/">this nugget</a>.  It's just too bad it isn't true.....but it's still worth the click to check it out.  We can dream can't we?<br />
225. <br />
226. So, I leave you with this, a ludicrous albeit entertaining spoof on what could have been...(and I promise to lay off some of the Perry-mania for a while):<br />
227. <br />
228. <object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BY8yPJVogUs&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BY8yPJVogUs&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
229. <br />
230. <div style="text-align: right;">-<i>Wesay GAINZ</i><br />
231. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/12/very-perry-christmas.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-5659546266152005713</guid><pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:37:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-20T22:37:27.535-08:00</atom:updated><title>Sunday GAINZ</title><description>&lt;i&gt;After taking in some (poorly played) football this Sunday, Wesay GAINZ went to the gym to blow off steam and solidify his GAINZ.&amp;nbsp; Here's his manuscript:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
232. <br />
233. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.clovisyouthfootball.com/pb/wp_1c9e7d09/images/img343149ac340e1209a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.clovisyouthfootball.com/pb/wp_1c9e7d09/images/img343149ac340e1209a.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
234. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
235. </div>My team of choice played like crap today.  Screw 'em, it was time to make GAINZ anyway.  Before heading to the gym, I decided to mix things up a bit and search for a workout that I hadn't done before.  I perused the October 2009 issue of <a href="http://www.menshealth.com/">Men's Health</a> with Obama on the cover and quickly came upon their 2009 Poster Series entitled "The Peak Fitness Workout: Your Strong and Lean Plan".  <br />
236. <br />
237. "That'll do," I cracked.<br />
238. <br />
239. The workout depicts a series ten of exercises intended to help you "reach your physical prime using a blend of unique exercises."  It also lists additional conditioning work to be performed at the end of the 'lifting.'  Each exercise is paired with another so that the entire workout consists of "supersets."  For those new to the lingo, a superset is the combination of two or more exercises performed one after the other (typically without rest in between).  The workout is further broken down into 3 sub-workouts, each to be performed once a week.  Naturally, I started in order with the first sub-workout (which seemed easier than the others).  <br />
240. <br />
241. As always, I started things out with a total body stretch and warm up (jump rope).  Then I slid over to the squat rack aka Wesay's House to begin the workout.  The first superset consisted of <a href="http://www.menshealth.com/men/fitness/workout-plans/peak-fitness-fast/article/ac577ea369683210VgnVCM10000030281eac/2">"Barbell overhead lunge" and "Hyperextension with dumbbell scarecrow and twist."</a>  <a href="http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-7300121136952888%3Aoxghhshzmmr&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=twist&sa=Search">I always love a clever twist</a>!  The former required 20 lunges whilst holding a barbell overhead as directed, and the latter required 12 to 20 reps of the lower back exercise you usually see <a href="http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid604541211?bctid=1250574078">old men and young co-eds doing</a>.  The latter also required "bend[ing] your elbows to 90 degrees, rasin[ing] your upper body, and twist[ing] to the right."  The next rep would be performed twisting to the left...naturally.  Rests period in between sets and exercises were kept to a minimum to enhance the cardiovascular effect.  The workout recommends 2 - 3 sets per exercise...you know I did 3.  <br />
242. <br />
243. The next workout superset consisted of <a href="http://www.menshealth.com/men/fitness/workout-plans/peak-fitness-fast/article/ac577ea369683210VgnVCM10000030281eac/3">"Barbell bus-driver rotation (12 - 20 reps)," "Barbell squat and one-arm press (10 reps each side)," and "Barbell drop squat and row (10 reps each side)."</a>  (Please see the link, they are hard to describe).  I have to be honest, I didn't realize I was supposed to do the last one.  The instructions in the magazine for the workout are a bit confusing, but I will incorporate the drop squat in my next workout to be fair.  The barbell bus-driver was tougher than expected and really worked the core.  I whole-heartedly recommend this exercise.  The squat was also relatively tough since it challenges balance as well strength.  Towards the end of this superset is when I began to really sweat.  Usually I start sweating early during my own workouts, so I was doubting this workouts' effectiveness.  But, the sweat came and I started to feel the work I was putting in.  YES.<br />
244. <br />
245. <br />
246. After finishing the second superset, I left my stuff at Wesay's House (as if I needed to mark my territory) and snagged a sip of water.  That's when the Tom Foolery began.  Apparently while I was gone, two mini-<a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/11/cafegainz-lexicon.html">bench monkeys</a> decided now was the time to screw up my superset action.  One entered the curtilage of Wesay's House and proceeded to take cell phone pictures of the other <a href="http://video.sportcentric.com/mediacache/19/tmp10320071112165434.flv.jpg">posing like the guy at the right of this picture here</a>.  Too bad he's no <a href="http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-7300121136952888%3Aoxghhshzmmr&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=cutler&sa=Search">Jay Cutler</a>.  What a couple of marmalukes...I bet they sent the pictures to some Fem-gazis (i.e. female version of the <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/11/cafegainz-lexicon.html">Fugazi</a>...a post for another day).  Anyhow, they quickly scurried away to the <a href="http://ww1.thefind.com/qq-pec-deck?cm_mmc=SSP-_-sports-_--_-pec%20deck">pecdeck machine</a> upon my triumphant return. <br />
247. <br />
248. The last superset consisted of <a href="http://www.menshealth.com/men/fitness/workout-plans/peak-fitness-fast/article/ac577ea369683210VgnVCM10000030281eac/4">"Pushup and row combination" and "Inverted row."</a>  This is where the workout really began to test me.  The burn was intense, but not as intense as I usually feel in my own workouts....it was the overall fatigue that was testing me.  Usually I can do 20 pushup and row combinations no problem, however, my rep progression was a meager 16, 14, and 12.  Rep progression for the inverted rows was 21, 20, and 16.  I was in full-on hyper sweat mode at the end of this superset...and my breathing was labored.  Yep, this workout's legit.  <br />
249. <br />
250. The last bit of this day's particular workout called for conditioning in the form of "Plate pushes," wherein a weight plate is placed on the floor and pushed 10 yards with one's hands while driving with one's legs.  I did 5 sets as recommended with little to no rest in between sets.  INTENSE QUAD BURN!!!!  Honestly, I could have done more, but I was definitely exhausted and people were looking at me funny because I looked like an animal.  Also, I want to do the other sub-workouts later this week and don't want to burn out.  <br />
251. <br />
252. In sum, this is was pretty sick workout, but nothing you or I can't handle.  One can cheat by resting too much in between sets or using too light of weights.  But if you train hard, you will make GAINZ as I did.  Try it out for yourself and let us know how you like it.<br />
253. <br />
254. <div style="text-align: right;">Train hard, eat right, and make GAINZ!<br />
255. </div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
256. </div><div style="text-align: right;">-<i>Wesay GAINZ</i><br />
257. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/12/sunday-gainz.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-5514925974464673142</guid><pubDate>Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:07:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-18T15:07:34.169-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Nellie GAINZ</category><title>Enter the Meltdown</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
258. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dvorak.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/britney_spears_shaving-hair-bald.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.dvorak.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/britney_spears_shaving-hair-bald.jpg" width="377" /></a><br />
259. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
260. </div>Everyone feels the pressure during the holidays.  And with the recent economy, the added financial stress combined with friend, family, and other work obligations are enough to cause anyone to blow a gasket.  So what should you do when you feel a catastrophic meltdown coming on?<br />
261. <br />
262. Recently I experienced a stressful situation, came dangerously close to a meltdown, but held strong thanks to some new anti-melt tips I just learned.  Now I'd like to share them with you.  Hopefully the tips can help spare you the rage and get you back on track.<br />
263. <br />
264. What started as a great day took a sudden turn for the worst when my usually trusty computer refused to behave.  Of course, in most situations, such a glitch would be a minor annoyance, BUT with the holiday fever underway my temper reached its boiling point a lot faster than usual.  Cursing technology turned to threats of mechanical harm.  Idle threats of course....ok, well, I did throw a capped pen in the direction of my monitor...<br />
265. <br />
266. So, you are probably asking, "what's the lesson, Nellie?  I haven't got all day!"  And here it is:<br />
267. <br />
268. <b>THREE GAINZful ways to avoid melting</b> like a supermodel in desperate need of a sandwich (or a bench-monkey during a 'roid cycle):<br />
269. <br />
270. <b>1.  Just Breathe.</b><br />
271. <br />
272. Oxygen is the primary key component in all exercise and GAINZ making activity.  While you may not realize it, frustration and anger can quickly take your breathing from GAINZ to anti-GAINZ.  Stress robs you of oxygen by causing your muscles to tighten resulting in shorter shallow breaths.  <br />
273. <blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 40px; padding: 0px;"><br />
274. "Here's what happens: Breathing oxygenates every cell of your body, from your brain to your vital organs. Without sufficient oxygen, your body becomes more susceptible to health problems. For example, in a study published in <i>The Lancet</i>, cardiac patients who took 12 to 14 shallow breaths per minute (six breaths per minute is considered optimal) were more likely to have low levels of blood oxygen, which "may impair skeletal muscle and metabolic function, and lead to muscle atrophy and exercise intolerance."<br />
275. <br />
276. In contrast, deep breathing raises levels of blood oxygen, promoting health in many ways — from stimulating the digestive process to improving fitness and mental performance." <a href="http://health.discovery.com/centers/althealth/deepbreath/deepbreathe.html" target="_blank">Discovery Health</a><br />
277. </blockquote><br />
278. Proper oxygen intake increases concentration, calms the nervous system and speeds the healing process. <a href="http://www.livestrong.com/article/29289-oxygen-water-benefits/" target="_blank">LiveSTRONG</a><br />
279. <br />
280. Thus, GAINZ breathing is full and deep through your diaphram.<br />
281. <br />
282. <object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_TUZiiMy1iI&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_TUZiiMy1iI&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br />
283. <br />
284. But if you don't want to be that guy lying down with a flower on your stomach; here are a few other GAINZful suggestions on ways to increase oxygen in your system.<br />
285. <ul><li>Work it out: Go for a run, do some jumping jacks, take up some GAINZ advice</li>
286. <li>Strike a pose:  Yoga is a great way to relax and get your breathing back to normal.</li>
287. <li>Dance Dance Revolution:  Blast your happiest music and tear the house up with your cool moves.</li>
288. </ul>In sum: GAINZ makers breath deep!<br />
289. <br />
290. <br />
291. <b>2.  Take a time out.</b><br />
292. <br />
293. Sometimes the best thing to do in a stressful situation is nothing.  Everyone should have a special place to go where they can get centered.  For me, its the beach.  Feeling the wind on my face and hearing the waves crashing against the beach lets me know that no matter the situation I'm facing at the moment, it will pass. <br />
294. <br />
295. <b>3.  Listen to Popeye and eat your Spinach!</b><br />
296. <br />
297. Spinach is a great source of magnesium and magnesium may be a key component in helping your body counteract the negative effects of stress.  The National Institute of Health (NIH) found:<br />
298. <br />
299. <blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 40px; padding: 0px;"> Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong. Magnesium also helps regulate blood sugar levels, promotes normal blood pressure, and is known to be involved in energy metabolism and protein synthesis [<a href="http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium.asp#en2" style="color: #02535a; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">2-3</a>]. There is an increased interest in the role of magnesium in preventing and managing disorders such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. [<a href="http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium.asp#en1" style="color: #02535a; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">1-3</a>,<a href="http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium.asp#en4" style="color: #02535a; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">4</a>].<br />
300. </blockquote><br />
301. So, how does magnesium play into your body's reaction to stress?<br />
302. <br />
303. According to <a href="http://www.healthy.net/scr/Column.aspx?Id=74" target="_blank">Dr. Galland's Integrated Medicine by Leo Galland M.D., F.A.C.N</a>:<br />
304. <br />
305. <blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 40px; padding: 0px;">"When stressed for any reason, the body's hormonal reponse causes an outpouring of magnesium from cells into plasma.... The effect of the sudden increase in magnesium is both energizing and calming. Magnesium is needed to burn sugar for energy; it also calms the excitation of cells produced by the stress-induced release of calcium. <b>If there is insufficient dietary magnesium, or if there is insufficient rest in between episodes of stress, the body's magnesium stores are slowly depleted.</b> The hormonal response to stress disintegrates. The plasma magnesium does not elevate in response to stress as it should, so that the energizing/calming effect of magnesium is not present to counter the nerve-jangling effects of adrenalin and other stress hormones. Consequently, the disorganizing effects of stress are intensified and coping is impaired. Higher blood pressure, abnormalities of your heartbeat and an increased risk of heart attacks or of angina (cardiac pain) may be one result."<br />
306. </blockquote><br />
307. "Thus, stress, whether physical (i.e. exertion, heat, cold, trauma--accidental or surgical, burns), or emotional (i.e. pain, anxiety, excitement or depression)and dyspnea as in asthma increases need for Magnesium."  <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7836621" target="_blank">NIH</a><br />
308. <br />
309. So, I'm no doctor, but I admit after a few days of taking <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OP5N12?ie=UTF8&tag=c0899-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000OP5N12">magnesium supplements</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=c0899-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000OP5N12" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" />, I do feel a lot calmer.  Always when adding supplements to your diet, PLEASE consult with your doctor first.  On the other hand, adding more spinach to your diet is all GAINZ.<br />
310. <br />
311. Hopefully, this piece gave you a few ways to help you manage your stress level this holiday season.<br />
312. <br />
313. Have a merry christmas and a very GAINZful new year!<br />
314. <br />
315. <div style="text-align: right;">-<i>NG</i><br />
316. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/12/enter-meltdown.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-4222976867920020368</guid><pubDate>Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:08:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-16T13:12:06.867-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Pilates</category><title>Fugazi Hippie Smelly GAINZ?</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.rapo.com/icrgallery/Pilates-ShortBox%20WEB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="408" src="http://www.rapo.com/icrgallery/Pilates-ShortBox%20WEB.jpg" width="640" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
317. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
318. </div>Recently Nellie GAINZ and I attended a beginner <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilates">pilates</a> class at our local gym.  It was my first experience with pilates so I wanted to share it with the café.  Here's a quick recap of what led up to my jump into this unknown world, some of the stuff we did in the class, and my thoughts on beginner pilates.<br />
319. <br />
320. At first I was a little skeptical of this 'pilates.'  I had done some <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/12/special-holiday-tip-delux-edition.html">yoga</a> on my own in the <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/11/cafegainz-tip-of-day-tuesday-nov-27.html">past</a> and really enjoyed the flexibility and pain-free lower-back it provided me, but pilates just sounded weird.  I understand the whole hippie appeal that yoga targets; pilates on the other hand just sounds like some fugazish bs.  I didn't want to waste my time trying to make fugazi hippie GAINZ that would simply never manifest.  But at the behest of a dear pal and Nellie GAINZ, I decided it was time to give it a college try.  I think the "don't judge a book by its cover" corollary applied.<br />
321. <br />
322. Here are some other reasons why I decided to try pilates: (1) I really had no clue what it was and as a certified GAINZ-maker my creed mandates I try all 'GAINZ' at least once, (2) Nellie was REALLY excited about it since she had a good experience with 'active stretching' in the past, and (3) my pal also really recommended it after trying a couple of sessions for his lower-back rehab.<br />
323. <br />
324. Once I overcame my fears of some smelly hippie practicing downward facing dog style on the mat next me, I picked out a particular Monday night (a bad MNF game that night) that worked for us and we made the journey to the gym.<br />
325. <br />
326. I'm pretty sure I had a panic attack on the drive over.<br />
327. <br />
328. I probably even tried to back out (smelly hippie practicing downward facing doggie style flashbacks).<br />
329. <br />
330. We finally arrived and I was terrified.  As we entered the group training room, I spotted Pal and his gf.  I pretended not to be afraid.<br />
331. <br />
332. And then class started.  The instructor started us out with some type of wild arm flapping whilst sitting in a leant back position.  The point of this movement was to keep the core tight and warm up the upper-body with the arm flapping while controlling breathing.  It was pretty easy for most in class.  Next, we did some one-legged poses while wiggling the free leg.  These poses focused on balance and flexibility.  Again, pretty easy….for me anyway.<br />
333. <br />
334. As class went on, the exercises became a little more difficult as evidenced by the sweat on the soccer moms’ collective brow.  Yours truly wasn’t phased.  But it wasn’t because this was some kind of sissy workout.  I wasn’t phased because, as time went on, I realized that I already incorporate each exercise, or some variation thereof, in my workouts.  I’m really not trying to brag, but I was somewhat impressed that my workouts have become so diverse that they include pilates staples without me even knowing it.<br />
335. <br />
336. We moved on to some ‘active bridging and planking’ which basically entails keeping our torsos tight and suspended by our various limbs while working and stretching whatever free limbs we had left.  It was definitely a total body workout.  We even did some ab crunches.<br />
337. <br />
338. Class ended with one final plank hold for about a minute.  Most students were melting at that point.  I was still kewl, and so was Nellie (we’re legit).  Pal was winded but hung in there…I can see why he needed the class:  his core was not strong and contributed to his back issues.  It’s great when one can recognize a weakness and attack it head on.  That’s what cafeGAINZ is all about.<br />
339. <br />
340. Here’s my final take on beginner pilates: If you don’t work out regularly, it is a GREAT way to ease yourself back into getting exercise because it’s not overly strenuous and develops the building blocks for GAINZ: flexibility, balance, and core strength.  Also, even if you do get regular exercise, a beginner pilates class can be used as baseline to measure the GAINZ building blocks.   Thus, if the class is <i>too</i> challenging, one would understand that their current GAINZplan is lacking.  If the class is too easy, rest assured you are making well-rounded GAINZ.  Obviously, Wesay found the latter to be the case.  I hope all of you reach that milestone as well!<br />
341. <br />
342. <div style="text-align: right;">May your GAINZ be plentiful and diverse,<br />
343. </div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
344. </div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">-<i>Wesay GAINZ</i></span><br />
345. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/12/fugazi-hippie-smelly-gainz.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-5147362797620346638</guid><pubDate>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:24:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-10T22:24:06.507-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cafeGAINZ Tip of the Week</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Johnny on the Spot</category><title>Johnny on the Spot: Vol. II</title><description>Johnny's back for another volume of "&lt;a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/search/label/Johnny%20on%20the%20Spot"&gt;Johnny on the Spot&lt;/a&gt;," cafeGAINZ's long-running series in which our very own Johnny GAINZ provides a new fitness tip for the masses.&amp;nbsp; I'm just kidding, it's not a long-running series...yet (it's only our second volume).....BUT, it will be a long-running series as J.G. and W.G. love giving the people what they want: GAINZ!&amp;nbsp; OK, that's enough blabbing from me.&amp;nbsp; Check out our chat transcript about sick total body cardio:&lt;br /&gt;
346. <br />
347. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://wawam.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/manny-pacquiao.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://wawam.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/manny-pacquiao.jpg" /></a><br />
348. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
349. </div><br />
350. <span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><br />
351. <div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">hey Johnny, give me a quick tip...</span><br />
352. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:15 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"></span><br />
353. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">I know you're a man of immense GAINZ knowledge</span><br />
354. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:16 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnny</span>: dude...i started hitting the heavy bag for cardio</span><br />
355. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">unreal</span><br />
356. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:17 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">i have like a million muscles that are sore</span><br />
357. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">back, chest, core, arms, even my legs a little bit</span><br />
358. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:18 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">shoulders</span><br />
359. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: that is nice...nothing better than activating new muscle fibers.<br />
360. </span><br />
361. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnny</span>: started off by just doing 2 min intervals</span><br />
362. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: i actually don't have much experience with a heavy bag....although my enemies would tell you differently...haha</span><br />
363. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:19 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnny</span>: yeah me neither...this gym i started working out at has one in the basement</span><br />
364. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: so what do you actually do for those 2 minutes when you're hitting the bag?</span><br />
365. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnny</span>: just unload, jabs, hooks, straights</span><br />
366. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:20 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: ok....sounds like it might be good for dealing with stress too....haha unload</span><br />
367. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnny</span>: haha..yeah, it is</span><br />
368. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: any advice for your stance or footwork?</span><br />
369. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:21 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnny</span>: i mean, i'm right handed, so i stand with my left foot slightly forward</span><br />
370. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">i actually looked on <a href="http://bodybuilding.com/" target="_blank">bodybuilding.com</a> for an <a href="http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/articles-submit/ramsay-taplin/heavy-bag-workout.html">actual workout</a></span><br />
371. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:22 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">it's like 20 seconds fast punching, 10 seconds slow punching or jabbing, 20 seconds fast punching again, so on and so forth until i get to two min</span><br />
372. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">i rest for a min, then do it again</span><br />
373. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: wow, seems intense....i wouldn't expect anything less from J. GAINZ</span><br />
374. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:23 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnny</span>: it is very intense</span><br />
375. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:24 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: two more quick questions....1) how many intervals do you do and 2) how does it differ from regular cardio (like jogging on the treadmill)?</span><br />
376. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnny</span>: well, i try and go about 10 min or so of actual punching, so that is 4 to 5 intervals</span><br />
377. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:25 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">i want to build up to more but it is a lot harder than it sounds</span><br />
378. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:26 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: ok</span><br />
379. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnny</span>: it differs from regular cardio because it is a higher intensity form of training</span><br />
380. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:27 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">it is more like sprinting rather than jogging</span><br />
381. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">and i like it because it works many more body parts than conventional cardio</span><br />
382. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:28 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">like i said earlier, arms, legs, back, shoulders, chest</span><br />
383. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:30 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: you know what? that just pumped me up! my neighbor has a heavy bag that he said I could use anytime.....im gonna hit that bad boy tonight before my league basketball game.</span><br />
384. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">  </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;">As always, thanks for the spot, Johnny!</span><br />
385. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnny</span>: no problem</span><br />
386. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">me</span>: continue to Train Hard</span><br />
387. </div><div><span style="color: #888888; display: block; float: left;">2:31 PM </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnny</span>: you too brother</span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"> </span><br />
388. </div>So go out there and get after that heavy bag!  <a href="mailto:cafegainz@gmail.com">And be sure to let us know how it went</a>!  If 4-5 two minute intervals is too tough at first, scale back to 3 intervals at a minute-and-a-half until you build some stamina and muscle memory.  Also, <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson111.htm">here is another link</a> discussing the benefits and 'how to' of attacking the heavy bag.  That's all for now...Peace!<br />
389. <br />
390. <div style="text-align: right;">Yours in GAINZ,<br />
391. </div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
392. </div><div style="text-align: right;">-<i>Wesay GAINZ</i><br />
393. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/12/johnny-on-spot-vol-ii.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-1408661200933647409</guid><pubDate>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:11:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-08T14:16:48.508-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Paisley GAINZ</category><title>Wet Shorts Salad Spinner</title><description>&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;I hope everybody has recovered from the &lt;a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/search/label/I%27m%20Perry%27lyzed"&gt;Perry-mania that dominated cafeGAINZ last week&lt;/a&gt;...I know I'm still in recovery mode.&amp;nbsp; I think Johnny went comatose; he's a fanatic.&amp;nbsp; Be on the lookout for some fitness tips later this week.&amp;nbsp; In the meantime, check out this killer piece I just received from &lt;a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/search/label/Paisley%20GAINZ"&gt;Paisley&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; He gives some good advice relating to new gym equipment...beware. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/i&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
394. </div><div style="text-align: left;">- <i>Wesay</i><br />
395. </div><br />
396. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6622618-0-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6622618-0-large.jpg" width="361" /></a><br />
397. </div>A few days ago I went to a freshly opened gym. It's one of the few gyms where I live that has a pool, so I took my goggles and made some aquatic cardio GAINZ to finish my workout. While waiting for the shower, I discovered a new piece of aquatic-related training equipment. <br />
398. <br />
399. The guy waiting in front of me in the shower line pointed at a metal box bolted to the wall and asked what it was. I had no idea. I lifted the top off of the apparatus and saw what looked like a tiny washing machine. It turned out to be some kind of salad spinner to dry wet shorts. I advised the guy in line in front of me what it was. He thought it was cool, but I expressed to him my concern about a device in which I deposit my shorts that I just wore commando in the same place where other guys also put their shorts in which they also just wore…commando...too familiar.<br />
400. <br />
401. A moment later, two oafs <b>- </b>who had been swimming over lane markers and generally hating on everyone's aquatic GAINZ with their fun time in the pool - approached the ‘salad spinner.’ Oaf 1 proclaimed to the other his love of the salad spinner and ran to the apparatus with a washcloth over his junk. In went his beer logo swimming shorts, and the apparatus started shaking and buzzing. After the demonstration Oaf 1 said to Oaf 2, “the other day I came in here with boogers on my shirt. I threw em in there and it came clean.”<br />
402. <br />
403. Here's the question: is the salad spinner GAINZ?  I'm not sure. It removes some of the hassle of carrying wet clothes after doing cardio in the pool. But if you have one at your gym, you may want to assess the natives first and make sure they're not using it to clean any solids off their clothes.<br />
404. <br />
405. <div style="text-align: right;">-<i><a href="http://paisleyesquire.blogspot.com/">Paisley GAINZ</a> <br />
406. </i><br />
407. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/12/wet-shorts-salad-spinner.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-2021897969729173851</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:43:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-04T14:57:40.008-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">I'm Perry'lyzed</category><title>I'm Perry'lyzed: Part III</title><description>&lt;i&gt;This is the third and final part of a three-part series entitled “&lt;a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/search/label/I%27m%20Perry%27lyzed"&gt;I’m Perry’lyzed&lt;/a&gt;”.&amp;nbsp; Check out Parts I and II &lt;a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/search/label/I%27m%20Perry%27lyzed"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; Enjoy! (You can get the entire Greatest Hits album at &lt;a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=2J0dnoDyU2I&amp;amp;offerid=146261&amp;amp;type=3&amp;amp;subid=0&amp;amp;tmpid=1826&amp;amp;RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fus%252Falbum%252Fdont-stop-believin%252Fid169003304%253Fi%253D169003415%2526uo%253D6%2526partnerId%253D30" target="itunes_store"&gt;&lt;img alt="Journey - Journey: Greatest Hits" height="15" src="http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/images/badgeitunes61x15dark.gif" width="61" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;
408. </i><br />
409. <br />
410. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://treesflowersbirds.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/perry_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://treesflowersbirds.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/perry_1.jpg" width="326" /></a><br />
411. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
412. </div>OK my fellow GAINZ-makers, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for all week:  The thrilling conclusion of <i>I’m Perry’lyzed</i>.  I hope you’re as excited as I am.  I know Perry is.  Here we go!<br />
413. <br />
414. <div style="margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -22.5pt;">12.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">    </span>“We sailed on together, We drifted apart, And here you are by my side” – <b>Open Arms</b>.  <br />
415. </div><br />
416. Remember at the end of Part II, when I talked about how one feels if their spotter, workout partner, or brother-in-arms is supposed to meet at the gym, but then bails?  Well, this is what happens when he shows up after bailing!  Now everything’s gonna be alright and you’ll be able to set a new max reps military press feeling confident that your partner will be there to make sure the weights don’t come crashing down on your head upon delt failure.  See, I told you things wouldn’t stay sad for long!<br />
417. <br />
418. <div style="margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -22.5pt;">13.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">    </span>“The girl can't help it, she needs more, He hasn't found what he's lookin' for, They're still standing in the rain, He can't help it, and she's just that way” – <b>Girl Can’t Help It</b>.<br />
419. </div><br />
420. Time to get serious for a second.  DON’T DO STEROIDS.  DO NOT <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/11/cafegainz-lexicon.html">JUICE</a> (derogatory version).<br />
421. <br />
422. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://files.sharenator.com/768150548_a8e25cf066_Steroids_are_good-s440x412-14363-580.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://files.sharenator.com/768150548_a8e25cf066_Steroids_are_good-s440x412-14363-580.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
423. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
424. </div> If you do, you will end up like the poor fugazi in this song.  See, he did steroids and his manhood shrunk.  It was so bad that even Extenze couldn’t help.  Hence, “she needs more.”  He always thought that having a ‘roided out body was the key to success in life.  Well, he learned the hard way when his (ex-)girlfriend dumped him for his excessive roid-raging and for losing his manhood.  Heed this warning, friends.<br />
425. <br />
426. <div style="margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -22.5pt;">14.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">    </span>“Send her my love, Memories remain, Send her my love, Roses never fade, Send her my love” – <b>Send Her My Love</b>.<br />
427. </div><br />
428. Before I moved to my current location, there was a certain gym I frequented most every day.  Johnny used to go there too.  <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/search/label/Paisley%20GAINZ">Paisley</a> still hits it up.  Unfortunately, a lot of freaks and wack-jobs pretended to work out there (they were really just juicing).  Notwithstanding those clowns, I have TONS of great memories of the place.  It’s where I set personal records for bench max, squat max, weighted pull up reps, weighted dip reps, and tears shed.  As far as pure strength, I was never stronger than when I went to that gym.  (In retrospect, maybe I was juicing by osmosis…..seriously, there were that many juicers there.)  I’ve been fortunate to be in that gym’s good graces a few times since the move, and every workout I do there is top-notch.  Every time I go back I see a friendly face I haven’t seen in a while.  I love that place!  While I’m away, I send her (the gym) my love, memories remain…<br />
429. <br />
430. <div style="margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -22.5pt;">15.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">    </span>“Be good to yourself when nobody else will, Oh be good to yourself, You're walkin' a highwire, caught in a crossfire, Oh be good to yourself” – <b>Be Good To Yourself</b>. <br />
431. </div><br />
432. We’ve made it to the last song on the Greatest Hits album!  High-energy, inspiring keyboard riff, Perry raising his game…check.  What a way to end things!  And the message is clear and concise: be good to yourself no matter the circumstances!  Treat your body right by eating healthy, exercising, and making overall life GAINZ (hey, that’s what this site is all about!).  Look, we all are busy with jobs, relationships, and other responsibilities, but nobody is going to put in the work for you (nor can they).  While the GAINZ lifestyle can be taught, it means nothing without your performance and execution.  So, as always, train hard, eat right, and make GAINZ!<br />
433. <br />
434. <b>BONUS SONG</b><br />
435. <br />
436. <div style="text-align: center;"><b><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/te1CVVlaJzA&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/te1CVVlaJzA&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <br />
437. </b><br />
438. </div><br />
439. <b><o:p></o:p></b><br />
440. “You should've been gone, Knowing how I made you feel, And I should've been gone, [deep breath for dramatic effect] After all your words of steel” – <b>Oh Sherrie</b>, off Perry’s solo album, “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Street-Talk-Steve-Perry/dp/B000002BQZ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1259947603&sr=8-4-spell">Street Talk</a>.”<br />
441. <br />
442. I’m sure there is a message or two here, but screw it…all you need to do is enjoy the music video.&amp;nbsp; Have a great weekend!</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/12/im-perrylyzed-part-iii.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-5823964024645532399</guid><pubDate>Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:55:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-03T09:55:01.550-08:00</atom:updated><title>Oldie but a Goodie</title><description>Sup holmes, Happy Thursday!&amp;nbsp; Amid all the Perry-mania this week, I want to apologize for the lack of fitness and nutrition tips in the posts.&amp;nbsp; It's been a crazy, fun-filled week!&amp;nbsp; But allow me to mix in a little business.&amp;nbsp; I've posted below a bit a scripture I wrote a couple years back relating to moderation, will power, the luxuries bestowed upon those who put in work, and....CHEEZ-ITS. &amp;nbsp; Check it out, its a quick read!&amp;nbsp; And don't forget, the stunning conclusion of "&lt;a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/search/label/I%27m%20Perry%27lyzed"&gt;I'm Perry'lyzed&lt;/a&gt;" runs later this week.&amp;nbsp; Train Hard, Eat Right, and Make GAINZ!&lt;br /&gt;
443. <br />
444. [<span style="color: red;">editor's note: the following <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/12/i-am-man-i-am-flawed.html">post originally ran Thursday, December 13, 2007</a>.</span>]<br />
445. <br />
446. <b>I am Man. I am Flawed</b><br />
447. <br />
448. Came home pretty hungry from a long day's work this evening. Luckily, I had an hour-long commute to contemplate a game plan for sated-victory. My plan consisted of three steps: 1) grab a quick healthy snack to momentarily quell said hunger, 2) take a shower to rid myself of the desk job musk, then 3) heat up some tasty (and, yes, healthy) leftovers to seal the deal.<br />
449. <br />
450. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5143695583850518994" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLMNeL7D9RP-hadyf5qw9T08qth6U7GL58iIUSlCLE2y8I6dGY_LSUXQeFuADvNqohAcZQt9ogtisTt7n5TXgOrw04qy2h2ssi-tY1lUdCZQ4MD_xmoQIiSyvLjDtbm-Q3XDTy4_o_80/s400/xs_and_os.bmp" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /><br />
451. <div><div>I'm sure most of you are thinking right about now, "wow GAINZ MAKER, go ahead and brag some more about your healthy diet and quality life choices you smug jerk." But no, my friends, that is not the moral of this story. Quite the opposite in fact. As is often the case with my well thought out strategies, they aren't so well thought out. Adversity struck early. Step one of my game plan required a quick visit to the kitchen's "healthy snacks" drawer, but as I reached down into the drawer a glossy, fire-truck red box caught my eye. It took about 0.002 seconds for my neuro-optical sensors to digitize, catalogue, and properly identify the box. CHEEZ-IT Baked Snack Crackers. <br />
452. </div><br />
453. <div>Now me and CHEEZ-IT used to be good friends. We practically grew up together. One particularly fond memory was when Mama GAINZ let me bring CHEEZ-IT along for our annual camping trip to Yosemite the summer between 7th and 8th grade. It was so much fun taking turns jumping off the 20-ft cliff into the river near our site. And the ghost stories...........seriously too much fun. <br />
454. </div><br />
455. <br />
456. <div><br />
457. <embed height="355" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1Lgc-jZnPI0&rel=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" wmode="transparent"></embed><br />
458. </div><br />
459. <br />
460. <div>But as we grew up, our paths diverged. I went off to college, while -IT stayed around to take a job at the factory. I hardly ever saw him after that. Our only real contact had been a few scattered email threads and seasonal "Happy Holidays" cards. More than anything, we're just acquaintances now. <br />
461. </div><br />
462. <div>Forgive me for getting off-track, but I'm sure you can understand the rush of nostalgia I felt from seeing CHEEZ-IT after so many years. You can now also understand my quandary: sacrifice my GAINZ to rehash olden tymes versus giving olden tymes the cold shoulder. Earlier on in my GAINZ-making career my course of action would have been obvious: cold shoulder. My rationale being, “Why would a bona-fide GAINZ-maker give in to temptation when tasty, healthy leftovers were a shower’s length away?” I believe most would think such rationale logical. <br />
463. </div><br />
464. <div>But I did not go with logic. You see, I am but a man, therefore, I am flawed. I'm no different than anybody else. I am not superior to the everyday person just because I carry the title of "GAINZ-Maker." I can be tempted! So I ditched the game plan and went ahead and dipped into CHEEZ-IT's crispy cheesiness. We chopped it up a bit and reminisced. But here's where I do differ from most people; I only consumed a handful of the baked snack cracker and resisted the urge to binge.<br />
465. <br />
466. The situation just described is not unique. I have many old friends that I love to visit: pumpkin pie, drumstick (ice cream), nachos, etc. However, I've set up some guidelines (not hard-and-fast rules) to facilitate moderation. For example, pumpkin pie is reserved only for the holiday season, drumsticks are only to be consumed while enjoying the company of Grandpa GAINZ (he's a big fan of the drumstick), and nachos are saved for live sporting events. I try to stick to the guidelines as much as possible, but again, I may stray every so often. I am flawed. My dedication to a lifestyle of putting in sick work, however, makes such transgressions forgivable and even rewarding.  Perhaps deviating from the game plan was logical after all. I’ve been making steady GAINZ, so I earned the pleasure of CHEEZ-IT’s brief company. It’s a great feeling.<br />
467. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/12/oldie-but-goodie.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" height="72" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLMNeL7D9RP-hadyf5qw9T08qth6U7GL58iIUSlCLE2y8I6dGY_LSUXQeFuADvNqohAcZQt9ogtisTt7n5TXgOrw04qy2h2ssi-tY1lUdCZQ4MD_xmoQIiSyvLjDtbm-Q3XDTy4_o_80/s72-c/xs_and_os.bmp" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-735685128696005224</guid><pubDate>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 08:01:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-12-02T00:01:02.261-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">I'm Perry'lyzed</category><title>I'm Perry'lyzed: Part II</title><description>&lt;i&gt;This is the second part of a three-part series entitled “&lt;a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/search/label/I%27m%20Perry%27lyzed"&gt;I’m Perry’lyzed&lt;/a&gt;”.&amp;nbsp; Check out Part I &lt;a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/11/im-perrylyzed-part-i.html"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; Tune in to cafeGAINZ later this week to see Part III.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
468. <br />
469. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://wordm7.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/steve-perry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://wordm7.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/steve-perry.jpg" width="363" /></a><br />
470. </div><br />
471. I have to be honest; I'm getting mixed reviews on this series.  Some love it (Johnny GAINZ), others (everyone else in the entire world except maybe Mr. Perry himself) are ambivalent.  Whatever...all I've ever heard is if you're passionate about something, do it.  I'm passionate about Perry's voice and its ability to raise one's level of performance, and I'm certainly passionate about GAINZ, so screw it.....the three part series continues!  Without futher ado, I give you Part Deux.<br />
472. <br />
473. <div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">7. “You've been picked and it's over, What's that chip on your shoulder?, Outside were solid rainbows, Inside is where the heart grows.” - <b>Ask the Lonely</b>.<br />
474. </div><br />
475. These lyrics keep me and my big ego in check.  The message is as clear as day:  I, Wesay GAINZ, have been handpicked by Steve Perry to write scripture about GAINZ, so I must be thankful for the honor bestowed upon me and I must not walk around like a chump.  (Sorry, that kinda made me seem like I have a big ego.)<br />
476. <br />
477. <div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">8. “It's been a mystery, and still they try to see, Why somethin' good can hurt so bad.” – <b>Who’s Crying Now</b>.<br />
478. </div><br />
479. This one’s easy.  Allow me to quote from the <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/11/cafegainz-lexicon.html">GAINZ Lexicon</a>:  “<b>Legageddon </b>[leg-uh-ged-n] - noun - a great and crucial conflict; the final battle between good (GAINZ) and evil (ANTI-GAINZ); basically the hardest, most excruciating, nauseating leg workout one can do: I ate 3 breakfasts, stretched for 30 mins, warmed up for 30 mins, and prayed all in anticipation for today's legageddon.”  That is all.<br />
480. <br />
481. <div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">9. “Troubled times, Caught between confusion and pain, pain, pain, Distant eyes, Promises we made were in vain, in VAAAYYYYEEEEIIIINN, innnnn vaaaiiiiinnn!!!!” – <b>Separate Ways ( Worlds Apart )</b>.<br />
482. </div><br />
483. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdAwiDyLnzMj3UVo-nj1_DGCkBiSo4CIq-uU7wexaZPpD9h_XL4QRVsd2qJU_YqryEVCnqRRinazH-HQL1riWtNafTYJ_xD9irpR8qhJAexvEph68NzGEoUolxFm3_2qZxtUqHVQ_PQQ/s1600-h/spbw11-th.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdAwiDyLnzMj3UVo-nj1_DGCkBiSo4CIq-uU7wexaZPpD9h_XL4QRVsd2qJU_YqryEVCnqRRinazH-HQL1riWtNafTYJ_xD9irpR8qhJAexvEph68NzGEoUolxFm3_2qZxtUqHVQ_PQQ/s320/spbw11-th.jpg" /></a>Obviously this one deserves a video.  <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQbZRMLKozk">Here you go</a> (SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT is hating on the embed action).  Again, I must go back to Legageddon.  These lyrics ring true in between squat sets when my heart is beating at a hummingbird’s pace.  Indeed, those are troubled times.  Let me to be curt: If I’m not cheating myself, I’m usually on the verge of chuking (aka barfing).  And I’m definitely caught between confusion and pain, pain, pain.  There are in fact distant eyes scattered about the weightroom peering into my soul and asking me, “You got what it takes?” and “What the f$@k is wrong with you?”  Well let me tell you something: Promises were NOT made in vain, in VAAAYYYYEEEEIIIINN, innnnn vaaaiiiiinnn!!!! <br />
484. <br />
485. <div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">10. “It's sad, oh there's been mornings out on the road without you, Without your charms, Oo-Ooh, ma-my, my, my, my, my, my” – <b>Lights</b>.<br />
486. </div><br />
487. I’m sure you’ve had that feeling before when you get a song stuck in your head and it just won’t go away.  Well, when I haven’t made it to the gym or to the track in a while, for some reason, these lyrics start creeping into my head.  And I can’t turn them off until I go say “what’s up?”  Going to the gym or track is literally the only way I can get the lyrics out of my head and resume being a productive member of society.  But still, there are a lot of worse things that I can think of than having this great song stuck in my head. <br />
488. <br />
489. <div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">11. “You make me weep and wanna die, just when you said we'd try, Lovin', touchin', squeezin' each other” – <b>Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’</b>.  <br />
490. </div><br />
491. This is what happens when your spotter, workout partner, or brother-in-arms tells you he’ll meet you at the gym in 15 minutes, but then bails.  That was kind of a sad note to end things on, but I’m saving the last 4 songs, and a special bonus song, for Part III.  Train Hard!<br />
492. <br />
493. &lt;i&gt;This concludes Part II of "I'm Perry'lyzed".&amp;nbsp; Remember to tune into cafeGAINZ later this week for Part III which will analyze songs 12 thru 15 on the Journey’s Greatest Hits album!&lt;/i&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/12/im-perrylyzed-part-ii.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" height="72" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdAwiDyLnzMj3UVo-nj1_DGCkBiSo4CIq-uU7wexaZPpD9h_XL4QRVsd2qJU_YqryEVCnqRRinazH-HQL1riWtNafTYJ_xD9irpR8qhJAexvEph68NzGEoUolxFm3_2qZxtUqHVQ_PQQ/s72-c/spbw11-th.jpg" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-263799308489286780</guid><pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-30T10:58:37.980-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">I'm Perry'lyzed</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Wesay GAINZ = GAINZ MAKER</category><title>I'm Perry'lyzed: Part I</title><description>&lt;i&gt;This is the first part of a three-part series entitled “I’m Perry’lyzed”.&amp;nbsp; Tune in to cafeGAINZ later this week to see Parts II and III.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
494. <br />
495. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
496. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF8eCxpiC5KBIGA6vAvFmFnqPRwlFUj9op_WudJvEakZAMvkZwyB4MCtz892fqAcvE-It-n76sD4e-uTgOjzhXuxFdfEooUpPzhGTVXVUqJR2tvl5JLTMz7TUpMViT8vGFIFv9k2QSrGs/s1600/Steve_Perry_1981.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF8eCxpiC5KBIGA6vAvFmFnqPRwlFUj9op_WudJvEakZAMvkZwyB4MCtz892fqAcvE-It-n76sD4e-uTgOjzhXuxFdfEooUpPzhGTVXVUqJR2tvl5JLTMz7TUpMViT8vGFIFv9k2QSrGs/s640/Steve_Perry_1981.jpg" /></a><br />
497. </div><br />
498. </div><br />
499. Regular readers of cafeGAINZ certainly know about me and Johnny's love and devotion to the greatest vocalist to ever live, <a href="http://steveperryonline.net/">Stephen Ray Perry</a> of Hanford, California.<br />
500. <br />
501. Steve Perry was the original, and - for all I care - the only, frontman of the mega band <a href="http://www.journeymusic.com/">Journey</a>.  Nevermind the disgrace of Perry-wannabes Steve Augeri and Arnel Pineda, the current "flavor of the month."  While those <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/11/cafegainz-lexicon.html">fugazis</a> certainly have pipes, their voices lack something that Perry's has.  Perry's voice is the all-time best, but it also inspires greatness and fortifies a will to keep pushing forward no matter how long the odds.  I don’t think anyone said it better than <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Perry_%28musician%29">Randy Jackson: “The power, the range, the tone – he created his own style.”</a>  My friends, Mr. Perry has it all.<br />
502. <br />
503. I can't tell you how many times I've leaned on Perry to get me through tough moments in my life (term papers, relationship trouble, the fifth set of squats just to name a few).  It's no mystery why I frequently make GAINZ with Perry blasting in my headphones.  He's the best, and I want the Best screaming in my ear when I'm getting after it in the weightroom.<br />
504. <br />
505. In honor of Perry, I'm going to pick some lyrics from each song on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Hits-Journey/dp/B000G7PNKO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1259564045&sr=8-1">Journey's Greatest Hits album</a> and analyze what it means to me in the spirit of cafeGAINZ.  And, of course, I have the album on full blast right now as I'm writing this very scripture.   I encourage you to do the same as you read!  Here are the first 6 songs off the album:<br />
506. <br />
507. <div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">      </span>"In the shadows of a golden age, A Generation waits for dawn, Brave carry on, Bold and the strong." - <b>Only the Young</b>.  <br />
508. </div><br />
509. This is the first song on the album and, appropriately, is often the first song I listen to when I get to the gym.  The lyric excerpt stands for the uncertainty that comes before a workout (will I give it my all?, will I reach new goals?, etc.) and the mental strength needed to push through that uncertainty.  It’s the perfect first song for a workout…Perry doing his thing, sick guitar solos, but it doesn’t go over the edge and pump me up <u>too</u> much.  It gets me in the right state of mind: focused.<br />
510. <br />
511. <div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">      </span>“Just a small town girl, livin’ in a lonely world, She took the midnight train goin’ anywhere, Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit, He took the midnight train goin’ anywhere” – <b>Don’t Stop Believin’</b>.  <br />
512. </div><br />
513. Probably a little early for this song on the track list, but it’s a winner no matter what.  Again, these lyrics play on the doubt that can negatively affect a workout if you let it.  If you stay in control and, derp, don’t stop believin’, you will have a successful workout just like Perry successfully pulled off the tight yellow leopard print shirt as seen below.<br />
514. <br />
515. <div style="text-align: center;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/barLaHrtvoM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/barLaHrtvoM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
516. </div><br />
517. <div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">      </span>“I’ve been trying to make it home, Got to make it, before too long, Ooh, I can’t take this very much longer, nooo.” – <b>Wheel in the Sky</b>.  <br />
518. </div><br />
519. True story:  I’m writing this post over the course of several days.  On the day I wrote this particular passage, I was at the gym doing a leg + core routine.  My workout was pretty much finished, but I felt somewhat incomplete for some reason.  Then outta nowhere, Wheel in the Sky blared out of the gym’s loudspeakers.  That was all I needed to hear; I busted out a couple ridiculous sets of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itn7g_LSWR4">one-legged squats</a> and then I felt complete.  The end.<br />
520. <br />
521. <div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">      </span>“They say that the road, Ain’t no place to start a family, Right down the line it’s been you and me, And loving a music man, Ain’t always what it’s supposed to be, Oh Girl, You stand by me, I’m forever yours, Faithfully.” – <b>Faithfully</b>.  <br />
522. </div><br />
523. The lyrics say it all (my love affair with GAINZ); Perry’s voice puts it over the top.  No additional explanation needed.  I’m ‘bout to pass out…<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKorl7Ouht0">please enjoy the vid</a>! (youtube won't let me embed it directly thus the linkage).<br />
524. <div style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br />
525. </div><div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">5.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">      </span>“I’ll keep holdin’ on, but I’ll try (try not to think of you), All I wanted was to hoooooo-OOOOOLLLLLDDDDD YOOOOUUUUUU!!!!!!” – <b>I’ll Be Alright Without You</b>.  <br />
526. </div><br />
527. (You need to hear this part of the song for yourself...Perry just goes off).  This is about not getting ahead of yourself and day-dreaming about your post-workout protein shake during your workout.  Don’t be ashamed if you do this, even <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/12/e-mc.html">GAINZ-MAKER</a> occasionally falls victim to this temptation.  But stay strong and focused.  Your shake will be there, just focus on powering through your sets.  You will be rewarded in due time.<br />
528. <br />
529. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.totallyfreecrap.com/Images/May08/shake.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="http://www.totallyfreecrap.com/Images/May08/shake.gif" width="320" /></a><br />
530. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
531. </div><br />
532. <div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">6.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">      </span>“Ooh, all night, all night, Oh, every night, So hold tight, hold tight, Ooh baby, hold tight.” – <b>Any Way You Want It</b>.  <br />
533. </div><br />
534. An ode to <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/12/friday-and-saturday-night-lights_12.html#comments">Friday and Saturday Night Lights</a>.  Most people want to go out and party on Friday and Saturday night, which is OK, but I make sure I put in my work first.  You should too.<br />
535. <br />
536. &lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; font-size: 12pt;"&gt;This concludes Part I of "I'm Perry'lyzed".&amp;nbsp; Remember to tune into cafeGAINZ later this week for Parts II and III which will analyze songs 7 thru 15 on the Journey’s Greatest Hits album!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/11/im-perrylyzed-part-i.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" height="72" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF8eCxpiC5KBIGA6vAvFmFnqPRwlFUj9op_WudJvEakZAMvkZwyB4MCtz892fqAcvE-It-n76sD4e-uTgOjzhXuxFdfEooUpPzhGTVXVUqJR2tvl5JLTMz7TUpMViT8vGFIFv9k2QSrGs/s72-c/Steve_Perry_1981.jpg" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-2099205296616627316</guid><pubDate>Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:05:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-25T15:05:42.400-08:00</atom:updated><title>Deja Vu - Holiday GAINZ</title><description>Just got an email from Nellie GAINZ &lt;a href="http://www.sheknows.com/articles/801166.htm"&gt;enclosing a link to an article&lt;/a&gt; she was checking out the other day on &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/cafeGAINZ"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; I peeped the article by Lynn Bode and it immediately reminded of two pieces of scripture I wrote a couple years ago.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/11/thanksgiving-and-celebrations-of-unity.html"&gt;The first piece&lt;/a&gt; centers around the time constraints and unhealthy foods associated with the Holidays.&amp;nbsp; Here is the relevant prose:&lt;br /&gt;
537. <ul><li>"As for GAINZmaking, everybody knows its difficult to build upon, or even maintain, GAINZ during the holiday season. All those unhealthy but tantalizing foods really take their toll. The ensuing food coma doesn't help at all either. And besides the foods, time for most people is usually at a premium so hitting the gym may become less of a priority. The best advice we can offer for limiting "ANTI-GAINZ Season" is to 1) dedicate time, no matter how little, for making some legit GAINZ and 2) doing your best to "catch up" after the madness is over (...its not really madness but you know what I mean...).<br />
538. <br />
539. Step 1 is pretty obvious, and I'm sure sounds a tad douche-baggy. But c'mon, you know you have to <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/11/cafegainz-lexicon.html">put in work</a>, so I have to say it. Step 2, however, is a bit more subtle because it requires more than a pitiful attempt at a New Year's resolution of the GAINZish variety. Catching up requires going into overdrive until you reach your pre-ANTI-GAINZ Season fitness level. This is harder than it sounds; not being able to run as far or fast, or lift as much or as explosively, as before is very discouraging. But the cool (kewl: for the youngsters) thing about GAINZ is that you get what you put in to it (yes, a stupid cliche, but true). Its like a 1:1 ratio....put in x amount of legit time and effort making GAINZ, get out x¹ legit GAINZ. Simple, fair formula. So the key is not to get discouraged when trying to get back into shape because the results will come (sooner than you think) as long as you follow the steps. And by gosh, feel free to conjure up some will power to at least mitigate the damage from A-Gz Season."</li>
540. </ul>While my advice is not groundbreaking, it does jive well with the article forwarded to me by Nellie GAINZ.  In particular, Steps: 1. Be realistic; 3. Scope out local gyms; 4. Pack a resistance band in your suitcase; 5. Don't deprive yourself of all the special delicacies; 6. Be creative; and 7. Create a new recipe tradition all support the idea of limiting the ANTI-GAINZ damage while still having fun and enjoying the treats of the Holidays.  Real GAINZ-makers know what the words 'moderation' and 'balance' mean.<br />
541. <br />
542. The second piece of scripture that Bode's article reminded me of is actually a three-part series intended to show you all that GAINZ can be made while traveling (even during the Holidays).  Check out the first two parts <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2008/01/cafegainz-tip-of-day-tuesday-jan-8-2008.html">here</a> and <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2008/01/prologue.html">here</a>.  I've copied and pasted the third part below since it is f'ing awesome and I'm not ashamed to say as much (and it's not too long).  Simply linking to it wouldn't do it justice.  Enjoy!<br />
543. <br />
544. *******************  <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2008/01/epilogue.html">Originally posted January 14, 2008</a> *****************************<br />
545. <br />
546. Well folks, I kept my word. I made some sick GAINZ during my weekend foray into the arctic-like wilderness. Keep in mind I didn't use any weights....just my resistance bands, my imagination, and my sheer determination. Here's the transcript:<br />
547. <br />
548. <div>- <strong>Stretch legs good and deep for impending explosive leg workout</strong>. Warm up by jumping rope.<br />
549. <br />
550. - <strong>Begin explosive leg workout by performing ten reps of side jumps</strong> (jumping as high as you can to your left, then back to your right, repeat). The goal here, as for the rest of the explosive stuff, is power, speed, height, and force. Literally jump as high, fast, and powerfully as you can. Nothing else matters. Weight(s) do not matter. In essence, you're training your mind as much as you're training your legs because you want your movements EXPLOSIVE. That means your muscles must move as fast as possible, the signal of which comes from your cranial gooo. <br />
551. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5155541047818312210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXLpl-d0bW1pmM8n_Zjz6vo3XxJN-tWcaDk2TdVY7Wy8lkwXKC2uVj6nE46v5TxAwSxMiuLQxOEVDzieB8qBeMIGqEiKH-hHWIgdGx64AGBeVe-B6PImJCaWElVk21rMFBz9AE1QFJKI/s400/Brain_090407.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /><br />
552. - <strong>Continue explosive leg <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/11/cafegainz-lexicon.html">Perry'alysis</a> with 10 reps of regular two-footed high jumps</strong>. Start with your legs bent in a squat position and explode up as fast and high as possible. Land softly and repeat. In total, I performed three sets of the side jumps that are explained above, with two sets the regular two-footed jumps mixed in between. This may not sound like a lot, but it really is because its EXPLOSIVE. Reps and sets don't matter much in explosive training because once you get even a little tired, you lose explosion and the exercise becomes moot, even worthless.<br />
553. <br />
554. - <strong>Get ill with 180-reverse-jumps</strong>. 3 sets per side, 4 reps. Basically what you do here is jump as high as you can while performing a 180 degree turn (reverse). I did these by jumping over a trash can.....it was sick. I'm glad my friends were out snowboarding because I would have scared them with my intensity. I remember saying this a lot: "HIGH....FAST.......IF YOU AIN'T DOING THAT, YOU AIN'T MAKING GAINZ!!" I also do these jumps with a forward (clever) twist, but I happened to be on reverses for this session.<br />
555. <br />
556. - <strong>End explosive legs with alternating lunge jumps</strong>. Here, I assume a lunge position, explode up, switch leg positions in mid-air, land, then repeat for 12 total reps. Did 3 sets. Got ill. Don't hate the GAINZ-MAKER, hate the game.<br />
557. <br />
558. - <strong>Proceed to shred core</strong>. Did 20 regular crunches, followed by 20 obliques crunches per side. Followed that up with 15 full leg-lifts. Followed that up with 10 push up-crawls......basically start a push up by descending, as you bring your right knee to your right elbow, push up, repeat with left knee to left elbow. Then I performed a bridge for 40 seconds (usually I do this on the swiss ball, but I digress). Oh yeah, then I did the core routine again (that's 2 sets per, Pythagorus).<br />
559. <br />
560. - <strong>Now here's where the real fun begins...pull out the resistance bands and get straight ILL!</strong> For chest I did presses and flyes. <br />
561. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5155539986961390082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNw_ZZmkVsxT9b0iy3ICBQvJ05pCUVlqzPHPL6fftDNA21NgsO5PT97cx89-sCV5GB9BEg23OQQqbptV_O6o98Ni0CIj05j4kwBszeFlkdV5LqJvQpEpHVpZvSqc0eNMh05T6S6DHMJhw/s400/terrellowensDan.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" />For delts I did lateral and front raise supersets, as well as rear-flyes. For arms I did biceps curls and triceps extensions. I continued with core too with oblique twists. (Stayed away from legs since I already did the explosive stuff). By the way, I jumped rope for 30 seconds between all sets to keep my heart-rate up. <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2008/01/cafegainz-tip-of-day-tuesday-jan-8-2008.html">Thanks, Terrell</a>.<br />
562. <br />
563. The whole workout took about an hour. I think I might have done some other stuff like one-legged hops, but I'm not sure when.....the training got too intense to think clearly. But as this post intended to prove, GAINZ can be made anywhere, anytime. Heck, I could have called it a day after the explosive legs and core workout. But, I really like the resistance bands and will include them in my training from now on. Mama GAINZ even likes the bands...she almost cried when I told her I was taking them on my trip (yes, Wesay GAINZ lives at home, but that is another story for another day) [<span style="color: red;">Editor's note: Wesay finally manned up and got his own GAINZmaking pad a while ago</span>]. Final point: <u>train hard, eat right, make GAINZ (anywhere, anytime), get resistance bands!!</u><br />
564. <br />
565. ****************************END**********************************************<br />
566. <u><br />
567. </u><br />
568. See, that wasn't so bad.  The combination of our scripture and Bode's article provides you with the gameplan and motivation to make GAINZ during these trying times (funny how I'm acting like the Holidays are terrible or someting, but you get the point).  Now go out there and perform!  Just be sure not to scare friends or family with your intensity....remember, the it's the Holidays!<br />
569. <br />
570. <div style="text-align: right;">Yours in GAINZ,<br />
571. </div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
572. </div><div style="text-align: right;">-<i>Wesay GAINZ</i><br />
573. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/11/deja-vu-holiday-gainz.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" height="72" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXLpl-d0bW1pmM8n_Zjz6vo3XxJN-tWcaDk2TdVY7Wy8lkwXKC2uVj6nE46v5TxAwSxMiuLQxOEVDzieB8qBeMIGqEiKH-hHWIgdGx64AGBeVe-B6PImJCaWElVk21rMFBz9AE1QFJKI/s72-c/Brain_090407.jpg" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-8745447878210222577</guid><pubDate>Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:36:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-23T09:37:35.375-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Nellie GAINZ</category><title>A Woman's Take on GAINZ</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://galacticculture.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/yin-yang-byjimthompson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="400" src="http://galacticculture.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/yin-yang-byjimthompson.jpg" width="400" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
574. </div>I first heard about GAINZ a few years ago at school when some guys said the word “GAINZ” every time they spoke, literally. I didn’t know what it meant, but I eventually assumed that it was some sort of meathead club exclusive to <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2007/11/cafegainz-lexicon.html">bench monkeys</a> and guys with over-inflated egos.  I wasn’t impressed with these guys’ “GAINZ.” Why would any woman be interested in a testosterone-infused size contest?  What does GAINZ even mean and why are these guys so obsessed with going to the gym and watching what they eat?   I found it extremely annoying and superficial.<br />
575. <br />
576. Of course, I'm not immune to wanting to look good and feel great.  Health is important, fitness is important, but GAINZ?  I'm trying to lose a couple pounds not pack it on!<br />
577. <br />
578. Being the independent and sometimes sassy female that I am, I challenged these "GAINZ-makers" to admit that their little club was only about heavy-lifting and ego-tripping fodder.  Boy was I wrong.  Not only did they make a logical argument for their GAINZ mantra, they convinced me of the sincerity of their philosophy by teaching me that GAINZ was not just about packing on muscle in the gym.  Rather, GAINZ is a metaphor for striving to live the best life you can - starting with focusing on your health.<br />
579. <br />
580. And it makes sense!  If you aren't coming with your best (aka making GAINZ), you are acting against your best interests (aka ANTI-GAINZ).  There really is no in-between.  Staying stagnant is not an option.  Life continues with or without you, and if you don't act, <u>Life will pass you by</u>. By labeling your actions as GAINZ or ANTI-GAINZ you can decide whether what you are doing will bring you closer to your best, or take you even further away from where you really want to be.  It's genius!<br />
581. <br />
582. Needless to say, I became a convert.  Of course, I'm not letting the guys off the hook completely...they may have their moments of brilliance, but I will never fully understand their occasional pissing contests.  But I suppose I have to let that go, after all they are men!  Still, women can appreciate GAINZ just as much as the male gender.  I am all for treating myself well and staying healthy so that I can enjoy life to its fullest.<br />
583. <br />
584. Ladies, its time to take control of our destiny.  It's time to make GAINZ!<br />
585. <br />
586. Happy Thanksgiving week!<br />
587. <br />
588. <div style="text-align: right;">-<i>Nellie GAINZ</i><br />
589. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/11/womans-take-on-gainz.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><thr:total>7</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-7282029380658553325</guid><pubDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:33:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-20T20:33:43.546-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Paisley GAINZ</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Recipes</category><title>Pumpkins!</title><description>&lt;div class="MsoNormal"&gt;I'm sure many people already know that November and December are a great time to grab a cheap frozen turkey. It's great animal protein that's great for GAINZ in the physical and financial sense. But when you pick up your turkey, check that produce section. According to a sign I saw next to the pumpkin puree, there's some kind of pumpkin shortage, but my store still had cheap fresh pumpkins in the produce section, well under a dollar a pound.&lt;br /&gt;
590. <br />
591. Besides providing a delicious pie filling, pumpkins also pack lutein, beta carotene, zinc in the seeds, and enough fiber to stimulate a pleasant session on the toilet.<br />
592. <br />
593. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXAtEirW9wqy3uEqxcCzc0HvKMCIGjJP2ISHXznR4RVgYmve9G9YqFgpBZrWu7fFuf6uf3aHAcne-iABrVgaLAMk6cSilFwsq3b8GWfULjqwnr5ZGNFJkMLSCukd3_v-J36Gw4tWud_Jr8/s1600/Image039.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXAtEirW9wqy3uEqxcCzc0HvKMCIGjJP2ISHXznR4RVgYmve9G9YqFgpBZrWu7fFuf6uf3aHAcne-iABrVgaLAMk6cSilFwsq3b8GWfULjqwnr5ZGNFJkMLSCukd3_v-J36Gw4tWud_Jr8/s200/Image039.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; min-height: 200px; width: 150px;" /></a>Of course most pumpkins are too big to eat at once, so they need to be broken down to a form that can be used for multiple preparations. First, cut the pumpkin into eight wedges, which are then placed in a cake pan or casserole dish with about an inch of water. Stick that in a 350 degree oven for thirty minutes, or until the pumpkin is thoroughly cooked.<br />
594. <br />
595. <br />
596. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
597. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
598. </div>Once you get the pumpkin wedges cooked, you can use the pumpkin in multiple dishes as you would use any precooked vegetable (I hope you already eat your vegetables). I'm sure most of my audience already eats their vegetables, but if you're hurting for an example, I like to replace my normal broccoli with some of my pumpkins in my fried brown rice.<br />
599. <br />
600. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_C92oo5dGGz0CHi4ucwkEeWN-klf88QNuquGx5va1QEGhfia6tYlh-fR3tIcHHUJw3HkzZ7oowtJMTbapKQYKc-Wuvh2ovjKyzXDQUxSyKlvbMO9DHHL1KdXS7bK9IW9zkCuua9D2d1T/s1600/Image040.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_C92oo5dGGz0CHi4ucwkEeWN-klf88QNuquGx5va1QEGhfia6tYlh-fR3tIcHHUJw3HkzZ7oowtJMTbapKQYKc-Wuvh2ovjKyzXDQUxSyKlvbMO9DHHL1KdXS7bK9IW9zkCuua9D2d1T/s320/Image040.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; min-height: 192px; text-align: center; width: 256px;" /></a><br />
601. Much like tofu, pumpkin is also an unlikely excellent smoothie main ingredient. Here's how I drink my pumpkin. It's like a blender full of wet pumpkin pie that you won't need to burn off during cardio.<br />
602. <br />
603. 1 serving of vanilla protein powder<br />
604. 5 large ice cubes<br />
605. 1/4 tsp of pumpkin pie seasoning<br />
606. Sweetener to taste (I like sucralose or agave syrup)<br />
607. Cold water<br />
608. <br />
609. I just throw it all in the blender and turn it on. I don't like runny smoothies, so I add just enough water for my blender to render a homogeneous and thick liquid. Quite honestly, it looks like baby food, so no picture. <br />
610. <br />
611. November and December are a great opportunity to pick up some GAINZ-friendly foods at a great price. Best of all, they'll help you free up some extra cash.<br />
612. <br />
613. <div style="text-align: right;">-<i>Paisley GAINZ </i><br />
614. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/11/pumpkins.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" height="72" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXAtEirW9wqy3uEqxcCzc0HvKMCIGjJP2ISHXznR4RVgYmve9G9YqFgpBZrWu7fFuf6uf3aHAcne-iABrVgaLAMk6cSilFwsq3b8GWfULjqwnr5ZGNFJkMLSCukd3_v-J36Gw4tWud_Jr8/s72-c/Image039.jpg" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-978066718526061649</guid><pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:02:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-19T15:03:19.783-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Johnny on the Spot</category><title>Johnny on the Spot Follow Up</title><description>Hola Disciples,&lt;br /&gt;
615. <br />
616. Wesay here checkin in with a follow up to the first <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/11/johnny-on-spot.html">Johnny on the Spot that ran last Wednesday</a> regarding negative repetitions. <br />
617. <br />
618. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj57GALk8IsBYAam_qq5j5yxkyT6lk-OsqkwL2LSpqC7gNarbx51O9pV-AlJYPh6ib0uRYmzyINxgcmTnudiQogOK44RWru7d4eiyvP9UFcQqYDmOCE9p0ZAJtT8-ko_AU4MD81KKGbGio/s1600/negative-effect.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj57GALk8IsBYAam_qq5j5yxkyT6lk-OsqkwL2LSpqC7gNarbx51O9pV-AlJYPh6ib0uRYmzyINxgcmTnudiQogOK44RWru7d4eiyvP9UFcQqYDmOCE9p0ZAJtT8-ko_AU4MD81KKGbGio/s320/negative-effect.jpg" /></a><br />
619. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
620. </div>I was doing a little leisure reading the other day (as all great GAINZ makers do) and came upon some scripture that has provided further enlightenment on the topic.  The following quotes are taken from the text NASM Optimum Performance Training, Second Edition, page 90:<br />
621. <ul><li>"The term 'negative' was derived from the fact that in eccentric movement, work is actually being done on the muscle (because forces move the move) rather than the muscle doing the work (or the muscle moving the forces)."   <br />
622. </li>
623. </ul>Interesting.  This is counterintuitive to what one would normally qualify as exercise since 'exercise' implies human-initiated work rather than dumbbell- (barbell, gravity?) initiated work.  In other words, instead of "putting in work," have work put in on you....and make GAINZ!<ul></ul><ul><li>"In functional activities, such as daily movements and/or sports, muscles work <i>as much</i> eccentrically as they do concentrically or isometrically." (emphasis added)<br />
624. </li>
625. </ul>Wow....my mind was just blown to smithereens.  So what they're telling me is that if one only focuses on concentric exercises (which most people do), one is neglecting a significant and perhaps <i>vital </i>training aspect?  Yep, that's what they're telling me.  No true GAINZ maker would knowingly neglect their GAINZ.  Even if you're just a weekend warrior or occasional work/intramural athlete, negatives will help your functional strength and therefore help prevent injuries.  <br />
626. <br />
627. <br />
628. There it is.....more negative GAINZ for your enjoyment.  Be sure to incorporate negatives in your next workout!<br />
629. <br />
630. <div style="text-align: right;">Yours in GAINZ,<br />
631. </div><br />
632. <div style="text-align: right;">-<i>'Say</i><br />
633. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/11/johnny-on-spot-follow-up.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" height="72" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj57GALk8IsBYAam_qq5j5yxkyT6lk-OsqkwL2LSpqC7gNarbx51O9pV-AlJYPh6ib0uRYmzyINxgcmTnudiQogOK44RWru7d4eiyvP9UFcQqYDmOCE9p0ZAJtT8-ko_AU4MD81KKGbGio/s72-c/negative-effect.jpg" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7600093301178922410.post-2702924232315370542</guid><pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-16T16:07:45.547-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cafeGAINZ Tip of the Week</category><title>Drop Down and Give Me 50!!!</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9WqftdGWDXZ0BszOJkm_lAKwEEJba8tqtdf6e6mb4vablX0CTCkY2E6_J1orROOFCIocvzpoqHiJCGH7ltF6ocXvubS14RIBDfZ_IEG4c4zxHYrnyGTjgCjJEH-5INHBPGSALM4-9jk/s1600/R+Lee+Ermey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9WqftdGWDXZ0BszOJkm_lAKwEEJba8tqtdf6e6mb4vablX0CTCkY2E6_J1orROOFCIocvzpoqHiJCGH7ltF6ocXvubS14RIBDfZ_IEG4c4zxHYrnyGTjgCjJEH-5INHBPGSALM4-9jk/s400/R+Lee+Ermey.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
634. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
635. </div>That's your "punishment" for not entering a <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/11/let-gainz-begin.html">tip suggestion or bench monkey submission</a> to <a href="mailto:cafegainz@gmail.com">cafegainz@gmail.com</a> this week.  And by punishment I actually mean GAINZ since <b>explosive push-ups</b> (hands and feet leaving the floor) are GAINZ.  To properly perform this explosive push-up, start at the apex of the normal push-up and descend.  As you reach the lowest point of the push-up, BLAST OFF with your hands as hard and as fast as you can.  This means trying to drive your hands through the floor.  As you reach the apex, use your feet to help lift your entire body off the floor by driving your feet through the floor.  Land softly and repeat for reps. <br />
636. <br />
637. OK OK, you don't have to give me "50" explosive push-ups because that is totally insane for a first-timer.  As a strength prerequisite to performing this exercise, make sure you can do 50 normal push-ups in a row.  <br />
638. <br />
639. Here's a few of coaching points:<br />
640. <ol><li>Keep your body in a straight line from heels to head just like a normal push-up.  Don't sacrifice form for "hangtime."  If you cannot generate enough force to lift off the floor while maintaining perfect form, you're not ready for the explosive push-up.  Start with regular push-ups, then graduate to <a href="http://www.exrx.net/Plyometrics/ClapPushUp.html" target="_blank">push-ups con clap</a>.  Once you've mastered push-ups con clap, jump up to explosive push-ups.</li>
641. <li>Start off with only 3 sets of 8 reps since this is a pretty demanding exercise.  Definitely DO NOT perform this exercise when your pecs and tri's are exhausted because other, weaker muscles will attempt to compensate (and fail, leading to injury).  Once you get comfortable with the exercise, increase the reps. </li>
642. <li>Try to spend as little time on the floor as possible.  In other words, your reps should be quick and powerful.  The benefit of this is that you train the fast-twitch muscles in your upper-body (which are usually neglected) and increase overall strength and power.   </li>
643. <li>Once you master the exercise, try to touch your pecs with your hands while airborne.  This adds some difficulty since it forces you to quickly tap your chest then get your hands back in position to land, or risk smashing your face on the floor.<br />
644. </li>
645. <li>Let out an "Arrgh" or a "DDeppp!" every few reps or so to show the gym how much work you're putting in and how much fun you're having.  It's a great upper-body burn.<br />
646. </li>
647. </ol>I realize that this tip is probably more geared for the guys so I'm happy to announce that <a href="http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/11/let-gainz-begin.html">Nellie GAINZ</a>, cafeGAINZ's emerging female voice, will be publishing some content very soon that will help balance out the testosterone overload that tends to accumulate with the likes of Johnny, and Paisley and myself.  And with that, I bid you all good day and happy GAINZ making!  <br />
648. <br />
649. <div style="text-align: right;">Your in brother GAINZ,<br />
650. </div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
651. </div><div style="text-align: right;">-<i>Wesay GAINZ</i><br />
652. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://cafegainz.blogspot.com/2009/11/drop-down-and-give-me-50.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Wesay GAINZ)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" height="72" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9WqftdGWDXZ0BszOJkm_lAKwEEJba8tqtdf6e6mb4vablX0CTCkY2E6_J1orROOFCIocvzpoqHiJCGH7ltF6ocXvubS14RIBDfZ_IEG4c4zxHYrnyGTjgCjJEH-5INHBPGSALM4-9jk/s72-c/R+Lee+Ermey.jpg" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item></channel></rss>

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