Monthly Archives: July 2017

An Athlete’s Guide to Alcohol Consumption Regarding Diet

I am no registered dietician or nutritionist, I simply have a a wealth of knowledge I have obtained from leaning from specific individuals I have gotten to speak with such as Kai Greene, Noah Siegal, Chris Jones from Pumpchasers, Dr. Jacob Wilson, and have also been to NSCA conventions where I have heard Brad Schoenfeld speak. I have listened to countless videos and asked for consistent advice along the way from individuals, The Art of Lifting by Greg Nuckols and Omar Isuf, youtube videos, High School, NSCA, Bodybuilding encyclopedia books, and college courses have taught me a variety of knowledge. However, Like my previous article, “After some success It’s ok to get Wrecked,” therefore drinking is an almost culturalized event that takes place especially when some relaxation is deserved after successful sporting invents, victories, or simply in an college or adult environment. Drinking obviously is bad for us as alcohol is a toxin that weighs 7Kcal/gram. It is a toxin, meaning your body prioritizes the breakdown of alcohol before anything else it breaks down, including lactic acid which is a byproduct of glucose breakdown, therefore your body breaks down lactic acid after alcohol, prolonging the muscular soreness, and causing any food your body ate to be stored towards fat storage since the alcohol is being broken down first. An athletes best diet guide for alcohol is to inform individuals that liquor has ALMOST just as many calories as beer, however beer has a few more calories from the “massive” amount of carbs people assume to be in beer, when the 7Kcal/Gram of alcohol in liquor totals out to the amount in beer almost. Secondly, to drink enough but to a sufficient amount where you won’t develop a man bun, here are some pointer’s. Everyone wants a six pack, here’s my personal advice and experience for being able to obtain both six packs, physically, and alcoholically.

  • Know that alcohol has 7kCal/Gram
  • Liquor has only slightly less than beer.
  • Don’t drink at night time prior to bed when possible, so alcohol calories aren’t stored overnight.
  • Avoid high calorie mixed drinks and massive amounts of heavier beers. Stick to light beer and smaller amounts of liquor.
  • Avoid sugar filled drinks like Smirnoff Ice, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Angry Orchard, Twisted Tea, or Strongbow Cider are higher in sugar and higher in alcohol.
  • If you drink a few a day casually, try fitting the calories into your macronutrients. Some thicker darker beers and red wine have important antioxidants in them called polyphenols which are good for heart health.
  • Obviously drink a lot of water to stay hydrated if you drink frequently, and of course, make smart decisions, and don’t forget,
  • ITS OKAY TO GET WRECKED AFTER SOME SUCCESS
  • Tommy Roel
  • Maxin’ Out N’ Blackin’ Out

What It Feels Like to Hit a PR

A Personal record, or PR (sometimes in Australia or the UK they use the term PB, personal best), is when you hit a certain weight you have never performed before in a certain movement like squat, bench, deadlift, clean and jerk, and the snatch.This included many other albums as well. Or you can hit rep PR’s, and hi a same weight for more reps than you previously have performed on those reps before. Hitting PR’s is an almost indescribable feeling, as the goal you care about and are working towards is self improvement. And Hitting a PR,, hitting a weight you have never done before, that allows you to literally watch your self-improvement and track yourself becoming a better a stronger individual. It is a feeling of euphoria and success and in that moment you know you just became a better person, even if it is in the slightest.

  • Tommy Roel
  • Maxin’ Out’ n Blackin’
  • Below is an example of some rep work.

When Hitting Plateaus,Use other Components of fitness to Get Those Gains To Grow

This article is an article for anybody in the gym whom has hit a plateau and seeming cannot surpass that plateau. Whether is be a 1RM (one-rep-max) in powerlifting or weightlifting, or it be an AMRAP (as many reps as possible) on an important weight for a bodybuilder or athlete, or maybe you’re sprinting distance or 5K race’s time ran too long. Whatever sport you’re in, you are going to hit plateaus. If you hit a plateau as a powerlifter in squats, try to focus on the sticking point (the hardest part of the movement), or switch it up and focus on leg mobility or maybe endurance and hypertrophy for their legs if their squat struggles. Or they can focus on their bench or deadlift, or maybe be can focus on their physique for a while or maybe they flexibility of cardiorespiratory endurance. When I struggle with powerlifting, I focus on hypertrophy within muscles that are lagging in size and proportion, mobility and flexibility, and often times enjoy incorporating strongman and weightlifting workouts in and include exercises like using atlas stones, and performing high-pulls, clean and jerks, power snatches, muscle snatches, push presses, jerk’s, and farmers walks. I enjoy switching it up every now and then, and this article relates to the training for happiness article as it provides examples of how to mix it up when you hit plateaus in order to receive other types of gains.

  • Tommy Roel
  • Maxin’ Out and Blackin’ Out

 

Arm Workout Advice For Beginners

I have always had smaller arms, and needed to improve them within my physique in addition to aiding powerlifting. Having strong biceps is crucial for deadlifts as they involved muscularly in the movement and provide stability for the lift especially if you use a mixed grip. Bigger biceps also provide support for squatting because it can help you keep a thicker grip, and regarding the bench press, bigger biceps can mean a slightly shorter range of mobility as well as additional stability when un-racking the bar and holding the bar between reps. Triceps aren’t entirely relevant in deadlifting, however they obviously play a crucial part in bench pressing as they are one of the primary muscles involved, especially at the lockout. Having strong triceps aids squatting again for stability. So I have always tired to hit arms. I finally have added since to my arms and went from about a fatter 14 1/2 ” ” to a leaner and much fuller and vascular 15″ sized arms. My secret was my method of training. I would hit all the components of fitness for triceps and biceps, for each head with each a set of 3-5 sets of multiple reps varying from 5-15+ to hit all components of fitness . Ex.

Triceps:

Cable Rope pushdown forth Lateral and Medial head of the Tricep. Rep Work  3×15 for Muscular Endurance, 3×8-12 for Hypertrophy, and 3×5-6 reps for Muscular Strength

Overhead Cable Extensions/Skullcrushers/CG Bench: Rep Work  3×15 for Muscular Endurance, 3×8-12 for Hypertrophy, and 3×5-6 reps for Muscular Strength

—————————————————————————

Biceps: Long Head- Regular Wrist curls 3×15 For Muscular Endurance, 3×10 for Hypertrophy, 3×4-6 for Muscular Strength.

Short Head – Hammer Curls 3×15 For Muscular Endurance, 3×10 for Hypertrophy, 3×4-6 for Muscular Strength.

Brachialis – Supinated Wrist Curls 3×15 For Muscular Endurance, 3×10 for Hypertrophy, 3×4-6 for Muscular Strength.

  • Maxin’Out N Blackin’ Out
  • Follow Me on Instagram tommyroel, or roel_powerlifting.
  • Some easy 35lb supinated wrist curls from todays light arm day
  • ALSO SHIRTS ARE OUT

 

Train Towards Your Goals, but Also Train Towards Happiness

Obviously, if you are a powerlifter, weightlifter,strongman, bodybuilder, or any professional or collegiate athlete, I would presume you would be running a workout program specified for your sport that is geared and designed towards achieving success in your sport and improvement in certain areas of that sport. Programming, practices, routines, and splits are crucial because they help us achieve our goals and get gains in the most efficient fashion and is probably the most educated way an individual can train. Plus it helps structure discipline and helps individuals develop a routine and strong mindset and improves focus once discipline is understood. However, sometimes, from personal experience, I have found myself so stressed out (I do have Anxiety Disorder, though) about certain programs because I would miss a rep or be unable to complete the rep work whether it be hypertrophy and assistance work or compound movement rep work. I developed a fear is disappointment within myself and workouts began to stress me out. However, when your own passion begins to become a stressor, one must take a step back and not abandon that passion, but fight back and figure out what has been stressing you out within your passion. Then you find a way to beat that part of what has been stressing you out and holding you back. You can work towards other goals momentarily until you regain focus, or simply walk in the gym and train whatever you want just to enjoy yourself, because we all started lifting because we loved it, right? So whenever I feel stressed, a relaxed bodybuilding-styled workout to get a pump on always relaxes me because it reminds of of the initial fitness that inspired me to travel towards greater levels and depths within fitness. Sometimes you just need to say, ‘screw all that other stuff,’ and lift how you want so you can enjoy yourself and your workout. – Me almost (I missed, Cool Pic though,) dunking on 9.5 feet when my hops were at their best. Probably can jam it on 9 feet at the moment and 8.5 is a piece of cake. I used to play basketball in high school, I’m 5’7″ and wasn’t too skilled, but I had decent hops due to my leg strength from powerlifting, and I often use basketball as an escape route for enjoyment and additional cardio while I am stressed out.

 

  • Tommy Roel
  • Maxin’ Out n Blackin’ Out
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Perseverance Through It All; Never Give Up

Throughout my life, I have had several incidents that have brought me down. That includes personal problems such as my issues with anxiety disorder and my enzyme disorder leading to depression in addition to excruciating pain that I experienced after my Uncle surprisingly passed away. I experienced personal mistakes in the past that I have decided to not mention, and have also made mistakes in school as my grades have been dropping periodically on and off, and of course, I have been hurt by past relationships with women, though I do not hold any negativity against them as it is my pain to deal with. My gains have suffered throughout difficult times which probably is the most painful things I have dealt with because other world aspects have taken ahold of me and stripped me of improving myself within my passion of lifting. Sometimes, life just happens, and there are periods of time where simply, life blows. However, despite how horrible it may seem at times, whether you suffer from personal issues or you feel a lack of motivation in the gym and your gains have fallen off, do NOT give up. NEVER give up. Because giving up means you’ve thrown in the towel and that there is no sweat blood or tears left to give. Giving up is throwing away your passion, and without a passion, what’s the point of pursuing anything, or more so, what’s the point of living? Never give in. Many people are familiar with the Mark Wahlberg film “Lone Survivor,” which is based on a true story of Navy seal Marcus Luttrell. After falling down that ravine in the movie, Wahlberg was able to walk. However, in real life, once attempting to escape from the outnumbering Taliban, Luttrell was able to find cover, he was actually unable to walk due to his many broken bones from the fall; essentially, he was paralyzed. However, instead of giving up, Luttrell crawled SEVEN miles to find shelter and water. HE would draw a line in the dirt and crawl to it, draw another line and so on and so forth until he crawled SEVEN miles. Whenever I feel like giving up, I think of my Uncles, whom I’ve written about in past articles, and they motivate me. However, secondly I think of this hero, Marcus Luttrell, the Lone Survivor. He crawled seven miles. That to me, is the definition of perseverance. To me, each space needed to be crawled until the next like represents a difficulty in my life, and I must keep crawling and working until I persevere and pass that difficulty until it is onto the next difficulty to crawl past. My Uncles, Marcus Luttrell, and many others have influenced me to continue forward throughout all the hidden internal pain  I have been suffering. No matter what happens, one must always persevere and continue chasing your dreams. As Rocky Balboa said, ” It ain’t about how hard you get hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward.”

Fight through it all and never give up on what you believe in.

  • Tommy Roel
  • Maxin’ Out n Blackin’ Out
  • Linked is Marcus Luttrell’s Speech about Operation Redwing at Alabama.

 

Be Yourself No Matter What and Screw What People Say

This article I am about to delve into is relatable to lifting, but it is primarily to provide my insight and advice on helping you find happiness both inside and outside the gym. Happiness begins with self-acceptance and a self understanding. People must realize that they are born with what they have; you are what you are. Yes, there are always strives for self improvement as individuals such as myself endlessly pursue education and gains in order to improve our physique, strength, and cognitive abilities. However, there are certain features of our bodies, and certain aspects of our brain that we are born with that we cannot change. For example, for the last few years I have been struggling with anxiety disorder and an enzyme deficiency in my brain of MTFRH, which breaks down folic acid, which allows our brains to uptake serotonin and dopamine, the two primary chemicals that make us emotionally balanced and happy. These caused me to experience widespread and heavy depression for a long time until i found the right meds. The point is, what kept me going through the entire struggle was the fact that I knew there was nothing truly wrong with me because I was simply born this way and that I could not change it. Since I was born that way, the only way to find that happiness is to accept yourself for who you are and for what you are. Self-acceptance is the key to happiness, because once you accept yourself for who you truly are, you can move on with your life and become the best version of yourself that you possibly can. Additionally, if you do not want to, do not try to fit in with others or join social groups just because it seems like the cool thing to do, or because it seems like you’ll be respected or have something to gain from being in the group. Because FUCK that. Trying to change who you are for others is pointless, because if they can’t accept you and like you for whom you truly are, then they don’t deserve your time or presence. Be yourself no matter what. Don’t let others influence your goals or dreams or decisions, don’t try to be something you’re not. If people don’t like you for you, then straight up, they can go fuck themselves. Be you and only you, and do your own thing. In my experience so far in life, throughout all of the phases of depression, I have found that being myself and understanding that I must accept myself for who I am is the best way to find happiness. Sure, I wish I could change some things about myself, but I simply can’t. Rather than fret over what you can’t change, work hard to change what you can, such as your gains in the gym. Otherwise, be yourself no matter what and understand that whoever and whatever you are, you are a human being and are just as equal as anyone else on this planet. You are you, and you are amazing because just like me, you are a human, and no matter what kind of human you are, as long as you are yourself no matter what, you are ok.

” Don’t Let em say you ain’t beautiful, they can all get fucked just stay true to you,” – Eminem

  • Tommy Roel
  • Maxin’ Out’ n Blackin’ Out

What It’s Like To Be On The Platform

Competing in Powerlifting is one of the best thing’s I have ever done. I’ve only competed twice but have been dealing with a lot of tough stuff lately that have sort of held me away from the platform, but when I’m confident I can get good enough numbers I will compete again, as there is no sense in stressing yourself over competition if you know you are not ready. But when I do get back on the platform, I know it will be an incredible time. Being on the platform at first is kind of scary, as you’re maxing out in front of an entire crowd of lifters and people you don’t know, so it can become kinda awkward and nerve-wracking because you don’t really know what it will be like if you fail. However, once adjusted, the platform is not a scary place at all, even when you fail a lift. In fact, it’s like a second home. Being on the platform is an overwhelming adrenalin rushing sensation; it’s incredible. You’re giving it your all in front of a crowd who often times always cheer you on and clap for you. It”s like you’re the star of the show for a second, everyone is cheering for you and your success when you hit a lift, and they congratulate you on your hard efforts when you have failed. People I didn’t even know at the meets I competed at cheered for me and it’s an incredible feeling because it shows people are interested and shows that maybe some people even cared, which means everything to me. It’s a comfortable place where I can push my limits and be cheered on in an environment surrounded by people with the same passion. It helps you meet people who can push you further towards your goal of self improvement. The platform is an amazing place, and I cannot wait for my return. Despite some fear, which is normal for me at least, I know my return to my second home, the platform on my next competition day, whenever that may be, will be something to remember.

  • First meet in 2015 at a USAPL meet. Sean Noriega is the spotter, he’s an animal, check him out, he’s a very well known powerlifter and a nice guy and one strong moftherfucker!
  • I think my total that meet was like 1090 (around a 362 squat, 225.5 bench and 451 deadlift), I can’t remember exactly. At my most recent RPS meet is was 1140 (390/250/500).
  • Maxin’ Out
  • Tommy Roel

Strive4Excellence and TinyTimTrains

This is a quick post shouting out two of my boys’ youtube channels. The first channel is my boy John from The University of Tampa whom I attend school with, and he is a bodybuilder with solid beginning content, so check him out. Secondly is my homie Tim, a USF Exercise Science Grad from my gym Elite Strength and Conditioning down in Tampa, he is roughly a 130 lb powerlifter. Both these channels are beginning channels with good content for bodybuilding and powerlifting on them, so check out their pages. Click on the photos to lead you to their respective channels.

  

John:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFwy3crz9pXJGptMD20YkGA

Tim:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvPBczMFHTvCxk2qWDDR9IQ

 

  • Tommy Roel
  • Maxin’ Out

Update on T Shirts

T-Shirt production will begin next week around Wednesday or Thursday or so and will take 1-2 weeks to be made, so hopefully they’ll be ready within 3 weeks. There will be 30 shirts made to start off, 15 white, 15 black ranging from m-xl, 5 copies of each. Each shirt is $25-$32.50 depending on size.

 – This logo is being used for the white shirts, and the featured image header with the normal yellow/blue logo on the black t-shirts is how those designs will work.

Email me if you want one or order from the store once they come in, of you know my number and know me personally, shoot me a text.

  • Maxin’ Out n Blackin’ Out
  • Tommy Roel
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