Training 8th April

Training Monday 8th April.

Was a good session on week 2 of my prog. The movement felt good and was happy with the overall lifting. Should be moving up the weights next week and hopefully see an increase in my max lifts.

Protein Smoothie

If you're stuck for time in the morning, or don't like protein shakes. 

Try this smoothie as breakfast, snack or post work-out shake.

ENJOY!!!!!

Training 3rd April 2013

This Morning I weighed in to find myself @ 93kg. So pushing to get back to 90kg over the next 2-3 weeks.

Here is some training from today. 

Chasing My Goals

On the 25th of March I turned 31 and have decided to make this year a big year for my training. Chasing my Goal of the 200kg back Squat along with other Olympic lifting and CrossFit goals.

Here is some of the training done on my birthday.

Snatch 70% 2x3

Back Squat 80% 3x5

Clean Deadlift 110% 5x3

Pull-up 3x Max

The Coach

The Coach/teacher/trainer

Or whatever title you have been given or given yourself, puts you in a unique position to help educate people in their fitness, health, profession or daily life.

This to me is a gift

YES!!! I said gift, when you can influence other people to become better versions of themselves, that my friend is a gift.

Over the last 10 years I have worked and studied (will continue to study) in the fitness industry. My job has range from Fitness instructor, Personal Trainer, Sports Therapist, Manager and Business Owner. Before all of that I coached Basketball in school. Since the age of 16 I helped people to become better at a particular skill in some form or another.

I have learned and not always the easy way how to become better at what I do.

Looking back over the last 14 years I have seen many changes in the Fitness world. I still laugh to myself when I think of how I was a mister know it all when I first left collage. Sure I could train people and help them lose weight or gain muscle. But I did not understand why I was doing it.

I know 10 times more than I did back then and I still educate myself as much as possible. One of the best things I have learned is that there is no ending to your education.

Over the years and with great people, trainers and coaches (some of which I happily call friends) I have pushed to understand what I teach to clients and help educated them as to why they should exercise.

“If it does not make sense then why should you do it”

I love what I do and it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. There is many (hundreds) of ups and downs to being a coach and business owner. When the doors close at the end of each day and you know you have helped someone whether it’s lose 2kg or get their first pull-up it drives me to want to achieve more.

“PAY IT FORWARD”

I believe in this in a huge way. Through my career people have helped me (out of their own kindness) to be better and push for my goals in lifting and coaching. My Goals as a coach is to do the same for others.

If you make the decision to help people, make sure you invest your time and knowledge to achieving their results.

Thank you for reading

Stephen Kinsella

The Cards You’re Delt

What?

We are not all born perfect in his Image. His image?

I’m not religious but having faith in someone or something can be the difference between success and failure.

This is not about religion or faith; this is about getting the best out of your body.

Let’s begin

We all come into this world kicking and screaming, this is the miracle of life. But we are not all equal. Some of us are small, tall, fat, skinny, fully limbed, blind, mentally disabled, physically disabled. These are The Cards You’re Dealt, harsh I know.

Face facts everyone has some issues and most people have something limiting the movement when it comes to exercise. We are not always born with these limitations. Most of them we pick up through bad lifestyle.

I have seen people train hard eat right and still not reach the top of their game. I know people that eat crap, train when they feel like it and win most things the try. This is reality and we cannot change it.

So why should I try?

As I said before, “life is hard and everything worth having take’s time and hard work”

“Life is a journey not a destination” Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you let the 10% get to you because they have abs or the ass you want then you will never be happy with yourself. Take me for example. I was an overweight kid and wanted to be lean and strong. I ran, played basketball, eat very little and got skinny (NOT LEAN). I also managed to limit my hip and calf flexibility through a lack of education and understanding of why I should stretch out after training or sports.

I gain weight easy so this means I have to watch my food and train harder than the next guy. For some time I taught that was not fair. Why me? Poor me? Shut the F##k up and get over it.

I might as well get pissed off that my parents were not millionaire. Put into perspective I had a very good and stable upbringing. I never wanted for the real important things in life and also learned the value of working hard to achieve my goals.

When it comes to lifting weights, CrossFit, running, rowing and sports we have a potential to excel beyond our wildest dreams. It’s been done, You just have to watch any Disney feel good true story like Rudy, Remember The Titans, Coach Carter and so on…………

Let’s Brake it down

·         If you need to come in early to stretch out the hips

·         Perform a mobility program every morning and evening

·         Train another hour a week to get stronger/faster

·         Train smarter because of age

·         Be stricter on your diet

·         Get out of bed @ 5am because your day is full with other commitments

THEN DO IT

You can do so much with what you have been given and don’t let your limitations get in the way.

Understand this; If you are not happy with yourself than take the necessary steps to change it. You might have to do or sacrifice more than the other person but hey that’s life.

I read a book 6 years ago called “No Excuses” by Kyle Maynard. If you have never read this book I highly recommend that you do. After you have read this you will understand that no matter the obstacles put in your way you can achieve great things.  

Never Stop achieving new goals, live your life, don’t watch it pass you by.

Thank you for reading

Stephen Kinsella 

New Balance Minimus

New Balance Minimus

I received a pair of New Balance Minimus runners from our good friends at Amphibian King http://www.amphibianking.ie

I am a fan of the minimalist shoe because it encourages a natural foot position and foot strike. The minimalist approach to footwear shed the myth of big chunky cushiony supporting runner in a pursuit of a more natural movement. 

First of all I am not a runner. I have ran in the past and do a small bit every now and then but from my understanding of the human body and mechanics I feel that the closer to barefoot we get, the stronger our lower legs will become.

Yesterday I took my new foot wear for a test by doing a CrossFit work out called GRACE. 

GRACE is a work-out that requires you to power clean and press a 60kg bar 30 times as fast as possible

My time was 3.17. This was a new personal best on this workout.

With such a dynamic movement repeated 30 times, balance and accuracy of the movement is very important. The New Balance Minimus kept me grounded throughout the movement.

When lifting weights the closer your foot is to the floor the more stabilisation you will create.

This goes for Squatting, Deadlifting, Pressing, and any other form of Weight lifting/Power lifting.

I would highly recommend these runners for Strength Training / CrossFit and any other gym based training.

In my opinion running barefoot may not be best thing to do on the road due to litter, glass and god knows what else is out there, so the minimalist shoes or vibram would be my recommendation for anybody interested in running in a more natural form.

For me running is a whole new ball game and will take some time to retrain my body to run.

I look forward to taking the next step towards running barefoot. 

Stay Strong

Stephen Kinsella