Update

Hey all,

Just wanted to give you an update on my power lifting. Today I got to lift with a couple friends as a fun day. We had a deadlift party. This was an idea I got from Metroflex Long Beach. They had posted earlier in the week that they were going to do one on Thursday morning. The gym I go to was closed on Thursday, so I decided to see if people wanted to do on on Friday. Another reason that I wanted to do this is that Jim Stoppani offered a challenge on his Facebook page for people to do 25 reps on deadlift with 250 lbs. Deadlift, of course, happens to be my favorite lift so I could not pass up the challenge. He also stated that if you recorded it and posted it on his Facebook page that he would give you a lifetime membership to his personal website www.jimstoppani.com. This was just more motivation for me to try it out. I also decided that if I made the 25 reps that I was going to go for a PR on the deadlift at 500 lbs. My previous best was 475 so it is a good jump up in the 3 weeks that I have been focusing on maximal strength. Below is both videos, I hope you enjoy them.

God Bless
Travis Miller

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi all,
Just wanted to take the time to say thank you for all your support. That on this day set aside to be thankful, I am thankful for all my family and friends. Remember this day isn't just about all the wonderful food. It is about reflecting on all aspects of our lives and giving thanks for everything whether it is a straight up blessing or it is a trial that forces you to be stronger in your life. Be thankful for it all.

A few things I am thankful for:
1. God - I am thankful for Jesus Christ being my Lord and my Savior. His grace and mercy are wonderful.
2. Wife - My beautiful and wonderful wife who supports me through it all. She is an awesome woman who bring sweet joy to my life.
3. Kids - My 3 wonderful kids who constantly bring me joy and challenge me daily.
4. Family - All my family who reminds that I have been loved for 36 years.
5. Friends - Friends bring laughter and inspiration, help and care, and many more things.
6. Leaders - My leaders in church and at work who are there to help me in my endeavors.
7. US Military - These men and women who selflessly sacrifice for a greater purpose. This includes their families who also give up so much.
8. The Iron - These items of various weights are always true to who they are...200 lbs is always 200 lbs.
9. Role Models - These are those people who have achieved what I am looking to achieve and they provide so many of us great information.
10. Thanksgiving food - Yes this is something I am thankful for....I call this Epic Cheat Meal Day.

God Bless.....remember to be thankful

Travis Miller

P.S. Oh Yea, Second week of my power lifting journey went well.....Tomorrow is deadlift Friday...getting together with friends and hitting the gym.....gonna be a blast.

End of Week 1 of my Powerlifting Journey

Hi all,

So I was planning on writing this on Sunday or Monday but now it is Tuesday and I am finally getting to it. Last week I talked about reevaluating and refocusing my goals in the direction that I want to move in. I also mentioned that I was going to start following Mike O'Hearn's Power Bodybuilding program to get my strength up so I can have a personal powerlifting meet to see if I have made gains. My goal was to increase my overall total to 1300 lbs from my current best at 1115lbs.  Here is what happened this last week.

On Monday, which is my natural rest day I started reading up on powerlifting and different strength programs to help me improve my strength and technique. I found information on Westside Barbell and their program called The Conjugate Method combined with The Dynamic Method. As I read up on the programs and the story behind Westside Barbell, I found myself interested in their program and the techniques they use. So I wrote a program based off the information on their site and other sites talking about them.

This week was a fun week and I enjoyed following the Westside Barbell Method of training. I have been sore in new ways and in different muscles. I tried new types of exercises that challenged me mentally and physically. Below is what I have been doing.

Tuesday - Dynamic Effort Bench Press
Wednesday - Bench Extra Work
Thursday - Dynamic Effort Squat/Deadlift
Friday - Squat/Deadlift Extra Work
Saturday - Max Effort Bench Press
Sunday - Max Effort Squat/Deadlift

Dynamic Effort is speed work. This is where you perform exercises to increase the explosive strength. This strength helps with the start from the bottom of the press, squat, and deadlift. This work includes working between 50-60% of your 1RM doing explosive reps sometimes with bands and chains to add variable resistance to help reduce bar deceleration throughout the rep.

Max Effort is maximal strength work. This day of the week you push to a 3RM or a 1RM and try to hit new personal records (PRs). This helps build muscular strength and is done with a variety of exercises to ensure your muscles don't adapt and that you CNS (central nervous system) doesn't get burnt out.

Both the Dynamic and Max Effort days consist of 1 main exercise to focus on explosive or maximal strength respectively. These days are followed up with assistance work which consists of bodybuilding type exercises focusing on the major muscle groups used for each main movement. So on bench day the first assistance work is for triceps followed by upper back and shoulders. On squat and deadlift day the assistance work would be glutes, hamstrings, lower back. All these should be 8-10 reps but the rep range can vary to keep the muscle confusion principle working.

Extra work is essentially a recovery workout by working the same muscles used the day before with lighter weights and higher reps. These workouts should be less than 30 minutes and can be as early at 6 to 12 hours after the previous day. I, for the sake of time, wait until the next day. I always end this exercise with a conditioning cycle of tabata style work. This is also the day that I hit abs hard because they are one of the most important muscle groups.

This is what I did this last week and this week has started off just a good. The cycle for this program is on Dynamic day week 1 is 50%, week 2 is 55%, and week 3 is 60%. Then you drop back down to 50%. I am going to throw in week for as a repetition week where I do the main lifts for 6-10 reps which will help with the groove of the movement. This is to help improve my technique, which is knowledge from listening to Mark Bell's Powercast and Brandon Lilly's YouTube page.

Any questions feel free hit me up on twitter @travismiller1

God Bless
Travis

Power Lifting Status and Goals

Hiya,
So last time I posted that I was shifting my focus from aesthetics to strength based goals. This was because I am not really an aesthetic kinda guy, but I really love the feeling I get lifting heavy weights. So, I also mentioned that I was going to be testing where my current lifting status is by performing a simulated power lifting meet and then I would reevaluate my goal for January 3, 2014.

Today I went to the gym feeling a little under the weather because of head congestion. but I wasn't going to let it stop me from getting the results I wanted. Yesterday, I did some research on the order of a power lifting meet and what a typical warm up progression for 1RM (rep max) would consist of. The meet would consist of the lifts in the order of Squats, Bench Press, and Deadlift. The typical warm up for testing 1RM is as follows:

50% 1RM for 8 reps followed by 2 minutes rest
60% 1RM for 5 reps followed by 2 minutes rest
70% 1RM for 3 reps followed by 3 minutes rest
80% 1RM for 1 rep followed by 3 minutes rest
90% 1RM for 1 rep followed by 5 minutes rest
100% 1RM for 1 rep followed by 5 - 15 minutes rest
+2~5% increase followed by 5 - 15 minutes rest
Continue until unable to complete rep

Today I went with my approximate 1RM and based my test off of those. In the order of Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift. The only thing I didn't do that would have been allowed in a meet would be 3 attempts at a given weight. I decided that because of time that when I hit my first failure I was done. So where do I sit as a power lifter?

Squat at 355 lbs - I was estimating 400 lbs
Bench at 285 lbs - I was estimating 315 lbs
Deadlift at 475 lbs - Previous best was 455 lbs
Total at 1115 lbs

I was a little disappointed on the squat and bench but it is understandable because I had been focusing on aesthetics instead of strength. I am totally excited on breaking my personal best on deadlift and that makes up for the squat and bench.

So here is where I am at for my goals. Deadline is still January 3rd, 2014. I am still setting my eyes on the 1300 lbs total with Squat at 425 lbs, Bench at 350 lbs, and Deadlift at 525 lbs.

Many people will tell you that it is an unrealistic goal but The question isn't if their opinions are going to let me but rather who's going to stop me!

God Bless,

Travis

Stop Being Schizophrenic with Your Workouts

Hey all,

Sorry I haven't been on here. I have been working out but I have not been consistent. I was jumping from program to program every couple of weeks. I was trying to find one that was going to get me to my goal. My goal of getting to 10% body fat by Christmas. This seems like a decent goal with a firm date and a tough but attainable and measurable result. However, I was not happy with what I was doing to get there and so I was confused on what program I wanted to do. There is so much information and so many programs to try that give great results, but it can get chaotic when you try to process all of it. I had to find something to fix this issue.

Well the other day Cory Gregory, the President of Muscle Pharm, put out a twitter Q&A session. I sent him a tweet asking @MusclepharmPres Do you ever feel like a schizophrenic when deciding workout routines? Ideas on overcoming? I expected a response because he is good at interacting with his followers and the response I got really got me thinking. This is what he responded: @TravisMiller1 yea thats why I try to have a goal at the end of the plan helps me focus. It is not a deep revelation or an awe inspiring piece of knowledge, but it got me thinking.

Then he also has been blogging at #StayMotivated and when I went back and read a few of the posts that I missed. I came across this one.I-could-feel-it-in-air. I realized as I read it that my goal of 10% body fat is an aesthetic goal and I am not an aesthetic person. Yes, I do pose in front of the mirror and I like to flex my biceps and look at the V-Taper that is building as my body fat decreases, but I have never cared about aesthetics or showing everyone my physique. I had forgotten what I really loved to do in the fitness world.

So the solution to my schizophrenic workout mindset......evaluate and set proper a goal(s). This is what I have done and I have a plan, which is still under construction details wise. I really like the power lifting aspect o f weight lifting. Do I want to set world records and become one of the strongest men in the world? That is not part of my goals at this time, but if it happens then it happens. So with a goal set and a date set, I am working out the specific strategy to work toward those goals. I have the program I am going to use to reach my goals chosen.

Before I tell you my specific goals I am going to give a quick overview to the world of power lifting to those who don't know. Power lifting is based around 3 main lifts. Bench Press, Squat, and Deadlift. The goal is to max out for 1 rep (1RM) on all three lifts. To the best of my knowledge, during a meet or competition they have placings for each of the main lifts and an overall which is a combined weight of all your lifts. So for example, say someone has a bench of 300, squats of 450, and deadlift of 500 they would have a combined of 1250 lbs.

So to my specific goals, I plan on holding a personal meet....IE this is my deadline for my goal on the 3rd of January. Based on my past performance my goal is a combined of 1300 lbs. This is based off my best lifts in the past where bench was 295, Squat was 350, and deadlift is 455. The squat is an approximate because I never had as spotter to go for a true 1RM. So my estimated combined is 1100 lbs.

I know, I know, you cannot base a goal on an estimated starting line. So this is where the strategy comes in to play. This upcoming week, I am going to do all three lifts to find out my 1RM on each one of the lifts. This will allow me to adjust and finalize my goals on the lifts and combined. The second part of the strategy is the program I am going to used to get me to my goals. One of the role models that I have had in fitness is Mike O'Hearn. Mike O'Hearn is a huge fitness Icon. He has a program that he follows called Power Bodybuilding. It incorporates the three may lifts in a power lifting routine followed by secondary bodybuilding routine. I am sure that I had mentioned this in the past because I was following this program earlier in the year.

So I ask you once again, to stick with me and keep checking in. ...I will keep you updated with my current 1RM for all three lifts and if I need to adjust my goal for January 3rd then I will update you with that information too.


God Bless,
Travis