NFL Picks for Week 4 and Fitness News

Week four of the NFL season is upon us! Let’s see what I have in store this week:

Already Played: Washington: 38; New York: 31- As you can see, I failed with this pick right here. Kirk Cousins had a rough outing, which at this point in his career, is a rarity. For Eli, it’s a rarity to see him rush for a touchdown.

Baltimore over Carolina: 24-17- Carolina struggled at home last week. It appears that their lack of talent on offense maybe catching up with them. This one may be even lower scoring here, with two very talented defenses taking the field.

NFL Rivalry of the Week: Chicago over Green Bay: 27-19- The Packers may very well be on their last chance at the division already, barring a complete meltdown by both Chicago and Detroit. If they lose here, then they sit at 0-2 in NFC North play. Not a good hole to be in.

Houston over Buffalo: 20-17- Houston has to take advantage of this situation. Buffalo is not as good as their record but Houston has the edge in talent, and the home crowd.

Indianapolis over Tennessee: 23-14- Just in, Charlie Whitehurst will get the gig in Tennessee. Like Houston, the Colts have to take advantage of this situation against the Titans. If they do that, they stand at 2-0 in the division. The problem? They’re already 0-2 against playoff teams.

Detroit over New York Jets: 21-16- The Lions Matt Stafford should have a field day here. Detroit’s offense hasn’t looked like what it should be, so look for a closer game. The Jets can score at any time but the offense is very inconsistent at times.

NFL Snoozer of the Week: Oakland over Miami: 13-9- Wow. Fans in London may see a touchdown scored in this one. Two teams with very laughable talent on the offensive side.

Pittsburgh over Tampa Bay: 31-10- The Steelers look to take their momentum in an upset win over Carolina over a struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. Shouldn’t be too hard.

Lock of the Week: San Diego over Jacksonville: 42-13- Blake Bortles era begins. Can he get a win this week? Not until he has more talent around him. He’s playing in real time now.

Atlanta over Minnesota: 20-19- Teddy Time begins in Minnesota. Can he hold it close? Recent history tells us that the Falcons might just be that very talented team to get upset this week, as their play on the road is meager.

Philadelphia over San Francisco: 34-21- The 49ers are struggling while the Eagles remain hot. Nick Foles and co. may not have much of a problem here.

NFC Game of the Week: Dallas over New Orleans: 34-28- The Cowboys and Saints have a little bit of animosity these days fueled by none other than Rob Ryan. In the end, the Cowboys put up just enough to upset the Saints.

AFC Game of the Week: New England over Kansas City: 21-13- The Patriots offense isn’t that hot this year but the defense is. That’s going to be big in this game.

Byes of the Week:

Seahawks- Still the number one team in the NFL according to most. I disagree (see below)

Bengals- The Bengals may be the only team in the NFL to have zero struggles on either side of the ball. Number one team.

Browns- Brian Hoyer has made it through three weeks as the starter. Don’t blame him for their 1-2 start.

Cardinals- My prediction in the pre-season was taking the NFC West. Through four weeks, they lead it.

Broncos- Still couldn’t beat the Seahawks. Maybe they just played a Super Bowl XLIX preview? Maybe one more shot.

Rams- The defense has to play up to their potential. If they do, they’re back in it.

Fitness news: Workouts

Cardio Sprint Workout:

Sprint workout coming up at six. I’ll call this upcoming workout The Go-To, since it’s becoming my recurring workout:

One Mile Run
10 Hill Sprints (jog back down the hill for rest)
10 20 yard Lunges
10 Ladder Sprints (going at least ten yards further with each set, jog back)
One Mile Run

Shoulder Centuries:

X amount of handstand push-ups (I’m on a wall, okay)
100 shoulder presses per arm
100 front plate raises
100 upright rows
100 shrugs per side (I rarely do these, but I’m in the mood)

Zero Cardio, 800 Reps, Fast As Possible:

100 Push-ups
100 Decline Push-ups
100 Two Point Rows per arm
100 Total Weighted Lunges (Weight on one side, this hits the obliques too)
100 Bicep Curls per arm
100 Suspended Dips
100 Upright Rows
100 Full Sit-ups plus about 20 straight minutes of ab work

By the way, use as little rest as possible, and get this done as fast as possible.

I sit two weeks out from the NPC Natural Pennsylvania. Time to take the carbs down just a little for these last two weeks, just a little. Still have a lot to do to get ready these days. Time to crush these final weeks.

My Next Event: Halloween Havoc! Nope, it’s not a show, it’s just Todd wanting to look good at Halloween. I’m dressing up as a Virant Knight, so I’ll def be posting some pics of that. Ordered yesterday, can’t wait to wear it.

Shoot Time: Hoping to get that last shoot of the year confirmed. If so, it’ll be around contest time too. Another event I can’t wait to get going with.

Hunt For October: In addition to the NFL and fitness, I love MLB. Prediction time, although my Rays (yes, the Rays) are missing out for the first time in a while:

Wildcard NL: Pittsburgh over San Francisco- Is anyone peaking at the right time more than the Pirates?

Wildcard AL: Kansas City over Oakland- The Royals? Yep, with the A’s faltering down the stretch, giving way to the Angels, it’s the Royals who get in.

ALCS: Los Angeles Angels over Baltimore Orioles- Hate to say it, but the O’s get eliminated here. LA is a big market but I’m a small market type. The Angels are just too good here. Hottest team in the AL.

NLCS: Los Angeles Dodgers over St. Louis Cardinals- The City of Angels reps the entire MLB in 2014. 2014 belongs to Los Angeles.

World Series: Angels over Dodgers. The Angels are just way too hot to be stopped. If one team can keep it up for one more month, one team that wants it, it’s the Los Angeles Angels. For the first time since 2002, Los Angeles gets a World Series, and it’s the “other” Los Angeles team that takes it.

Week 3 NFL Picks and Nifty Workouts

Brought to you by the King of Shredz:

First things first, guys, I have to take care of business. Week Three in the NFL is upon us, being played by great players who have yet to be tried or convicted for child abuse, murder, bounties, domestic violence, substance abuse, or just merely violating personal conduct. Remember the movie ‘Playmakers?’ It was a television show televised by ESPN about a decade ago that basically went over all of the problems that went on in the NFL, in a fictional league of course. There’s a reason why the show was pulled after about one season, and I’ll leave it at that.

The good news is that there are some very classy and talented NFL players who actually appreciate their opportunities. So, without further ado, here are my picks for the week:

Already Played: Atlanta over Tampa Bay: 35-7. This game was a snoozer. It was actually 56-0, Atlanta’s favor before T.J. Yates entered the game. That pretty much tells you that Tampa’s defense is overrated and Josh McCown is a backup.

AFC Game of the Week: San Diego over Buffalo: 27-24- Two weeks ago I would never have guessed that the Buffalo Bills would be in the conversation for anything except due to the fact that they gave Cleveland their first round pick. Now, they are being given a shot at 3-0. I’m still not sold on them yet.

Cincinnati over Tennessee: 28-10- If Jake Locker can be the Jake Locker of Week One and not the one we saw last week, then the Titans may just have a chance here. Why will this not happen? Because the Bengals have one of the best defensive units in the NFL. They’re just too good.

Cleveland over Baltimore: 16-9- I honestly thought Brian Hoyer would be on the bench by now, but he’s done a good enough job to keep Cleveland In contention for the AFC North. As for the Ravens, they’re on the road. The Ravens don’t play well on the road.

Green Bay over Detroit: 31-28- Here’s a shootout…..potentially. The Lions have to score more than a touchdown to beat Green Bay. They just aren’t good enough……..they’re playing the same old Packers and they’re the same old Lions.

Indianapolis over Jacksonville: 20-15- The 0-2 Colts vs. the 0-2 Jaguars. It sounds like a snoozer, but the Colts played against two of the top three teams in the NFL, and lost by a combined total of ten points. Just a tough schedule. Now, it’s smooth sailing. Why isn’t this higher than 20 points? The Colts like to play to the level of their competition.

Lock of the Week: New England over Oakland: 38-6- The Patriots are one of the best in the league at virtually everything. The Raiders are one of the worst at virtually everything. Not a good combo.

New Orleans over Minnesota: 34-17- Maybe the Saints can finally win a game without blowing it. If they can’t beat Minnesota in the Super Dome, then they aren’t beating anyone. That being said, Rob Ryan has to go if this happens. He’s the worst defensive coordinator of all time.

Houston over New York Giants: 28-17- Houston is the luckiest team in the NFL. No offensive talent, or old talent, and they still put up a lot of points, and allow very few. Why? Look at what they’ve played so far. Now they play the Giants and a washed up Eli Manning.

NFC Game of the Week: Philadelphia over Washington: 44-38- Like offense? Here’s one for all of us. Two 2012 draft picks going head to head. Kirk Cousins……yes, Kirk Cousins, vs. Nick Foles. Two high powered offenses, one shootout. If the Redskins put thirty plus points up again, they may as well trade RG3 to the Rams……that’s ironic.

Snoozer of the Week: Dallas over St. Louis: 21-16- I’m not one to bash America’s Team but I also am a fair person and the Cowboys still aren’t on my watch yet as a contender. But, Tony Romo is still way better than Austin Davis. Heck, half of Dallas’s fanbase probably has never even heard of Austin Davis. Who is Austin Davis?

Upset of the Week: Arizona over San Francisco: 23-21- No matter who plays quarterback, the Cardinals are not only the second best team in the conference, they have the second best coach in the NFL in Bruce Arians. He can make something out of nothing.

Miami over Kansas City: 17-16- Close game, but the Chiefs are 2-8 since their 9-0 start last season. Different coach, different quarterback, same sorry-ass Chiefs. But, you have to mention the Dolphins in the same breath. End of the day, the Chiefs always, always, always wear down.

Revenge of the Week: Denver over Seattle: 30-13- Call me crazy? Have you ever seen a vengeful Peyton Manning play in an NFL game? The results speak for themselves.

Carolina over Pittsburgh: 20-13- The Steelers are in danger of falling to 1-2. Remember when the Steelers were one of the NFL’s elite? Remember when the Panthers were a laughingstock? I only hope no Pittsburgh fan will wake up from a four year coma, because they’re in for a rude awakening……..literally.

Chicago over New York Jets: 31-24- Jay Cutler looked like an all-pro last week. Geno Smith is still in his second season and is still mistake prone. Not a good combo.

Nifty Workouts: So, I had a few good ones this week. Let me begin with my One Hundred Rep Nightmare:

100 reps of everything, as many sets as it takes. Rest time is how many reps you have remaining in seconds.

Decline Push-ups

Dumbbell Rows

Lunges

Crunches

Upright Rows

Suspended Dips

Plate Curls

Try it.

Also, before isolating any muscle group, try these before you workout:

Chest: 100 dumbbell fly

Back: 100 pull-ups

Triceps: 100 suspended dips

Biceps: 100 dumbbell curl

Legs: 100 lunges

Shoulders: 100 lateral raise

Abs: 100 full crunches

Before you workout the target muscle group, shock those muscles early.

Give me a weekly shoulder, ab, and cardio attack:

1,000 jump ropes for warm-up
10 minute non-stop ab work

4 sets of each and every movement, 8-12 reps unless specified.
Dumbbell Clean to Press
super-set: Inverted Barbell Presses

Dumbbell Lateral Raise
tri-set: Dumbbell Front Raise
tri-set: Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly

Battling Ropes for 50 reps
tri-set: Rope Face Pull
tri-set: Machine Rear Delt Fly

I’m out! Todd ‘King of Shredz’ Matthews.

More Useful Information and Saturday Workouts

Today I’m going to go over the social networking aspect of my fledgling empire. I do put a lot of good, useful stuff on this blog, including advice on fitness, nutrition, lifestyle, motivation, and pictures. However, there is much, much more that I have to offer you all in your journey to the top of the fitness realm. I use facebook and instagram as key outlets in addition to my personal page here. Here are my pages:

Instagram: toddmatthewsfitness. Follow me here and gain some awesome access to even more pictures, motivational quotes, short clips, and even more progress pictures.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toddmatthewsphysique?ref=hl . Follow the link posted for full workouts, workout tips, nutrition tips, lifestyle practices, and look at some secret workouts that only few of us know. I’ll be using my facebook page to post videos of exercises that not too many individuals know how to do by merely looking at the name of the exercise. Also, I’ll have videos of my personal style of training too, as well as some really cool nutrition videos coming up soon. So far, I have posted my latest shoulder workout onto the site. Feel free to scan my page and take a look at it. 

As always, I like posting my workouts onto the page as well. But, I do copy many of my main workouts onto this page. Getting my grind on early this morning, I did a really fast cardio workout, ten solid minutes of abs, and then the remainder of my workout was a chest workout. Here is what I did

Chest Workout:

5 Minutes on stair stepper, as fast as possible, climbing as many steps as possible.

10 minute abs

3 giant sets/25 reps: Push-up, Wide Grip Push-up, Close Grip Push-up, Reverse Push-up, Wide Grip Incline Push-up
4 sets/8-12 reps: Cable Crossover/Incline Barbell Bench Presses
4 sets/ X reps: Suspended Push-ups on Dip Machine/Incline Fly
4 sets/15-20 reps: Weighted Wide Grip Suspended Dips/Decline Crossovers

This workout typically takes between an hour and an hour and fifteen minutes to complete. 

In a few hours time, I’ll get my cardio on. My right knee has been experiencing some issues over the last nine days but after two days of taking a really strong dose of glucosamine, the knee is ready for another test run. Here is what I plan to do:

One mile run for a warm-up

Circuit: 20 yard lunge, 40 yard sprint, jog down hill, sprint up hill. Repeat as many times as possible in a 20 minute time limit.

Circuit: 1/4 mile run as fast as possible, 50 mountain climbers, run another 1/4 mile except that this time the 1/4 mile is down the hill and back up the hill. Return to first exercise in this circuit.

10 minutes of abs in a giant set. 

Total time should not exceed one hour. 

These workouts are not for the weak hearted. Go ahead and modify them if need be, but the full workout requires a lot of clean calories, a decent warm-up, and your favorite music, which is usually a deciding factor that keeps people going. So go ahead, give it a whirl, and tell me what you think. 

Boulder Shoulder Workout and ETC

I have a challenge for all of you. See if you can survive me. See if you can keep up with me. See if you can beat me at my own game. All you have to do is the following: Two workouts a day, every day, eat zero cheat meals (I like to cycle my carbs and calories, it works, trust me), and repeat this for a consistent period of time. If you can remain consistent with my style, then it’s all good, because you just scored a new lifestyle. What? You say you don’t have time for a two-a-day. Then get up forty-five minutes earlier, it’s all you’ll probably need. Forty-five minutes is usually all I need to get in a killer workout. Then you may ask, “why don’t you just go an hour and a half to two hours in one session” My answer to that question is just that I don’t see two straight hours doing one workout feasible for anyone. Why would I wear myself down the first hour only to struggle through the second hour

All I need is forty-five minutes to an hour, and that’s it. My philosophy is to get in, get it in, and get out, get on with your day. Two hours in one workout is going to lead to a two and a half to three hour gym session. Why? Most people like to talk to their buddies when they workout. I usually workout with one workout partner, or alone. Lately, I’ve been going at it alone because it’s tough to mesh a schedule together.  And since 2014 has been my greatest year ever, only my main workout partner can workout with me. If I’m working out alone, I guess God becomes my workout partner, or perhaps my workout leader. But here’s the score, my workout buddy and I rarely talk during the workout, because we both have lives and we both have things to do. Want a list? Here:

Other things to do:

Keep house clean or get kicked out

School work (we’re both in school)

Work….don’t give me that we both work as trainers nonsense. Spend a day in my shoes and see how fun it is to train clients from 5:00am to 8:00pm with a few gaps during the day, but it’s no one way straight eight hour shift. You cater to your clients.

Pay numerous bills: school, phone, car, car insurance, rent (yeah, I get charged to live at home, thank God my dad’s tough on me)

Maintain my social networking, such as this wordpress, facebook, and instagram. I gain new followers everyday and I’m no longer a fledgling in this fitness community.

Practice my poses for both shows and shoots, I have both coming up in just over a month……Happy October.

Okay, so we both have lives way outside the fitness realm of things. So what if I don’t have a brat or two to spend my hard earned money on? I’m twenty-three and I’m fortunate to have never made THAT mistake in my life. Man, I hope I didn’t jinx myself!

Anyway, onto phase two of this lovely article. I like to work hard, work fast, and get it in. Currently, I’m experiencing some chronic knee issues, so my philosophy on cardio is getting reinforced through this too. “Lift weights really fast,” as one notable gym member puts it. That’s my philosophy, just go, fast, with each and every lift. From arm workouts to shoulder workouts to chest workouts. I like to literally fly through my workout, taking few breaks, under thirty seconds for the majority of the time, unless I need to take a water break, but I usually have some right beside me. 

Today I’m sharing my boulder shoulder workout from today. I went through roughly 36 sets of fast moving, fast paced shoulder exercises. This isn’t counting my cardio starter, which was a sledge hammer and tractor tire until I was completely winded, and a plank style ab workout, which rocked.

Four sets of every single movement shown here. For reps, just go heavy and go until you can’t get another rep, go to complete failure. What I mean by this is to go until you cannot move that weight another inch!

Tri-set: Arnold Press/Standing Barbell Press/Standing Dumbbell Clean into Press

Super-set: Lateral Raise/Front Barbell Raise

Super-set: Rope Face Pull/Seated Machine Rear Delt Fly

Super-set: Battle Ropes (50 reps as fast as possible)/Front Plate Steering Wheel Twist

 

Boulder Shoulder Workout and ETC

I have a challenge for all of you. See if you can survive me. See if you can keep up with me. See if you can beat me at my own game. All you have to do is the following: Two workouts a day, every day, eat zero cheat meals (I like to cycle my carbs and calories, it works, trust me), and repeat this for a consistent period of time. If you can remain consistent with my style, then it’s all good, because you just scored a new lifestyle. What? You say you don’t have time for a two-a-day. Then get up forty-five minutes earlier, it’s all you’ll probably need. Forty-five minutes is usually all I need to get in a killer workout. Then you may ask, “why don’t you just go an hour and a half to two hours in one session” My answer to that question is just that I don’t see two straight hours doing one workout feasible for anyone. Why would I wear myself down the first hour only to struggle through the second hour

All I need is forty-five minutes to an hour, and that’s it. My philosophy is to get in, get it in, and get out, get on with your day. Two hours in one workout is going to lead to a two and a half to three hour gym session. Why? Most people like to talk to their buddies when they workout. I usually workout with one workout partner, or alone. Lately, I’ve been going at it alone because it’s tough to mesh a schedule together.  And since 2014 has been my greatest year ever, only my main workout partner can workout with me. If I’m working out alone, I guess God becomes my workout partner, or perhaps my workout leader. But here’s the score, my workout buddy and I rarely talk during the workout, because we both have lives and we both have things to do. Want a list? Here:

Other things to do:

Keep house clean or get kicked out

School work (we’re both in school)

Work….don’t give me that we both work as trainers nonsense. Spend a day in my shoes and see how fun it is to train clients from 5:00am to 8:00pm with a few gaps during the day, but it’s no one way straight eight hour shift. You cater to your clients.

Pay numerous bills: school, phone, car, car insurance, rent (yeah, I get charged to live at home, thank God my dad’s tough on me)

Maintain my social networking, such as this wordpress, facebook, and instagram. I gain new followers everyday and I’m no longer a fledgling in this fitness community.

Practice my poses for both shows and shoots, I have both coming up in just over a month……Happy October.

Okay, so we both have lives way outside the fitness realm of things. So what if I don’t have a brat or two to spend my hard earned money on? I’m twenty-three and I’m fortunate to have never made THAT mistake in my life. Man, I hope I didn’t jinx myself!

Anyway, onto phase two of this lovely article. I like to work hard, work fast, and get it in. Currently, I’m experiencing some chronic knee issues, so my philosophy on cardio is getting reinforced through this too. “Lift weights really fast,” as one notable gym member puts it. That’s my philosophy, just go, fast, with each and every lift. From arm workouts to shoulder workouts to chest workouts. I like to literally fly through my workout, taking few breaks, under thirty seconds for the majority of the time, unless I need to take a water break, but I usually have some right beside me. 

Today I’m sharing my boulder shoulder workout from today. I went through roughly 36 sets of fast moving, fast paced shoulder exercises. This isn’t counting my cardio starter, which was a sledge hammer and tractor tire until I was completely winded, and a plank style ab workout, which rocked.

Four sets of every single movement shown here. For reps, just go heavy and go until you can’t get another rep, go to complete failure. What I mean by this is to go until you cannot move that weight another inch!

Tri-set: Arnold Press/Standing Barbell Press/Standing Dumbbell Clean into Press

Super-set: Lateral Raise/Front Barbell Raise

Super-set: Rope Face Pull/Seated Machine Rear Delt Fly

Super-set: Battle Ropes (50 reps as fast as possible)/Front Plate Steering Wheel Twist

 

The Most Killer Home Gym Routine Yet

I hope you all have read and liked my recent writings on my dumbbell and kettlebell workouts, designed for the busiest of the busiest. Those with maybe thirty minutes a day to get into a gym (or their basement) to bust out an effective workout want to take a look at these posts, because they are designed especially for the busy population.

Some of us just never get a break. We wake up before the sun, not with it, and we’re at work as the sun is coming up. We may or may not have the greatest opportunities to eat solid meals on a consistent basis (look into meal replacement shakes or the Quest product line). And then the obligations at home take over once the work day is over.

All in all, life can be a roller coaster for many of us and as a trainer I’ve seen many individuals give up on their fitness goals because they claim life gets in the way. They may work twelve hour days, have a family at the house, or have many other obligations on top of all of that. The truth is that by giving thirty minutes of the day directly to a daily workout isn’t as complicated as it looks. Get the workout in first thing in the morning, directly after work, or before going to sleep at night, which is my favorite time to get my main workout in.

But, there are times when my schedule is ultra booked for the day, I got to be here, then there, then across the county for something, then maybe my workout time gets cut a little short because I’m waking up two hours before the sun the next morning. In these hectic situations, I keep my workout, even my main workout, short. Sometimes, I don’t even use the gym and I’ll do this very workout I’m about to write up in my basement.

Workout A:
4 circuits/25 reps each. 30 minute time limit if time is limited.

Push-up with Snap Jump
Plate Curls
Bench Dips
Jump Lunge (25/leg)
Touchdown Squats
Front Plate Raise
Squat Press
Diamond Push-ups
Up-Downs
Mountain Climbers (25/leg)

Workout B: 30 for beginners, 60 for intermediates, 100 for advanced in as many sets as it takes. Cannot do next movement until 100 reps are performed for the first movement. 30 minute time limit if time is limited.
Spiderman Push-up
Band or Dumbbell Curl
Suspended Bench Dips (use a flat bench, coffee table, bathtub, etc and place a chair a couple feet from the bench)
Jump Squats
Tactical Lunge (50/leg, use a dumbbell or kettle bell, do a reverse lunge with weight in one hand, switch to other hand under the legs, like a basketball player does)
Band or Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Leg Raise
Band or Dumbbell Rows
Lateral Mountain Climbers (100/leg)
Snap Jump

Rest Days

Hey, peeps, it’s The Todd, coming at you with another brilliantly laid idea that can only come from the one and only, The Todd. Now, as long as you’ve taken the time out to turn your head away from the youtube video, the Fox News headline of the day, the article explaining reason why Justin Blackmon can’t quit abusing drugs, or whatever has taken your defenseless mind that’s been manufactured by the U.S Government, the Illuminati, and more recently Barry Soetoro, oops, I mean, Barack Huissein Obama (I think that’s how you spell is middle “name”) and taken the precious time to read my blog, then you do in fact know that I don’t like to do things the conventional way. And if this is my last blog, you’ll know that I’m being held prisoner at an NSA detention camp being tortured into revealing why I know the president’s true identity (youtube), then at least you’ll have the benefit in knowing that yes, I do take rest days.

The question is not really when in the week do I take a day off from torching myself in the gym, but the real question is when do I take this rest day in the first place? Now as I just stated in the above paragraph, I do take rest days, but it may seriously occur once every two months at times. Yep, once every two months, maybe we can give or take a month there. Yep, that may seem like a long time in between rest days, but I’m going to outline this, so stay tuned.

You read article after article after article about overtraining and stuffing your face with countless calories on rest days that should occur one to two times per week, right? Okay, the sad sorry truth is that the media, in this case the fitness outlets, America, and countless supplement companies are going to a: want to keep you fat and happy (just wait til Obamacare takes full effect….yikes), b: you’ll continue to buy supplements even if they are unnecessary to be taken in large quantities during any day, and c: when this program that fitness magazine x outlined for you that didn’t work, they got another one coming up in next months addition, so maybe this one will work. Do we sense a pattern here, or are you all starting to think that The Todd here is a paranoid conspiracy theorist? You may think one, the other, or both. Honestly, I couldn’t care less what you thought of me because what I do clearly works for me even if it may not entirely work for you. I give honest advice based off of experience and experience alone, so if my insane method that has little to no scientific background doesn’t work for you then go screw off in a public bathroom  to the bikini Olympia, have your fantasy, then find another method that may or may not work. 

Okay, back to the point that I was making. Let’s see, we’re at overtraining now. Overtraining, overtraining, overtraining. I hear it all the time. People will even tell me that I’m overtraining when I’m not. Have I been down that path before? Been close, been very close for that matter, but I honestly don’t think I know exactly what overtraining feels like and you probably don’t either. See, overtraining occurs over a span of months. It does exist, but it’s very, very rare. Truth be told either a: you’re not eating enough clean, natural food or b: you’re up until three in the morning on weekends getting drunk and messing around with a random female that you’ll never see again after tonight unless the girl in question happens to be a girlfriend and depriving yourself of sleep and killing your liver with a great deal of empty calories that will result in a weekend hangover. You’ll probably overdoing it at the Halloween Party or you’re not doing it enough in the kitchen or you may just be overdoing it on Halloween candy that’s left over from earlier in the night because you didn’t get enough little brats banging on your door for God knows why, and you have no brat to take care of that’s under the age of twelve. This is what you call overtraining, this is what I call being a conforming jack-ass to society. 

So, now after that tirade, I now have to answer why I even rest at all. Maybe I didn’t sleep much during the week, maybe I didn’t get in as many clean calories as I may have liked or maybe I just decided to binge on the four hundred and fifty Reese’s Cups that were left over from the night before. We’ll go with that last one, and every last one of them tasted pretty damn good, thank you very much. 

I like to rest because it does have it’s benefits, such as healing, recovering, and more importantly, giving the mind a break. As of how often you should rest will depend on several factors, such as what you do for a living, how long you have been training, are you a fast twitch or slow twitch (muscle fibers) type, what is your level of conditioning, genetic makeup, and what your preferences are. It depends on these factors on whether or not you are going to rest once a week, or once a month. One thing that I do know is that this world isn’t and never will be a one size, fits all, no matter how much Soetoro would like to pretend that any outcome is equal, because it isn’t. And since the world is not a one size, fits all world, then if an article or a magazine says that everyone should be doing this, everyone should be doing that, this is a major red flat, because in all honesty, it’s only going to appeal to one group and one group only. As always, thanks for taking the time to read and learn about my crazy ways, both in and out of the gym. And to learn more about me and my crazy ways, stay tuned, I got lots of stories.