San Diego State University

I recently graduated from SDSU last week. And as a graduate I need to pay off my bills and find a full time job, but most importantly, I need to find a place to workout. I went to 24 Hour Fitness, but their rates are out of my budget. Luckily with some smooth talking I was able to get a free day pass when I showed wearing my exercise clothes. This visit to the gym was unlike any other in my life. After 25 minutes of exercising I realized that I did not need to buy a membership because I consistently used the same equipment over and over. My new goal is to create my personal home gym. I realized that this is a possibility because I recently bought the BOSU ball and have been using it religiously to improve my athletic ability. To start off I need to get 25 – 50lb dumbells. I also need to get my ACE certification so I can take my home gym idea and train my friends for a fraction of what they pay for a gym membership and personal trainer. In a year or so I would like to create a legit business where I can become my own boss. I have so many ideas that I cannot wait to get started. However, I need get money to afford my gym equipment and certification. Soon enough, “SterlingFit” will be the talk of the town & my name will be recognized.

A Day With BOSU

The other day was unlike any other at the BOSU office. Jena & I were given a task of the up most importance. David Weck and Steve Froehlich told us to figure out how to make their newest invention better. The BOSU team created 2 new different ways to exercise using ropes. The problem Jena & I had to solve was to go to all the local sports stores and find appropriate weights to increase the newest inventions. We were told to find the best ankle weights that were between 10 and 5 pounds and were the best fit. Also, we were given a camera to document the journey. After Steve handed me the money to buy the weights we were off to the stores. I thought it was going to be an exciting experience because Jena & I gave a few stores a sneak peak into what they were going to be selling next. First, we go to Sports Chalet in Point Loma because it was the closest. That Sports Chalet did not have the exact weights that we were looking for so we decided to make our way around town. A patter quickly formed as Jena & I made our way through the city. We repeatedly got strange looks as if we were dressed like pirates. However, as soon as we explained to the curious people that we were working for BOSU and that we are testing the new prototype for the latest invention, the curiosity quickly transformed into awe. Soon after we went to Target, Sports Authority, and another Sports Chalet in mission valley. The response from everyone was the same no matter what store we went to that afternoon. I am glad Dave and Steve gave us the opportunity find out which weight would work best on their newest invention because that day I have my part in changing the world one store at a time.

World Cup

I finally got to play a few friendly matches of pick-up soccer yesterday. Andrea is the only female who consistently shows up to play with all of the big boys. She plays for the SDSU club team & is among the best soccer players I have seen regardless of gender and I love when she plays on my team because all of the guys assume she is terrible until she dribbles by them and scores a goal. In the excitement of playing last night I started to think about the World Cup and who I thought was going to win. First, America is going to play better than we did last year because of two main reasons. England’s popular player, David Beckam, is out of the tournament because of a torn Achilles and we have been placed in a relatively easy group. So I predict that America will proceed to the third round without any chance of winning the entire tournament. For the teams who have an actual chance of winning the tournament I have narrowed my picks to my three favorite teams. Brazil of course is on the list to win the tourney. With star players such as Ronaldinho, Kaka, and Robinho Brazil is the only team to win back to back World Cups and have the largest number of wins. Next, I have to condider Italy. They have a world class league containing some of the world’s greatest players. Toni, an amazing striker, should always be considered a threat, with Piro backing him up in the goal, and the ability for Italy to draw a foul in almost any situation, I have to be worried that they will take trophy home again. Lastly, I have to pick the home team South Africa. The country has been going through wars, poverty, and imprisoning innocent men, has a lot to prove to themselves and to the world. Also, home court advantage in a month long competition is also a huge advantage over other teams in any sport. Be on the look out this June 11 for the start of game one! Soccer is the greatest sport in the world.

Intramural Soccer

I recently finished the final intramural game of my college career. As usual, the team I was on dominates when the entire roster shows up, but when we are missing our key striker & goalie, our chance of success fades away faster than snow in the summer. The team captain showing up late was the perfect foreshadow of the team’s fate. We played a team with zero subs, but they played very well together. Each player knew their role and where they needed to be on the court so they were not awkward on the court at all. On the other hand, we did not even need to show up to the game. Because we have a large roster everyone wants to play the entire game, score all the goals, and juke everyone on the other team. Without explanation, none of that happened. We started the game behind and could not overcome the hill of failure. I played my heart out, but it was not good enough. I missed two excellent opportunities for goals, but I gave the game my all. I never won a championship so I am a little disappointed in myself, but I still have about 15 more years of soccer playing left in my future and I am sure I can win a few championships before I retire

Working with Charles

Every week I have to go into the fitness clinic at SDSU and work with Charles. The fitness clinic is a place where people who have disabilities can work with SDSU students and improve their physical fitness levels. My client is a 16 year old boy who have Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, and mental retardation. I was quite nervous working with him for the first time for a few reasons. First, I have only seen people with disabilities as I am going to class or to a store. I have not had the opportunity to start a friendship with a disabled person. Secondly, starting an exercise program is hard enough, but starting one for a person who is wheelchair bound can be intimidating. I am very glad to have met Charles because he opened my eyes to a world that I ignored. I have enjoyed working with him for the entire semester & I may come back to State once in a while to visit him and make sure he is doing well.

Gym

Last weekend I decided to go back home to catch up with a few of my friends who I have not seen in a while. My best friend who I have known since the 5th grade was especially excited to see me again because he recently got a gym membership. He knows that fitness is my area of expertise and wanted to get in better shape. I told him that I was going to be moving back after I graduated and we would be going to the gym together. He knows that I always like to find different exercises and routines to improve and challenge myself to become a better athlete. So when I went home he took me to the gym so I could show him a new workout. I decided to take him through the “300″ workout. From the name of the exercise the men who started in the move 300 performed this exercise to build their picture perfect physique. Needless to say, it is not an easy workout. We modified the routine so we could both complete the exercises and made a competition out of it. In stead of completing 50 reps of each exercise, we changed it to 10. Initially I started off with a time of 2:40. I wanted to pace myself and see how fatigued I would become during a maximal attempt. He beat my time and then the competition immediately started to ignite. My final trial was finished in a time of 2:09 and he finished with 2:24. I cannot wait until I graduate and have someone to push me like he does.

Getting active

I started this month off in spring break as sick as a mule. I spend more time on the couch that week than I have all year combined. But the break had to come to an end and I needed to return to reality sooner than I wanted. I have taken anatomy, physiology, and microbiology. One major lesson that can be learned from those courses is give the body proper time to heal itself in order to make a complete recovery. I have stayed away from the gym because I knew that I would be doing myself more harm than good if I started to workout. however, I have given my body plenty of time to recuperate and now it was time to get back to business. I wanted to start off slowly and only do my arms, chest, and abs. I quickly discovered that I was nowhere near the shape I’m used to. My normal time in the gym is typically about 2-2.5 hours, but this time I was there a total of 1 hour feeling completely exhausted. I expected the fatigue to come early so I did not what to push myself too hard and I felt it was appropriate to quit early.

Soccer

The other day I played my first game on another intramural team. The game was at 10pm and I was not too excited be playing soccer that late because I had wake up at 5am the next morning to be at the boot camp. The league is 4 v 4 with 20 minute halves. I was surprised when we showed up to the game because our team had 18 players, but luckily only 8 people showed up to the game. The indoor soccer field at SDSU is a basketball court with soccer nets on each end of the court. because the indoor soccer court is on the corner of the building, we play against a wall on one side and a large net shaped like an over-sized curtain on the other. It is undeniably the worst field I have ever played on in my life, but “beggars cannot be choosers”. I did not want to play the entire game because I was more concerned with the boot camp the next day. Long story short, we won the game with 7-2 and everybody on the team played like a champion. I am excited about this team and I feel that we could with the championship and make my senior year a dream.

Yoga

Saturday afternoon my friend wanted to go to the gym and I told him that I would go to help him out. Because he recently started eating healthy and is trying to live a healthy lifestyle, as soon as he saw that Yoga was going to start in five minutes he dragged me in too. I know that I am not the most flexible guy in the world, and I knew I was in for pain because I did not see a single guy in the class. I don’t know any names or stances of the poses so the entire class I was watching the girls in an attempt to figure out how to properly contort my body. Initially, we are sitting down and the instructor is telling us what we are going to be doing in the class. At this point I figure it is going to be an easy class because all we are doing is sitting. Immediately the class started to pick up and I was quickly proven wrong. The other girls in the class performed the positions perfectly and effortlessly. My friend in the back in the class are huffing and puffing because we can barely breathe. I have not been in that  much pain and discomfort since I can remember and I couldn’t quit because all of my manhood would have walked off too. I stayed and finished the class then quickly returned to my room where I could rest my body. I do not like Yoga at all.

BOSU Office

Today went to the BOSU office like I normally do on Wednesdays after my last class and today was an extraordinarily explosive brainstorming day. David Weck is working with Tyson Gay, the number two sprinter in the world, and helping him increase his power and speed so he can overpass Usain Bolt. David was exploring a starting technique in which you would throw both hands behind your back like as fast as possible and keeping your body as low as possible in stead of the traditional method throwing one arm ahead of the body and they alternate with each stride. David was brainstorming which specific method of throwing the arms behind the back will decrease the center of gravity and increase speed off the blocks. I was just sitting on the couch researching information I am going to do for a presentation and was just blown away by the innovative technique he was going to present to Gay to decrease his 100 meter time. David loves tying in how the body needs to pronate and supinate to keep centered and balanced, and how efficiently and effectively Gay can pronate and supinate will directly correlate to how good of a sprinter he will be in the future.

Boot camp

I’m still recovering from my illness and have to participate in the boot camp with Chris Keith. It is killing me. I have not been able to smell for over a week because my nose is still congested so breathing has become very difficult especially when I am exercising. I constantly spitting up mucus from my nose and it is still disgusting. Any cardiovascular activity has become near impossible. My muscles are flaccid, brain is confused, and lungs are strained. I have never had this difficult of a time exercising in my life. As an overweight kid I still had enough endurance to finish whatever sport or exercise I chose to do, however, I have for the first time in a while have started to dread going to boot camp. I cannot keep up with the routines and I feel as if I am slowing down the people next to me. This is going to be a very long 6 more weeks of internship until I can muster up the energy to finish. I wish I had a white flag to hold at Chris and tell him I give up.

Spring Break

Ironically I have to write a paper in one of my classes about something that ruined my entire break, viruses. I was researching viruses and how the infect and attack its host. Viruses unlike many organisms are not alive, they require a host to replicate to reproduce. And the can cause permanent damage to host because they rely on the ability to go through cell division and repair the cells that were infected by the virus. Many people recover from common colds because virus attack the cells lining the lungs which undergo cell division rapidly, however if a virus were to attack white blood cells or spinal nerves, cells that do not regenerate, irreversible damage. I am currently being attacked, but my white bloods cells are actively fighting off the virus and it is almost completely gone. I am going to have a fun time writing this paper not only because I just experienced first hand a viral attack and have taken over a year of courses studying viruses. Now I get to put my knowledge and creativity together.

Spring Break

San Diego and Mexico recently experienced an earthquake. I remember the day vividly what I was doing because it was the first day I got out of my house to visit my best friend. I was sitting on his blue chair and he was lying behind my on a couch. We were watching TV and because I had the remote, I muted the TV and told my friend to stop shaking my chair. I quickly got short tempered because my chair was still shaking. I turned around and started to yell at him to leave me alone. As soon as I realized that he was too far away from my seat I immediately realized that we were going through an earthquake. The quake lasted for about 30 seconds but I wasn’t sure if we should run outside or wait inside and storm the weather. Soon after the ground started shaking I was thinking about the movie 2012 and how the end of the world is coming  early and  earthquakes have been plaguing the world attacking Chile, Haiti, Mexico, America, and other countries not fortunate enough to make international news. I was not serious in my claim, but everyone still had a good laugh out my outcry. Fitting how the week was going already, the earthquake was the highlight of my final day of my most memorable break. And that was my final experience of Spring Break because I went back home shortly after and continued my life on the couch and watched a few more movies and went to sleep. I know, I live an exciting life.

Spring Break

Although I was a waste of life during Spring Break I did find a very meaningful way to pass the time. The UEFA Champions League is highly televised and helped me relax to allow my body to fight my infection. I have going to admit that FC Barcelona will win the whole thing. Lionel Messi is Argentina’s pride and joy and is in the running to be greater than Pale. his is arguably the greatest player currently playing soccer and with his recent four goals in one game against Arsenal, that claim is more substantiated. The beautify of watching Soccer on TV is, unlike the majority of popular sports in America, soccer does not have commercial breaks. 45 minutes of pure bliss without any distractions besides maybe an occasional bathroom break. Playoff games of the majority of American sports, especially during the final two minutes of a close game, are flooded with repetitive ads targeting beer drinkers and junk food eaters. I do not watch the Superbowl for the commercials. Game 7 of the NBA finals are a heart-wrenching experience but are degraded by the constant bombardment of the same hand full of ads over a two hour period. I just want to sit on my couch and enjoy two elite teams battle it out for the championship, not what medication I need to buy immediately.  As much as I do not like to sitting on the couch all day, as least I get to enjoy watching my show without any commercial breaks.

Spring Break

Spring break ended yesterday and it was my break before I graduate. I remember Friday before the break started that it was going to be my last Spring Break as an undergrad so I wanted to make sure it was the most memorable break of my life. I told all of my friends back home that I was going to be home for the beak and every night I was there we needed to rage as if it was the end of the world. Although the only thing on my mind was making this an unforgettable break, I didn’t understand the consequences of my wishes. I got Tuesday, the second day of break, with a common cold. Sneezing, Coughing, and sniffling everywhere I walked. Getting up to get a glass of water became as challenging as running a marathon. This first day of being sick over spring break I still remained optimistic thinking to myself that I would get over it like I usually do in one or two days. Sadly, I was mistaken. I took cold medicine every day. I felt like a crack addict growing increasingly agitated every minute that passed by I did not get my fix of Nyquil or sudafed. But neither one made much of a difference. Wednesday I spent a total of 16 hours sleeping. Thursday I tried to eat food, but was too tired to get up from the couch. I have not been that sick sense High School and I figured that it was just my luck that it happened during my final free week before I graduated. Life is truly unfair.

Dieting is Not Eating Healthy

Crash diets work. They work the same like a spare tire would on a car missing a wheel. In the short run you can easily get to where you need to go, however, if you want the system to last you need to replace the weak with a strong and stable solution. From my personal experience asking people and watching infomercials, any eating plan with the word ‘diet’ in it, is not a good system. For example, the Atkins diet. Food can be split into two basic groups, macro & micro nutrients. Macro nutrients consist of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Carbs are used to provide energy during intermediate exercises, proteins are used to maintain and create healthy muscle tissue, and fats are the chief energy supply that fuel the body for as long as one has the will to exercise. Eliminating an entire food group would have a detrimental effect on the body which can leave people feeling anywhere from too full, tired, to anxious all day. Eating a balanced and well monitored food is the ideal way to maximize gym time. Eating healthy is not difficult, but it is one of the many tasks that needs constant attention. With the current trend in America, a simple and easy eating guide should be masses produced and in office buildings and schools to help the crisis.

Soccer tricks

I started playing soccer my second semester at SDSU so I am not the best player in the word. I play the sport as if my life depended on it so I am constantly trying to improve my game. Yesterday I finally completed a trick I always would screw up on and lose the ball. The trick is when the ball is rolling on the ground and my feet move in half circles in front of the ball. What usually ends up happening is that after the first circle my foot accidentally hits the ball right at the defender. However, this time I successfully avoided him and the ball. I got so excited after completing the trick that I completely missed the wide open shot I had on goal. I was not too mad at myself for missing the goal because I was only playing pick-up soccer. The whole team was disappointed in me, but I was so happy. Now it’s time to move onto the next trick.

My favorite Exercise

Ab exercise used to be the group of exercises that I dreaded to perform. Trying to find a way to squeeze into the decline bench and find a medicine ball to add weight to maximize my workout. It wasn’t until recently when I started to go to the gym with my friend that sit-ups are fun. I told him that core strength is essential to work out because having a ‘beer belly’ is less safe than big hips. He was just as resilient as I was when I started too, but quickly after we started the sit-ups I began to realize that I had everything backwards. Having a flat stomach is how people are judged in the fitness world. I had the basic lines of where my 6-pack was going to be formed, but I did not have the definition and tone that I need to be an example in my profession. After a few days of doing a few intense ab workouts I started noticing the increase in metabolism and most importantly my beach body abs ready to blossom for summer. The hardest part for me now is to keep this pace over spring break and finals.

Fitness Levels

I have not been concerned with my weight for about two years. Because I typically exercise 6 days a week I am more concerned with my body fat percentage. I was at the gym and like any other usual day I went through my routine of playing soccer for 30 minutes and then lifting for 45 minutes. At the end of my lifting out of impulse, I decided to step on the scale and see the damage. I weighed in at 164 pounds, the most I have weighed in my life. I initially walked home thinking to myself that I need to push myself even harder to drop back to my usual 150 range, but then I realized something. Because of the boot camp workouts I have increased my power dramatically. I have benched and squatted more weight than I have my entire life and never have felt this strong before. Chris Keith does know exactly how to train people in a group setting and I would imagine that he would make an even better 1 on 1 personal trainer.

Intramural Soccer

My team is the ‘Iron Rhinos’ and I have played with them for over a year. Because this is my last semester at SDSU my time with the Rhinos is coming to a close. We played in our playoff game today and hoped to make it to the championship game this Monday. Sadly, we will not make it to the monumental match. we lost the match 1-4. This was the last chance I had to win the championship. I had high hopes for the team because we had very good players who helped us earn our spot in the playoffs, but out two main strikers couldn’t make it to the game. As soon as I hear word of them not being able to make it to the game I still remained optimistic. I played my heart out that game, but the luck wasn’t on my side during that hour. All I can hope for now is that our indoor soccer lineup will be better than ever.

CrossFit619

This week Chris Keith finally got his affiliation with CrossFit. After all of his hard work and persistence he can now change the bootcamp name to associate it with the Crossfit name. So to top off this monumental week for Chris, everyone who went to the bookcamp had a CrossFit style workout. We had the choice of different exercises based on hurricanes and I chose Deloris. The exercise consisted of 100 push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and pull-ups.And the beauty of Crossfit workouts is that everything is done for time. I did not do any squats because I sprained my ankle a few days prior meeting up with Chris, but I was not exempt from exercising. I was limited to the other three exercises. I finished the push and sit-ups in 12 minutes with little worry. However, after 20 pull-ups I was already becoming exhausted. I never believed that I could finish 100 pull-ups in a week let alone in a day, however, I finished. 100 pull-ups alone took me 22 minutes and the total workout took me 34:43. The only thing I can look forward now it sleeping in my bead, my shoulders are killing me.

NSCA

As a sophomore in college I was an Economics major confused and unenthusiastic about my future. Not until I started consistently going to the gym slowing becoming increasingly interested in different ways to improve my strength. And out of luck one day when I was working at the office at Palomar College, someone came in and told me that Kinesiology was a major. I set myself back a year in school, but it was the best decision of my life. And that paramount day in my life led to my curiosity of the fitness world, more importantly, how to increase strength. at the IHRSA conference I spent the most amount of time at the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) booth. Strength is the main reason I changed my major and as soon as I graduate from school, I am going to start studying for the test. The women at the booth gave me some unofficial way on how to save money when studying and taking the test that I promised not to tell anyone no matter how much I wanted to spread the word. I think the day I get my first certification is going to be the same day I realize my potential in changing the fitness world. People will know my name before I am done working.

IHRSA

What a weekend. The IHRSA convention in San Diego was the equivalent as Christmas for a 10-year-old. Everything from 150 pound dumbbells, to  multi axis stationary bikes. My original plan was to only get information and fliers from the booths I would be interested in because I did not want to carry a bag heavier than me, but I had to move to plan-B as soon as I saw the plethora of booths. I wanted to get as many samples, information, and ideas as possible. First, the X-Force had a creative new concept to add 40% of the lifting weight during the concentric phase of the lift. I do not know the price ranges on the machines but they did not look cheap in the slightest. Also, a rotating wall climbing machine was something that I wish every gym had. The pegs that went into the wall could be placed anywhere making the climb easy for beginners or impossible for people who have been climbing for years. Not only were the machines impressive, but the samples were extraordinarily amazing. Met-Rx by far was the hands down winner for the best tasting and largest variety of pre/post workout foods. Everything worth knowing about the fitness world was at the conference and I realized how little I know about the industry and how much I need to learn. Although the conference seemed a little overwhelming with the various methods ranging from weight loss, general fitness, group exercise, and power lifting I know exactly the path I want to pave for myself as soon as I graduate.

Basketball

Basketball was the first sport I loved to play. Back in 4th grade where everyone is about the same height and talent level, I fit in perfectly. I played everyday before, during, and after school. I also played in a recreational league during the weekends. Life was bliss. Sadly, when the kids my age started to grow, I stayed the same. I was usually the second shortest person on the team, and I did not have the advantage of being the same height as everyone else before. My life as I knew it was crumbling because I could not compete with the big boys anymore. So I decided to retire from the sport I loved. After enrolling at SDSU I quickly realized that basketball is the most popular sport to play at the ARC. I haven’t played in years, but watching so many people playing basketball I felt as if I could keep up with everyone just like in the good ole’ days. Quickly after I started all of the terrifying memories soon hit me in the face just like most of my blocked shots. I am on average an entire foot shorter than most players, 80 pounds lighter, and much less experienced than all of the competitors on the court. I did not play very because I soon started to fear for my life. Today, basketball is something I leave for the professionals and enjoy from my living room couch.

First Day at the BOSU Office

The first time I stepped into the BOSU office or the ‘think-tank’ as I like to call it, I was surprised. I remember walking to the second floor trying to piece together exactly what the room would look like. I figured it would look like a typical office with BOSU items scattered across the room. I was completely wrong. Two desks which housed David Weck and Steve Froehlich were in the back of the room. The majority of the office was open space with BOSU red carpet. Miles of rope ranging in diameter from a quarter to the size of my hamstring were lined against the wall just waiting to be rolled. I was not shocked by the large amount of open space in the middle of the office because immediately Dave starts to brainstorm how he can roll the ropes in a new manner. By this time I just managed to take off my backpack and try to understand how this man worked.  Before the door closes behind me I knew that I would be put into the BOSU fire & I would have to match the intensity or quit. The men at BOSU work at an intensity at which I have only seen on TV, and I was so happy I would be able to extrapolate as much knowledge from them as possible.