Strickland Fitness

After some time of ramping up some other training stuff; The blog is back! Stay tuned!

I had the pleasure of working with Ultimate Fighting Championship star Lyoto Machida. His manager contacted me last Monday asking if I could help him do a last training session before heading off to Vegas to fight. I obviously accepted. We did a few exercises to warm up his muscles and keep the blood flowing and then some stretching. By the way, 880 pounds on the leg press is his way of keeping the blood flowing. He won his fight with a first round knockout.

I received a call from his manager the day after his fight asking me to train him again on Monday. That’s 2 days after his highly anticipated match. I was expecting him to rest for a longer time, but he was back to it. This time we got to work out hard. The dedication of professional athletes is mind blowing.  

Why am I writing about this? Besides the fact that it was a great experience and I can add a mixed martial artist to my resume, it confirms that dedication, persistence, and hard work are the keys to success….no matter your sport, goals, or fitness level.

How can you stay in shape if you are traveling during the holidays? The most important thing is to stay active and make sure your calorie intake doesn’t exceed your calorie output. If you are staying at a hotel, try and stay at one that has a gym. That way the weather will not get in the way of working out. If the weather isn’t a problem, get outside. Do some intervals around the block. Walk up some steep hills that might be around. You can also do some body weight stuff for your resistance training. Pushups, planks, dips, body squats, back raises, and crunches are great body weight exercises. Don’t wait for the New Year to come to start training again. Keep yourself going and then step it up once you get home.

I am going to Oregon on a snow shoe and snowboarding trip. Next post will be Mon. the 29^th. Happy Holidays!!!

So I have decided for my upcoming wedding, I am going to put on a few pounds of muscle. My shape is good, but I want to be ripped in my tux. I don’t want to look like Arnold in “True Lies” or anything, but a bigger James Bond is my goal. I am going to blog a few of my muscle building workouts to keep everyone posted of my work and progress.

My basic regime will consist of a high calorie low fat diet, 3-4 days of sprints in the pool, and 3 hard workouts a week. My metabolism is pretty fast so I have to be very careful of not losing weight in the whole process. Stress can be a huge factor when it comes to fitness goals, so plenty of rest and a peaceful wedding planning will be a must. My fiancé is the perfect partner so I should be well on my way on that side. The rest will be up to me.

If you have some goals you are working towards and you want some tips, email me. I will post your goals (keeping you anonymous of course) and the tips to go with it. I can also post your ongoing progress to help keep you accountable.