Strickland Fitness

 Ok, here is the first tool you will need for the October Challenge. For any fitness program, the biggest element is nutrition. Whether you want to gain, lose, or maintain weight, this will have to be looked at. Create a food journal that you can keep track of what you eat and drink, when you consume it, and how much specifically you consume. I will not be looking at anyone’s journal so be honest with yourself. Now starting at the beginning of the next day of reading this, start journaling. It shouldn’t take long and you should create an easy way to do it to be sure that you do it every day. Write down everything!! There are many websites and iphone apps out there that can track your intake for you for free. If you don’t know how to count calories, this might be the way to go because later you will need to know the specific amount of calories you are taking in. Again, just figure out the system that works best for you to be sure you do it every day!

Next, print a generic calendar from your computer for the second half of September and the whole month of October. Keep this calendar next to your computer. Once you have found your food journal entry procedure, put a big check mark in the box for the 16^th! Great Job!

Use of any knowledge from this website is voluntary. By reading this post, you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the disclaimer in the about section of this website. Thanks for participating!

Starting October 1^st is the Strickland Fitness Strictly Fit Challenge. This is a one month program to help you kick start your fall and help you take steps toward your fitness goal. If your goal is to lose weight, burn fat, gain muscle, or kick your workout into the next gear, this program will definitely help.  I will teach you about nutrition, resistance training, cardio, fitness level assessment and much much more.  All you have to do is read each day’s blog entry for the day’s exercise suggestion.  I will prepare you for the gym or your house if you don’t belong to a gym. You will learn new exercises and how creativity can boost your workout, change your daily routine, and elevate you from a plateau.

There will be a 2 week prep period starting Wednesday Sept. 16^th.  This prep period will be designed to prepare you with all the tools you will need to participate in the challenge. Visit the blog daily for new information.

So the next step is to make the commitment. All it takes is an email to me stating your goal and your commitment to your goal for the next 30 days.

You can comment on the blog about your experience with each day’s suggestion and how you are doing in the challenge. There might be some days that are hard and others that are easy. Whatever the case, share it with the community. If you have any questions regarding a post, put it in the comment section and I will be sure to answer it with the next day’s entry and suggestion.

There will be variations in the workouts to help tailor them towards different goals.

You have until Sept. 30^th to enter yourself into the challenge.

The next day’s blog post will be up by 9:00 pm P.S.T.

Some workouts will be emailed to you directly so be sure to email me your entrance.

If you happen to miss a post, you can go to the October Challenge Tag on the right to get all back posts. Good Luck!!!!

This 30 day program is not intended to treat or diagnose. If you have any concerns, you should consult a physician immediately.

Disclaimer: Chad Strickland, Strickland fitness, and any other associated business, entity, or person is not liable for any damages from the use of any information available on this site. Any use of the information provided by this site is voluntary. By use of any knowledge from this website, you voluntarily release, forever discharge, and agree to indemnify and hold harmless Chad Strickland, Strickland Fitness, and any other associated business, entity, or person from any and all claims, demands, or causes of action, which are in any way connected with my participation.  You should consult a physician before starting any exercise program.

Back Pain and Tight Muscles

This is definitely not a diagnosis; however, lower back pain can be caused by tight muscle in the legs, hips or abdominals. I have many new clients that come to me with one of their goals being to eliminate lower back pain. If this pain is not caused by soft tissue, nerve or spinal damage (which is out of my range to treat), the first thing I look for is tightness. Many times this is the problem. After a specific and persistent stretching routine, their back pain is slowly eliminated. Besides the upper leg muscles, abdominals, and muscles in the hips attaching to the pelvis, so do all the lower back muscles. If the any of the upper leg, abdominal or hip muscles are tight, that causes constant tugging on the pelvis. If the pelvis is being tugged on, then so are all the lower back muscles which are attached to it. This tugging on the pelvis is called a pelvic tilt. If the pelvis is tilted either way of the neutral position, this can cause extreme stress on your lower back. The purpose of stretching your legs, hips, and abdominals is to release the tight muscles and get your pelvis into a neutral position at all times. What are some things that can cause tight muscles? The first and most common thing is sitting down for long periods of time. Sitting causes the abs and hip flexors to be in a shortened position. The shortening causes an anterior pelvic tilt (the pelvis tilts forward). This puts your lower back muscles into a compressed state when standing. If you have a sit-down job, stretching the hip flexors and working on strengthening the abdominals will help to release your pelvis. Running is also a common reason for back pain. Now, I am not saying you shouldn’t run (it is a great cardio workout and stress reliever), however, what you do before and after your run can help to relieve back pain. Besides impact on the spine, running will cause a lot of your leg and hip muscles to tighten up. If you are a runner, be sure to do a good warm up of active stretching (see warming up post) and an immediate post run stretch and another one before bed. It is a good idea to stretch the morning after a run as well. I will post another article about specific stretches to do to release your pelvis and help eliminate back pain. If you have any specific questions, you can email me.

I had many requests to post more about working the butt. The key is to make mind-muscle connection. If you are trying to work your butt, you have to be focused on working it. For example, when you do a bicep curl, your focus should be on contracting the bicep to raise the weight. It makes a huge difference to the muscle when you consciously think about what’s happening rather than letting the body go into auto-pilot. Do the same for your gluts.

Let’s put this concept to work. When doing a squat, try concentrating more on your behind rather than your quads. Imagine you are being pushed up from the squatting position to the standing position while squeezing your gluts. Activating the muscle with the mind will activate the muscle in exercise.

Here is a great butt exercise. Stand on a 12 inch high box with one leg. One foot should be on the box and the other should be hanging off the side right next to the box. If the right leg is on the box, lower your left foot (bending your right knee) until it touches the ground and then push through the right foot to raise to the staring position. Try not to let your left hip drop below your right. Keep your pelvis square the whole time. Really focus on lowering with the muscle and rising with the muscle. Don’t bounce the left foot off the ground. The most important aspect of the exercise is making sure your knee that is bending stays in line with your foot. Look down or in a mirror to be sure the knee is not collapsing inward. Go up and down 20 times focusing on the right glut. Do 20 on the other side with your left foot on the box and the right hanging off. Do 3 sets of 20 on each side. This a great exercise to activate the butt before moving on to other exercises.

I will post some more specific exercises for getting the perfect pair of buns.

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.