Tag Archives: strength

Squat Every Day Routine + An Open Garage Door Violation

09/19/2015 R.C. Liley 1 Comment

Both sound crazy, right? Who could/would squat every day, and what’s with getting a violation for having your garage door open?! Well, both are current happenings in the Going household, but only one is actually crazy.

Yeah, the violation for a freakin open garage door! Our neighborhood Facebook page was filled with comments from so many of our neighbors all fired up from receiving the same waste-of-ink-and-paper violation. One neighbor mentioned how she was just going in and out putting up groceries when they took a picture of her open garage door “violation”.

Seriously, are we paying dues to our HOA to have someone go around and take pictures of our homes and then send them to us in the mail saying an open garage door is wrong? All I know is that I will continue to have our garage door open as I please. The neighborhood is currently plotting how we’ll send our own violation notices to these people for things that actually pose a concern and detract from our neighborly appeal. I’ll let you know more as the plot thickens.

What’s even more irritating is that Avery and I actually were using the garage then. In fact, with the current strength routine I’m following, Cory Gregory’s Squat Every Day, I’ll be using it *gasp* every day. So, to our ever so protective HOA, here’s a calendar for you to see I will, in fact, be using my garage EVERY. DAY.

The day they took the picture, Monday, September 14th, was my first official starting day. If the photographer stuck around a little longer, they would’ve seen a Daddy-Daughter Duo rocking our squats.

She’s moving up from her body weight squat days and using a ~~wooden rod~~ Olympic barbell now. I had to correct her form a little and let her know to keep a serious face when “going heavy”. She did better on the next set…

Just to be clear, I wasn’t actually making her do squats. Like all kids, they absorb everything their parents do and she has taken to many forms of exercise to mimic Mommy and Daddy. Another good one is overhead press.

Watch out, boys, this girl can hold her own! So, to all parents, let your kids see you being active and healthy, including cooking in the kitchen, and chances are, they’ll want to do the same. Free tip o’ the day there.

Back to the Squat Every Day program, I’m loving it. I am one of those guys who has to do something active every day or I get irritable. It’s like a drug; one that only I can prescribe and follow. Only a week in, but I know I’m “addicted”.

This doesn’t mean it’s easy, squatting with a heavy barbell every day takes a lot of mental and physical fortitude, but that’s why it’s great. One of my favorite athletes, Dean Karnazes, has an excellent quote that I completely abide by.

Who’s guilty of doing this? I was years ago, but now I get out of my comfort zone on a daily basis which, ultimately, keeps me happier. Of course, this mentality is why I am still dealing with a stress fracture in my foot, but refuse to let it get me down.

Yes, I realize there is such thing as an unhealthy addiction to healthy things like exercise, and I can’t deny I’m on the borderline of this diagnosis. I’ve toned down what I do for exercise, though, and instead of high mileage running, I’ve found lifting to be better for me all around.

Over the course of my first week on the program, I PR’d on front squat at 210 lbs for one rep (1-RM). I felt good and could’ve gone for another 5 lbs at least, but figured I’d save it for the next week. My current back squat 1-RM is 280 lbs and I’m hoping to surpass that next week too. As a 160 lb 5’10 male, I’m happy with these numbers, but want more, and so far squatting every day seems like it might get me there.

Next weekend I will be going to the 20th Annual At-Home Dads Convention in Raleigh, NC and am getting pumped about meeting other dad of my kind and obtaining vast amounts of knowledge about being a father/husband from the more experienced dads/husbands out there. Not that I think I’m doing a bad job already. Right, Kelley and Avery? They seem happy enough….

Well, at least Going Mom does, Avery is too concerned about the outside all day every day (ha, like squatting!).

I’m excited about the trip for the convention, but can’t allow to put off my squatting every day, so hopefully the “free weights” our hotel has includes a squat rack. Otherwise, I’ll be on the lookout for a local gym. Anyone know of one? I will not miss a day!

More on the convention as it gets closer or just when I get back and have stories (all good of course) to tell. For now, we’re continuing our backyard landscaping project along with, you guessed it, squatting this weekend. Oh, and cue Beavis & Butthead singing Breaking the Law, because look what we’re doing…

Do you have any ridiculous HOA or other violations to share? Did you “comply” or continue to “break code”?

Ever hear of the Squat Every Day Program? Would you try or have you already?

Going Strong, Life, NuttZo, Parenting

How My Crazy Toddler Might Help My Strength Gaining Goal

07/01/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my strength gaining goal and the issues I face with sticking to it. In sum, training is not the problem, it’s my lack of a caloric surplus.

After that post, I had a couple people reach out to me offering their help and support. One of those people is Tony Huynh, a personal trainer and owner of the site Good Guy Health. Tony has been extremely helpful by creating a solid nutrition plan and training routine. I urge you check out his site and reach out to him about your own fitness goals.

I did make changes to his original strength routine, but mainly because I have Avery in the garage with me and felt it might take too long for her patience to hold. That, and it gets hot fast in there, like our own personal sauna. Too bad we can’t control the heat, I literally have my shirt and shorts (even my socks) drenched in sweat after just 30 minutes!

Here’s my current routine:

Saturday and Sunday are rest days, but I always include some conditioning by running, swimming, or rowing. Nothing too extreme, but enough to get my fitness “fix”. I’m currently on the 85% week and will take it down a notch next week before increasing my RM (rep max) and going through the cycle again.

This, along with following the macro breakdown Tony setup for me, is yielding results. Nothing big (yet), but mainly b/c I’m still struggling with eating more than I’m used to and being less active than before.

For eating more, I’ve reduced the over-abundant amount of raw veggies I usually eat with more calorie dense foods like nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. Extra spoonfuls of NuttZo with Greek yogurt and cherries do the trick too, and I’ve been enjoying them daily!

I just have to be sneaky or Avery will go crazy and demand it all to herself!

I know what you have....GIVE IT! — I know what you have….GIVE IT!

Which leads me to why her crazy toddler temperament as of late just might help me with my strength/weight gaining goals. You see, I’m one to constantly keep pushing myself when working out despite what my mind and body is trying to tell me. This results in overdoing it most of the time, and therefore, burning those precious calories my body needs to use to grow.

Since Avery’s early onset of the terrible twos only seems to grow in intensity each day, her mood can change in an instant. And patience? Fogettaboutit!

Long gone are the days of quite little Avery hardly aware of her surroundings….

I love that picture. But her patience level has dropped dramatically in the past 2 weeks which means I need to get my lifts in and be done with it. No more messing around trying to think of some elaborate “finisher” to get that burning pump and sweat pool going on. As much as her fussiness has been driving me up the wall, I find the silver lining is possibly helping me on my journey to strength.

Time will tell, and then I’ll tell you, but hopefully I can look back and thank our crazy little girl for being, um….crazy.

Can you find the silver lining in your kid’s craziness?

Do you get a “free” sauna in your garage during the summer too?

Going Healthy, Going Strong, Life, Parenting

Commitment Issue and What I’m Doing About It

06/02/2015 R.C. Liley 8 Comments

Don’t we all have at least one commitment issue? Whether they’re something big like getting married, or small like using the exact same bowl for dinner each day, I’m sure you’ve got’em.

Luckily, marriage was never an issue for me, and I have no doubt about my sacred bond to be with my wife till death do us part. But, using the same bowl and spoon is one thing I actually struggle with. I’m just so partial to the dimensions and don’t know how to eat with anything else.

But that’s not the issue I’m writing about today. No, this is something I’ve been annoying Going Mom with for years. It’s my goal to gain strength/weight.

The goal sounds simple enough, but is actually quite complex in my mind. All the into part of my high school life, I was a heavy boy and hated how I looked. I was never obese or anything, but if I continued on the path I was on, that’s how I’d end up. Over the years I educated myself on what’s healthy and got into running. Eventually, I was a full blown long distance runner who could easily go out and run 12 miles without giving it a second thought.

Running was cool, and took a lot of dedication in training and nutrition, but after several years of marathons and running for distance, my strength was lacking. I’ve told this story many times before, so I’ll keep it short…..er.

I want to be a strong dad for Avery and for my own well-being. There will always be a place in my heart for long distance running, but for now I have to try and focus on building mass, which means lay off the running! Not completely, I’ll still run a little to get my “fix”, but mostly sprints and maybe one longer run on the weekends.

Getting stronger means lifting heavy and eating more to provide fuel for muscles to grow. Without a surplus of nutrient-dense calories, your body has nothing to work with to grow. I’ve been lifting for a few years now and know the moves, but not eating enough is what keeps me from attaining my said goal; gain strength/weight.

I could go on forever getting more and more in depth on the subject, but the bottom line is find a strength training program, stick with it, and eat. That doesn’t mean scarfing down pizza and burgers, I’ll still make my own meals, just means I need to eat a lot more of it. Nutrient dense foods like peanut butter, or even better, NuttZo, will be a big help here. And then, for my purposes, I need to ease up on how active I am each day. Something most of the world actually needs to do more of, I should do a little less.

If you want to talk with me more on this topic, please comment below or e-mail me at RCrown2@aol.com and we’ll talk. For now, I am putting it out there that one of my goals, starting this June, is to gain weight in the form of mostly muscle over the next year and reassess from there. I’m currently 5’10 and 160 lbs; my goal is to get to 175 lbs, so we’ll see how well I do.

Why June? Well, I don’t think anyone should wait for the New Year to start any of their goals, for one, but it’s because I am turning 31 on the 8th and I want to be a stronger, happier husband/father by 32. Sorry to my wife, who’s heard me say this since before I was even 30, but hopefully by writing it out on my blog, I’ll have something else to hold me accountable.

I never had a problem with discipline or motivation to work out, but when it comes to eating more than I’m used to, and when it’s mostly whole foods, it’s not easy. I fear just gaining pure fat, I’ll admit it, even though I know the basic science behind how our bodies work, and that wouldn’t happen as long as I train smart.

By the end of June, I hope to share my weekly training schedule with the thought that it will keep me from being sidetracked. I’m lucky to have such a wonderful daughter who is usually happy to train with me in the garage, so I should have no excuses.

Stay tuned for what else is happening this month and why you should care. Hint: it’s for a good cause and I’m going to ask for generous donations! 🙂

Do you struggle with certain commitments?

Do you have a current training plan to gain or lose weight? Despite my own issues, I am actually full of advice I’m happy to share if you ask.