Get outside, Mix it up, Outside is Free!

Everyone who knows me, trains with me and follows me knows that what I preach is balance in life, the last thing I want to be labeled is a one-dimensional athlete/person, so I train myself to be strong and skilled in as many athletic areas of life as possible to help ensure that I can excel at and have fun with any opportunity that comes up, because nothing is more frustrating than struggling and getting frustrated while doing something that should be fun or relaxing.

With summer in full swing, that brings countless opportunities to get outside and experience all that life can offer you, after putting in a solid 12 week stretch in the gym with most of my outside activity coming on the weekends I did a complete flip-flop in June and didn’t really touch a weight and instead spent as much time outside as possible including mountain bike riding/racing, watching my athletes race motocross and supercross,  golfing,  some yoga in the park, a good amount of craft beer drinking and real food eating with zero daily structure, then I capped it off with an amazing three days deep in the wilderness of the Colorado Rocky Mountains with awesome company.

Instead of boring you with all the details, here is a picture blog with captions from the last month, click on each image for a larger view

Racing the local Sand Creek Cycling Mountain Bike Series on my Pivot Mach 429 Carbon. Photo credit (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)

Yoga in the Park

Pikes Peak Supercross.
Photo Credit – T. Flett

Just some of the back country necessities

Camp Dog. Great buddy to have with on the trip

Looking up the valley at our final campsite destination at the base of the mountain

Day 2.. early a.m. sunrise

Same sunrise, looking the opposite direction as above

Skratch Labs Hydration and rice cake that I made and brought along. recipe from the Feed Zone Portables cookbook

Doesn’t get much better than a campfire, good friend and solitude

Day 3 – Rise and Shine, before the hike back out

My point of this writing is to encourage people who are stuck in the same routine to mix it up and to fill your life with as many experiences and activities as possible.  Use your training in the gym  to make you a better conditioned and more rounded individual, then go out and enjoy any of the endless number of opportunities the great outdoors offers, these opportunities and activities will  allow you to be exposed to new people, different experiences and may just ignite a new passion that will fill your world with happiness.

Train Hard ~ Play Hard ~ Get Outside ~ Eat real food ~ Drink Craft Beer ~ Outside Is Free!

Thanks for reading

Stevie T

 

 

 

 

My routine + Bigger Muscle Pumps & Better Nutrient Uptake = Stacked N O !!

Hello!! first off I want to thank my faithful readers for the continued support and constant feedback.

I’m going to start off today by answering the question that I get asked the most. & then tell you about the newest product that I have added into my arsenal that has been blowing my mind – Stacked NO

1.What exactly is your training schedule?

So here we go, I will start off with the training schedule and the explanation of why I never write exactly what my routine is, I haven’t done this for the fact that it is MY routine & I don’t mean that in an arrogant or offensive way, however my routine is based completely around what goals I have for myself and the sports I participate in.  You see as a trainer/coach I have to be able to walk the walk in the gym and have a certain physical look to me, on the flip side I also have to be able to ride a mountain bike at a relatively high performance level, so unless you have the exact same goals as I do, my exact routine will not be the best for YOU.  I will outline what I do and if you choose to take bits and pieces or add in your own outside activities that is great.

Day 1. 10 minutes of Tabata’s followed by 48 non stop minutes of sports specific conditioning that includes tons of Leg and Core work, and then 10 minutes of cardio HIIT’s to finish off the session

Day 2. Hill sprinting and Mountain bike training total training time is generally over 2 hours total

Day 3. 10 minutes of Tabata’s followed by 20 sets each of Chest and Back (super-sets, tri-sets, quad-sets) with minimal rest and then 10 minutes of cardio HIIT’s to finish off the session

Day 4. Interval training on the Mountain bike or a trail run – 90 minutes

Day 5. 10 minutes of Tabata’s followed by Shoulders, Traps and Core (tri-sets done with zero rest – 45 sets total) and then 10 minutes of cardio HIIT’s to finish off the session

Day 6. Long Mountain bike ride with steady state and cardio intervals – 3 hours

Day 7. REST DAY –

Day 8. 10 minutes of Tabata’s followed by Tricep and Bicep’s (super-sets done with zero rest – 28 sets total) and then 10 minutes of cardio HIIT’s to finish off the session

Day 9. 1000-1500 rep full body circuit training – 90 minutes or less with minimal rest

Day 10.  Active recovery day – 1 hour of easy movement which depends on how sore I am and where.

Day 11. Repeat the cycle

— For all body parts trained at the gym I employ both heavy weights and low reps (5) plus lighter weights and high reps (20-25)

On to the addition of Stacked NO!  Early last week I decided to throw this product into my pre-workout stack, the first day I took the six capsules 1 hour before my training session was on shoulder and trap day, I noticed quite a bit more vascularity and a great pump, but nothing over the top.  I continued to take it as recommended and then day 9 rolled around and it was time to hit the arms from every angle with both high and low rep antagonist super-sets, within the first ten minutes I could tell that the pump I was going to get would be one to remember and by the finishing sets there was so much blood in my upper arms you couldn’t see any defenition of muscle and had I not been looking in the mirror I wouldn’t of been able to tell I was actually moving the weight around because I couldn’t feel my arms!  It. Was. Amazing.

There is a lot more to this product than just a mind blowing pump though, with the increase in NO production you also get the benefits of increased nutrient delivery, better recovery, increased endurance & all day long muscle fullness.  I have taken my fair share of NO products over the years and this one ranks in the top three of all time, looking at the ingredient list what sets it apart must be the addition of the Agmatine and the trademarked ingredient Astragin which has been shown to improve the absorption of numerous critical nutrients.  Regardless of the scientific stats surrounding it,  this product works in real life, plain and simple!

Pre Workout Stack

That’s All I have for you today – Hope that answers some questions and please keep them coming!

Stevie T

**always consult with your physician before starting or changing a current workout routine , nutrition program or supplement.  The advice and programs that are talked about on this site are not recommended for use by any individuals with any medical condition(s) that might be compromised by intense exercise or resistance training.  If you feel any abnormal pain, nausea or dizziness please discontinue training and consult your health care professional immediately **

Time to switch gears. Let’s go Mountain Biking

There are a select few things in life that I really enjoy.

Mountain bikes, Dirt Bikes, Strength Training, Cooking, Traveling and Craft Beer are on my list.

Just the mention of them puts a smile on my face.

I believe that you should have multiple passions in order to stay balanced and broaden your life experience.

Generally right around this time of year when we get a consistent glimpse that spring is coming here in the Rocky Mountains I get the mountain bike itch really bad, see I love mountain bikes and I love the outdoors, I do not like spin bikes or indoor trainers, therefore my cycling legs go away over the winter and I am faced with the daunting task of bringing them back to life starting about right now.

I consider my self a mountain biker, who happens to race & is fortunate enough to have the support of many great companies who make the riding and racing I do way more affordable.  The support I receive is generally not due to me lighting the world on fire with podium finishes, I am fortunate to get this support because I spread the good word about the benefits of the sport on a daily basis for the companies who support me. I’m not idolized like a world champ , but the average guy can relate to me knowing that I’m not collecting a salary and I’ll spend all the time needed to inform them about a given company or product.

Going into 2014 I am particularly pumped about the schedule of events and the overall program I’ve got going,  After a few years of dabbling with teams I am very happy to be on my own and have the chance to work directly with a select number of really great companies, many of which I have face to face contact with on a daily or weekly basis.  To me that is something you can’t put a value on, It’s not a email relationship, it is a face to face what can we do for each other in order for each side to receive value from the partnership kind of friendship

In 2014 I am happy to announce that I will be riding out of Old Town Bike Shop aboard a Pivot Cycles Mach 429 or Single Speed LES depending on the day and venue, My bikes will be laid out with SRAM / Rockshox/ Avid & Truvativ components and Xpedo Pedals, I will be wearing riding apparel from FOX Head /Fox Mtb & wearing the best eyewear out there, Smith Optics on and off the bike.  My fueling and hydration will come from Skratch Labs & for the 5th year in a row Honey Stinger has put there faith in me.  Thanks to Trinity Motors and Chief Petroleum I will be able to get to the mountains for epic weekend rides and races without having to pedal there, and to cap it off there will always be an assortment of New Belgium Brewing beers in the cooler!

It’s going to be a great year, I hope you all go along for the ride!