It's crunch time

20 weeks out from USA's, 2011, and I'm feeling excited, and a little bit nervous.
I had the opportunity to travel to Charlotte, NC, last week - and I got to visit the headquarters of Europa Sports, while working for my sponsor, MAN Sports. Inside their amazing facility, they've got a gym that many college strength programs would be envious of...of course, if you guys know Europa, you'd understand that this giant in the supplement business is staffed with athletes from all kinds of sports, especially strength, bodybuilding or football, from what I can see. The boys in the HQ of the big and purple made me feel quite small...but apart from that they were the nicest, most professional and most hospitable guys I've ever met.

Well, while visiting, I had the chance to train at their facility gym...and on the wall, hanging above the door was a 12'x 12' banner, dedicated to the memory of Lyn Walters. Lyn was one of the original staff of Europa, and although I only had a very short interaction w/ Lyn several years ago, I've always heard of him spoken of with the utmost respect, as a man of integrity and humility, especially for his size and his athletic prowess (Lyn was a huge bodybuilder, but was one of the most giving, most humble men you could meet, according to anyone who had the opportunity to work with him...) Hanging on the wall was this huge banner of him, with a quote that began with the words, "Train Scared."

Now, Lyn was very important to many, because of the way he conducted himself, and the way he lived his life. The history behind the photo of Lyn on the wall of the gym and quote along with it, words of wisdom, moved me that morning, as I stretched, I kept looking up at the banner. The quote began with 2 words – “Train scared…”; and though I don’t remember exactly the rest of the inspirational words, in my own mind, I think I got the message…and this is gist of the inspiration I took from it…(I’m paraphrasing here, with respect for the message of the quote…)

“when you think you can let up for even a single second, think again. Your competition is only a footstep behind you…they’re chasing you…stay scared, train with furious focus…you cannot control what they do, but you can be the master of your own world…so “Train Scared…”

During my workout at this gym, I found myself looking back at the photo, and re-reading the quote…and then I examined my own path, my own training, my own dedication to what I’ve been working hard for all these years…Was I training hard enough to say I was “training scared”?

Anyway, I trained a little bit scared today – here’s what we did!

pre-training drink:
Game Day, 1 scoop
Clout, 1 scoop
BCAA’s, 1 scoop

let’s hit it:
FST-7 machine side laterals:
7 sets of 15 reps, 30 seconds of rest between sets
Smith machine front press:
185 x 15 reps
205 x 15 reps
225 x 12 reps
225 x 13 reps (felt good, great pump!)
Wide grip upright rows:
80lbs fixed weight bar x 20 reps (squeeze)
90lbs x 15 reps
90lbx x 16 reps
90lbs x 16 reps
Rear delts/teres – machine mid-back row
4 sets x 12 reps
Rear delt raises, 1 arm dumbbell
45 x 20 reps
65 x 16 reps
65 x 15 reps
65 x 13 reps
Side laterals, dumbbells (2-arm)
30 x 15 reps
30 x 15 reps
30 x 10 reps (then 5 burnout reps w/ 1-arm)
30 x 10 reps (then 5 burnout reps w/ 1-arm)

Awesome, focused training, sick pump, good swell. Finished with 4 sets of strict machine crunches for abs…
See ya’all at the Arnold!

Pete