Reading Does The Mind Good.

I just went to Barnes and Noble on Sunday night to buy some new books to further my knowledge. Now,I know what you're thinking. "No shit Chad! What else do you use books for?" Hopefully not a coaster like a lot of people I know. I used to hate reading. It was like pulling teeth trying to get me to sit down and read. Funny thing is how I now read all the time. Hey, with age comes knowledge. And I like the knowledge I am gaining. Here are a few books I have bought lately and have really enjoyed:



Built For Show by: Nate Green

If you have read my blog before you've heard me boast about this book. I already told you's that it changed my training philosophies, and shed so many lights on things I was doing wrong. Buy it, make it your workout bible, see results, thank Nate Green, get the ladies, tell your friends. Trust me, it is a worthy investment.



Boulevard of Broken Dreams: The Life, Times and Legend of James Dean by: Paul Alexander

James Dean is my favorite actor, hero, and an American legend. This is a great biography of him to read. He is the reason I want to get into the acting field. His movies are moving and some of the best work I have ever seen. I thoroughly enjoyed every word in this book.



Core Performance by: Mark Verstegen

I bought this book with all intention of using it to try and fix my shit. I am tighter than I should be. It's not due to lack of stretching or anything because that is taken care of. My right hip turns out to the right and it leads to occasional back pain. Also, my right shoulder clicks. This book has all the essentials in it in order to help me to fix my shit without having to pay top dollar. C'mon, I am 21 years old. Last thing I want is these things to linger for the rest of my life.



Fight Club by: Chuck Palahniuk

Have you ever seen the movie? If not, put on your away message, minimize this post, go buy it, and enjoy. It is a true male, testosterone driven movie. Also a crazy psychological impact. Chuck Pahalniuk's work is always enjoyable. I saw the movie then decided to read the book. Both are great. I would say to just do both but either would suffice.



The New Rules of Lifting by: Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove

I haven't gotten to this book yet, I will start reading this as soon as I finish up Core Performance. This buy was intended to just give me more insight to training philosophies from more points of view. There is also a female version, which I will recommend to any females serious about training.

Fantasy Baseball Update:

Started of really bad this week in my pitching categories with that 14 hit 8 earned run performance by Paul Maholm yesterday. He was immediately dropped for Clay Buchholz, with hopes that he will be called up/traded soon. He has completely dominated AAA and the Red Sox are toying with him. Tim Lincecum gave me some hope that I can salvage my pitching this week. One plus side is that everyone is hitting so far. I would like to congratulate Matt Wieters on his first major league home run tonight. Hope it is the first of many.

Any books you guys recommend? Any fantasy baseball questions? Leave some comments and let me know.

Sugar craving?

I recently have been experimenting with a lot of new food ideas, trying to get out of eating some pretty bland food choices that I've somehow stuck with for the past 3 years. Here are a few examples.. I sit here now and wanna kick myself for not figuring these out sooner.




Chad's Cocoa Puffs










1 Bowl of Cheerios
1 Cup of Calorie Countdown 2% Chocolate Milk
It's that simple, no need to add anything else. I swear they taste exactly like cocoa puffs this way, without the sugar. Pour and enjoy.


I thought you looked a bit down and needed a quick pick me up!








Never drink coffee because you can only drink it with a shit load of sugar or creamer galore? Yeah I was the same way. Try this out and you can barely tell the difference. Well except in your waistline. Flavor it by what you like, there are a lot of options.


1 Cup of Coffee
1 packet of Splenda Flavors for Coffee (equiv. to 2 teaspoons of sugar)
Unsweetened Almond Breeze (I use enough that it changes the color)

Fantasy Baseball Update
I have currently jumped to the second place spot in my annual Fantasy Baseball league thanks to the great dominant pitching I had again for the 5th week in a row. I made a recent trade that I am a bit iffy about though.


Kinsler Krew (Me) Recieved:
C,3B - Russell Martin
OF - Corey Hart
CP - Bobby Jenks


Fightin Phils (Tom) Recieved:
1B - Todd Helton
OF - Shin-Soo Choo

So far so good on my part, as long as Martin starts hitting. Hart is heating up, and I needed a closer with Frankie Francisco hitting the DL.

So try out some of the recipes. Let me know what you think. Play Fantasy Baseball? Have any questions? Let me know.

What I Do Currently On A Daily Basis

Hey guys,

I promised my current supplement and workout program in my last post, so here it is.


Nate Green's Blog
Over the past 18 weeks I have been doing Nate Green's Built For Show workouts from his amazing book (seen above). After about a year of spinning my wheels with workouts that isolated my muscles (Chest day, back day, etc.) that basically just beat me up, I knew it was time for a change. I found Nate Green's articles on T-Muscle and the rest goes from there. I have gained more strength in every lift and my body was given ample time to recover and I have not had an injury of any type since...well except my ego. Trust me when you go from taking long breaks between sets to how he prescribes the workouts in this book..you'll be thrown for a loop. If you feel like your spinning your wheels and not getting the results you have been looking for...get the book. It changed my whole outlook on training.

Pre-Workout
Whether it's just doing H.I.I.T (Which is the only cardio I ever do)or on a training day, I ALWAYS foam roll before. Every muscle on my body gets worked before I even touch a jumprope or a weight. My protocol goes like this:

-Foam Roll

-Leg Swings

-T-Pushups (10-12) (Training day)

-Bodyweight squats(15-20) (Training day)

I always make sure I am sweating before I even truly start with the workout.

Current Daily Supplements

Breakfast - Men's Multivitamin, 1 Flameout, Vitamin C, L-Arginine



Pre-Workout (lifting days) - Alpha GPC (hour and a half before training), Surge Workout Fuel, Spike Shooter.




Pre-workout (Cardio Days) - Spike Shooter


Post Workout - Surge Recovery, L-Leucine
(Not pictured, leave in locker at the gym)

Lunch - Men's Multivitamin, 1 Flameout, L-Arginine


Dinner - Men's Multivitamin, 1 Flameout
(seen in other pictures)

Hour Before Bed - Metabolic Drive, L-Leucine, 1 Flameout, L-Arginine


What current supplements do you guys take? What workout plan has worked best for you?

Out with the old..In with the new

This is my first blog post..just a little background about me. I have been in the fitness industry for 3 years now. I came into it right after graduating from High School and realizing I really did not know what I wanted to go to school for. I attempted Northampton Community College and truly had no direction. I then got my job at Steel Fitness and found out what I truly love. Fitness has become my lifestyle, and I have brought a few of my good friends on the path with me. My friends Bill, Charles, and my girlfriend Erin. Two of them I actually got a job with me at the gym being Front Desk Associates/Sales Reps. Right now I am just a Front Desk Associate and Sales Rep like they are but I am working on getting my certification to be a personal trainer.

I am a huge baseball fan. It is the best time of the year right now. The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are in full swing, and although I live in Bethlehem, PA...I am not a Phillies fan. I love the Brew Crew and will continue to do so. I also play fantasy sports. Playing fantasy sports also commits you to paying attention to every detail from every game. I love it! I am watching the Brewers game right now as they are beating the Florida Marlins 1-0, but Cantu just doubled. I still have faith. I hate to keep on rambling on but I will be updating my next post with my current supplement and workout regimen (with pictures).




Before (6'0", 225lbs, too much bodyfat)

After(6'0", 190lbs, 10% bodyfat) (I was told to do something gangsta..thats what I came up with