CRAIG PRODUCTIONS LLC

Woof! Legs today. Augh. Josh had me do lots of glutes today and med-heavy squats. We finished with 10 sets of squats pyramiding up to 225 for two sets of 6 and then back down. My best ever is 345 for a triple but we don't do heavy legs anymore as my upperbody is the one that needs more thickness and we're just focusing on shape and cuts and tie ins for the lower half at this point. Tanji calls Josh "old skoool" as he competed in the 80's and trained with Tom Platz and Zane, etc. back in the day so he really pulls some dusty exercises and routines out of his hat that get us some really weird looks in the gym but boy howdy do they ever work. I'm gonna give up some of those tips here so you can benefit from a leetle old skooolin' as well. Tip 1. superset opposing bodyparts together and really go for the pump, ie: chest and back, bis and tris, quads and hams. Tip 2. superset 20 rep breathing squats with dumbell crossbench pullovers. breathing squats are when you take two deep breaths at the top of each squat, really stretch out on the pullovers. Tip 3. do lying on your back v bar cable rows to really fill in your mid back like nothing else. Tip 4. do 100's every once and a while to really shock a bodypart. my lateral delts were basically non existant until Josh had me start doing 100 rep sets of laterals and presses. Yowza! Leg extensions are a total burn doing this as well. Try turning your toes in on leg extensions and see if you feel a different burn. Yay old skoool!

I used to be 125 at 5'6" and do tons of cardio and was skinny fat and very unhappy with my apperance. My diet consisted primarily of what I thought were good carbs. Now I'm 145 offseason and 130ish for competition and I'm very happy with the shape I've achieved thru Josh's silhouette training program and a hi pro/med fat diet. More on silhouette training later but for diet I eat the standard 6 meals a day of clean protein and good oils and fiber from grains and salads and I supplement like crazy, more on that later as well.

I wanted to wish everyone the happiest and healthiest of new years. May God bless you and your families and make this the best year ever for you. The other day I came downstairs and my two little girls were doing the figure posing routines they saw me practicing. They ask so many questions about training and diet and the show. They critiqued all the contestant's suits, hair and makeup. I got the worst of it. The whole thing was so hilarious. It was like listening to two mini Joan Rivers run down the red carpet celebrity apperances. I gotta get that on tape. I'm so grateful that they are growing up in a house of health where they are learning not to be ashamed of their bodies as I was taught to be. I struggled for years with eating disorders and never felt adequate until the Lord led me to a better place. I don't want my girls to go thru any of that so we are showing them thru scripture that the body is the temple of the spirit and that we are soldiers in the fight against evil and in both these cases we are to be the best we can be in every area of life including our physical health and well being and there is no shame in wanting to look and feel your best. In fact just the opposite so all you Christian ladies out there who feel guilty about going to the gym or maybe wanting to compete ask yourself what God would want you to do to best set an example to others as far as what Christians are capable of. Aren't we to look for ways to shout out the good news? What better way than to let your body do the talking in showing your respect for the Spirit's temple. I can't tell you how many people, both men and women, my physique has given me the opportunity to witness to and I wouldn't give that up for the world. I was so thrilled to hear how many of the competitors gave thier first thanks to the Lord upon winning at the Ironman. What better testimony can you give? Ok, nuff said. Just trying to get y'all to overcome and come over.

Peace out for now and thanks for all your input. You are all so truly inspiring to me. In His good grip. Now where did Josh hide the pink frosted cookies.........

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