Speaking of stretching. Here are some I entertain myself with:

I was talking to a friend today about loneliness and it got me thinking about my immigration to America. I have no family here and in a city like Los Angeles, how do you really find friends? Most people come and go, just like me landing here with a dream which either breaks or makes it. Most of them have families in another state so they are just a flight away. For me, I left everything and put it all on one card. I remember the first year.. It was sleeping on the floor, living off tuna and carrots from 99 cents store, the only steady element in my life was training at Golds. The money saved up to start all over was going down each month and at that time I had no permanent residence card, just a journalist visa, so it limited the work opportunities a lot. I remember I was sick for a few months in some weird “getting used to the germs in LA” but I could not just walk in to some clinic like we do in Sweden, I was to scared of being in need of treatment which would make me broke!

The only steady element during the first year or two in America was my training. It calmed down the anxiety about not making it here so I had to return home. It was my worst nightmare, having to return back home. And knowing that I actually had no right to be here, just a desire to be here, was a constant threat. What if I was rejected to stay here… So, I am so thankful I was one of the privileged who was welcome to live and work here as long as I want to. I love this country.

Having a very lean, fit physique is a full time job and I’m not talking about being committed to a clever diet concept or getting through intense workouts one after another. No, I’m referring to all the extra tasks your body demands of you. Muscles are like babys. They need pampering. And the bigger they get the more they scream until you listen to what they are trying to say. Just like babies muscles have their own language, but it’s difficult to get the message agross many times.

I can get overwhelmed some times when I feel I run out of time to do all the stretching, all the foam rolling, all the massage and prehab exercises I need to stay out of trouble. The trouble I want to keep out of my life is joint pain, excessive muscle tightness and injuries. And that usually comes with excessive training or when you push the limit of your body’s capacities on a regular basis. Which is exactly what I do because it’s not like I was born lean, muscular and in great shape…

A lot of people who train walk around with pain and just pop an ibuprofen to shut off the signals. I could never do that. You don’t think it will come back and bite you in the ass sooner or later? If you don’t listen your body will rebel and slap you over and over until you cannot work out as hard anymore.

I know the price tag on the ability to keep on training as heavy as I like. It takes a lot of dedication and respect for your body. You cannot train and expect to just feel great by accident. Yeah, it’s boring to stretch, to do prehab exercises, to work on weaknesses, but guess how boring it will be when you cross the line and get seriously injured.

When I first started training I read a lot about trainers’ shoulder problems and I promised myself I would not join that club who got nagging shoulder joint problems. So far, I’ve kept that monster away, knock on wood.

After the almost two weeks break I just had, I made a promise to myself to never skip the stretching. Because I need a lot, A LOT of stretching to match up with the demands I put on my body.

So, all I want to say with this is: don’t expect to look like a million dollars if you don’t plan on taking care of all the elements that are required. The key really is to stay injury free or you will need to take long breaks pretty much every now and then. And breaks means less opportunity to work on getting a better, nicer looking physique.

Update on the Pro camp: I got so hooked on the concept I was lucky to get invited to be there as an intern. So, I am practicing in there with the guys. Right now the task is to learn how to use my body leverage wise and technique wise to stretch people. And let me tell you LOL, it’s a workout in itself! I am like a fly on a big buffalo hahaha. So, the only way for me to “survive” is to get damn good at it. And how do you get damn good? By practice and practice until you puke!:-)

Ironman Pro July 2009, 1 page

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So I´m back full force in the gym. yesterday I did shoulders and worked up fast to the weights I used before the layoff. No strength decrease. And today I did back and same scenario here. No strength difference. After two days training I got really hungry so today I had a short refeed. It all boiled down to no fat added granola with yoghurt, some rice krispies bars I don´t even like because I was stuck on the highway and what do they have at the gas station except for that… And I managed to get two bananas. I don´t even like those, so it started pretty miserably LOL. For lunch I had pasta with some veggie bean mix from whole food and green peas..mmm that was better. And after that granola and yoghurt for the rest. Now I´ve had it for a while. I did not bother to keep track today on the totals, but it was way less than last time since the refeed last only for 5 hours, not 12.

It was a weird experience feeling too small at the gym today LOL. My weight was down a pound from yesterday so 116 is just not that great anymore haha. I will weigh more tomorrow for sure with all these carbs! haha, I never thought I´d want to fill out my muscles, but one learns one learns.

A question to you all…. If you think back on your life, have you more or less always known what was to come and what and where it would take you? For me, that´s how it always been and is… Everytime something is entering my life I feel like “well, I just waited for this” and I feel at peace. Sometimes I wonder if this means I am blasé, but no, it´s not like that. It´s more like all is coming together. One piece of my puzzle after another. Is that how it is? Are you “supposed” to see what is around the corner before it occurs or is that because you unconsciously move your way in the direction to where you want? I then wonder what with those who don´t know what they want…Do they stand still in life?…

So, what do I want…. I cannot be specific, it´s more I have a very good sense of what it is, but I cannot put it into words. I guess actions will make it clear… So I keep on doing what I believe is right.

I just see it all coming. And it does not even feel scary or weird. More expected. I know I am in a blurr, it must be the carbs!

One key aspect to take into consideration when you want to stay very lean YET build muscle is to eat according to what you do and not because you are following conventions. One of the conventional death sins in the staying lean department is to eat a lot at night. Well, guess what, that’s what I do every day. I eat more than 50% of my calories after 6 pm.

Another fat burning myth is you got to do cardio on an empty stomach. Well, I don’t consider my stomach to be empty since I actually load up on food less than 12 hours before the session. This means my muscles are never depleted in the am, no they are ready for work. So, there you go, another sin I commit daily.

I load up on all my carbs from veggies in the evening post workout. That way I get heck of a lot of carbs for recuperation and growth. So, don’t tell me I am on a low carb diet because I eat no grains almost.

My concept is about to eat when you are hungry, to eat when you need it, and cut down when you are less active. The refeeds are great for muscle building and to get a new spike in muscle building hormones. But if you do them too often you end up being a bit smoother than you want to.

The longer you eat according to my concept or any other leaning diets, the better the results and the more you can bump up the refeeds when you take in loads of clean carbs from grains, fruit, yoghurt etc.

Another myth I say is bogus is that dairy makes you smooth. No it does not…. I eat greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, casein powder, milk too. Dairy releases insulin so it is great for muscle building and the little amount of carbs they do contain will not have a detrimental effect on you trust me….

You can learn more about my concept by clicking the pic below

Oh, and then some more entertainment from the past…

SUNSET TAN PILOT for E!

You know I am such a truth teller and I don’t hide things for “no hiding required” matters so I am coming clean: I failed to not train for 14 days. I made it to 12. But 12 is 5 more than ever before!

During this whole time I did pro camp hip and shoulder routines every day plus their flexibility routine. And on Sunday it more or less just clicked. I said “hello” to my new connection to the hips’ muscles and it was that nice feeling like when you’ve worked time after time on a kick, punch or lift and after all that rehearsal, one day it just clicks! So I KNEW I just KNEW I was in for my first session back in the gym lifting. It was squat time. I warmed up with the hip stuff, threw in a set in between and finished up with one. When I squatted I got another kind of feeling in the leg that’s been a bit lazy. I felt a lot better and when I walked I no more walked like a little stiff bodybuilder (synonymous to walk like a toddler with crap in the diaper! haha).

I was so happy! And I took the time to stretch thoroughly after workout and I got deeper in the stretches.

I cannot wait for the strength increases that will come now and now my mission is to keep that darn flexibilty in my glutes and increase it with time. No way am I going to get injured from being tight!

Want to know more about my diet concept? Click the picture!

In 2006 Pauline Nordin was the trainer for the Swedish team in the Nordic version of the American original format “Biggest Loser”. Who won? Well, Pauline and her team of course …

A flash file will be uploaded but for now click the link and enjoy a 20 minute movie clip compilation from the entire series.

Link: http://www.fighterdiet.com/mov/biggestloser.compilation.mov

The ability to maintain a routine and stay focused is what separates the successful and the failing one. No matter what darkens your mind, take those worries and put them in a visul pipeline. Let them be in the sewer system until you solved the issue.

The ability to stay committed to a mission is what makes you a winner. Life throws problems at you, it does not mean you must catch them and hold on to them. I was told once problems are just another term for tasks or assignments. Something brought it to your attention so you can solve it and learn a lesson.

when I get my share of difficult times I tell myself ” How much do I want this?” and “I am just being challenged to see how much I can take and how strong I am” and I prepare myself to go to battle with those demons or monsters I deal with. I always remind myself there is a reason why I am facing this.

I am bringing this up because the way to stay lean and in shape is a path of patience, commitment and focus. You cannot let the problems run your life. Have you thought about the fact worrying never solves an issue? Only actions solve issues.

The worst thing you can do when you are in a stressful situation is to start letting yourself down. Don’t make it an excuse to eat what you are not supposed to eat. Don’t let yourself miss workouts because you are too miserable.

I’ve trained when I felt like my legs wouldn’t carry me, I’ve stuck to my routine through car crashes, relationship breakups, emotional chaos. And not one time did those things do anything worse. No, it just proved to myself I can depend on myself and I am loyal to my principles. There is nothing as comforting as knowing you can rely on your dedication when everything else is upside down and you feel like this is the end. It’s never the end. It’s a beginning to something new.

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I got a couple of emails about my diet and what I do like now when I´m off training so why not ramble about that… Short layoffs from training does not change your body composition negatively, you don´t gain weight because you exercise less. Yes, if you keep ON with a more sedentary lifestyle, yes, your body will adapt and slowly pounds you fought hard to keep off will creep up on you a little by little, but this happens more over a longer period of time, not from a week or two hiatus from the gym.

I meet a lot, A LOT of people who say “I haven´t been training, I´ve gained weight”. Usually the weight gain is not due to the lack of training but more due to new less great diet strategies. So, as people stop training, they quit eating what keeps them lean and instead incorporate more calorie rich stuff. Of course weight gain happens! It happens just as easily as shit happens!

Diet is key. And when it comes to staying lean, way more important than training. I´m sure you know a few of those “training all the time” who are just as skinny fat or fat or smooth allover. Why are they not shredded since they train so much? Because they are not consistent with the food.

And that is what I am. Consistent. I was down to 115 today, yeah, yeah, that dream weight I had but not anymore, all due to what I eat. I have not changed my calories but I do stay at the lower limit of my daily intake and what happens: I stay lean. I eat my regular food that is on my approved list for the FD food.

The weight loss is water from the muscles and I cannot wait til I train again and the muscle bellies will fill up. Especially my shoulders and legs, they are too small now LOL. I never though I´d end up preferring me weighing more haha, one learns, one learns. Pics coming up btw.

On another note, me and my hips got a deeper connection today! I got further down in stretches and I could open them up better than for a long time. I´ve been doing the pro camp hip moves and shoulder moves every day for the last week plus a lot of stretching. I am set on getting my flexibility up and then to keep it. It will take a lot of patience and extra time for me after each session plus I will need to incorporate stretching daily so I don´t end up tight again. But if that´s what it takes to keep my body healthy, I am all for it!

The other day I did a dexa scan or bone density check. I do it every 3 years and last time I did it was at 24. It´s one of my preventive checkups since my lifestyle is so extreme and for women it increases the risk of bone damage. All was normal. But that´s not why I am mentioning it here: the scan is also one of the most reliable tests to measure body fat so of course I had to do that too. It came down to 7%! So, Tito´s caliper was damn accurate!

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