Six Pack and Senior

Low Cable Curls for Biceps

Usually, I use this very simple exercise as a finishing movement for my biceps.  I position Low Cable Curls in my sequence of training so that it comes when my biceps are pretty well spent from previous heavier exercises.  Let me talk you through the basic components of Low Cable Curls:

1.) I use flexible straps for my hands because I cannot “supinate” my wrists and forearms well enough to use a rigid set of handles.  I do this so that the stress rotates upward and inward vs upward and outward which places inordinate stress on my elbows.

2.) I start this exercise with my hands down at my sides and in a controlled way contract my biceps as I bring the handles upward.

3.) I start the exercise using the lowest possible weight in the stack of weights on each side.  I do this so I can sufficiently warm up my biceps, elbows, and wrists without placing too much stress on them early in the process.  Do sets of 12-15 reps

4.) I then use the next heavier weight in the stack and do the next set of 12-15 reps.  Then, use the next heavier plate/weight in the stack on each side and repeat 12-15 reps.  I do this increase in weight each set until I am maxed out.

5.) After Maxing out, lower the weight to about half of the maximum performed.  At this weight do 5 sets of 20 reps or until failure…..STOP!

I will put another biceps exercise out here in the days ahead.  Also, I will be placing these out on YouTube at my new site.  I will overlay the exercise with my commentary when they are ready.  Stay tuned and I will let you know of the YouTube progress.

In closing, work hard.  Don’t look back with longing for the good old days, for you don’t know whether they were any better than these (days).  Keep your eyes on the prize.  That’s where you are going.  Looking backwards gets you nowhere.

Until next time, I remain, Douglas E. Graham, Lt Col, USAF, (ret), MHSM

No one wants to get to the end of their lives with severe regrets. This quote by my friend Flex Lewis epitomizes what all of us fear about not giving our best toward our end goals.

Personal Example:

I can recall when I decided that football was no longer for me.  I was kicking off to the other team in college.  I squibbed the ball and it hit the opposing lineman who was only 10 hards away right in the chest.  The ball came back to me.  I leaned over to pick it up and I got killed by a linebacker.  My left shoulder went numb and lifeless.  I stumbled off the field and I could not move my left arm for a long time.  At that moment I knew that this was not my game and I gave up trying to compete inside myself.  The feeling was overwhelmingly lonely and I felt isolated.  I felt like I was letting everybody who believed in me down.  This is a severe regret that I gave up on myself and my goals.  Not a good moment but it happened.

Nothing means more for us who have chosen bodybuilding as a “quest.”  We have to know that each time we stand on stage we have progressed and are better this time than last time we competed.  Personally, I always want to be the best I can and that I am moving ahead with my training and in my life in general.

 

Regarding my training I have 4 Maxims that I live by: 

1.)  I don’t miss workouts
2.)  I don’t talk during my workouts
3.)  I work harder than anybody else in the gym
4.)  When I leave the gym, I know that I own the place

I have developed this system of absolutes so that I can constantly check my effort and my level of commitment as I train.  In my world, nothing gets in my way to get to the gym to push myself to the limit each day six days per week.  I cannot let others dictate when I train and how hard I train.  This is up to me and these are my personal benchmarks.

When it comes to competing I have another set of Maxims that I use:

1.)  I have to be in the best shape of my life that night
2.)  I will not embarrass myself
3.)  I want to finish higher this time than last time
4.)  If I accomplish the first three than I am a winner

 

There is another great quote from Flex Lewis that I have hanging in my bedroom and in the kitchen that keeps me on track:

“The Trophy is earned in the hours that no one is watching”–Flex Lewis .

This particular quote resonates with me because this is very much my personality.  I am a bit of a maverick.  I work best alone and I march to my own drummer.  I set the pace according to my physical strength that day and as my psyche dictates.  There are mostly days that I can’t wait to train and I am firing on all cylinders.  On these days I try to push things a “little further.”  Then, there are days when I am a little under the weather or something emotional has derailed me.  On these days I push myself through these things so as not to cheat my body out of a great training session that it needs to progress.  I have been known to train with a fever, congestion, weakness, lightheadedness, and with minor injuries to work around.  I try to maintain the attitude that nothing stands in the way of my training to include cardio.  Nobody sees these efforts and thus Flex Lewis’ quote is my quote.

This mindset of winning or doing our best so we can arrive at our stated goal is all there is in life.  Let’s be clear that this mindset applies to “ANYTHING” we set our minds to—“NOT JUST BODYBUILDING.”

In closing, let it be our own personal credos that we will never be satisfied with mediocre effort.  For, to do less than our best is a formula for failure and disappointment in ourselves and for those around us who depend on us.  I don’t want to come to the end of my days knowing I did not do my best.  I too could not live with that.

Until next time I remain, Douglas E. Graham, Lt Col, USAF, (ret), MHSM

A simple admonition that is very difficult to even understand let alone apply.  All of us believe that our lives are more difficult than anybody else’s life.  Our “woe is me existence” sometimes paralyzes us in ways that are unknown to others but are acutely known to us.  We spend our time ruminating on things that cause us to be discouraged and that push us down to levels that we think we will never recover from.

Determine to be tough

It’s our job as members of the human race to find a way to overcome these mindsets and, to be fair, realities that keep us from being the best we can be.  All of us have gifts and talents that we brought with us into this mortal existence that we have given up on due our poor self images or bad things that have happened to us to negate our optimism.  When we become self-aware and we discover our limitations we have to become tough.  In fact, we have to become tougher than anything our lives have dealt to us.  It is here that we dig in to move us in a direction that advances our lives to the winner’s circle.

Determine Where I Am First

In my bodybuilding career I have faced one disappointment after another.  Couple these disappointments with real life difficulties that threatened to derail my bodybuilding effort and you will conclude that I should just quit.  But, since I have decided that bodybuilding is a quest then all these heartaches and episodic failures must be overcome or lived through until they disappear.  In order to see my way clear to continue I have to consciously thicken my skin and be more determined to succeed.  I have to see these hard things as temporary and painful.  I also have to view things as “where I am” and what I need to do to continue to the winners circle.

Determine where you are, reassess, what go forward

When I face potentially career ending hardships I take the time to reassess where I am and what will be required to get by these things so I can continue.  I retreat to a place of quiet where I can do some thinking.  Invariably there appears an answer and sometimes the answer is not pleasant but it is an answer nonetheless.  We have to establish in our hearts that living through anything is the order of the day, to get what we want.  This simply means we have to become “tougher than my life actually is” to succeed.  I cannot be bogged down by the daunting task in front of me.

My son and Leukemia taught me toughness

My son, Nathan got Leukemia when he was 11.  We thought we were going to lose him.  The Oncologist told us that in order to get to the other side we will have to go down into the valley with his treatment.  It was here that I determined to be bigger than life and tougher than my life to endure the hard work and pain that I faced.  I dug in, did my job in the Air Force, ran clothes and other items to and from the hospital during his treatment, I spent countless nights with Nathan in the hospital so he knew I was there.  He survived after tons of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and procedures.  He is an adult and is one of my best friends.  God intervened but he left the toughness to me.

Be Tougher Than Our Lives

In closing.  When we are cornered by things bigger than us, get alone to think through your next move.  Prayer is a good leveling activity that focuses us on the problem at hand.  Determine during this time that we want our goal so much that we will become “tougher than our Lives” to attain the trophy.

Until next time. I remain Douglas E. Graham, Lt Col, USAF, (ret), MHSM

No truer words have been spoken.  We all grew up with gifted people who possessed seemingly boundless amounts of talent in academia, athletics, good looks, charisma, money, personal and professional connectedness etc.  When we compare ourselves to these “chosen ones” we feel inferior and sometimes cheated.  We wonder in our quiet moments how we can compete against the odds stacked against us who do not possess these talents and advantages.  It is here in the dark when we are all alone is where we develop and establish our plans of action and ultimate triumph.

There is a saying that I borrowed from my friend, Flex Lewis: “The Trophy is Earned in the Hours that No One is Watching.”  I have this quote prominently posted in our kitchen and in my bedroom.  Everywhere I go I am reminded that my “attitude” is everything.  Being willing to “walk alone” is the secret to making headway toward winning.  No One will do it for us.

When I was about 14 or 15 I was pretty fast.  I would win at track in the 50 yard dash, 60 yard dash, and the 100 yard dash pretty regularly.  However, as I approached varsity track I knew that I was overmatched by the lettermen ahed of me who were accomplished and much older.  So, I decided to get faster.  I spent countless nights after everybody had gone to bed sprinting in the alley behind my house.  I covered 25-35 yards over and over again.  Sometimes I would repeat the distance as many as 50 times at top speed before my body gave in to fatigue.  I decided that my race was to be won in the first 35 yards.  If I was ahead at that point I could kick it into overdrive to the finish line.  I ended up on the varsity and had the privilege of running in some of the biggest track meets in the midwest.  I think I still may have a couple records in my hometown.  But, the point here is that I adjusted my “attitude” and retreated to a place alone to perfect my effort toward attaining “excellence” and it worked.

Though we are constantly pitted against people who are more talented than we are, we must develop the “attitude” that we will overcome them who have built in advantages by outworking them or out maneuvering them.  My personal “attitude” for victory revolves around outworking my opponents.  My Coach, Justin Dees is a real advocate for outworking the competition.  He says I can’t just pick something that I like to do or something that is weak, I must work everything, all the time, right through the contest in front of me.  My “attitude” and my effort have to be relentless and focused on the end game which is to win.

One last analogy.  How many times have we played football, wrestled, baseball, track etc. and have had a teammate that just didn’t fit the mold or profile for the sport yet these odd ducks outworked and ultimately out performed the gifted athletes around him?  All of us can easily think back over our careers and these undersized heroes come easily to mind.  I would say that their examples have fueled all us.  Their “attitudes” about competing and winning have driven us forward.  We essentially adopted their “attitudes” and they have become our “attitudes.”

In closing.  Our “attitude” trumps everything.  In fact Excellence cannot be achieved by anything we bring into this world without a defining “attitude” of excellence that drives our supreme efforts to win.

Until next time I remain, Douglas E. Graham, Lt Col, USAF, (ret), MHSM

Wow!  A simple truth that we all have to deal with.  When we decide to conquer our world and to accomplish something of a certain magnitude in our lives we have to look ahead and decide if there is anybody or anything that threatens my goals.  However, deep inside of us must live the idea that nobody gives us permission to win.  Only we control our goals and our direction in life.  Only we are responsible for what we seek to win or the trophy we desire.

Additionally, our whole being must be edgy.  We need to place a “chip on our shoulder” that indicates that nobody can get in our way as we strive to be my best.  Nobody can deter us or discourage us.  Nobody can interfere with my plans to make this prize a part of my mantel where my awards and trophies are on display.  This mindset is the only mindset that we need to win.  It must be laser-like focus on the end game and we will walk through hell itself to get there.

I listened to the great Jay Cutler recently at the “FITCON” here in Utah in 2017.  Jay said that “Once I decided to become Mr. Olympia”….Then, he went on to tell the story of all it took to get to the Olympia Stage.  But, we all must decide where we want to go and what we want.  Once this is done then the rest is history.  Nobody will stop us!

This year I am focused on winning the Nationals and getting my pro card.  I have decided that this goal is worthy of my best effort and nobody can stop me.  It’s all up to me.  My Coach, Justin Dees will guide me but I have to do the work.

In closing.  Decide what you want and decide that nobody can stop you from attaining your goal.  Get a “chip on your shoulder.”  Go win!

Until Next Time, I remain, Douglas E. Graham, Lt Col, USAF, (ret), MHSM

This is a maxim that has to be adhered to and exercised daily.  Moment by moment we mess things up.  It’s when we discover that we have severely under performed is when our true character is revealed.  Let me explain:

If my coach, Justin Dees, tells me to do something as I prepare for a contest and I fail to do it and I ignore his directions and I just don’t put in the effort to accomplish the things that are important for me to win, I will not only lose but I will have disrespected my coach.  Not a good situation!

As soon as I am aware of my failure I need to contact my coach and confess what I didn’t do despite being instructed to do it.  He needs to know two things: 1.)  My integrity is golden and my character is good. 2.)  My coach needs to know that I am willing to make up the ground that I lost with my disobedience/neglect.  It is in this environment of abject humility that I learn the importance of what I was supposed to do.  Also, it is here that I want to gain some respect from Justin due to my honesty.  Justin has to know that he can trust me to do what I’m told so he can guide me to victory.

In life it is the same way.  It’s one thing to forget to do something.  It’s quite another to try to hide the undone task.  If you want to lose credibility and trust, just don’t own up to the mistake or try to make it go away by not addressing it.  In this instance all that you have built with a person who trusts you is gone in the twinkling of an eye.

In closing, don’t worry about failure, it happens.  Worry about having enough personal integrity to own up to the failure and making things right.  This act will provide an opportunity to learn something and to gain the respect of those that trusted us.

Until next time, I remain.  Douglas E. Graham, Lt Col, USAF, (ret), MHSM

In the gym during training there is/are moments when your body is telling you that you have exceeded it’s ability to go any further.  It cries out for you to give it a break and to stop.  The pain and fatigue are so great that there seems to be no way forward, to keep pushing, to accept another second of the exhaustion that you have created.  Accompanying this state sometimes is the sensation that I am about to faint, I’m lightheaded, things stop feeling real.  It’s here that I sit down and take a break to recover.  It’s very tempting to just say to yourself, “this is too hard and I want to quit.”

However, this is the time that your mind or your will has to take over.  It reminds me that the reason I am doing what I am doing is because I wanted to be something special.  I wanted to be a champion and the only way to becoming a winner is to go through this pain and this seeming misery to get there.  It’s here that we find out what lives inside us.

There are days when motivating myself to get to the gym is too much.  I lay in bed fighting the temptation to fall back to sleep.  I fight the urge to wake up my wife and have a conversation that will distract me long enough to come up with an excuse not to rise and get at it.  Again, this is where my mind must take over and remind me of what it takes to be a winner.  I chose this path and I had best be about the business of winning.

My favorite quote on this issue is, “the trophy is won in the hours when nobody is watching.”  Flex Lewis….I am a solo warrior.  I train alone because I am the only person I trust with my training and my winning.  I depend on nobody else with the exception of my wife Christine and my Coach, Justin Dees.  These are the only people who have access to my dreams and my effort to win.  These two people mean the world to me as I push to win.

In closing, remember that there will come a time when deciding to continue or quit is on the table for consideration.  This is the time when allowing your mind and heart to do the driving.  Your body has checked out, but it’s the mind and the heart that will carry you to the next level.

Until next time, I remain, Douglas E. Graham, Lt Col, USAF, (ret), MHSM

 

We all grow up with some encouragement and some discouragement but nonetheless — WE GROW UP!  In the course of learning what life is all about we gather a number of negative proverbs or anecdotes from our parents, friends, coaches, teachers, colleagues, and others whom we respect.  These little pearls of discouragements all too often are allowed to define us and to cause us to settle at a level of living that is far below what we are capable of.  A good example would be, “If I were you I would do something else because you are just not cut out to do that.”  Another one would be, “You’re just too small to do that.”  Or, “You just don’t have the basic tools needed to be successful at that.”  I would find something else that better suits you.”

Wow!  We have all heard these exact things from some of our most respected and revered people in our lives.  Sometimes that negative thing said to us has no immediate impact but as time goes by these little things get integrated into the person that we become.  We stop reaching for the stars or the things that we are truly cut out to do.

 

My story revolves around bodybuilding.  Members of my family knew I was intensely interested in bodybuilding and that I desperately wanted to learn how to compete and win.  I was willing to go through the trials and the work required.  I finally entered a contest in Arkansas where I finished fourth in my division.  From that night on I was forbidden to think about competing in bodybuilding again.  It was embarrassing and I didn’t do that well anyway.  This being a major disappointment for me was an understatement.  I tried for years to get back on stage and was met with scorn and discouragement.  Eventually, I gave up trying.

Then, after my kids were all grown and I found myself with time on my hands I decided to start lifting weights again.  After 3 years, 6 days per week of training I finally took off my shirt.  My buddies in the gym saw me and told me I should compete.  The rest is history and now bodybuilding is a quest for excellence.  I have one of the best coaches in the world in Justin Dees and I have one of the greatest examples of consistency and discipline in his wife Heather Dees who just took home a third place finish at the 2018 Arnold’s Classic in Columbus, Ohio.  I now am about to do what so many people in my past have said I could not do.  I’m going to win the Nationals this year and gain my pro card.

 

I must remind you that all this is going to occur when most men my age have “packed it in” and have totally retired and have gone into sedentary mode before death.  I have to win so I can “Be Somebody Nobody Thought I Could Be.”  There is no turning back and I’m all in.  I said something nice about Heather yesterday on Instagram exclaiming how she motivates me to be better.  Justin came back with this, “Ahhh Yeahh!! Now, it’s your turn my friend!!!”  This is my time and I am under construction!  Thanks Justin and Heather!

In closing.   My story is anecdotal but it applies to all of us.  Decide what you want and become that person!  “Be Somebody Nobody Thought You Could Be.”

See you guys again real soon.  Until next time I remain, Douglas E. Graham, Lt Col, USAF, (ret), MHSM

Introduction

Sooner of Later all of us must decide to accept life for what it is and settle for whatever is dealt to us or we can take hold of that which makes us who we are and that defines us.  Settling for the day to day humdrum of job, home, kids, paying bills, and dying is what most people get from life.  It’s not because the “settler” in life are not good people or that they do not have what it takes to be better.  Sometimes life has a way of hemming us in and restricting us from doing the thing we are called to do.  In my opinion and having been here I can say that this is normal and we must tow the line for the good of the family.  However, even during these times when getting by is the order of the day, we cannot lose sight of who we are and what we are supposed to become.  It is imperative to believe that we are in this life for a much higher purpose than ourselves.  We were not meant to be squatters in this infinite, seething universe.  We are here to rule and reign with the talents and gifts that we possess.  Believing in ourselves keeps hope alive.  We must keep our eye on the horizon.

Let’s start today to begin thinking and contemplating about the reason we are here on planet earth.  No matter how discouraged you are we must focus on the thing that makes us tick or that “SETS OUR SOUL OF FIRE.”  First, what is it that sets our souls on fire?  Envision it. Reach out in your mind and touch it, taste it. Set it before your minds eye continually.  Never forget it because this is the essence of your existence.

In my life I have decided that bodybuilding (as one of the things that sets my soul on fire) is front and center.  It has taken courage on my part to start down a path that usually much younger men travel.  I’ve had to overcome the stigma of being older and go out and be my best.  The mere thought of standing on stage as a champion stokes the flames of my heart to heights that are unimaginable.  Bodybuilding “SETS MY SOUL ON FIRE!”  I I have to see this pursuit through to its end.  Nothing stands in my way except me and I won’t let that happen because this cause defines me and keeps me moving onward and upward. My days and nights are filled with thoughts of winning.  I can think of nothing else.  This year, 2018 is filled with competitions and possibilities. My Coach, Justin Dees believes in me and thus I believe in me.  It is time to perform and I’m getting ready to win.  My “SOUL IS ON FIRE!”

In closing I want to reemphasize the importance for all of us to:

1.) Decide what “SETS YOUR SOUL ON FIRE”

2.) Get busy and make that thing the defining feature of our lives

3.) Never let that thing disappear from our minds

4.) Go WIN!

Until next time I remain, Douglas E. Graham, Lt Col, USAF, (ret), MHSM

 

 

One of the truest Statements I have come across recently.  I spend a significant amount of time searching internet sites and reviewing articles for quotes and wisdom that pushes me forward.  When I find something that resonates with me, that pushes me to do better, to be greater, I share it with you my readers.

This thought, “You Have to Hate Losing More than You Love Winning” uses the negative approach to turning our lives and journeys into a positive experience.  Usually, we are admonished to think about positive things that motivate us to do better, to reach higher.  However, this truth starts at the bottom where we must “Hate Losing” so strongly that it becomes “THE” impetus that causes us to prepare and perform at a higher level.  We all have experienced losing or at least not doing as well as we should have.  There is nothing that is more disappointing than NOT hearing your name called to go back on stage for a better look or to do the pose down. The pain in your stomach is acute and you can feel your very soul drain into your feet.  Nothing feels good at that moment. Life seems to have left us behind and we feel “left out.”  You direct your thoughts toward god and you implore him to make you invisible.

Thus, these things are to be avoided at all cost.  Also, thus is born a brand new motive to propel us forward.  We should say this out loud over and over again, “I HATE TO LOSE!”  “I HATE TO LOSE!” “I HATE TO LOSE!” “I HATE TO LOSE!”

When I go on stage I have three goals in mind:

1.)  I want to be in the best shape of my life

2.) I don’t want to embarrass myself

3.) I want to win or at the very least I want to move up in my finishing slot from last time.  If I do either one of these things I consider my outing to be successful

There is nobody who hates losing more than me.  I think I can prove that.  I push myself with the thought that my competitors are preparing just as hard as I am so I need to push myself harder and harder each time I train.  I am more disciplined regarding my diet and cardio.  I see my coach more often…..My weakness is posing but I’m now spending more time doing posing and not leaving it to the end.

I adhere to the adage by Flex Lewis that says, “The Trophy is earned in the hours when no one is watching.” 

In closing, be driven by a hatred of losing.  Celebrating a win is easy but suffering a loss is disastrous so take it seriously.

Until next time, I remain, Douglas E. Graham, Lt Col, USAF, (ret), MHSM