Archive for March, 2007
Hey partner how are you doing…. since our last meeting? Wait before you answer that I want to let you know…. how proud I am of you! I can just see the difference in your attitude and demeanor…. since the start of my mission! Ok now that I said that… you can answer my question! Gee Nino I don’t want to bring down your positive energy… but things haven’t been changing as quickly as I would have hoped! Nino I don’t mean to sound negative towards you…. but I’m starting to lose patience with my training! Nino I’m just amazed of how much patience…you seem to have with everything you have done in your life! Nino I just have to ask you…. where have you gotten all that patience from?
Well you’ve done it again partner! What Nino? I knew there was a reason… why God brought us together! Well you just gave me the topic…. for our next discussion! Believe or not another goal that God want’s me to accomplish…. is to to teach you a lesson in patience! I truly feel that this is one area that our society…. really seems to be lacking in big time! Just think about it a minute everything that we do in our lives…. requires us to have a great deal of patience! Wouldn’t you agree??
Well in my next blog I’m going to not only teach you but also share with you… how I’ve been able to have so much patience with all that I’ve had to deal with in my life! Believe me I’ll be the first to admit patience wasn’t one of my strong suits…. until God came into the picture and told me otherwise! I’m going to bring you back to a time in my life when I completely lost all patience in having to deal… with an incredible amount of circumstances that changed my life! Well that all changed when…. God’s grace took over!
Are you ready for me to educate you in how God’s grace…. can give you all the patience that you never dreamed possible! Well it’s like I’ve been telling you…. anything is possible with God in your life! Well I certainly hope you’ll have the patience with me, as I teach you this very important lesson…. on how to have patience with the grace of God!!
Here we go again!
Well you can probably imagine about what I’ve told you so far… about my challenges in my life it sure required me to have a great deal of patience! Well your absolutely right! Well I’ll tell you right now I wasn’t blessed by God… with alot of patience at the start of my life! I got news for you that’s all changed…. because I now have God’s grace to supply me with an unbelieveable amount of patience! I think a good example to show you that this is all so true…is when I had to go through six months of rehabilitation! Well as you now know that was a result… of the many unsuccessful surgeries I had done to my legs to try to correct them!
I had to basically learn how to walk all over again… not on my own but with crutches! Let me tell you my patience to go through rehab….was not at an all time high at that particular time! It wasn’t until God got a hold me and said…. Nino “No Excuses” my grace will give you all the patience you need! I definitely was not going to say no to God….so I started rehab relying on God’s grace to get me through! Let me tell you things just seem to go alot smoother….with God in the picture than it is trying to do things on your own! Well before I knew it those six months of rehab…. just flew by and I was walking on crutches!
I’ll be totally honest with you there was no way I would have been able to… get through those six months without the grace of God! Listen throughout my life God has made me realize one thing…. you can not handle situations in life without God! I used to go through life thinking like you which is…. I can handle everything on my own! Listen partner take it from me as I told you I wasn’t blessed with having alot of patience… until I turned to God! The message I’m trying to send to you is simple…. no matter how tough you think you are you can’t go through life without God’s grace!!
Listen I truly believe our society today is failing big time… on the art of patience! This goal needs to be met!! I know without a shadow of a doubt with God’s grace by my side…. he will give me the patience to accomplish it successfully! God wants us all to realize one thing in life! We can’t always have what we want… when we want it! Here is some advice that God has given me… that I want to share with you! It’s not in our time… it’s always in God’s time! I’m here to tell you…. God’s grace is always sufficient!
I definitely know one thing God has been blessing me with his grace…. since the start of my mission! There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind when the time is right…. God will open that door that I’ve been praying for! So what are you waiting for God’s grace is upon you…. all you need to do is as him for some! Oh one thing when you ask him don’t make excuses why you waited this long…. remember God knows everything about you!!
March 25th, 2007
Hey buddy…. welcome back! How have things been going with your training? Let’s see if my memory serves me right I believe you were unsure… on the path to take the heavy or light weight approach! Well if I remember correctly we were able to come to an understanding… on the path you were going to start off on right! Yeah Nino… I’ve been sticking with your philosophy…. I guess it seems to be working for me! Gee that sure didn’t sound too convincing to me! What’s wrong?? Listen whatever is on your mind…. I’m here to help remember!
Well Nino it’s just that I’ve been working out so hard…. I just haven’t seen my body change at all! Nino and what makes it more frustrating for me, I have a friend who started at the same time I did…. and he’s gotten huge!! Well I guess there’s one thing I forgot to mention Nino…. he told me he’s experimenting with steroids!! Ok stop right there…. I think I’ve heard enough!
Let me tell you it’s truly amazing how everytime we get together…. you just give me an idea about what our next discussion is going to be on! I’ll be honest with you…. I was really hoping we could avoid talking about steroids… this early in my mission! The main reason is I didn’t want you to get side tracked…. and start to lose focus on what I’m trying to teach you! Well I guess now it can’t be avoided…. so we better deal with this now! Well I think you know what my next blog… is going to be about so let’s get going!
Here are my thoughts on the use of steroids!
Are you ready to be educated once again??
I truly hope you listen very closely because I truly believe….. this is major issue that our society is battling with today! I truly feel that steroids are being used by more professional athletes and teenagers today than ever before…. and it continues to be on the rise!! If that’s not bad enough…. even celebrities are getting into the act as well! The statistics are astounding to me…. and it just seems to be getting worse by the minute! This truly saddens me…. in how our society is dealing with this type of drug abuse!!
Well I hate to be the party crasher… but it’s going to be dealt with right now! Listen I don’t want you to be another statistic…. or anyone else for that matter! What kind of message are the professional athletes sending to their fans… who look up to them! I’ll tell you the message their sending! Instead of them using their gifts and talents God has blessed them with…. they use steroids to up their game! Well that definitely tells me one thing! These athletes have been doing the very thing…. that I’ve been teaching you not to do in your life!
Their making nothing but excuses…. which only allows me to believe they have absolutely no self confidence in their abilities!! What really bothers me the most…. they get paid millions of dollars to do what they do!! I truly believe them using steroids… isn’t written in their contract! Well I guess we all know… where all of their millions they receive are going towards!!
I sincerely feel that stiffer penalties need to be used… on these athletes who are caught using steroids! I definitley don’t agree with suspensions or fines…. gee it’s not like they can’t afford it! I truly feel the only solution to ending steroid use… in all professional sports today is very simple! Would you like to hear it?? Listen I’m not trying to be a poor sport…. they should be banned from playing ever again!! If you think I’m being unfair.. I think I’m being more than fair! Now that I think about it…. they should be thanking me for saving their lives!!
For these professional athletes who honestly think their invincible… from getting serious health problems or even death down the road their wrong!! I can easily give them an example of what I’m talking about! I don’t know if you remember a professional football player… back in the late seventies who’s name was Lyle Alzado! Well he was a big time steroid user he’s not anymore…. because he died from it!! Like I’ve been telling you God does not discriminate…. even when it comes to steroid use!!
I can honestly tell you God wasn’t kidding when he gave me the nickname…. “The No Excuse Natural Bodybuilder!! I can honestly look at myself in the mirror… and be proud of that nickname!! Well as your well aware by now I make no excuses and without a doubt…. I’m 100% drug-free! I definitely know for a fact God wouldn’t approve of me taking steroids… to help me acheive my level of success I’ve had so far! I honestly believe if I did take steroids…. God would have made me fail each time I did a contest! Oh one more thing my mission…. would be filled with excuses!!
Listen I sincerely hope that I was able to send… a clear message to you about using steroids to help increase your muscle growth! I have some advice for you to tell your friend… and by no means am I trying to make a joke of all this! There is absolutely no doubt that steroids is the way to go to gain incredible muscle growth…. but at the same time it’s making other areas of the body shriek in size!! I seriously don’t think I have to tell you… what parts I’m talking about!! I definitely know one thing I never have to be worried about anything shrieking…. on my body!! How about you??
March 19th, 2007
Hey my good friend it’s always a pleasure to see you again! I just have to tell you I can’t believe the number of positive comments…. that I have been receiving by people! I truly feel that God has been blessing my mission… in all sorts of ways that I never would have imagined! I definitely feel that God has given me hope… that my mission will continue to prosper! Usually your the one that gives me an idea…. for the topic of our next discussion! I think your slacking today…. because I think God has just beaten you to the punch! I believe God has just given me a message loud and clear….. for another goal he want’s me to accomplish in regards to my mission!
I definitely wouldn’t want you to feel left out! Would you like to take a wild guess…. on what that goal might be? No guesses ok…. you know I’m always here to help you out with the answer! Well here it is are you listening! In my next blog I’m going to teach you that you should never give up hope…. with your dreams or anything for that matter that you’ve been wanting in your life! I truly understand how difficult it could be at times to have hope in something…. that just seems impossible that it will ever happen!
I have news for you…. God has brought this mission to me in bring new hope to you in your life! I certainly don’t want you to continue… to go through life any longer feeling hopeless! Well are you ready for me to teach you how…. God is the only hope you need to help you through difficult times that just seem hopeless!
Are you ready to fill your glass with overflowing hope…. that only God can fill for you!
Here we go again!
Well I should I go about teaching you this important lesson…. on to never give up hope in life reguardless of the situation your facing! I think this brings me back to an old saying that God has taught me…. throughout my challenging life! Would you like to hear it? Ok here it is! “When you think there is absolutely no hope left…. turn to God and he will give you more than you can ever imagine possible”! Let me go on the record and tell you…. that is so true!! This clearly reminds me of a time in my life when that saying…. was really put to the test! I’m going to share with you the time of my birth… when my family and doctors lost all hope that I would survive!
Well as you read in my bio…. I was born three months premature! Now that usually means one or two things…. either you will “live” or “die”! I feel in my case the odds that my doctors gave me to survive… were extremely low! So they told my family to basically hope and pray for a miracle…. because they did all they could do at that point! Gee I don’t know about you but they sure seemed pretty convinced…. of the fact that I wouldn’t pull through!
I guess what convinced them of that…. were three key factors! First I only weighed 2 1/2 pounds at birth… that’s sure pretty small for a new born! Second my lungs…. were severely damaged during labor! Those two factors right there were more than convincing for anyone to believe… that I wouldn’t survive! Oh I almost forgot the most important factor! I was given too much oxygen during labor…. which affected the muscles in my legs… and may have also caused damage to my brain!! So I guess that would be fair to conclude…. that my doctors were right about needing a “miracle” for me to survive!!
Well it all came down to now waiting to see…. if I would survive these incredible sets of circumstances! The doctors only gave me thirty-six hours to live! It came down to one person to decide my fate…. God! I was put in the I.C.U. so they could monitor those thirty-six hours closely…. for any chances of improvement I had to survive! So my family began to pray to God…. hoping that he wouldn’t take me just yet! The hours began to quickly tick away…. with absoulutley no signs of improvement! It all came down to twenty-four hours…. still no signs that I would pull through! My family began to lose all hope…. that God would answer their prayers for a miracle!!
My family then decided to have a priest…. give me my last rites before passing! So you can probably assume at this point….it seemed hopeless that I would survive! The time had come for the priest…. to send me to heaven in peace with a final prayer! Wait just a minute…. the priest was beginning to pray when something amazing was happening! Gee Nino what was happening?? I’ll definitely tell you what was happening…. a “miracle”!!
It was truly amazing as the priest began to pray….. the machines that were barely keeping me alive showed signs of life! The doctors and my family couldn’t believe their eyes…. I was very much still in the game! The doctors really had no explanation! Like I said to you they did everything in their power…. to keep me alive! Well now I’m going to give you a chance to tell me…. your thoughts on what was happening! Gee Nino…. I have no idea! Well let me try to help you out again…. God was keeping me alive!
When everyone in that room thought I was about to checkout…. God decided to check in! I believe the message God was sending to everyone that day…. was simply “have you no hope in ME”!! Well as a result of what happen that day…. I was given another nickname by God! Would you like to know… the nickname?? Here it is…. “The Miracle Child”!
Listen this goal is extremely important for me personally to accomplish successfully! I sincerely hope that you were able to get one very important lesson… from all this! The lesson I’m trying to teach you here is very simple! No matter how hopeless a situation or circumstance that you are faced with might be…… never give hope on God!!
It’s like I’ve been telling you since the beginning of my mission…. anything is possible with God even bringing you back from near death! I definitely know all about that!! I wouldn’t be here telling you this story…. if it weren’t for my hope in God! I only have one question to ask you! How filled with God’s hope has your glass been lately in your life?? I definitely know for me…. my glass has been overflowing with God’s hope in my life!!
March 12th, 2007
Hey it’s great to see you again! I have a feeling today is going to be a great day…. the sun is shining what more can we ask for thank God! Gee I couldn’t help but notice when you walked in…. you look like you bulked up since the last time we were together! That can only allow me to believe one thing….. you must be training pretty heavy with alot less repetitions! “Actually Nino I’m glad you brought that up…. because I know your not a big fan on doing heavier weight with fewer repetitions!”
“Nino when I finally started my training program… I did follow your advice starting with higher repetitions low weight philosophy! Nino I just found it too difficult to do…. remember I’m just starting out I’m not as experienced as you! So then I decided it would probably be better for me…. to lower my reps and use heavier weight! Nino I just want to be able to finish my workouts, without burning out!”
So Nino what do you think?
I would love your advice Nino because like I said… your alot more experienced than me! Well I’m glad you filled me in on this because you always seem…. to give me an idea for our next discussion! Remember part of my mission is to advise you how to train properly… to help you achieve what you want without injuring yourself! My advice to you is to get your notepad out…. and I want you to take very good notes on this particular blog! I strongly feel this approach that your taking on your training….. is going to give you a one way ticket to the hospital first class!!
Ok get ready….
Well I think the best way to help educate you, in the approach your taking is not one that I would recommend you continue any longer…. is to take you back to my powerlifting days! As you probably read in my story and bio…. I hold both the state and national bench press records! Let me tell you right now…. lifting the big weight is not what it’s all cut out to be! I’m going to take you back to that very day that is still fresh in my mind….. when I set both records in one lift! I’m going to share with you one positive and one negative thing…. that I got from this whole experience! Well I hope your ready to write down alot of information because your about to get a vaulable lesson… in the low rep heavy weight approach! I guarantee it will make you think twice about continuing to train… in the manner that you are!
Well I consider myself a very positive person so why don’t I begin by sharing with you…. one positive experience I got from my powerlifting days! Well you’ve been with me long enough now to know I’ve had many critics doubt me…. when it came to my bodybuilding and personal training career! I knew this was going to be no different! I actually had one critic tell me this! “Nino your way out of your league…. your going to get embarrassed”! Gee I think I heard that saying once before…. but I took that as extra motivation to go and do it! I knew right then that I had to train extremely hard…. for that one day with no excuses!
So I went into extensive hard training for three months! I had to learn technique, proper form and most important avoid getting injured! Let me tell you it took me a whole month to get used to lifting the heavy weight…. the correct way! If you thought for one minute I just went into the gym…. and started lifting heavy your wrong!! Like I said it took three months for me to train for this…. I was going to approach it the smart way and work my way up! I definitely know for a fact… that your not starting with the smart approach at all!! Feel free to jump in and correct me…. if I’m way off with my analysis!
The day had finally arrived….. competition day! This was the day I had trained extremely hard and heavy for! It was also time to see if those critics were right on the money…. when telling me that I was out of my league! Oh I almost forgot and I was totally going to embarrass myself! Gee I felt that the deck was stacked against me! I had no one who believed I could do it…. except God! Actually I was used to it…. because God was all I needed to pull this off!
It was time for me to make my way back stage…. and get ready! I’ll be honest with you… I had big time butterflies in my stomach! I saw all these big guys grutting, slapping themselves in the face…. I felt a little intimidated! I was asked by one of the competitors… what I was doing backstage! I told him I was here to compete…. all of a sudden the room became very quite! I definitley wasn’t going to let that affect me or deter me…. from my mission God had me on that very day! It was finally showtime! There were to other competitors…. in my weight class that I was competing against! I weighed in @ 130lbs…. which put me in the light weight class!
Are you ready to see what happened?
I was set to lift 3rd in my class so you can say I was last…. but only for a short time! If you not familiar with the rules in powerlifting….. I’ll give you a brief overview! Each competitor has three attempts…. to lift the weight that’s on the bar! Once your set on the bench…. you wait for the judges to give you the green light! Next you then lift the bar off the rack…. then you pause the bar on your chest for three seconds! Let me tell you those were the longest…. three seconds of my life! Then finally the judges say the word ”up” and you better pray…. the weight comes up! Ok there you have the rules…. not as easy as you thought huh!
Now the results!
The weight was set at 300lbs…. alot of weight to press for only weighing 130lbs! Wouldn’t you agree? Well that’s what the critics told me… it’s just impossible! I was waiting to see…. if my two opponents could lift the weight! Well after watching them both fail on all of their three attempts…. it came down to me! If you thought I had butterflies before… my stomach was in knots! As I walked towards the platform I could hear people in the crowd saying…. “No Way”! Well I guess that meant… I would fail as well! Well I guess they didn’t know I had a secret weapon….. God! So I laid on the bench and waited for the judges signal! I took the bar off the rack…. boy was it heavy! I just prayed to God he would help me! Gee wouldn’t you know it… the weight came straight up! God came through for me again!!
Well your probably waiting for me to tell you…. the positive and negative from this experience! Well the positive side from this…. I proved to the critics that I was very much in my league! Ok you got me I guess there were two positives…. I set a new record! Hey don’t get so excited….. now the negative side! I hope you still got your pen and pad out… because I don’t want this to happen to you! I had to take two months off from the gym….. all that heavy training sure did a number on my joints! I knew right then… that was the end of my powerlifting career! That’s how I made my transition from being a powerlifter…. into a competitive bodybuilder!
It’s that time again!
???
So are you going to continue to train… with the low rep heavy weight philosophy? Well I hate to rain on your parade…. but it ends now! Listen I want you to excel in your training…. not end it with a serious injury! So what’s your answer?? Gee Nino… your right again! Nino why do you care so much? Well I think your question is pretty simple for me to answer! My mission is to help you…. not hurt you!!! Thanks Nino! I’m going back to your philosophy…. “The Nino Way”!! Great… now your talking my language! No Excuses!!
March 6th, 2007