Here’s a sample day in the life of me. As I wrote it I realized I’m pretty awesome, but pretty boring. So, in conclusion, it’s good to be me.
4:20 AM – Alarm goes off and I curse as I hit snooze three times.
4:35 AM – In the shower trying to figure out why I’m up before God.
5 AM – Breakfast! Today it’s French Toast. Four pieces of white bread…screw that whole wheat crap – I don’t want to live forever! I added a lot of butter and syrup. Real syrup, not that light crap. All the sugar in the world is good for you. Trust me, my cousin is a doctor.
5:30 AM – On the road to work. I usually listen to my iPod. At this time of day, it’s usually some country music. Lately I’ve been on a Drive-by Truckers kick and today is no different.
6 AM – My first client of the day is a 30 year-old business woman. She works her butt off for me. I’ve trained her for the better part of four years and she has pushed herself to the point of puking on a dozen or so occasions. Always coming back with a smile and an “Ooops! You got me today.”
I do a lot of supersetting and barbell complexes with her. My goal is to keep her moving for the entire hour and it usually works.
7 AM- I have a new client orientation. This means I have to schmooze and put on my fake smile, while still trying to get across the fact that if you’re going to work with me – you’re going to train hard and you will not “enjoy” the hour. This time, it worked to my advantage. I sold 20 sessions. Not a bad way to start my day.
8:30 AM or so – I had a chance to sit down and grab some food. Today it was 8 ounces of ground beef with two baked potatoes mixed with Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. I should’ve opted for Ketchup, but trial and error has taken me down some promising food paths. Today it wasn’t that great.
After I ate, I took a solid 20 minute nap in my truck. I parked under a huge shade tree and put my windows down on all four doors. I always get a nice cross breeze right across my face and head, so I always drift off nicely. A solid recharge. When I nap, I usually follow it up with a Rockstar Lemonade energy drink. By far my favorite drink for energy during my work hours. While I sucked this down, I decided to make my protein shake and down it. It’s still close to my second meal, but I won’t be able to eat again until sometime after noon, so I might as well get it in.
Nothing special here. We have a whole bunch of shake ingredients at the gym, so I bring my own powder and add in whatever tickles my fancy. Today was a good one. I used 10 ounces of water, 1/3 cup each of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and a banana mixed in with 1/2 cup of oats and 50 grams of strawberry protein powder. I put in a small bit of ice just to keep it cold. I don’t like thick shakes, so the little bit of ice usually keeps it just right.
10 AM – Another client. This guy is 84 years old and amazes me every time he comes in. He only trains for 30 minutes so I just keep him moving with kettlebells and a lot of balance-type movements. He has to keep up with his wife when she goes for walks. It’s crazy to see someone that age make progress in only a few weeks. The body is just amazing.
11 AM – I train a girl at 11 o’clock who was in the Israeli Army, so she’s a little bit tough. This is probably my favorite hour of the day because she just wants to work. She wants to get back under the bar before she’s rested enough. It’s just go, go, go with her. So easy to work with because all I have to do is tell her what to do next and she’s already onto it. In two weeks she’s lost 11 pounds and all of her numbers, as far as the barbell exercises, are increasing. She’s also down two pant sizes already. A little bit of focus, some good eating and some hard work in the gym…losing weight is so easy.
12:15 PM – I get a chance to sit down again and grab some lunch. This time it’s two cheeseburgers. I cooked them up the night before on the grill and kept the cheese separate. I put the cheese on with about 15 seconds left to cook and they come out fine. I’m not a fan of microwaved food, but these aren’t bad.
1 PM – One more client for the day. Nothing too fun here. She’s one of those people who sucks the energy right out of you. No matter how good I’m feeling, seeing her name in my schedule kicks me in the balls. But, she’s a solid client coming in three times a week, so I grin and bear it. Lately I’ve just been trying to ignore her complaints and just make her do everything I want. The phrase, “You’ll be fine,” has been coming out of my mouth a lot, and I kinda like it.
For example: “This is too heavy.”
Me: “You’ll be fine.”
At the very least, I chuckle to myself and all is right in my world. To her credit, she keeps coming back. So, I’m doing something right.
2 PM – Clock out and sexually harass the membership girl, Michelle. She tolerates me, and she’s nice to look at. The ride home was spent figuring out if I’m going to lay down before the gym or not. I’m trying to get at least 20 minutes of sun everyday. I can really feel the difference when I get it. I just feel so much better. Another nap is so inviting, and today, it wins. I put on a DVRed show and went to sleep. I don’t remember what it was, but I didn’t see much.
3:30 PM or so – I eat my pre-workout meal of choice. It’s a repeat of breakfast with six pieces of bread instead of four and a third egg. This meal gives me great energy without sitting in my stomach.
4-4:15 PM – I get my stuff together and make my shakes for the gym.
Pre-workout/ride to the gym – NOS Grape is my pre-workout energy drink. It just has a butt load of caffeine and tastes like grape soda. Bonus! I also drink 20ounces of Gatorade powder with a scoop of maltodextrine. I don’t do that waxy maize crap – it’s just nasty and I don’t notice any difference at all. By the time I get to the gym, I have about 40 ounces of fluid in me. On the ride up, I take Route 15. At exit 59, there’s a huge tunnel that goes through a little mountain side. Once I get through the tunnel, it’s all business. I turn up the music and start to think about what I have to get done at the gym. My music pre-workout is usually a mix of Motley Crue, AC/DC, Tool, Cinderella (I love my hairbands of the 80′s) and anything else that’s heavy, to me…not in Jim’s ears. I’ve been on a little bit of a rap kick lately. Not that crap they call rap today. The real stuff. Public Enemy, Ice Cube, Old Snoop when he was killing people and dealing drugs, and even a little DMX.
5 PM – Today is a squat/deadlift day. Guess what? I’m always worried about how the hip and groin will act. A thorough warm-up usually takes care of this.
Back to drink for the gym. During the workout, I drink Gatorade. One or two 32 ounce bottles is enough.
After the gym, it’s 100 grams of maltodextrine and 50 grams of protein. When I’m tired of the maltodextrine, it’s a 20 ounce soda. I fancy Sunkist strawberry, grape or orange. At times I’ve been known to go with a Dr. Pepper or Root Beer. All I want is about 100 grams of sugar post-workout, so I don’t care how I get it.
8:30 PM – The ride home happened around 8:30 tonight. I got home around 9 PM and jumped right in the shower. After a thorough cleansing and exfoliation of my face and head, I’m off to eat the last meal of my day. At this point I have zero desire to eat what I had prepared, so frozen pizza it is. I go with Tony’s or Mystic Pizza. Mystic Pepperoni called my name tonight, mostly because that’s all I had. While it cooked, I got my food together for tomorrow. More beef and baked potatoes and two more cheeseburgers.
10 PM – I settled in and checked the DVR for possible shows, before I drifted off to slumber. I’m such a TV snob that I no longer watch live TV. The life of a Diva. I settled on a show on the Military Channel called “Top Tens.” This episode was about the top 10 Special Operations Gear that our SOF soldiers and Marines have at their disposal. Badass! I actually watched the whole show like a dumbass. I shut the lights off around 11 and dreaded the fact that the alarm would anger me again at 4:20 AM.
My eating today was pretty good. I’m not really trying to gain any weight for the meet in July, so I’m just eating. That’ll change after the meet and that might be an article of it’s own. I’m not going down the Dizenzo road, so don’t worry.
Rhodestown isn’t as fun as it seems, now is it?
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Matt is a tremendous resource for our readers by bringing that hard-to-find mix of both real world coaching and athletic experience. Not only did Matt play football at the University of Arizona (1996–1998), but he also worked as a strength coach at the University of Richmond and was an intern at the University of Pittsburgh for the accomplished Buddy Morris. Matt now lives in Greenwich, Connecticut and works as a personal trainer. While he entered the sport of powerlifting in 2001 at 220 lbs (6’ 4”), he now tips the scale at over 300 solid lbs and has squatted 880, benched 550, and deadlifted 750—earning the Best Lifter designation in the 308-lb weight class at the APF Imperium in May 2006. Although the path has not been particularly easy for Matt because of Marfans syndrome, his resolve is strong and he has the will to be a winning athlete.
View Matt’s Training Log 
Thanks for the article Matt –
Do you work out at the golds in new haven? I know that you work down in greenwich, but since you’re coming through the tunnel on 15 that puts you in my neck of the woods, and as far as i know thats the only decent one around. I’m close to new haven and looking for a gym that isnt a health club so maybe i’ll follow your lead and join there.
don’t you want dextrose post workout because it is fast absorbing instead of maltodextrin, which i thought took a while to absorb?
love these articles chronicling the days of… (Tate and Rhodes)
more of these plzz
“Old Snoop when he was killing people and dealing drugs”
Fantastic.
Alex – Gold’s is a great gym to train at. They have a monolift and a squat bar. The owners let you do whatever you want. It’s the only gym left, that I know of. There are a lot of douche bags, but there are also a lot of people who actually train, there. If you can get past the assclowns, it’s a great place to train.
I don’;t train there often. We train at Choate.
Jim – who cares? This is stuff that doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. I just want to get in something after training. The best post-workout drink I’ve had is chocolate milk. I’m just looking for more calories right now.
Love the article! Kinda sounds like my day as well, but factor in the wife and a 2 yr.old red-headed crazy child who can’t stop flexing his muscles (cuz dad let him watch Pumping Iron).
Thanks for the reply Matt, i appreciate it. You are right about not being enough decent gyms in CT, my roomate and I are trying to get the gears in motion to open a warehouse gym, you’re comment just verified to me that Connecticut needs it.
I enjoyed your article Matt. It’s good for a beginner lifter like myself to see the daily rituals of a more experienced lifter. One thing I have been realizing latley is that to take my strength to the next level, I’ve got to be thinking powerlifting all day long. Specifically, I need to manage my time better to prepare food and get plenty of sleep. Powerlifting is a 24-7 hobby for me ! Next time, could you post your workout details also ?
Had to laugh when you mentioned the female client that, “sucks the energy right out of you.” I just finished training a client today that does the samething to me, and has, for 2 years. My response when she complains……..You’ll be fine. I think it might be a universal response.
Matt,
I thought you moved up to Boston. When did you move back down to CT?
Steve, I was in Boston. Things didn’t work out as planned, so I headed back to work for the same company as before, just in a different location.
He moved back to Boston because he missed me. I actually miss me too. The super fat picture of me above makes me nostalgic.
Yeah, I meant moved back to CT. I really blew that one. Just had to add one more thing, you don’t have to adjust your monitor, nor was there somthing wrong with the pics, Matt was purple at the time. Hmmm, the good ol’ days.
Ahhhhhhhhh, the good ole days. You are right Vincent. I think they might make a come back in the near future.
You need to quit this ridiculous diet so we can go eat at Buffalo Bills. Enough is enough!
Matt, thanks for a kick ass article. You’re a no bullshit kind of guy. I drink chocolate milk and eat whole eggs after training. I couldn’t agree more on the waxy maize….slam some sugar post workout and eat for fuck sakes!!