ArtThenLIft’s BodyBlog

My classes just started, and I dont know how long I can keep up my hectic weight lifting schedule.  I have it all planned out on what time Im going to do my class work and what time Im going to work out, but already I have to make changes. It bugs me, almost angers me because I have to do this work to graduate, and I can already see me forcing myself at 8 in the morning after going to bed at 4 to go run then do class work for another 5 hours then go to the gym… But Im fine with that, I just wonder how fine my body is with it.  Plus Im having problems figuring out what to do on my BFA show, I always wanted to paint stuff about weightlifting and americas obesity epidemic, but then again I always wanted to paint super hero comics on canvas… Well anyways. thats whats on my mind. If you have any advice please tell…

Actually I just want to talk about whats going on with lifting.  Well lifting in my world.  It sometimes takes school to get my schedule correct, often when I come back for the summer I want to pack in as much fun with my friends as possible before it ends.  Because of this my schedule gets quite hectic.  Plus I have a hella lot more hobbies than just lifting.  Like drawing, and painting, and soccer and so on, this itterupts my lifting schedule.  Also cooking on your own takes a lot of your time and that is quite burdening if you have to do school work as well.  What I am saying is life is never perfect, sometimes lifting has to take the backseat while you struggle to get other things done.  Lifting is life, but its not all of your life. 

On another note Im going back to school with Id say a good 300 lbs of weights, which will keep me entertained to say the least. Its quite hard going to an Art college when you are the only one who actually tries to maintain muscle. Very hard indeed.  Artist tend to smoke alot, and drink alot.  Boy let me tell ya I like to drink, which is why I have a hard time losing weight. For a while it was ok because I would drink once a week or so. But depending on your group you hang with It would vary.  I plan on slowing down on drinking, or stick to liqour, it has less calories and gets you messed up alot faster.  I guess many of you guys or ladies shun getting wasted, but I guess I can shun the people who take steroids to get bigger.  So you may look at me at dismay for being a partier, but hey you cant have a party at a gym.  Hell Ive known personell trainers who said their best workouts were when they were High.. Can you blame them?  Just to get through a dull workout.  Hell Arnolds claimed to have gotten high when lifting weights. Explaining that it got boring.  I cant blame him.  Because It does get boring.  Hell It gets boring to me as well. I often impersonate Arnold when I lift weights to get a laugh out of the people surrounding me. Ive even drawn on foggy windows in the gym, doodling funny pictures of wales, or master shake from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Anything to make the experience more enjoyable.  It helps to have a work out partner. Always help to have some kind of motivation. I can only hope some people read this and get some form of motivation out of it. If they do, then I will feel satisfied with writing this blog.  Because lets face it.  Most of the blogs talk about their GYM Experience… Wanna hear mine.

So I got into the gym, did bench, did incline bench, Looked at a hot lady in spandex, did decline bench, Looked at the hot lady again, Did dumbell flies, and looked at the hot lady again.  Lets face it Im a guy, and can I help myself when I see a gorgeous girl keeping in shape and looking sexy doing it.  I might be able to, but then I wouldnt have anything to talk about to my friends after the workout.

My blogs never really have much to say, outside or inside the lifting world, they just have some of my insight and how I feel about the sport. I read that interview with Frank Zane on this site, and I agree with him about how bodybuilding is a shell of what it once was. There is no aesthetics, its all about getting huge.  I think the hobby should change its name to Muscle building, because thats really all the bodybuilders today are doing, building muscle.  In the golden age of bodybuilding it was about creating the perfect body, which combined strength and grace.  Frank Zane, Franco Colombu, And Arnold showed that.  Now you have these muscle bound guys whos very range of movement is limited because muscle actually blocks the full range of motion on their skeletal frame.  Lee Priest was a freak, the guy was 5′2 and looked like a orge with no fat.  Thats cool and all, but it doesnt look natural.  But who am I to judge. Im just saying that you are either a powerlifter or a bodybuilder, cant be both, and right now we have powerlifters with no fat on them.  Which does not in my opinion fit the definition of a bodybuilder, which should be perfection through strength and graceful aesthetics.  Like Agility and strength perfectly melded into this Greek body..  thats all I have for now. Leave a comment if you want to discuss this further…

I am drunk… lifting weights rocks… BALLER AS HELL SON

I am just a regular old joe who likes to lift weights, and while doing it Ill make many sexual comments and jokes to my friend who is my work out buddy (in a completely heterosexual way).  The other day I became really bummed over my lack of improvement.  I wanted to lose weight, and it seems that every obstacle and challenge actually working against me instead of fueling myself to lose weight.  It ruined my whole workout that day, I did some pull ups and my body felt like it couldnt even pull myself up.  My diet isnt out of wack, my cardio is alright, but I still remain the same. It often gets irritating when you see improvements in other fields of weight lifting and not in the ones you really want.  I would love to be able to practice what I preach and tell everyone that its ok to f!#$ up.  It seems that Ive been doing that alot lately. 

I am not claiming anything, in fact I dont even know what this post is about.  Maybe its just some form of venting my anger.  I had a pretty darn good day,  intense workout, two protein shakes.  High protein snacks and such.  But sometimes I feel like something is lacking, like I lost the fire. I begin to question whats the point in lifting weights, sure it helps but to how much. What are the benefits of lifting at the age of 70 or 80.  It all seems very daunting to think about.  I am on this rant and I have no clue where Im going with this.  Maybe it will come up later, maybe someone will read this and understand whats going on, or feel the same. 

Who knows, I just wonder.  It takes a pretty determined person to give up a social life to go lift weights for 2 hours and then do work.  Some people looking good and being strong is their career, but for some people its just that thing to do.  It seems right to do.  Most of us dont get paid to lift weights, in fact we pay to build muscle, supplements, food, gym memberships.  Hell man its a huge business.  Why are supplements so expensive and last only month, I want a 3 month supply of the same stuff I buy now and have it cost the same.  Again I dont know where I am going.

I guess I am not practicing what I am preaching, I just state what seems odd about weightlifting, and what is the drive.  Looking good seems kind of narcissistic of me.  Maybe weightlifters are vain, full of themselves. I mean they look in the mirror constantly, sporting their "guns". I also hear people talk about their reasons for lifting weights, is because they dont like seeing people who are bigger than themselves.  Shit! thats a load of crap, in the whole scheme of things were are just a dot on the map.  Dont like seeing people who are bigger than them, man, thats a napoleon complex.  What kind of person do you have to be to compare yourself to another person? Unless you are in a bodybuilding contest.  Does it have to do with thinking you can beat the piss out of another person?  If that was the case, you better watch out because where there may be strong men, a strong man cannot beat a bullet.  And thats where that argument of being a large and in charge man means squat. 

I wonder why I do what I do.  Maybe Im vain, or someone who wants to look good naked.  Yeah I would like to look good naked and be sexy for the ladies.  Because come on who wouldnt mind getting some action based solely on your looks, Its a shame thats how many relationships occur.  But it is very true.  I am getting ahead of myself, looking good naked, that sounds very nice.  That is something for my strive for.  I also wonder why bodybuilders shave their head or have short hair. I know they do it because it makes them look bigger, but the way I see it, if you weight 300 lbs of pure muscle your hair is not going to make you look any smaller. Come on bodybuilders grow out your hair.  Dont try this optical illusion shit, if you are big you are big, your hairstyle wont change that fact. 

Maybe its a bodybuilding thing, Oh well, I don’t know.  I just do not understand I guess. I will tell you what I do know. I know that its a great feeling lifting so hard and fast that you look like you were in sauna in your clothes. I know that its great when you cant touch your shoulders because you worked out your arms so hard that its like someone shoved balloons in them and pumped up every fiber ever vein in you arm that they turn into nike pump shoes.  I know its great when there are gorgeous girls in the gym to look at, it keeps me going, I also know I wont ever have a chance with them.  Trying to get a date in a gym is like trying to get a date in a bar when you are hammered and cant even tell the girl you number because you are getting them mixed up with other numbers.  Its great when you go to the gym and you know some regulars who understand whats its like to lift some major poundage. Im not going there for some wimpy lifts, I am going there to when I get out, going down the stairs becomes almost impossible. You stumble down the stairs laughing at your lack of coordination your muscles have after doing a gruesome leg workout.  I think all of that is great.  Now its time for you all you weightlifters out there to go and Practice what you preach, BIIIIIZATCHES!!! 

I’ve been trying to post frequently everyday and leave in my two cents on the world of lifting.  Even though I may not have the ripped physique and so forth I still know quite a bit about lifting.  Mainly because I read on it quite a bit. But nonetheless today is a day that I have not much to say. Lets just say lifting a barbell is like lifting yourself up, to a level of confidence and joy.  It is like taking a piece of you and putting into that iron weight and willing it from the ground.  Muscle doesn’t always lift the weight its the mind. My friend used to say "Mind over matter, if you dont mind… then it dont matter" This quote really gets to the nerve of the topic of lifting.  Because there are times you are at a plateau and you are asking to push more and more.  Theres a point where the body is willing but it is just not able to lift the weight anymore. 

I wonder where this is taking me. I dont know, there are many I dont knows that I go through.  But, lifting weights helps me tackle these issues that I am going through in life.  Hell its where I get most of my ideas for a painting. I dont have anyone around me asking me a question, or a hairdresser saying " Would you like an inch off" NO I DONT WANT AN INCH I JUST WANT A TRIM.  Or a waiter asking " Want a salad with your order"…. all I have at the gym is myself and the weights and my wondering thoughts.  I hear some people shut down at the gym, where they become this lifting autobotic machines.  I dont think that is a good thing, I wonder what people think when they are at the gym… I sure hope its not like ‘’ I need to lose 14 more lbs or Ill never be beautiful" because than their reasons for being at the gym go away.  I often wondered why after the new years memberships to gyms increase. I think that is silly, because new years resolutions usually fail. Maybe its because the logic for going to gym is based on one reason.  Multiple reasons should be established at the gym.  For me, I have too much energy, it tires me out, helps me sleep, makes me happy, strong, and is a major stress reliever.

When I am at the gym I can toss all my worries away into the bench, of the lat pull down, etc. etc.  And I can lift till my body says "Wait up dude, I think its time to leave, Im pretty exhausted"  We all know those lifting second winds where it seems you could do another two hours.  But you would probably be working negatively towards your goal.  As I sit here ranting, I realized that I am quite hungry. So I leave you people with something to think about when you are at the gym, and that is my two cents…. for today.

-p-

As I am about to cook some late late late breakfast, I just want to say to all of you lifters out there. Have a great work out.  When Im in school I workout as a vent, it works most of the time, but theres deadlines in my head that overrun the workout and my gym experience suffers because of it.  Remember when you go to the gym, you go to the gym and thats it, theres nothing you should be thinking about. I forget this many times but I still go anyways. What I am getting at is there are days when you perform well and days that you dont.  I have it all the time when working on a painting or a drawing, same as in the gym.  Sometimes Ill lift like a king, sometimes those 10 lbs dumbells look like volkswagons on bars. Anyways, have a great day, either it be a break from your regiman or a hardcore bonesmashing vomit wretching peeing yourself in the pants because the weight is so damn heavy workout… *cheers

I’ve been slowing down on cardio because of the heat being so excruciating, 100 degree temperature is not good weather to be losing lots of fluids.  Working out later today, wonder what it will be like… hmmmmm let me say, it will be A BLAST!

I’ve been wondering what could I do to make weightlifting fun.  People seem to think cardio is this monster that is here to make you bored and tired.  But let me tell ya, its not.  Machines are boring I do agree, but If I could afford an elliptical and or running machine, I would use that thing like it was going out of style. Watching  shows like Family Guy, Futurama, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, or movies like, Hot Fuzz, Sean of the Dead.  Or even watching good ol Walker Texas Ranger.  But I dont have the money to buy one and watch what I want.  So I go for alternatives, Try dribbling a soccer ball for a couple hours, better yet learn some ball handling patterns, Or I as I like to call Juggling the ball.  I even improved so much at that, that I actually run around juggling the ball in the air.  In the heat of the summer you bust out a sweat like you’ve been in a sauna with a sweat suit on.  Lets not forget bicycling, if you start biking on real roads with real hills and real weather you are in for an ride that even the best cycling machine cant mimic.  Sure you burn calories in a cycling course at your local YMCA.  But after biking a good 15 miles on some pretty damn hilly terrain, that bike seems to get harder and harder to balance. 

I dont see where Im going with this statement all I am saying is that.  If you don’t consider working out fun, that it is only a lifestyle then you need to reassess why you are working out.  Sure having a better body is a bonus, but if that is the only thing that makes you happy, then you become  a one-dimensional bodybuilder.  How many powerlifters you hear talking about Gauguain, Thiebaud, Auerbach, Degas.  Or talk about politics like they can do it better, or talk about the governments problems. I want to see weightlifters more involved with just weightlifting, maybe I am being a hypocrit.  Expand your body as well as your mind.  Read ancient literature, old english literature. Read Poetry, if you have an interest pursue it like you pursue bodybuilding, it will lead to great success in life and becoming something better than just a chiseled rock hard individual….

-Pierson-

So I have been doing this high rep program meant for burning fat and building strength. But its mostly a fat reducing regiman, I think I might add actual sets to the program instead of doing 50 reps per lift then moving on to the next lift.  Its a good work out, great actually. I just think its just too short, I barely get the feeling of having a good workout, sure Im tired, but Im not feeling it.  Does anyone know what I am talking about?

I spend many of my days painting, and drawing which leaves very little time to actually weightlift.  Ive been known to pull a full 5 to 6 day work out schedule and see it dwindle to 3 days, then 2, then to none.  My schedule becomes more chaotic as the semester closes to an end.  I am not your average lifter, I dont wrap my life around it, rather I bend to include it into my life, because I like doing it so much. I am not your average lifter, I stay up till 4 in the morning working on a couple paintings while simalteniously drawing on two sketchpads.  I am not your average lifter, I drink beer, and take shots of vodka and know its bad for my training, but I do it because it provides for a good time for me and my friends. I am not your average lifter,  even though I do everything bass akwards I still work out hard enough to make me puke, sometimes twice, which may be because I was hungover or I tried to cram a bunch of supplements or food right before I went to work out because I couldnt eat them during class or have time to prepare them.  I am not your average lifter… and I am glad