Leaf_Longbottom’s BodyBlog

So I just came back from a holiday in Cuba with the family.  The wife found a really good deal online on a sell off so it came up very quickly and we just took off.  Now, I’ve been to Hawaii and Mexico several times, but when we stepped off the plane in Santa Clara is was this wall of humidity that floored us all.  Man it was hot and sticky, and from where Im from it is soooo dry.  I just couldnt get over the humidity.  It was a 90 minute bus ride to our hotel that went through some really interesting towns.  I couldnt imagine living the way the Cubans do.  We’d pass by in this nice air conditioned bus as the houses are shanty town little buildings with people sitting in their doorway watching the busses go by on the way to the resorts.  I couldnt look them in the eye as we went bye…I mean heres us drinking and eating all we can eat when there living under a roof that looks like its going to fall in on them at the slightest breeze.  And the cattle and dogs all look sickly with their hips protruding out….but still they wave at us like were celebreties or something…I dunno…I just felt guilt.

So we arrived at our resort which was HUGE and sprawling,  I got lost walking around it so many times.  Everything was exceptionally clean and nice.  Very modern and its true what the say, the people are super nice.  The beaches were tops in my list as well ….sugar white powder sand that you could walk out hundreds of feet without one rock or piece of seaweed.  There were jellyfish however about the size of small plates and some days were worse than others, that was the only bad thing.  No one in my family got sick but I would rate the food about 6.5 out of 10.  I ate a lot of eggs and fish.  There was no pineapple juice and no jam for your toast…it was weird, some days they’d have some things, and then some days they wouldnt…most things were heavily salted too.  Combine that with all the malibu rum and orange juice and you swell.

The resort did have a gym that was better equipped than anything I went to in Mexico but was still limited.  I worked out 4 out of 7 days (pretty good considering 2 days lost to travel).  All the plates were in Kilos because Im Canadian thats no problem, but if you were a American (and allowed to be there) you’d have a tough time figuring your weights out.

Now its back to the grind and to hunker in for those dark cold Canadian winters….good to be home.  

Do you track, if no why not?  When you go to work that same body part again, what is your measure of success (or failure)?  When I first started working out,  I really wasnt that serious and if I worked out and did more reps or higher weights, great!  If not, chalk it up as a bad day I guess.  The deeper I get into this, the more I want to know if Im progressing (my progress…ha ha that is another topic, but i digress).  Even when I went to the gym with my buddy I would go to the desk and ask for a log sheet.  He always bugged me and called it Captains Log.   Little did he know or understand that when it came to doing that same body part workout again, I would know if we should be blank amount of weight with blank amount of rest and blank amount of reps.  The log kept a goal and a focus in sight.  It put a sense of purpose into what we were doing, and it still does for me.  How about you?   Do you log?  Do you find it focuses your energy expenditure?

Its been a while since i’ve looked in the mirror and said….yeah, you’ve grown this week.  I’ve plateaud…and I dont like it.  This is why I havent posted any new pics or measurement, because to me I dont see any difference. I’ve mixed up my workout scheme by alternating between light days with lots of reps and little rest to heavy days less reps more rest.  I’ve also mixed up the order of what I start and finish with as well.  Of course I try and mix up everything with different exercises, but because I work out at home with barbells and dumbbells theres only so much exercises I can mix things up with.

Some days my frustration gets to the point where I say…why am i doing this…and thats the day its hardest to get that first set in.  But, by the time I finish my workout, I get that all self fullfilling pump that reminds me why I do it.  Its part of my life now and the guilt of missing workouts is substantial….and so this soldier marches on. 

I am making strength gains….very slowly.  Certainly not every workout, more like every 5th workout (Im talking same body parts here).  I guess thats progress, but I could definately use some help in spurring on some new growth with a home workout program.

I really feel the best way to get your workout started is with your pre workout shake.  Lets face it, who wants to go expend a lot of energy and try to better your last workout on a empty tank?  Just like a pair of lifting gloves or your workout shoes are a necessary tool to working out, so is a little blender or magic bullet . Here is what I like to think is a vital key to my personal successes.

 In a blender mix

1 25 g scoop protein powder

1/2 teaspoon creatine ethyl ester

1/2 a bannana

splash of egg whites

splash of fruit juice

2 heaping teaspoons of cottage cheese

1/2 cup frozen mixed berries

fill rest of cup with milk.

Let the good times roll

Ok, I think I’m going to make a effort on blogging now.  If anyone knows me, they know that I track my workouts on the workout tracker and have been doing so for a while.  I guess thats why I never really felt the need to blog.  Maybe now that Im into my 3rd year of life change, I may be able to offer some insightfull tidbits now and again.  That being said I’d like to discuss lower back issues.  On a scale of 1 to 10, I would peg my pain/lack of flexibility around 7.  To gauge that and put it into perspective I have to do the tripod to put on my underwear and pants everyday with a grimace.  To put on my socks I have to use my pant leg to pull my leg up and put the sock on.  I take my first protein shake everyday with 4 tylenols.  Its starting to get progressively worse.  Its affected my squats for a long time.  I dont even think about deadlifts or stiff legged deads.  

Should I see a doctor?….Definately. Will I?….doubtfull, Im doctor phobic.  Also the fact that the doc will tell me to take it easy and stop lifting.  I dont like that idea. 

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