THOUGHTS OF A FITNESS FREAK

ah…..night off.  I was getting something out of my car and I noticed my lats all the way down my back are sore.  Funny thing is I wasn’t doing lats yesterday.  The only thing I did do was to go super heavy on the tricept press.  Damn, that machine feels so good.  That has to be one of my ultimate favorites! It does make sense, but to incorporate it into my lat workout would make for a 2 hour workout, which wouldn’t be so practical.  That anterior delt still pinches a little and I was going to make a video of my dips.  I’ll still do it though, just because I can certainly still get out 12 reps, no problem.  I was thinking about getting  a weight belt with a loop to add a plate.  All I have is the regular lifting belt of which I don’t use as often as I used to .  I use it out of fear actually because once I was doing about 250 on leg press and "boing" my ab muscle seized and popped out about an inch in a spasm.  I though I had blown an intestine or something.  So now I use it when I go heavier than 200 and usually just on squats.

My figure plan…..I posted my latest back picture.  I need to bring out the lats for a better v taper yet, but I think my outer quad sweep is progressing and I still have my butt, which is nice and round and feminine.  I’m thinking I am going to pack on a bit more muscle, then when the show comes in october I will only need to diet for about 4 weeks before and do a  good clean load and deplete for a week.  I want to be nice and solid.  All in all everything is going well.  I have recently measured my foreams and they are now a solid 10 inches, calves since I got back on them after the ankle injury, are about 13.25-13.5, upper chest is 36, bis are 12, thighs are 21!!.  I want an inch all over actually, so when the deplete comes, I can be the size I am now without some of the bodyfat.  i lost an inch all over last April, that was a bummer, but gotta love the abs when they are uncovered.

Last, but not least, my new camera broke.  I didn’t do anything to it either, the screen was just back.  Had to drag my ass to the store and trade it in……….oh, when I bought it 2 weeks ago, the lady rang me up for a service plan, so I had to be escorted to the courtesy desk to get it off there because I didnt want a service plan. So, they give you your money back, so you have to buy the camera again! So, I have bought the same damn camera 3 times now!!!  Can I ever do anything and have it go right?  Do you ever feel like you can’t do anything without complications?  All I wanted was a friggin camera!!!

Another rambling blog by yours truly. Why is this so big??  I didn’t touch font size,,,hm? I did chest and tris, got 80 on tricept press, only benched 95 because my delt still hurts.  I have always had a problem with it and it flares up sometimes.  I’ll suck it up I guess.  You know sometimes I look up into the mirrors when I am working out and I look pretty mean.  It isn’t my intent, just me being intense.  Where are all the other intense people?  They have to work out somewhere.  How come most people in my gym never look any different?  I have been going there a year now and only one kid looks different.  What’s up with that?  Maybe because we live in CT?  People don’t have to wear short sleeves and shorts all year , so they slack off or just don’t care?  America is sad and in rough shape.  You can’t go in a store without having to peep through a 6 inch space because they have too many snacks on the counter.  The have new and improved candybars, supersized heart attacks on a bun,and 1 gallon personal sodas.  I am disgusted by the gluttony shoved in our faces.  How come I cant get a fast food turkey burger on whole wheat? How come I can’t get some steamed broccoli and chicken at a drive thru?  Because I am in a hurry, I am supposed to eat a pound of grease?  I was in the department store and there was a very large woman with a very large little girl.  She had to weigh 150 at about age 8-10……doomed to a life of medical problems, yet no one intervenes.  Is that not childhood neglect?  Mom may not be the brightest bulb, but she knows her child is too large to be healthy.  The little girl will never climb the monkey bars or jump on a trampoline like other kids because she CANT.  So next comes asthma,edema of the legs, diabetes , high blood pressure and heart disease……so sad.  I’m bumming myself out.   What can we do about it?  I try to educate my children everyday about health and their food.  Hopefully, they will do the same with their children someday.  I also want to help people who were lead down the wrong path by their parents.  I am taking the personal training course and will do my best to try to change people’s bad habits and ways of thinking.  I will try to make a difference one person at a time……

I’m bored. I am lost without the gym. You know it’s my thinking place. Anyway, I had been toying with the idea of becoming a personal trainer. I am not terribly fond of my current job and I want to do something I love.I want to make people feel what I feel, love what I love. I want to share………so, I went online and found out about becoming ISSA certified and I am going to jump on and do it. You only live once, right? I think I will be good at it actually. I have learned alot through trial and error myself. I do see alot of women who seem to come and go at the gym. I think they have no direction and feel a little lost, so they just quit. I’d like to change that. Am I babbling? I think it was the large ice coffee. Any, I took the night off because I was waiting for my web designer on yahoo messenger. He’s in Germany, so may have fallen asleep as it is 6 hours ahead there. Bummer. I have so many ideas for my site! Articles, videos, workouts, product reviews, including figure competition products. It’s going to be awesome! I also am going to have guest writers and interviews, hopefully at the Olympia this September………..the sky is the limit! Well, have fun at the gym……..I am going to watch TV and mope like my best friend died……….

Okay, I blasted my legs yesterday and they are barely sore!  I went from 125-140 on leg extensions to banging out 4 reps at 155!  I went from 70 on my hams to 100!  haha..didn’t even know that at first til I went for 90 and someone had left a 5 lb add on on the stack, so I figured ‘what the hell?’ My squat was 215 on the smith. the v hack machine was up to ( suck at math, why cant they be even 50lb plates?)okay 280!  oh, someone left 6 45s on the leg press, so I did them too. Thats a good 300 with the sled………so whats up with that?  Either the NO -Xplode promotes good recovery or perhaps because I jumped up in weight, there are less reps involved, so I really didnt max out as I had thought? Damn, I was there for nearly 2 hours.  Today was shoulders,bis and upper back.  My best has to be my 50lb barbell curl.  Talk about vascularity.  Plus I now use a 40 on preachers.  Yes, then there was the dips.  i need one of those belts to add a little weight.  My overhead presses are still at 85. I use pullys alot for shoulders.  I still only use 15’s for hammer curls. I do notice my left arm never fully extends as much as my right. I have a tight tendon or something no matter how much I stretch it. For upper back I use the Hammerstrength machines.  I got 60 on my rows.  I love them because they are individual machines. One arm never does most of the work like some machines.  I also use the smith to do shoulder raises, although I lean back as little as I raise.  I get 85 on those.  I tried to add a couple more 10lb plates, but I was beat by then.  I ended my day seeing Schrek the third and fell asleep in the theatere with my youngest who is almost 7, poking me in the eye to wake me up.  What a day!  Hope everyone holiday was good. Only 4 days of work until the weekend!!!!

Okay, I wrote a post that said I have a bad taste in my mouth about this fight. i didnt get to see it as I do not have PPV, but my brother tells me Chuck got smoked in round one!!!!  Don’t get me wrong, I am a Liddell fan.  I like his style, but this Jackson guy seems like an animal.  Chuck was having a great run and I was thinking he was getting cocky (who wouldnt when they have pretty much kicked everyones ass?.nature of the beast) so perhaps he didn’t train as hard, perhaps his own confidence did him in?  People talk about fighters being cocky.  Well shit, if you were going out there and not talking about how you were going to win, you’d be lacking some serious self confidence.  Anyone who competes in anything knows this to be true.  If I were going to do a competition, I go there thinking I can win.  Thats why we compete!   

  Sorry Chuck, your time is apparently up.  I am sure there will be another opportunity to get your belt back.  I am still a fan of course even if you lost.

I’m doing legs today.  I am trying to up my stats.  I’llpost later,  Until then , enjoy your long weekend and wear your sunblock at the beachy! Melanoma kills!!!

They are pretty goofy, but I am going to post them anyway.  My daughter has her 1st prom, so I have to take her to get her hair done right now.  I will be back sometime later.  It’s a beautiful day! It was 98 here in CT yesterday and she had to have her nails done, so I spent my afternoon in a smelly nail salon.  Yes, the little Chinese woman conned me into getting mine done too.  I had natural nails and I am low maintenence, so I just got a french manicure.  That was only the 2nd time I have ever had it done.  Kinda nice, but not so gym practical.  I posted some after 4 week bulk pics.  I am still trying to work with my new camera, so bear with me.

I hope everyone has a safe holiday weekend!!!

Fern

I know it isnt alot of time, but I am trying to monitor progress.  I think my outer quad sweep is improving.  The problem is I am trying to put old pics next to new, yet my new camera takes huge files!  Its a bitch to go to photosize and make them smaller to get them the same size as my old ones.  I will do my best.  I may just post the big ones with the smaller old ones in the corner.  I am not quite the computer geek I want to be.  I tried to do video in the gym tonight and this one guy kept coming over to where I was, so I didnt want to shoot much.  Plus it’s so damn dark in there, the shadows kill the video.   I also have the common bulking problem of BIG BELLY.  It isn’t fat, just rounded a bit.  I eat alot, what can I say?  Let me know what you think!!!  Not about the belly though..hehe.  Just about the size, shape difference.  Mostly in the leg area, okay?

Fern

I have a bad taste in my mouth about this fight.  I love Chuck, never seen the guy down actually, but guess Jackson did it to him before.  That guy seems like an animal.  Guess we will find out this weekend.  I do not have PPV, so I have to find a bar or something, but have no one to go out with who likes fighting….

What are your opinions or predictions about this fight?  I have been a fan of more than a year, so I don’t have all the inside stuff of a long time fan.  I also watch Ultimate Fighter.  Did you see that guy get his head rocked on the cement.  I prefer to keep it in the octogon.  No sense getting killed. Dana was right, people have to defend the sport already.  Don’t make it cheap and uncontrolled.  Know what I mean, jellybean?  I love a great fight, but that was just stupid and impulsive.  That kid Joe knows how to kick ass!  Despite the fact that he looks like a harmless "internet kid" as Dana said!!!   And no, I am not sitting there with a boyfriend watching.  I  watch it alone, no boyfriend I ever had liked UFC.  Frankly, they all made fun of me for watching….guess it made them feel inferior or something………..too bad.  Anyway,  I still never heard anything about my email to the IFL inquiring about being a ring girl seeing as they fight at the casino in my town.  BUMMER!!!!

have a good night.

Ok, the person I am referring to may not get this (he may read it)…..but I PREFER to train alone.  He doesn’t understand why my MP3 is cranking and gets annoyed when I don’t answer him when he says something.  He asks me why I do certain exercises one way and not another. He then makes suggestions. I am stubborn, I do things the way I have trained myself.  To ask so many questions and give advice makes me feel like he sees me as doing something wrong.  I never claimed to be an expert, but I think I am doing pretty good on my own.  I like to put on my music and work out like an angry psycho.  I like to look like I might smack anyone who looks at me funny. Perhaps I might..just kidding!  It’s nothing personal really.  People who get intense in the gym will understand this blog and what it means.  I NEED to go in there and lose myself.  You ask why I have to do this or that and tell me I look fine.  Looking fine doesn’t cut it in competition.  Having one bicept bigger than the other doesn’t cut it…………….comprende’?  When you are standing there under hot lights having your physique scrutinized in minute detail you have to be self-critical. 

There are people who love painting, people who love sailing, people who are PASSIONATE about many things and I am passionate about this.  The gym is my time, my space, my vortex to lose myself and not have to think about the outside stuff.  When I am there, nothing else counts.  Then I come home and the world around me begins again……………does that make sense?  I used to paint and draw, now I want to be the art I create.  I see muscles as my strength and as I build up my physical strength, my mental becomes stronger along with it.  My