PenteKing’s BodyBlog

It’s not like I like the stuff anymore. The taste of it is no longer pleasing to the palette. The alcohol poisons my body to the point where it takes the better part of two days to recover. The short-lived euphoria of the alcohol gives way to the long-lasting agony of the dehydrated body and mind. (And one is NEVER as witty as one thinks, when under the influence!)

So, why do I do it? Is it the peer pressure? (Hey; everybody else is drinking, and if you don’t drink as well, you’ll be labeled a weirdo). Is it the holiday? (Come on; it’s Thanksgiving. One glass of wine in honor the day isn’t going to kill you.) Is it personal insecurity? (If I refuse the offered drink, will it make me look like a snob? What will they think of me?) Whatever it is, I vow that it will no longer sway my promise to abstain from alcohol. That’s it. I’m done and finished with drinking. No more. I stop right here and right now. It’s not in my plan, therefore it’s not in my body. I will stick to carbonated water or fruit juice. I will have mulled apple cider instead of a hot toddy to ward off the chill. Like cigarettes, alcohol is a substance that is no longer welcome in my body. In the immortal words of Mammy Yokum, "I has spoken!"

This short post is intended for everyone in the bodybuilding community. It is my sincerest wish that each and every one of you has a healthy and happy Thanksgiving Day celebration. You are my brothers and sisters, and I am honored to be counted among the members of this community.

Just For Today: 

1.  Just for today, I will try to live through this day only, not to tackle my whole life problem at once.  I can do things for 12 hours that would appall me if I had to keep them up for a lifetime.  

2.  Just for today, I will be happy.  This assumes that what Abraham Lincoln said is true, that “most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”  Happiness is from within; it is not a matter of externals.   

3.  Just for today, I will try to adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires.  I will take my family, my business, and my licks as they come and fit myself to them.  

4.  Just for today, I will take care of my body.  I will exercise it, care for it, nourish it, not abuse it nor neglect it, so that it will be a perfect machine for my bidding.  

5.  Just for today, I will try to strengthen my mind.  I will learn something useful.  I will not be a mental loafer.  I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.  

6.  Just for today, I will exercise my soul in three ways:  I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out; I will reach out to someone who has done me a wrong turn; I will do at least two things I don’t want to do, just for exercise.   

7.  Just for today, I will be agreeable; I will look as well as I can, dress as becomingly as possible, talk low, act courteously, be liberal with praise, criticize not at all, nor find fault with anything and not try to regulate or improve anyone.   

8.  Just for today, I will have a plan.  I will write down what I expect to do every hour.  I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it.  It will eliminate two pests - hurry and indecision.  

9.  Just for today, I will have a quiet half hour all by myself and relax.  In this half hour sometimes I will thank God, so as to get a little more perspective to my life.  

10. Just for today, I will be unafraid; especially I will not be afraid to be happy, to enjoy what is beautiful, to love, and to believe that those I love love me. 

As a notoriously hard gainer, I have tried a variety of muscle-building products in my lifetime. I don’t claim to be an expert in the field, and don’t even claim to know any one product better than any other. What I do know is what works on my body and what doesn’t. Casein works. Other protein supplements do not.

Why this is so is a baffling mystery to me. I use whey and casein protein from the same company. By virtue of this, I think I have effectively ruled out any significant variation in the manufacturing process. By the same rationale, I believe this eliminates any difference in quality. The amount of each that I consume is the same, as is the time of day and the beverage with which I mix the ingredient (fat-free organic milk in both cases). So why does casein work and whey not?

Could it be the slow-digesting properties of casein? That may be, but I find it incredibly hard to believe. Why would the rate of digestion have that signficant an impact? To me, that explanation makes no rational sense. Yet, as Sherlock Holmes was so fond of pointing out, "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever else remains, however improbable, must be the truth." I believe I have ruled out every other possibilty. Therefore, I am left with the sole fact that casein is slower-digesting than whey, and this, therefore, must be why I can gain muscle using casein.

Has anyone else experienced this, or am I the only nut job on the planet holding this cockamamie theory? Enquiring minds want to know. If anyone has a comment or thought on this, please let me know.

Every now and again, I simply write whatever comes to mind. Normally, I have a theme for this blog - something that I’ve been thinking about; something I’m responding to; or something that has annoyed the hell out of me that I want to get off my chest. And then there are days like today. I have nothing special I want to say, but I want to say it anyway. If I ramble on, Sarah Palin-like, feel free to move on to other, more interesting posts. I will not take offense.

Listening to Sarah Palin makes me want to cry. I thought I had heard the English language mangled before, but the pummeling that Ms. Palin gives to the syntax of her sentences (and I’m being generous here, calling them sentences) is punishment far in excess of any that has been heretofore been visited upon the nouns and verbs that we have come to know and love. Her supporters claim that her critics are being overly harsh and sexist. To this, I say, "Bladerdash!" What Ms. Palin’s speech indicates is the utter vacuousness of her thought process. There is nothing sexist about this. I’d say the same thing (and have in the past) about a male politician (hell, anyone) with so little regard for rational, logical thought.

It is a fact that 90% of the men in this country are raised by women. Why is it, then, that most men are sexist pigs? Do their mothers raise them to have little to no regard for the female sex? Or is something so deeply ingrained in the male DNA that no amount of enlightened upbringing can eradicate it? There are times when I am deeply, deeply ashamed for being male. When I observe how some men treat women, I want to slap them upside the head. Being a person who favors reason over violence, I never give in to these impluses, yet there are times… So, what is the story here? Are mothers to blame? Is it societal pressures (peer and otherwise)? Or is it simply genetic? Thoughts and comments are not only welcomed, but are also encouraged.

 If any of you are familiar with the old nursey rhyme that goes thusly: As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives. Every wife had seven sacks. Every sack had seven cats. Every cat had seven kits. Kits, cats, sacks, wives, how many were going to St. Ives? I must ask this question - how many were going to St. Ives? I have a bet with myself that not one in ten people will know the answer.

Saw the new Bond film the other night, and it was spectacular. Daniel Craig is the most beliveable Bond since the early Connery. He’s focused, unrelenting, and a killing machine when the occasion calls for it. All other Bonds pale in comparison to Mr. Craig. Bravo to those who had the courage to cast him in the role.

I’m reading a terrific book titled, "Fifty Days That Changed the World". It’s a synopsis of the fifty events that drastically put the world on a different path. Not only is it fascinating, but it has (for me at least) illuminated certain events of which I was only tangentially aware. Because this is world history (a subject that has fallen out of favor in the American school system) you probably won’t be able to find this book in your local Barnes and Noble, but for those of you who have even a passing interest in things of this nature, this book is highly recommended. Pick up a copy if you can.

 Barack Obama is President-elect of the United States. I still can’t believe it.

Peace, love and understanding to all my fellow bodybuilders in the community. We all have much to be thankful for.

After taking a two-week vacation, I went back to the gym today. I have been loading up on creatine, hoping that it would allow me to lift heavier and longer. Sadly, that was not the case tonight. My left shoulder is still giving me problems - even after all this time, and this, I think, is what is inhibiting my bench presses. I’m subconsciously afraid to go heavy. I don’t want to injure myself further. At the same time, you’d think by now that I would have bitten the bullet and gone to see my doctor to get this taken care of - once and for all. I had a cortisone shot last month, but it was temporary. I think I’m hesitant to talk to my doctor for fear she will order surgery. I can’t countenance that idea at the moment. There’s far too much going on in my life for me to take a "time out" for surgery.

So here is the compromise I reached with myself. (You know you’re weird when one starts negotiating with oneself. Anyway…) I have a routine designed to strengthen the joints and ligaments in my shoulder. If there is no improvement in two weeks, I’ll go to the doctor. If there is improvement, I will lift as heavy as I can for as long as I can. What other choices do I have? Quitting is not an option. Wish me luck, fellow bodybuilders.

After finishing the three-month Rock-Hard Challenge, I decided to take a couple of weeks off. I still ate relatively cleanly (I indulged in a glass of wine or two), but overall, I did well. I didn’t lift weights, but kept up the cardio (although I cut back the intensity a bit). I slept an extra hour every day, and also started a creatine-loading routine. I read that it will increase the amount of ATP energy that my muscles need, allowing me to lift longer and heavier than I have in the past. I am hopeful.

As a young (and admittedly angry) young man, I was fond of smoking, drinking, eating fatty foods, staying up to all hours of the night (which implies not getting enough sleep) and generally letting myself go to s**t. I am genetically blessed (in a way) because my body was very resilient to the abuse I heaped upon it. It took in all the poisons and still kept on ticking. Even when I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, I could still run three miles in twenty-eight minutes. (I had to, as part of the Marine Corps’ Physical Fitness Test). I was thin, but probably skinny-fat, although one could argue that the amount of physical activity I engaged in (which was considerable), kept the fat to a minimum.

As I aged, however, my body started to turn on me. Pizza no longer went right through my system. It hung around. Not long at first, but it got into the habit of sticking around longer and longer with each ingestion until, at the end, I had to forcibly eject it. I began wheezing when walking long distances, or when climbing stairs. My back began to hurt, and my knees ached all the time. I went from a size 42 suit up to a 46, and was pushing against size 48. My weight ballooned and my waist expanded. The final straw came when I had to take a physical for a new job and found that I could no longer do sit-ups. (No; not even one.) That was when I decided to turn my life around.

Although I still have a way to go, I have turned my life around. I no longer want to smoke (quit three years ago); I no longer drink (bye, bye Jack Daniels); I haven’t had pizza in nearly four years; and I can’t remember the last time I even looked at a Coca-Cola. I don’t stay out all night and I make sure that in addition to getting my eight hours of sleep every night, I drink a gallon of water a day. I exercise and I take care of myself, and I must say I’ve never been happier.

When people who’ve known me a long time ask me if it’s worth it, I simply smile.

After the setbacks of this morning, I figured that I had used my entire day’s quota of bad luck. HA! When the gods do not favor one, then mishaps and setbacks continue to plague one’s day. Taking the rear wheel of my bike (which was this morning’s culprit) I drove over to the bicycle shop. There, I was informed that not only did my (brand-new!) tube have a hole in it, but my tire was also due for replacement. In fact, the mechanic went on to tell me, failure to replace the tire could result in not only serious injury to me and my equipment, but could also lead to the fall of Western civilization as we know now it. (I made no comment; it didn’t seem worth it.) Instead, I gave the okay to put my bike right.

Sixty-five dollars poorer, I made it back home, re-attached the wheel to the rest of the bike, slipped on my biking shoes, and trundled downstairs to complete this morning’s interrupted journey. Fifty yards later, my chain snapped in half. Do you think this is an omen? I simply was not meant to ride today. I suppose I’ll have to content myself with the stationary bike in the condo gym. Sigh. I was so looking forward to today’s ride. Ah, well…what are you going to do? Until next time…

I arose at 6:00 a.m., energized and ready for a forty or fifty mile bike ride. My plan was to start in downtown San Diego, circle Mission Beach, and then head north, cycling through La Jolla, Solana Beach and finishing in Carlsbad. After a bite to eat, I planned to come down the Pacific Coast Highway, take a detour through Pacific Beach, and then cruise on home. Nice plan, eh? I thought so.

Less than half a mile from the house, I blew a tire. Got off my bike, walked it over to a nearby service station, changed the tube, inflated the tire, and got underway, only fifteen or so minutes off my planned trip time. Three miles later, the tire blew again. I had, of course, used my one and only spare, so my options were pretty limited. I walked back to the trolley station, waited for the local tram and made it back home. Inside, I grabbed my last spare, changed the tube yet again, pumped up my tire, and finally headed off again. Alas, the bicycling gods were trying to tell me something. My tire went flat AGAIN. Naturally, at this early morning hour, my local bike shop is still closed and is not scheduled to open for another two hours. While it may still be possible to get in a ride today, my hopes are not high.

It just wasn’t meant to be.