Splattered Angst

Had a interesting tip from my chiropractor recently that I thought I would pass on regarding Vitamin C and joints. When you think of that supplement you don’t think about joints, but preventing colds and such, eh? He recommended three grams of vitamin C for joint and ligament health. There are only a couple of beings on the planet whose bodies do not make their own vitamin C and humans are one of them. Been using it for a couple of weeks and it is pretty amazing that certain tendons that frequently have screamed at me have been quiet. So if sore tendons/joints are your lot, 3 grams [3000 mg] of vitamin C a day makes a huge difference. Take it just before your workout.

Had a really good week of heavy workouts this past week. I did the 5 x 5 for the compound movements and kept things intense. I am really loving weighted dips - got up to 80lbs hanging on my waist this week for those and it felt pretty amazing. It was only earlier this year that I could barely do one with my body weight! I made the mistake though this past weekend of working out on Saturday. I have generally always taken Saturday’s off, but my workout partner, Jerry, and I take turns running the workouts and I could tell he was itching to take the helm, so being that I am leaving town between Christmas and New Year’s, I thought — lets just punch through the last couple of days. We did a light back workout and some treadmill running. My body was not happy with me and rebelled by sending a nasty muscle spasm into my right calf at about the one and a half mile marker that had me limping for the day. Should have skipped it. Didn’t. Regretted it. So it is here that I come to confess my sin and humbly ask: How many days off do you guys take a week? 1, 2???

Got a workout set for the coming week: The ever fun 5×5 for the compound movements. Not a workout you want to do week in and week out. But since I am going to be away from the gym the week after Christmas, I thought that I would tear it up good before I bounce out of town. The weight continues to come off at the rate now of about a pound a week. I was telling a buddy that I worked out with at one time about the diet that I have been on eating multiple times a day and he told me, ” … your body has turned into a  fricking furnace …” We’ll see how the next pics look at the end of the coming week … more muscle coming on — that is what I am shooting for. I am about halfway though the cycle of Animal Test and I must say that this stuff is impressive. That stuff really ramps up the drive to do more in the gym — more reps, weight, sets — a drive there that I have not experienced prior. Universal’s Animal Products rock …

It was a odd morning this past weekend. The small gym where I have membership is quite a cool place, but I was quite surprised when I found that they had not opened as usual. I wondered if the person that was suppose to be there had had some kind of accident. I sat around in the parking lot for a bit with a handful of others and no one showed. I was planning on doing a bit of jogging on the treadmill  that morning anyway - a new favorite aerobic since I have gotten the weight off, so I thought to myself — I’ll just jog down the road to the High School and back for a workout. It can’t be that far. I was not planning on any weight training that morning anyway. By the time I get back, the gym will be open. I took off — slight down hill incline. Felt decent. Got past a slight side cramp and then it was just like I was a slot car on a track and there was nothing going to stop me. It was amazing. I have not ran like that since I was in formation in the military — we are taking basic training! I ran down the side walk that was next to a main thoroughfare that I driven on countless times — A street I have never seen before. I mean you don’t really SEE what is along the street when you are in your car, but when you are running along it, you see and smell everything! It was a crisp Southern California Sunday morning, - hardly any traffic along the road — chilly… enough to see you breath. The recent rain had scrubbed the air clean of all the soot from the fires and the damp, sweet smell of wet sycamore leaves and coastal sage had my sense of smell captivated. Dew dropping from long needle pine and a twisting creek swelled with the recent rain made for something I had not anticipated — a buzz! It was a high that I don’t think I have ever been on before. I was talking with a bud at the gym about it a couple of days later and he had a name for it — a "runner’s high" … this is a drug that I think I need to take more often. I am not a runner, but this is good stuff. NICE! Another amazing thing about it. I thought it was a 1/2 to 3/4 mile down to the high school. When I got in my car, I clocked it - 1.4 miles one way. I jogged nearly three miles and it was not a big deal. Amazing …