Fit for Freedom

Like Yoda my body is perseverating the mantra…"Must sleep…"  After working out hard and working hard the body is screaming for more down time.  I know it is important to sleep and rest in order to avoid "unauthorized" downtime.  As much as food is important so is sleep, rest and meditation.  As important as some say, meditation does not replace sleep.  The brain wave patterns are grossly different and cyclic.  To that end Ladies and Gentleman Raise your glasses…no no no…wrong toast…Raise your butts and climb under the covers.

Lifting should be Spartan, disciplined, constant, prevailing-a part of life.  Not hours at the gym wasting time but 45 min to an hour everyother day.  Contaction plus tension plus sleep plus diet = gains.  Mine is slow but consistent.  No plateaus for this 46 year old man.  But like the universe, constantly changing to meet the demands of life and the limitations of ones body.  10×3, 5×5 or super slow reps.  Surprise your muscles and they will suprise you with gains. 

Well the tale of the tape is proving to be the reliable reference point.  As I continue my life of lifting the size has gone up, the waist has gone down and some of my clothes don’t fit anymore.     I always wanted to wear a robe like Jesus anyway.  Simple, easy to clean, portable blanket and certainly cheaper.  The soreness from yesterdays lifting is already apparent so good food, good rest and satisfaction in the accomplishments. Well, except for gripping tonight.  I am still amazed that just gripping with the Captains of Crush can make a person sweat…

Where’s the beef?  As far as I can tell I am a hard gainer and loser.  I have picked up weight but trying to gain much more is not easy.  I will follow my body’s advice and eat well, live well and lift.  Today, biceps and squats.  I know squats are good for me but I am not so fond of them.  It is truly a gutteral effort.  I checked out a gym and to watch others just lift like rapid monkeys on speed-bouncing, poor form and rapidly it gave me motivation to stay home and lift correctly in the quiet of my home.  The slow going both in gaining weight and strength is fine.  No plateaus yet is great.

Ever try to lift when you are down?  I have found this is the time when max effort leads to minimal gain and potentially injury.  Nothing puts a damper on eorking out like being down.  Why do we let others effect so?  Because we are all interconnected.  It is important to realize this spiritual truth in learning to excel as lifters.  Understanding this paradox actually leads to freedom and better body building.  It is essential for us to reach for the best in all of our aspects of life-spiritual, mental and physical-otherwise we are not truly seeking out our maximum effort.

Today bench, flys, legs.  Hopefully I will be "up" by then…

Ever notice how it seems things are purposefully getting in the way of your lifting?  Well it happened to me but changed after I did everything.  I am a weight-a-holic.  I have to lift regardless of anything else I tell them.  Unless, as Doc Hogue put it Doc Hollywood…"When to call me, If you been stabbed, shot, poisoned, been runover by a tractor mower or about to bleed to death otherwise leave me alone."  That is while I lift.    It is that important that we maintain our discipline.  By kindly letting everyone know your schedule, it is important and that this is a prior engagement that cannot be altered.  After you say no everytime for awhile they just quite asking, settle in and actually inform others when you are "indisposed."  Not to be disturbed…His Highness is lifting."  Well, maybe a little sarcastic but friends and family will run interference for you.

Another day, another series of lifts.  Constancy and change are in order.  Like the universe we are forever the same but changing at the same time-a true paradox.  The slow lifting has done wonders.  The soreness in the triceps is abating but I marvel because I know tissue repair and generation are occuring.  Growth, creativity are the Creators ways as well as death and destruction.  Amazing how this actually occurs in the body-the breaking down of tissue to build it.  Changing and renewing lifting strategies, diets and thoughts lead to gains.  Like interval training the muscles don’t know where you will strike next.  Maximum effort leads to maximum gains.

Well training for the BCS is doing well.  OSU certainly could have used me.  50 lbs heavier than my football days I think I could have held my own a little better than OSU did against Florida.  Now I have more anger fuel to pump iron with.  I have found when I am angry I get a bit of a boost when lifting.  I have to channel it though otherwise the reps get too fast and sloppy.  I did the slow reps yesterday and as Dr. Hussman says the 2nd to last set should be hard and the last 2 of the last set should be an out of body experience.  I conceur.  It also helped focus on the muscles better without me contracting the whole body.  I focused better on the muscle groups.  Grippers-I wonder how they effect the accupressure sites on the hands.  Same procedure with them.  I never knew I could sweat just using grippers?!

Triceps, calves, deadlift.  The same routine the same results-growth.  Discipline leads to it’s own benefits.  The mind makes the gain the body does as well.  Just finishing a project leads to greater self esteem.  Add that to increased muscle mass and you have a perfect addition to you Zen Meditations.  We are involved in a true paradox-lifting and exerting for me sucks(kind of) but it is the rest and repose of having big beefy muscles that attract attention.  Not too many people look at you in the gym.  But out there, in public, you are on display-at the mall, Starbucks, the beach or at work.  We men KNOW we are peacocks.  That is the way nature intended us to be.  Women must select the best product of the gene pool and that be us-lifters with body, mind and soul.

Day of rest my butt.  I planted 7 trees with 3 of those being transplants= 6 holes.  Well, that is after I moved a large pile of firewood one log (un-split) at a time twice.  Not that I needed the exercise but it was too close on one end to an electrical box.   Of course now I am ready for a serious nap. Well, I also raked, lanscaped, etc.  Well it was a good workout day until I found the reason for my diminshing Koi in my pond-a frickin’ Heron chowin’ down on my babies.  I would have had more aerobic exercise if I could have chased the theif over several fences and through the woods.