Fit for Freedom

Yup.  The old man has it.  But today I am continuing being bone headed and will continue to workout.  The good news is I am having accunpuncture to set the forearms "right" so healing can be proper.  Believe it or not the most pain was cause by barbell shrugs with 345 lbs.  Very interesting sensation.  Akin to being placed on the rack I assume.  But nothing a little epsom salts and time won’t cure.  I think my arms are actually getting longer like in the Nutty Professor!  Oh well.  I must persevere, the mind is the master of health and healing not the body.  Other than that just about every grip style hurts except hammer…So, I will alternate to that for awhile.  The idea of taking time off to heal is sad but maybe necessary.  I definitely do not want to be a cream puff about all this.

I am beginning to believe my body does not process protein like it used too.  Instead of eating more protein I need to eat less.  Protein being translated to myofiril reconstruction is much lower in my body than if I was a different person or 25 yoa.  That being said I have not noticed alot of change in size but I do notice constant growth in the amount of muscle I lift in a set.  I have tailored my diet now to reflect those changes.  More protein egg white and whey protein and less fat and lean meats.  Despite being lean meats this may be a more hidden source of fat and will keep with the (now currently more healthy according to research) Olive and Canola Oils.  Otherwise the diet is heart healthy, minimal grains with maximal fruit and vegetables.  I feel more full on this diet.  I have a physical coming up and am interested in what the chol as well as the lipid panel will show.  I already know I am fighting heredity but besides that you can only do your best.

So in the game of life are you a genetically altered lab rat or are you one of those that have escaped NIMH and headed off to the rose bush in the yard.  If you haven’t escaped yet it is time to consider a new way.  Here I will speak what many will call blaspemy.  Do supplements(food pellets for us rats) make you better, faster and stronger?  I don’t think so in MY experience.  Do people that shout out about the wonders of supplements have something to gain?  Probably-most likely money, fame, noteriety.  Is a gym membership less than a years supply of supplements?  Oh yes and by a whopping margin.  Does it cost anything to actually lift outside of the yearly gym fee?  Not in my case- opps I forgot about parking.  Does postive reinforcement and encouragement cost anything to give or receive?  Nope, no fee there. The mind makes the muscles lift that is free too.  So determination, discipline, motivation, admiration, encouragement seem to be free and work better than supplements.  So maybe it is time we all got away from believing the Madison Avenue mindset and do KISS-therapy-Keep it simple stupid.  Now stupid is a misnomer but other words just don’t spell out KISS.  So what are the basics?  Love yourself, friends and be kind to your wallet.  Lift, rest and eat healthy.  Lift when you are supposed to according to YOUR plan and the help of your friends, sleep when you need rest (naps too) and eat the best for you that you can comfortably afford.  The Buddha has a saying I like very much and Buddhism is called the Middle way-" If you tighten the strings too much the instrument will break, too loose and it won’t play.  Is it time to loosen the strings or tighten them a little bit?

I read something very interesting in A Course in Miracles.  Now I am not encouraging anyone to read this book as far as bodybuilding is concerned but if you consider yourself religious don’t read it.  If you are spiritual and bodybuilding is part of that by all means have a lash.  The book says that illness is anger the body is holding onto and then expressing.  I believe this because of something I notice.  I see people who weight lift/bodybuild in general to be a less angry sort than Joe/Jane on the street who do not exercise.  I think we take out our anger, frustration, anxiety, worry out on the weights and "burn it off."  I know I am always happier when I workout than when I do not.  Sure, I am happy to have done a good job and been disciplined to work and I see "beating the goals" on days as very productive.  But when you have endorphins and growth hormone surging you feel better.  Everyone who has watched Pumping Iron knows how Arnold feels when he lifts.  I think he is right as well but the testosterone surge does not make him want to fight it makes him want to make love.  I always feel more amourous 24 hours after I have lifted.  If I lift almost daily that feeling stays with me most of the time. However, stiff workouts tend to leave me a little spent and unable to hold myself up from quivering fatigued muscles. 

What am I saying then?  Teach love in a new way.  See someone angry?  Take them to the gym and show them a better way.  Instead of seeing a Jewish friend ranting and raving at Hamas, take them to the gym.  See a Islamist who’s piping mad as Israel?  Take them to the gym.  See a Christian praying God’s wrath will descend on the "unholy"?  Take them to the gym.  Maybe if we lifted more and made love more we would not have time to be angry.  Just save it for the gym. Will it change the world?No but it may take anger away and make people see things more clearly without anger clouding judgement.

Recognize that question?  That’s my standard question when it comes to the day of the week for bodybuilding.  Although I am usually asking 1trapman what day he wants to do bench this week.  But I know today is back.  Sometimes or most times just doing your best day in and out will give you the results you seek.  Too many times I am running around tweaking my workout looking for the golden fleece when I should just stick with the program that works and all the wisdom that has been passed down to me by my friends and fellow lifters.  Motivation does not become a problem when discipline is the order of the day.  Pictures of DeborahAnn and Tonigal69 my female buddies here are great as well as the tape measure (positive reinforcement) and the scales(negative reinforcement-although there is no such thing but you know where I am coming from.) One of my MD friends is going to help me with some accupuncture for my forearms to see if that aids the recovery as well as epsom salt wraps or baths.

"Onward and upward," I go, to take a line from a book…Aslan in The Final Battle.

Weight continues to increase.  Diet is doing well.  Bilateral forearm pain with lifting and external rotation of the wrists with barbells continues to be a problem though.  The first set is painful but the second and beyond seem fine.  What is that?  Hurts and is weak but then the 3rd set there is no pain or soreness or anything.  I have hit the Ben Gay and Ibuprofen and that seems to have helped alot.  Unfortunately Toni’s program will just be stretched out over time to accommodate my 48 yo body.  Although my kids think I am doing very well and they see continued progress and I see the gain in the stats.

I am looking forward to the New Year but know that really each day is the start of another New Year.  Performance each day not something  planned for down the road.  Toni was talking about the 110% she gives at the gym.  I pretty much understand that now.  Panting and blowing instead of grunting out the last reps…focusing on technique instead of getting that rep up anyway I can.  I laugh though because I am now the same size as Adrian Peterson but I do not have his bank account!