Fit for Freedom

After reading Amanda Ripley’s book I figured it WAS time to prepare for the unthinkable.  I have been a bum.  I have not gained weight but my shirts do not fit like they used to and I feel soft.  So it is back to the gym.  I lose motivation as my "other" is really not into doing anything other than overeating, surfing the net and reading magazines.  OK, enough of my blamming her.  I just need to suck it up and do it.  The young guns have their reasons and I need mine too.  Just do it as Nike says.

So I welcome me back…

Deepok Chopra has a really interesting section in his Book of Secrets called Shadow Energies that I think many of us would benefit from and to clarify our perspective as to lifting and results.  We all know the lift starts in the mind and only then progresses to the body.  As we see reality change in our body our thoughts get validated as much as the image we see in the mirror.  So, doing a little mind Drano is a good thing.  Just like cleaning our diets, cleaning our perspectives, notions and egoistic perspectives can make a difference. Shadow energies are the thoughts and feelings that come up from time to time from old formative emotions, thoughts and experiences that lead to the failure of discipline…"What’s the use, I am just not built to lift."  "I have worked so hard and see so little results, I will just quit."  Then we react to saboteurs who want us to be mediocre so their negative energy patterns are not tweaked…"Just stay home, you’re fine just the way you are."  So there is any littany of assaults.  Most will start from the inside.  Those that come from the outside you have to recognize as responses inside you; that you identified with and THEN responded with your Shadow energy."

So, checking your ego at the door really does work well as it leaves the Shadows behind.  Focus on your workout and technique.  Listen to your body, be disciplined and persistent.  This is like meditating in action.  As the Buddhists call it being in the now.  If you are in your head you are not at the gym and accidents and injuries will ensue.

I find it amazing that one can keep muscle size for 2 months while not lifting but the strength drops dramatically for some muscle groups.  I was stimulated to "wake-up" by someone I saw recently. Seems I have been slumbering and "resting on my laurels" small as they may be.  But after hitting the gym smarter I will start climbing again. It’s not how many times I fall but how many times I get back up.  With Katnap and Deborah Ann back I feel more motivated to push.  At 50 and 43 respectively and looking awesome who could resist the motivational impulse. Train smart, rest well, eat wise and be persistent.

So, I added new progress and regular pics for all to see.  Anyone wants to comment and tell mw what works, what doesn’t and what ideas you might have.

So well all get sore and pain from lifting on ocassion.  The best cure is a simple laying off the weights.  Despite what my highschool wrestling coach told me, "You lose 7% of your strength a day when you don’t train,"  I have found the contrary to be true.  OK.  So I pulled a tendon on my arm rotating up heavy dumbells(lift heavy or go home   )but after 10 days or rest ( on the miserable offender)it was like it never even happened. Of course injuries really happen on the last set, the last 2 reps when you go into contortions trying to get the last rep of a tired muscle group.  (Duh, where should I kick myself this time.)  So after yet another attitude adjustment to the technique I have learned yet this pearl.  Focus even harder on technique in the last set.  No accessory muscle use please.  That one or 2 more reps will not help if you contort you back, lean, etc.

Success one step at a time.  So progress continues and my goals need to be re-evalauted to accomade the new growth. Doing really heavy lifts again feels good.  There have not really been any twinges of the old pains so the idea with heavier lifts until my eyes are bulging followed by extra sleep and interlaced with good meals.  As I get older the gains are actually stronger with more rest and more better quality food. The problem I run into is over correcting instead of staying in the middle with a light touch.

I cannot tell you how annoying it is to be at the pool and hearing people talk the talk and not walk the walk…"OMG…I was like at the gym for 5 hours today…my trainer wants me to go into a show down the road…yada yada." I wanted to walk over and "kindly" say, "Talk less, lift more, eat more protein and eat less carbs and fat."  Not to mention, "What were you doing at the gym for 5 hours, eating twinkies?" Now I am no Adonis for sure but sometimes checking the ego at the door, on the way out of the house, is a great thing.  Sure, brag and pump for your kids, loved ones, trainer but whatever successes she may have had were easily surpassed by the charming 5 yo child with her parents splashing around. Although my wife is not into fitness, her beauty and charm were also far above the other "interests" at the pool.

It was great motivation for the gym as well.  Disgust and anger sometimes motivate me to push harder, reach higher, eat better and be proud and silent with my humble gains…which are appreciated by others…moreso when I keep my mouth shut! 

How many of you have read the book about the little catepillars that climb ontop of other catepillar piles only to see there is nothing at the top? Lifting is the same way.  It is NOT about getting to the top of the game it is your personal transformation.  Yes, it sucks we can’t all look like Arnold or Zuzana Korinkova but we can take what is best in us and excel.  Like Adam’s(Trixter) zeal for technique and progress. Court’s(GeminiJedi’s) youthful optimism, and Tonigal69 dogged determination.  Learning from others to be what we can be instead of attempting to be like them.  The qualities and personhood we find inside ourselves will lead to the chiseling off of fat and the building of muscle to become that statue of David or Aphrodite(the pretty one-not the one with 100s of boobs!)

Learning from my younger friends here has taught me it is time for me to run, literally. To cut more fat and train smarter.  Not to be like them but to behave like them. Not injecting steroids and acting like fools but smart, wise training and eating; As Buddha called it the middle path.  The middle path keeps you healthy, injury free and feeling better than the extremes. So here’s to y’all!

About the only supplement that exists that work are illegal…HGH, Test and anabolic steroids.  Don’t believe the hype.  The rest of it is just stimulants to pump you up…like adding air to a ballon.  So, if you want to look like a poison puffer fish go right ahead.  These stimulants are dangerous and without proper breathing and lifting techniques are worse.  Imagine your supercharged blood levels stimulated by volume enhancers heading right for an aneurysm or arteriovenous malformation in your brain.  Guess what happens then…kablooie! Best stick with the tried and true…more protein, moderate carbs, "good" fats, lift when you are supposed to plus time and patience.  Now, whey powders and the like work well for giving you the extra protein that you need especially in the recovery phase.  When the muscles are sore they are damaged and recovering FEED them!  Otherwise we miss the hallmark time to build.  Oh, yeah, rest too.  Muscles don’t repair without rest.  Don’t lift sore-at least not the same muscles.  You will just slow your recovery otherwise. Lift smart, eat wise…the middle path is the best path….

Making time for lifting is a chore sometimes.  But like my spiritual teachers it is like meditation.  You don’t take lifting into your life you take your life into lifting.  So this weekend with that mindset I will squat low and long while I lift furniture to help out my Mom-in-law!  LOL  But seriously, getting to the gym is easy.  Commitment is hard.  Especially when the wife has so many chore fore me around the house.  When my "ship comes in" I will hire people to do these things.  Too old for the manual labor but not to old to lift!