kinkoshinkai’s BodyBlog

Arms today.  I always like this day.  Nice pump.  Everyone who sees muscle asks two questions.  Always.  And always the same.  1) How much do you bench?  and 2) Will you flex your arms for me? - meaning they want to see your biceps.  The bench is the "show off" answer, and the arms are the "show off" muscle.  Sot I like the pump I get on arm day. 

My goal, based on the Greek symmetry formula, would call for me to have 17 inch arms.  Depending on bodyfat, pump, flex, relaxed, or whatever, I’m at around 16 inches right now.   Of course, that pre-supposes that I’m maintaining all the other symmetry elements.  I’ve been doubling up on calves, which have always been weak.  My chest is coming.  I need more quad.  but as today is arm day, that’s the focus.

Again, the Bowflex has limitations and advantages.  There is no skeletal advantage position where the muscle is NOT working.  So at full flexion, the muscle is fully engaged, requiring no extra squeeze at the top.  And since I have 2 machines, I can superset fairly easily between bi’s and tri’s.  Where one machine has range of motion limitations, the other works well, so I can alway pretty much find a way to get full stretch and complete contraction.

5 sets barbell curl supersetted with tricep bar push-down.

4 sets seated dumbell with hammer tri extension

4 sets hammer curl with rope push down

4 sets concentration curl with one arm french press

Then finish with 3 sets close grip bar curl for high reps alternated with dips.  Depending on exhaustion level, I may or may not weight my dips, but since I’m going high rep on the curls I’ll probably just body weight on the dips.

OK, leg day on the Bowflex.  It’s probably my least favorite Bowflex body part.  Strangely, though, the couple of times I’ve had access to actual iron weights and a weight room, doing essentially the same routine for legs, I’ve enjoyed it.  In trying to figure out why, there are a couple of main differences, and it has mostly to do with feel. 

First, the squat on the Bowflex requires starting from the already squatted position as opposed to standing up under the bar on free-weight and gym machines.  This gives a totally different feel to the rep and the set position. 

Secondly is the "Nautilus" type resisitance which increases as the muscle is flexed.  That’s actually effective, as shown in the gym when chains are added to a squat, and the proven value of Nautilus machines as a whole.  But on the squat, it makes everything feel backwards. 

Lastly, the amount of weight, limited to 400 lbs, which is good, but for things like leg presses, and considering that it’s less than 400 until you get to complete extension, (more like 240 at the beginning positions) leaves certain exercises light.

That, and given my tendency to push to the point of nausea, I don’t like Bowflex leg day nearly as much as other body parts.  I make certain adjustments, such as varying the pace and range of motion.  I have two Bowflex machines, so I have more available variety than if I only had one. 

I think I’m going to add giant sets, so that the amount of weight doesn’t pose so much of a problem.  We’ll see if that jump starts some growth in the quads for me. 

Off we go.  5 sets squats, leg press, and body weight squats, in a giant set.  Then 5 sets leg extensions giant setted with toe press leg extension.

Then calves, giant set of calf raise, leg press calf raise, and body weight calf raises.  I’ll try that for a month and see how much I throw up, blow up, and grow - but not up.

It’s amazing, the power of "habit".  I had my Easter candy on Sunday, and it was fine, but I ate it more out of celebration than desire.  Having established a routine of oatmeal in the morning, chicken and tuna for main meals, shakes pre- and post-workout, and 6 to 8 small meals per day, it was easy to get right back into it.  I find I have little if any desire to deviate in any major way because I’ve established a routine.  It does take a long time and a positive attitued to establish proper habits, but it’s worth it.  I was never an "eat out" at restaurant kind of guy.  Home-cooked trumps all.  And fast food, just not worth it, purely from an economics perspective.

Having the routine also makes it less problematic if I DO happen to grab a treat or have something outside the diet, though I sitck to whole foods and home cooked mostly, as I said, because those are abberations, and not the norm.  Routine trumps all. 

Same is true for working out.  Even if I get busy or sidetracked during the day, or am not really feeling the mood or energy to train, it has become habitual enough that I know something is missing in my day if I don’t.  Sure, the intensity may not be there EVERY time, but I sould no more skip training than I could breathing.  It just wouldn’t feel right.  So, for instance, yesterday the day got away from me, and I hadn’t done my quad and calf training yet.  I’d golfed, taught 2 karate classes, dealt with the plethora of daily family issues, and at nearly 8 PM, got around to oding what needed to be done because my day wouldn’t have felt right if I didn’t (the benefit of working out at home).  My intensity was down, but I completed my 5 sets of front squats, 5 sets regular squats, 5 sets leg extensions, 5 sets calf raise and 5 seated leg press calf raise.  Felt good to know that, intesity or not, I’d complied with my routine and the day felt complete.

It’s Easter.  I have five kids.  The Bunny was friendly.  Screw it.  I’m eating some candy!!!!

That aside - I took the week after the NPC Utah very casually.  I ate well, but didn’t count or measure anything.  I worked out, but not systematically or really inte$nsely.   I have now acquired the habit of eating pretty clean.  I don’t even care for most of the less whole and healthy stuff.  We’ve always eaten, in my family, better than most families I’m acquainted with in terms of plain foods, not highly processed, very little "junk".  But that still meant pizza Saturdays, or less than oprimal protein levels, or carbs that were more glycemic than brown rice.  Now, I really prefer the clean diet, though it’s sometimes hard to keep stocked up and have it handy.  I do occasionally rely on high protein meal replacement bars in a crunch.

As to my workouts, I’ve collected a variety of routines of various types from Flex Magazine, but this last week actually used one in its entirety.  It was Flex Mags own compiled approach, 6 day workout.  It was the first time I’ve split legs, but I liked that I was able to focus on just quads with some calf one day, and just hammies with more calf on a separate day.  One, it gives me more calf work, which I need, and while it is a 6 day workout, the separated leg days with the shoulder day are pretty short compared to chest, back, and arms days.

Monday - Chest - Incline press, Flat bench, incline flies, cable cross overs

Tues - Back - Wide lat pulldown, narrow lat pulldown, reverse cable flies, seated rows (I threw in a set of shoulders funning up the rack and back, just to hit an extra body part that needs work)

Wed - Quads and calves - Squats, front squats, leg extensions, leg press, calf raise, seated calf raise.  (I threw in a set running the rack on biceps, just for grins)

Thurs - Shoulders - Lateral dumbell, bent over laterals, shrugs, seated military presses  (I did sets of triangle/close hand push-ups between sets for extra tricep)

Fri - Hammies and calves - Standing hammy curls, lying hammy curls, the magazine routine calls for seated hammy curls but I don’t have a maching for that, so I did lunges, leg press calf raises, standing calf raise

Saturday - bi’s and tri’s - I supersetted everything, sometimes starting with the tri exercise, sometimes the bi -   Barbell curls, dumbbell curls, cable preacher curls, lying tri extension, bar press down, and I subtituted one arm french press for rope pulldowns.

It was a great workout week.  Felt good and strong, and pumped the muscles so I could really feel exactly where I was working.  I hope to get back to the tsize gains I was shooting for before the contest.

Alright, it’s about time I finally got around to posting something about the NPC Utah Open in which I competed last weekend.  It was my first show ever, and so I jumped in with both feet, having prepared rather ecclectically from a variety of advice, all goo, all be-it occasionally conflicting.   I entered the Sr. Masters (or as I’ve taken to affectionately calling it, the "Geezers walker and cane division), the open Lt Heavy class, and the Novice Heavy.  I was sort of talked in to the Open division entry at weigh-ins, and when I saw them, knew it was a mistake.  I weighed in at a far to svelte 187 lbs.  I made some serious erros in carb cut/load preparation, but learned from my mistake for whenever next time will be.  I honestly think I looked better 2 weeks out than I did the day of the show.  The water cutting was fine, I just needed a better understanding of my carb numbers (which I now have, after the fact) and would have ramped up my cardio a bit.

Anyway, the results.  There were two of us in the Geezer division, and I came in second (but the trophy is still really cool).  I was better tanned, had better legs and symmetry, but the 57 year old dude had experience, was known by the judges, and was ripped whereas I was, as I said, a bit flat from poor carb preparation.  

I got to go out and pose 3 times, and my routine was well received in the night show, so I felt good about that, and the cameraderie of the guys was terrific.  It was like joining a brotherhood of people who had a common interest outside the mainstream and an understainding of the sacrifice we all made to do what we do. 

Specifically, I cut carbs too much too close to the show.  My carb intake at two weeks out was, by most standards, sufficient cutting, I’ve since learned.  But the extra cut so close to show time was my misguided attempt to expel more fat stores.  Instead, I should have ramped up my cardio intensity and duration just a notch in the last 10 days to get rid of the fat, left my carbs the same, and then take 2 days instead of one to carb up before the show.  That would have brought in a far better package, I believe, in hindsight. 

None-the-less, it was a positive experience all around (though pricey on my wallet), and I have plenty of time to continue building more muscle as I learn more about my body and how to shape it.  Still for only 2 years on a Bowflex, I’m going to take my silver statuette, and be happy for what I learned from the whole process.