kinkoshinkai’s BodyBlog

It’s interesting to me how some weeks I can really feel certain bady parts after a work-out, and other weeks, doing the same exercises, not so much.  I know that there are numerous vaiables, not the least of which are food, rest, supplementation, intensity, duration of training session, time of day, mood, etc.   But I think the thing that makes the single greatest difference in whether or not I really feel it is the mind muscle connection that is so frequently touted in bodybuilding circles.

I keep a pretty good log of my training, so I know how much I’m lifting and how long my sessions go and all that.  So I can see I’m gaining strength generally, adding a rep, more weight, and extra set, or some small progress nearly every session.  Yet, it’s when I’ve really had my focus on the exact muscle I want to hit, and truly concentrated on getting that specific muscle to go through a complete range of motion, stretching and fully contracting, and I KNOW during and after the workout that I’ve done that, I really can get a great pump and feel it for the next couple days. 

I still have trouble with the "letting my ego go" and taking a lighter weight in order to sometimes facilitate that connection, but when I do make the connection, the difference is massive in terms of the effects I feel in my body. 

Still learning and striving.

I received my acceptance letter today for the new Master’s degree program at Souther Utah University.  It’s a Master’s of Science in Sports Conditioning and Performance.  I’m excited, and hope it opens more dooors in personal training as well as working with local athletic teams in the High School or even collegiate level.    School starts this summer!!!!  (48 year old college guy!!)

Typically, on arm day, I superset bi’s and tri’s.  I’ve been doing it that way for about as long as I can remember.  Partly to save time, but also, figuring that any blood pumped into the area is good for the WHOLE area of my upper arms.

Today, partly because of recent reading, I decided to do bi’s first, finish them, and then do tri’s.  The other advice I tried was to limit smaller body parts like arms to 9 or 10 sets total.  I’ve usually done from 12-15 sets using either 4 or 5 exercises or 4 to 5 sets of fewer exercises.  The advice I’ve been seeing says that’s a bit of overkill that can lead to overtraining.  Lastly, I usually push EVERY set pretty hard using mostly the same weight for working sets, so the reps go something like 15, 12, 10, and 8 for a for set exercise, which is what most advice recommends.  But usually that is achieved by not going near failur on the first couple sets and then increasing the weight so that only the last set or maybe two approach and achieve failure.

So, today, fewer total sets and only 3 exercises for each part of the upper arm, and bi’s first before tri’s.  Verdict - I think I like the lover volume, but I didn’t like the non-superset.  I still finished 22 sets in under an hour, so the intensity was good.  But I didn’t feel the complete tight skin burst like I usually do, and I missed it.  I think I’ll go back to a slightly lighter set first, then up to my "training" weight without going to failure but still pushing it, and then failure on the last set or two.  I stay pretty well in the working rep range that way.  AND, supersetting arm day is my preferred way to go, based on today’s feeling.  I’ve consistently increased in strength, measured last week my largest pumped-arm circumference to date, and over the last two years added 2 inches to my arm overall, or an inch a year which I think is pretty good.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

My signature line states that I don’t know why I’m trying so hard to gain the muscle I’m so desperately trying to build.  I have no support system for competition at home.   My only real motivation is the innocent flirting I do here on Bodyspace and the incredibly motivational gains of so many fabulous men and women here.  I had one encounter that I though might provide more of the motivation I lack, but it didn’t work, so I’m back to wondering what it’s for, other than my own ego gratification.

I tried to live a dream I had.  It ended poorly, left me sad.

I flirt with many ladies here.  My goal is just to bring them cheer.

But once I tried to touch the sun.  Sadly now, that chance is done.