Heavy Thoughts

The other day I had the television on in the background while doing some stuff around the house (Discovery Channel I think), when one of those classic, stock-footage shots of two bucks or rams or SOMETHING banging heads in a dispute over dominance popped onto the screen. Glancing up at these two seemingly mindless, self-destructive, and un-evolved creatures, literally banging heads in conflict made me laugh, reminding me as it did of a literal run-in at the gym the other day.

Because of my job and the travel it involves, I work out at maybe 8-10 different locations of the same gym chain. As a result, I sense that I’m a semi-familiar face wherever I go, but rarely someone people can place… a little like dressing up as deja-vu for Halloween I guess. Maybe this in between level of familiarity plays into what happened–I was and wasn’t a known entity–maybe the crowds on a weekday night played a sociological role, or maybe the protruding brow and elongated arms of my opponent-to-be hint at a genetic source, but for some reason I found myself unwittingly involved in a slightly more evolved form of this Discovery Channel-style antler-locking.

To explain: I’m in the middle of a shoulder workout. I love and I hate my shoulder workouts: more than anything other than a leg workout I leave the gym unable to find a comfortable way to sit, stand, or lie down. In the middle of one of these I am maybe more focused than usual, and hence more irritable, but rational and civil nonetheless. As I wrap up my workout with a few sets of dumbbell lateral raises, another "lifter" (I refuse to use a more sophisticated term… we’ll call him "Big Red") finishes a set of his own, walks several steps to where he is positioned in front of me, and places a gym bag at my feet. Not one to worry too much about gym etiquette, I finish my set, rack my weights, and catch my breath before a second set. As I’ve apparently chosen to do my last set in an inconvenient place for "Big Red", I select my dumbbells, find a spot 15-20 feet from where he’s sitting, and start another set. Sure enough, in my peripheral vision I notice him pick up his bag, walk towards me, and again drop it at my feet. At this point I’m debating throwing it so he can play fetch, as I can’t make any sense of the behavior, but instead I rack my weights, walk away, and take a few moments to remove myself from whatever conflict is brewing. Finally, after again catching my breath, I moved back into the free weight area, picked up a set of dumbbells, found a clearing on the gym floor, and started my last set.

I’ll interrupt myself here to mention the comedic rule of threes: as eternal as the comedy of "k" sounds (kukamunga, kalamazoo, krusty the klown), the rule of threes states that in order to make something funny, repeat it twice, and the third time around, find an unexpected twist to the repetition.

Back to the story… In true, astoundingly odd, comedic fashion, just as I hit the last few reps, the ones I burn and ache and fight for, "Big Red" picks himself up, wanders down the rack my way (and at this point, no matter HOW focused I am, I CAN’T not see him), and, having left his gym bag behind, he times himself like a double-dutch jump roper and walks right by me JUST as I peak on my last rep, forcing me to either hit him with my weights or stop my rep short.

Was I the bigger person? Did I pull up short, excuse myself, and ask him if our families were long-time rivals? In a word: no. Instead, finally having been suckered in, I found that last bit of grit and bile inside and THREW that weight up the last few inches, hit him sharply in the chest, and held it for one HELL of a peak contraction.

Many thanks for the entertainment and the extra push when I needed it most "Big Red".

Today’s "Heavy Thought": Great workouts on great days are easy… but what about that dirty little secret: the day we just don’t wanna be there?

Scene:
Bodybuilder, at the gym, standing in front of a mirror, realizing that he’s waited a little too long between sets, that he’s a little out of it (actually yawning), and that, in all honesty, he really doesn’t wanna be there! Weights on his first few sets had been ok, but for a number of reasons, he realizes that he just wants to be sitting in front of the TV tonight. Fade to black…

Scene:
Same bodybuilder, 30 minutes later, wandering from exercise to exercise, moving weight, looking at the clock, moving more weight, getting a drink, moving weight again, checking the score on the game.

OR

Scene:
Same bodybuilder, 30 minutes later, in the locker room, quietly emptying his locker, slinking off in self-described "defeat".

OR

Scene:
Same bodybuilder, 30 minutes later, somehow seeming re-focused, re-energized, and fighting through whatever mental haze was there to get a solid workout in.

Tonight’s question: How do we choose scene 3? What tricks do we adopt when the problem isn’t overtraining, isn’t injury, isn’t really anything more than malaise? Is it a favorite song? A favorite exercise? An image of the self we want to see, or of the competitor we want to catch? How do all of us fight through the bad ones?

The honest reality is that we don’t succeed because of what we do on the good days, we succeed because of how well we fight off and fight through the bad ones.

(For me? Actually hit myself in the head haha, did one more heavy exercise, DETERMINED to lift more than I did last week, and finished off with a giant set… stumbled out of the gym in defeat tonight, but defeated by my own means, not my own mind.)

I’m not sure if anyone else winds up as irritated as I do by the guys (one or two stand out) constantly on the site posting ways to make money blah blah blah. Posting this to knock one of these guys off of the main site as much as anything haha!

"Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, They become habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny."

I stole the above from a member’s page (totaltangirl) after stopping to think. I’ve seen the quote before, but as is so often the case, context makes all the difference in the world. Once upon a time I studied literature, and still enjoy the analysis of meaning in words. As unintentional as they may be (though I’d argue that they parallel intentional, more mainstream ideas), the applications to a bodybuilders pursuits were fascinating. Seeing these words in the particular context of the bodybuilder raised some interesting thoughts:

This passage, in its simplicity, is a wonderful image for bodybuilding. It starts with the form. Short bursts of language, repeated, much like a set.

It extends to the subject of each line; words like action, habit, and character. Words we use to describe our lifestyle, our drive, our focus and dedication. The methods of our particular madness.

The passage itself is one of growth; of how words, when repeated, become more permanent as they grow into actions. As actions become more solid as they develop into habits… the growth itself echoes what we pursue.

And lastly, the idea that all of this starts with words. How many of us can trace our own origins back to something as ephemeral as a string of words? How many of us were motivated by something said (in encouragement or disparagement), something read, something learned?

So thanks to another bodyspacer for inspiring a few moment of insight.

"Belgian bodybuilding championship canceled after competitors flee doping officials…"

Many thanks to these guys, and all the others in the sport, that have officially and permanently cast a cloud of suspicion over the clean athletes. Much appreciated. Link below.

http://viigo.im/Ch2

So I’ve had a few people asking, in varying ways, what they should eat/lift/take to get big/lean/buff/strong. Obviously this varies to a large extent on an individual’s experience level and their own physiology, but after a recent question I agreed to try to answer. After all, I, like a lot of us, spent years working as hard as anyone, but missing some basic element of training and nutrition that ultimately made more of a difference than just pure dedication.

I’ll try to put out a few posts geared towards different levels of experience as I’m asked. Hopefully someone out there finds this helpful.

To introduce the advice, I’ll paraphrase some of the questions I asked as well as some typical answers:

"How long have you been working out?" Let’s assume no more than 12 months of serious lifting.
"How long do you spend in the gym at a time?" Anywhere from an hour to two hours.
"What does your body part split look like?" A huge variety of answers to this, for good reason.
"How many exercises per body part are you doing? For large muscle groups and for smaller ones?" Anywhere from 2-8!
"How many sets are you doing per exercise?" 3-5 seems typical.
"How many reps are you doing per set?"

"How many meals a day are you eating?" 3-6… lot of variation.
"How many grams of protein are you getting? How many per meal?" Anything from "I’m not sure" to 300+!
"What supplements are you currently taking and why?" Obviously this varies as much as any of the others.

I’ll try to outline some basic advice in the form of the "right" answers to the above questions. Keep in mind that every body is different. I have a friend with amazing 29" thighs who won’t squat heavy and rides his bike to the gym, swearing that that’s his trick, and another one who won’t do ANY sort of cardio before a show until his last week out. These are methods that I’ve seen work for a wide range of people…

So, here goes!

"How long have you been working out?" This advice is geared towards a beginner, but not a novice. Say 8-16 months of experience.

"How long do you spend in the gym at a time?" Try to keep lifting to about an hour. While testosterone levels will keep rising for maybe another 30-60 minutes, so will cortisol levels, and you lose your anabolic advantage. This idea also plays into the body part split and the number of exercises per body part etc…

"What does your body part split look like?" There are dozens of effective splits, but I use a relatively traditional one that works secondary groups with larger ones:

Chest/Forearms
Quads/Hamstrings/Calves
Shoulders/Traps/Triceps
Back/Biceps

This lets me work the major muscle groups when they’re all relatively fresh, and combines smaller ones like biceps with a group that will already have tired them out. By doing this I avoid OVERworking the smaller muscles. We’ll see this come into play with the next question as well.

"How many exercises per body part are you doing? For large muscle groups and for smaller ones?" I’d recommend 3-5 exercises for larger muscles and 1-2 for smaller ones. Try to find one exercise for each part of the muscle, i.e. a complicated, large muscle like your back will take one exercise (at least) for the Upper Lats, one for Middle or Lower Lats, one for the Medial Traps, one for the erectors… a muscle like the biceps may only need one or two (BI-ceps means 2 heads…).

"How many sets are you doing per exercise?" Don’t get too caught up in this or the next one. Work what you need to stress the muscle, but try to do that in about 3 sets. Trying to do it in one Uber-set Dorian Yates-style is probably too much for a beginner, and 5,6,7 set workouts are usually just a sign of low intensity.

"How many reps are you doing per set?" Again, don’t get caught counting to ten and stopping. The idea is that you want to overload the muscle. Low reps are thought to target fast-twitch muscle fibers, high reps to target slow-twitch fibers… in general a true bodybuilder is more concerned with muscle growth than with the weight or the reps. Find what works for you, but most of your sets should reach failure (inability to do another rep with proper form) at between 6 and 12 reps. I’ll go as low as 3 very occasionally, and did 15 today, in large part because I was committed to a set and wanted my muscle challenged.

"How many meals a day are you eating?" The body needs 3 basic macronutrients: Carbohydrates (short to medium range energy), Protein (muscle and cell growth among other things), and Fats (longer term energy source). While the body stores carbs and fats very well, protein will only stay in the bloodstream for 3-4 hours at the most. A steady flow of nitrogen (the key element of protein, or the "N" in the NH3 amine group for you chemistry students) is necessary to convince your body to build muscle. Because of that, you’ll need to eat every 3 or 4 hours as a minimum.

"How many grams of protein are you getting? How many per meal?" Estimates for bodybuilders seem to be based on body weight, and range anywhere from .5-2 grams per pound of body weight. In my own experience keep in mind that you may not be able to process much more than 30-45 grams per meal, so there’s an upper threshold to your intake based on the number of meals you eat.

"What supplements are you currently taking and why?" I’d start with this caveat: Supplements are meant to do just that; supplement a good diet and exercise program. That said, I’d recommend a multivitamin to everyone, a protein supplement (start with what you can afford) to make that part of your diet easier, and for those looking to build muscle the amino acids Glutamine and Creatine. There are some fancy ones out there, but the basics are good enough. Spend the extra money on something else instead of the marketing. Beyond that there are some intermediate supplements like ZMA and NO2 are probably the next most effective.

So, tons of information in there, but maybe it helps you identify some specific questions to ask. If nothing else it’s a starting point!

Bodybuilding is as much an exercise of the mind as it is one of the body. Countless reps and sets tear and stretch muscle fascia, forcing them to rebuild stronger than before, and if done properly, the discipline of a bodybuilder’s training schedule and diet can do the same for the mind: challenge it at a very basic level and force it to adapt to new stresses by becoming stronger. There is some fantastic advice on this site regarding the nuts and bolts of training and nutrition, and while I may throw my two cents in on occasion, I find myself more engaged in the mental processes of training than the physical. The 60 minutes in the gym takes care of itself on many levels, while the 23 hours away from it present the challenge and the opportunity for growth. Very little of what I’ll write is strictly my own. I am very conscious of several mentors along the way who asked a question here or there about why I did something and started the examination that has made bodybuilding a more worthwhile endeavor. With that in mind, I’ll start this blog off by paraphrasing an idea that has stuck with me for years now.

Precision vs. Accuracy

A friend of mine once challenged me to explain the importance of understanding precision vs. accuracy, and the role of each in bodybuilding. I believe I said something along the lines of, "precision is what separates bodybuilding from lifting", as this was a pet theme of my friend’s. He smiled and shook his head, and asked me to imagine the two of us in an archery contest.

Each of us would be given three arrows, and the one who finished with the higher total after all three arrows were fired would win. He then described the contest:

I shot all three arrows, and while only one struck the target, it hit dead-center for a bulls-eye. My friend didn’t have a single bulls-eye, but all three arrows hit the target. Based on the "Precise" world view, I must have won. However, looking at the total score, my friend had three scoring shots to my one, and a total higher than my own. "Accuracy" proved more important.

In bodybuilding, he explained, this was akin to needing to eat on the road and making the best choice possible rather than agonizing over your inability to find 6 oz. of plain chicken and half of a sweet potato. It was the same as deciding to grab a quick workout in the hotel gym rather than just skipping your chest day because they didn’t have 135 Lb. dumbbells lying around.

It seems simple, and it seems quaint, but I’ve found myself reminded to accept the less-than-ideal when necessary and stay on target, rather than becoming so compulsive about my own exacting standards that I give up and walk away. This model is obviously a hard one (and an ineffective one) to follow pre-contest, but it’s a very necessary part of making this a genuine lifestyle.

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