Buffy Buffington gets Buffer

So, I’ve decided to do 6 weeks or so of ALL compounds on my leg day (this is week #2).  Can I just say, OUCH!

BB squat:  4 @ 145# 10, 10, 8, 8

SLDL:  3 @ 95# (WAAAAAAY) too light  12, 12, 12

ATG front DB squats: 4 @ 60# (total) 10, 10, 9, 11 (longer rest before set 4~jaw workout) (started to feel nauseous during set #2)

Reverse Lunges: 3 @ 40# (total) 10, 10, 10 (still nauseous)

Walking Lunges: 3 @ 50# (total) 12 w/ pulse/12, 12 w/ pulse/12, 12/12 (I do 12 one way, and then turn around after BRIEF rest (and cursing) and do 12 back)  (pretty sure I WAS going to hurl; wondered if I should try to make it to the rubber floor in the weight area or just do it on the indoor/outdoor crap where the cardio equipment is?)

And there it is.  8 hours ago I completed the workout, and I’ve had DOMS for about the last hour.  TOTAL BLISS (but no HIIT tomorrow)!

Why? Is it because you LOVE it; killing yourself, I mean?  I wonder if I am hindering my results by NOT killing myself in the gym?  In all honesty, I’m a pretty sedentary individual.  I mean, I always intend to be active, and I was raking and bagging leaves like a madwoman last Saturday, cuz I knew it was a great full body workout.  I occasionally take an evening stroll with my husband.  Take about a 10 minute walk with my pug in the morning.  Occasionally go bowling, batting cages, hiking, mountain biking…Eh.  That’s about it.

 I have two FIFs (Friends-in-Fitness) whom I love and respect for their passion for working out.  I’m not saying that I DON’T have the passion, cuz when I’m in the gym, I’m IN.THE.GYM, but these cool chicks live for the sweat, the challenge, the nausea, the DOMS (I love me some DOMS too), and I’ve watched them workout and they look like they could die right there in the middle of the session (one does MMA, the other works with a trainer at my gym). Just drop dead. Unable to catch their breath, sweating profusely, stinky, red-faced, etc.

See, to me, that ain’t no fun.  No joy.  No redeeming factor other than going for the caloric expenditure.  Are my FIFs "buff", "muscular", or even, God forbid, "TONED" ?  Nope.  Un-uh.  Not even CLOSE.  HOWEVER, they WANT to be "buff", "muscular" and, at the very least, "TONED" ;)!  I keep saying to them, "You really love killing yourself like that day in and day out, huh?"  And they’re all like "Uh-huh!  LOVE it, live for it, gotta have it!"  And do you know what I say (and I’m NOT saying I’m right, just different) in response?  "Huh! Not me, FIF!  I would much rather lift heavy for 45 min., 3-4 days per week, toss in 1-2 sessions of HIIT, pack up my water bottle & head home for some whey."  But that’s just me.  I’m just sayin’.  I get my kicks in the kitchen, sister.  THAT’S where I get my results.  In the kitchen and in the bedroom, people.  =O  And, by "in the bedroom", I, of course, mean 7-8 hours of quality sleep, with a nice lil nap thrown in 1-2 days a week.

Don’t get me wrong, I am NOT dissing the peeps who LOVE the thrill or the challenge or the kick they get from grueling workouts.  I am also not saying that I want to take the easy way out.  I’m just asking if it’s a certain type of personality that thrives on these workouts?  My worry is that they feel that their hellacious workouts are somehow, somewhere going to make up for the lack of control and/or cleanliness in their diets.  I like to keep it real.  My workout are intense, my progress is slow, yet steady.  I know it would even be much quicker if I ate clean 100% of the time, 7 days a week.  But I can’t do that.  Not right now, anyway.  I eat 100% clean for 30 out of 35 meals per week, give or take…When and if I stop progressing toward my physique goals, will I "step it up" in the gym?  Probably not.  I’ll just kick it up a notch in the kitchen. 

That’s just me.  Tell me I’m doing it wrong, or I should be doing something different.  I’m in no hurry though.  And what works for me may not work for someone else.  I guess if I was observing noticeable, significant results in my peers, I would give their way a whirl, but until then…

I am down to the wire in my 40+ group challenge…standards are high, diet is STRICT, workouts are intense.  But, in all honesty, it’s the diet I’ve concerned myself with the most.  Especially, getting enough protein.  It is not easy, and I stumble and make mistakes here and there, but I can tell you, without a doubt, that I am seeing DAILY improvement in my physique.  So, when people tell you "abs are made in the kitchen" and "it’s ALL ABOUT the diet", listen.  Believe.  My pics will be up within 2 weeks.  The proof is always in the pics.  True story.

Seriously.  I KILLED my legs today.  And, seriously, I didn’t eat very clean this weekend.  And I don’t have time to be eating dirty…so I suppose this was my penance.

BB squats to parallel:  4 x 10 @ 140#

Split squats: 3 x 10 @ 40# (this is TOTAL, not per DB~I’m not a masochist!)

Elevated lunge: 3 x 10 @ 40#

BB front ATG squats: 3 x 10 @ 60#

Walking lunges: 3 x 12 w/ pulse/12 w/o pulse @ 50#

SS w/ SLDL: 3 x 12 @ 50#

No isolation exercises; all compound movements…calves’ll have to wait for another day.

Now how do I parlay that passion into making a good living, so that I can leave my adequate, yet passionless, job as a legal assistant, in the dust?  I am not kidding.  I eat, drink and breath lifting, nutrition, nutrition, lifting…thinking about my next workout, my last workout, why that person works out like that, and that person works out like that, what book to read next, what information from that article to forget cuz it’s crap, why that person eats like that, but says they want to look like this, should I be a personal trainer, a nutritionist, I’m OLD…Ok, not really old, but pushing 42, and NOW I want to embark on an entirely different path, careerwise?!?  Am I fleeping nuts?  Off my rocker?  Could this be a passing fancy? 

You would think with my passion, that I would look like Jamie Eason, Monica Brant, or Mandy Blank, but I don’t.  Not yet, and perhaps never.  But I have a picture in my mind of my dream physique that I see almost every minute of every day.  It never goes away, it does not fade, and it doesn’t waver.

Yes, I plan to become certified as a personal trainer, but I’m not really sure I WANT to be a personal trainer.  I definitely want the knowledge.  I LOVE learning, tweaking my knowledge, applying my knowledge, tweaking again, and most of all, I love SHARING my passion, my knowledge…

Where do I go from here?  All I really know is that right now, right this minute, I have realized that this life is my passion.  It was ALWAYS my passion.  From when I was climbing trees as a 7-year-old, being picked before the boys to play pick-up football, throwing the ball harder than all the boys during dodgeball, being ALMOST voted "most athletic female" in junior high, to when my parents told me that I would not be allowed to participate in sports, because they took too much time away from "family"…it was my passion then, just as it is now.

I’m gonna try to keep this short & sweet!  I’m gonna try…

Background: A few months ago, I decided to take squats & deads out of my workouts as an "experiment" after reading many, many forum threads, especially in the female sub-forums, about concerns that these exercises would either "broaden" the waist, or keep it from getting smaller.

Realization:  As I was writing out last week’s leg workout, I realized that over the past few months I had been deeply discouraged by my lack of progress and general feeling of "softness" in the prior months.  Now, yes, I CAN blame poor diet on some of the regression; however, I now believe that at LEAST 25% of the regression was because I stopped performing these essential compound exercises.

FACTS:

• Performing squats and deads stimulate production of growth hormone and testosterone, the primary muscle-building hormone (see http://www.bodybuildingweb.net/blog/squats-deadlifts-and-release-of-testosterone-and-growth-hormone/)
• Performing squats and deads will NOT make women “bulky”, they will only give you the gorgeous, shapely sticks (and just about every other major body part, abs included) you are working so hard to create
• Performing HEAVY squats and deads is HARD! If they was easy, the squat rack wouldn’t look so damn lonely over there with no one using it (or be used only for bicep curls or shrugs, which irritates the HELL outta me when I wanna do my damn squats!)
• My goal is to be a hard body.  Without squats & deads, it just is NOT gonna happen!
• I would rather have a hard, trim 29″ waist, then a soft 27 or 28″ waist any day of the week.

Conclusion:  Ladies, please, please, please, if squats are not a part of your regular leg workouts, add them in immediately, and let me know how you feel 4-6 weeks from now.  If they are a part of your workouts, then kudos to you!  Keep up the great work!!

P.S.  Keep your eyes open for my new "after" pics in November!

The chicken breast.  Hate it.  Used to love it.  Then I hated it.  Then it was tolerable.  Well, I’m back to hating it.  Started a new transformation challenge this morning, and I cooked up a crapload of breasts for my work lunches.  Cannot even stand the freakin’ SMELL of it, and I don’t even re-heat those lil b!tches.  I just eat it cold.  Reheated?  DIZZZ-GUSTING!!!  What am I gonna do?????  Perhaps I’ll smother it in ranch dressing…  No.  I won’t.  I’m just gonna have to figure out a different source of lean protein that I can stomach.  I already supp with protein powder 2-3 times a day.  Don’t wanna rely on it so much.  Trying to stay away from the deli meats.  Love red meat, but you know you need to watch it.  Love cottage cheese most days, but it’s becoming more and more like the breasts.  Some days, icks me OWT!!  Crap.  Egg whites?  Eh.  I can only handle ‘em so much, and I really, really only like ‘em with toast.  Maybe I’ll try oatmeal/pp for breakfast, and move my egg whites/toast to lunch. 

 Any suggestions are appreciated! 

I’ve been shaping my physique for 3 years, 7 months.  Not shorter, not longer.  That’s it.  It’s been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, highs and loooooooowwwwws, elation and frustration.  Just now, I am beginning to realize the true ramifications of the lifestyle I, as a committed, dedicated, perhaps addicted (?) iron-slingin’ chick, have chosen.  The least of which is VERY early mornings at the gym, the most of which is admiration and respect from most of the people I encounter every day of my life. 

I’ve built some respectable muscle.  I’m just now working on the leaning out and, during this process, I’m realizing what a [vicious?] cycle I’ve created for myself.  As I become leaner, I realize that I have NOWHERE near the amount of muscle I desire!  WTF?  Now, I’ll want/need to do a "bulk" at some point?  Are you effin’ kidding me?  That $hit scares the crap outta me…Oh, well, again, it’s a choice, and I’ve chosen it and I have a love-hate relationship with this "choice".  Is it a "choice" at this point?  Me thinks not so much.

The true "gist" of this rambling blog you ask?  GET TO THE EFFIN’ POINT, WOMAN! you are screaming…

The past month has been an eye-opener for me.  It’s not that I’m "huge", that I look like the brick ****house I desire to be, but I think this "leaning out" has lended itself to making my muscles [appear] larger to the average Joe/Joanna.  I am not imagining the stares, the whispers, and the spoken and/or muttered comments.  A man at my office has asked me about my workouts and has assured me (after my pointed question, "Are my biceps too big?") that I look "FANTASTIC", "awesome", "great"; yet as I walk past him in the hallways, he just shakes his head and smiles…almost looking, dare I say, intimidated by me?  Say it isn’t so!!!!  No one offers to lift the heavy boxes for me anymore people!  Not that I would allow them to anyway, but you know what I’m sayin’.  I may look strong, I very well may BE strong, but that doesn’t mean that a lil chivalry along the way would offend me!  Just the offer.  I would say "No thanks, I got it", but that’s not the point.

One day, about 3 weeks ago, I was at the grocery store, milling around the produce in yet another one of my countless sleeveless shirts, when I noticed that two 20-something young men seemed to be following me.  I was becoming a little wary of their presence and tried to distance myself from them, but it seemed as though we were on the same shopping schedule.  Every lane I went down, they were either behind me, or in front of me, coming the opposite direction.  I felt their stares, and heard their whispers.  But it wasn’t those things that bothered me.  It was when one of them did that coughing thing where you cough and say something at the same time, but have every intention of the person you’re aiming the comment towards hearing you AND understanding your comment?  You know what I mean, right?  I think the most well-known phrase is a cough while saying "Bull$hit"…AHA!  NOW you definitely know what I mean! Well, the word this young man spoke embarrassed me to no end, and I think it is something that I will ALWAYS remember, either until the day I decide this lifestyle isn’t for me, that looking buff is not attractive, or until the day I die, whichever comes first.  He coughed, yet also clearly said "MUSCLES!" at the same time, all the while looking at me under hooded eyes and a slightly bowed head.  I just kept going, probably smirking a little along the way, all the while thinking, "Are my muscles too big?, Should I wear shirts with sleeves even when it’s 90 degrees outside?, Should I just stick with cardio from now on?…"

This past weekend, at a Detroit Tigers baseball game at Comerica Park, I found that I have become the sort of person I never really liked.  The one who doesn’t smile or have eye contact with strangers, because I could FEEL the stares from other women.  I did not see ONE, NOT ONE, fit-looking chick that night.  I was an anomaly, an oddball, a "freak" to some, I’m sure…but inside I was beaming with pride, because I KNOW that 90% of those stares are bred by insecurity and envy.  If they want it, they’re gonna have to do the same Godforsaken hard ass work that I’ve done!

I asked one of my best girlfriends to assess my arms the next time we got together and give me her brutally honest opinion.  She did.  She said "Your arms are NOT too big.  They look good….My goal is to have arms like yours…I want people to look at me and know that I workout, even when at rest.  Even when you are sitting and talking, you can see that you workout.  That’s MY goal!" 

I get the "OMG! Do you workout?" from the teeny-bopper, skinny-fat chicks at the mall, the "Nice guns!" from the random [male] stranger, the "You must workout ALLLLL the time" comments from everyone, the looks of disbelief when I respond, "No, I don’t"…

I guess I’m at a crossroads in this life I have chosen.  Do I take pride in the gains I have made, not only in muscle, but in confidence, energy and self-esteem?  Or do I let others dictate how much muscle is TOO much?  Since the comments and stares are only sure to escalate from this point forward, and since I’ve only increased my intensity at the gym, and reaffirmed my commitment to eating clean, I suppose my decision has been made.  I’VE made the decision.  I will continue to progress, to move forward, to enjoy the frustrations and rewards of this difficult lifestyle we have chosen.  Stare, whisper, mutter, giggle, laugh, admire, compliment, criticize - whatever makes YOU feel better about your pathetic physique, but BACK OFF, cuz Buffy Buffington is just gonna get buffer.

I’ve been lazy and need to update.  For fear of boring anyone to death, let me just say I’ve been mixing it up.  Incorporating HIIT twice a week right now…going heavier & heavier with the weights.  Experiencing decent DOMS.  Diet has been so-so:  "ON" 5-6 days of the week; still incorporating pretty big "treats" on Saturdays.  Need to cut that out - getting down to the wire in the 40+ Transformation Challenge.  I’ve also gotten into the habit of enjoying a cocktail a few days a week…more than usual.  Used to just be Friday nights and occasionally on Saturdays.  I gotta blame it on our new house - I just feel like I’m on vacation all the time!  No excuses…I’ve just been lax.  Gotta straighten up my act!  Progess pics soon…

Since I was disappointed by my ham workout a couple days before, I decided to hit my quads with a vengeance last Friday.  And, boy, did I get the DOMS that I was asking for!

Friday, 4/24/09:

Walking Lunges - 3 x 12 w/ pulse, 12 w/o pulse = 72 walking lunges

Leg press - 3 x 10

Reverse Lunges - 3 x 12

Split Squat - 3 x 12

Leg Extensions - 3 x 9, 8, 8

GREAT workout! 

Saturday, 4/25/09:

Delts/tris

Arnold Press - 4 x 12, 8, 7, 5

Upright row - 3 x 10, 8, 8

Seated Rear Raise - 3 x 12

BB skulls - 3 x 12, 10, 6

Rope Pushdown - 4 x 9, 8, 8, 4

Decent workout.

Monday, 4/27/09:

Back/bis

Chins - 3 x 9, 4, 3

Wide pulldown - 3 x 8

Reverse Narrow Grip pulldown - 3 x 8

Bentover Row (alt. overhand/underhand) - 4 x 9, 9, 8, 8

EZ Bar curl (alt. narrow/wide grip) - 4 x 7, 6, 3, 8

Incline hammer -3 x 10

GREAT workout - little DOMS in lats, but that’s it!  Frustrating!

Diet has been GREAT!  But, boy, am I hungry!!  Took today off - slept through alarm.  Tomorrow, 4/29, I’ll do delts/abs and HIIT (ugh, blech).