superstar34’s BodyBlog

So after last night’s non-work out related rant (errr, blog) I’d like to take a minute out to sandwich that blog with a purely work out related blog. Yaya.

So my new gym is badass. It is the most fantastic gym I have had the pleasure to work out in and I’ve worked out in everything from frou-frou fancy chain gyms to training in my coaches’ non-airconditioned garage or apartment. This gym has the best of everything, bad ass old (but in perfect working condition) equipment, F*cking olympic weightlifting PLATFORMS (HELLO?!!) and the owner JD is a Great guy who has given me a Great deal on training my clients with. And the people, everyone is freaking hardcore and NICE. We have people who have trained at this gym for over 20 years and newbies like me. We have strongmen champions and the strongest woman in the world Jill Mills. Professional and amateur bodybuilders who are great too! Well anywho, I just couldnt be happier and everyone has welcomed me with open arms. =0) Well I took some pictures of the gym and videos of tonights asskicking but i have yet to put them online, will do for sure. Well here it was, tonight was a back to the ole weightlifting roots and Im happy to say I snatched weight that I haven’t done in five years, since college.

Weightlift:

Warmup: With men’s bar, power snatches 2 sets of 15

4 sets of (5, 5, 4, 3)

Hang Snatch w/3 Overhead Squats: (Keeping bar overhead in air, squats to floor) 30, 30, 30, 30kg

4 sets of (4, 4, 3, 3)

Snatch: 40, 40, 40, 40kg

4 sets of (4, 3, 3, 3)

Power Clean w/3 Power Jerks: 40, 40, 40, 40kg

4 sets of 10

Barbell Snatch Grip Overhead Crunches (holding bar overhead while crunching up off ground) 20kg

4 sets of 10

Kettlebell (yay) Tosses 60lbs

I touched on this in an earlier blog but this is what is currently going on in my head right now with more empHAASSSis on the learning. I believe that all forms of learning and change start with some form of dissatisfaction or frustration generated by data that disconfirm our expectations or hopes. Whether we are talking about adaptation to some new environmental circumstances that mess with the satisfaction of some need, or whether we are talking about genuinely creative learning, some disequilibrium based on disconfirming/conflicting information is a prerequisite. Disconfirmation, whatever its source, (whether a person or an experience) functions as a primary driving force in the somewhat stationary equilibrium. Disconfirming information is not enough, however, because we can ignore the information, dismiss it as irrelevant, blame the undesired outcome on others or fate, or, as is most common, simply deny its validity. In order to become motivated to change, we must accept the information and connect it to something we care about. The disconfirmation must arouse what we can call “survival anxiety” or the feeling that if we do not change we will fail to meet our needs or fail to achieve some goals or ideals that we have set for ourselves (”survival guilt”). In order to feel survival anxiety or guilt, we must accept the disconfirming data as valid and relevant. What typically prevents us from doing so, what causes us to react defensively, is a second kind of anxiety which we can call “learning anxiety,” or the feeling that if we allow ourselves to enter a learning or change process, if we admit to ourselves and others that something is wrong or imperfect, we will lose our effectiveness, our self-esteem and maybe even our identity. I think most of us need to assume that they are doing their best at all times, and it may be a real loss of face to accept and even “embrace” errors. The new information that makes learning possible comes into us by one of two ways: learning through positive or defensive identification with some available positive or negative role model, or learning through a trial and error process based on scanning the environment for new concepts. Learning occurs when the person has become unfrozen, motivated to change, and has, therefore opened themselves up to new information. So how does the new information come to the learner? The most basic mechanism of acquiring new information that leads to cognitive restructuring (changing your “way of thinking”) is to discover in a conversational process that the interpretation that someone else puts on a concept is different from one’s own. If one is motivated to change, one may be able to “hear” or “see” something from a new perspective.

The goal is to become more inquiring and more sensitive to others, an essential step in becoming a successful change agent or manager in life. In this, I can realize that this process of learning has NOT led me to lose my effectiveness, confidence, and identity.

On the legs killing. I have so many days missed blogging on workouts I’m not going to even bother to put them in. Today was a new day. I worked out with/trained a friend so no supersetting stuff today, just kept taking turns. So anywho here goes:

AM Running outside 60mins (20 mins of that running up stairs, pushups, jump rope)
PM Legs Hell

4 sets of 12

Weightlifting Squats (All the way to the floor) 85, 105, 125, 125lbs

Traveling Sumo Lunges Holding 25lb dumbell 30 steps each set

Romanian Deads 125lbs

Leg Extensions 70, 80, 90, 100lbs

Weighted Stepups on Flat Bench (12 steps ea leg) holding 20lb dumbells

Seated Calf Raises 35lb (Reps of 20 each set)

Get my thoughts together as I have a lot to say. Must go kill my legs first.