Jettisoned Ponderings

GJ doesn’t know it yet, but she’s gonna be in for a world of hurt in the calvage soon… I’m very pleased with the way our workout plan is going, but I have one complaint and that is that calves aren’t addressed directly. I’ve been looking for a good solution to it and I think I may have found it. One area I’m bad at is stretching, despite my profession and knowing I need to do it. I came across this program (Have I mentioned how much better T-Nation’s articles are than BB.com’s? :p) and I’m excited about it! When I read the beginning about the author being 200lbs with only 14" calves I grinned because that’s not too far from where I’m at presently. GJ needs to bulk her calves more, too, to match her upper legs, so she has no room to complain!

The article’s a bit long, so here’s the link for those of you with crappy calves like myself

With this bulk I’ve tried diet runs out for about a week at a time trying to find where the best ratios are. There’s also the ongoing debate about how much protein to ingest. I’ve played with it a bit and decided to hold to the 1.5g/1lb of bodyweight. Carbs and fats are the next challenge as too many carbs make me tired and lethargic, and making up the calories with more fats also has its obvious cons. Below is what seems to be the best overall for sustained energy, adequate recovery, and surplus for growth. So, for workout days this is what it looks like:

Meal 1
Max Muscle: Big Max 50 Gainer: 4 scoops
Water: 500mL

Meal 2
Whole Egg (Large ~50g): 5
Picante Sauce: 3 tbsp
Grits: 1/2 cup or 2 packets
Milk (Skim): 10oz
Shredded Cheese (Med Cheddar): 1/2 cup
Xango: 1oz

Meal 3
Max Muscle: Big Max 50 Gainer: 4 scoops
Water: 500mL

Meal 4
Ground Turkey (93/7, fat simmered off): 8oz (6oz cooked/drained)
Pasta Sauce (Red): 1 cup
Pasta (wheat, uncooked): 1 cup
Yogurt (Yoplait Original): 1 "Cup"

Meal 5
Sesame Oil: 1-2 tsp
Sirloin (Choice, Top, separable lean/ fat, trimmed to 0" fat): 8oz
White Rice w/Veggies (Frozen/Steam In Bag): 1 Bag
Xango: 1oz

Workout
Full Blown Xtreme: 1 scoop
Max ACM: 2 scoops
Water: 1.5L

Meal 6 (Lifting Days Only)
Max Muscle: Big Max 50 Gainer: 4 scoops
Water: 500mL

Totals: 4320 Calories, 303g Protein, 536g Carbs, 92g fats

Non-lifting days, omitting the last shake and workout supps brings the calories down to 3492. So far that seems to be sufficient. If not, I’ll add in one more PM protein shake with milk, but not a gainer, to bump it up a couple hundred. Of course, there are other supplements being used, but these are the only that contribute and significant calories.

This guy’s name is Jean Yves Blondeau. He built a custom roller suit (71 wheels I believe) and I saw this video a while back of him giving it a test in the Swis Alps. What’s impressive is that his helmet does not have rollers on it and the facemask (just a single bar) only is held up an inch or two above the ground when he’s going… over 60mph! He’s not an olympic athlete trained for skeleton or anything like that, so it makes it all the more impressive. You can’t watch it and tell me it wouldn’t be fun to be
doing this and passing up motorbikes!

(embedding disabled on this clip, so here’s the link)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWLbu1wIIEo

Must’ve slept a little crooked because the back is still cranky just enough to let me know it isn’t ready to be worked again yet. Gonna see how I feel after work if it warms and loosens up a bit. If not, probably put the workout on hold until tomorrow evening.

Back was still cranky this morning, even after a full 20 minute epsom salt soak. Fortunately after downing a double dose of Xango it was noticeably happier within an hour and has been great the rest of the day. People, I cannot stress enough how much everyone needs to be using this stuff. It is phenomenal the changes I’m seeing with it, some unexpected, and how its reliably always done what I need it to.

A while back I believe it was NinjaBill who mentioned an accessory I’d forgotten about since I used it in high school… the Manta Ray. I ordered one today to start using with my squats since I have a hard time keeping the bar where it needs to be without either too much pressure on the vertebrae if it comes forward or its too far back more power lifter style and makes the lower back work more. It’ll also make GJ have better form, which of course "will hurt more that way" as always, heh… I should be good for lifting tomorrow, but I’ll play it safe just in case. I still need to be able to get through doing massages the next two days.

Heavy squats today, by the third working set I had a problem. It wasn’t my legs, lumbar, knees, none of the usual assortment of pain problems. I blame the source on the weight belt I used. Its the gym’s and its always fit me great… until I gained 20lbs. So now I think its a little too wide and when I went down on the first set I felt it pushing into my back a bit from being a notch too tight. Of course, this just tells me that I’m possibly arching a bit (or not breathing out properly and creating the Valsalva maneuver). Simple solution, loosen the belt one pair of loops. Damage was done though and by the third set. While it was a new record of 325 for the 3 rep goal since sets were 6×3, the muscles were cranky. I lightened up to 225 and did one more clean set, but didn’t help. No more squats for me today. No more anything for that matter today as it started to cramp and spasm. I couldn’t figure out what the heck I had strained. It was only my middle back right in the lamina groove and no pain radiated anywhere but an inch or two around my left side. Felt like it was something with the rib cage (makes sense thinking back to poor breathing technique), but I couldn’t put my finger on it (literally). GJ worked it a little bit so I knew where it was cranky at exactly. Lower attachment of the long head of the trap, maybe? Feels like its at a superior angle… Too high to be the lat attachment. Don’t think its the top of multifidus and it feels like its near spinalis… Dangit, what muscle did I wreck!? I put up with it through work after only having time to rush home and get a brief 10 minute epsom salt soak to calm it down a little. Digging around a bit I finally figured out what I hurt. I somehow completely forgot about this muscle! When you mention “serratus”, everyone thinks of the serratus anterior that fills in the area nicely between the ribs and lats during front double bicep or lat spread poses. Did you even know there is a serratus posterior? I must’ve been taking a nap during that day in anatomy because once I saw this I knew exactly what I’d hurt:

I came across these today with a handful of other parodies of the usual motivational posters and I think they illustrate some important points quite potently. These ones got me thinking for a couple reasons.

First, the Delusion poster. A lot of people say things like "Life is too short" or "You’re only young once" with the idea that we have to do as much as we can in the moment with some sort of anticipation that the day we can no longer do what we can today could be as imminent as tomorrow. I think about a gal that came into Max Muscle last week when I was working and she is a competitive power lifter. She said how in the deadlift there were two guys, a 16 year old and a 60 year old. The 16 year old was being given a hard time because his turn was up and the 60 year old had just deadlifted 300lbs. To me, that’s the motivation I crave. There’s an older guy at our gym who I see deadlifting 185 now and then for multiple reps. I want to be that older man someday who’s still fit and able to lift heavy, even if its not as heavy as what I may be able to do come my 30’s. I think also how lucky that 16 year old kid is to see someone who’s still a peer, technically, as this senior in the same weight class as him. One of the best ways to stay motivated is to keep your eyes and focus on what you want to come. The way I see it, there are two sides to the coin, but it matters which you choose to look to. Everything has an equal opposite, so while someone may say I’m delusional for having heroes like Markus Ruhl or Jeff Long I remind myself that someone else is deluding themselves to think they’ll never become something like the photo above. Then one day they’re hit blatantly with the reality that their already too-short life is going to be shortened even more and wonder "how did this happen"?

Cue the caption from the Dedication poster. Disease does not occur overnight. Disease is a process. Synergistic with the delusion that someone "feels fine" comes the eventual consequence of the lifestyle someone is unknowingly dedicated to. I saw a brief DVD recently called "Every 20 Seconds" by Dr. Sam Walters, a naturopathic medical doctor. This interval of 20 seconds is the frequency that someone in America has a heart attack. In the DVD, Dr. Walters states how often his patients ask how they got heart disease and he explains to them that they didn’t just get it all of of sudden, but have more accurately been choosing to die for years by their lifestyle habits. This is the point where I get angry, because I love the wellness industry (note that I intentionally did not say "health care") and all it stands for. It irritates me when people always expect such a quick fix for a lifetime of bad choices. Feelings and emotions may be hurtful and quickly turned around by acceptance of an apology and the choice to let it go, but the body is not so forgiving. Excuses run rampant and blame gets thrown every direction but toward oneself. Fast food is to blame because they make it with too much fat. (So why are you getting the same combo meal instead of a salad from the grocery? Because the dollar menu is "cheaper"?) People get poor self image because of the way celebrities and cover models look. (When was the last time you complimented a peer and said he/she looked good? Why is it people look to photos for encouragement instead of their peers and friends who are supposed to be the closest ones to them?) My kid has never been very athletic. (Maybe he’s never had the chance because PE classes aren’t required curriculum so kids don’t have that challenge ever presented to develop a drive to meet and take head on).

I’m going off on a rant now, but I think the point is made. People joke about things to make light of relevant issues that are often the ones that need to be taken the most seriously. Our society handles things completely wrong in my opinion. Everyone is offended by this or that because they feel made fun of. You know what? Toughen up, thicken your hide and tough it out. Humans are static creatures that don’t take action until put into a position where their backs are to the wall and there’s no choice but to fight or fold. I don’t care if I offend you. Learn to use it as motivation or see it as a dilemma brought to light that only you can resolve. No one is perfect and the world seems to feel the best solution is to never acknowledge fault, because doing so means you can no longer evade accountability and should that happen it falls to the individual to take responsibility, which no one ever wants of course because its easier to take the route of shifting blame.

So I ask you, what have you spent your life being dedicated to? What delusions do you seem unable to acknowledge and forfeit so that you might gain insight and inspiration in exchange? Who have you been avoiding offending because that person may feel hurt, upset, or dislike you because you make them feel lesser?

Those of you who’ve seen and/or read Fight Club might be able to appreciate these words best:

"People do it everyday, they talk to themselves. They see themselves as they’d like to be, they don’t have the courage you have, to just run with it… if the applicant is young, tell him he’s too young. Old, too old. Fat, too fat… Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing… It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything… I’ll bring us through this. As always. I’ll carry you - kicking and screaming - and in the end you’ll thank me… Stop trying to control everything and just let go! LET GO!"

Gym time is my main personal time. Its where I let everything go, vent any frustrations or stresses I’ve had, get it all out and start fresh. While I may not have been making the best progress back when I trained 6 days a week and was over-training, I think I was at my happiest because nothing ever had the chance to build up inside. This week I’m only lifting 3 days to let the body recover more from the last couple weeks and heavier lifting this week brings. It bothers me though because I like to get up and go straight to the gym. It sets my mood for the rest of the day and gets everything right for me. Whatever it is, I’m one who likes to get right to it when I wake up or else I lag all day from the slow start. Rest is necessary, but I hate these days. Life’s just been stressing me out more than usual recently and thankfully I’ve been able to vent it out a bit. Perhaps I’m just too much a creature of habit and routine. I need to figure out whatever is bothering me and get over it or bring it to resolution.

Seems I underestimated myself a little today. I haven’t done low rep heavy lifts for a long time as I favor the 8-12 range much more. Today it seems on everything I started out way too conservatively. I was pretty pleased with the last set numbers though! Its only going to get heavier the next two sessions this week, but at least I have a better idea where I stand now. All sets today were 5×5 with a 201 tempo.

Front Squats: 165/185/205/225/245
Incline Bench: 135/155/165/185/205
Seated Rows: 170/180/200/210/220

Here are the last 3 workouts for this week. 2 weeks into the new program and GJ and I are both quite pleased with results. I’m actually glad to be sore and feel its working much better. The recovery days are definitely needed. Except for the last 2 days catching up there haven’t been any consecutive lifting days so far and its proving to be a good thing. The main difference with this week is that reps are a bit quicker and every body part is hit twice this week instead of once.

Tuesday: Chest, Back, Shoulders
Bench Press: 4×8, 5-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
135    145    155    165
Barbell Rows: 4×8, 5-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
135    145    155    165
Military Press: 4×8, 5-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
115    125-    95    95
Incline Dumbell Press: 4×10, 3-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
35    40    45    50
Seated Cable Rows: 4×10, 3-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
100    110    120    130
Lateral Raises: 4×10, 3-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
15    15    15    15

Friday (usually thursday): Quads, Hams, Shoulders
Back Squat: 4×6, 3-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
185    205    225    245
Good Mornings: 4×6, 3-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
95    115    135    155
Seated DB Shoulder Press: 4×6, 3-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
55    60    65    70
Alternating Lunges: 4×8 Per Leg, 2-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
95    105    115    125
Front Raises: 4×8, 2-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
17.5    20    25    30

Saturday: Chest, Back, Biceps, Triceps
Close Grip Bench: 4×6, 3-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
135    185    185    185
Weighted Chins/Lat Pulldowns: 4×6, 3-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
170    180    200    220
Flat DB Bench (Hammer Grip): 4×8, 2-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
55    60    65    70
Barbell Shrugs: 4×8, 2-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
315    315    315    315
Preacher Curl: 4×8, 2-0-1, Rest: 90 seconds
95    100    105    110
Cable Tricep Ext: 4×8, 2-0-1, Rest: 90
80    90    100    100