Jettisoned Ponderings

We’ll be heading to the airport soon to fly out to Las Vegas for New Years and for our anniversary (back on the 27th). Court’s never been, so it will be great for her!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun New Years. Talk to you all in 2009!

No workout yesterday, and none today. I have a good reason this time. Work has been hard to come by the past month, so I’ve jumped on any extra opportunity to make some extra cash. I won’t have a fixed schedule until after New Year’s, so yesterday when I heard another gym needed someone to cover a couple night shifts, I jumped on the chance. I could really use 14 extra hours of work this week. The problem was that since it was on short notice, I couldn’t amend my sleep schedule. I work 4-7pm (thankfully in this case we close an hour earlier than usual this time of year), usually going to lift after that. The night shift is 11pm-6am. Not so fun… the joys of working at a gym open 24 hours a day. So I tried to get any extra sleep I could during the day as my body would permit. Didn’t help a whole lot and I think it actually made me more lethargic. I came home between shifts to eat and rest a little longer, then got up just early enough to make some coffee (which was gone within the hour) for what it was worth to keep me awake. I got home around 6:30, ate breakfast, and passed out till a little after 10am. I’m hoping to get some more rest after lunch because I get to do it all again tonight! At least I was able to switch my shift on Weds from opening to closing so I can sleep a little more tomorrow morning and we’re closing early for Christmas Eve. I’m really looking forward to Christmas just to get some good quality recovery time at this point. This is totally throwing off my internal clock.

On another forum I’m on, there are some friendly challenges going on. Looks like I’ve gotten myself into one for Rack Pulls. I was getting into Deadlifts more, but I suppose I can wait a little longer to get into those full swing and focus on the racks. The goal is to see who is first to get 3 reps at 500lbs from no higher than knee cap height. I’m 6′ and he’s 6′1" so we’re similar there, but he is 30lbs heavier than me, and its lean mass. So, it’ll be an interesting run. His normal back day is tomorrow, mine is Monday.

Up to 14% bodyfat this morning, but you know what? That’s ok. I weighed in at 205 this morning, which is my heaviest ever since I was 204 back in the first week of March. I’m actually going for a good ‘ol winter bulk and this time not worrying about losing sight of my abs or some increases in bodyfat. Sure, I wanna make sure the gains are quality, and I do believe they are, so if a little bodyfat is gained in the process then so be it. I’ll worry about getting rid of that come spring time. Anyhow… Very pleased with numbers this week, both lifting and body stats. I’m hoping they can continue at a fairly steady rate. I’ve beaten my goal for C5 that I revised after deciding to not go for a diet down at the end of October. I’ve been thinking about goals for C6 to start off the new year, but it looks like I need to wait a little longer and see what numbers I manage next week. They’re gonna be some of my most ambitious goals yet though I promise you that!

Smith Power Press: 270×5 and Barbell Power Curls: 115×7 (2nd set) and 120×5 (3rd set). I’m thrilled! Put up a couple new back progress shots, too. Suddenly I’m seeing why the deadlifts earlier this week weren’t so bad. That, and the FST-7 really brought out some good definition just like for other bodyparts. Been a pretty good week in the training realm!

Last night for the final set, just to see what would happen, I managed 3 reps with 18 plates (810lbs+115lb sled=925lbs total). I’m pretty darn pleased with that! There’s a video up in my profile, too. I’m liking bringing the cam with me more for self critique of form, but it is nice to also have it around when I set a new milestone.

http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/trixter747/more.php?section=videos&type=you&i=3
94102#394102

This past month or so has been really rough, just like for a number of people in this country. My parents are music teachers, both primarily self employed with other endeavors supporting it. Growing up I became well aware of the nature of linear income coupled with a service based job. When the work stops, the money stops. That’s the basic rule of linear income streams, but when you add in the fact that other people are the ones that determine your work regardless of if you show up to perform then you have a different beast to be working with. I have some side business that provides residual income (work once, paid forever) and its been a blessing to have. Unfortunately I haven’t developed and nurtured it enough to be my only source of income at this point.

Massage therapy is a great and rewarding profession, and I wish more people saw massage for its therapeudic benefits instead of a luxury. Thing is, when money gets tight its often the first thing that people opt out of. My parents have experienced the same thing with teaching music. Other friends are seeing their client base drop in for personal training. Its a risk that comes with any commission based job, even worse in this time of year. The last few months, basically the only consistent income I’ve had is from the 8-10 hours a week I work at my part time job. Not enough to pay the bills and its frustrating not being able to pull more weight with the household income. Going from $20-26/hr to $0 is a real shot in the nuts. So, with that I’ve had to go back to a past employer, 24 Hour Fitness.

Its been a headache getting all the rehire paperwork done, waiting for the office in CA to get me on payroll, then the latest stupid thing is that I have to wait and sit through a new hire orientation class in a week before I can work again. Originally, the manager and I had hoped I would be able to start 2 weeks ago… You’d think someone who used to be an Operations Manager wouldn’t have to jump through all the hoops, but I can’t argue at this point because considering how many people still have no work right now, I’m greatful to at least have this (plus it’ll save a good chunk of money each month for mine and GJ’s gym memberships). I have to start at an entry level position for now, which is yet another lesson in humility by itself, and after that’s settled in the idea is that I’ll replace the Lead Service Rep that went to a new club this month.

I have said for a while that I wanted to get back into the fitness industry. This isn’t exactly how I imagined doing it, though, but I’m glad I’ll at least have a steady paycheck again.

Started it today instead of tomorrow. What can I say, I get impatient sometimes when I have to take a week off… Brought the cam today and shot the last set of deadlifts to see where my form was at. Its much better than in the past, but I do have some things to work on. I also need to get myself a good weight belt because the one I usually used at the gym is now AWOL and the one I have to use instead isn’t exactly ideal, but it gets the job done. Anyhow, check out the vid and lemme know what you think.

I decided to erase all my past lifting stats. Looking back at some of the videos I had of training at the beginning of this year I can now see how bad my form was in a few areas. Since then I’ve learned and developed better technique and in some cases lift completely different than I did in the past. With the new year coming up soon I want a clean slate to start tracking progress again from where I am at now. I’ve always been concerned more with whether how I am lifting is working than how much I am lifting. Now that the past is wiped out I can’t look back and say, "Well, I did that much before, so I should be able to now…" because I realize that I may have been doing it poorly. I’ve benched 275lbs before for a 1 rep max, but I know a lot of help was from the delts and form was bad. Deadlift I’ve done 400lbs, but I used more of my lower back and instead of dragging the bar up my legs like I should. Squats, given any two days I probably had slightly different footing, depth, position of the bar on my shoulders/traps, etc. There have just been too many inconsistencies. Even going forward, I’m not sure that I’ll even post the stats, but rather adopt more of the idea of lifting how I feel that day. If I feel good, go heavier. If I feel a little off, stay lighter.
Clean slate, clean gains. 2009 will have a lot more emphasis on form and function.