Exerbabble for 5-23-6

It was one of those days at the gym. In a good way. Any day is good when you can increase weight.

Today’s workout:

Romanian Deadlift: 5×5 @ 185 lbs
Arnold Press: 5, 5, 5, 2, 1 @ 35 lbs
Standing Calf Raise: 3×10 @ 360 lbs
Pull-up: 8, 8, 4 @ bodyweight
ATG Squat: 20 @ 105 lbs
current bodyweight: 148.2 lbs (+.8 lbs; weekly average of 147.6 lbs)

Just to point it out: That RDL weight is 20 lbs more than I did the last time I did RDL. Wanting to really nail these sets, I decided to do it first. I warmed up with the bar, then with 115. Then I put two more 35’s on (two 35’s on each side). Flexed my wrists a little, building my confidence up. If you don’t believe you’ll make the lift, you won’t. I said to myself, “Low reps.” But the weight didn’t feel that intimidating, so I kept going. I stopped at five, and did four more sets, with decent form.

Having slammed my posterior chain, I decided I’d do heavy squats later in the workout. So I went to do Arnold Presses. I decided to see if I could lift 35 lb (dumbbells) overhead. Give a shot, I thought, just keep the reps low. To my amazement, I could. I stopped at five. Fourth set, I kind of lost it mid-air. Last set, I wasn’t controlling the eccentric as much as I should have, so I stopped. I feel good about myself!

It’s fun coming early in the day, because I get a mix of older people and ladies. There are ladies that clearly look like they haul ass. Oh no, they’re not huge at all, they are just clearly muscular. (It’s hot, trust me.) Unfortunately, most don’t lift heavy, sticking to machines and to strange activities the personal trainers teach them. I can’t help but think, “You know, if you want to strengthen your core, just stick to basic compound lifts.” You want to build muscle, or do you just want to screw around for an hour? I know where my priorities are.

I’m an observer. I see this one guy doing things that make me scratch my head. He’ll stand on a jell-pad, one of those circular domes, and do curls. Another thing he does is lay on the floor and do.. cable curls. What else have I seen him do. That cable.. bench press? There’s gotta be a name for that, I see a lot of people doing that. That doesn’t bother me. I must not be observant enough to notice the rest of his workout. I’m sure he does leg press at some point, as his legs aren’t that scrawny.

As much as I’d like to think he’s imbalanced, he does have a nice ass. What? He does! When you’re naked in the locker room, you notice these things. Especially if I’ve just weighed myself, and want to hit the showers and he decides to stand in just the right spot (talking to someone else naked) where there’s a wedge for me to slip through (between him and the wall), but I do not want to take the chance of my flaccidity accidentally bumping into his naked man-ass. I know all the ladies (and middle-aged gay men) in the house can appreciate fine man-ass. He’s not hairy, either.

Okay, I’ll shut up about that.

I did my calf raises. I considered that I should probably increase the reps for them. Supposedly calves require a higher rep range for hypertrophy. Would like them to grow before I max out the freaking apparatus.

Did pull-ups. I don’t really like pull-ups, but I try to keep up with them now and then. As my bodyweight increases, pull-ups will become more difficult. *nodnod* My lats have grown and I’m content with my progress; I’ll maintain my pull-ups while I really focus on bent-over rows.

I’d done everything except for squats. That’s when my brain told me, “Don’t even think about it.” So this is why people say you can’t do heavy squats and heavy deadlifts on the same day. I wanted to do my 20-rep ATG squats anyway, so I figured I’d just drop heavy squats for the day. My quads get hit during front squats (as well as the ATG squats themselves), so I’ll hardly run into an imbalance situation. I added 10 lbs. I hit the wall around 14, this time. Stopped to catch my breath. Two, more, rest, two more, rest, two more, done. Rack the weight and want to stab myself. I’ll increase the weight next time.

Got some water (I’m always doing that between sets) and went to stretch. I try to keep up with post-workout stretching as much as possible. It’s a good habit. Supposedly after you lift, your muscles are in a shortened state, so the sooner they can return to normal length, the better. Man, I read way too much online. I focus mostly on leg stretching and back stretching. It’s an effective cool-down.

Went upstairs to the locker room, sat on the bench, and out the second half of my protein smoothie. Obvious health benefits aside, it lets me relax so I don’t have to worry about immediately getting food in me. Weighted myself, showered, and relaxed in the sauna naked for a bit. Hey, the sauna does wonders for setting my curls. *puffs his hair*

Seeing as how I finished my RDL with complete sets, I’ll be increasing the weight more next time. The question is how much. I added twenty pounds rather ambitiously. Honestly, I may add another twenty (205) and just go for it. I’ll warm up with 135, then toss in two 35’s. I haven’t hit a wall yet. If I feel I can’t do it, then I’ll ease up and change my set/rep. I have yet to do a set/rep where I’m doing more sets than reps. Regardless, I want to hit 225 and see two 45’s on each side. *pats his posterior chain*

The point of my current program is to try and max out my leg lifts. So far, my hunch that I would need two front squat/good morning days to recover from heavy romanian deadlifts was correct. I know I’m working out every other day, but I’m very conscious of recovery. I feel good, so I’m going with it. I’m getting smarter about my workouts, too, listening to myself when I don’t feel I want to do something. That’s critical. Don’t want to do something? Don’t!

Went to the diner. Hadn’t been there by myself in a while. It was a perfect visit. Relatively quiet. As soon as I sit down, Price is Right comes on. Isn’t that freaking awesome??!?!! And. My favorite waitress was working. *smiles* I ate slowly, watching Price is Right and writing a little bit in my journal. After I finished reading, I tore through a sudoku I brought with me. It was a medium, but it didn’t seem that hard. I fear I’ve gotten good at it. Would you expect anything less from me?

I scooted over to the student center, bent on looking through the classifieds again. Slowly. Something about background noise helps me. A nice buzz. We know I don’t do well at home when it comes to things I don’t like doing.

No, didn’t find anything.

But I do feel better about myself. In the long run, that’s what matters. If I feel good about myself, this entire process will be a lot easier. Just have to give myself a chance.

Because I find it fascinating, let me tell you what I’ve eaten so far today.

7:15 AM: Half of a protein smoothie (one tall root beer mug’s worth)
8:45 AM: One hard-boiled egg
10:30 AM: Second half of protein smoothie
11:15 AM: Cheeseburger, medium, no fries. : D (Drank water, was thirsty, not in mood for tea.)
1:30 PM: Chicken salad sandwich; two glasses of apple cider

It’s a trick keeping oneself not-hungry, but not-full. This timing works out good, I’ll probably eat something around 3 – 3:30. Then there’s whatever my parents make for dinner around 5-6 PM. Then my pre-sleep cottage cheese around 9 PM.

And since I’m a lazy person when it comes to food, my smoothie consists of:

• One serving (large scoop) ON strawberry whey powder (recipe I based this on called for two)
• 8 oz plain yogurt
• oatmeal (I eyeball it, coating the surface of the yogurt I toss in. Any more and the flavor is too much.)
• one large banana
• 4 – 6 strawberries
• milk

Original recipe called for two glasses of milk. But I’m lazy. If I use around a half-glass of milk, I can get exactly two glasses of smoothie. I typically just set my blender to vaporize until I feel it’s been sufficiently turned into a liquid. Lazy, lazy eating. Over 6-800 calories, over 50 grams of protein, depending on how much milk you use. (That’s for the entire mix.) Reminds me, my dad still has some old soy protein. Don’t know why he bought it. If I mix it in, it doesn’t effect the flavor at all.

Okay, that is all for now.