Exerbabble for 5-27-6

Balls to the wall.

If I went by my program, I would have had a second day of front squats/good mornings as I primed (but not pounded) my posterior chain for a heavy lift. Except. I wanted to set the personal record now. I decided I’d play it by ear.

I woke up with a sizable morning erection, an affirmative sign that I am not overtrained. Consistent lack of morning erection is a sign of overtraining, so it’s something I pay attention to. If my penis rises to the occasion in the morning, so will I through the day. I rinsed my face (must be getting warmer out), washed my furry underarms, and made my protein smoothie. I find it funny how I can only drink it slowly first thing in the morning, but managed to chug it down after a workout.

I’d love to whip my dad into shape, but he has a knee problem. If he can’t even quarter bodyweight squat without feeling discomfort in his knee, there’s a problem. His right knee does look noticably bigger than the left. I’m not stupid, and I’m not a doctor; he should go see one. I have a hunch people get knee problems due to bad form. If you put stress on your knee in the way it’s supposed to be stressed, you’ll end up with strong knees. Consistently put bad stress on your knees, regardless of whether you’re a lifter or a couch potato, you’re going to have problems. My mom’s dad had knee problems because he was a fatass. My dad hardly fits that category.

It’s rather cute to watch him try to bodyweight squat. His upper body shoots forward, and he can’t even sink down. I bodyweight squat while remaining perfectly upright? You know you want to damn me and my flexibility.

Today’s workout:

Romanian Deadlift: 4×4 @ 205 lbs PR!
Arnold Press: 5, 5, 5, 2, 2 @ 35 lbs; 5 @ 30 lbs
Standing Calf Raise: 10, 10, 8 @ 380 lbs
Narrow-Grip Bent-over Row: 3×8 @ 95 lbs
ATG Squat: 20 @ 120 lbs
current bodyweight: 150.4 PR!(+.8 lbs; weekly average of 148.9 lbs)

Let’s face it: I was looking forward to the lift. Numbers may be arbitrary, but it means I can move something over two hundred pounds, freeweight. You don’t fake freeweights. I can move inanimate objects! I am proud of myself. No, seriously, I am. I told myself since the weight is going up, there’s no way I could finish it for 5×5. Lower the reps, I said. Just by one. I warmed up with the bar, then 135 lbs (45’s on each side). Paused, went to get a drink of water, then did two more reps, then tossed on a 35 on each side.

I went with my normal starting grip, left hand underhand, right hand overhand, standard alternating grip. I have no doubt I already had a slight adrenaline rush just anticipating the lift. Confidence. I’d hit it once, I knew. Anything after that is gravy. Down, up. Four times. I smiled and waited for myself to count thirty in my head. It tends to be more than that, but it keeps my mind occupied while I rest between sets. I figured I’d aim for 6×4. Third set finished, I got a drink of water. Fourth set, I noticed I was moving back up a little slower. Since the 45 plates are bigger, I tried letting the plates gently hit the ground, then coming back up. Fifth set, down once, up, and my body said, “Okay. Let’s stop now.”

So I did.

Practically panting, I went over to knock out some Arnold Presses. I noticed my previous accomplishment was 5, 5, 5, 2, 1, so my goal was to add one more. I have no doubt my form was rather paltry, but I still got the dumbbells up overhead. Doesn’t matter how long it takes so long as they get there! *giggles* I got my one extra rep, then out of curiosity, picked up the 30 lb dumbbells to see how much more I could do. Five pounds makes a difference, it felt so much easier curling them into position. I hit five and my brain said, “Okay, let’s stop.”

So I did.

Strange as it might sound, curling them into position does hit your biceps, so I went over to do calf raises first. I noticed I hit 3×10 @ 360 lbs last time, so I decided to increase the weight. Balls to the wall. Inability to complete a set means you pushed yourself as far as possible. Grawr. My calves seem strong, but they’re not big by any means. Go figure. I’ll keep at it.

Someone was doing hanging leg raises in the squat cage, so I was forced to think of an alternative to pull-ups. There are other places to do it, but.. I’m short. It hurts my hands to jump up and grab the bar. I don’t feel like I’m in position. I like making sure my grip is perfect. So I did narrow-grip bent-over rows. Hands underhand, shoulder-width grip (as opposed to my usual snatch grip), hits the lats more than my posterior deltoids. *nodnod*

And to finish myself off, a rousing set of 20 ATG squats. I was exhausted, so I only incremented the weight five pounds. Took a good wider-than-usual stance, and powered through it. Form was pretty good, I feel like my forward lean is receeding. I’m close to finding my 10RM. I paused after 13 to catch my breath. Once I find a weight where I have to pause after 10, I’ll know that’s close to my 10RM. To reiterate, the point of 20 rep squats is to lift your 10RM past the point of exhaustion. Pause at the top and keep going. It’s all a mind-exercise. Legs are large muscles, and you always have “one more rep” in you. If my weight is any indication, so far I’m continuing to gain weight.

Speaking of which, I reached my New Year’s resolution of raising my weight to 150. It was a modest goal, because I wasn’t sure how much I could gain. I’ve gained 20 lbs since I started working out. ..Where did it all go? *looks at his posterior* I’ve added some inches to my posterior and my chest, though my chest is partially due to the growth of my lats, rather than just my pecs. My waist has grown, duly from my abs growing, and from required increase in fat. Hey, I can tell. My quads have exploded. My arms.. Not really any noticable growth, though I know they’ve gotten stronger. I’d rather be small and strong, than huge and weak.

Reminds me, I was looking at my knees and comparing them to my dads when I noticed my quads got more noticable. Let me take a picture.

Flaccid – flexed

Flaccid – flexed

I took these two pairs right now. At least I think it’s noticable. The only other quad pictures I have are from a month ago, so it’s too soon to do a comparison like that. Hrm. I should take calf pictures for somebody.

My dad knocks. He brought me sliced watermelon. Without flinching I said, “I don’t like watermelon.” He threw a fit. He called me inconsiderate because he had brought me something. I said at the grocery store that I don’t like watermelon, as a random comment. I’ve never liked watermelon. It’s not like I’m refusing to eat something I’ve never tried before. Every time I eat watermelon I think, “Wow, this is completely unsatisfactory, why do people like it?” I said calmly that he shouldn’t try to guilt trip me into eating something I don’t like. He’s such a child. What’s so hard about being relaxed and saying, “Oh. Sure you don’t want any? Okay, don’t worry about it.” Poor guy, I hope he calms down.

Okay, calves.

Flaccid – flexed

*nodnod* Some people may get massive calves just by squatting, but I’m an ectomorph, and I’m going to blast my calves as much as possible.

One week. You simply can not go balls to the wall on a consistent basis without planned rest. I feel awesome, but I’d like to keep it that way. Memorial Day, the Y is closed, so I guess I’ll just go with two days off. I’ll try to drop my weights Tuesday and aim for a higher rep range. Might do the same Thursday, we’ll see. But Saturday, I’m going to try for a minimum 1 rep max of 225. I know I have at least twenty more pounds in me. I’ll drop the reps down to two or three and take it from there.

*smiles* I’m feeling good about myself. We went grocery shopping, as implied by the watermelon incident. We’re having chicken tonight, so I’ll have chicken salad leftovers for the week. We’re having chili tomorrow, so that’ll be another leftover I can exploit. Leftovers ensured, I should maintain five meals a day. I could hit six if I stayed up later, but it’s hard. Plan your meals.

Anyway, feeling good about myself. Made a new personal record, hit my goal weight (though I’m hardly done gaining weight). I know, bulking in the summer? Blasphamy! I know once I’ve gained enough, all I’ll need to do is slightly decrease my intake so that I maintain my weight, and I should continue to gain muscle while burning off fat. That’s pretty much what happened when I started lifting, I suddenly discovered that I had abs as I was inadvertantly burning off fat. *giggles*

Time to eat again, I believe. And pee. I love peeing.