Showing posts with label Beast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beast. Show all posts

Monday, April 12, 2010

One for the books....a PR


"Why" seems to be the recurring theme. It is the under current of what we are doing to ourselves. Here's a thought, the next time somebody asks you why you try with bells take a look at them and say why do you accept your current condition. Why is walking around with a six pack unproductive to some people but the keg hanging over their belt is ok. Do you really think your 'mate' accepts you for who you are? Lose 30 pounds and watch how they light up like its Christmas. Feel how easy you move. How easy you breathe.

Recently I decided to lose some body fat. Okay, cut silly looks. What I mean is I have decided to really 'cut' myself down. Just once. Only because I have never pushed myself like that in the past. The goal is to drop the body fat but not the strength.Not an easy process. It is the hardest thing to do if your a competitive lifter or bodybuilder. Why? Because it's constant. You can never drop the ball. You have to stay with it 24/7. Focus on a workout for 1-2 hours a day is easy. Get motivated and do it. But, keeping to a very strict course of eating takes more grit. This would increase my strength to weight ratio so theoretically I will be able to use a bigger bell for pull-ups or pistols.

So, I'm doing the reading. I haven't started yet. I am compiling information on nutritionally dense foods. I won't be able to eat a lot of volume so what I do take in must count. No empty calories. I have found myself looking into more and more organic stuff. Say what you want about organic foods and the expense because it is all true. Damn stuff is expensive. But it's real. Real food. Does it make a difference nutritionally? Oh hell-yah. Cost point?...I can spend $60 at the co-op and come away with maybe 10-12 meals. That same $60 bucks won't get me and my 2 kids one meal and a beer at Granite City Grill. The three dollars for a dozen organic eggs is a bargain compared to the $4 latte I continue to suck down. It really is about choices. What is my point!!! My point is I have been eating less food and partying more in the past week. I have had some events that needed attending and It just worked out that way. The food I have been eating is more nutritionally dense. Ice cream twice yesterday but otherwise no empty calories. I am slowly moving into 'cut' mode. This morning on an empty stomach I had a PR. I pressed the Beast on the right. It was towards the end of my training but I felt good. I can't get the beast off my arm typically. The next bell down is not a problem and the Bulldogs get 'rep'ed out anytime I have the desire. The Beast just sat there for years. At least two. I can only account for the increase in strength by the simple fact that I am eating real food. Not better. I have always ate well. But the grass fed meat from the co-op is just better meat than I was getting from Cub or Rainbow. The veggies are better because they are real. They have flavor. The Bushel Boy tomatoes at Cub taste like the paper sack they used to come in. My body is responding to it. I suspect Ready Meats has the same corn/grain fed meat. Shame. I will miss going there. This is my path for the summer. If I begin to look gaunt and eco-friendly mid-summer I hope somebody will rush me to BK and shovel a Whopper down my throat. I think that's basic CPR. Meanwhile, I am setting up more dates with the Beast.

Friday, September 26, 2008

IN THE END...IT'S ALL ABOUT HANDS.

  One complaint you will neeeever hear from a body builder is that their hands are getting ripped up. Olympic lifts? Maybe. Kettlebells? Please. It is the number one topic after a full day of high volume work. I tended to a gal who blew out her palm. I have never had a rip so low in my hand. Not sure what she was doing but I watched her afterwards and her technique was very good. I had brought some of my thin brown gloves  and NuSkin so I worked her up. She was still a mess in the hands department. But at least she didn't tear anymore. So what is the answer to hand preservation. That is up to the individual. You can select all or none of the following.
~Remove any build-up or 'tenting' of calluses. 
~Keep hands soft with lotion (Corn Huskers)
~Use barriers (thin socks or gloves) 
~Vary your technique to share the load over your entire hand
~Soak hands in ice water and lotion with a glove over them at night (not sure about this one)
  You just need to figure it out. In the above photo I was busy taping up hands each day as if they were going into battle. Believe me, they were. This was Lena as she was preparing for the VO2Max sequence. It was brutal. Everyone did great.

  I have been asked to post some of my training that I do daily or otherwise. Remember, I pick up the bells at different intervals throughout the day just to stay loose. I won't count that stuff in the training blog. Also, I have a tendency to subscribe to Brett Jones approach to training. Low reps/Heavy weights. I keep it simple. I am always 'working' on something (open the hips, sink the hips back, sink the shoulders back, pack the shoulders). I use the drills that promote these items.

Todays training:

Turkish Get-Up  5L+5R  32KG
                              4L+4R 32KG
                              3L+3R 40KG  <(this was work)
                              2L+2R 40KG
                              1L+1R  Beast
DARC Swings (alt. hand every swing)
                              20 reps/3 sets
Mow the lawn....not really training but what the hell.

~See you tonight!!!