4.28.11 - anxious to get to the gym

Anxious to get to the gym. I'm full of energy today for some reason and feeling a tad aggro. I had to skip the gym last night because I had to mow the yard. That's the bad part of Spring, the grass grows so fast I have to basically mow twice a week. That just takes away from my gym time!

Tonight is deadlifts and bench press. I'm moving up in weight on both. Deadlifts I'm not much worried about but bench has always been a weak spot for me.

I'm trying to set up my initial goals for my 1RM weights. So far I'm thinking:
315 - deadlift
315 - squat
275 - bench

I think I'll get to squat and deadlift at a decent pace but that bench is going to take a while. I need to try to hit it twice a week and make some progress. I think I need to eat more and have a more structured approach. I'm thinking of starting protein shakes at work, at least one during the day. Now that we're working out regularly I seem to always be hungry.

Training Update - 4.27.11

weight - 210
body fat% - 21.4%

squat - 195 lbs
deadlift - 185 lbs
bench - 155 lbs
press - 85 lbs

Last night's workout - squats, back, biceps, 30 min cardio

Workouts are going great. We spent nearly 2 hours at the gym last night. When we first arrived we had to wait on the squat rack because some d-bag personal trainer was doing circuit training, tying up multiple stations including the squat rack. The gym was pretty busy, adding to my annoyance with the trainer.

Cardio is going well so far. I realized the other night that the gym has free wi-fi so I was able to fire up Pandora radio on my phone and listen to my Tool station while on the treadmill. I got kind of a cardio high, full body tingly sensation right in the middle of a high point of Metallica's "One." It was pretty awesome I must say. By the end of my slow burn cardio I was dripping wet with sweat.

Ordered some new supplements from Muscle and Strength. I ordered some casein protein for my morning shakes and some XTend recovery drink. I plan on putting this Xtend in my water that I take to the gym.

The Dark Tower - reading

Lately, I have been reading (devouring) the first few books in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. The series came highly recommended by colleague, who happens to be a huge Stephen King fan himself. The series is tough to explain to the unfamiliar. Essentially it is a sort of post-apocalytic epic about Roland, the last gunslinger and his quest for the Dark Tower. It is a twist on the classic grail quest where the noble knight, Roland in this case, quests for his ultimate destiny and encounters many a challenge, adventure, and odd character along the way.

I love to read but I'm not a regular reader, normally I only read in bursts of reading energy. I can go six months without reading a book, then get the reading bug and tear through 3-4 books in a short time. (I guess I have a problem with moderation?) In school I was a nerdy kid in the back who kept to himself and always had his homework done on time. I would normally breeze through my homework during class and then spend the rest of the hour reading. I always had a book with me.

Out of the mist...

Over the past few days it has been very foggy in the mornings as the humidity level is near 100%. This morning was no exception.

I leave for work around 6:30 in the morning so at this time of year sunrise does not occur for another hour or so. My drive to work this morning was in the dark and through the dense fog. Even walking through the parking lot, as if the world had been muffled, muted, just the overwhelming quiet is left.

There is something about a dense fog that puts me in a different state of mind and I'm sure I'm not alone in this. I think it makes our minds reach back into the uncomfortable, primal state of a higher awareness. Our lives are so...safe, secure, that we rarely have to worry about our own immediate survival. The fact that you can barely see 30 feet in front of your self is freightening on a fundamental level. It's no wonder so many legends and myths center around the mist. Wander too far out into the mist and you may never return.

weightlifting motivation

I went to the gym last night and had a pretty good leg workout, for a change. I've been cautious about leg day because I always seem to have some knee pain, especially since I've started playing tennis.

I started out with squats and did:

8x135
8x155
5x185
5x195
4x225 (personal best)

I later moved on to Romanian deadlifts and went heavier than usual. I had some great sets, except that on one of my heavier sets I banged the bar against my shin again. I should have some permanent scars from doing that, one on each shin.

I was pretty tired for most of the day, but I got fired up after I got home from work and had a great workout. Tonight's chest night so hopefully I can carry through with some of that energy I had last night.

It's enough to make a guy stop believing in coincidences...

It's odd how patterns surface in our lives, if only we are aware. How often have you had a thought or idea in your head, only to have that same thought materialize before you time after time in the following days. 

I've been reading "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman and in the book there is mention of the Norse god Odin and the sacrifice he made by being hung from a tree for a period of nine days whilst being pierced by a spear. 

Just a night or two following, I watched "Harper's Island," some new serial drama on Tv. In the show, they mentioned a serial killer who had killed a handful of people and subsequently hanged their bodies from a nearby tree. 

Yesterday my wife and I were driving back from Sunday Easter brunch at my sister's house, and on the radio played Johnette Napolitano's "Suicide Note" from the "Underworld" soundtrack. In the song the lyrics go, "I wanted to believe......bodies swingin' from trees....strugglin' to stand....with your head in your hands...the stoic last stand of a dying man...."

I know it isn't much, but it's enough to make me pause for a moment in wonder...