While I’ve been mad fatigued lately, today after work I decided to actually touch the barbell.
Twas two half hour sessions spread over an almost three hour time period – a perk of the yard ;
•set it up
•use it
•go do other stuff for a couple of hours
•use it again
•put it away
Today it was two barbells and a kettlebell out.
A 205lb press today’s heaviest lift – I may run bastardized 5/3/1 with high frequency on it – no warm ups, just work sets – aiming to get to a bodyweight clean and press.
I think I’ll work the light barbell in with the regular kettlebell stuff and the burpees, with it reverse curls and overhead squats – starting at 65lbs, moving over time to 95lbs as the effort lowers and reps increase.
You train for long enough and some things happen…
Everything becomes more effective.
You require less time, less effort, less weight.
The human body is a muscle building machine after holding a bunch of muscular bodyweight for a decade or longer – which makes sense when you think about it.
You’ve adapted to having high amounts of muscle on your frame.
I also have it going for me that I no longer care that much. Less expectation. More results…cause the universe presents on a platter that which you don’t needily chase.
I can only laugh about how I eat lately.
This summer has been a real struggle for me to 1. stay hydrated 2. have an appetite when both the time is right to eat and food is logistically available.
I don’t want to have to digest heavy foods with the mover job, and often am rather tired – skipping cooking the steak in the fridge night after night after night.
The frozen food section has been my friend, normally getting in a little meat each day in the form of beef jerky or precooked bacon, but otherwise living on a ration of pasta doused in cheese or mozzarella sticks, some milk to drink, and comically copious quantities of grape juice going down the hatch.
I peaked in late winter at 296lbs on the shop scale, was walking around for months between 287 and 290.
Over the period of a month, now about a week or two back I went from there to 275lbs, and it feels a whole lot better – I have good wind as far as going up flight after flight of stairs with work.
In a word the job has physically become easy, though a far heavier than their norm upright piano (more the 600lb range than 400lb range) reawoke to me the fact that I have serious traps when they are given heavy stimulus…
All this said a 205lb press isn’t bodyweight when you weight 275lbs.
I expect to meet in the middle around 255lbs for this, then pass bodyweight.
I doubt I’d be lower than 235lbs with a full six pack – body composition has been going very well for me.
I realize real world I’m stronger than almost all, though my powerlifts are horrible.
I no longer even train any of the three :)-
I am big, strong, able to work all day – having decent gym strength with good labor strength – it’s a rare combination.
I die inside not being in a gym – an ego thing to either opt out of or get my ass into a gym have myself open a gym, not pursuing barbells all out, not personal training, not helping people with lifting – heck, I’m mad at myself for delaying purchase of a heavier kettlebell and six months in not yet having really went all in on kettlebell usage, the thing requiring a good bit of volume at some point to say you did it all out.
Whatever.
#1 is that I’m not going to mess up. The beard, now in it’s first days…Is. Coming. Back.
I smile knowing this, feeling this, having total confidence in the statement.
Persistence & Tenacity
P.S. half or more of today’s lifting was done without headphones – a friendly neighborhood psa that you can check in, not distract yourself with noise, and properly get it