Chest Day

Good evening, third day in a row of posting. I'm trying to develop the habit and get my creativity flowing again.

I'm not coming into this particular post with anything in particular on my mind.

Okay, so, before you read my posts and say to yourself "so what's the big deal?"...read my very first post to get a little background on me and my history.

If you saw me and my physique, and how incredibly freaking old that I am, then you'd understand.

So today I did chest. My right arm's been ACHING from the elbow down through my wrist, but that don't affect chest day.

In a nutshell, I had a great chest workout today. I got up to 255# on my flat bench press....5# short of my one rep max record. I totaled thirteen reps of #225 or over today, so that was pretty cool.

After the barbell flat bench I moved to the dumb bells and got some pretty good sets in there too. Started with a set of twelve reps with 80# dumbbells in each hand. Then I went to the 100# dumbbells and did a few sets with those....six-five-and four. So that was pretty cool.

Then I did my inclines where I again touched my incline one rep max record of #225, which after all of the flat benching I did, I was quite pleased with.

Alright there we go! Those are today's feats of strength.

As far as life observations go...I noticed that in last night's post I didn't seem to finish a couple of stories that I started. I didn't proof read before posting.

I mentioned something about the front desk gal at my gym wanting to go across the street for a drink. She didn't want to go with me...she wanted to go because at the restaurant they were doing a fundraiser for one of our gym members that wants to be in some goofy beauty pageant.

That's what brought up the whole point of pageants yesterday. The front desk gal didn't actually want to go support the pageant, she just wanted to go as an excuse to escape work for a few to have a drink. Then of course I went on my pageant tangent.

I'm still confused.

Okay, a short post tonight. I'm not feeling like I have a lot flowing. So as usual, feel free to add me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/stevenp1960

Also check out my t-shirt websites. I will explain how those sites work, how long I've been at it, and much much more in a later blog. It's a pretty cool deal really. They ARE my very own designs, I hold no inventory, and I get paid once a month from the company that does all the manufacturing. So stay tuned to hear more about THAT!

In the meantime...visit, support, and share these great websites!

Cool Guitar Shirts has a great selection eye catching guitar designs on t-shirts, sweatshirts, gift items and more! The designs feature primarily Gibson, Fender, and Martin guitars!

Just Lift Gym Gear is what it's all about. Weightlifting designs on t-shirts, sweatshirts, and gift items for strong people...like you!

The Reggae Shop has some pretty damn cool red, yellow, and green designs on the usual huge selection of quality apparel and gift items that my web sites offer!

That's about it for now. Stay tuned to learn more about my CafePress t-shirt businesses, weight lifting feats, righteous thoughts and observations, and much much more! Goodnight!

Going Forward with this Blog

Okay, I just read my post from earlier tonight. I need a template or something. Consistent things that I will write about with each post.

So...maybe going forward we'll see something like this...

-Workout Summary and highlight of the workout
-Righteous Thoughts and Observations
-Something about life

Bodybuilding and Beauty Pageants...are they the same?

It's Wednesday evening, a little after 9, and the weather is glorious in the Northwest.

This evening I did arms at the gym, in addition to my usual share of shootin' the shit with gym friends. I call them "gym friends" because that's the only place that I see most of them. In fact, I guess that's the only place that I see any of them.

I had good energy tonight, but unfortunately my right arm has just been killing me pretty much from the elbow down to my two middle fingers. That's where the ibuprofen and tennis elbow forearm thing come in handy.

I'm not really sure what the tennis elbow forearm thing is called..but it works pretty good. It wraps around the forearm just below the elbow and somehow or another applies some good pressure that alleviates the pain. The one that I have has a nice little pad on it that appears to be for applying even more direct pressure. It's pretty cool really...I've used it for racquetball, bowling, and in the gym.

Okay back to the workout. Energy was good. I had a giant smoothie for lunch today. I had run some errands but managed a quick pit stop back to the house for my giant smoothie. My giant smoothies typically consist of some sort of combination of frozen fruits or berries from Costco, a big ole glob of peanut butter, a banana, 40 grams of EAS protein from Costco also, and the secret ingredient...MILK. All blended nicely together for a nutritious and inevitably energizing treat!

I call it a giant smoothie because I typically end up with about 32 ounces of it....and drink the whole thing!

So that was lunch.

Starting at about 4pm I started sipping on my pre workout concoction, which is usually Creadrive from GNC, but last time I went there they were out and the dude managed to talk me into something called Pump Fuel by a company called GDS.

The Pump Fuel seems to do pretty good, but I like the Creadrive better, I don't get as amped on it. But the Pump Fuel ain't that bad....I do feel like I sweat a bit more and that it really gets the blood flowing nicely. Or maybe it's just a coincidence seeing as how I've been doing a lot of high rep work and it's practically summer too. Who knows.

So this evening my arm workout consisted of:

-Supersetting EZ Bar bicep curls and triceps kick backs. I started with high reps on the curls to ease my painful forearm into it. The kick backs were done with a 30 lb dumb bell. My curling ended with a set of three reps at about 105 lbs. I did only three sets of the kick backs in between the curl sets....at 12-13 reps per set.

-Supersets of dumb bell curls and dips. Unfortunately the dumb bell curls were pretty excruciatingly painful at the top of the movement in my right arm. When I'd squeeze it I'd have pain shooting all the way down thru my fingertips. That sucked. So I stuck with high reps using 30 lb dumb bells.

Dips were a different story though...I love dips, I swear by dips, and I cranked em out tonight. Ended up doing four sets of body weight dips....35 per set! I tend to space my dip sets out so that I can maintain the reps. I went from dips...to the dumb bell curls...to the front desk to shoot the shit....to the TV to catch some baseball highlights...then back to the dips. Dips are good.

Okay...so during one of my visits to the front desk to shoot the shit with the club employees that stand around up there, the subject of beauty pageants came up. The front desk gal wanted to run across the street to have a drink at Canyons, where they were doing a fund raiser for one of the club members that's trying to be Miss Washington USA or something like that.

The gal that wanted to go across the street is actually quite cool and sweet...she just wanted a drink...I'm pretty sure she didn't want much to do with the pageant thing.

So that reminded me of my thought that bodybuilding "shows" should be called bodybuilding "pageants" don't you think? I mean really, is it a pageant or a sport? The workouts could be considered sport I think, but by the time you get all of the giant orange monsters up onto the stage it's more of a pageant. Just like the beauty pageant things. Except in bodybuilding pageants you don't have to talk so people don't really get to find out how bright you aren't.

I've been to a couple of bodybuilding and fitness "pageants" and I'm sorry, it's just a freak show.

Powerlifting is a sport. Bodybuilding is a pageant. http://www.cafepress.com/justliftshirts/3933441

Speaking of freak shows. I bought the new Muscle and Fitness magazine today. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but when I do I'm sure I'll find some pretty decent articles somewhere in between all of those advertisements with gigantic bodybuilders promoting the N.O. Xplode or some other supplement that would insinuate that that is how they got that freakishly large.

Really now, tell me Mr Jay Cutler, did you really get that big from lots of protein and N.O. Xplode?

In summary...bodybuilding "shows" are actually bodybuilding "pageants". Beauty pageants are weird too. My right arm hurts. Dips are good. Jay Cutler is a steroid monster.

Now visit these fine websites!

-For the finest in moisture absorbing cotton t-shirts with weight lifting and bodybuilding designs, visit http://www.justliftgymgear.com/

-For t-shirts featuring some pretty damn cool guitar designs, visit http://www.coolguitarshirts.com/ where you'll find Fender, Gibson, Martin guitars, and more!

Goodnight now!

Just Lift Gym Gear....the first post!

Good evening to you, thanks for your time...I'm hoping that this will be the beginning of a long, humorous, insightful, and thought provoking journey through my mind!

I enjoy lifting weights, it's something that took me a long time in life to make a habit out of...but something that I always wanted to do. I was 36 years old when I started, and I am still going strong at the age of 48.

The personal accomplishments that come with the weightlifting mean a lot to me....so I enjoy sharing them. I figure that with this blog, you can read if you're interested...and if you're not, then you don't have to read. I'm trying to avoid the unsolicited "bragging". People tend to think that if you share specific personal accomplishments with them that you're "full of yourself" or "bragging". Why isn't that the case if you talk about some success you had in school or on the job?

The fact that I'm in the gym as consistently as I am is an accomplishment in it's own right. But now, after 12 years of it, people just think you've always been that way, when that's far from the truth.

Overweight people struggle with losing weight, but underweight/skinny people don't always want to be underweight/skinny either. Personally, it really sucked being a "skinny" kid. I have a lot of painful memories in my life that are the result of being a "skinny" kid.

So...I'm kind of the opposite of overweight people that want to lose weight. Being a skinny dude my whole life, getting into a gym and having the determination to stick to it for the long run wasn't a real easy task.

When I graduated High School 30 years ago this month, I was 5'11" (same as I am today) and I weighed 130 lbs. Today at 48 yrs old I weigh consistently between 180-185. I can't imagine the frame I'm in today with 50 less pounds on it. It'd be Auschwitz material!

Okay, it's just about time for me to crash. Please come back. Going forward I plan to get in depth about my work outs, the things I do on particular days at the gym, the energy I have, what I ate, achievements and disappointments, interactions with other people, and much much more...and I'll do my best to keep you interested, and hopefully smiling!

Oh, and I'll also shamelessly plug my websites and ask you to share them with others! Have a good evening, thank you for visiting, and don't forget to visit Just Lift Gym Gear for a great selection of weight lifting and bodybuilding t-shirts for strong people!

Add me on facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/stevenp1960

Visit Cool Guitar Shirts: http://www.coolguitarshirts.com/

Visit Just Lift Gym Gear: http://www.justliftgymgear.com/

Visit The Reggae Shop: http://www.thereggaeshop.com/

Visit T-Shirts n' Shit: http://www.tshirtsnshit.com/

And...lastly...enjoy life...it's a choice!