Sunday, December 2, 2018

Thoughts

I don't even wanna write sometimes, it's the last thing that I feel like doing, but folks who like to write feel a need to put some stuff down on paper. It's a way of expressing yourself but really it is just words flowing out of the fingertips and I couldn't stop it or it would make me crazy. You gotta "write it off" like "running it off", as my coaches used to say when somebody got injured. Anyway, it means get it out of your damn system. So I was just sitting here thinking and thought it might help somebody, so what the hell.

I was thinking about good tips for beginners and damn, if the first one that I thought of and one that sticks in my mind over and over is to use good form. I have lifted since 1979, and I have used bad form and good form and let me tell you, you pay the price for bad form in the form of this question constantly asked in your own head, "What can I take to make my joints feel better?" as you go on with years of training. It really means (unless you are powerlifting), that you must try to just work the muscle that you are supposed to be working. Period. No rational person can refute the fact that when you want the most stimulation to a certain muscle you should try to minimize the involvement of other muscles. That applies for bodybuilding or just to get bigger. Which I guess is bodybuilding, but everybody freaks out when they hear "bodybuilding" and thinks, oh god, I just wanna be toned like some runway model not some freak with massive arms and legs, oh never that, when it just means Building Your Body. In powerlifting, there is tons of technique involved, but you encourage other muscles to get involved so that you can lift maximal weight. Use good form so you can lift forever. 

When I go to public gyms, I amazed how may exercises people will do instead of just squatting and deadlifting and pressing. They would be done so much faster. Bands everywhere, 3 water bottles, special gloves and matching clothes (I fit right in with my Archgoat T-shirt) and slamming 2 pound med balls and putting slide things on your feet and doing sorta a mountain climber thing  and various other crazy looking movements and if they would just look into the free weight section of the place... lo and behold! There sits the squat bar, in all its magnificent glory, or the deadlift bar, just waiting to be picked up. In 20 minutes, including warmups and ridiculous rolling around on stuff, you can be out the door, and feel as though you want to vomit but also feel as though you actually did something. And you did do something. But it ain't for the faint of hearted. Oh sure, half squats are, but deep 20 rep squats of barbell or safety or even hack squats are for real folks who like real hard work and real results. And the deadlift? Thats' a man maker. Pull a max set of 5 and listen to the ears ring and see the white buffalo dance across your vision. But your traps will be bulging and your erectors will be as thick as steel cables after a while. Hell Yes!

All About Being a Lifer

What's a Lifer? Someone who isn't in to something for just a day, a month, a year...it's for life. Whether its training or your family or your job...it doesn't matter. You work at it, you build on it, you see the big picture . You don't miss workouts because it means something to you. You are like a Shakespearean actor- no matter what is going on in your life, you block it out when it's time to train. You walk into the weight room and all else disappears. Worry about it later.