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[Запись для всех] 01-12-2014 15:49
Last Night @ The Party...
Kids' Party, That Is)))
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[Запись для всех] 01-09-2008 10:44
I'm Like A Bird...
...disrespectfully cheery and outrageously chirpy today. The result, no doubt, of two high carbs days. And when I said HIGH, I meant piled-up, heaped-up feast of gargantuan standards(to list just a few things on my week end menu: two cakes - chocolate gateau and tiramisu; five pieces of fried bread with butter and jam; fried potatoes; fish'n'chips; mangoes and strawberries, etc...).
Even though bloody thing ("Harbour", that is) ain't working A-G-A-I-N.
Cardio so far today:
1. 7 miles walk to work.
2. 50 mins on the tread mill at work.
Cardio later in the afternoon:
7 miles walk back home.

Resistance training session in the "Muscle Limit Gym" tonight - CHEST.

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[Запись для всех] 31-08-2008 08:55
Last Morning Of Summer.
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[Запись для всех] 30-08-2008 15:20
One down...
...one to go...
Another photo session is out of the way. Feel like have done twelve rounds with Mike Tyson(probably, look like it, too - all my legs and arms are bruised black-and-blue for some unexplicable reason). With a good cause, anyway: the photogapher, Eric, is a former heavy weight British boxing champion.

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[Запись для всех] 29-08-2008 07:24
Carry On... Regardless...
Whether "Harbour" is moody or broody, or downright beastly and rough; if it’s glitching, or bitching or, stringing us along, or keeping away for the sake of sheer excitement of being allowed back in, ALL of it is of the secondary importance to me. For, I still do what I've always done best: training, eating, sleeping. Working as well (you'd better not ask how the latter is going and how much of it I manage to load onto my, admittedly, NOT so fragile shoulders ). Another photo shoot tomorrow, and the last one (hopefully) the following week end, Friday, October the 5th.
After that - just more of the same old. "Training. Eating. Sleeping". Being a die-hard muscle freak, you see, I do not believe in life outside pumping iron

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[Запись для всех] 27-08-2008 07:29
Nature Mort Of Hard Wear and Tupper Wear.

My office desk at half six in the morning.
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[Запись для всех] 26-08-2008 07:49
LoveLEE-BubbLEE.
It's not just my flamboyant personality this heading refers to. It's what I regularly get up to every morning. Well, almost.
I would’ve even presented astonished gathering of friends and foes with graphical demonstration, but, on the top of VERY early morning cardio session, it's too much of a hassle to photograph one's own torso, cocooned into layers and layers of bubble wrap at four o'clock in the morning. And picture of Lee Priest, as my faithful, X-training-at-dawn, motivator, taken from computer screen (I watch all my DVDs on Apple Mac) would've been completely obliterated by the camera flash in the dark conservatory.
So you just have to take my word for it.

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[Запись для всех] 25-08-2008 08:49
Self-similar syncopations: Fibonacci, L-systems, Limericks, etc.
Have to admit - I started with the latter. Studying "Limericks" for the second day on the row and trying to write some.
Sample of famous limerick by Edward Lear:

"There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, "It is just as I feared! -
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!"


What's a "Limerick"? It's a form of poetic rhyme. Making its first appearance a little over a century ago, the lure of the limerick is such that it has grown to become one of the world's most popular verse forms. There is something strangely appealing and intuitively "natural" about its slightly skewed symmetry.
Underlying stress patterns in the metre of the limerick, using "di" for an unstressed syllable and "dum" for a stressed one like this:
"di dum di di dum di di dum
di dum di di dum di di dum
di dum di di dum
di dum di di dum
di dum di di dum di di dum "

Apparently, this pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables belongs to the well known Fibonacci series: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 ... where each successive number is the sum of the two preceding numbers. Mathematics are not my strongest point or my favourite cup of tea any time of the day (I love mine black and strong, with lemon, jam and thick toasted bread-and butter ), so I better get on with the task at hand and stimulate the old grey matter ("Grave Matter" , as my son used to say, when he was young ).
So far I've come up with just this:

There was a young lady from London,
Who trained in a gym with abandon.
If she missed a day,
She'd always complain,
That her muscles would grow at random.


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[Запись для всех] 22-08-2008 15:40
"There Is Only One Click... ...
... from love to hatred".
Pretty self-evident axiom and rings true every time I am trying to get onto "Harbour" web-site.

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[Запись для всех] 18-08-2008 10:21
Feeling Pi**s**sed Off.
If you are anything like me(i.e. GREEDY ) and gobbling the whole bunch of parsley before bed time doesn't strike you as particularly stupid thing to do, do not moan, then, if you've got your beauty sleep broken by the bursting bladder and the need to rush down the loo every half hour, urged by repeated and very pressing(literally) calls of nature. It didn't stop in the morning either, and I had to interrupt my usual stroll to work by mad dashes from one public toilet to another. Good thing there are quiet a few of them, or I might've end up in the wet pants otherwise. But then, again, it wouldn't have made any difference whatsoever, for, the weather decided to join the mood, and it's been pissing down from the sky the whole morning.
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[Запись для всех] 17-08-2008 15:28
Food A-G-A-I-N.
To my defence - I've been severely tested and tempted by Sofia's 1964 description of preparation and consumption of the same dish. Failed to resist and simply had to succumb.

Chicken thighs.
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Veggies.
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Rice.
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The process.

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End result.
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[Запись для всех] 16-08-2008 14:30
Food Of The Day.
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Bon Appetite!

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[Запись для всех] 15-08-2008 10:29
The Art Of Being Smart.
Just a few toughts on reading a few (QUITE a few!!!) of today's entries.


What's so difficult and objectionable about smart exercise and right eating, anyway, especially when the rewards and benefits are so great?
It's not like one had to eat mice and lice and drink ginger spice. It's not like one was addicted to Camels, Champaign and crack cocaine and had to abstain.

We're talking about yummy, yummy, good for the tummy [tantalizing,energizing and muscularizing]: meat, fish, poultry and milk products,fresh vegetables and fruits in moderation and order. He, or she, need to exercise regularly and with good intentions, not dig trenches on the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan, or potty-train lions, tigers and bears in the wild.

Got life? Workout, eat smart, be strong, be happy, be respectful, be worthy, be sure!

The most difficult and objectionable thing about smart exercise and right eating is getting started. The knowledge needed to start and get rolling, build up speed and put in the miles is not hidden or complicated. It's the basics, always the basics, from here to
eternity. I don't know anyone who is or has been a champion who needed special knowledge to become great.

Understanding... well, that's another matter altogether. Though confused with knowledge, understanding is discernment, awareness and perception -- an invaluable byproduct that only comes with time and guts, consistency and practice, observation and trial and error. Take pleasure in gaining understanding because growth is its faithful and constant companion. You, yourself, might be amazed and pleased at the end result, and at how good a mental and physical hortiCULTURIST you turned out to be.

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[Запись для всех] 14-08-2008 06:50
Weekly Training Log.
Sunday.
Back.

Monday.
Arms + Calves.

Tuesday.
Chest.

Wednsday.
Off.

Thursday.
Hams.

Friday.
Deltoids+Calves.

Saturday.
Quads.

Sunday.
Off.


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[Запись для всех] 10-08-2008 14:23
LEGS - RULE!!!
Today's Training.

Cardio in the morning. 45mins. on the X-trainer @ home.

Legs in the "Muscle Limit Gym":

1. Superset One.

Leg Extensions+Leg Curls. 5 X max.

2. Superset Two.
Leg Presses+ DB Lunges. 5 X max. (went to 300kg on the leg press machine).

3.Superset Three.
Stiff-Legged Dead Lifts + DB Stair Walk.

4. Superset Four.
Sissy Squats using Roman Chair + Hyperextensions.
4 X max.

This entry is optimistically fake. I meant to write down a really macabre and gloomy one. About how fed up and tired I am, and how more and more out of place I feel here, and what a bore it is reading the same stuf about "being fat" @ 54 (and less) kilos, all those "new starts" and "It's my last chance" screams, fabulous diets ( leading to nothing more, then frustration, weight gain and depression), etc., etc., etc. At the end charitably decided against it and stayed with my legs training instead.

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[Запись для всех] 08-08-2008 13:30
Just Birds.
On the way to work today.

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I was siting on the grass next to the fountain and eating egg-whites omelet.

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[Запись для всех] 07-08-2008 07:17
You're Sooooooooooooo THIGH-ny.
Well, I've never been tiny, anyway.
Last night's THIGH training.

Superset One.
Lying Leg Curls + OneLegged Squats (off the bench). 5 X max. each.


Superset Two.
Stiff Legged BB Dead Lifts + DB Lunges. 4 X max. each.

ABS.
Hanging Leg Raises. 3 X max.

Cardio.
45 min. Incline Treadmill Walk.

PS. There is VERY distinct smell of freshly baked bread in the gym today. How odd...


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[Запись для всех] 06-08-2008 08:45
Green To My Gills.
First, because it's fish day today, and it's never a good news. Hunger and bad mood - guaranteed.
Second thing - it's my period (about a week early) and it makes everything even worse.
Third is the weather; fourth - legs' training tonight; fifth - our current fanincial state; sixth - seventh,... ...eighth ... ... ... I could go on forever, well into "hundredth", probably, moaning for Britain, but what's the use? Better take a deep breath, say "Ommmmmm" and get on with life.

Morning cardio: 45 mins. on the X-trainer @home.

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[Запись для всех] 05-08-2008 10:28
Cardio. Food. etc.
CARDIO:
Yesterday. 45mins. on the X-trainer @home.
7 miles walk to work.
7 miles walk back home.

Today. 45 mins. on the X-trainer @ home.
1 hour incline tread mill walk @ work.

FOOD:

Yesterday. 100g of porridge, made with boiled water.
10 egg whites omelet.
800g of white fish, boiled, divided between four meals.
250ml carb-free protein drink before bed.
Cucumber, broccoli.

Today. 250ml carb-free protein drink after first cardio work out.
10 egg whites omelet.
600g of grilled turkey breast mince,
divided between four meals.
Celery, broccoli.


RESISTANCE.

Deltoids and Calves tonight.

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[Запись для всех] 03-08-2008 08:49
It's "FM"!
And it's C-A-P-I-T-A-L !!!
It's not radio station, as some might think. It's simply an alteration (hope not an altercation! ) between "FISH" days and "MEAT" days in my diet plan for the next month. Till 5th of September.
Week one: ffm, ffm, f.
Week two: ffm,fff,m.
Week three: fff, mff,f.
Week four: mff, ffm, f.
Week five: fff, m. A-N-D - FINAL PHOTOSHOOT!!!

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[Запись для всех] 01-08-2008 07:12
To See or to Be Seen...
Got the CD with ALL the pictures from first two photosessions. Dunno if it's wise to familiarize great-and-witty, but, oh, so fork-tongued on-line circle of friends. Quite possible will keep it to myself this time.
Just kidding, of course. Expect unexpected.

Update.

Food for the day. (Tuna).
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Training so far.

Cardio.
X-trainer @home. 30mins @ 4am.
Treadmill incline walk @ work. 1 hour.

Resistance.
Superset of Chin Ups and Cable bicep curls. 4 X max. each.

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[Запись для всех] 31-07-2008 07:40
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...
EVERYTHING annoys and irritates me today.
Oh, well, one of those days...



More optimistic Update Number One:
1.Early cardio: 45 minutes on the X-trainer@home (4:30 in the morning).
2. Meal one (straight after the work out). 75g of porridge made with boiled water.
3. Meal two (at work). 75g of the same porridge+100g of fat-free "Quark".
3. Mid-morning cardio: 50 mins. of incline tread mill walk in the gym.
4. Meal three. 150g of grilled turkey breast mince+steamed broccoli.

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[Запись для всех] 22-07-2008 07:19
Like Me?
Like My Man!!! Not in the least for the fact that it's his Birthday today.
Many Happy Returns, darlin'...


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[Запись для всех] 21-07-2008 07:40
A Little re-ASSurance...
...goes a long way.
Want an example? Nothing could be easier. My last night's VERY informative (to say the least) in-between sets conversation with Big Jeff, a bodybuilder, an estate busines owner and a TV commercials' model.
J, paffing and haffing (doing very fast reps on the leg extensions machine): "You gotta to warm up really well, if you've got knee problems."
Me, waiting for Alex to finish his set on the cable cross-over: "Yeah. Alex's the same. Takes him up to half-an-hour to go through all his warm up exercises."
J. "Comes from having long legs, that's the trouble."
Me. "I am lucky, then. Mine are short." (Demonstrating, turning sideways and flexing my quads.)
J. (I think he completely missed the bit about "short" and concentrated on my legs'...erm... other qualities instead.) "I gotta say one thing:out of ALL the women in this gym, you've got the best shaped legs a-n-d the best ASS!!!"

Well, I suppose, I asked for it, didn't I?

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[Запись для всех] 20-07-2008 06:52
Last Sunday Of Freedom.
Before a week and a half of double shifts. Fourteen hours every day! And period on the top.
Want to have a quiete and reflective day before the madness start.
Reading - D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and William Wordsworth's "Prelude".

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[Запись для всех] 18-07-2008 07:20
Friday Monologue In front Of The Gym Mirror...
I am talking to myself. And it's NOT a good sign.

My job, if I have a job, is to encourage and inform, and be a companion to my brother and sisters iron heads. It can get lonely out there, especially when it's been a tedious day at work and you must pass your homebound exit on the way to the gym. We all need a nudge, a nod of approval, an occasional kick in the pants; and we need to know what we are doing is right on.


Stop and think about it: When those bewildered normal folks ask why we lift weights year after year, the fear of a scene like this is probably the answer. Of course we can't discount neurotic obsession and the desire for cannonball delts, barn door lats, bulging biceps, horseshoe triceps, rippling pecs, six-pack abs, sweeping thighs, diamond-shape calves and the power of a gorilla as being somewhat influential. We're really no different from everyone else.



"You're doing a great job by just being here. Most folks note, as the years have gone by, their health and fitness have been compromised by the priorities of daily living: career, work, family and everyday tough knocks. Disappointed, they ignore the larger-than-life dilemma because strengthening and reconditioning look unlikely and the pathway unlikable. It takes courage to put the past behind you and take the hard steps forward. Procrastination, deeply etched bad habits, apathy, distractions and entertainment conveniently
and destructively block bold self-confrontation and subsequent evitalization.

"You're here. Having defeated your tired old self, you are past the front door, in your training gear and amid the smell and clang, the power and energy of the ‘ol iron. You're a dern hero. Lesser folks are home watching Reality TV and eating their take away dinners.

"You're way ahead of the game; you know your way around, having a good memory for memorable deeds and things: barbells and dumbbells, sets and reps, biceps and shoulders -- exertion and exhaustion, pump and pain, fulfillment and failure. They're all here just like they were before, especially the good feeling you get when the workout isdone. Look out world, here I come!

"Enjoy yourself. Ease into your workouts. Play for awhile.
Recall your favorite exercises and give them a go -- a good tug, a careful push, a thoughtful lift. Do nothing excessive. A curious trial, a sensible challenge and a sometimes vague practice will prepare your body, excite your mind and set you in motion. You don't need any opposition during these early days of revival, like injury, undue pain, soreness or body limitations. Expect too much and try too hard and you risk developing bitterness toward training by overexertion, hurry, sloppy performance, poor concentration and
unrealistic expectations.

"Be optimistic. Your training attitude and approach are fresh and pliable and subject to persuasion. Be positive from the next vigorous set onward. Treat negative thinking as you would the devil or the terrorist. Stop him in his tracks. The gym, the weights, the adventure of building muscle, strength and health were once fascinating, exciting and fulfilling. Ah, the good old days! They possess and offer the same qualities today, and much more. This stuff
is tough, but it's the good tough. Wrap your hands around the bars and your head around the mission.

"Be encouraged. In a week or two, as you adjust and recall and
reestablish and plan, consciously and unconsciously, you'll slip into
a routine that suits your needs, desires and timetable. Remember:
Check high technology and rocket science and magic and tricks at the
front counter. Stick to the basics, the oldies but goodies, the tried
and true, the real McCoys. They are not old-fashioned. They're as fresh and crisp as apples from the apple tree.

"Be persistent. Anything less will mean failure, and you've come too far. When the going gets tough, keep going. If you don't, you go nowhere fast. Herein lies the enemy: guilt,discouragement, embarrassment and, last but not least,improvementlessness. New word, old condition.

"Be consistent. I repeat, be consistent. Ask anyone who's been around the iron for 30, 40 or 50 years and they'll insist consistency in training performance is the key to strength and healthy musclebuilding. Miss a workout and you miss 10; miss 10 workouts and you miss 10 years... if ya know what I mean. The wonderful muscle, strength and health advancement in before you will vanish like the morning due on the apple tree.

"Gains come slowly, but they keep on coming, day after day, workout
after workout. You can't always see them, like money in your piggybank, but they're there, gems in your safety deposit box.

"Be confident... Knowing things will happen and are happening -- losing bodyfat, building muscle tissue, increasing strength, energy and health -- is the essential mental quantity of this physical process.

"Certain your aspirations are sensible and your efforts are well
invested, your mood and hopes rise. You feel better than ever, you can move more easily, you look forward to work and hardy recreation,
you're cheery and self-assured; you can once again really-truly relax,smile and smell the flowers and hear the children laugh and notice the warmth in your sweetheart's eyes.

"Training's hot; the iron is cool, the people who lift are
real, exercise works and I guarantee you'll start eating right as you
hoist the steel regularly. Hard training and right eating, they go
together like chicken and rice, like beef and potatoes, like tuna and sweet corn. Or, to be more poetic - like wind and wings."

Display of my morning activites. I am not JUST talking.
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[Запись для всех] 17-07-2008 17:29
Back to Reality.
And Welcome, Normality.

Yesterday's Training.
1.Morning Cardio. 50mins. of Incline Treadmil Wlak.
2. Weight Work Out. Chest.
3. Afternoon Cardio. 40 mins. of Incline Treadmill Walk.



Today.
1. Morning Cardio. 45 mins. of Boxing.
2. Afternoon Cardio. 7 miles Walk Home.
3. Resistance Training Later @ Night. Deltoids and Calves.
4. Possible Cardio Session at Home. About 45 mins. on the X-trainer.

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[Запись для всех] 17-07-2008 07:09
"Appetite For Destruction"...
... was "Guns'n'Roses" 1987 album's name. Great tracks, by the way!
Dunno about the "destruction", not sure there is enough vindictive force in me. But whatever I don't know about the "APPETITE", probably not worth knowing. OR, it simply does not exist.

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[Запись для всех] 15-07-2008 07:35
InFATuation.
New stage of dieting: upping my fats. For the next two weeks, till the third and, hopefully, final photo shoot carb depletion will reach it's’ lowest, sub- zero point and, to avoid getting into a catabolic state and see my physique deteriorating before my very eyes, the lard consumption will soar, as a consequence. I already started yesterday. My “hefty” carbohydrate intake consisted of half-a-pound of fresh British strawberries (some temptations are just too much to overcome, aren’t they?), but the rest of the daily menu could’ve been quite rightly called “culinary FATish” : egg whites fried in butter (French “President”, my absolute favourite); chicken breasts with cream-and-pepper souse; two large pan-fried beef steaks and salmon fillets with cream cheese. At the end of those proposed two weeks, with all the grease to process, you wouldn’t need to bother with buttering me up. I’ll be as slick, as an oil-stick.
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[Запись для всех] 03-07-2008 05:32
Occupational Hazard.
It was a long, hard and busy day yesterday. Looks like today I am in for another hefty helping of the same. Wish me luck. AND patience. (Definition of the latter from the dictionary.com: "The capacity of enduring hardship or inconvenience without complaint." )
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[Запись для всех] 01-07-2008 22:34
What Could Be Better...
...than the full blast back training @ 10 pm, in the half empty, "all-at-your-disposal", gym?
Only tall cool pitcher of smooth and tasty protein shake, made first thing back home (low carbs, strawberry flavour, no artificial colourants, additives or aspartam sweetener) .

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[Запись для всех] 18-06-2008 19:01
And You Thought All I Do...
...is TRAIN... and D-I-E-T?









Sorry. Post-training hunger fantasies.

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[Запись для всех] 29-04-2008 13:36
Flipping Heck!!!
Only leafing through “Muscular Development” every month makes me realize how ignorant we all are and how much info there is out there you should stuff your head with before even thinking about picking a pair of 25th.
Take the latest issue for instance. Just the few of the headers for your undivided attention.
“Lactic Acid Might Stimulate Growth Hormone Release”.
“IGF-1 is NOT Essential For Muscle Growth”.
“Blood Vessel Occlusion Increases Muscle Mass And Boosts Anabolic Hormones”
“Muscle Protein Synthesis In Trained Athletes: Intense But Short”.
“High Volume Weight Training Decreases Blood Fats And Increases Inflammation.”
“Artificial Sweeteners Promote Obesity.”
“Weight Loss Similar In Very Low-Calorie, High-Fat Or Low-Fat Diets”.
“IGF-1 Cuts Fat And Improves Blood Sugar Control.”
“Branched-Chain Amino Acids Reduce Post-Exercise Muscle Damage.”
“Chromium And CLA Do Not Help Weight Loss”.
“Quercetin Interferes With Thyroid Metabolism.”
“Creatine Pyruvate Increases Strength And Endurance”.
“Myostatin Blockers Could Be Powerful Muscle Builders.” Etc., etc., etc…
Mind you, if I were to follow all their tips and recommendations (considering the ones they’ve got published this month very often grossly contradict last month’s publications), bet you anything: I would still be nowhere. Either reading earnestly and faithfully short-handing endless lists of things to do and to buy. Or, getting frustrated from apparent luck of progress, and gradually but steadily loosing my faith in science and high-brow popular medical authorities, such as “British Journal Sports Medicine”, “Scandinavian Journal Medicine Science Sport”, or “American Medical Journal”.
Let all of us be left to our own devices and do what each one of us does best. Their writing – to them, and my training– to me.

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[Запись для всех] 28-04-2008 10:17
A Delirious Entry.
PAY DA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-Y!!!!!!!
(no comments)

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[Запись для всех] 25-04-2008 08:45
Spring Madness. Pre-Summer Silliness.
Where's the winter when you need it? It was 25 degrees in the shade yesterday and I was dripping wet and dropping fast!
Never satisfied. It's tough being a human. But the human is an amazingly adaptable creature. It's hot, I'll adapt.

The human being is incredibly resourceful, as well. I shall apply my
extraordinary powers of the mind. I think I'm cool, therefore, I am
cool. Ah, much better. Psycho cybernetics, works every time.

Now to apply the same technique to my training. Enter the gym and
regard the loaded barbells and dumbbells as hefty, yet easily manageable play things. Better yet, enter the gym and regard the
workout as a deed that has been skillfully and courageously completed
and it's time for a nap. I catch my reflection in the mirror as I
exit, convinced the image is stunningly ripped and dashing.

We may be advanced, but some of us are known to hallucinate
occasionally. Hopefully, it's gonna be a long hot summer.

We must carry on the good fight. Press on, not forgetting to
pull with equal zeal. Even the most comfortable and capable among us
agree daily living is a battle. Call it a challenge or a struggle, if
you insist, an adventure or a game, but let's face it, it's a fight, a good one, a worthy one, the only one we have.

Am I talking too much? Don't mind me. Carry on regardless.

Back to the training and “Muscle Limit Gym”, usually packed to… well… to the LIMIT, really. But yesterday it was that hour in the afternoon after everyone has left and before everyone arrives, and it's no accident we were here at this time. You could stumble in and out without disturbing anyone with your idiosyncrasies and snorting, yelping and chanting. The half-dozen faces scattered about know and accept your “charming” personality and walk circles around you. Hi. Grrrrrrr… Yelp! ("Cor! Blimey! She bites too!"

I like the gym, don't you? Once you enter its doors wherever yours might be, and scan the scene; after a mini-review of the possibilities and a few defining shrugs, stretches and contractions, and upon determining your plan, the place is yours. Iron bars, steel cables, metal benches, focused energy, defined purpose, maximum effort.

Getting there is perceived by most lifters as the hardest part of
their workout. Go or not to go is often the question, the crossroads,
the moment of truth. And then there's the approach and the anticipation, the prep and the psyche. It's no simple thing and can
take all you've got. Ah, but remember, it gives back twice what it
takes.

You're welcome to stick around if you dare. Just sit still and shut
up...
I'm trying to adjust to shorter workouts of less intensity to
accommodate my current limitations and thus prevent system overload.
“More is better” used to be my approach, and now I'm endorsing “Enough is just right”. I don't want to wear myself out.

Too late, said the fat lady as she started to sing. Feeble joke, but “HA!” bloody “HA!!!”

I notice my routines for the past months have been composed of six
exercises, usually done in three supersets. Can't shake the supersets.
Even when I commence a single-set plan, it soon expands to supersets.
Give me five minutes to warm up and get the juices flowing, and I
can't sit still between sets. Next exercise...

And I notice no two routines are the same. My exercise repertoire is basic and not exactly short. I have plenty of traditional movements, and a bunch that have been modified to accommodate the flogged workhorse. I choose and combine them according to my DNA -- desires, needs, abilities of the hour.


Looking back, our last night’s workout was primarily legs. Thus, the focuse stayed on lower body, the quads, hams and calves.
The core and midsection to follow. The abs, obliques and intercostals, I'm thrilled to say, respond very nicely to my version of standing (hunched over) rope-tucks performed with an overhead cable.

The standing cable rope-tucks are a relatively high-rep exercise (25
to 35) and quickly attack the midsection as I tug with bent arms close to the body and vary my downward motion from front, to left and to right. As the reps, pump and burn pile up, I extend my arms and the resistance is transferred to the greater upper body. Biceps, triceps,serratus, lats, pecs and the entire back are fully engaged. And I'm panting -- there's cardiovascular work at play.

Raise the weight, lower the reps and the movement is powerful. No, not an earthmover, but it's strong and intense. Furthermore, it offers freedom and spontaneity, that great sense of muscle exploration and exercise improvisation according to feel, urge and desire. There are muscles just waiting to be discovered and involved and energized and developed.

Seriously, if I had one movement, one exercise to choose to
maintain a healthy, strong and well-muscled body, it would be the
cable tuck with its wide range of motions... period. (And squats,
deadlifts, curls and presses... who said that?... sit still and shut
up.)

As I write this masterful congestion of misspellings and ill-conceived words, I'm convinced I could superset five sets of cable tucks of diverse ROM, resistance and repetitions with freehand or machine dips of similar variation and exit the gym (or, rather, stay in it) a proud and exhilarated iron freak - no regrets. The point is: there's a total workout in those two exercises if you know what you're doing. Maybe even if you don't. And that is something I am NOT going to help you with.
Too busy restocking my weary self with full English … minus fried bread…,… and hash browns…, and black pudding…, … sausages…, … mushrooms…, tomatoes… Did I miss anything? No. It’s all here, on the plate in front of me. Scrambled eggs, stick of celery no ketchup or butter.

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[Запись для всех] 24-04-2008 07:32
Press To Impress.
Didn’t even have to try THAT hard. Our gym members, being completely obsessed with improving their “mile/per/hour” ratio and never having lifted anything heavier, than a pint-in-the-pub, were either gaping openly or doing discreet double-takes at the sight of me, in a sage-green tank top, bright red exercise bra, tightest lycra pants and lifting gloves and amount of poundage I was shifting. “Serves you right, you lazy sods!” and “THIS is what I call a WORK OUT!!!” were two major points and signature tunes of my training. Don’t full myself fro a single moment though: there is not going to be any amount of resistance training converts any time soon, and free-weights area is going to be mine and free of die-hard muscle heads claiming their exclusive “droit-de-segnior” to it.

CHEST TRAINING.

1. Cable Cross-Over. 5 X 15-25.
2. Flat Bench Press. 5 X 12-15.
3. Incline DB Chest Press. 5 X 12-15.
4. Flyes. 5 X 12-15.
5. DB Pullover. 4 X 15-20.
6. Dips. 3 X max.

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[Запись для всех] 23-04-2008 09:44
What Was Before...
...Chicken or Egg?

I've no idea and, to be perfectly honest with you, don't even care. What does it matter anyway, as long, as I could have both on my daily menu and in my lunch boxes.

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[Запись для всех] 22-04-2008 07:38
ABYSSmal Viewing.
My sweet little baby son (grumpy hunk of a man, more like it), walking into the sitting room last night, casting a glance at the TV screen and reacting very strangely to my answer to his question “What’s on?” ( sci-fi movie “ABYSS”) – retreating to the kitchen, mattering to himself in disgust:” As though it’s not enough fat blobs on the streets around here! They’ve got to watch them on telly now! AND in Space too!!!”
It took me full ten minutes to realize, he thought the film’s title was (get ready for this) - “OBESE.” (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

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[Запись для всех] 21-04-2008 10:41
Drop Down Sets…
… and Drop Dead ( no, not “gorgeous”) me. Vanity aside, looks are immaterial, after last night’s intensive leg work out the only thing on my mind today is the moment I would be able to drop off. On my bed, that is. There is, however, a few obstacles to be overcome. Like, eight hours at work, three classes, long walk home and shoulders training session tonight.
Might resort to seeking help “from a pill box.” Old, tested and trusted “E” number is the only thing, apart from heap and heaps of caffeine, which will do the job nicely and keep me going till the end of this long, long day.

Legs. Drop Down Set Style.

1. Leg extensions.
2. Leg Presses.
3. BB Frontal Squats.
4. Superset. Hack Squats + Lunges.
5. Superset. One Legged Squats + Roman Chair Squats.

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[Запись для всех] 18-04-2008 08:19
Inching Forward.
After almost a week of hard-core cardio (an hour in the morning, 45 minutes in the evening, 6 times a week) and staunchly-frugal dieting (could murder for a cream bun or portion of fish-and-ships), I could proudly boast the following progress (in cold, no-nonsense, blatantly truthful figures).
Body fat - down 1%.
Waist - minus 1cm.
Thigh – as above.
Bum (that’ll be my gluts, by the way) –no change here. (And no wonder. My butt has ability to grow the minute I get out of bed in the morning and start walking about.)
Arms, chest and back measures – thankfully, no losses recorded.
As some dames on this site are so keen on saying:” Upwards and Onwards!!! There is no backing off now!!!”

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[Запись для всех] 17-04-2008 07:34
Breakfast a la Venice Muscle Beach...
1. Two scoops of strawberry flavoured protein powder, mixed with 150 mls of orange juice.
2. Four table spoons of oatmeal, with half a cup of water, and two table spoons of plain, fat-free, yogurt.
3. Three egg whites.

This is the first week of my pre-contest dieting. So far, I've got rid of ALL the sugar in the house and have lost about a pound of flesh.
Admittedly, ALL OF IT off my face.

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[Запись для всех] 16-04-2008 13:37
Vicious Cycle.
And this title lives up to it's’ true nature in relation to my planned hamstring circuit training for tonight. THIS is exactly what it’s going to be: brutal, hard-core and merciless session.

1. Leg Curls.
2. Stiff- Legged Dead Lifts.
3. Weighed Lunges.
4. Weighed Bench Step-Ups.

I’ll do my best to go at least three rounds, taking each one of the exercises to failure. FOUR, if I survive what I intended. I must have some sort of a death wish (or a very peculiar personality, indeed), if Dante’s “Inferno” or his Ninth Circle of Hell is my idea of IDEAL training.

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[Запись для всех] 15-04-2008 07:52
This Is Heavy Duty ...
I admit I don't know much, but I do know I am due to train arms today, with a touch of legs to stimulate the system and burn some loose calories. Biceps and triceps comprise a small muscle group and don't require lots of energy. Hard work, burn and focus, yes, but not a big drain on the heart and lungs. Thus, a reserve for some friendly leg work to keep the foundations from failing and crabgrass from cropping up along the walkway.

I intend to arrange my workouts, henceforth, with particular attention to robustness and good cheer, function and wholeness.

Time has not caught up with me; I have overtaken time. What was once
necessary yesterday and a year ago is too much today. I expect I'll be playing this intricate balancing game from now on: exercises, sets and reps, pace and intensity of performance, ability and purpose. Just when I thought I knew what I was doing, along come the same old variables disguised in the different clothing.

I'll customize my workouts, rotate and alternate my muscle groups, and train according to on-the-spot, at-the-moment needs. Have to, ought to and suppose to will not guide me; guilt will not be my judge. “More is better" will no longer rule my hauling and tossing of metal, and “beyond my ability" will remain beyond my ability.

I thought we might examine ten post-Stone Age sayings found etched on the walls of ancient cave dwellings and dungeons.

Iron Age Proverbs

Train hard and eat right, myfriend.
Be strong, be wise and live long.

Curls for strong arms and presses for mighty shoulders;
The rod for the back that refuses.

The wise man seeks muscle and might daily;
Perseverance and patience are his companions.
Not every day is fruitful and a delight;
Satisfaction comes at a great cost.

Better to sleep in a bed of thorns,
Than to share a house with a drunken scoundrel.
Such a mate is destructive,
Apart from Dumb Bells and Barbells, there is no hope for him or her.

I saw a man walking to ruin and death,
His hands were without iron and steel.
No fresh fruit or greens of the earth entered his belly,
No protein or essential fats satisfied his languishing body.

The foolish choose the easy way,
The wicked the way where evil lurks.
But the courageous fear not toil and pain,
And the devoted delight in loaded bars both long and short.

Listen to the words of wisdom, my child;
Let not health and strength drain from your body.
Serve your muscle and might always,
And they will serve you forever more.

Worship the heavy bench press and it will take you down;
Treat your body to its rewards and damage will not visit your house.

A good pump and a stinging burn are the joys of a solid workout;
Pursue them with diligence and long suffering.
Dullness in spirit and sluggishness in body assure defeat;
Avoid them like poisonous snakes.

Weights that go unattended build up rust,
While the lax attendee builds up no good.
Sluggard is his name,
Frail is his frame.

Some things never change: once a dumbbell, always a dumbbell.

A little reassurance goes a long way, and we have a long way to go.



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[Запись для всех] 11-04-2008 07:36
Morning BACKstravaganza.
In honour of my friend "CHASHKA"'s brave endeavor (two competitions this spring and summer) and to support her daring quest of "chin ups" and "dips" pursuit, I made a very executive decision (Don't laugh, am I not a manager after all? City whipper-snapper, white collar and all that stuff?) to start each morning with a healthy doze of chins/dips/and Abs. All on the top of my usual portion of vigorous cardio session (I am up to 55mins. 6 times a week at the moment).
Done so far:
1. Cardio. 55mins.
2. Chins. 6X max. to the front.
3. Chin. 4 X max. to the neck.
4. Hanging leg raises. 4 X max.

Don’t worry, Inna, you’ve got my full moral and, now, physical support. You never know, we might even meet on the day of your big show in the final pose down, all pumped up smelling of body paint and glittering with heady mixture of oil and sweat. What friends are for, eh?


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[Запись для всех] 08-04-2008 08:11
Daily Doze of Pathos.
History is a bitch. It is merciless, weeding out wannabe pretenders from the true contenders. It crushes the weak. Leaves them behind. It stops for no man. But that doesn’t mean you can’t push back. When it comes to spilling blood and guts, those who got it, will turn up with buckets in hand. When the chips are down, they rise to the occasion. When the balls out session calls, they are always first in line – and they get right back in to ask for more…
More punishment equals more reward. Standing tall they never fall. They are mythmakers. A breed apart, we are not made, we are born. Born to this world to shine in the darkness, to make it, proud and loud, unracking the iron and unsettling the dust. Will you be the one? Or is your place in the dark corner, sitting on your ass, reading about it long after the act? There is no room for Second. No place for imitator. No space for the poser. You are either One or Nobody.

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[Запись для всех] 07-04-2008 10:44
Monday Upbeat.
Life is GREAT!
Life is COOL!
Life is simply
BEAUTIFUL!!!

Must be morning seven miles walk amongst snow-covered magnolias in full bloom.

Or else, I am turning into utter horror in my old age – an Eternal Optimist.


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[Запись для всех] 06-04-2008 09:32
Snowy April Sunday.
[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

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[Запись для всех] 04-04-2008 08:46
Plodding of Time and Clancking of Iron.
Time has no mass, yet it weighs heavily upon me. A seemingly
motionless hunk, I commence to lean upon it in the fall and push it
earnestly during the early winter. Move on, you slug, make haste.
During December it slips by with the rush of the holidays, but it's
back to heavy heaving by mid-January. Come February I can push no
longer and, like a fool, resort to pulling and dragging the frigid
days instead. Exhausted by March -- what's the rush? -- I let time
proceed at its unremitting pace.

Here we are in April and I note a peppy acceleration in the ooze of
time. The once motionless blob appears to take flight and leave me
behind. Throughout the warm and sunny summer I'll chase the whimsical
tease like a kite in the sky. Higher and higher and almost out of
sight, it will return to the earth's surface in the cool gray of
autumn. After a few twirls and a half-hearted loop, time will crash at my doorstep -- a motionless hunk.

When I'm fully rested ( like after a year holiday on the Bahamas ) and don't feel too guilty about life in general, I like to blend the upper body muscles into a 60-minute free-for-all. Lighter and quicker, I'll dash. When I feel strong, yet lack zoom and enthusiasm, I'll mess with low reps and heavier weights at a slower pace. Taking on the burdens of the world, I'll plod.

It occurs to me more and more lately that anything goes on the gym
floor, as long as it's thoughtful and effortful.

This articulate exchange was within the past few years, while I
insisted on order and regularity in muscle overload and exercise
repetition to exact the very last available contribution from any
particular muscle- and power-building movement or routine. I still
advocate such refined performance for the beginning lifter through the
intermediate lifter. Anything less is playfulness reserved for the
playful -- the Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy gang.
But, as time -- the unrelenting glob -- moves on, we are positioned to
take advantage of, or are in need of obliging its passage. We've
gainfully reaped the fruits of our disciplined sowing, and our stores
are in sufficient supply, muscle, routines, training knowledge,
exercise understanding and finesse. We can now rake in and scoop up
tender, ripe pickings without stooping low and lifting high.

It takes years to achieve this level of training freedom. Spare the
back, save the joints, protect the internal system. Chill and savor
the flavor. Stimulate, perpetuate and propagate. That doesn't mean we
stop blasting it. It simply means we don't go nuclear. The
concussion and fallout can be crazy.
Seriously, as your coach and professor, good friend and priest and
channel, your hairdresser, let me say this: There comes a time when
precision in program construction is a disruption, and calculation in
sets and reps is an interruption. Simply, purely, boldly lift the
iron. Not enough? Lift with thanksgiving, appreciation and joy. That's
the outline, the bulk and the theme of a good workout.
I stood in the middle of the gym and twitched convulsively,
which is a good sign these days. Legs rose to the surface of my mind,
followed by midsection and core, with deltoids-plus as the runner-up.
It was clear what muscle groups I was to work today.

This is not random training, my friends, a style I seldom support. It's a joyful, orderly, instinctive approach (some call it mysterious cuz of
the spooky way the bodyparts rise up in my mind), minus precision and
calculation.
This is what I did:

1. Standing ropetucks (5 sets x 25-35 reps) for midsection activity
and upper body pumping, stimulating and burning.

Supersetted with:

2. Squats on Smith Machine (5 sets x 8 reps). I added two more sets
for a total of seven sets.

3. One-arm dumbbell raise while lying sideways on a bench for deltoids and upper-torso action.

65 minutes and I threw in the towel and grabbed a napkin.


Breakfast time. Have fun with porridge. Enjoy the eggs. Feel the pump. Be happy.




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[Запись для всех] 03-04-2008 09:00
White Menu.
Food. Second day on the row:

Meal 1. Porridge. (Oatmeal, water and natural, 0% fat yogurt.) + 4 egg whites.
Meal 2. Lunch. Boiled chicken breast.
Meal 3. See Meal 2.
Meal 4. Steamed fish fillet (Fish is called "Whitening" believe it ort not).
Meal 5. See Meal 4.

Feel clean, light, virtuous and almost sanctimoniously smug. White robes rustling, wings flapping and the halo shining, reflecting my inner glory. Not an easy job, being a saint, but somebody’s gotta do it.

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[Запись для всех] 02-04-2008 09:32
A Puzzle A Day...
...keeps marazm away...

Life, most definitely, takes good care of my wits. Always throws some or other riddle up my alley (to get me off my trolley, obviously).

Take today, for instance. How could it be, that I look so awful, while feeling so wonderful? Well, that's me all over. An eternal jigsaw.

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[Запись для всех] 01-04-2008 10:17
All Is Not What It Seems…
And BIG is only big from a distance.
But look up close and you’ll see “BIG” is made out of “SMALL”. Take this big old factory in Docklands I passed on my way to work this morning. It’s been here since before I was born and it still be, long after I am gone. Come within an arm length to its’ walls and the weathered bricks, the tenacious mortar holding them together are clearly visible. But what’s not on the display is the steel, wood and concrete. All told, these individual parts, the building blocks, make the whole.
To me, my sport, my training, is exactly like this building. At a distance, you could easily make out my physique, the large shadow it casts. Yeah, seeing “bricks” is not a problem, but you won’t see how I placed each of them with painstaking labour, one at a time. Nor will they tell you about the years of hard slog, that has been etched into my soul – the countless meals, mad, gut wrenching, blood spilling, insane gym workouts, spirit-testing dieting and grueling morning cardio sessions. Sets, reps and sacrifices. You won’t see it, but it’s all there…
I have lived it… I have suffered through it… It’s totally worth it… Every single moment of it…
The sum total of efforts will stand the test of time...
And if I could do it, so could anyone….

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[Запись для всех] 01-04-2008 07:15
April's Fool !!!
Tee-Hee, everybody!


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[Запись для всех] 31-03-2008 10:48
End Of Hibernation.
For the first time in days (or months, rather) I liked what I saw in the mirror this morning. And it feels as though I, finally, started moving somewhere. It seems the spring has truly arrived. Or, maybe, my elated state is simply the result and combined effect of Magnesium, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Cod Liver Oil, Sea Kelp and “Boots” Radiance Complex.

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[Запись для всех] 28-03-2008 07:40
Good Things Come In Three...
True.

O-n-e. It's Friday.
T-w-o. It's a PAY DAY !!! !!! !!! !!!
and T-h-r-e-e. After almost a month of utter self-denial and stern dedication (well, just about ) my six pack was clearly visible in the mirror this very morning.

**************************************************
********

Bad things come in the same number, apparently. According to "Law of Averages", "Murphy's Law" and Ms. MarinaV. Who, at this very moment, is busy pouring filthy scorn on her earlier innocent joy and delight, after opening the following:
O-n-e. Gas bill - 94.85.
T-w-o. Electricity bill - 70.52.
and T-h-r-e-e. Credid card statement - figure will remain strictly undesclosed.

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[Запись для всех] 26-03-2008 15:32
When Less is MORE...
I’ve read recently, that the average life expectancy in the West is 80 men and 82 for women. Have been doing my math since, trying to work out the number of years I’ve got left, then – converting them into the hours and thinking how wasteful sometimes (more often, then not) my life is. Working more hours than I need, to earn more money than actually required, seeing my days disappearing without a trace and all for what? To buy more well… stuff? Things I don’t need but might temporarily crave and, not being able to withstand in impulse almost instantly regret buying?
We all know this compulsion. We buy frivolous trinkets, wasting hours surfing the Net work too hard and chase too many goals. Then we get exhausted or glutted and we scold ourselves, because the feeling, that we’re still missing something is very acute and tangible. This mad pursuit makes us sick, tired, frustrated, fat, angry and in debts. It looks as though the more we acquire, the less we have.
I’ve noticed this paradox a few years back, when I joined the world of mobile phone ownership. It made me quickly realize, that for all it's’ convenience, instead of being liberated by the little constantly ringing gadget, I became enslaved by it. I was being completely besieged by intrusive work demands and constant claims on my time. After only a short while it stopped being much of an advance. I was pulled, and very forcibly, off my feet by a strengthening ride of social expectations. What it this power that obliges the best of us to dedicate our entire beings and our very cores to something so petty and shallow?
Surely, an average person (myself, of course, included) has everything they materially need to be content?... … Except an “OFF” button. An instinct, that says “Enough. Stop striving and amassing. Start appreciating.”
Saying this magical words is not about hair-shirts and self-denial. It’s the way of opening precious space to savour and to enjoy life.
Minds need space to think, and simply BEING, rather than perpetually DOING, fosters the creativity demanded by modern existence. It liberates you beyond the world of just getting and spending. Thus, the path of “ENOUGH” could lead, paradoxically, to more.
I’ve found that I actually treasure anticipation, than purchasing. So, now I am very much into “tantric shopping” and never in a hurry to whip out my credit card to “spend-spend-spend”. For, after the deal is sealed, the high evaporates in minutes and the latest trophy doesn’t even look as remotely attractive as it did sitting on the shop shelve. Resisting the urge has become surprisingly easy, especially, when I started practicing a very useful trait envisaging mental picture of my wardrobe and shoe closet, groaning with shameful results of my “substance abuse”. There are few more revelations I’ve come up with after sobering enough to be cured from the sickness of spontaneous buying
I long have lost the illusion, that I truly “own” the stuff I possess. It’s quite the reverse, in fact. One could never be too careful or the slavery is inevitable.
Mind you, having said all that and being of a clear vision and sound mind, there is that vastly expensive, highly extravagant, very beautiful, natural silk, mustard-coloured, bat-wing, madly fashionable blouse in my favourite “Body Basics” shop. The one I really and truly crave and covet and can’t give up thinking about.
The fight still goes on, then, eh?

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[Запись для всех] 23-03-2008 15:25
Fixed-Interval Training.
If you, like myself, always looking for the ways to increase training intensity and the paths to create and maintain it, here is a tip for you. Raw training intensity comes from within. But there always little things to help it from "without".
Take your tipycal gym-rat and his customary style of training - pushing the weight higher and higher in trivial pursuit of bigger gains. But in order to do so, either by purposeful design or inadvertently, this "bright" individual will be forced to take an increasing amount of rest between sets. While the technique allows him to hoist a substancial poundage, the price to pay is that the level of deep muscle stimulation goes down exponentially, simply because the burning flame of training intensity is ostensibly snuffed out by the long respite.The more rest you take between sets with this particular kind of training (heavy weight, low reps), the more you're avoiding the pump. That intense burn of blood rushing into the muscles, that Arnold once famously described as akin to an orgasm.
Trainign heavy is great, but it's all at the cost of intensity and your muscles won't grow. It's a cyclical trap, that is tough to recognize and escape. It's also a zone that's riddled with hazzards. Bodybuilders tend to focus just on the amount of weight they lift. They can't shake that old myth "The stronger you are, the bigger you become." It's only true in part and ONLY for the beginners. When you body is still an unexplored country, terra nouva, new territory, the soil never ploughed, and responds well to ANYTHING, whatever seeds you throw into it.
If you are an old seasoned "almost PRO", not unlike myself, here is what you do to get off the well worn out, many times beaten track.
Continue stimulating muscle growth with FIXED- INTERVAL SETS. Narrow down your rest time to 90 seconds (well, I found it works best for me, anyway) and stick to it throughout your work out. Never stop using the "pyramid principle" with upping your work load from set to set and dropping your reps. Keep that intensity alive and feel the burning of pump in every inch of muscle fibers of you bulk. Fair enough, you will be able to shift a lot less, than you normally able to with the longer breaks, but the insane muscles after only 6-8 weeks of such training - guaranteed.
Also note - I am quite generous with my (and yours) time allowence. 90 seconds!!! The whole minute-and-a-half!!! Unlike that Has-Been, once almost famous, pretty boy Romeo Dunn of "So solid crew", who could only offer the world "twenty one seconds to go."

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[Запись для всех] 20-03-2008 11:55
The Entry, Which Almost Happened...
...and it didn't...

Well. I suppose there is always "one, that got away"...

Better luck next time, then.

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[Запись для всех] 18-03-2008 10:52
Spring Training for a Stealth Lady...
In some corners of the world we have turned our clocks forward an hour in observance of daylight saving's time. The robin redbreasts have been seen hanging out suspiciously on lawns and at parks, wings and beak poised in feathery anticipation. Tweet, tweet! I feel their eager sentiments. Baby showers and wedding ceremonies are announced in local
newspapers, alongside once-in-a-lifetime two-for-one specials for local gym memberships.

You feel it, don't you? It's like a stir of fresh air in a still room, a dash of sunshine piercing drawn shades, the rustle of dust-coverings removed from protected surfaces, the bracing fragrance of life revived.

Never quite dead, never quite alive, your senses tingle faintly,expectantly. Is that a heart beat... and another... a breath, a gasp,a deep inhalation? Has the restless sleep ended, the mute dormancy expired? Might I once again lift weights with purpose and might,
diligence and joy? Can it be... am I dreaming... is it spring?

No, it is not spring. Winter prevails for 10 more days. In fact, it might rain tonight with gusts up to 50 miles an hour. Replace your hooded sweatshirt and resume your depression and long face. It ain't over till it's over, Brubba, as they say amid stark outlines of icy squat racks and the bottom-most edges of damp and moldy lifting platforms.

The season of relief does not officially arrive until March 22nd and there'll be no pump before then. Push that iron, and groan!

To lift your dragging spirits, to comply with a promise I fullishly made recently, and being a person of my word (who lies through their crooked anddecaying teeth, girls), I shall complete my thoughts on getting bigger and better and smarter if I were still an average 20-year-old, weight training for a year in an average sort of way (yeah, keep dreaming).

I have chosen four likely muscle-group sequences and routines utilizing the 10 must-do-to-be-big exercises.

The Big Ten Exercises:

1. Squats
2. Dumbbell press
3. Deadlifts
4. One-arm bentover row
5. Barbell curls
6. Lying or overhead triceps extension
7. Seated lat row
8. Widegrip pulldowns
9. Dumbbell pullover
10. Sidearm lateral raises one-arm or two-arm

I know what you're saying and I see your point (I'm not as dumb as Ilook, just 'cuz I have ears and eyes in the back of my head): Where's the bench press? I don't see chins and dips on the list! No barbell cleans and presses? Hmmph! The list is incomplete, inaccurate and
amateurish.

My initial thinking went something like this:

1) The bench press, when applied forcefully to gain power and size, is the perfect exercise for developing chronic shoulder imbalances,tears, rips, shreds, injuries and wincing pain. Dumbbell presses are safer and better muscle builders, shapers and powerizers.

2) Though the circumstances are specific, I generalized; not everyone is able to perform freehand chins and dips with bodyweight.

3) Cleans and presses are great, but let's save them for a later size and power push.

4) There are another dozen movements worthy of our devoted efforts, but the Big Ten popped to the top like bubbles in a pitcher of frothy brew.

5) Drink booze, you looze.

The neglected four exercises are beauties, I agree, and they in themselves are arguably a formidable combination for building a thick and powerful body. Let us concentrate on them another time for a venture into the world of building muscle power and thickness. We'll call them the Big Four Exercises. Clever, 'in I?

Bigger, Smarter, Better -- The Sequences and Routines:

A
(Day 1) Chest, back
(Day 2) Legs
(Day 3) Shoulders, arms
(Day 4) Off
(Day 5) Upper body
(Day 6) Lower body
(Day 7) Off

B
(Day 1) Chest, back
(Day 2) Legs
(Day 3) Shoulders, arms
(Day 4) Off
(Day 5) Full body
(Day 6, 7) Off

C
(Day 1) Chest, back, shoulders
(Day 2) Legs, arms
(Day 3) Off
(Day 4) Chest, back, shoulders
(Day 5) Legs, arms
(Day 6, 7) Off

D
(Day 1) Full body
(Day 2) Off
(Day3) Full body
(Day 4) Off
(Day 5) Full body
(Day 6, 7) Off

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[Запись для всех] 15-03-2008 15:08
L-E-G-islated.
Trained legs today. Properly, for the very first time in ages. Well, I have my reasons for slowing down, when needed, having a little break sometimes, regrouping and recharging. Then, bouncing back, all pouncy and eager, with all the vigour of a young filly (ha-ha!), let out on the medow to enjoy fresh grass after a long winter of conviction to a tiny dark shed and boring diet of dusty hay.
Here is our Legs' Work Out.

Calves.
1. Standing Calf Raises. 5X max.
2. Superset of
Seated Calf Raises and Seated Toe Presses. 4 X max.
3. One Legged Hill Raises. 3 X max.

Quads.
1. Leg Extensions. 5 X max.
2. Leg Presses. 6 X max.
3. Hack Squats. 5 X max.
4. "Hammer Strength" Squats. 4 X max.

ABS.

Crunches. 3 X max.

Wouldn't go amiss, I think, to mention, that in the case of such an intense almost cruel training, the word "LEGislated" could be spelt "legi-S-L-A-T-E-D" . And quite appropriate, too.

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[Запись для всех] 11-03-2008 09:49
This week I can't get enough of...
Jeff Buckley...

"Hallelujah".

I heard there was a secret chord
that David played and it pleased the Lord
but you don't really care for music, do you
well it goes like this the fourth, the fifth
the minor fall and the major lift
the baffled king composing hallelujah

Hallelujah...

Well, your faith was strong but you needed proof
you saw her bathing on the roof
her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
she tied you to her kitchen chair
she broke your throne and she cut your hair
and from your lips she drew the hallelujah

Hallelujah...

Baby I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
but love is not a victory march
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

Hallelujah...

Well there was a time when you let me know
what's really going on below
but now you never show that to me do you
but remember when I moved in you
and the holy dove was moving too
and every breath we drew was hallelujah

Well, maybe there's a god above
but all I've ever learned from love
was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
it's not a cry that you hear at night
it's not somebody who's seen the light
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

Hallelujah...

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[Запись для всех] 07-03-2008 07:38
Where's beef?
Nutrition is it, actually. Bigger, better and smarter ones are most directly
assured by right eating and proper supplementation, and their daily
implementation. Yet, I'm struck by how few people are familiar with
healthy eating guidelines or appreciate their vital importance. They
don't care. They eat when they get the urge or the chance, when
they're bored or depressed, for comfort or entertainment. And they eat
junk, too much and too fast, or they don't eat at all.

Do as I do, do as I say and do it always, regularly, consistently,
certainly, without fail: daily, weekly and monthly, and on and on
forever and not just occasionally.

Feed yourself simply, wisely and respectfully. Ya'll know Nutrition is 101% of success; ya'll just forget it every now and again. Ya'll dumb.
Be simple, be wise and be respectful. Be smart.

Eat breakfast always. Small, yet substantial, the starting meal will
save and maintain muscle and provide energy and engage the metabolism.


Eat sufficient meals regularly throughout the day, every three hours
is a nice rule of thumb. Not too much at once, not snacks only.

Eat well-balanced meals (40 percent animal protein, 30 percent good
fats, 30 percent nutrient-high carbs is my favorite calorie ratio),
including fresh vegetables and fruits and excluding junk, refined
sugars and grease.

Eat fish, lean red meat, low-fat milk products ground-fed poultry and eggs as your size-building protein muscle foods. Wisely use a superior protein powder to augment and simplify your muscle-gaining endeavors.

I also add EFAs to my menu and take creatine and glutamine by Reflex. Quality vitamin-mineral goes without saying. That basically does it for me in the supplement department (apart from occasional help from far superior range of “sport’s technology” products).

I could go on forever, but it's time for one of those substantial,
well-balanced meals that assure weight gain and muscle growth. It’s called “full English” in our parts and I am going to give it my best shot and thoroughly enjoy it.


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[Запись для всех] 05-03-2008 08:20
Relativity Theory in Practice.
Yeah, he was right, the Wild-Haired One. It’s all linked and related, sometimes in a very unexpected, even bizarre way.
Time, I recently found out, could be measured by almost anything. Dame Agatha once used “ the depth the parsley sink into a soft butter on the hot sunny afternoon”, as a criteria. Not being famous writer (or simply “famous”, or even a “writer”) I’ve come up with a little less sophisticated dimension. Today the progress of time in my day will be scrupulously paced out by four cans of tuna in brain. One tin (149g, drained), every four hours, naturally. Eight am, twelve noon, four pm and eight pm. Brilliantly delicious solution, wouldn’t you say? Not yet sure how tasty, though.

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[Запись для всех] 01-03-2008 09:24
Spring... The time of awakening...
"Daffodils" (1804)


I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

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[Запись для всех] 28-02-2008 09:30
Take a LOAF of “THAT”.
As dear ol’ Meat Loaf very adequately put it once:”I would do anything for love…... But I won’t do “THAT”.
I’ve been deing to know, what kind of horrible sordid things were required from pop’s favourite fatty in the name of love and what this mysterious “THAT” was standing for from the mid-nineties. Haven't you?
I mean – come’n, Meaty, the track goes on for 13minutes (longer, than “Bohemian Rhapsody”!); the video is said to be the most expensive ever made (All for what? A few cob webs, a long-legged femme fatale and two bikes on the grave yard?); and after all this fuss and extravagant spending we are still none the wiser.

PS. In case you wonder, all of the above brought on by incessant watching of VH1 Classics from six in the morning.

PPS. How about getting a L-I-F-E ???!!!

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[Запись для всех] 27-02-2008 13:44
Body Basics.
Leap year: We have an extra day this month to get huge and ripped.
Time is muscle! I shall take advantage of the cosmic windfall and do
nothing but squats, deadlifts and bench presses this Friday from
sunrise to sunset. No order, just random, hysterical lifting.


I remember when that sort of spontaneous, combustible and delirious
training was common: Sprint to the gym, dive into a pile of warm and
welcoming 45s in your sweats from atop the squat rack and thrash
around jubilantly; chew on the 100-lb dumbbells like a Rottweiler on a
juicy t-bone; juggle three 25-pound plates instead of your everyday
lateral raises for deltoids; and dip with a greasy engine block
dangling from your waist.

What fun!

Today I need all the reassurance I can get. I'm exhausted!
I slither to the first non-threatening bench and take a load off my feet. There I rummage through my gym bag for the necessary items to sustain the mad
workout ahead. No rush.

The bag's become heavy and worn over the years and I consider getting
a new one, a larger one, on wheels, like those travelers tote about at airports. I remove and pile my vital gear at my side and take a quick inventory: wraps, gloves, injectable morphine (just kidding!), water and glutamine... all set.
Or, all fired up and ready to go, as they say on the ole campaign
trail.

I stand, hold on, stare into space and twitch several times, a quaint
practice similar to divining. Messages are sent through the central
nervous system, as far as I can tell, and it is clear as crystal that
today is arm day. I shiver with excitement, involuntarily resume my
place on the bench and have a refreshing swig of water. Show time.

Retrieve your Bodybuilder's Manual and look up arm exercises
under biceps and triceps. Do I train both muscles on one day, or do I
blast them on separate days; how many sets and how many reps; how much
effort and in what order? Gets complicated, but no one said this stuff
was easy. You've gotta be tough, intuitive and highly motivated to be
a true muscle builder, serious and determined and gifted.

.

I laugh at defeat when it dares knock on my door. "Get ye behind me,
Satan. You'll find no subscribers here," is my declaration. Which
reminds me; I'm writing a newsletter for a bunch of highly motivated
people who want to develop muscle, discard fat, increase power and
improve their health -- not read the pointless ramblings of a wet,
rusting and gout-ridden ironhead. Where's the beef?

Thought you'd never ask... anyone for a teensy hotdog on a toothpick?

Here's a list of exercise alternatives and modifications I've
discovered, invented and been obliged to adapt to accommodate
limitations due to injuries and years, needs and abilities.

Yeah, they're tough subjects to breech, but somebody's gotta do it.


The process, like building muscle and might, is done gradually and
painstakingly. It's part of the great journey -- the part when the
pedal-to-the-metal is removed from the gas and applied to the brakes.
We're slowin' this baby down before she winds up in a ditch. One more
turn like that and it's the scrap yard, Buster, between the Morgan and
Town Router. We've been where we were going; it's time now to cruise
and amuse.

I'm hyperbolizing, people. We're all about the same age, 15 to 75,
which, in the scheme of things, is just a moment. It's time we let the
tricks out of the bag. Adjustments, alterations, eliminations,
reductions and tuning and dialing are on-going. They are accomplished
through compromise in utilized weight, modification in form (AKA
standard exercise execution), focus on pain as the major guide from
first to last rep, pace according to muscle exertion to achieve
maximum pump and burn, order in the mind and routine to overcome
irregularities (AKA sloppy, chaotic and compromised performance)...
and variation and variety and volume and verve and vanity and vava
vavoom.

I'm killing time 'cuz I hate to describe exercise execution...
Boorring. Here we go:

*** Thick-bar bench, any grip that is least painful or most rewarding
will do. Wide grip kills me, so I stay close and tight with the tris
and delt regions benefiting most. So you can't go heavy anymore, but
the action is there. Make the most of it. Overall upper torso is
grateful. Smile, be happy!

*** Leaning barbell curls are a treat for the bis and save the lower
back when we find ourselves thrusting with excess oomph and pain. That
lower back squeals till it's warmed up and we then tend to overuse and
aggravate the region. Tomorrow we sing the blues; next year we need a
laminectomy.

*** Try this: lean your butt against a solidly racked bar (best) or a post
and curl with a thus-minimized thrusting action, and make the bis do
the work. Saves the back on the eccentric and concentric, yet has no
mercy on the biceps.

*** Tilting dumbbell curls accomplish a similar purpose -- enable a
satisfactory big-muscle thrust while saving the back, maintain balance
when balance is problematic and enjoy muscle focus.

Stand before a secured bench and bend knees sufficiently to lean
stably on the bench edge. Curl thumbs-up (my favorite), palms forward
or alternately. It's a whole new experience to the curl and associated
engaged muscles. These movements take time, experimentation, finesse
and a positive approach.

*** Widegrip pulldowns to behind the neck, while seated with the back to
the apparatus has a definite upper-back accent. Not only that, it's a
relief for those poor insertions that are overly tugged upon during
the ever-popular frontal approach. Try it. With a lighter weight, sit
at the end of the seat, positioning you away from the overhead pulley.
Stretch your legs forward, or assume a seated staggered-leg placement
(my fav) and proceed. Look for full extension at the top and a tight
contraction on the bottom. Wide Lat Stamp of Approval. Form counts.

*** The one-hand, sidearm dumbbell raise from the back or the front of
the torso is the secret alternative to the typical two-hand variation.
Sidearm laterals ensure shoulder function and health and are
indispensable in full deltoid construction, shape and definition.



I'm down to three loyal, bleary-eyed readers. Everyone else has gone
home, to bed, to dinner, the movies, the loo... I can take a hint.
I'm winding up my lecture and getting down to the fun part. Refreshments. A flask full of protein shake (chocolate flavour), couple of aminos (branch chain ones) and squint at the sun pouring through the gym windows. Have to take care of serotonin production and make sure I am never short of endorphin or two.

Never look back. It's done.



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[Запись для всех] 26-02-2008 12:09
It's The Thought, That Counts...
"We all live on the same Planet. But each one of us - in a defferent WORLD".

PS. I like being profound and meaningful from time to time, by the way. Oh, and
V-E-R-Y serious once in a blue moon.

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[Запись для всех] 25-02-2008 09:59
Gone "Backpacking".
What else should it be called, for, this is exactly how you pack the muscles on your back. Without added hazard of making sure you've got enough room in your rucksack and nothing jars or jingles, when you walk about.There is also a very popular problem of matching socks never to be found, when you need them the most, and a small matter of extra pair of thermals stubbornly refusing to fit into the last available, admittedly, VERY tight space.
In the case I am referring to, i.e. “Back Training”, your major and only worry would be not to run out of frame to accommodate intended and, hopefully, fast responding and dutifully developing muscle bulk.


1. Chin ups. Body weight. 4 X max.
2. Wide grip lat. pull downs. 6 X max.
3. Narrow grip pull downs. 6 X max.
4. Seated pulley. 6 X max.
5. Seated "Hammer Strength" row. 5 X max.
6. Dead lift. 4 X max.

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[Запись для всех] 23-02-2008 09:22
A Musing Day...
Saturday... The day of the week, when I do nothing. Literally... NOTHING at all.
I sit back, let all the outside destruction blurr into insignificance, listen to the silence inside me and reflect upon... not the past, no... I am musing about curiousities and pecularities of life, and mysterious ways of God and Fate...
Wouldn't be very characteristical of me to miss an opportunity of showing off with a good pun, considering the material in hands. So here it is. The summary of my by-weekly ponderings:
"We are NOT a-M-U-S-E-D ".

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[Запись для всех] 20-02-2008 13:29
Livin' La Vida Loca... (Take Two)
Nothing to get envious about by the way. ‘cos it simply means hopping from one place of work (high and mighty, admittedly) to another (even more uptight and snooty), wishing some of my employers’ financial wealth would rub off on me and sprinkle a shiny cloud of gold dust over my remaining years (of leisure preferably).
But before it happened (if ever!) I’ve got 14 hours of work for the third week running and three classes every day. Also couple of idiots hell-bent on getting “big and ripped” before summer and a flock of delusional “beauties” grimly determined to “shed all this flab” for the holiday on the sun do not add up to my faith in human kind and NOT exactly improve my temper.
On the plus side – it’s nearly spring, I’ve been training really heavily all this time, didn’t neglect morning or late night cardio, eating is clean, and the classes I taught today were the ones I enjoyed the most. What could be better way to spend an early afternoon, than performing a little bit of “Meringue”, “Mambo” and “Salsa”, hips wriggling, pelvis gyrating, arms flying and cheeks flashing? “Shake your bum, bum, bum…” and be happy.

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[Запись для всех] 18-02-2008 09:44
"When In Lycra and Spandex...
...Stretched by the pump,
I look, like a Monsetr..." (QUAD-Zilla, for instance),
only then do I feel the training was exactly the way it should be: extreme, hard core and gruelling.
Yesterday's Leg Training fit all the requirements to a Tee (T-bone steaks and Tiranosorous Rex come to mind, NOT your puny-teeny-scrawny golf-related Tee).

QUADS.

1. Leg Extensions. 6 X to failure.
2. Leg Presses. 6 X failure.
3. Hack Squats. 4 X failure.
4. Roman Chair Squats. 4 X failure.

CALVES.

1. Seated Hill Raises. 4 X 25.
2. Seated Toe Presses. 4 X 25.

CARDIO.

45 mins. first thing in the morning.
1 hour last thing in the day.

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[Запись для всех] 15-02-2008 07:32
Friday Morning Haiku...
Physical version (as befitted to an exercise junkey).

Humming beat of the
Tread mill.
Long and sweaty road
To the week end.


**************************************

Musical Version (am I not a pianist, after all?)

Staccato of feet
On the treadmill.
First bars of the week end
Prelude.



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[Запись для всех] 14-02-2008 09:32
My Funny Valentine...
Behold the way our fine feathered friend,
His virtue doth parade
Thou knowest not, my dim-witted friend
The picture thou hast made
Thy vacant brow, and thy tousled hair
Conceal thy good intent
Thou noble upright truthful sincere,
And slightly dopey gent

Youre my funny valentine,
Sweet comic valentine,
You make me smile with my heart.
Your looks are laughable, un-photographable,
Yet, youre my favorite work of art.

Is your figure less than greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak, are you smart?
But, dont change a hair for me.
Not if you care for me.
Stay little valentine, stay!
Each day is valentines day


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[Запись для всех] 12-02-2008 15:59
Back-To-Front Training.
If I am teaching Back-To-Back classes (sometimes three on a row), then, it just make sense, doesn’t it, to apply the same principle to muscle grouping in my weight training.
Combine anterior with posterior. Facade with rear. Boobs and wings if we are allowed such shocking vulgarity. Or... whathaveyou... To make it perfectly simple, I am going to put together Pectorals and Laterals. Chest and Back, in common language.
If I am still alive at seven pm tonight and have enough energy left for two major muscle groups of the body, my superset-style work out, hopefully, would look as follow:

1. Chin-ups/Dips. Body weight.
2. Incline DB bench presses/BB bent over rows.
3. Seated rows/Cable cross overs.
4. Dead lifts/DB pull overs.

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[Запись для всех] 10-02-2008 09:44
Two Helpful Tips ...
... from my very own "Extreme Guide To Life" Book.

1. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes...
That way, when you start slagging them off, not only are you a mile away BUT have their shoes AS WELL.

2.Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself...
Each day has enough trouble of its own...
After all, "TODAY" is the "TOMORROW" you worried about yesterday!!!

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[Запись для всех] 09-02-2008 19:54
Something S-P-O-O-F-Y...
I love 'Nickelback", but I thought taking the mickey out of them is just as brilliant

Here is the REAL THING

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[Запись для всех] 09-02-2008 10:06
The Diary Of a Secret Agent.
You know what? It was kinda cool to be called "Foreign Sector" even for a few days, being shoved behind the Internet's Iron Curtain, longing to be brought back "from the cold" and experiencing all the glamour of "undecover" life of a special, double zero coded, agent.
I don't mind, really, as long as I am in charge of the London's Head Quarters and You won't forget, that the " name's B-O-N-D Veeeeeeee. " ... "... M-A-R-I-N-A V. "

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[Запись для всех] 06-02-2008 07:14
Cosy Arangement.
Sitting at the desk, researching articles on the Internet with the general theme of "What to give up for Lent" (or NOT), for my this month Internal web-site column... A-N-D... drinking coffee (four shots of espresso) and eating CHOCOLATE (!!!!!!!!!!) Admittedly, 99% cocoa solids and sugar free. But still... Ain't I bad???!!!
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[Запись для всех] 05-02-2008 18:51
Moaner Lisa...
Courtesy to my "LiveJournal' diary and "Harbour"s day off.



...Well, it's what I normally come here for. To have a good, stress relieving moan. One could only wonder how on Earth do I restrict myself to no more, then one by -annual session. Mind over matter, my answer would be. Also, it might very easily unleash my internal Anaconda-Gioconda who would bite the Nosy Parker head off without even telling him to mind his own business first.
Here is my today, in chronological order anyway.

1. Up @ quarter past five (that AM by the way) instead of my usual 4 am.
2. Almost late for work (see above).
3. Security pass doesn't work.
5. Serious computer problems.
6. Major (and I mean M-A-J-O-R) water machine leakage. Half of the gym floor flooded, carpet is sodden and so are my trainers and gym pants. Hands in the icy water for half-an-hour (know now how that brave Dutch lad must've felt), nose blocked and throat ticklish.
7. "Mirror" cafe is being refurbished hence - only packaged food in the canteen. No freshly made stuff.
8.Eating "Cote d'Or" Milk Truffle chocolate bar (see number 1 and number 7 for the references).

How, in the circumstances, could I not turn sour and bemoan my fate? Where is Leonardo da Vinci with his flying brash to make up for such a dreadful morning (MOANing, more like it) and to immortilize my suffering? (Which, apparently make your true colours shining and ennoble your sole... Hm-m-m-m-m-m-m... NOT convinced.)
Or, at least give me the other Leo. That Di Caprio bloke, who came in very useful with his Irish-jigging skills to destruct everybody from "Titanic" little problem. I still have got enough water on the floor to sink it all over again.

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[Запись для всех] 04-02-2008 10:15
Stating The Obvious.
Well, as anybody should have a freedom to be unoriginal every once in a while, I hope the following confession is not going to ruffle any amount of collective feathers or to raise the same quantity of well-plaqued united eye brows.
I absolutely love (spelt “L-O-V-E” ) week ends and completely loathe Mondays. Fair to say, that even the fact that I am not alone in such affection placement, is NO consolation at all.

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[Запись для всех] 01-02-2008 08:11
"Elbow Room".
No, it's not the name of the pub in North London. It's what I get every morning on the Jubilee Line (Victoria one, on the other hand, is a source of unfailing and pleasant surprise. Virtually untouched by human, erm..., foot and empty at six to seven am).
Not that one could complain or protest too much, when somebody’s elbow digs into your rib cage, and last night’s garlic and carry fumes poison what passes for the “air” on the underground. I just curse and swear under my breath and remind myself that for a “frozen fee” of ninety pens a hop it’s not the worst predicament to find oneself in. And still… Bloody public transport!!! Innit?

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[Запись для всех] 29-01-2008 07:51
Sleepwalker’s Guide To a Rough Week.
And the week in question is not the worst one in my diary.

1.Monday.

7 miles walk to “Cockfosters” club. Classes: BLT, lunch-time Spin, late afternoon Spin.
Mid-afternoon mini training session.
Ball room dancing with Vindetta.
Bed –11pm.

2. Tuesday.
Up @4am. Walk from “Liverpool Street Station” to “Canary Wharf” Club (4 miles).
Mid-morning training session. Step Class.
Walk home from “Seven Sisters Station”(4 miles).
Late afternoon training session @ “Muscle Limit Gym”.
Bed – 11pm.

3. Wednesday.
Up @4am. Walk from “Liverpool Street Station” to “Canary Wharf” Club (4 miles).
Mid-morning training session.
“Latino Tone” Class.
Walk home from “Seven Sisters Station” (4 miles).
Late afternoon training session @ “Muscle Limit Gym”.
Bed – 11pm.

4. Thursday.
Up @4am.
Walk to “Cockfosters” Club (7 miles).
Classes: Stability Ball; Salsa, Spin.
7miles walk back home.

Training @”Muscle Limit Gym” – none. Dayy off.

5. Friday.

Up @ 4am.
Walk from “Liverpool Street Station” to “Canary Wharf” Club (4 miles).
Mid-morning training session.
“Body Pump” Class.
Walk home from “Seven Sisters Station” (4 miles).
Late afternoon training session @ “Muscle Limit Gym”.
Bed – 11pm.

Week end.

Up @7am on both Saturday and Sunday.
Two 45 mins cardio sessions on each day. One in the morning, one in the evening.
Serious, hard core work outs ‘”Muscle Limit Gym”.
Food shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc., etc., etc…

It going to get even tougher from the next week on. Double shifts three days a week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays), more classes, plus personal training with four new clients.

Just looking at my schedule makes me tired. So, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, that I feel completely knackered every week by Tuesday, on the regular base, and never stop wishing they would run all-year round special ephedrine promotion at my preferred protein supplier.


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[Запись для всех] 27-01-2008 13:56
Beauty Is Only Skin Deep...
This is why my Cinderella regime normally consist of one treatment at a time. If that at all. Today though, feeling unusually brave (or, could it be vain?), I am attempting to execute two DIY grooming procedures at once: eye-lashes dyeing and legs' "deforestations".
In my present, permanent, absent-minded state it would be a small wonder, if I, having mixed up bottles and tubes, wouldn't apply "Immac" cream on my eye lashes and smear dark brown pigment all over my lower extremities.
Could end up looking distinctly odd, with the face of a medieval page-boy and goat-like, saturnine legs. But then, again, you never know: like any other extreme eccentricity it might catch on and even start a bizzare, "contemporary" highly followed trend.

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[Запись для всех] 23-01-2008 14:49
"What a Bore..."
You're still with me. How cool. All I have to offer is pocket change
today, but it's yours... all yours. Routine burns a hole in my pockets lately and I need to dig deep for the best use of my resources. I'm ready and able to work out with slam, but not always willing for a prearranged cram. Same tricks, different order, better input and outcome... a bit of spontaneity, Maestro, please... Let the show begin.
Today, anything goes. The body can use a dose of whatever I give
it. I'm neither fresh, nor under-trained, nor over trained, nor
excited, nor apathetic. I'm me. I stand somewhere between the racks
and stacks with straps and wraps in anticipation. Little drama,
sufficient hope, usual wonder.... Let's do it.
The first set is the toughest... causing the dominoes to fall with
instinctive precision. This is what I did; this is what I was meant to do.
Laboring through my supersets it becomes noticeable my entire back
needs powerful action (it feels hollow) and my arms are yearning to
tug (their pet activity). Seated lat rows supersetted with straight
arm pullovers solves that problem and satisfies that need: five
supersets of 10, 8 and 6 reps, increasing the weight as I go. Lower
back, mid back, lat width and length, and biceps and core muscles are
blasted.

Hmmm. Thinking. I could use some pec work, but prefer to do some
deltoid work, as long as it's not pressing. Pressing is for the birds
at this particular moment. I have come to enjoy and appreciate the
one-arm lateral raise to the side while grasping a stabilizing
upright. Battle wounds prevent standard sidearm laterals, yet one side at a time enables the needed body positioning and focus and finesse to accomplish the favorite musclebuilding deed. Five sets at 10, 8 and 6 reps. At my age I want capped deltoids. Call me crazy.
Three sets of 35 standing rope tucks (for gut and such) and I'm outta there.
Food beckons ... Yum... I could feel myself growing already. Beast in the making and the monster on the prowl. Beware…




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[Запись для всех] 21-01-2008 10:24
Magical Quotation...
"It is not our abilities that make us, what we are. It is our choices..."
Prof. Dumbledore, Head Master of Hogwarts School of Magic.

On the slightly merrier, but a lot less profounder note, here is today's conversation between my two gym members:

"I could see your thong, Carl!"

"I am not wearing one, Liz!"

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[Запись для всех] 17-01-2008 07:21
Reversed Psychology.
Being white makes you sometimes get in touch with your “inner black sheep” side (space-killer variety, the hooves scratching and the horns itching ).
Particularly, if you happened to be the only light skinned person amongst the otherwise very dark (in all senses) crowd of early morning commuters.

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[Запись для всех] 14-01-2008 08:37
This Shoes Are Made For a 'Dancing...
My beige suede "Lotus" shoes. Bought for me on "Clarks" sales by my then "partner", husband at present, but still the same old Alex, on our second year in the UK. Which make them... hold on a sec... fourteen years old. Still, the "vintage" pair looks almost brand new and have got a lot of wear in them yet. That what real quality is all about, I suppose. We'll see if this excellence rub of on me and I would be able to "shoe off" any competition on my “Strictly Come Dancing" Monday nights.
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[Запись для всех] 11-01-2008 09:18
I Go Through Cycles...
I go through cycles... I think we all do. Sometimes I'm so full of
baloney I'll have three or four hundred things flashing through my head, and sometimes barely a thought drags itself across my mind -- in one ear and almost out the other -- before it collapses.

Get up, ya bum. You don't have to make sense... we'll fake it. No one would ever notice. And I doubt it, if anybody cares.

Regular resistance training, long and boring cardio sessions, all that performance outlines and Bigger, Stronger and Faster Made Easier pamphlets. I am so glad I don't have to read this stuff (can’t bothered with my own writing, to be quite frank with you, and feel genuinely sorry for those, who still dare) and just do it instead. So what, I'm no expert.


I'm inspired by politics lately, what with all the campaigning going on in the USA, so maybe I'll go with a trendy message. How about something global... fuel-wise... environmental... economical... creative.

Save Oil -- Spare Iron and Steel.

Iron and steel are becoming increasingly rare resources, costly to procure, and in demand for the manufacture of products essential to life. Bungee cords and comprehensive courses in freehand exercise, yoga, Pilates and dynamic tension as alternatives to primitive weight lifting is certainly the modern and sensible replacement _ the smart way to go.

Iron has enormous potential and that it's been tightly imprisoned in bars, plates and kettle bells is unconscionable. And that they, the end products, are wasted in the cruel and deceptive acts of pushing and pulling and hoisting is criminal and inhuman. Give us the convenience, resistance, and flexibility of rubber bands and the mobility, versatility and playful bounce of stability balls -- tools for our health and the health of our planet.
That’s me being sarcastic, by the way, in case you haven’t twigged.


In my mind, being a bodybuilder is a lot easier, than fussing about with all the modern and useless gadgets. Almost a doddle, once you got past discovering the sport, becoming fascinated with it, and engaging it with passion and zeal long enough to understand it and, actually, achieve something. The rest is hard work, sacrifice, perseverance, time, patience, commonsense and luck.


In all its’ outwardly simplicity and basic, cruel primitivism, weigh lifting is a phenomenon, and I would urge anyone, who happen to pause long enough to listen, to try it for the same reasons I began almost 20 years earlier as a snotty nosed kid: for it's calm truth and straightforwardness, pain and fulfillment, muscle and might. I was not the star type nor a muscleman groupie. Just one of the believers and a quiet follower of the iron path. Still am, in fact…
And that is the only fixed phase, or never ending cycle, I hope to ever find myself in.

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[Запись для всех] 04-01-2008 07:52
2008 is Gonna be a Great Year...
A rare quiet morning at work allows me time to think about things I would not normally think about... Like, who lifts more weight in a lifetime - an Olympic lifter, a powerlifter or a bodybuilder? When does overtraining commence, considering hormonal production, maximum oxygen uptake, stress on joints and ligaments, blood sugar levels and focused energy expended? If a devoted trainee did nothing but cleans and presses for strength, health and muscle development, what would the results be after a substantial commitment of five years? How about curls and dips only? What a waste of the precious New Year's time!
Which reminds me: 362 days till 2009... 2008, ready or not, here we are.


We won't talk about resolutions. Those went out with polyester and
disco. Resolutions are like lifer-long promises; they are not only
broken, they are chopped up, pulverized and finally vaporized. Let's
just stick to the basics: train hard, eat right and be -----------.
You fill in the blank. Choices include, but are not limited to: happy, strong, consistent, muscular, lean, smart, healthy, a rock star, a pin up girl, a millonaire...
December is the longest month of the year. Somehow we manage to pack
six weeks into four, gain weight, lose muscle, waste time, spend
money, buy junk, get deep in debt, forfeit discipline, submit to
chaos, misplace the iron and skip squats. It happens very fast and
takes forever, both at the same time.
I intend to show my body kindness this year. In other words, I shall
reduce the blasting to sensible iron-pumping, thereby reducing the negative approach that accompanies the white-hot sets and reps, and the injury that lurks on the other side of the last rep. When pain begins to linger like the smell of an old cigar, it's time to lighten the load.

Speaking of which, considering it's the New Year and everybody's got
important things to do -- weight to lose, muscle to gain, money to
save, resolutions to keep -- I gonna join the queue. Or, even more likely, jump right in front of it.

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[Запись для всех] 02-01-2008 07:29
Aftermath…
…or Christmas Damage Assessment.

1. Ten days of severest cold ever. Check.
2. Weight gain. Zero. Notch.
3. Weight loss. Eight pounds. Counts. But go figure.
4. Training sessions from 24/12/07 to 01/01/08 – three. Disgraceful.
5. Back to work and, thankfully, to busy, orderly life- from now on.

That’s the stock taking done and finished. All praise The Lord.

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[Запись для всех] 31-12-2007 10:18
Happy New Year!
Can't promise I will be here THAT often in the nearest foreseeable future. Every once in a while, perhaps. Or, quite possibly, even a lot less (I've got my reasons, and they are absolutely NOTHING to do with present company).

On the merrier note, however, here is little something for everyone from "Live Journal":
...С Новым Гoдoм!
С Новым Годoм! В смысле - счастьем! С новым счастьем! То есть, вот с чем: С новoй крышей! С новым дoмом!С новым блинoм! С новым кoмом! С нoвoй правдой! С новым сном! С нoвoй стопкой кверху дном! С нoвым делoм! С новым словом! Рыбoлoвoв - с нoвым клевoм! Карьеристов - с новым чином! Маму с папoй - с нoвым сынoм! Лесорубов - с нoвoй рощей! Нoвых зятей - с новoй тещей! Новых русских - с нoвой тачкой! С нoвой банкoвскою пачкой! Бюрократoв - с новой папкoй! Вoлосатых - с новoй шапкoй! Лысоватых - с новой кепкой! Деда с бабкой - с новoй репкой! Зодиака - с новым знаком! Греку в реке - с нoвым раком! Дoнжуанов - с новой милoй! Ветеранoв - с новой силoй! Бизнесменoв - с новым взлетом!С новым банком! С новым счетoм! Кулинаров - с новым вкусом! Импортёрoв - с нoвым курсом! Бoмбардиров - с нoвым голoм! Трансвеститoв - с новым пoлом! Космoнавтoв - с нoвой высью! Тугодумoв - с новoй мыслью! Шахматистов - с новым хoдoм! Вас - еще раз с Новым Годом! Музыкантов - с новым звукoм! Папуасов - с нoвым Кукoм! Капитанов - с нoвым кoком! Президентoв - с новым срокoм! Депутатoв - с нoвoй Думой! Кто за деньги - с нoвой суммой! Птицеловов - с новoй птичкoй! А сержантов - с нoвой лычкой! Генералов - с новoй частью! Вас - еще раз с новым счастьем! Подчиненных - с новым боссом! Программистoв - с новым DOSом! Слабoвольных - с нoвой дозoй! Хатха-йoгoв - с нoвой позoй! Пивoварoв - с новым суслом! Перестрoйку - с нoвым руслoм! Безработных - с нoвым местом! Тили-тили - с новым тестoм! Сталеваров - с новой плавкой! Отсидевших - с новой справкой! Пoхудевших - с нoвoй формой! Бывших трезвых - с нoвой нормoй! Завязавших - с нoвoй мерой!Атеистoв - с новoй верой! Резидентов - с нoвым кoдом! Всех вас - снoва с Новым Гoдом! С нoвoй песней! С нoвым танцем! Разведенных - с новым шансом! Жен любимых - с нoвой шубой! Дядю Сэма - с нoвой Кубoй! Беззаветных - с новым дзотoм! Сокращенных - с нoвым КЗоТом! Театралoв - с новoй драмoй! Маму с мылoм - с новoй рамoй! Журналистoв - с нoвым слухoм! Медиумов - с нoвым духом! Чукчей - с нoвым анекдoтoм, Мчащих - с новым пoворотом! Взявших прикуп - с новой мастью! Всех вас - снова с новым счастьем!!



Let's hope it's a good one. See ya!

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[Запись для всех] 24-12-2007 10:11
Have Yourself ...
...a Merry Little Christmas...


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[Запись для всех] 19-12-2007 07:31
How crazy can we get? ..
... Pretty crazy!
I consider my habit of eating smaller meals throughout the day as I go about my tasks at home. These frequent eating events, though of substantial nutritional worth, do not earn a place at the dining table with an attractive place setting and glowing candles. Instead, I consume the fare of tuna, water and cottage cheese while standing at the kitchen table conversing with my "Apple MAC" or the birds outside the window, whichever will listen (Sad, I know!)
Neither does, not for very long.

Alas, eating alone can be lonely, and the neutral stance is conspicuously tiresome and unproductive. However, neutral becomes quite engaging when thrown into low gear, a groaning four-wheel-drive workhorse. I, thus, nourish and labor co-operatively.
A bite of food and I’m in slow motion. Standing four to five feet away from the waist-high kitchen table, I lean forward with my palms on its edge and commence pushing... My stocking feet slide on the hardwood surface beneath me as I control the pace and resistance by my body’s positioning. I stretch the calves and hamstrings, I labor the thighs... soon my triceps and shoulders are aching. I lean, I push, I thrust, I persist.
It takes about six or seven supersets (chomp, plod) to complete my mission and I’m warm and breathing and aware of blood concentrating in various parts of my anatomy. The union of acts becomes a beneficial devotion, my mind tuning into a muscle-stimulating, problem-solving and stress-amending calmness.
No sweat, no pain, no burden... just invigorating motion, vitalizing action.
Give it a break, girl! You’ve been at this madness too long. Have you considered shock therapy, a lobotomy, a pitcher of Margaritas? You’re exhibiting scary signs of kettlebells for brains.
You mock, but weirdness sometimes pays off. The diversion is effective and eases stiffness, soothes aches, accelerates healing, stretches, oxygenates, encourages, pacifies and, last but not least, wards off evil spirits. And it’s free.
Perhaps you’ve noticed, we’re living and striving in a day and age when we need all the help we can get... muster, create and invent, uncover, imagine and share. No stealing, lying or cheating allowed.
I entered the gym earlier today and promptly immersed myself in crunches and leg raises. The only way outta the gym is through it. Go, go... not quickly, not hurriedly, not elsewhere... but here and now, thoughtful and deliberate, like a locomotive changing cars in a freight yard, a crane loading and unloading cargo at the docks.
Hard, worthy, gratifying work... ya gotta love it. The variety of crunches I do are not like those done by others I observe, the ride-‘em-cowboy, rocking-horse type. Cute. They’ve got crack and mangle, crush and scrunch, if you know what I mean. I lay backward on a benchpress and position my feet on the racked Oly bar before me to enable an intensified torso action -- crunch to the front, to the left and the right, lengthy stretches, tight contractions, hips raised high to meet the torso, compress, flex... hard, harder, another one and another.

The leg raises are done on a 20-degree incline with my arms extended and hands splayed under my bottom for support and low back containment. Hip flexors scream like brats and lower abdominals and obliques burn like branding irons. I break up the reps into five max-rep sets and go until I’m delirious, a grand total of 300 reps -- 150 of each exercise. I’m warm, I’m loose. I’m ready to work out.
Sadly, not a six-pack, still a keg. Oh, well, better than a barrel. However, if it were a drum I could beat it.
I noted at the outset how comfortable I felt just lying on the bench, stretching, flexing and contorting in preparation for the workout. The muscles and joints responded blissfully to the tensing and reaching and arching. If only they knew what I had in store for them, a merciless pounding, beating and thumping into shape.
I decided for the first time in my training history to ever-so-slowly simmer the concoction of muscles and bodyparts before bringing them to a full boil. Why not? I’m the head chef, after all, and preparing nutritious gourmet specialties to tantalize discerning palates is my art form. This isn’t a fast food joint, Bub. Feed them right and they come back for more, that’s what I always say.
I grabbed a pair of darling 10-pound dumbbells and lay flat on a bench, the cutesy weights straight overhead. With arms straight and palms forward, I extended the dumbbells behind me simulating a stiffarm pullover movement. Thoughtfully and slowly I established a 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-second count from the starting position to the return and retained it through the entire ensuing six-exercise, 36-rep set.
If you don’t try this stuff, Mr. and Mrs. Stuck-in-the-mud conformist, you’ll never know what you’re missing. So there!
Follow my tempo and movements, my purpose and achievements -- they range from sublime to ridiculous, from warm to red-hot, from a murmur to thunder. From good, to better, to best.

The six purposeful reps were a treat and I savored the good feelings within the lats, the grip and bis and tris, the pecs and about the shoulders. The abs were not without stabilizing contraction, and the buttocks and thighs hugged the bench for support. We don’t often notice this favorable multiplicity of activity, or appreciate it, or tally it as a valuable part of our musclebuilding experience or progress.
This style of training was proving to be a lesson in muscle engagement, extension and contraction, action and response, and exercise groove, while revisiting pump and burn with a side trip to in-depth focus. You’ll say, “This complex and varied activity is occurring at once, and I thought I was merely working my serratus. I have renewed incentive, refreshed purpose, more complete training understanding. I’m rich.”
Shame on us: We grab, go and power through; we chase the sets, reps and action away, rather than pursue them; we endure the pain, we suffer the burn, we groan with exhaustion as the iron crashes to the floor. Great set... let’s do it again.
We’ve just begun. Continuing the action with devotion and discovery, direct the iron singlets to a 45-degree spread-arm reach. This action shifts the resistance enough to complement its predecessor while furthering its torso and upper-chest developing advantage. The burn builds; the pump takes its cue.
After six smooth, slowly paced and highly gratifying reps, we slip into an authentic dumbbell fly, the preferred exercise for shaping and defining the pecs. The overload on the insertions is noticeable and straight-arm control and pec-isolation grab our attention... some serious pec development and torso building in the works. After six reps, a total of 24, the 10s seem hefty. Hmmm...
Now here’s a less-than-ordinary movement to keep us alert: the forward and downward flat bench sorta dumbbell curl and fly, one of my favorite combination exercises for tying together unvisited regions of the biceps and shoulders and pectorals, while making me feel like I’m gonna burst with muscle engagement and go to heaven before I expected. Six reps and stimulation hisses all around me.
Are you still with me, crew? We are about to specifically exert the triceps by performing a standard variation of the lying dumbbell French press. From a palms-facing-each-other, overhead position, lower those now-bulging 10-pounders to the shoulders and beyond while retaining an elbow-upward position. Feel that? Good… “Returneth thou the irons to the tidy places from whence they came so mightily,” said Shakes Bear. Anyone who shakes bear can say whatever he wants.
Oh, boy! Ready or not, stand tall (literally), take a deep breath and curl the dumbbells in a thrusting thumbs-up action. These final six reps are well-earned and smoothly engage the upper body in a variation of a hammer curl and dumbbell clean and press. Lots of stuff happening all over the place with this personalized, improvised, customized frenzy to the enzy.
Now, captains, we continue our sweep by going up the rack to the next pair of weights suitable to our scheme. This was my sequence: 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 pounds X 6 reps per 6 successive movements.
After 20 pounds the weight felt significantly heavier, and painful struggle replaced delectable stimulation... but the trade-off was worth every bit of muscle fiber recruited. As I approached the final sets and reps, I was soaring and gliding and diving simultaneously... out-of-control while in control.
You’ve gotta be crazy to go there and be mad enough to want to stay there.


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[Запись для всех] 17-12-2007 10:13
Monday Controversy.
On the way to work was composing a bleak winter haiku as today’s entry. Then, as an impromptu act of demonstrative protest, popped into “TESCO” and bought two boxes of “Ferrero Rocher”. Depression or oriental 17-syllabilic poetry – no more.


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[Запись для всех] 14-12-2007 09:14
Bzzzzzzzzzzzz...
"Buzzzz-and-drum" of a busy-busy bee.
That is all, I am afraid, you gonna here from me for the rest of the week. (... 'cos somebody has to make the honey.)

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[Запись для всех] 12-12-2007 10:10
Mood Of The Day...
Imagine Peace. War Is Over (If You Want It)





Memorial Tribute.

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[Запись для всех] 11-12-2007 08:06
Don't Try THAT At Home!
My yesterday ration:
8am. Breakfast of Scrambled Eggs and Celery.
1pm. Sort of "Lunch" of Very Strong Black Tea and Condensed Milk.
5pm to 8pm. "Dinner". Two Pints of "Guinness" and Blackcurrent plus Packet of Peanuts. (LOADS of calori-free/mood-enhancing gosspip shared with my friend Vindetta.)
How's that for a "healthy" menu?

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[Запись для всех] 09-12-2007 09:58
Free Spirit.
Empty your mind and let your energy flow free. Letting your thoughts go makes your well and truly liberated AND fully aware of life inside and around you.
This is how I intent to get through dreaded winter months anyway.

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[Запись для всех] 08-12-2007 05:11
...Just Seem Appropriate...
...and an old favourite of mine.

Машина. День Рожденья.





[Масква]
[Jull]
[MeDy3a]
[диреХтор-2]
[inna2]
[Жутик]
[Летний сад]
[Vindetta]
[xelenka]
[PretoGatu]
[Chashka]
[VETA-S]


Love you all.

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[Запись для всех] 07-12-2007 09:36
Behind the smile.
Friday. And I am all in throws of my usual and trivial pursuit - surfing the Net and gliding through hundredths of bodybuilding web sites. Couple of shows I’ve missed, galleries of familiar faces, well studies body parts, some of which I know better, than my own and quite a few new names. Have you ever noticed how wide and broadly they all grin, this boys and girls, posing, flexing and presenting their musculature and themselves, flaunting it all for everybody to see, if not admire? Part of the show package, this seemingly senseless frozen, glued-on smile. I’ve been there myself; I know, what it takes, and I do remember that characteristical facial muscle ache after trying to look “elated, cheerful and happy” (startled and silly, more like it) for two hours non stop.
The smiles on stage and under the harsh lights of photo shoots are hard-earned and their payment was gained in the dark confines of gyms filled with heavy iron. Weights — barbells and dumbbells — were the source of resistance that built the muscles that built the men that built the magazines and the web sites. I, and the guys before me, lifted the cold and noisy metal not for a moment on a page of paper or on the web page, but for reasons — wonderful reasons — too numerous to count.

Oh, heck! Let me give it a try. I’ll be brief.




There’s health, muscle and might for starters. Not bad. There’s the fun of lifting weights and the exciting challenge it presents, the physical pushing and pulling and stretching, the intelligent formation of exercises, movements and routines, and the tantalizing pumping, burning and striving. Weight training is a dynamic diversion providing strong camaraderie, identification and hope. Be sure of this: Few pastimes provide more benefits, rewards and fulfillment.

Training builds discipline, perseverance and patience. Mountains are climbed with these superior characteristics, lives are saved and nations are shaped. Tough exercise puts order and rhythm in our lives, diminishing confusion and reducing stress, and that’s worth more than a few trips to the psychiatrist’s couch. As quality is added to life, so is it extended with enduring, useful and enjoyable years. When once we said, “I can't,” after gaining fitness and well-being through dedicated exercise, we say, “Don’t just sit there, let’s get moving.”

A strong back and strong heart match one’s courage and confidence, four natural byproducts of working out and regular lifting. And, though personally pleased, true ironheads don’t brag about their accomplishments — one more modest attribute gained from solid cast-iron training.
I said I was gonna be brief... Or didn't I?


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[Запись для всех] 06-12-2007 07:36
WWet, wet, wet...
Whoever said "Everywhere you go - alwayas take the weather with you..." ought to have their wits checked.
After walking my customary 7 miles to work this morning I am soaking to the bone. My paffa jacket is wet, my lycra pants are sodden and clinging coldly to my legs, my little red riding hood hat is damp, trainers are soggy and started to smell already AND my socks need thorough wringing, as though after good hand wash. The only fine and dry thing about me at the moment is probably my sense of humour.

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[Запись для всех] 05-12-2007 08:43
SHAKING things up...
[IMG][/IMG]

Morning Protein SHAKE:
2 bananas, two scoops of "American Muscle" protein meal,150ml of cranberry juice.

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[Запись для всех] 04-12-2007 08:49
STILL...
...life worth living anyway. More over, if you started a show, it must go on, and you simply can't stop.

All this wasn't related to anything in particular. They were random thoughts, popping into my head at 5 o'clock this morning on the top of a double-decker bus.

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[Запись для всех] 03-12-2007 07:36
MONDAY...
...and a helluva lot of work.

Planning ahead:

1. 7miles walk to work.
2. Three classes to teach.
3. Monthly reports to write.
4. Club's Internet Site to update.
5. 7 miles walk back home.
6. Lats training tonight.
7. Try not to forget to eat AND to keep my sanity intact
.

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[Запись для всех] 02-12-2007 09:04
SUNDAY. Cheers!!!
[IMG][/IMG]


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[Запись для всех] 01-12-2007 07:28
SATURDAY...
Day of leisure labour...

I guess, what I meant to say, is, that MY Saturdays are not unlike Bartok's music. ..."full of hitherto undreamed of possibilities."

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[Запись для всех] 29-11-2007 09:45
Complex Approach...
Being a seasoned pro and a hard core muscle head has its’ own advantages and certain merits. Apart from the obvious ones, of course. Like high metabolism, allowing you to have 24 (that’s twenty four, NOT forty four, by the way) profiteroles in single sitting and completely forgetting about it five minutes after committing such an atrocious nutritional crime. Or – relatively low level of body fat all year round, even off-season, permitting you to humour your vanity and to look good in anything short, tight and fitting. (Well if you’re after “romantic- feminine- and-glamorous” image, better think twice before lifting that 10kg dumb bell. Me – I am not into bellowing locks, flowing frocks, and pretty cutesy outfits.) Despite feeling sluggish and being totally “out-of-sync” last night, there was still enough discipline and ol’ working ethics left clanking and knocking about in the “Rusty-The-Trusty” to carry myself (DRAG, more like it) through an hour of a strenuous, circuit-style, top-to-bottom work out.

1. Straight-Legged Dead Lifts SS with Leg Extensions.
2. Lunges SS with Lying Leg Curls.
3. BB Bicep Curls SS with Triceps Push Downs.
4. DB Flyes SS with BB Bent-Over Rows.
5. Crunches SS with Dorsal Raises.

Now, who said the whole approach to training is a COMPLEX business? In my point of view it’s very simple really and boils down to one thing and one thing ONLY.

Just Do It!!!

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[Запись для всех] 28-11-2007 15:32
NO ENTRY.
Well, you could enter, if you so wish. But whether you find anything eye or mind pleasing, that would be open to discussion. For some reason I don’t feel like overstretching myself to meet (AND greet) everyday life’s necessities and demands. Hence – no writing. My brain is sluggish, my reflexes are idle and the consciousness - half-comatose. The most I am capable of today – seating on my a bit bony, but still such a lovely ass, and letting the surroundings pale into insignificance. To blur into the mere props on the back of the stage of reality.
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[Запись для всех] 27-11-2007 07:02
Late Night Wisdom.
Prunes are the most deadly, lethal and effective weapon of mass destruction, known to humans. With not a lot of money and even less imagination, you could quite easily and safely take one perfectly sound and healthy fitness manager out of operation. As well, as the whole army of them. On their stomachs they might be. But definitely NOT marching!
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[Запись для всех] 24-11-2007 19:09
Time Passages...
Everyone knows the holidays are plodding along like work horses and it'll be New Year's Eve in five short weeks. Do we have to count the days? Isn't it enough to shop till ya drop, wrap presents, hurry up, miss your workouts and gain twelve pounds of blubber? No, I don't want another piece of pie and not another word about time.
Of course,
having little knowledge of anything beyond lifting weights and
building muscles, the two closely associated disciplines will be my
central subject matter. Got a pad and pencil ready? This stuff's
heavy.

LIFT, EAT, REST AND GROW.

I left out the details as they are boring and no one seems to agree
upon them. I figure the less said, the fewer the disagreements. It is
the holiday season, after all. Additionally, with my limited-input
philosophical approach each of us has a greater opportunity to fill in
the Eat, Lift, Rest and Grow (LERG) specifics ourselves. We do not
live in a totalitarian society, people. The Stone Age of survival only
has come and gone.

Our choices -- life's intricate factors of self-control -- such asexercise, sets and reps are deeply personal. Proteins and carbs and fats should not necessarily be treated universally either. How much one sleeps, how big one gets -- these are not trite grab-bag subjects.
They are private; they are individual and they are delicate. I should think there'd be laws protecting these freedoms -- moralconsiderations, spiritual concerns. What has mankind come to?
This is the perfect setting and time (that word again) for recalling why we love barbell curls, flexing our muscles and pulling on a t-shirt that doesn't feel like a sail flapping in the breeze. We might not be huge and ripped, and the calves could use some extensive work (forget about the six-pac), but we are hefting and hoisting with all our might.

Exercise, we agree, is an activity that's good for your health, shape and well-being. It's as important as hygiene and right eating, a worthy job and a loving mate. Resistance exercise, the addition of a few machines, is another step forward, a muscle- and strength-building activity for the energetic and physically inclined. Weightlifting and powerlifting are iron-sports involving strength, technique and discipline, and often include competition. Bodybuilding is a specific muscle- and shape-building activity, which requires lifting weights extensively and precisely and eating properly. It, too, is often
competitive.

Training is the term to describe all of the above activities and any one of them is an expression of one's self. Some expressions are greater than others. They can be a diversion, a pastime or hobby or a beneficial tool in supporting and furthering other sports and recreations, and jobs and daily living. Ask yourself, who is not assisted by being strong and conditioned, well built and imposing: a bus driver -- a passenger, a lawyer -- a client, a doctor -- a patient, a pencil-pushing accountant?
You, me, your spouse?
It's a tough road to travel, this training business. Life's a tougher road to travel without it. I dare say I'd pull onto the hard shoulder, throw it in neutral and apply the emergency brake if I had to go it on my own. I'd walk, I'd stumble, I'd hang on a signpost and stick out my
thumb. But nobody picks up a bum.

Well, I must admit, that's a generalization and an over-statement if I ever heard one. Over the years you give up stuff here and there and you adjust. The power, the density and the youthful symmetry all take a hit. But the expression, the training expression, if it is
legitimate, remains strong.
The longer you pursue the cold, compact, clanking weights up and down the racks, streets and hillsides, the more certain
you are it's an expression of you -- an extension you. And musclehead is not exactly the character I had in mind. Determined, disciplined, authentic, developing and developed, and blessed with character are the more appropriate descriptives.
I exclude myself from the observations, of course. I'm at the keyboard, or in the gym and don't count . This is about you, the one with a drumstick in one hand and a chocolate cake in the other (TORT-and-VODKA, come to think about it, might be more common occurance, than some might think ).

You who eat with all your might, when you can and as you know how. Or feel guilt
and disappointment after you did. Not me, though. And even we agreed on my presense here being merely in observing capasity, still...The facts remain.
When others recline, I incline.
When you sit, I squat. You curl your hair, I curl the 25s. You clean your plate, I add plates to my clean. You guzzle a beer, I ingest a protein shake.

I am living and learning, lifting, eating, resting and growing.
You are eating, resting and growing... plump.

Here's a sure-fire way to burn fat and get pumped -- not plumped -- next time you're in the vicinity of iron and steel neatly and conveniently arranged on bars of different lengths, and before sturdy benches for sitting and reclining and adjacent to assorted cables from which to dangle, hang and pull.
Sounds like your favorite gym down the street... downstairs... in the garage, where the vibes hum like still, yet warming AGA.

I use a pair of 25s, 35s or 45s for this non-stop, no-rush encounter, depending on my expression. Be nice to the character grasping the iron.

* A set of lying dumbbell presses for six reps... Sit up.

* A set of seated bentover dumbbell lateral rows for six reps...Stand up.

* A set of alternate curls for six reps... Sit; lay down and with one dumbbell.

* A set of stiffarm pullovers for six reps... Position yourself before the cables.

* A set of triceps pushdowns, forehead to lockout for six reps... Kneel down.

* A set of full range of motion rope tucks for 10 to 20 reps...

Stand, repeat and smile. After all "...'TIS A SEASON TO BE JOLLY"

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[Запись для всех] 23-11-2007 08:53
Simon Says...
In my case it was SALMON and it said: "EAT ME". Never deterred by other gullible people sad experiences with talking edible things ("Alice in Wonderland" being your nearest call of reference, if you're puzzled over what on Earth she is on about), I obeyed wholeheartedly. Result? Sizeable tupper wear box packed full of scrumptious, pink, admittedly stinky, fishy flesh (steamed) to keep me going for the whole day. 8 pieces of hundred grams each will make four lovely meals, not discounting already consumed hefty omelet for breakfast, a protein shake after tonight's training and erm... grilled white fish for supper.
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[Запись для всех] 22-11-2007 07:30
Dial "D" for Deltoids.
Last night's shoulder-demolishing session.

1. Reversed Flyes. About 20 sets of them. With the weight ranging from one plate to the whole stack of them.

2. Bent-over DB Flyes. 8 X 15-20.

3. Lateral DB Raises. 6 X 15-20.

4. Seated "Hammer Strength" Lateral Raises. 4 X 12-15.

5. Standing Shoulder Presses ("Hammer Strength". 4 X 15-20.

6. BB Upright Rows. 4 X 12-15.

7. ABS. Crunches. 3 X 50.

Absolutely killed the deltoids. As a result of all of the above madness this morning I couldn't face my old trusty shoulder bag, and arrived to work, feeling not quite my usual stylish self. Well, you wouldn't, would you, if all your "wordly posessions" are randomly crammed into a plain brown paper bag with the logo of the "Fat Face" shop on it?

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[Запись для всех] 21-11-2007 09:25
Damsel in Distress.
Some recent events of the past few days made me realize one very painful thing. Nobody ever loved me the way I would want to be loved. Or, shown it in the way I would feel I deserved.
How crushingly heartbreaking and how tragically pathetic.

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[Запись для всех] 20-11-2007 07:59
Cantata in Iron LEGato.
Last night HEAVY leg training could be described in Italian terms, as “TENEBROSO”. For, the work out was loaded, the pace was solemn, the mood was somber. And I was wearing black, top to bottom. Black sweater, black baggy pants, black weight lifting gloves… Ah, and a very small exception of pink “Converse” trainers and matching aerobic socks. Being “black and proud” sometimes works for even “white and humble”. If I wish to draw further musical analogies, my alLEGory would, most probably, be that of Pavana-style exercise. Slow, measured, engrossed and absorbed.



1.OVERTURE. (Warm Up).

Leg Extensions. 6 X 15-20. Weights from 10kg to 80 kg.


2.MAIN THEME with Signature Tune of Vastus Medialis (Almost “MELODY- alis, isn’t it?)

Close Stance Leg Presses. 6 X 15-20. Weights from 80 kg to 300 kg.
Hack Squats. 5 X 15-20. Weights from 20 kg to 100kg.

Frontal BB Squats. 4 X 12-15. Weights fro 40kg to 70kg.

3. CODA.

Roman Chair Squats. 3 X max. Weights from body weight to 20kg.

4. GRAND FINALE.

Protein Drink @10pm back home.

5. TUTTI. Well, what could I say? When you train legs, face the music and CONDUCT ACCORDingly.




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[Запись для всех] 19-11-2007 06:16
Plans For This Morning.
1. 45minutes cardio session with "Freshly Squeezed" on E4.
2. Breakfast (4 egg whites + 2 celery sticks).
3. An hour-and-a-half walk to work.
4. At work - wall to wall gossip on Morning TV and about 20 Christmas Cards to sign.


...and Plans For This Afternoon.

Considering the weather outside, the very best thing I could do - nothing at all. AND enjoy it. Thoroughly.

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[Запись для всех] 16-11-2007 07:58
Another Day of Scheming and Day Dreaming
The words I toss together are simple attempts to gain your attention
and point you in a sound and agreeable direction in a muscle-building journey. Like well-placed signs on roadways warning of bumps, sharp curves and slippery slopes, I offer advisory cautions and
guides.

The subject matter is less prolific than my choice of adjectives and
words ending in ly, say my counseling readership. I should think of
something worthy to say, they continue, perhaps between sets at the
gym or while ingesting cans of tuna and water. Cute!

I am a servant, I am obliging, I am creative, I am positive. I'm real.
Thus, the messages in the future will uncover real, hidden and, till now, never before exposed secrets. Developing topics include:

1) Building lean and mighty muscle.

2) Losing unsightly body fat.

3) Growing thick, luxurious body hair (Just kidding!).

4) Earning big bucks restoring discarded gym bags, trainers and wraps (Tee-Hee! Fooled ya!).

5) Recycling precious energy from your stationary bike (Messing around again, or haven’t you twigged yet?).


You asked for it.


Consider for a sec the handy-dandy enhancers from the underground,
proliferation of current training methodologies cautioning against any hint of volumous training, the obvious increase in techno-based
physical apathy and languor, the introduction and takeover of sparkly, non-inspiring, look-at-me gym atmospheres, the co-incidental loss of gyms that matter, and the general chaos of minds of men and women, and boys and girls today. Morals and personal responsibility ain't so good either.


Are we becoming busier, yet less active texting techno-headed
scatterbrains developing unbelievable cellular gadgetry while
developing unbelievable limitations to physical exertion, endurance
and pain? Absolutely, I say, with the exception of a courageous band
of warriors, who regularly spread their wings wide and raise their spirits of strength and health.

Periodically I'm compelled by the great Force of Iron to remind us of
mankind's unnatural descent and impending vulnerability. Kinda like
pointing out ones fly is open or blouse is unbuttoned or mouth is
drooling or nose is dripping or clock is ticking and it's getting
late. Fix it if you care -- you certainly can -- before it's too late.

Our workouts are our first and last stand against the deterioration of our bodies, the wiles of the world and the destruction of the same.
They are also fun and exciting, fulfilling and lovable. And they work
most effectively when accompanied by smart eating practices.

Secrets, concealed facts and obscure truths flow from my long-sealed
lips like pouring rain. You're all wet, my friend.


Eat better, train harder, be tougher, think surer and rest MORERE (How very Lewis Carroll, innit? Than Goodness I am not into Alice’s bands and white pinnies !)
Of course, there's always the slightly expanded version:

1) Late flash! Gaining lean muscle weight is a slow process. Lots of
good food, hard training, guts and persistence required. One must not
pursue weight gain randomly or surrender to the tediousness of the
process. Backward steps are too hard to recover. Never give up.

2) Seeking lean muscle only is a frustrating mission as few -- I've
known three or four -- are blessed with the superior metabolism and
genetic blueprint. And waiting for lean muscle to grow is like
watching a pot of water, it never boils.

3) Though lean muscle mass is the desired goal, gaining muscle mass,
or bulk, a solid composition of muscle and essential adipose tissue,
is the more common achievement of size-conscious musclebuilders.

4) Well distributed bulk is appealing, useful and rewarding for most
lifters with long-term goals and a tolerance for temporary
bodybuilding smoothness. Proper bulk provides strength and energy to
overload the muscles during a workout (hypertrophy) and plenty of
tissue building resources for muscle development.

5) Guess what... The lifter must eat more and better meals -- a
balance of complete protein, nutrient-dense carbs and non-greasy fat
meals. Eat smaller portions more frequently throughout the day without failure for better nutrient absorption, more consistent
tissue-building provisions and less system overload. Break out the
Tupperware and embrace the routine of preparing meals for the road.
Missed meals are backward steps.

6) Drink lots of water. I repeat -- water, water and water and no soda pop. Soda is a crime, water is divine. While on the subject, no junk, no rubbish, no kidding.

7) Most serious muscle builders drink milk, eat dairy, consume eggs
and include red meat in their diet. There's more: A quality protein
powder as a dietary supplement and meal fortifier is a most effective
and convenient weight gain tool.

8) Remember: Fresh fruit and salads are invaluable for weight gain,
health and system vitality. EFAs from olive oil, flaxseed and fish add health to the body and calories to your musclebuilding diet. I
periodically forget to include the above and suspect you do, too.
Living foods and essential fats are great warriors and supportive
cheerleaders. Lock and load! Go, muscles, go!

9) Workout sessions, along with meal regularity, take center stage.
Know yourself, know your training and persistently bomb it without
overtraining and without failing. Common sense, instinct, practice,
trial and error, observation and time teach... guide. Missed workouts
are backward steps.

Limit your aerobic schedule to three 30-minute blasts a week and think training intensity (OK, make it 45 minutes, as some of you well aware this is what I do anyway). I have an acquaintance who doesn't do any aerobic activity, convinced it interferes with his mass gains and muscle retention. He adds the conserved time and energy to his regimen of intense weight training, believing his thus-amped training is sufficient for cardiovascular health. Hmm...

10) Rest and relaxation are as important as drive and vitality to
developing lean muscle. Snooze good, rest and de-stress regularly, and meditate on building a strong body and mind and soul when musing.


The secrets are revealed, the buried treasures uncovered, the gems of
truth are fixed in settings of gold. Light replaces darkness.

Peculiar thing about musclebuilding secrets, there aren't any.

When you're a bodybuilder, nothing is new. The only thing remaining is hard work, love, hope and faith.





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