Man Up

I don’t buy bodybuilding magazines often (though I do have a subscription to The New Yorker) but a friend gave me the September 2010 issue of MuscleMag because it’s got my favourite bodybuilder, the illustrious Hidetada Yamagishi, on the cover. Eye candy aside it’s a pretty good issue — lots of articles about getting strong! I love this quote from Jimmy Peña’s article “Doorway to Strength”:

While lifting superhuman weights may not be as high on your list as building muscle size, at one point or another you may decide to focus solely on enhancing pure, bar-bending brute strength… If that’s the case, follow us down the path only the strong have taken. Here’s the door. And no, it’s not stuck — it’s just heavy.

Things I Like: Part 1 of 5

What a horrid, dreary, rainy Monday! To inject a little cheer into a gloomy day, these notebooks from Cartolina are just the thing. I use them to record my workouts — they’re the perfect size, unlined, and the covers are awfully pretty. I’ve made a collage of my favourites below. The dog-eared ones I’ve filled are a tangible representation of the hard work I’ve done in the gym, but the pristine new ones gently remind me that I’ll never be big or strong enough.

I’ve decided to share five things that I really like this week. As the officially (self-) appointed Arbiter of Taste, I suggest that you should really like them too!

I Hate Dips and Dips Hate Me

Dips feel so bad! When I do them I half expect my sternum to snap in two and my chest to open up, emptying everything that belongs in my thoracic cavity out onto the dirty gym floor in a great deluge of blood. Evidently the dips are winning!

Never Strong Enough

I can’t believe I survived the last few weeks of classes! Hallelujah, y’all!

I had a good workout in an eerily quiet gym this afternoon. I liked having all the equipment to myself because I’m greedy! But I missed the hustle and bustle and the noise and the energy and the eye candy.

My best friend took these pictures for me this afternoon (thank you again Charlie!). Please humour me by telling me that you can see some pec separation in the last one! I swear it’s right there in the middle! Now if only I had the matching shoulders, arms, back, legs… I really want to get bigger! And stronger! I want it all! I mentioned that I’m greedy, right?

MissOfficer is Awesome!

Bodybuilder Lauren Powers appears in Lady Gaga’s latest music video! So cool! I don’t like Lady Gaga (Klaus Nomi did it better — and first), but I’m a big fan of Lauren Powers! She was featured in the female bodybuilding documentary that inspired me to start weight training.

Lauren is on the left, Jayne Trcka is on the right.

Wishful Thinking…

I’d really like to hit a squat PR today. Making sacrifices as a means of currying favour from the gods seems to have fallen out of fashion. Maybe if I try this unconventional approach the god of powerlifting will smile upon me in a sort of bemused but benevolent way! I’m counting on bonus points for creativity. A human or animal sacrifice sounds too messy and extreme… but I bet the god of powerlifting would appreciate an offering of food!

I spent the weekend helping a friend to move so I missed watching the Arnold Classic. I was keeping my princely fingers crossed for Zoa Linsey, who made her pro debut and placed 7th in the Ms. International. Here’s a picture of her from the prejudging. I love her physique! And she’s Canadian! Talk about a total package!

Big News! Big Excitement!

In the sidebar to your right you’ll notice a new addition: a countdown to my first powerlifting meet! The competition is on August 21 and I couldn’t be more excited! My main interest is still in physique competitions, but I figure that I might as well compete in powerlifting until I’ve got the size I need for bodybuilding. And when I found a pink belt and knee wraps I was sold! I would really like to get my bench press up to 135# by August. I’m not sure how realistic a goal that is, but I like a challenge.

V is for…

Valentine’s Day! I’m up for any excuse to wear tarty underwear and eat cinnamon hearts! Three more days!

V also stands for v-taper. I’ve got a little lower-case v-taper going on (Times New Roman FTW!), but I think bigger is better. Hold the roses — give me muscles! Sometimes I feel like I’m going to be little forever. And then I remember that I won’t be little forever, because I’m nothing if not motivated!

Fanmail!

My mother is obliged to send me fanmail because she’s my mother. I love how that works! Check out this gem:

“Blimey! These muscles are really popping out! Don’t hurt yourself, wee one!”

“Wee one” isn’t a very badass nickname but I still appreciate the sentiment. It’s the thought that counts and all that. (I just Googled “badass” because I wasn’t sure if a hyphen belongs in the middle and one of the top results was this list of badass Bible verses. I love the Internet.) My friends are pretty good about humoring me by telling me I look jacked too. Thanks guys!

But yesterday was a big day! I got fanmail from a musclegirl enthusiast — a complete stranger with no obligation to be nice and encouraging. Amazing! Did I mention that I love the Internet?

Today was a big day too. I’ve been growing my hair out from a buzz cut for six months and this afternoon I got my first real hairstyle in a long time! Compliments are welcome from friends and strangers alike! (Why yes, I did just file a post with a picture of myself under the “beauty” tag. Zing!)

Diet Progress Report

To satisfy your insatiable curiosity about me, here’s ten things about me in two lists.

Things I will never like:

1. Cigarettes
2. Medical procedures
3. Waking up to an alarm clock
4. Scary movies
5. Barack Obama

Things I will always like:

1. Indian food
2. Candy
3. Sweet potato fries
4. Giant vats of pho
5. Milkshakes

I’m pretty sure that the second list would’ve looked a lot different if I’d written it four weeks ago. I’m pretty sure that “Boys” would have been pretty close to the top. But I’ve been on a cutting diet for the last four weeks and all I’m thinking about at the moment is food! Still, the diet is working its magic. I weighed in this morning and I’ve lost 7.4 pounds in four weeks. Four more weeks to go!

In spite of what the second list might lead you to believe, my diet has always been pretty healthy. I grew up in a household where most everything was cooked from scratch, so eating nutritious home-cooked food has always been my preference. (That said, I will have a weakness for candy forever!) I’ve been eating the same foods I ate before I started cutting — just less of them. I’ve also been doing cardio on my days off from weight training. Luckily the weather in Toronto has been unseasonably warm so I’ve been able to run outside.

For the remaining four weeks of my cut, my goal is to vary my meals a little more. I’m lazy about cooking at the best of times, so I’ve decided to challenge myself to attempt one new recipe per week until the diet is over. Not a hugely ambitious number, I know, but I really hate being in the kitchen! I’d love to hear your suggestions for recipes to try!