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!

How to Get Strong

If at first you don’t succeed…

– try, try, try, try again and again and again and again. But try harder next time!

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!

Happy Squat Monday!

I trained at the Toronto Athletic Club this morning instead of at UofT. I’d planned to swim, and it would’ve been convenient because I could have extended the simile I’m about to make if I had, but it turns out that I made a good decision when I decided to start my Monday off with some heavy squats instead! I got PRs all over the place and it felt pretty glorious. On my way home, because I was walking through the PATH back towards Union Station as everyone else was going in the opposite direction, I felt like a particularly heroic little salmon swimming against the current! I think today’s going to be good.

Here’s a joke to brighten your morning: What’s yellow and dangerous?

Shark infested custard!

A Setback

I followed up last week’s squat PR with bench press, pullup, and deadlift PRs…but I was humbled yesterday when I failed a squat that should have been easy. How provoking. As Aristotle* said, “Powerlifting acts as a corrective against sinful pride”. Tomorrow I’m trying for another bench press PR and I really hope it goes better. I live in fear of dropping the bar on my face!

*It might not have been Aristotle, now that I come to think of it…

Zing!

I got a nice squat PR today without sucking up to the god of powerlifting. 145# for reps! I’d like a bench press PR on Wednesday, too. And losing some more weight this week would be nice. An A+ on the essay I’m working on right now would be nice too. And a pony! Maybe I’d better not push my luck…

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.