- I don’t quite remember exactly, but I think I may have said on here once before that I think my 1 rep max on the bench press would be about 225-230 lb. This wasn’t my “actual” 1 rep max. It was more theoretical, as I had never actually been able to push up that much weight before. What was this theoretical max based on exactly? Well, on my 1st day back using the real bench in about 3 or 4 years (I had been coasting on easy street using a Smith machine), I attempted 225 lb. and failed…but I took it as a good sign considering I barely failed (got the bar 6-8 inches off my chest before the weight started dropping) and that it had been so long since I had last lifted on a real bench that I told myself that I had basically no muscle memory for that particular exercise anyway. Also, I had been able to muster 1 set of 3 reps of 205 lb. pretty easily a few weeks later, so I figured 225 lb. was within reach. So, there’s where I derived my theoretical 1 rep max from. In reality though, even though it was a set of 3, 205 lb. was technically the most I had ever lifted on the bench, and therefore it was technically my max also I guess…until yesterday, when I was able to push out 1 rep of 215 lb. It came somewhat easily even after doing 4 sets on the incline bench and 2 sets on the flat bench before that. So, in my head I believe I could still probably get 225 lb. up once, but in the real world where you can look at real events that actually happened (or didn’t happen) I can at least say that 215 lb. is my new 1 rep max.
- I have had my fair share of sports-related injuries, but as I’m basically in the prime of the “weekend warrior” phase of my athlete life I will pretty much resort to using whatever amount of braces or athletic tape is necessary to patch me up so I can at least be out on the field/court. In that same light, ice packs, Advil, heating pads, and Bengay have all become essential items in between sporting events. Bearing all that in mind, nothing is more frustrating than incurring an injury while you are doing seemingly nothing at all. Almost 2 years ago I sprained my left MCL hopping over a dog gate at my in-law’s house…it took about 6 months before I was really pain-free, and even now it will flare-up every once in a while. This spring I had nothing short of the most intense back spasm I had ever felt (I seriously thought I might pass out from the pain) while I was just sitting in my chair at work. A few weeks ago, I committed 1 of the ultimate old man injuries when I strained my groin (of all things) trying to slide a box across the floor with my foot. I didn’t think much of it until a few days later when I felt a twinge in that same groin as I was just trying to open a door. I don’t believe I actually pulled it, and walking wasn’t a problem, but any type of movement that involved twisting or bending wasn’t fun. Aside from that, I am actually (knock on wood) relatively healthy right now. I have taken a few weeks off from running, which seems to have benefitted my Achilles (which were starting to get pretty sore in both legs). My back, shoulder, knees, and ankles all feel pretty good. The only thing is that I have had a sore wrist the last week or 2, which I think I hurt while lifting, but if that is the worst thing I will take it. This writing space has been filled with mostly stuff other than injury reports over the past few months, and I would like to keep it that way.
- Even though many will debate their legitimacy, I have always been fascinated with dreams. Are they actually windows into our subconscious, or are they just bits and pieces of leftover garbage floating through our synapses as we’re sleeping? Or can they be (as I think) a little bit of both? Out of my own dreams, the ones that are the most interesting are those that are not only vivid and clear, but realistic as well. No matter how “vivid,” if the dream involves me riding unicorns while shooting leprechauns with machine guns, chances are that I will know it’s a dream while the dream is still going on. No, to me the really freaky ones involve situations that could actually happen, and you start to get this kind of “Inception” feeling that blurs the dream from what is real. Once I dreamt that Krissy and I were in Pennsylvania somewhere (either at my Uncle Scott’s or my grandfather’s old mountain farm house), and we were being attacked by a snake. (Killer snakes have plagued my dreams since I was a little kid for some reason. And I think snakes are more cool than scary too, but I digress…) At one point the snake lunged at us, and I instinctively tried to kicked it…only I actually kicked our bedroom wall in my sleep, nearly breaking my big toe. Well last night, I had a dream that I was playing in a pick-up basketball game in my old elementary school gym with a bunch of guys that I had gone to school there with. We were all grown up, but I could make out everyone’s faces clearly: Jimmy Osborne, Mike Fitzpatrick, Scott Shores, and others. Mike Fitzpatrick was an odd choice because while I was friends with him, I wasn’t “best” friends or anything, and I haven’t seen the guy in probably almost 10 years. Some of the others like Scott and Jimmy might have been triggered because I just saw them a week or 2 ago, but Mike Fitzpatrick?!? Really? Anyway, in the dream I played horribly: missing wide open fast break layups, turning the ball over, etc. Making matters worse, I seem to remember incessantly arguing about calls, the score, and generally acting like an asshole (which is something I would probably really do if I was playing that badly in real life). Even with all that, it was the furthest thing possible from a freaky-scary dream, but it was freaky none of the less. What would cause me to have that dream? Is it predicting some kind of prophetic basketball game flop of a performance? Am I suffering from some other kind of anxiety or fear of failure or something? Who knows, but it beats waking up to a throbbing toe I guess though.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Blind-Sided
I tend to try to have blinders on when I’m in the gym. That’s not meant as an arrogant comment in any way. 1st, I know I’m not the biggest strongest guy around. At this point I would describe myself this way in terms of size and strength: if 5 “in shape” guys of comparable age are in the gym at a certain time (including me), I’m on average the 3rd strongest I would say…so, somewhere right in the middle of the pack. 2nd, it’s not as if I have nothing to learn anymore, so if I notice someone doing something that I think I can borrow from I’m not going to just sweep it under the rug out of spite or something. I guess what I mean is that I try not to get caught up in “how much” other guys are lifting. Outside of using some questionable performance enhancers or just being blessed with superior genetics, small incremental gains are how muscle is built. In that respect, you can’t be worried about the guy benching 300 lb. next to you…you need to worry about what you need to do that day to get stronger. Now, competition is a healthy motivator also, but I also know that if I try to bench the same weight/reps as my personal trainer friend Scott or my other buddy Mac I am probably not going to accomplish much, and more than likely I’m going to hurt myself. So like I said, I’m still probably only middle of the road in terms of comparing myself to other people I see at the gym, but in this way I’ve at least gone from the 5th strongest guy to the 3rd strongest I think.
Now, I have this friend from work, Chi, who is straining my “blinders” philosophy. I have never been to the gym with Chi, but he boasts of putting up weight in most lifting categories similar to what I can do, albeit slightly less. For example, I think he said his 1 rep max bench press was around 205-210 lb (with a witness supposedly as well), which is only slightly less than where I think I’m at right now. This may all very well be true, but without taking his measurements I would eyeball Chi at about 5’4” and 125 lb. If it was true, it wouldn’t be the 1st time I was to bear witness to something like this. The 1st time I ever lifted with my friend Allen was when we were back in college. I probably only weighed 170 lb. at the time, and Allen, who is about my height, probably weighed 5-10 lb. less than that. Allen admitted that he hadn’t really lifted since high school, but on his 1st working set I saw him do 5-6 reps on the bench at something like 265 lb. As I guy who had been busting his ass in the weight room (using poor training practices though) it was somewhat of a soul crushing experience.
The other factor in this is that while if you know Chi, you can’t help but like the guy, he is a bit of a sports nerd. For example, he is a diehard University of Florida football fan, and he is the type to follow the team’s spring practices, depth chart wars, and recruiting prospects from a year or 2 out. Similarly, he acts like somewhat of a know-it-all about just about all things sports, whether it’s Spanish Premiere League soccer, the proper technique of throwing a cut fastball, the intricacies of a 3 quarter court zone trap, and everything in between. If you ever get sucked into a sports argument with Chi, good luck getting out alive…even if what he’s arguing for makes no sense at all. (Last summer in a debate about where LeBron would end up via free agency, Chi argued against Miami because he didn’t think Pat Riley would necessarily want LeBron on his team…you can’t make this stuff up.) Anyway, in that same light I wouldn’t put it past Chi to embellish some of his own personal athletic prowess. So, in the same way that I question his team leading 2 home runs on the company softball team (How close are these fences exactly? Were they just inside the park homers that he legged-when an outfielder took a bad angle?), I have a hard time seeing him bench press over 200 lb. (Does he only bring the bar down 8 in. from his chest? Is he actually talking about a real bench press station, or is he trying to pass off one of those chest press machines as a real bench?).
The last time he was talking about it, I came “this” close to calling bullshit. I think I said something like, “I can’t believe that you can actually bench that much,” but quickly followed it up with something like, “That’s pretty amazing. You must be incredibly strong for your weight.” Pretty sure I saved it before the awkward silence came rolling in, but either way it’s apparent to me at least that Chi has gotten under my skin…which in and of itself I find annoying! My “blinders” mentality has gone completely out the window on this one. Maybe one day I will actually witness Chi in the gym firsthand, and the myth will be disproved…or maybe he really can lift that much (like some compact super-strong Chinese gymnast superhero or something), and it will just be another Allen-like soul crushing experience times 10.
Now, I have this friend from work, Chi, who is straining my “blinders” philosophy. I have never been to the gym with Chi, but he boasts of putting up weight in most lifting categories similar to what I can do, albeit slightly less. For example, I think he said his 1 rep max bench press was around 205-210 lb (with a witness supposedly as well), which is only slightly less than where I think I’m at right now. This may all very well be true, but without taking his measurements I would eyeball Chi at about 5’4” and 125 lb. If it was true, it wouldn’t be the 1st time I was to bear witness to something like this. The 1st time I ever lifted with my friend Allen was when we were back in college. I probably only weighed 170 lb. at the time, and Allen, who is about my height, probably weighed 5-10 lb. less than that. Allen admitted that he hadn’t really lifted since high school, but on his 1st working set I saw him do 5-6 reps on the bench at something like 265 lb. As I guy who had been busting his ass in the weight room (using poor training practices though) it was somewhat of a soul crushing experience.
The other factor in this is that while if you know Chi, you can’t help but like the guy, he is a bit of a sports nerd. For example, he is a diehard University of Florida football fan, and he is the type to follow the team’s spring practices, depth chart wars, and recruiting prospects from a year or 2 out. Similarly, he acts like somewhat of a know-it-all about just about all things sports, whether it’s Spanish Premiere League soccer, the proper technique of throwing a cut fastball, the intricacies of a 3 quarter court zone trap, and everything in between. If you ever get sucked into a sports argument with Chi, good luck getting out alive…even if what he’s arguing for makes no sense at all. (Last summer in a debate about where LeBron would end up via free agency, Chi argued against Miami because he didn’t think Pat Riley would necessarily want LeBron on his team…you can’t make this stuff up.) Anyway, in that same light I wouldn’t put it past Chi to embellish some of his own personal athletic prowess. So, in the same way that I question his team leading 2 home runs on the company softball team (How close are these fences exactly? Were they just inside the park homers that he legged-when an outfielder took a bad angle?), I have a hard time seeing him bench press over 200 lb. (Does he only bring the bar down 8 in. from his chest? Is he actually talking about a real bench press station, or is he trying to pass off one of those chest press machines as a real bench?).
The last time he was talking about it, I came “this” close to calling bullshit. I think I said something like, “I can’t believe that you can actually bench that much,” but quickly followed it up with something like, “That’s pretty amazing. You must be incredibly strong for your weight.” Pretty sure I saved it before the awkward silence came rolling in, but either way it’s apparent to me at least that Chi has gotten under my skin…which in and of itself I find annoying! My “blinders” mentality has gone completely out the window on this one. Maybe one day I will actually witness Chi in the gym firsthand, and the myth will be disproved…or maybe he really can lift that much (like some compact super-strong Chinese gymnast superhero or something), and it will just be another Allen-like soul crushing experience times 10.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Welcome to the O.C., Bitch
I haven’t been married for all that long, but it doesn’t take a genius to know that there are a couple of key phrases that all men should learn and learn well once they tie the knot. “I’m sorry,” “You were right and I was wrong,” etc. This isn’t to say men should turn into sniveling little weasels once they walk down the aisle, but it just makes it easier for all parties involved (meaning you and her) if you can just learn to give in and admit defeat. There’s a reason (aside from the obvious rhyme) that the saying goes, “Happy wife, happy life.” And come on, fellas, let’s be honest: the reason she rhetorically will ask you, “When am I ever wrong?” is because she is usually right anyway.
There is one thing that I think Krissy is slowly starting to learn that I am always right about, and I don’t mind rubbing it in her face at least just a little bit: I am pretty darn good at picking out TV shows that I think she will not only like, but become addicted to. Doesn’t sound like much of an accomplishment, but I will take my small moral victories where I can get them. After you have been in a relationship for 4 or 5 years, you should be able to pick up on the other person’s TV habits. I always say that I have it pretty easy in terms of the battle over the remote compared to other guys. Krissy, being the sports junkie that she is, has no problem sitting through an entire Saturday or Sunday of NFL or NBA games. Pretty much anything sports-related that I like, she will watch. I’ve even turned her into a “Pardon the Interruption” fanatic, as she will remind me to put it on every day when we get home from the gym and are starting to cook dinner. She refuses to sit through an episode of “Seinfeld” with me though, and she doesn’t like some of the Discovery Channel/nature type shows that I find nerdy and interesting, but it turns out that I have a closet appreciation for a lot of the semi-girly shows that she likes. So, overall we are pretty TV-compatible.
Anyway, I think by now I have a pretty good idea of what makes Krissy tick (at list TV-wise). The 1st show I ever turned her on to was “Friday Night Lights.” FNL was a show that I had only seen 1 or 2 episodes of, but from everything I had heard it was a well-written show that just hadn’t gotten ratings for whatever reason (similarly, I had always “wanted” to watch it more regularly, but just never seemed to get to it). I told Krissy we should start taping the re-runs (we started from the 1st episode of the 1st season), and even though she had never heard anything about it I told her to trust me…she was going to love it. Well, about halfway through the 1st episode I could tell that she wasn’t hooked. She would shoot me looks during breaks of the show as if to say, “This is what you wanted me to watch?” By the end of that show, she admittedly liked it. After 2 episodes, I could tell she was hooked. After 3 or 4 shows, she had reached full-blown obsession! (One day, FNL didn’t tape because our DVR had some kind of mishap…she was not a happy camper.) At some point during the 1st or 2nd season, the network that the reruns were on stopped airing them (even though the show was always critically acclaimed, it for some reason never drew in an audience like it should have…and apparently the syndication of the show was in the same boat.) From that point, we watched the show in whatever way we could: iTunes, searching for free and usually choppy video of the show on the Internet, etc. Like a true addict, the more we watched, the more Krissy’s appetite for the show became insatiable. We ran through Season 4 on iTunes so fast that it was literally a blur to me. There was one Saturday in particular where we didn’t have anywhere to be and didn’t really feel like doing anything, so we went on something like a 7 episode FNL binge…at one point, I got tired and went to bed, but Krissy had to stay up and keep watching without me. When we finally watched the series finale, I had mixed emotions: obviously sad that the show had ended, but also somewhat relieved. All of the sudden, the show that I had gotten Krissy addicted to was gone.
Fast forward to this week, when our DVR queue looked particularly bare (what with the lack of new shows in the summertime). It somehow came to me that there was another show out there that would give us something to watch in the mean time that I thought I could get Krissy hooked on as well: “The O.C.” Much like when we started watching FNL, Krissy was skeptical that she would like it. During one moment of the series premiere (that was admittedly cheesy) she groaned that the acting was pretty “lame.” I didn’t really say much then, but as the closing credits came up for episode 1 she couldn’t help but grin…she knew that she he had been had. “Can we watch another one tonight?” she asked. By 11:20pm we had finished the 1st 4 episodes of Season 1 off of iTunes, and if I hadn’t gone to bed she would’ve stayed up and kept watching. The 1st thing I remember her saying to me this morning after waking up was, “Do you think we have time to watch an episode before work?” Looks like I’ve awoken the beast again!
There is one thing that I think Krissy is slowly starting to learn that I am always right about, and I don’t mind rubbing it in her face at least just a little bit: I am pretty darn good at picking out TV shows that I think she will not only like, but become addicted to. Doesn’t sound like much of an accomplishment, but I will take my small moral victories where I can get them. After you have been in a relationship for 4 or 5 years, you should be able to pick up on the other person’s TV habits. I always say that I have it pretty easy in terms of the battle over the remote compared to other guys. Krissy, being the sports junkie that she is, has no problem sitting through an entire Saturday or Sunday of NFL or NBA games. Pretty much anything sports-related that I like, she will watch. I’ve even turned her into a “Pardon the Interruption” fanatic, as she will remind me to put it on every day when we get home from the gym and are starting to cook dinner. She refuses to sit through an episode of “Seinfeld” with me though, and she doesn’t like some of the Discovery Channel/nature type shows that I find nerdy and interesting, but it turns out that I have a closet appreciation for a lot of the semi-girly shows that she likes. So, overall we are pretty TV-compatible.
Anyway, I think by now I have a pretty good idea of what makes Krissy tick (at list TV-wise). The 1st show I ever turned her on to was “Friday Night Lights.” FNL was a show that I had only seen 1 or 2 episodes of, but from everything I had heard it was a well-written show that just hadn’t gotten ratings for whatever reason (similarly, I had always “wanted” to watch it more regularly, but just never seemed to get to it). I told Krissy we should start taping the re-runs (we started from the 1st episode of the 1st season), and even though she had never heard anything about it I told her to trust me…she was going to love it. Well, about halfway through the 1st episode I could tell that she wasn’t hooked. She would shoot me looks during breaks of the show as if to say, “This is what you wanted me to watch?” By the end of that show, she admittedly liked it. After 2 episodes, I could tell she was hooked. After 3 or 4 shows, she had reached full-blown obsession! (One day, FNL didn’t tape because our DVR had some kind of mishap…she was not a happy camper.) At some point during the 1st or 2nd season, the network that the reruns were on stopped airing them (even though the show was always critically acclaimed, it for some reason never drew in an audience like it should have…and apparently the syndication of the show was in the same boat.) From that point, we watched the show in whatever way we could: iTunes, searching for free and usually choppy video of the show on the Internet, etc. Like a true addict, the more we watched, the more Krissy’s appetite for the show became insatiable. We ran through Season 4 on iTunes so fast that it was literally a blur to me. There was one Saturday in particular where we didn’t have anywhere to be and didn’t really feel like doing anything, so we went on something like a 7 episode FNL binge…at one point, I got tired and went to bed, but Krissy had to stay up and keep watching without me. When we finally watched the series finale, I had mixed emotions: obviously sad that the show had ended, but also somewhat relieved. All of the sudden, the show that I had gotten Krissy addicted to was gone.
Fast forward to this week, when our DVR queue looked particularly bare (what with the lack of new shows in the summertime). It somehow came to me that there was another show out there that would give us something to watch in the mean time that I thought I could get Krissy hooked on as well: “The O.C.” Much like when we started watching FNL, Krissy was skeptical that she would like it. During one moment of the series premiere (that was admittedly cheesy) she groaned that the acting was pretty “lame.” I didn’t really say much then, but as the closing credits came up for episode 1 she couldn’t help but grin…she knew that she he had been had. “Can we watch another one tonight?” she asked. By 11:20pm we had finished the 1st 4 episodes of Season 1 off of iTunes, and if I hadn’t gone to bed she would’ve stayed up and kept watching. The 1st thing I remember her saying to me this morning after waking up was, “Do you think we have time to watch an episode before work?” Looks like I’ve awoken the beast again!
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