So I haven’t been updating everyday with Lent stuff. I’m sure nobody cared. Things are going pretty well. I’ve been getting the reading in. Can’t say I’m really pondering or meditating on it. I’ve pretty much just been reading it and thinking, “hmmmm” to myself. The exercise thing has been great. It feels good just to be semi-active again. I don’t think I’m anywhere close to doing the pull-ups yet, but I’m working on it. Liz says my arms are starting to get a little bigger like they used to be.
Oh, and if you’re in the mood for something smart and funny, check out this site. It’s a blog called The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus. Liz alerted me to it. Pretty funny stuff.
So the Lent thing is going pretty well. I already have 2 days of lifting and cardio under my belt. I used to be a pretty hard-core lifting kind of person. For a long time people would always start to work out with me and then quit saying I was pushing them too hard. Honestly, I didn’t really push them to do anything, except for Crickit, they were just trying to do what I was doing. I also used to be kinda strong and at times took pride in it. Pride comes before the fall, right? I’m not going to say bad things happened to me or anything. I will say I’ve had a lot of asthma problems in the past two years though. Problems that resulted from multiple factors. Because of this I’ve gained some weight, can’t bench over 300 anymore and my arms aren’t so big that my hand can’t even begin to stretch across my biceps . That’s ok though.
When I was in high school we were trying to really beef up all the time for football. There really was a reason to try and get big as fast as possible. We were getting pummeled by people. In college I realized I needed to work more on stamina and toning because even though I could build up a lot of mass in 3 weeks, I lost it all if I took a 1 week break. Eventually I had a routine where I would do 9 exercises + abs and cardio three days a week. My sets ranged from 3×15 to 4×5. This was also really helpful to my knees and shoulders with their chronic tendinitis due to football stuff. There is no way I could even begin to do that kind of stuff anymore. In fact, last night my calves started cramping up on me big time because my body’s not used to being pushed like in the past.
Now in my “old age” I’m just trying to be healthy. I know my lungs aren’t invincible. I know my cardiovascular health is more important. I’m also focusing on some different things. Right now I’m working less on big weights and more on lifting, pushing and pulling my own weight. I’m focusing more on things like dips, situps, pushups, and chin-ups. My main goal is to finally start doing pull-ups - those things Arnold Schwarzenegger declared I should be able to do in the 80s to achieve the Presidential Fitness Award. I was never able to really do one on my own. So starting this week I’ve been doing sets of five pathetic chin-ups in my quest for the ever elusive pull-up. Hopefully it’ll be easier to attain then the elusive North American Yeti.
The Bible reading has been good too. I’ve just been checking out and pondering the daily passages listed on my church’s Lent Blog. Gives me something to think and ponder about.
I feel like lots has been happening. Every time I think, “I should blog about that” I’m always too busy to actually sit down and do it. Last week our water got turned off. That was kinda interesting. Luckily I was already done with my shower and out the door when it happened. Well, I guess that’s lucky for me. I called up the city and turns out they had turned off the wrong water. Our neighbor had moved out the night before and the city had just made a mistake. At first I was a bit worried about forgetting to pay the bill or something like that. Everything turned out though.
I’m sure all of you are looking forward to all of the new summer movies coming out. Liz and I still haven’t seen Spiderman 3 or the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We don’t really care that much. We’re saving our money for the good ones….like Hot Fuzz, 28 Weeks Later and more recently……Knocked Up. That latest, another Judd Apatow classic, is simply amazing. The best thing I’ve seen since Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. I just love the stuff he makes because they characters seem so real. I sympathize with them, I have a friend just like them, or something happens that happened to me once. I also loved that half the cast from his TV shows appeared in this movie. If you saw 40 Year Old Virgin, you would have recognized a ton of actors there too. I’m hoping Liz and I go see it again.
Lastly, I went to my asthma doctor yesterday. It’s been three months since I felt like I was dying. Amazingly, my lungs are great. However, I just so happened to have gained 20+ pounds since all this crap started a little over a year ago. Starting last month, I’ve been trying to get active again. I’ve been walking to work (about 4 miles round trip), I’ve gotten back into lifting again and I’ve tried to start eating less. I don’t think Liz likes my amazing weight loss capabilities. Last year I realized some of my clothes didn’t fit any more so I lost 10 pounds in a week and a half so I could wear my nice pants to a wedding. For some reason when I start eating only when I’m hungry and start exercising, the pounds just drop. For example, I lost 5 pounds between yesterday morning and this morning. That’s a bit extreme, but as long as I keep it off and stick to what I’m doing, I’ll hoping be back to “normal” by the end of summer.
I don’t know what I’m doing, but the strength is sure coming back. Today Liz spotted me for a set of 315 on decline. I only got 2 reps on my last set, but at least I was able to get 3 plates. Next week I’ll start doing sets of 15 and start working on my stamina.
I am always amazed by how fast I bounce back from long periods of inactivity. Sorta like recently when my lungs were all screwed up and I had problems just getting up and walking around forever. Last week I was able to do 295 on decline and tonight Liz spotted me for a set of three with 275 on flat bench. It’s looking like I’ll be back up to rep’ing 300 in no time. I also did some lunges tonight. First time I’ve done those in a while just because they can be hard if your lungs are goofy.
As far as a workout routine, I haven’t officially written anything up yet. I’m thinking next week I’ll start up *officially*. I’ve basically been doing a bench and 2-3 auxiliaries with an ab workout in there. Definitely less then when I used to beat Crickit into submission with my 9 exercises and abs.
Christmas here, Christmas there, Christmas everywhere. Once again, the holidays have come and I’ve received more gifts than I know what to do with. I got to hang out with the siblings a bit, and as usual, gained about 10lbs eating copious amounts of food.
I did buy myself a couple old computer games and have been playing Civilization 3 a bit. I’m looking into getting a new video card too. The Matrox is great, but it has no 3D capabilities for newer games.
Lifting has also been treating me well. Liz and I went in today - first time since last week. Last week I was able to do 245 on decline and then on regular bench for sets of 8. Tonight I was doing sets of 5 and was able to do 295 on my last set for decline. Hopefully my numbers keep going up and I’ll get back to where I should be.
We started watching Battlestar Galactica. It’s a Sci-Fi show about these robots called Cylons that are taking over the human world. The humans created them, but they became self-aware and tried to exterminate their masters. A bit like the Terminator movies in that sense, only this show is so much better. Liz and I watched the mini-series last night and have started a second episode already. I think we’re hooked.
It turns out that Sylvester Stallone and I have something in common. We’re both getting back into shape. I’m not getting up at 5am, drinking raw eggs for breakfast or punching sides of beef. However, I have been getting my sorry self back into the weight room and instead of running up the steps to wherever that is, I’ve been getting on the stair-climber. Liz has been going with me too. Even though I’m weak and I just don’t have the stamina I used to, it’s always interesting that I have that base strength still there. Monday I was declining 245 on sets of 8 and last night I was able to do shrugs with 295. I’m getting there. The sad part is how much it’s wearing me out. If I can keep at it and keep my asthma at bay, maybe I’ll be back up to benching 300 by the end of the spring semester. That would be nice.
Today I went back to the asthma doctor. It took forever, but I finally got out of there. Dr. Draghiciu congratulated me on my progress and gave me a manly handshake. I like this guy. This new medicine seems to be doing the trick. I’m going to be staying on it for a while still and then we might drop it off a bit. I’ve started lifting/exercising again. It feels so good to be actually doing something…unlike the past few months. I’m so out of shape, but I’m working on remedying that as soon as possible.
Next week I’ll be missing the first A-group outing since I started going. I think some of the lads are sad, but it was bound to happen sometime. I think JRod and I are going to procure some Rally’s in the near future to make up for it.
In other news, Liz *thinks* she is sick. In my opinion I think she’s not the Liz I think I know. I think she’s really a fembot and she’s trying to kill me. Please don’t let her in on my secret, or she’ll probably stop pretending and and try to finish me off quick.
Well this is my first actual post using wordpress. I have to say I like it. I’m not completely satisfied with the template/theme. I also want to try and find another widget or two. I’ll probably end up trying to code something myself. However, I need to read through some more documentation before I tackle that.
Lifting for real that is. After a year of some semi-serious asthma problems, I’m finally getting back into the swing of things in my exercising. It’s almost embarrassing how weak I am and how small my arms are sometimes. Yesterday was the second week of doing lunges and straight leg dead lifts. I think my legs have suffered the most because I have been lifting about once a week, but that was mostly upper body stuff. Somebody asked me the other day if I’m trying to get skinny for the wedding. The answer to that would be “no.” I’m not worried about how I look in November, I’m just trying to get back on track to where I should be. I’m about 15lbs heavier than I should be for this time of year, but I think that should be taken care of soon.
In other news, Dr. Toll informed me I looked like a cancer patient this morning. He saw me walking down the sidewalk pushing a cart. Apparently the bald head made it look like I was going down the sidewalk pushing an IV stand. I think I’ll just have to give Toll a dollar for that.
I know that I’m not an overly smiley person. This is a proven fact. In life I’ve ran into many people that just smile all the time for no apparent reason. I’m not that kind of guy. I usually smile on the inside first and then think about letting it out only if I really want to. Here’s the conversation that happened last night at the weight room with the sign-in person.
So I walk in, say hello and start writing my name down when she leans forward and says….
Sign-in girl: So, do you ever smile?
After doing a short rendition of a classic William Shatner pause and looking quizzically off into space like I was pondering that statement said…
Me: Yeah, sometimes.
Sign-in girl: So why aren’t you smiling now? Do you have to make some special request or something?
Me: Yeah, usually. Lots of paper work.
Sign-in girl: Well have fun not smiling!
Me: Ok. Thanks!
I would just like to add that I did all of this without smiling. Unlike Randall in Clerks, I realized and identified that ruse before playing right into her hands. Gonna have to get up earlier in the morning to pull the wool over my eyes miss sign-in girl.
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