Fit Geek

All of us have our temples. Places we go to find peace, to clear our minds, to revitalize our insides.

For some, the bedroom is a sanctuary from the stresses of life. For others, it may be the library, a park, the kitchen, bathtub, and so on. For me, it’s the gym. I know it’s an unlikely comparison. To many people the gym inspires anxiety and resentment, not feelings of peace and invigoration. But I feel strong and productive when I’m there, so it is my place of “worship.”

But what do you do when your temple shuts down, or gets turned into something that’s no longer your place of refuge?

That happened to me when the gym I had gone to since I was 16 closed down. The next closest option was a perpetually over-crowded LA Fitness. It was not an adequate substitute. As I’ve mentioned before, you practically have to wait in line to use the equipment there, and finding a matching pair of dumbbells is near impossible. As a result, I started working out less because I couldn’t stand being there.

And I realized how important it is to like your temple.

I needed to find a new gym, but wasn’t interested in another commercial chain. I ended up buying a Groupon for a crossfit class at an independently-owned gym, and I am SO HAPPY I did. I love this gym. Yes, it is small and a little bit dingy, but I like that. It’s never too crowded, and I’ve never had to wait in line for the squat rack while some dude was curling the bar. The place is Thump Fight Gym, and they also have a ton of classes. The vibe is super friendly, and I’m really digging the crossfit classes (that is a whole other post waiting to happen).

No more stressing before the gym or annoyance while I’m there. Being at Thump really is a pleasure.

So that being said, I got in an early workout recently. My strength had really dwindled the past few months, and I’m so happy that within just a few weeks of consistent training, I’m almost back to where I was before.

Lifting weights is fun and calluses are fun to pick.

Here was my workout:

Squats: 5×5 120 lbs
DB push press: 1×8 30 lbs each, 4×5 35 lbs each
Chin-ups: 8×3
DB chest press on flat bench: 3×7 40 lbs each
Inverted push-ups/BW row/whatever you wanna call ‘em: 3×8 bodyweight

Feels good, man.

I’m a fan of a metaphors.

Daydreaming while I was driving home from the gym, it occurred to me that I’m in the summer years of my life. The newness and naivete of spring have passed, and the age of summer with its sun-soaked revelry and earthly abundance is well in progress. To me, being at this juncture means enjoying life and experiencing it to its fullest. While I feel that I will always at my core be a lighthearted person, now is probably the time that trait will flourish the most. Summer is the time to frolic and feast and explore, and although sometimes those thunderstorms may ruin it (*cough my last post cough*), they never last too long.

Call me cheesy, but I found something very comforting and endearing in that thought. In that moment it really made sense to me.

This quote by Yoko Ono also came to mind:
“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.”

Yes, I think I need to indulge my exuberance more.

The above was brought to you by post-workout endorphins. Who says you need drugs?! But seriously, I forgot how nice that natural pick-me-up is. While I was thinking all that stuff I was like…”Wait. I’m…in a good mood. And thinking happy thoughts. OMG ENDORPHINS!” Which was good, because a few minutes prior I felt light-headed and kind of foggy. Translation: I had a really good, intense workout.

So ANYWAY. Here’s a video from last week of me pressing 35 lbs overhead for the first time. I usually use 30s. This made me very happy.

Notice me grimacing in the mirror.

This is another video of me squatting. I was really reluctant to post it because my form is not great. I’m squatting 120 lbs and that’s pretty heavy for me, considering I weigh about 115. You’ll notice that I’m bringing my hips up a little too soon on the way back up, especially on the last rep. I don’t have this problem when I go lighter, so it probably has a lot to do with the weight being heavy. I would like to fix this, although I’m not entirely sure HOW.

There might also be some muscle imbalances that are causing this specific issue. But alas, a Google search did not give me a definitive answer. So for now I’m going a little lighter with the weight, adding front squats to my routine and foam rolling and stretching all the muscles in my legs (and my glutes.)

As I’ve mentioned before, your weight lifting form is an evolving thing. It will probably never be perfect, but I think always striving to improve is what keeps it interesting. Honestly, I was a little disappointed that my form is kind of mediocre even after years of practice, but at the same time it kind of rejuvenated me by giving me a new challenge to tackle.

So yeah, BOOYAH!

PS. I am on the Facebooks now. Like me! PLEASE, ALL I WANT IS FOR YOU TO LIKE ME!

Wow. Excuse me while I clean up the dust bunnies and cobwebs that have collected here during my absense.

In the meantime, here’s a story from today.

Earlier at the gym I did a back workout, followed by a cardio finisher (specifically the one found here).

I was in the bathroom right before I was about to jump on the treadmill for Tabata intervals, when a woman stopped me.

“Excuse me, I’ve noticed that you do a lot of the right exercises, but it seems like sometimes you don’t take the time to do them with fully correct form.”

Oh boy. Here we go. I noticed myself getting defensive, but kept my cool.

“Like what?” I asked.

She told me that I lean back too much while doing chin-ups, instead of staying straight, and that I drop down too fast. She also mentioned that I should bring my back knee lower when I do jump lunges.

I was immediately annoyed and started running through excuses in my mind, like: Keeping my body straight while I do chin-ups is something I already know that I need to work on. Even for the majority of experienced lifters, very few have 100% perfect form. It’s one of those things where there is almost always room for improvement. And as for the jump lunges, I noticed that I was keeping my back knee kind of high and made an effort to drop it for a few reps, but this was cardio and I was more focused on breathing and trying not to have a heart attack.

The lady made it very clear that she wasn’t trying to criticize me, but I still felt nit-picked. Partially because I already know I need to improve those things. But mostly because of my ego. I know that the learning process will never stop, but I feel pretty well-informed when it comes to exercise form. So when someone challenges that, I have to make an effort to silence that little voice in my head that says, Well who do YOU think you are?

Once I got a hold of my defensiveness I was able to accept that she was just trying to be helpful. And I had to admit that she had a point. I get lazy about my form sometimes, and that’s something I really should avoid if I want to be strong and injury-free. All the things that I told myself to justify my less than great form were, as I said, excuses. Self-defense mechanisms, yanno?

So as you can see, going up to people and correcting their form in the gym is a touchy subject, especially if you aren’t a trainer.

This is the first time I’m mentioning this, but I’m actually studying to get certified as a personal trainer by the NASM. The exchange I had with this women is actually kind of interesting to me, because it’s addressed in a chapter about customer service.

Basically, the book says that as a personal trainer, there is a very specific way to approach people to correct their form. If you say things like, “Can I help you with that?” or “Do you mind if I show you the right way to do it?” it is extremely off-putting to the other person because it challenges their personal beliefs. And I can totally see why. People don’t like to be told they’re wrong. And you might embarrass them or make them feel self conscious.

That’s a big part of the reason why I never go up to anyone in the gym and try to correct their form. One, I’m not a personal trainer. Two, it’s none of my business. Three, there’s a good chance I’m going to offend them.

I’d like it if people chimed in on this. I know we’d all benefit from not getting defensive when someone corrects us, but is there ever a time when a person should keep their comments to their selves?

Also, I’m genuinely curious to know if other people get lazy about their form!

Because I made it to the gym bright and early today!

I am so glad I put up that post yesterday. If I didn’t, I’m not sure I would have made it to the gym this morning. But fortunately, I was able to drag my tuchus out of bed in time to squeeze in a workout.

So there I was, doing a bent-over one-arm row, eavesdropping on the conversation going on next to me. For the record, don’t ever repeat anything you don’t want heard in a gym, because I listen to EVERYTHING. Just as the walls have ears, so do the little, unassuming girls in the weight room.

Anyway, two guys are talking, and one is a trainer at the gym. I’ve seen him there for years, but I’ve never actually spoken to him. Despite that fact, I still formulated a vague impression of his personality–granted a very superficial one. He’s a trainer. At Bally. And he’s pretty muscular and wears tight shirts. I guess that was enough for me to assume that he was probably a douche. I’m not proud of this line of thinking, but it’s the truth.

But back to the conversation. They’re talking about some guy who broke up with a girlfriend that was supporting him. Gym trainer guy says some surprisingly insightful things. Perhaps I’m a little jaded from hearing so many “hit that shit and dip” conversations at the gym, but I was actually impressed by his maturity.

“You should never have to rely on your significant other, because you never know when it’s going to end. Whether you’re a guy or a girl, you should make your own bread.” Alright, so that’s not exactly the biggest epiphany, but the next part is what caught my attention. “The secret is to learn to be happy with nothing. Then when something good comes along it’s even better. I’m happy when I’m alone, but when I have a nice girlfriend I’m even happier.” Very true words. Sorry I thought you might’ve been a douche, dude.

And if you’re curious about the weight I used, here it is:

Reverse push-ups (I opted for these instead of assisted pull-ups because I was dead tired) – 3×10 @ body weight

Superset:
Bent-over barbell row – 3×8 @ 75 lbs
Seated cable row – 3×8 @ 70 lbs first rep, 75 lbs last two reps

Wide grip lat pulldown – 3×10@ 70 lbs, 75 lbs and 80 lbs respectively
One-arm dumbbell row – 3×8 @ 40 lbs
Hammer strength lat pull – 3×10 @ 90 lbs first rep, 110 lbs last two reps
Back extensions – 3×8 @ 10 lbs

I didn’t wake up early enough to do cardio, so that’ll have to come later. Did it!

The annoying interesting thing about this style of working out is that I have to go lighter with the weight because I’m doing much more volume for the working body part in one day. For a long time I did a full-body workout three times a week. With that kind of split I was hitting every muscle group only once per workout, but I was really hitting it hard. I was able to do that because each muscle group was fresh with every exercise I went in to. So I’d do some heavy squats, then chin-ups or bent-over rows and bench presses and I’d be moving some slightly impressive numbers (for my size). With my current body-part split, I’m pretty fatigued by the third exercise. It’s good that I’m changing things up. Hopefully I get some decent gains from this!

Did I bore you enough with that geekery? Too bad!

Tomorrow there will be another dosage of geekery with a post about sprinting.

PS. Coffee and I kind of got back together. Don’t judge me!

I am posting this because I need more accountability. I didn’t make it to the gym today and it is IMPERATIVE that I wake up early tomorrow and go before work. So I’m putting it out there in the blogosphere. If I fail, I give you permission to kick my ass. Also, I had cereal and Brussels sprouts for dinner. Going to the gym in the morning will make me feel better about eating freakin’ frosted mini wheats and whatever other sugary granola crap I had.

I think it’s funny that most people are disgusted by Brussesls sprouts, but I am actually grossed out by the fact that I had cereal for dinner. Not that cereal tastes nasty or anything. Quite the opposite. It tastes TOO good. I can never have just one bowl. But it’s garbage I’d rather not eat. I’ve been considering SEVERELY cutting down my sugar intake…but that’s a post for another time.

On the agenda for tomorrow’s back workout:

Wide grip chin-ups 3×10 (a majority of these are going to be completed on the assisted pull-up because I cannot do that many chin-ups, let alone WIDE GRIP chin-ups.)

Superset:
Bent over barbell row 3×8
Seated cable row 3×8

Wide grip lat pulldown 3×10
One arm dumbbell row 3×8
Machine lat pull 3×10
Back extension 3×8

Cardio: 30 mins

I’ll post the weight I use tomorrow.

And in other news, I did go to the gym on my lunch break, but it was just to walk. Looking down at the cardio machines below the track, I noticed this lady using the stepmill backwards. She had her back facing the control panel so she could look at herself in the mirror. A true blue cardio bunny. I thought it was kind of funny.

Narcissus in the house.

Now it’s time for me to wash my face and go to sleep. Goodnight, world.

Mint Julep, deliver me from my blackheads!