greendalek

[	Tags	|	liberty, politics, religion	]
[	Current Mood	|	sad	]

"History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes."

            --Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Alexander von Humboldt, 1813.

mama_hogswatch

Originally published at Noël Lynne Figart. You can comment here or there.

I’m psycho busy this week.  That’s a good thing, mind.  Not busy means no money to a bum without a “real job”.

Because my work is very much a feast or famine sort of deal, during one of the famine periods, I got a job at a gym.  It’s less than five hours most weeks, but I did it to make absolutely sure I could afford my gym fees.  Well, okay, if you’re an employee at the gym where I work, you can use the facilities for free.   In fact, if you work there, they really wanna see you working out there, too. The little extra encouragement doesn’t hurt.

Because I’m so psycho busy, I almost blew off my workout today.  I was in the locker room where I’d stored my gym bag almost ready to say, “Screw it” when I had this little conversation with myself.

Me: What time did you get up this morning?

Myself:  4:30.  You know that.  What’s your point?

Me: And you did that why?

Myself:  Cause I hadda open the gym!

Me: Well, why have that job?  I mean, come on, you’re a morning person and all, but that’s an evil time to get up, and you earn more writing when you get the work.

Myself: I wanted to be sure I’d have access to the gym… Oh, stop looking so damn smug.  I’ll do my damn swim.  Happy?

As I was swimming, I realized that in my case, I kinda earn my workouts.  That gives a real different perspective to how I value them.  Instead of a chore I have to do, it’s something I’ve worked to be able to do.  Then I got to thinking more¹.  Anyone in that gym has really earned their workouts as much as I did.  I mean, how do you get the money to pay for something?  You earn it one way or another.

So, when you’re a gym member, give some thought to how many hours you had to work to earn the right to be there. At that point, do you want to cheat yourself out of that workout you earned?

Didn’t think so.

mama_hogswatch

Originally published at Noël Lynne Figart. You can comment here or there.

Today was leg day. My joints have been hurting like crazy and for some reason lunges have been making my knees feel bad. Yes, yes, I’m sure form has something to do with it. I should probably book a session with one of the trainers to review form. I do it in front of a mirror, but back when I was rehabbing my ACL, my PT did say that I have a tendency to bad form in lunges.

So, since it hurt when I did that, I stopped doing that.

But, I like to have a couple of exercise per muscle group, and no power on earth is gonna get me to do open chain exercises for my quads like leg extensions[1]. So, the next best option was the leg press <hawk/ptui!>

Now, in reality, the leg press is not bad. Really it’s not. If you have back trouble, balance issues or what have you, the leg press is a far safer alternative to the squats that still gives you a challenging lift. I think where the leg press contempt sometimes comes in among some weight trainers is when people try to brag about what they can do on the leg press and think it compares to a back squat.

Friends, it doesn’t!

In my workout today, I was squatting four sets of eight reps with seventy-five pounds on my back. That got me sweaty, heart pounding and gasping for air (real bodybuilders feel free to laugh, ya smug jerks!). When I got to the leg press, I was using 185lbs for the same reps and sets. I possibly could have actually done my body weight, but I was tired and in the interests of Rule One, chose not to.

The leg press numbers look more impressive, but they’re apples and oranges. The lifts are meant to do accomplish two different goals. Squatting is for “real world” application. It’s a motion we humans perform all the time, from sitting in a chair to squatting down to pick up something[2].  Challenging those muscles and performing that range of motions help you in your daily routine.  However, spot work is a good supplement to round out a workout.  I like free weights, compound exercises and Olympic lifts best, I really do.  But mixing it up is good training.

And can help prevent injury.

[2] You do squat down rather than bend over, right?  Please tell me you do.  It protects your back.