MJ's Fat-assery

[Solt]

You guys don't like being sore? I love being so sore that I'm basically disabled. Right now I find it difficult to shift into reverse (pectorals) and take normal length steps (glutes). Soreness means you made your body cry, and that means it will soon get bigger and stronger.

[Nath]

I don't find delayed-onset soreness a particularly good indicator of anything. I can get stronger without getting very sore, or get sore without getting much stronger. I'm usually sore as hell the first workout back after a break, but I don't get too sore when I'm training regularly and making steady progress. I can't train as often or as productively when I'm sore and stiff, which is why I looked into ways to get things back to normal as quickly as possible. What works for me is tennis ball rolling, a bit of stretching, and keeping the sore body part moving. Some people like contrast showers and whatnot, but I only tried that once, with inconclusive results.

That said, sometimes I do enjoy the 'beaten up' feeling.

[poxic]

You guys don't like being sore? I love being so sore that I'm basically disabled. Right now I find it difficult to shift into reverse (pectorals) and take normal length steps (glutes). Soreness means you made your body cry, and that means it will soon get bigger and stronger.

It can also mean you're doing more damage than is good for you. You want to be a bit sore, maybe, yes, but be sensible about it. Go until you feel the strain, not until you're actually hurting. You can get into overtraining if you're too enthusiastic about "the burn".

Obligatory disclaimer: you might not be in overtraining territory, but based on your description ("basically disabled"), you're at least a candidate for it. Don't do more harm than good to yourself. Exercise is like eating and sleeping and getting one's kicks in sundry ways: use it, don't abuse it. Your older self will thank you for some moderation while you're young.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Well, five mornings in a row! This might be sticking...

[shocklocks]

You guys don't like being sore? I love being so sore that I'm basically disabled. Right now I find it difficult to shift into reverse (pectorals) and take normal length steps (glutes). Soreness means you made your body cry, and that means it will soon get bigger and stronger.

Why would you want that? That seems pretty inconvenient! Is your job/rest of your life not very physical at all?





I'm finding it very hard not to make a joke about your sore glutes.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

I am hopeful that when we get our new place in May, my level of activity will change.

1.) We will have a flat third of an acre lot.
2.) We will be ON the KVR Trail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettle_Valley_Rail_Trail)
3.) It will be possible to bike right to my office on the above trail (which is one town over)
4.) We’ll be eight blocks from the beach, which is a good little walk with the kids
5.) And basically, less reason to stay in the house.

I won’t have a basement, but I’ve been pre-approved to install a chain for a heavybag under the eaves at the back of the house again. Yayyy punching!

[Solt]

I can get stronger without getting very sore, or get sore without getting much stronger. I'm usually sore as hell the first workout back after a break, but I don't get too sore when I'm training regularly and making steady progress.

Pretty much. I'm just getting back into my routine after winter break.

What works for me is tennis ball rolling, a bit of stretching, and keeping the sore body part moving. Some people like contrast showers and whatnot, but I only tried that once, with inconclusive results.

Sounds like wasted effort to me. In truth, if you aren't training a body part for the first time ever, the soreness more or less goes away once you start doing the exercise again, after warming up. I just squatted again after a 48 hour break, and the soreness went away during the second workout. It's back now but lighter. Obviously this depends on a lot of factors like frequency and whatnot, but I don't find it to be such a huge problem that I have to pay special attention. Plus, do you have any way to prove that the above things work? Over the few days that it takes you to do all these special treatments, your soreness is going to naturally decrease anyway.

I don't find delayed-onset soreness a particularly good indicator of anything.

I'm not one, but body-builders use it as a measure of the effectiveness of their workout. They aim to be sore after every single workout. :shrug:

It can also mean you're doing more damage than is good for you. You want to be a bit sore, maybe, yes, but be sensible about it. Go until you feel the strain, not until you're actually hurting. You can get into overtraining if you're too enthusiastic about "the burn".

No, I'm not even remotely close to the galaxy which contains the planet on which overtraining exists. This is soreness from one workout, the kind everyone experiences when they are working out a muscle for the first time or after a long break. You cannot overtrain from one workout. Overtraining is where you are working out so often that you actually lose strength because your body just cannot keep up. In normal circumstances working out always increases your strength. The average person will probably never reach this condition except in extraordinary circumstances. And you knowing that word just gives you an excuse to be a wimp when it comes to your own workouts

Why would you want that? That seems pretty inconvenient! Is your job/rest of your life not very physical at all?

No it's not. I'm a student. I do have to walk to class (and sometimes quickly) but that's about it. The rest of my life is physically boring, and being sore injects some excitement into it.

I'm finding it very hard not to make a joke about your sore glutes.

I appreciate your efforts.

I am hopeful that when we get our new place in May, my level of activity will change.

1.) We will have a flat third of an acre lot.
2.) We will be ON the KVR Trail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettle_Valley_Rail_Trail)
3.) It will be possible to bike right to my office on the above trail (which is one town over)
4.) We’ll be eight blocks from the beach, which is a good little walk with the kids
5.) And basically, less reason to stay in the house.

I won’t have a basement, but I’ve been pre-approved to install a chain for a heavybag under the eaves at the back of the house again. Yayyy punching!

That is awesome!

[Nath]

Taken the tennis ball stuff to PMs, to avoid hijacking MJ's thread.

As for body builders liking soreness, I think that's just one of those bro-sciencey things that body-builders are more susceptible to because their goals are harder to measure than strength athletes'. If you just want to maximize soreness, do a bunch of heavy negatives. Not so useful as a strength workout*, but I guarantee that you'll get DOMS.

*Caveat: actually, it turns out well-trained athletes can be taught to exert more than their maximum concentric force during eccentric movements, making them potentially a pretty darn good strength workout. But that's an advanced training method that I (and most gym rats) have no idea how to take advantage of.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Three jalapeno poppers... I'm going to allow this.

...

I am so damn sick right now I am really going to try to do this tomorrow, but argh. Snnnrrrrrrrk.

[poxic]

Moderation and picking-oneself-up-again-after-some-time-off, dude. Both are your friends. All three are your friends, if you include some-time-off.

But you know all this. I'm just being your conscience again. Dammit, I'm annoying, aren't I?

/feel free to be mine. I sometimes need one. >.<

[Mighty Jalapeno]

I did a little, but I feel like I got hit by a truck. Also being sick apparently makes me drop six pounds. o.O

[BomanTheBear]

I did a little, but I feel like I got hit by a truck. Also being sick apparently makes me drop six pounds. o.O

Also, if you get a horrible coughing cold with a fever, you'll lose weight AND build your abs. Always looking on the bright side, man.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Well, tomorrow we find out how yo-yo dieting combined with sickness, but lots and lots of pushups, affects my weight. Also, not snacking tonight.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Spoiler:

283.5 lbs

It's not great, but it is progress! My activity level has suffered a lot this month.

I settled down here to write a whole bunch of stuff, but all three of my kids decided now would be a good time to find some piddling little insignificant problem and LOSE THEIR MINDS. Excuse me.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Soup win. It's vegetarian, super healthy, composed of locally-grown veggies and leftovers, and delicious. I think it cost, like, 3 bucks to make 1.5 gallons. I am ROCKING at soup.

I feel so much better, mentally and physically, when I have my multivitamin in the morning, one at night, and water instead of coffee during the day. On/off testing has proved this time and again for me, but it's always like a "Life on Mars!" revelation when I re-discover it. Right now, enjoying the rediscovery.

At home, when I was presented with a plethora of choices for snacking (INCLUDING an entire leftover Burger 55 Superbowl Burger), I had an apple. I am so pleased with myself I could piss glue.

It's a very common expression.

[poxic]

I am SO finding an occasion to say that.

[Solt]

I feel so much better, mentally and physically, when I have my multivitamin in the morning, one at night, and water instead of coffee during the day.

I'm guessing it has more to do with the caffeine than anything else. That stuff messes you up. You stay sleepy but now you are unable to sleep. Your heart races for no reason. It also gives me an upset stomach.

At home, when I was presented with a plethora of choices for snacking (INCLUDING an entire leftover Burger 55 Superbowl Burger), I had an apple. I am so pleased with myself I could piss glue.

Nice! You replaced endorphins from eating with endorphins from not eating. That's impressive.

[broken_escalator]

I feel so much better, mentally and physically, when I have my multivitamin in the morning, one at night, and water instead of coffee during the day.

I'm guessing it has more to do with the caffeine than anything else. That stuff messes you up. You stay sleepy but now you are unable to sleep. Your heart races for no reason.

Does caffeine really do that? I've been drinking soda a lot more often than water recently and was a little confused by my heart racing at odd times. Usually its when I'm driving, I might worry that some other car is swerving a little and then my heart rate goes woooooosh.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

I take possession of my house in ten days.

I am ridiculously looking forward to having my OWN place to live.

I am also looking forward to quickly making myself known in the new town as "the workout guy". The whole town has I think 1700 people, so this should be doable.

[podbaydoor]

*thumbs up*

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Thanks, Berryhawk.

[poxic]

Berryhawk

Berryhawk... Hawkberry... My day has been significantly improved.

Also, congrats MJ. Go you.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

My Fatbet became a little disgraceful, so I stopped weighing myself entirely. When we move, I'm gonna give myself a week on farmer's market soups, and get back into the swing of things.

[Save Point]

You guys don't like being sore? I love being so sore that I'm basically disabled. Right now I find it difficult to shift into reverse (pectorals) and take normal length steps (glutes). Soreness means you made your body cry, and that means it will soon get bigger and stronger.

This guy. I agree. There's good hurt and bad hurt. Good hurt is awesome.

[Solt]

Idea I randomly came up with: do you think a diet where the only rule is "always leave leftovers" would work? Obviously this would only be super effective if you get most of your calories from a set number of daily sit-down meals, and if you didn't start eating more, smaller snacks to compensate. You would also need some special rules for junk food/snacks such as you can only eat 1 serving as listed on the bag at once, then you have to put it away and return to what you were previously doing. Or, if you are very consistent in your junk food habits, you can make the rule "always eat less of this snack than I usually would" which would be like leaving leftovers.

I think the big advantage is you can keep eating your favorite foods- you just have to eat less overall, and it's a uniform cut across the board, healthy and unhealthy. I think psychologically such a diet could be far easier to maintain than having to cut out all bad foods altogether. Portions (in the US at least) tend to be far too large, and the stigma associated with "wasting" your food by leaving leftovers is just dumb.

This guy. I agree. There's good hurt and bad hurt. Good hurt is awesome.

High five!-owwww my deltoids!

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Yeah, my main problem at home is definitely portion control. Hearty vegetarian chili? Why, I’d love five bowls of that! Glorious.

Coupled with that, when I am at home and I am watching my portions, I have the gnawing hunger, and the kids always eat all the fruit before I get a chance to so I manage to justify cheese toast “just this once” four times a week, or something terrible like that.

It’s a vicious cycle.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Ok, the move is done.

For those of you who aren't 'in the know' (also known as 'everyone'), I just moved from a furnished rental into a cool house in a tiny nearby town. I did this with a minivan, and very little help. After work I would shuttle stuff back and forth until it was too dark to see, and then collapse into bed. Many kids got sick in that time. By the end of June I was drinking three Rockstars / Monsters / Red Bulls per day, plus at least one pot of coffee, just to get through. I was often not home long enough to eat much so I justified drive-through junk food almost every day, and sometimes twice. This was all in addition to work, driving the kids to sports, picking people up from pre-school, doctor and dentist appointments, being sued, and entertaining my wife's friends. My diet, quite honestly, went to hell.

We're fully moved in now. For the first time in my life I own a new mattress. A KING SIZE mattress. It's awesome. Slight drawback, it's so comfy in the mornings it's murder to get out of bed, and I am generally very sore for the first half hour (not the bed's fault, that's my standard condition) so I have not, as yet, started jogging or biking. Every morning I wake up with grand intentions which falter quite quickly.

BUT! I am in. I am hunting for a local sparring partner. I am finishing building the furniture and them I am installing a punching bag on the back of the shed. When I fix the brakes on my bike I will start trying to bike to the beach in the mornings to go for a swim. I need to make a BIG batch of soup this week to tide me over at work again, so I stop going out for subs (veggie subs, but still subs).

Success is getting up just ONE more time than you are knocked down.

Right?

[poxic]

Right.

Or, rather:

Spoiler:

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Wow, I already found a former competitive high-school/college wrestler in my area who wants a sparring buddy, specifically someone my size. Neat!

[Solt]

Success is getting up just ONE more time than you are knocked down.

Right?

uh... that's not an analogy that I would expect to find in the fitness world, but now that I think about it it makes sense. So yes. Definitely.

I am installing a punching bag on the back of the shed.

You have this kind of space? SQUAT RACK! Definitely gonna be my first major buy after getting my own home (after furniture, I guess).

[Mighty Jalapeno]

it's gonna be on the OUTSIDE of the shed. Really for a squat rack I could just use the firewood pile.

[Solt]

it's gonna be on the OUTSIDE of the shed. Really for a squat rack I could just use the firewood pile.

Punching bags are waterproof? Is a typical barbell waterproof? The idea of a squat rack is to catch the bar if it falls too, though I guess being outside it doesn't matter if you drop 300+ pounds from 6 feet...

Squat rack would let you bench too. I don't remember how into weight lifting you are, but I think I remember you used to do some, a few pages back?

[Mighty Jalapeno]

My punching bag is going to be a length of chain, a canvas sack and a sandbag. So yes, waterproof. I don't need a squat rack, and I don't have anywhere to put actual equipment, since the INSIDE of the house is full, but I have a third of an acre OUTSIDE to mess around with, hence the logpile. I would love to weightlift, but it doesn't seem to be exactly in the cards just yet, unless I use my various circular saws as kettlebells.

[Nath]

My punching bag is going to be a length of chain, a canvas sack and a sandbag. So yes, waterproof. I don't need a squat rack, and I don't have anywhere to put actual equipment, since the INSIDE of the house is full, but I have a third of an acre OUTSIDE to mess around with, hence the logpile. I would love to weightlift, but it doesn't seem to be exactly in the cards just yet, unless I use my various circular saws as kettlebells.

I would be uncomfortable swinging heavy cutting machinery close to my dangly bits. But if you have some spare plates lying around (or can get them cheap from Craigslist), you can put together some pseudo-kettlebells for a few bucks from plumbing parts:
http://www.4hourbodyzone.com/t-bar-kettlebell-review/

Can't snatch or clean, but can swing all you want. You can probably put together a similar dumbbell for pressing, too.

EDIT: with your outside space, you can also do neat conditioning stuff like sled drags and sandbag cleans and tire flips.

[Solt]

and tire flips.

Exactly what I was going to say. With a giant tire.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

I also watched GSP's training montage for his fight against BJ Penn

[Beardhammer]

I saw mention of "hearty" vegetarian chili. What do you use as your meat substitute? Normally I'd assume beans or lentils would be it, but any self-respecting chili already includes beans... so what're you using?

Assuming you're doing it to save on the fat and cholesterol present in normal ground beef and not out of a vegetarian ethos, why not substitute chicken or ground turkey for the meat? Chicken in particular is very good in a tex-mex style spicy chili - I even like adding some fresh corn to add some sweetness to balance the spicy.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Chicken is expensive and not necessary. I use bulk TVP and some chopped-up corn as the meat substitute. I add them at the sautee-the-peppers stage so they soak up the savory flavours, and they really end up like ground beef in texture and taste.

I am proud when I can end up full on less than $0.50 worth of food.

[Nath]

Chicken is expensive and not necessary. I use bulk TVP and some chopped-up corn as the meat substitute. I add them at the sautee-the-peppers stage so they soak up the savory flavours, and they really end up like ground beef in texture and taste.

Clever, but I'd be cautious about eating that much soy protein:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_protein#Health

[Mighty Jalapeno]

I don't think I use nearly that much in a big batch of stew/chili, and that ends up being 10+ meals. I am aware of the issues surrounding soy, especially GMO soy (mmmm, hair in my mouth!)