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  1. #46
    RESURRECTED! AnglicanBeachParty's Avatar
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    Got the memory foam bed today, so we'll see how that feels regarding my shoulders.

    I also injected the Lipostabil into my "test lipoma" for the first time. It stung a little, but I really don't think I got enough in there. This is an obvious, easy to reach lipoma on my left forearm, large enough to easily monitor the shrinkage. I will "learn" the process on this one, and then apply what I learn to the lipomas on my abdomen and elsewhere.

    In other news, my bosses at work have started to schedule a lot of early morning meetings (and a few late PM ones, too), so for a while I probably will have to shift my workout time to mid-day.

  2. #47
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    Quote Originally Posted by AnglicanBeachParty View Post
    My thought on not competing until 2013 is that I need to get a lot bigger (specifically, thicker) and that competing every year has held me back from that to some degree. So, this long off-season should hopefully help me grow, unhindered by any pre-contest dieting!
    gotcha...i might be in the same boat but wanting to pursue other things.

  3. #48
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    Default Quitting my old gym ...

    So, I finally got around to cancelling my membership at my old gym. They require a written notice to be brought into the gym (Fitness 19) and you have to talk with a manager. I guess the idea is that they will try to persuade you to stay with some kind of incentive ... but we never got that far.

    Here is how the conversation went:

    Manager: I hear you want to quit your membership. Can you tell me why?

    ABP: Sure, I found a better gym, and joined there.

    Manager: Wait, a better gym?!?!

    ABP: Absolutely.

    Manager: Because, I've got to say, I find that very offensive!

    (I'm thinking: Dude, you have no showers, only one of every type of weight machine, no locker room, you have people change in a closet ...)

    Manager: What gym did you join?

    ABP: PowerHouse.

    Manager: Oh, them. That's just a bunch of meatheads over there, bodybuilders and steroid users and what not!

    ABP: My kind of people.

    Manager: (Looks at form.) I see that you'd be willing to reconsider if the monthly rate was umm ... zero?! Nice. Look, I worked very hard to get where I am, and so it irks me when someone tries to tell me this isn't the best possible gym!

    (It went on for a while after that. He was truly miffed.)

    It's not like they need more members. Everyone is tripping over each other as it is, and it's hard to find a place to park.

    But what hurt me most was: He couldn't tell I was a meathead bodybuilder!

  4. #49
    RX MEMBER magsmalone's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AnglicanBeachParty View Post
    So, I finally got around to cancelling my membership at my old gym. They require a written notice to be brought into the gym (Fitness 19) and you have to talk with a manager. I guess the idea is that they will try to persuade you to stay with some kind of incentive ... but we never got that far.

    Here is how the conversation went:

    Manager: I hear you want to quit your membership. Can you tell me why?

    ABP: Sure, I found a better gym, and joined there.

    Manager: Wait, a better gym?!?!

    ABP: Absolutely.

    Manager: Because, I've got to say, I find that very offensive!

    (I'm thinking: Dude, you have no showers, only one of every type of weight machine, no locker room, you have people change in a closet ...)

    Manager: What gym did you join?

    ABP: PowerHouse.

    Manager: Oh, them. That's just a bunch of meatheads over there, bodybuilders and steroid users and what not!

    ABP: My kind of people.

    Manager: (Looks at form.) I see that you'd be willing to reconsider if the monthly rate was umm ... zero?! Nice. Look, I worked very hard to get where I am, and so it irks me when someone tries to tell me this isn't the best possible gym!

    (It went on for a while after that. He was truly miffed.)

    It's not like they need more members. Everyone is tripping over each other as it is, and it's hard to find a place to park.

    But what hurt me most was: He couldn't tell I was a meathead bodybuilder!
    Don't take it too hard. It is a matter of perspective. It's like when you start to getting leaner and someone will say to you "Wow you are really getting skinny". It is not that they mean to insult you. It is just that they don't know any better. So just head over to your new Gym and kick some butt!

  5. #50
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    lol @ a monthly rate of $0
    Keep Ritch Banned. FOR-EVER.

    Un-Ban SKELETOR though, yo.

  6. #51
    RESURRECTED! AnglicanBeachParty's Avatar
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    Okay, 2 nights on the "memory foam" mattress, and I seem to wake up a lot less sore. So far, it is great!

  7. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by AnglicanBeachParty View Post
    So, I finally got around to cancelling my membership at my old gym. They require a written notice to be brought into the gym (Fitness 19) and you have to talk with a manager. I guess the idea is that they will try to persuade you to stay with some kind of incentive ... but we never got that far.

    Here is how the conversation went:

    Manager: I hear you want to quit your membership. Can you tell me why?

    ABP: Sure, I found a better gym, and joined there.

    Manager: Wait, a better gym?!?!

    ABP: Absolutely.

    Manager: Because, I've got to say, I find that very offensive!

    (I'm thinking: Dude, you have no showers, only one of every type of weight machine, no locker room, you have people change in a closet ...)

    Manager: What gym did you join?

    ABP: PowerHouse.

    Manager: Oh, them. That's just a bunch of meatheads over there, bodybuilders and steroid users and what not!

    ABP: My kind of people.

    Manager: (Looks at form.) I see that you'd be willing to reconsider if the monthly rate was umm ... zero?! Nice. Look, I worked very hard to get where I am, and so it irks me when someone tries to tell me this isn't the best possible gym!

    (It went on for a while after that. He was truly miffed.)

    It's not like they need more members. Everyone is tripping over each other as it is, and it's hard to find a place to park.

    But what hurt me most was: He couldn't tell I was a meathead bodybuilder!
    LOL ohh he could, he was just fucking with you since you were leaving his gym
    RATHER LAUGH WITH THE SINNERS THAN CRY WITH THE SAINTS...

    Who are you to tell me how to conduct myself? Do yourself a favor, practice safe sex and go fuck yourself!

  8. #53
    RESURRECTED! AnglicanBeachParty's Avatar
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    Default A Dysfunctional Evening at the NPC Michigan (Part 1)

    Saturday, I attended the NPC Michigan Bodybuilding Championships. I went to pre-judging by myself and to the evening show with Eliot (my almost 16-year-old son).

    Pre-judging was okay. It started about 35 minutes late, which is pretty typical. I didn't mind this time, because I was talking to a lady 2 seats over who was brand new to weight training. She has just joined the PowerHouse gym in Detroit (Highland Park, actually), and still has that "new lifter" enthusiasm about her. She told me stories about how much she loved the gym, except for a few bad eggs: One guy followed her around to every piece of equipment and just stared at her. Not in a lustful way, but in a "you're a noob; get out of my hardkore gym" kind of way.

    She told me she liked the grunting and the clanking of weights. "Grittiness" was the word she used; she likes the grittiness of PowerHouse. I think she will go far. I was able to teach her a few things during our short conversation. For example, she wasn't clear which compound exercises the triceps contributed to, and which ones the biceps helped with. She's still pretty much of a clean slate. Or maybe "sponge" is a better word. She is somewhat obese, but I predict a dramatic transformation for her if she keeps up her current level of enthusiasm.

    I only stayed through half of pre-judging, because I still had Mother's Day shopping to do. There were only 2 Teen Men competitors, but they were both amazing. There was one extremely strong over 40 Masters competitor, and one incredible over 50 Grand Masters guy. The Fitness competitors were weak, IMHO; there were only two of them. The Figure classes were STRONG, however. I was very pleased to the condition that most of those ladies brought to the stage. Bikini ... a couple of very good competitors. Eliot's and my favorite was the eventual Bikini Short class winner, but lost the overall to the Tall class winner.

    That's it for pre-judging. The "dysfunctional" part didn't happen until the evening. I'll post that in a few minutes.

  9. #54
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    Default A Dysfunctional Evening at the NPC Michigan (Part 2)

    The evening show was fairly well packed. I always like to see that.
    But things started going haywire very early on. One of the main recurring problems was the CD player. I would say that at least 10 competitors' music would not play properly on this CD player. It is very similar to what happened at my contest in March. The CD player just starts skipping, sometimes skipping back to the beginning of the track, and sometimes to a random place in the track.

    How this affected the competitors varied: One guy ended up getting to pose for almost 3 minutes, so maybe it helped him. Some had to finish out their routines in silence, but the crowd helped them out with a lot of applause. In any case, it is not what a competitor wants to have happen after weeks of practicing a posing routine! With the amount of tickets they sold at $25 a pop (more for VIP) I think they could splurge and invest in a new CD player.

    I don't know how this happened, but for several classes, when the results were announced, the names did not match the competitors' numbers. Usually, the names were announced in the correct order, but the wrong number was called. For us in the audience who didn't know many of the competitors, it was very confusing.

    But that was not nearly as bad as what happened two or three times: they called out the wrong final 5! I can imagine the elation and then dejection on the part of the competitor who originally thought he/she made Top 5, but then was made to file off stage with the rest of the class, and was not called back out for the "corrected" Top 5. In the worst example of this (one of the Figure classes), the lady who finished out of the Top 5 already had her trophy in her hand, and they made her give it back. Granted, she was rightly placed, and should not have been in the top 5, but more care should have been taken with names and numbers, to assure the correct 5 people were out there.

    Then, there was poor sportsmanship. In the Grand Masters class, there were two very out-of-shape guys, as well as the best guy in the whole contest, and some good but not great competitors. I could have beat 2 or 3 of them, Eliot said. But the really soft, flabby guy was an amazing poser. He could really move, and he could also do the splits quite convincingly. But, as they say, you "can't flex flab". But ... he was called out among the final 5. Fifth place was announced. It was an older (perhaps 60), frail looking gray-haired gentleman. So far, so good. Then, one of the mid-level bodybuilder's name was called for 4th place (this was the guy who won my 2009 contest, by the way). He was irate! And he sort of had a point, since he had just been judged to have finished behind the Michelin Man. He set his trophy down (at least he didn't throw it), and stormed offstage.

    Then, the judges realized ... Uh-oh, it has happened again. We have the wrong Top 5 out there. They have the four guys still up there file off stage and they call out a new Top 5. The fat guy is not among them, but the second or third weakest competitor is. But the guy who stormed off is nowhere to be found. They call his name over the P.A. system. Finally he walks back out on stage. They announce the same guy in 5th place. So far, so good. Then, just as before, Mr. Attitude gets called for 4th place. He hesitates a split second, and then ... does the exact same thing as before. He sets his trophy on the stage and walks off!

    Eliot said later: You'd think someone over 50 would want to set an example for us younger guys.

    Then, later, I got told by another fan to shut up. Well, basically. As I mentioned, I had not stayed until the end of pre-judging, so I didn't know if the really good Grand Masters guy had crossed over into the Open class. I simply said to Eliot:

    "I wonder if he'll cross over to the Open class. If so, I bet he wins the class!"

    Immediately, the uber-attractive (young Jodie Foster type) blond in front of me turns halfway around and barks:

    Shut up! Don't say that!

    I couldn't figure out at first why she said that. I kind of thought she must be related to the Grand Masters guy and didn't want me to "jinx" him. But, as it turned out, she was with the guy who finished 4th place in the class that the GM crossed over into (and won). He was properly placed in 4th, but when his name was announced, she stormed out of her seat full of venom and anger. I kind of wanted to tell her that, no matter what opinion a fan offered to the fan next to him, all the comparisons had been done at pre-judging, and her boy's placement had nothing to do with my voicing my opinion.

    Anyhow ... the judging was mostly very good. Only one notable exception: One class winner who should have been 3rd or 4th. The crowd was not so much angry as simply stunned. He was out of his league, compared with the man who should have one. And it is not the first time for this competitor, either. Eliot and I saw him win the Teen class in 2008, when another competitor clearly outclassed him. I can think of no other explanation than that politics of some kind are involved in this competitor's unrealistically high placings.

    All in all, the strangest bodybuilding event I've attended so far.

  10. #55
    RESURRECTED! AnglicanBeachParty's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by axioma View Post
    I can think of no other explanation than that ( uhh, hanky panky?) politics of some kind are involved in this competitor's unrealistically high placings.
    Two other possible explanations:

    1) The judges are looking for something other than what my ideal is. There were 7 judges for this event, and they all had him 1st or 2nd.

    2) I'm just really, really confused. I tried to back and look at his other "unfair" placing, and I don't even think it was the same guy!

  11. #56
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    I think I am starting to see changes in my back, due to priortizing it since the end of March. It is a bit hard to tell, with my new, lush coating of bodyfat.

    One thing I will say for sure: I really like the Hammer Strength Iso-Lateral Low Pull machine!

  12. #57
    RESURRECTED! AnglicanBeachParty's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by axioma View Post
    where the puck have you been?
    I don't have too much news to report, so I've just been jousting with the atheists in the Politics & Religion threads.

    After my March 27th contest, I gained 30 pounds real quick (164 up to 194 pounds), then leveled off. I had some problems with edema (holding water in my ankles). I finally got rid of that by dropping my salt for about a week.

    Still nursing a few injuries: My right knee (which I had sprained) seems okay on every leg day, but then hurts me the 2nd and 3rd day after. For a while, both my shoulders were very sore on chest/shoulder day, even from the first warmup set. Then, too, I still have the forearm chronic injury which makes it difficult to do any rear delt work.

    For the knee, my strategy will be to go a bit lighter, with higher reps for a while.

    For the shoulders: My left one healed itself. I'm finding that if I switch to dumbells instead of barbells, it is easier on the shoulder. So, I'll do that for a while.

    I'm supposed to be doing 4 cardio session of 30 minutes each, per week. I haven't been very successful at that. Various ongoing "emergencies" at home, added to my general apathy about cardio, have derailed me there.

    I am still prioritizing back thickness. I seem to be putting on some size, but it is hard to tell at this heavier weight.

    I'm still planning to attend the Master's Nationals, with my son.

    In non-bodybuilding-related news, I bought this guitar:

  13. #58
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    Paul,

    I agree with Big Axioma, keep giving to it. Keep those long range goals in sight.

    Neal

  14. #59
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neal Grossman View Post
    Paul,

    I agree with Big Axioma, keep giving to it. Keep those long range goals in sight.

    Neal
    Don't worry, I will!

    Good chest/shoulder/triceps workout this morning. For once, I actually got a pump in my chest. Almost always, I end up frying my front deltoids, with hardly any stress in my chest. Changing from incline bench to incline dumbbell presses for my 1st exercise seems to have been a good move!

    I've got to consciously break out of some of these ruts I'm in.

    I'm back to actually liking skull crushers again ... for a while, I couldn't stand them.

  15. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by esplendido View Post
    Paul, in the '08 MN, there was a competitor who overshot his diet. He was 6'-5" and weighed in at 222lbs. Yeah.....222lbs is skinny at 6'-5". But he was shredded. He had to compete in the HW class, where the other guys weighing 220lbs were 5'-9". There were 20 or so in his class and the SOB got 4th!!!! (or maybe 5th, but he got a trophy). And he got the experience of being on the national stage against high-level competitors...experience that is invaluable.

    Don't judge yourself too harshly regarding size. Understand that the 50+ guys are just as juiced as 20-something national competitors. If you cross to the darkside, you won't need 1200 days to be ready. You already know how to get shredded!
    Glad you said that - I will be in the 50+ middle wts at 5'11", but I want the experience of being there with the best, and you never know how long you will be around. It my age, size is just not improving enough to wait any longer - I did the heavy wts and bulking diet, now I am taking 6 months of dieting to get the best conditioning I can. Sometimes you just have to go for it with what ya got. But I certainly respect anyone's choice to dig deep and do it their way.

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