Do Meatheads Dream of Iron Sheep?

Training Over 35 Lifter
721

@The_Myth I’ve read your log and I’d say you’re in an pretty good overall spot, especially considering your age. Trust me, being fat isn’t all that it is cracked up to be.

One of the things I find particularly fascinating about lifting is how we all get our own little game to play. We all get dealt a hand, and the only thing we can do is play our cards as well as we can. Some start with a better deck of cards. Some are better at playing the game. Some keep an ace up their sleeve. The people who have an advantage in all three are going to gain the most from playing the game, but there is a huge spectrum of positive results that lies between doing nothing right and doing everything right.

The beauty of lifting is that it is not a zero-sum game. Everyone who plays it can come out ahead. And if you are coming out ahead, you are winning the game.

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722

No Limit Hold Em: Theory and Practice by Sklansky really helped me think about lifting.

"…some become very good poker players.

Most don’t. They get hung up in their progression as poker players. When asked what skills are important to be a good no limit player, they;ll come up with a vast array of possibilities, but few that reflect what the good players really do."

Its just like lifting!

723

Yes I see a lot of parallels in that statement too. The hive mind both in commercial gyms and the internet can be a funny thing indeed. But when you stop and consider that the small and weak person who is trying to discourage you from, let’s say, squatting without a belt is most likely not going to be lifting weights a year from now, it really is quite expected.

Tuesday 7/5/16

BW 272

Deload week

Squat

135x5
225x5
275x5

Bench Press

95x8
135x5
155x5
185x5

Power Cleans

135x10
135x5

Some quick rows

135x10

Notes: I think I may have a hairline fracture in my left wrist, sustained while doing clean+press with my 88 pound kettlebell some months ago. It isn’t major, it just hurts whenever I do a kind of “catch” with it, like lowering the bar from the rack position.

Something to keep an eye on anyway.

724

One of those types…The Bullshit was strong with him wasnt it?

725

Oh yeah, and it was spoken like a die-hard yoostalifter, meaning he had a straight face the whole time.

A buddy of mine does the same thing. He yoosta squat/deadlift 100 pounds more than whatever numbers I was lifting at the time of the conversation, but he could never manage a 200 pound bench press.

I actually prefer it when I’m just judged negatively for pursuing lifting, and it is one of the reasons why I seldom bring up numbers when conversing with non-lifters. It is easy to blow off someone who says “you should do cardio instead of lifting”. With a yoostalifter, it is always a lose-lose conversation.

You can either smile and nod, feeding the bullshitters ego in the process and sort-of acknowledging that this person who is full of shit has actually achieved more than you have, even though their achievements never happened, or…

You can call them out and listen to the excuses pour out and then alienate that person when you invite them to the gym with you and they never show up.

I guess option 1 is the best choice, all things considered. Just don’t ask to see any pictures of that powerlifting meet they won 15 years ago. Terrible house fire. Everything gone. Tough to talk about.

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726

Id say 1 is your best… when im ask what my best lifts have been my answer is " Not enough"

727

I’ve been using that one lately, and it does work well. This is something I need to be more aware of. With the recent weight drop, I get a lot of comments and questions about what I’m doing. The yoostalifters are one thing that keeps popping up, but I’ve also noticed that being a little too honest about the changes I made can sometimes produce some very defensive reactions from other people.

Not a social disaster by any means, and people are generally great, but keeping any fitness-related conversation brief can avoid these sometimes awkward situations.

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728

And if you are female, never, and I mean never speak of lifting. You must keep it locked away, because it leads to strength, and strength leads to confidence, and confidence leads to the Darkside.

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729

^^ Or just hang around others who are like-minded and talk about lifting ad nauseum as I’m prone to doing!

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730

@ChickenLittle I don’t speak of lifting nearly as much as I used to, except when I’m dumping those thoughts on this website. Most of my friends are fat, and the ones that aren’t are weak. We’re also all getting older, and plenty of folks in my circle are content to grow fatter, weaker and less capable with each passing year. I’m not judging here, just stating what is actually happening.

My former fat boy hiking partner hasn’t gone with me in nearly two years. We used to hit some of the most difficult trails around New England together, and we were a good pair because we were both fat and needed lots of breaks. He now prefers to use his $20,000 ATV to get to the top of mountains. You can drink beer the whole way up that way, and I will admit it is a very fun machine.

I’m learning how my success can bring out other people’s anxieties, and I’m learning how to navigate those things more gracefully. This basically boils down to shutting the hell up about the success I’ve had. When you put your confidence, your progress and your capability on display, it also puts other people’s lack of confidence, lack of progress and lack of capability on display.

But hey, there’s WAY worse problems to have than lifter problems, wouldn’t you agree?

@kpsnap I’ve got a total bromance going on right now with my lifting partner. We both realize that 30-something guys who want to put some work in at the gym don’t grow on trees. There are a few other strength-oriented people who have begun lifting at our gym now too, including a legit 400-pound bencher @ around 235 BW. Lots of ideas to exchange.

We’ve been working our jaws pretty hard lately, but only while we’re in our safe space. Once you step outside of the gym the world is full of micro-aggressions against people of power. I think it is institutional. Cheeto-eating motherfuckers need to check their privilege.

731

If people ask about your lifting, you have “the look.” I like that “not enough” answer.

Cheeto-eating motherfuckers and beer drinking ATV drivers aren’t likely to be asked to move refrigerators. I like being asked to do that.

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732

@biker Well I have “the look” when I’m wearing a shirt, I suppose. I just lucked out with some decent traps and a thick torso.

I’ve moved two refrigerators in the last year, and a few wood stoves too. It is also worth noting that last week’s lovely bar patron put her trust in me to thoroughly check her back pocket for dander, while the beer-drinking, cheeto-eating motherfucker next to me just got to watch. I’m looking forward to tonight’s shift, and I’ll let you know if anything interesting takes place.

733

Haha! My sentiments exactly!

And Biker nailed it! It’s all fun and games until “they” need something. I know I am not very good at this weightlifting thing yet, but “real world” applications I do pretty good. Two refrigerators and my shining moment was packing a pump straight up the river bank…Ha! Standing around with their fingers up their asses wondering how they were going to get it out of the river bed. Yes, I did strut on that one.
It took all I had to bite my tongue and not say, “Who’s laughing now?” Because they do. They laugh at me. Call me a meth head because I lost weight, and even been accused of having some terminal illness. That being said, yes, there are much bigger problems in the world.

734

I don’t talk at the gym. Not because I’m an asshole (that is debatable), but because who has time? And quite honestly, like you I find most of it to be BS anyways. One time I forgot my iPod, but wore my ear phones anyway to discourage conversation.

735

I think you see that allot when part of your goal is related to getting stronger . Most people dont have an issue if your goal is losing weight and or lifting for general fitness. But once you cross a certain level where you are slightly stronger or larger or leaner than average I think certain people stop relating or become very insecure with them selves.

736

I have dropped thirty pounds in the last two years and started recomping a bit. Some of my colleagues started in on me to “eat a sandwich,” and “you’re getting too skinny.”

Mind you, I’m 6’ and 190, a BMI over 25 so technically overweight (we all know how much bullshit BMI is). I think you make a valid point.

I’m a writer and a fan of Christopher Vogler (The Writer’s Journey) and he talks about threshold guardians. These are people that don’t want you to cross the threshold to chase your dreams. They are threatened by your courage, and they try to sabotage your journey. They tell you all of the reasons why it’s stupid, won’t work, isn’t worth it.

Ignore those Cheeto eating motherfuckers.

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737

Patiently awaiting another chapter in the “dander” chronicles.

738

@ChickenLittle Try to get your next set of hauling pumps up the riverbank on film and post it to your log. It is okay, strutting is allowed here. As far as calling a healthy woman a meth-head, I think that says a lot more about them than it does about you. Hell, I’m 270 pounds and my fat friends tell me I’m SKINNY now. Er, not quite.

@Canada_K My partner and I are usually mostly business in the gym, and most of the workouts you see me post are done in about 45 minutes. Now that a third strength junkie (Captain 400lb Bench) has invaded our gym, we’ve gotten to be a little too chatty. Our workouts have been dragging out to closer to an hour lately. Perhaps it is time to put aside the heated border dispute between Maine and Canada and take a cue from my neighbor to the north. Just shut the hell up and work. I think we can learn a lot from each other, and no more blood needs to be shed over Machias Seal Island.

@bulldog9899 I think you are on to something here. Even people in the gym have tried to discourage me from excelling at the things they, for whatever reason, don’t do. I don’t get this as much now, but in my first year or so of squatting I was heavily, HEAVILY discouraged from doing that movement by numerous gym denizens. And don’t get me started on beltless deadlifts. Again, that says a lot more about them than it does about us.

@The_Myth I will check out that author. Its funny. When I was getting fat, almost nobody had anything to say about that. We mostly joked about getting fat together. Now that I’m making objectively better decisions and working much harder, a lot more opinions come pouring out. Luckily they are not all negative, and it really is nice to hear when someone has something nice to say.

@biker It was a fun night last night, but overall pretty tame. We had two pro athletes there for most of the night, one former NHL player and one current MMA fighter. Many beautiful women too, which is always great. The most interesting thing that happened was probably me letting in a very drunk man, brought to the bar by his ex-girlfriend. They just broke up. We all know them both very well, otherwise he would have never got in. The ex-girlfriend said that her wasted ex-boyfriend wouldn’t be drinking any more, but the bartender took this opportunity to make it a teachable moment, just like Obama would. He started feeding the guy shots, getting him even further beyond drunk.

I guess the lesson was don’t be your drunk ex’s taxi to the bars. Or maybe it was you should just stay home. Actually it might have just been don’t drink to excess, or even at all. I’m not really sure, but the bartender was quite pleased with himself.

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739

Thursday 7/7/16

BW 269

Deload week

Deadlift

135x5
225x5
315x5

Press

95x5
115x5
135x5

Pull ups

9 (PR)
5
5

Notes: All deadlifts belted today, and I’m REALLY eager to see what I get out of it next week. Feels a lot more natural now.

Also, I mentioned the “former NHL player” I met at the bar last night to a guy who follows all levels of hockey quite closely. It turns out that he never even played for the major junior team he claimed to, let alone in the NHL. I am SHOCKED that someone I met at the bar would lie like that.

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740

Thats are culture…Hell thats why there is a fitness chain dedicated too that mind set.
Its funny you couldnt get reality show produce and make it a hit to the general public if it was about Bodybuilding,.power lifting,strongman or anything else in that vain…Hell NO. But you can have a show dedicated towards people whom are extremely overweight whom are working to try and be like everyone else.

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