[quote]
There is a cool restaurant nearby that has an outdoor bar with bocce courts. Perfect place to go drink scotch and smoke a cigar on a warm spring evening. [/quote]
Sounds delightful! I’ve recently started on the scotch, will have to refer to the advice given in your thread. I like smoking an occasional cigar on the roof of my building in the summer. 
Yeah! Nice! I like it. Kill that leg session!! If I also end up at the gym tomorrow night, I’ll think of you!
I LOVE eggplant…especially fried, covered in cheese! lol
Enjoy your day off!!
Lanels- Cigars, scotch, killer leg sessions… life’s small pleasures do it for me!
MiM- Fried, cheesy eggplant is pretty high on my list too. The recipe that I’m making is roasted eggplant, greek yogurt and chickpeas with mint. Yum. Good with crackers but I’m thinking about eating it like a lettuce wrap but with raw kale. I pretty much eat kale every day. I cannot get enough of it.
Today’s training: legs/lower GVT, 90 sec rest between sets
Warmup: 5x10 each wall squats and spiderman crawls
During the last set of wall squats some dude tried to steal my squat rack. I nearly tackled him. Super-bitch mode kicked in and he just looked at me and said, “Ok.” He did his shrugs on the Smith machine. Yeah.
Squats @ 140: 10, 10, 8, 10, 8, 7, 10, 8, 8, 10* 89 reps
*Some guy stopped to watch me on the last set. I saw him in the mirror when I was unracking. Having an audience can be motivating sometimes 
I rested a long time before I switched over to do the RDLs. Laid down on the leg press to catch my breath. My quads were really burning and starting to cramp. Walked around a bit and set up the RDLs.
RDL @ 150: 10, 10, 10, 10, 7, 8, 8, 7**, 8, 9.5*** 87.5 reps
** On the 8th set I only got 7 reps because I started to get dizzy. Whoa. I think I’m going to have to drink Gatorade or something on the leg day from now on. I generally don’t touch that stuff, but I get so sweaty that I think plain water just isn’t doing it for me.
*** I’m calling the last set 9.5 reps because I locked out the last rep and my grip failed on the descent.
Decided to go buy a foam roller for use at home. One of my gyms has them, but they’ve taken to locking them up in the “private personal training area.” (Don’t get me started. I was once kicked out of the private area at 6:30 a.m. by the bitch head trainer while I was in the middle of a set of pushups. There was nobody around, she was just on a power trip. She has since been fired. HA! I complained to everybody I could think of over that incident. You know that I don’t tolerate anybody fucking with me while I’m doing pushups.) Anyway, I drove to the sporting goods store from the gym. Got the foam roller and another pair of shorts - lime green cheetah print, check back for pix soon - and drove home. I pull onto my street, reach for my garage door opener, NOT THERE. Uh-oh, WTF? Where is it! Went inside dropped my stuff and grabbed a can of smokehouse almonds. Went back out to retrace my steps. Stopped at the gym, looked under people’s cars, etc. Asked the reception kid. Not there. Proceed back to strip mall. Same drill, not in the parking lot. I walked into the store and ask, TA-DAH! The old guy greeting people in the front says that someone just brought in…
All’s well that ends well. Tonight is going to be a feast. Gran is making quiche. And I will eventually make the eggplant dip too. Tastiness awaits!
Veggie,
I would love your opinion on this.
With your background, knowledge, and level of baddassery achieved, what is your take on behind the neck presses? Is it more risk than reward, or is there merit in doing them.
My experience, I had really shitty scapulae movement, and taking some advice, I started doing the BTN presses. Using a medium grip (say 14-16 inches apart), my shoulder clicking and pain is gone. My poundages went down at first, but they are back up, along with some meat on my traps and delts. What say you?
Max- I give a thumbs up to behind the neck pressing personally. There aren’t any “bad” exercises in my book… just ones that are inappropriate for some individuals. I regularly do bradford presses and like to use them to warm-up and mobilize my shoulders before pressing. If they seem to be beneficial for you then they probably are. Often times it comes down to using proper form, right? And generally not being an idiot.
and I <3 spinach…been eating a big bowl of it for my bedtime snack, lol…
you mentioned you were a car kale eater? I have a horrible sunflower seed addiction…it annoys everyone…I even annoy myself!! haha
Wow on your new avatar!
Nads- That IS your new nickname complements of Bre, correct? Thanks!
MiM- I <3 spinach too. I’ve actually never met a veg that I don’t like. NEVER. On the car kale eating: I usually just munch the leaves whole, hold it by the stem and chow down. Some woman caught me on Tuesday at a traffic light. Very funny exchange of looks. And I had a ridiculously full mouth. Probably looked like a nut! Oh well, I sort of am anyway!
I had to pop my head in here to say WOW!!
Your new avi is smoking!
That is one beautiful booty Veggie!
Very, very pretty. Love the light, and the black and white photography.
Oh, and I’m in the market for a foam roller too! Too lazy to go to the store. Gonna check Amazon.
New avi rox!
I have to admit, I was in the produce aisle the other day and sought out the kale. That stuff does not look tasty to me at all. Looks like plate garnish that I usually push aside to get to my protein. I’m thinking I’ll have to force some down soon, but I ain’t looking forward to it.
I <3 foam rolling. To be honest the usual ones (white color) at the sporting goods stores are too soft for me, I need the higher density rolls. I’ve even been using the PVC roll they have at my gym, it’s brutal but my legs feel much better afterwards. If you’re really into roller torture, I highly recommend the PVC. I’ve also been meaning to try out the “rumble roller” http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&cid=114&pid=3755
[quote]Most Major wrote:
New avi rox!
I have to admit, I was in the produce aisle the other day and sought out the kale. That stuff does not look tasty to mean one iota. Looks like plate garnish that I usually push aside to get to my protein. I’m thinking I’ll have to force some down soon, but I ain’t looking forward to it.
I <3 foam rolling. To be honest the usual ones at the sporting goods stores are too soft for me, I need the higher density rolls. I’ve even used the PVC roll they have at my gym, it’s brutal but my legs feel much better afterwards. If you’re really into roller torture, I’ve yet to hear a review of the href=“http://www.elitefts.com/view/?sp=3755”>RumbleRoller Extra Firm Compact[/quote]
HA! I actually always eat the garnish on plates! Especially the fancy stuff that they cut to look like some bizarre sculpture.
You could try the eating kale while driving method that I was describing to MiM. Fact that you are doing something else at the same time will distract you from any flavor short-comings. Or you could braise it in something delicious. Maybe meat juice? Meat has juice sometimes, doesn’t it?
So far the foam roller that I got seems to be plenty torturous. We shall see…
Veggie looking lovely in your avi!
Very nice avi!
I eat kale sometimes - I stir fry it with cumin seeds (I put cumin in everything; it’s my favourite spice). Just be sure to pick the tough stems out. The leaf is very nice and tasty.
Thanks Last Stand, Puff, debra, Cal!
Cal- About the kale: I eat the tough stems, raw or cooked. Extra roughage. Liking the cumin seeds idea. Thanks. I’ll toss some in while braising.
looking great in your new avatar
I need to look into kale… Haven’t seen it but perhaps it has a different name here… Can you eat it raw the way you can eat baby spinach raw in salads and the like?
It took me a while to sort out my foam roller… Someone suggested that I got to a hardware store and get myself a PVC pipe - but I’m really very glad that I didn’t do that because I would have injured myself. I got the EVA high density foam - and had some initial bruising. Needed to take my time to recover from a good rolling session the way that I needed to take my time to recover from a heavy set of squats or deads.
Took me a few months before I could rest my bodyweight properly on it to roll deep into the muscles (especially where the tendons insert from several muscles e.g., the inside and outside of the upper leg down by the knee). Took a bit more time before I got a hard plastic ball to suppliment that rather than a tennis ball. Might be ready for PVC pipe in about a year or three lol.
I just mean to say that it can take time to adapt, but adapt you will. This is the best resource I’ve found on rolling (except I’m a LOT cautious of my lumbar spine):
http://www.athletestreatingathletes.com/currentupcoming-projects/self-muscle-massage/
Helpful anatomy lessons, technique (warm-up, elongation, cross-friction, release), and video demos (the videos seem to contain the same info as the text so one can choose whether one prefers to read or listen). They keep adding to the site… About time I checked it out again (they had a hip ebook download that was really very helpful for me).
Thanks alexus! Very cool that you put that link up. Nice reference.
I’ve done plenty of foam rolling, just not consistently because the one gym decided to lock them up and not allow members to access them, only trainers. Rolling is just another tool for doing bodywork on yourself. People in my line of work are always trying to find ways to work on themselves. Boss and I work on each other pretty much every day. Never enough.
As a bodyworker I need it more than most people because I beat myself up at work and the gym! Looking forward to being able to stretch certain muscles on a regular basis too. You have seen my flexibility; because I am extra limber, there are some things that I cannot effectively stretch because completing my full ROM doesn’t induce a stretch. Before anyone gets all jealous, it is really a blessing and a curse to be this bendy. But it can be a lot of fun
Hey veggie,
How much assistance work can you do with GVT, I know your not following it to a tee, but like Ive said before Im def looking into it. I basically mean how much energy do you have left after doing a 100 reps of stuff, I know we are all different but a ballpark estimate.
Also a beautiful new pic.
regarding the waiter’s walks: I was doing 1ength of the gym per set. I’ll have to kick it up veggie style and double the length to feel the killer turns.
beautiful new avi. Love the light.
