Exercising with the Alpha Male..

Ok, so guys do things differently. Yup, we are motivated by different things, but actually if you think about it, alot of it has to do with personalities and not just gender. So here our some incites into my preferred exercise routine.

First, I love walking or cycling.......with one caveat, I like my walking and cycling outdoors. It has to move. I get bored after 10 minutes on the treadmill, 20 minutes and I bolt for the door. I need that change of scenery. So to get to 20 minutes of treadmill time I get out the iPod and crank up some really robust George Thorogood or Stray Cats or Stone Temple Pilots, etc., close my eyes and really rock.

I am hoping for a little bit more temperate weather because my favorite walking places outdoors are at lunch in downtown Grand Rapids or after dark in Paw Paw. I like to put in 45 minutes to an hour on either route which gets me at least 3 miles. GR affords more hills and challenges, but the Paw Paw walks are plenty aerobic, but relaxing.

Stationary Bikes, don’t cut it either, they don’t feel natural. I mean if you are doing serious cardio on a bike and you’re a guy, you should need a good nut massage afterwards! Sitting back, reading a magazine in a chair with pedals isn’t really biking! Besides those stationary bike seats at the gym are slippery and I keep sliding out of the seat with my slick nylon-blend shorts. So if I’m pedaling, it is hunched over, on a ball crushing seat, looking down at asphalt and road kill.

I mentioned gym, yes we belong to Strength Beyond. We, as in Sweetpea, Thomas and myself. We don’t have a treadmill or stationary bike at home, so that is where we go if we are going to use one. As I said though, I prefer my aerobic work au-natural. The main purpose of the gym for me is strength training. I find strength training helps me get through diet plateaus. Also exchanging fat for muscle mass is a good thing.

I try and strength train four times a week. Two days on upper body/chest and two days on legs/back. I use a fairly advanced routine for each that alternates speed/explosive workouts with maximum weight workouts. Aaron DePalma owner of Strength Beyond got me going on this a couple of years ago and it really works. The workout is almost exclusively using free weights and old style rigs, instead of the fancy machines, and is performed in the basement of the gym where the hard rock and heavy metal are playing as opposed to the Oprah and Game shows on the TV upstairs. I stopped however about a 18 months ago because of broken clavical. Yes the shoulder that I had arthroscopic surgery on last October. I am happy to say that the surgery was a resounding success and I am back to over 80% of what I was lifting when I stopped, with no pain or problems that caused me to quit.

I usually perform these workouts alone as finding someone interested in this kind of work out and has the flexibility to hook up with my busy schedule is tough. With some of the business commitments I have had lately I’ve had to adjust my work out schedule quite often. Strength Beyond helps out in the repect as it is open 24 hours Monday – Friday, and shorter hours Sat and Sun.

I worked out Monday night (upper body speed workout) and last night, Maximum effort Back and Legs. And I over did it a little.... See I normally don’t work out on Tuesday, I have Boy Scouts on Tuesday and well I didn’t get home till 9 pm. But I had missed my Sunday workout, so I felt I needed to get in another work out. As Liz was coming in the door from SiS, I was headed for the gym, about 9:30. I intended to work heavy box squats, lots of weight on a bar across your shoulders, sit down on a box and then stand back up. But even though only Aaron the owner and I were the only ones in the free weight area, he was using the squat rack. So I went to plan “B”, Maximum Effort Dead Lifts.

Now this kind of fired me up for two reasons (this is where the guy thing really comes out). First, when I was lifting a couple of years ago this was one of my better exercises. I had worked up to lifting 365 lbs off the floor without a belt. Respectable enough to get me on the “progress board”. The mark is still there. Not great but respectable, (you try lifting 365 lbs).

Second Aaron, who is ripped and big as an ox, was doing some advanced dead lift work on the squat rack and was putting some big iron on. So me being the typical Alpha Male wanted to prove I was no slouch.

So I started at 135 lbs and quick lifted 10 reps. Aaron in the mean time was somewhere around 350 lbs and headed up. I Jumped to 185lbs and 5 reps. Feeling good. Aaron was at 450. Me, 225 two reps. Aaron hits 500. 275lbs two reps, Aaron yanks 550. I’m feeling good though. I Jump to 315 lbs, one rep. A struggle but not bad, no doubt it was ever going up. I stop and watch Aaron pull 600.....

Ok, so let me put this in perspective for you. I’m standing on a 2 inch platform. The weight is resting on the floor. I don’t have a belt on, cause I’m exercising, not competing. The belt will help you lift more, but usually doesn’t protect you from injury. Anyway, I pick up 315lbs…. I don’t care who you are, when you put over 300 lbs back on the mat it crashes down and all the people upstairs can hear it.

Aaron, who is working on a rack, top half of the dead lift only, picks up 600 lbs and when he drops that puppy you swear the rack is coming apart! Then we chat a little. We talk about this odd phenom, where you go up in weight and the heavier weight goes up easier than the lighter one. It is weird, your muscles seem to get warmed up just right or something. He hits the 600 lbs again for one rep. CRASH! I’m inspired.

I haven’t been Dead lifting a lot since I got back into lifting two months ago, mostly squats, which works legs. Dead Lifts work more back. But I just pulled 315 and I feel good, inspired at the big guys 600. Yeah I can get 335 I’m thinking. I throw a couple of dime plates on the bar and un-rackit. I step up on the platform and start to psychic myself. You’ve lifted 30 pounds more than this! Bend over and grab the bar, left hand out, right hand in. Get your butt down, drive with your legs and stomach till you get it going then stand up. Concentrate………..Pull!

It starts up slowly but it is moving, never had one moving that I couldn’t finish. Pull…..it’s coming. But there is a slight problem. I didn’t get the butt down, in fact my ass stuck up like Howard Stern blowing a big fart! The weight is moving but I’m not quite in the position I want to be and about ¾ up I feel the twinge. I pull it the full way. I standing straight now holding 335. Shit. I’m gonna be stiff in the morning. CRASH I put it down. Dumb ass. You knew better than to go 100% without more work on form! But I smile anyway and think, screw it, I got 335.

In the mean time Aaron gets his 4 sets in at 600 and tells me how good he feels. Funny I forget to mention that I’m sore. But I do complete the rest of my work out. It’s not serious, just a slight strain and the rest of the exercises keep it moving. Besides I need the leg and glut work.

Oh yeah, It is stiff today. But I think my diagnosis is correct, it is not a serious, more of a warning than an injury. Today is an off day from workouts, back on Maximum Upper Body tomorrow, probably Floor Presse. No getting careless there, not going to re-injure the shoulder. Legs/Back on Friday. I’ll be back in the saddle by then. Wiser, the stiff back reminding me what can happen if I don’t keep the Alpha Male in the cage.

Off to the Hot Tub. Try and give an update tomorrow……. Microe