ho ho ho!!

time is pretty tight right now.. i'm on leave.. finally, but still soooo many things to do.. sweet, eh?

still busting my ass in the gym.. after christmas, checked my weight and as predicted, gained 10lbs in two days.. hah!! gggrreeaattt!!!

so, i'm gonna have to do more so i could keep the weight down.. more blood and guts comin' up..

uuuuhhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrgggggghhhh!!!!



more stories next year, bubba..

meanwhile,

Happy Holidays for the nth time y'all!

mwah! mwah! mwah!

happy....

SSHHhhhhiiiiiiiiiiFF!

no cursing today.. hehe... though i have plenty of reason to do so.. my home's internet connection is still down while my office PC finally breath it's last earlier today.. so, i will be having my "silent nights" around here in the days to come..

****

this week is supposed to be my scheduled "rest" from all the bangin' but heck, there'll be more of that in the days to come because of the holidays...

i can't rest now.. not when there's plenty of food to devour.. no, can't do, sir.. i'll eat even more irons instead cos i'll be loading a lot of those calorie-laden food in the days to come.... you like?

i know you do...



yum!! yum!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

i'm no good at numbers but lemme give you these numbers that i ought to avail but failed to do so..

vacation leave - 3

sick leave - 7

emergency leave - 2

it's almost new year and i only have a few days to use them up... this leaves ain't convertible to cash nor would accumulate for the next year... worst, i have to make sure i'd get approval before i can make some sorry excuses why i'd go to this and that, got friggin sick, and heck, there's an emergency!

sigh.

was too busy banging my head in the gym.. i forgot to R&R...

***

speaking of R&R, i thought i'd avail one yesterday... it was productive but at the same time expensive..

i brought my two dogs at the vet for their monthly/yearly immunization schedules.. a whopping seventeen hundred grand, the receipt says!!! damn, that's a lot of beer and massage already! anyway, had to cos these dogs ain't ordinary or cheap... ramboo, my dobey, is one helluva barker.. he really lives up to being a guard dog.. he'd bite if he had to when some intruder dares to come in.. maui, the lab, still a little puppy, is quite fun to be with.. very affectionate and full of zest.. she never gets tired of playing around.. if only i had more time... missy, the locally breed - typical of a street dog, is just as affectionate but a li'l more on the serious side.. love 'em all!

***

last night, we had our own li'l party. since my energy was down, as usual, and i didn't had alcohol (even though we had plenty of beer.. in kegs, momma!), i was bored to death. thanks to some funny presentations, at least, there were fun moments...

geez, i can't possibly waste all my strength and energy in the gym and just drink 'til i drop at the slightest provocation.. no, no, no!!

i'm better than that.. i know.

anyway, a few nights ago, i already had my drunken moments yet again.. that's the annual Christmas party for all the umbrella company/organization/people under the main corporation... as alway, huge crowd..



after downing few glasses of beer, i could not drive my way home no more.. slept in the office 'til 4am. good thing, wifey, neil and the rest were somewhere south... far, far away from home having a grand getaway vacation.. house is not a home without 'em.. so, no need to rush... better be safe than go home drunk and be sorry about it.

i seriously think the raffle was rigged as i didn't win any of those major prize/s again for the nth year.. or maybe i'm just sour graping.. whatever..

must have book.. haha!



i'm too old for that shit, though. my testosterone level these days are at its all time low.. as in, way, way down.. to the ground, in fact!

crap, most of my energy are spent in the gym.... i'll have to start drawing out no-nonsense strategies for next year, ... i should be able to pace myself in order to save some of 'em (the energy) and use it into somethin' else.. like SEX!

moreover, tapering down during weekends is a gargantuan task for me.. i'd keep on hitting 'em hard instead of slowing down.. and for what? i dunno but i'm too focus right now i don't wanna get off the gym sometimes.. these days, getting laid is the last thing i wanna get myself into... if you catch my drift.

my muscles are still sore, but gimme the damn weights already!

man up! man up!

today will be a pain in the gym. it's chest day today and if i can throw in some triceps and legs exercises, it'll be good... but painful. aaawwwwww!!!




i got a call from "a friend" yesterday... he lives in a foreign land for years now... nice to hear from you, man. this guy and some guys in "our group" are the guys i consider my "big brothers." i love being around their circle. you see, i lost a big brother when he got hooked on drugs.. he's still alive but it's not him anymore as he lost his mind a long time ago. he now lives in the streets somewhere downtown.. me and sister tried in vain to get him to live in our house but he'd either bail out or refuses to go.

if you think we didn't care, try again. here's what you can do - put yourself in our shoes... he's been "lost" since i was in the elementary grade.

tragic? pity? sad?

you have no idea.

back to my friend, i have all the respect in the whole world for this guy. always sensible, articulate and a true friend. i haven't met this guy in person and yet he asked me months ago what i'd like to have for christmas.. and true enough, he bought me one!

but i haven't receive it yet. due to some unforeseen circumstance beyond his control, the gift went back to him.. anyway, he called and assured me it's coming by january.. i was gonna lose hope of getting it ,but you know, at least there's something to look forward to next month.

as soon as i have it, i'll have me a photo-op with it.. and post 'em here... hehehe

yesterday was the first time i heard this guy's voice.. bhoy, i got the surprise of my life. he sounded like one true blue pinoy even if he had been living in that far away land for eons now...

well, we share the same sentiments too.. needless to say, but expounding on the matter ain't too nice now.. maybe when he makes good of his presentiment, but for now, it'll be a secret between us.

clue: too obvious to mention but it's all here momma.. all here..

Chris Shugart wrote this in t-nation:

Feel the Burn

Here's how it happened for me.

Sophomore year of college, mandatory PE class, body fat testing day. I stood there with my shirt off while a cute little co-ed attempted to pinch the big rolls of fat around my waist. Man, I didn't even take my shirt off at the pool anymore, and now my blubbery gut was being pinched and measured by a beautiful girl? My face burned with embarrassment.

How did I get this way? I'd gotten in pretty good shape my junior year of high school, had spent the whole summer in the weight room. But in the three years that followed I'd fallen apart: no training of any type coupled with out-of-control eating habits. I was a sloppy mess.

Standing there with my shirt off I felt humiliated, but I really didn't need to worry: I was invisible. Paradoxically, that's what being fat does to a person. The fatter you get, the more socially invisible you become, especially to the opposite sex.

Our bodies reflect who we are, what we think of ourselves, and how we feel toward others. Your physique is your message to the world, the first message people will hear when they meet you... perhaps even the loudest message. My body was telling people I was lazy and stupid. I wasn't, but that's what I was projecting.

I snapped. That's the best way to describe it.

Later that day I looked at my reflection, swore at myself, and smashed the mirror with my fist. The burn of embarrassment turned into a spark of rage. At that moment I went inward. Four months later, I'd lost close to 70 pounds.

I'd been consumed in the fire and reborn.

****

it's only now that i understood. well, i'm experiencing something these days that's parallel to the lines of what Mr. Shugart said.

anyhoo, i'm rollin' with it.

****

meanwhile, now, i'm just a mere "mortal" once again to the forum i've grown to love and hate.. well, love cos the people there are the people i have met personally... so, we kinda have this bond between us. hate... i hate the way it's being run. to be brutally frank about it, i don't see it grow another year with the way things are being manage around the "house." if it didn't work the first time, how the heck it's gonna work this time where even the slightest sidetrack of a person's posting is magnified, edited, locked or worst, deleted?

but since i love the people there, i will continue to carry on. i just hope the higher ups can learn from the past experience we've had... for whatever it's worth, lemme just say a piece, well, pieces of advise: exercise maximum tolerance, allow people to deviate once in a while, visit other successful forums and learn a few tricks from them... and for whatchamacallit friggin sake, we ain't there yet, so allow some room for everything to grow cos it's pretty tight.. i can't almost breath!!

i'm happy being just a regular member now.. and my board being wiped out.. it lessens the burden and eliminate unwanted pressure off my back.. so thanks.

the edge

hoooooo-huuuummm... yawn.. cold, eh?

and i'm bored too.

i'm on "reading mode" these days. don't wanna react or say anything.. just absorbing.. the only time i queried with the many forums i'm into, is with the body and fitness section of PEX. they have great coaches who lurk around and who were knowledgeable and expert enough with the sport. they'd actually spend some of their precious time answering queries. since i've bump into them months ago, i'm hooked.

though things in the gym continues to progress for me, i still have to ask the guys "up there" about things... like tips, suggestions to my programs, safety and whatnot..

been lifting straight for a good eight months now. prior to that, it's been on and off romance with the iron... this time, i've definitely overtaken, in terms of strength and physique, a few guys in my gym who had been there for years... and these guys still lift the same amount of weights through the times.

i understand that some guys are in it for their "daily exercise routine," but some don't. they'd actually face the mirror and flex their viens out... looking for definition and muscularity.. but they missed out on a lot of things because they do things in routinary bases.. and muscles don't grow if it's being subjected to the same stress over and over again since it had been able to adapt to the same pressure each time.. and then there's lactic acid which helps muscle development.. these and a whole lot of facts about bodybuilding an average "joe" doesn't know about gives me a wee bit of advantage.



thus, even if it's friggin hard to squat, i'd squat at least twice a week.. with this exercise, i'd hit the big muscle group of my legs and in turn they help the rest of the body to develop... cos they produce lotsa lactic acid.



i wouldn't have done what i'm doing now if i wasn't doing a lot of reading. so now, after years of busting my ass off lifting li'l puny weights, i'm finally breaking through barriers and gaining strength... definition and muscles are just a welcome bonus..



so yesterday, i got a nice complement from my gym mate, carl. he said i looked like a guy ready for the "cutting" stage as i am already muscular. cut means that i'd go the whole nine yards of leaning out, crash diet and flushing out water in my body. and then i'd probably would look like, well, almost close to a bodybuilder. whoa! not yet ready for that, buddy. one more year... then maybe.

to get me s'more edge, time to get back on my reading..

Mr. Abs and CCF

i'll write this in a huff.. pictures will follow as soon as i can dig some...

last saturday's Mr. Abs contest didn't live up to it's hype.. there were three contestants missing.. the rain made it more difficult for other members to come and see the action. anyway, it was the first time they staged it. maybe next year they'd be more prepared and a lot more will join.. including me. i just might give them a run for their money... haha!

i was going to join them in an eat-all-you-can buffet somewhere north but my good friend, gpsman, sent me an text message about an on-going party with the forum people. i honestly didn't have the slightest idea about the time but i did know there'd be a party that day for the forum members. quite frankly, i wasn't ready to show my face there because of that unfortunate incident, but my brad (gpsman) was pretty persistent and janine, another member of ours, called an hour later.. i can't possibly snub these guys.. so, i had to call off the other affair and went to the CCF party.

it's nice to see some new members and the old one's who hasn't attended any of our get-togethers. i truly miss my friends there..

i had a blast talking with sir zid. he is definitely a cool person to converse with. the kinda guy you wanna pick their brains out cos they're smart, witty and intelligent. he brought some korean drinks and the japanese saki. love the latter. i'd probably have one of those on Christmas day and New year... kinda expensive to get drunk, though.

many thanks to guenter who always welcomes us (me, especially) in his home every time we have an EB. to sir fred and jerry (SR) who contributed financially.. the girls at CCF who are always up and about when have these gatherings... and the rest who came.. many, many thanks y'all!!

went home in one piece and remembered everything... meaning, i kept my sanity all throughout the night... i'll strive to stay that way... from hereon now..

hola!

my chest is a bit sore, but other than that, everything is fine.

woke up late today.. after last nights bangin', i really need my "beauty sleep".. it's saturday, but it's still traffic in our area.. shez!

it'll be fun later as the guys in our gym struts it out for the Mr. Abs contest.. i'll probably join next year.. hehehe

this year was the first time they're making this contest.. it was usually a get together for everyone in the buffet table.. the "eat all you can" restaurant's management actually hated them (i wasn't part of any of their parties just yet) for they gorge the food like there's no tomorrow.. whatdyathink, they just had a "sweat-ful" in the gym earlier, you figure they'd be merciful?

so tonight would be an exciting event as all the "idols" (well, mostly) will congregate for the friendly competition and a get-together, later.

need to get me that body-hugging/fitting shirt for the activity tonight.. hehehe

this crew, by the way, doesn't discriminate. as long as you keep an open mind, don't act like a genius, a snub, be an idiot in the gym (like banging the bars and plates, being inconsiderate with the equipments, blah, blah, blah) and try to be a "hero" by lifting more than you can actually do.. in other words, swallow more than you can bite...

you're IN.

even if you're being an ass, though, many would still help when things go crazy at your end.

and, for as long as i am there, it'll be all hard work and some serious fun in between..

now, time for some light workout... peanuts, dried mango and coffee, anyone?


my friend smiling and curling a 70lb. dumbbell? idol, you're kidding, right?

i was lifting two 80lbs. of that last night and my face looked like i had a hard and painful bowel movement..

whatever you say, man...

pack rat

this pretty much sums it all up... it brightened my day too!


click to enlarge, ramboo..

push day

what a day!

i almost had a broken/twisted shoulder today thanks to that senior/workout-veteran-of -eleven-years mister who tried to help me lift the 80lbs. dumbbell. in fairness to him, he had all the good intentions, but what he did didn't just surprise me and my gym mates, it was the first in all aspects..

picture this, i was doing incline dumbbell press (picture below)..



when after four reps (repetition) i struggled to push them up, this senior guy suddenly jump into my lap to sorta spot me! WTF? in my entire weight lifting experience, i had never witness that kind of spot/help, and never had i drop dumbbells when i'm having difficulty.. i simply put them back on my lower thighs if i can't hoist it up further.. not until today.. i was shock and it practically distracted me.. i could not concentrate and my left hand started to lean back... 80lbs. is just too heavy to hold on to, so before i break my shoulders, i quickly let go of both..

boy, it was shocking. thank God i didn't hold on to them much longer in fear banging them unto the floor.. i'm optimistic my shoulders are fine.. it didn't hurt earlier so i hope there'd be no late reaction tomorrow or the next day..

and yeah, it's weird to see both men in that position... so gay, man! eeewwww!

well, i completed my routine today, so, i'm happy and completely satisfied..


****

meanwhile, Christmas is fast approaching. hopefully, we'd have enough moolah to throw some party and give a few gifts to our indigenous neighbors.. we've been able to do that twice in a row already and people in our area expect a little something like fun and giveaways from us these days.. i'll just have to remember that old saying, "the more you give, the more you receive..." we're pretty tight on budget these days( who doesn't?)... could really, really use the motivation..

i think we've been blessed by God... well, since time immemorial.. whatever we can share, we'd gladly do.. random acts of kindness my friend.. it never hurt..

tired and out.

"Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must."

—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

swak!

it's beer friday today... i miss strong ice beer sooo much!

but i'll save the beer binging next week cos my hombre is finally arriving...

let's see if this works... i'm gonna go toe-to-toe with some of the knowledgeable folks in some sites... and i will challenge myself to up my knowhow... personally, i've accomplished a lot in just a few months and had so far sustained it.. so now, it's time to use some of my energy into learning new tricks and continue to absorb what i can in the web world..

the plan is, i'm gonna use all this information when i build my business empire in the next five years.. hehehe.... dreaming...

good morning, and it's time to flex those muscles... c'mon, lets go!

heavy duty

before anything else, lemme quote you with this classic:

"beauty is in the eye of the beerholder."

quite true, right? hehehe

****

today was heavy. well, my gym routine was. thankfully, i never ran out of buddy there to help me out when i'm about to max it out.

i was working on my shoulder routine and geeez, it was one helluva workout. i finally, finally was able to reach 150lbs. on my military press! sweet, huh? actually, thinking about it right now scared me a bit. not only did i tax my shoulder muscles to the max, my joints were definitely cracking... but i kept on doing shoulder rotations to sorta "lubricate" 'em out.

and i did more, but that was the highlight of the day.

hopefully, i won't have trouble sleeping later.. the pain y'know..

*****

meanwhile, there are few things goin on in the forum world.. i'm a member of some cool ones.. just anonymous and unknown to everyone.. i'd like to keep it that way.. be plain and ordinary.. of course, when you speak your mind and be vocal about certain things, you'd get some attention.. essentially, when you keep it up, you could be the target of some member's hate or affection.. either way, it comes with the territory.. here's hoping i'd get the latter..

*****

uhm, here's ronnie coleman doing leg presses at 2300lbs... minus 560... i'm about 1740lbs. short.. i just have to keep on working on it.. good luck to me!



need to eat lotsa peanuts and spinach to even get to a quarter of what he did.. whew!

bbbbrrrrr.... sooo hard to wake up in the morning these days.. sooo cold and sooo christmas already, eh?

if you've been drinking diet sodas in lieu of the real deal, you might wanna read this article Do Diet Sodas Make You Fat?

never been a fan of those stuffs.. never crave nor want any of 'em as my "water."

i'd probably go for sports drink like gatorade. and maybe those real teas... not the reel ones.

for coffee brakes, i'd have three in one and a pack of choco powder.. just the right combo..

just recently, i saw a tv ad about milk tea? been mixing that stuff since forever.. they should have oats, coffee and milo (or anything chocolate) in it too.. i'd say, it won't be long before they'd come up with that concoction.

they have instant oats now in small sachets, right?

***

Man opens fire at Omaha mall, killing 8

i guess these things are happening because of the advent of these new gory computer rpg games. i enjoyed it a lot, though. but for some people, they are no longer satisfied killing "terrorist" or "aliens," they want to do the shooting first hand and in person now?

and that's when the problem starts emerging.



i wanna rant s'more but it's too early to go on a rampage mission.

i miss you guys.

yeah, you know who you are.

but for my trespasses, i have to "self-regulate" and censor myself for the time being.

whatever treatment i get now and in the future, i deserve it.

now, i will continue with this "mode" for as long as it takes... am just trying to feel the vibes... you have no idea how tormenting it is to hold myself back.. but i gotta do what i gotta do.

so there.

whatever the future brings, whether we'd make or break, know that you will always have a special place in my heart..

i feel like crying now (gasp!).

now, time to read some tough talk!


***

more workout updates:

deadlifts. i'm still stuck at 290lbs. but i'm so close to my 300lbs. target i can almost smell it.. hehehe

the squat was making progress. i made it through 230lbs. but way too far for my 300lbs. aim (as usual). essentially, i'm gonna aim for the 400lbs (deadlifts and bench press too)... that should keep me motivated.

leg press was impressive. i went all the way to 560lbs. some gym mates were saying i must be crazy, but that's exactly the reason why some aren't gaining strength cos they were getting "satisfied" with what they've been lifting week-in, week-out. i, however, am a man on a mission. what's deplorable though is that my gym only have 8 pieces of 50lbs. and the machine couldn't accommodate more than that... sigh..

and by the way, leg press is just for bragging rights. even if i can do a thousand pounds of it, i'd surely won't be able to squat even half...

standing military press is still at 140lbs. but am using the olympic bar for the squat rack. now, that's about 20lbs. or more. so, that's about 150-160lbs. my "unassuming" estimate, btw.

reverse dips using my body weight plus 100lbs. more on top of my lap... how you like that, huh? my triceps were pretty toasted the next day and days after..

bench/incline press are still at 220lbs. i think i need to eat enough to be strong enough during crunch time.. need to get proper nourishment hours before max outs..

i can curl a 100lbs. but it hasn't grown my biceps leaps and bounds just yet.. i have to figure something different to trigger some sorta hypertrophy in that area.. my wrist hurts whenever i do those darn bicep isolations..




done crowing.

an apple a day....

four apples down and am still hungry. tsk.. tsk.. tsk..

i'd have apples (2-4 pcs.) after workout (instead of protein shake) since it's low in glycemic index. meaning, i should be able to sustain the hunger pangs 'til i get home, and home is pretty far and traffic. by the time i'm home, i'd immediately prepare for my ice cold protein shake.. mix with some bananas and milk powder.. voila! there goes my dinner..

i'm usually the first to arrive and the first to leave home... so, i'm pretty much self-sustaining.. barely had help from wifey.. she's insomniac, you know, so she's both late in sleeping and waking up.

i'm tired and i wanna go home.. spend some time with neil... feed the dogs... put my feet up or hit the sack early, but it's raining. i'm not complaining though. some parts of the world had to do all that crazy dance, or walk miles and miles away to get some water... so yeah, i can only be thankful. i just hope it ain't flooding somewhere...

meanwhile, i'm just gonna gulp s'more water and do more reading to get by... chao!

Evel Knievel is dead. but at least, in the end, he believed in something... God.


Before Evel says goodbye, he talks about how he found God a few months ago, in a hotel room in Daytona Beach. “All my life I was an atheist,” he says. “I’d tell people I didn’t believe Jesus could walk on water. Then something happened in Daytona. God spoke to me. He said, ‘Robert, you got to stop tellin’ people you don’t believe in me. I been takin’ care of you for years, watchin’ over you. I done everything for you. And you go tell people you don’t believe in me. You gotta stop it.’

the closest i can go Evel Knievel-like driving my dirt bike, was race against anyone trying to overtake me... last year, finally sobered down and sold it... though i miss that big engine, big tire kindda bike, i gotta steer away from temptation.

for i am weak.

my home internet's still down... it's been days, thank you... Globe!!

my new buddy (again and i don't know his name but we're all "idols" there in our own right) wanted to do a superset workout for the triceps... hhhmmm.. this is pretty but exhausting exercise as it requires just a few seconds of break in between.. but i'm usually "in" for some new challenge especially when it's about testing my strength and endurance.. so, we fired it up!

this guy, by the way, used to work as a P.T. (personal trainer) for Fitness First. if you've been in the cave for so long, you are excuse for your ignorance... otherwise, i should whop you in the ass for not knowing FF.. uhm, yeah, the shortcut for Fitness First.

anyway, he was doin some bench presses.

whenever i'm in the gym, i'm always concern with people who do powerlifts... i've seen a number of them stuck at the bottom, and quite frankly, it scares the crap out of me. so, yeah, i'm very sensitive with that cos some people love to show off but they end up embarrassed cos they can lift the damn bar anymore.

after blazing through 110lbs.(last max out for me was 220lbs., modesty aside), i knew even though he used to do P.T. for clients, he'd pretty much have a hard time completing the set with his current build. seeing his arms shaking to hoist the bar up, off i went to help him lift the bar... or as the bodybuilders lingo would have it, "spot" him.

then he decided to do triceps cos he thought he could use a partner... fine, fine..

he.. he... he was done in about an hour while i stayed a few hours more and hit my abs and legs... my body's lactic acid excretion is squirming like hell right now!

i'm in heat!

no, not the horny kindda heat but my skins are... well, warm.

the plan for this week is to blast 'em up... the muscles, of course...and on saturday, we will witness an abs competition among the gym rats.. then head up for an eat all you can buffet and finish the night off with some gimmick... dunno where yet.

i still haven't made up my mind yet whether i'd join these guys... keepin my fingers crossed for this one...

just finished skimming through shawn ray's interview and i've gotta say, he just won himself a convert.. him and dorian yates were bitter rival during the 90's Mr. Olympia and i've read dorian's comment to one magazine before saying ray was a total ass for saying he is finish as Mr. Olympia that year... well, i'm a big fain of people who stand up for their beliefs and actually do something about it..

i hope i could resolve my personal "issues" someday... so i don't have to worry about me shrinking into some corner cos i don't have the right...

someday.