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.

shut up and train!

my "idol" Dorian Yates - Blood and Guts

rape me....

my "friend(s)"

friends....

no, we didn't go out with my new office mate. i deliberately went back to the office a wee bit later... so she won't catch me..

so, there.

***

just received a text message from the sister of my best pal, earl. he's due to come home this december. i'm excited but i'll have to keep my emotions in check cos i don't wanna get disappointed if things don't materialize as planned... of course, we have "big" plans... he he he...

to be perfectly honest about it, i can't wait for the day my childhood buddy, school mate, more-than-brother and best friend to get his arse down here already.

it's been a year, pal.

****

well, so much for friends, eh?

giecel

*yawn*

we have a new officemate. she's soooo hot, young and sexy.. and she's inviting me to go out, have a drink at Paseo... tonight. whoa! slow down tiger.. last time i had a drink, well, me and louie had a bottle-ful of rum.. thankfully, i didn't do anything crazy. well, i was watching myself the whole time and though it was pretty jam packed with beautiful people, i was tame to the end..

i haven't been to that place and i doubt it very much if we'd push through (ok, i'd push through) but she's got a little determination cos she talked about it yesterday.. and she sorta remind me again today...

anyhoo, you'll find out all about... uhm.. later? next post?


****

well, here goes the gym stories yet again..

it's been pretty, lately. i didn't have to wear my shitty wrist support strap to get my reps goin.. i dunno, but the pain slowly subsided when i did minimal isolation exercises. instead, i concentrated on the heavy and compound routine.

these days, i'm gonna do the tough ones... i'd do the squat.. the dead lift... pull-ups... dips...

before, during college days, it never occurred to me the importance of these exercises.. like i'd just do whatever is "appealing" y'know, have that beach boy look or johnny bravo. but i was wrong. it didn't work out.

so now that i'm an old fart, i have to do the hard, painful but kickass exercises... and i can still do them.. how you like that, eh?!

aside from the usual complements i get (no kidding, they said i'm getting leaner.. and this is coming from different people), when i'm in the gym, the gym rats would look at me in awe... for real. that's because i lift like a power lifter. those huge 50lbs. plates, i'd rack them up when i'm doin' military press. and it's true to say as in my own "experiment" with what bodybuilders had been saying all along, that when i'm wearing shirt these days, it's pretty tight on the shoulders, arms and chest part but loose on the ab section. kewl.

but that won't make me go complacent. i am my biggest critic. they said my arms were getting bigger, i say, i don't see my arms anywhere close to rey's or those local roidz boys.. uh, uh.. not even an inch.. i'm gunning for ronnie coleman's physique.. that's what's goin at the back of my brain..

i dunno for how long i can keep this up but i will try to the very end... to stay on track.

time to gorge on my peanuts and coffee fix...

i got to get me a tattoo.. i'll start with the legs. the lower portion of my left knee (Tibialis anterior, thanks wiki) had a huge scar that i got when i was a kid needs to be covered with some artistic thingy.. i've been meaning to get one but am still in the process of looking for the right person to do the job... my right foot (well, a few inches from my achilles tendon) also suffered some burns thanks to my motorcycle's pipe... isssshhhhhh!!! that was the sound of it when my skin kiss the super hot metal pipe... now, imagine the pain!

but yeah, i'd love to get me one of these:



someday...

i better hook up with earl and elvin.. they both sport a huge tattoos on their back and legs... where the heck are those guys, anyway?! or should i say, where had i been?

***

i discovered a website that's got full of information i need.. i'm overwhelm. this is exactly the kind of content, info and articles i've been looking for.. i'm just grinning ear-to-ear these days.. thanks internet.. thanks t-nation!

the punch lines...

ey sports fans! wassup?!?

good to be back and kicking... i'll have to slowly crawl myself back into the "hood..." expect some twist and turns along the way and, uhm, yeah, the drama... we all love a little dose of that.. like some kindda telenovela... it's no wonder our lives end up that way.. but before anything, i'll have to say the "punchlines" that i've grown accustomed to since time immemorial... and their, well, supposed meanings...


"what the fuck?" - self explanatory.

"paksit" - this is a how we greet each other during the days when we "morning the night."

"paker" - we sooo love rex navarette's joke about "SBC Packers" that my bud started calling us that, paker. but really, it means "fucker." whatever.

"cio," "sho," "shomaker" - i called my niece with that name over the phone and my friend, boyet, started calling me with it too. soon, everyone in the office followed. "shomaker" was a spin-off of the the whole "cio" thing but that's because me and my office best bud, boyet, who by the way lives in NJ these days, loves formula 1 racing.. til now.

"idol" - i started this one in the gym. i call my "spot buddy," idol - all because he's such a hardworking fellow that he literally had a physical makeover.. from fat to whoa! and as usual, as luck would have it, he'd call me "idol" too. other people in the gym heard it and ever since, "idol" had become a byword in there. unfortunately, my friend, (arsua was his last name) quit working out but the "idol" monicker lived on... especially for those who work out hard...

"cracker" - my former officemate, jagger, was such an anxious guy that every sales he made, he'd frantically prepare all the documentations... he would crack at the slightest missteps and when customers start bugging him about documentation, you guess it, he cracks! i'd mess with him even more by mimicking the voice of our GM and calls his name by surprise... and boy, the look on his face? priceless! unfortunately, he left as he was given the pink slip few weeks ago. he now works with our competitor.

"shut up!" - yeah, we'd love to drop this when we're too drunk and in our slurring moments, we so wanted to make a point, but the other guy kept talking... we'd say, "shut up!" but we're all good sport. we never take anything personally.. at least, not yet.

"i just wanna go home" - this isn't really the coolest thing to say when things are starting to "warm up," but i'd usually say this (or my bud, louie) when i had one too many. it's especially and frequently blurted out when cellphones start ringing or some sms comes in a matter of seconds... and it's the wifey! ahhhh!!! have a little empathy, will you? lemme go already!

"i love you!!" - hhhmmmm... say this to any of your friends and you'd be surprise at the look of their face.. i do it frequently -- to anyone.. some actually would say, "you're saying "i love you's" like it's soooo ordinary..." and i say, "why not?" when people do me some favor and get something done for me, i'd say "i love you!!" to them as my way of saying thank you.. once, when my bodybuilder friend taught me a lot of lesson on how to do things properly and i very much appreciated what he did, when he bid goodbye to everyone, i told him, "bye rey, i love you!!!" very loudly. hahaha!!! one japanese guy who heard and whose always serious with his training couldn't help but laugh! rey's reaction was like, "WTF?" but he smiled and went ahead.. but hey, everyone had a good laugh... and as usual and as predictable life can be, more are starting to say that... nice, eh?

more about this "lines" later... trying to remember some of 'em...

now, if you've read this and you caught me flat footed, pants down, drunk, wasted, naked, horny, crazy, and everything, try to understand that that's just the way i am... ok, that's not really me in there but the "poison" working on me... so, could it be that i'm in between sober and drunk state? like the movie "me, myself and irene?" damn, go figure.

and please, skip the picture taking part... i'm too old and ugly for that shit... i'm no britney or paris to get that paparazzi-like images... no magazine or newspaper would want any of that... i guarantee you..

capish?


***

just watched american gangster... loved it! denzel and crowe was exceptionally good.. had to repeat it..

****

still haven't got my shot for anti-tetanus. i step on some friggin' and rusting nail while i was out trying to feed my new dog, maui. it was dark (blackout, mostly in the city) as the typhoon lando just passed us by... but i had to feed her no matter what.. now, i'm gonna die because of my dogs.. great!

******

nuff BS... over and out.

i'll mask my stupidity a few days ago with this numbers... talk about it later (the stupidity)... as these numbers, at least, is something to be proud of.. ok, brag off.. haha!

i'm gaining more strength lately... should i thank my supplements (creatine, amino and CMD) or my food intake... or is it just my sheer determination to break out from the plateau? i dunno but i'm happy to have been able to max it out and get my numbers up in the gym.

the max outs.... in lbs.

standing military press @140

incline bench @210 / bench press @200

deadlift (raw. as in no straps, belts and whatnot) @280

squat @240

dynamic row @160

leg press @490 (but i bet i can do more)

hack squat @200


my parallel dips are getting more reps (repetition) just as my chins...

yeah, i guess i'm goin' insanely stronger each week as i'm competing against the bodybuilder/s (dunno how many are they but they ain't that many) in the gym.. if there's anything i can do good in my life, that would be in there.. the gym.

so, congrats to me.


***

funny.. i remember a scene in one movie (arrrrgghhh!!! as usual, i forgot the title!) when a man asks his boss whether what news would he like to hear first.. "the bad news or the bad news?" yeah, that's the way to do it! hehe!

so, the bad news. last saturday, due to the great taste of chivas regal, i blackout. what a great night to cap the week, eh! i don't want to elaborate and even remember any friggin moment, but as the boxing guru's would have it, "we all have our bad nights." so and unfortunately, that was mine right there.

i'd love to make excuses... that things weren't goin' great with Neil's studies.. like he's failing, and i just had a "sweatful" earlier thus i'm tired which cause my early "knockdown."



but i won't. as President Truman's favorite expression says it above, in the end, i am responsible for my own action and that night, i was an idiot.

and i am just human, too.

so, fuck it, life goes on.

meanwhile, that being said, i have more reason to get my attention into something really different... very interesting thoughts and philosophies that i'm trying to absorb day in, day out...

just going through the motions here.... and in a way, it's a blessing in disguise.

hopefully soon, no more craps and complexities in me's life.



fingers crossed.

man.. man...

i had an "article" waiting but i haven't had the "time" to complete the whole thing yet.

we have a new dog, by the way. her name is maui.. she's a labrador... and she's so playful and full of life.. a handful, to be exact. i'm not complaining though... wifey is! hehehe

mores stories later...

what if...

instead of the veins the bones will pop out from my wrist... or shoulder... or legs?

yeah, i thought about that too...

i have this friend in the gym whom i thought was a total ass cos he just go wherever he pleases and grabs anything without asking anybody if it is still being used... worst, he doesn't return it and just leaves it on the floor or some place where you could accidentally bump yourself into.

whenever we crossed path, i'd usually top his lifts to let him know "i'm better" and i'd purposely drop the plates or the bar on the floor to piss him off or shoooo him away... well, cos i'm annoyed by his bad habits..

eventually, he was able to get my drift and i earned his respect... to make the long story short, we ended up being buddy.

i've finally realize why he's such an ass before... it's probably because he's rich and for that, a brat. and so when the smoke cleared and things started to settle down, he understood and learn to be sensitive to other people around him.

one thing about this guy i didn't know? he's such a kid... a nice kid at that. so now we'd end up talking once in a while during our breaks and he asks for my advices.. really. i should consider being personal trainer as my next career move... someday.. we'll never know...

and this guy got the scare of his life when he was looking at me loading plates after plates and did some super heavy presses and lifts that he pop this question: "what if things go wrong and your bones gives in or your back (spine) can't take it no more... or your shoulders snaps?"

well, shit happens even to the best of us... quite frankly though, the thought of it didn't scare me at all... i have crashed my motor bikes a number of times before, twisted my ankles, fractured some bones, peeled some skin... bruises all over (including my ego)... but i still ride my bike... i still go hard and fast if and when the condition permits... i floored four on the floor so many times when i'm driving a cage...

sure, sure, things had changed but am still the same... i just have to deal things a little differently, now.... shift gears and take the higher road...

so, am still kicking ass out there but i always remember what my late grandma kept telling me whenever i'm out there in the fences doin some acrobatic stunt, BE CAUTIOUS!

aaaahhhhh.... time to zit... and Happy Halloween everyone!