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Kiss me, I’m Ironish!

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Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Green, Shamrocks, Parades, Parties, Leprechauns, Celebrations, and Green Beer!

Kiss me, I’m Irish!

That has become the phrase of the day! And St. Patrick’s day has become an international day of celebration of…

St. Patrick's Day Green Beer or WorkoutWell, I have no idea other than it is a really good excuse to get a bunch of people to party and drink green beer.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t really need an excuse to drink beer, but I always find it fascinating how people rally around a good beer drinking event.

  • Super Bowl
  • St. Patrick’s Day
  • 4th of July
  • Summer weekends at the lake
  • Anytime at the beach
  • And my personal favorite – New Year’s Eve

Kiss off, I’m Ironish!

What got me thinking about this is several friends wanted [Read more…]

Workout reality check

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My primary workout partner aka ‘That Guy’ is traveling today, or so he says. So I worked out alone today for the first 30 minutes and then our part time partner (ie, shows up a couple times a week) decided to drag his ass out of bed and make an appearance.

I was finishing up with some triceps cable pushdowns so we moved over to the biceps machine for a superset with seated tricep push downs. Note – supersets with only two people is always an effective way to get someone moving who is a talker – they would rather discuss stocks, sports, cars, or anything else that avoids lifting heavy weight consistently – not enough time with this plan! You can thank me later.

New Guy at the GymAnother guy at the gym who just started coming in a couple weeks ago asked if he could work in on the bicep machine. Ugh, new guy :(

5am, very sparse crowd, SERIOUSLY? WTF, but since we were moving fast no big deal. OK.

Then he started critiquing technique. What?

Here’s the deal… We generally have two rules in the gym and sometimes we mix in [Read more…]

Give up Good and Go for Great

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Like most 40-ish guys, you work/live in an environment where there is always a random candy dish – at home, in a lobby, or possibly even on your desk.

It’s Just 1 tiny M&M

M&M candy jarAs I walked past the candy dish in our house last night, I reached in for an M&M just like hundreds of times before, maybe thousands. And like most ‘junk’ food, who can stop with just one tiny M&M? No thought or plan or even malicious intent – just habit.

After a few had “melted in my mouth and not my hands“, I saw an email from Not So Average Joe inquiring on tomorrow’s workout. I responded with the norm and then mentioned… oh yeah, need to start with a mile on the treadmill to burn off some chocolate candy.

That got me thinking… How far would I need to run to burn off those bad choices?

Imagine if you did eat just one…

What amount of exercise would it take to burn those calories?

After a little research, I will never look at some foods in the same way. Ever.

Warning!!!
If you enjoy junk food and don’t want [Read more…]

The World’s Smallest Violin

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Not sure if they still make these instruments

You have most likely heard the phrase, or perhaps seen someone make a gesture as if they are playing a tiny violin.

Well, I had to pull mine out and tune it up today!

In case you are not 40-ish and are too young to know what I am referring to, here is the standard situation you might use your tiny violin:

You have two people talking and one of them is not at all impressed with the other person’s story and really considers it whining or complaining. The listener begins rubbing his thumb and forefinger together near his ear and often asks “Do you hear that” or “do you know what I am doing? I’m playing the world’s tiniest violin and a sad song for you!”

There is a time for everything. Usually.

No, I am not referring to Ecclesiastes 3 which spells out a time and place for everything… that is for another post.

For the 40-ish crowd, if you don’t read the bible, you might recall Ecclesiastes 3 from Kevin Bacon’s plea to the schoolboard:

The gym is not the time and place to whine and complain about your life to others, especially guys. Even more specifically, your workout partners… No, not even if they are [Read more…]

Be the hammer and the nail?

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It’s not about the nail

For most guys, life’s little bumps seem easy… give us an issue, complaint, or obstacle and most of us will quickly change into “solution man“.

I’ve noticed that most guys can come up with a solution to just about any dilemma, and for some reason, most gals don’t always want that as you can see in this classic ‘That Guy’ video.

Be the Hammer?

What if we applied our solution generating powers to our own personal lives and fitness situations?

What if we looked at ourselves with the detached, objective perspective and analysis we have when solving problems for others?

Then, what if we actually listened to our internal hammer/self assessment and took the necessary steps to [Read more…]

How to Fight Gravity

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Gravity

While running on the hamster wheel in our gyms cardio theater, I was able to pass some time watching the movie Gravity.

I’m sure the movie won a bunch of Oscar awards… personally I don’t care.

40-ish Women Rock

I did notice that Sandra Bullock showed the world how a 40-ish female can alter her [Read more…]

Cross Fit Guy vs Power Lifter (or the Battle of the Bulge)

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Battle of the Bulge

Anyone who has spent time in the gym has heard the expression, “Go heavy or go home.“
After all, as any red blooded 40-ish knows, if a little is good for you then a lot must be great!

 

The Power Lifter

Years of heavy lifting has been awesome!  Stronger than most men regardless of age and what a great feeling when you throw around some weight and hit new goals…

After 20+ years of lifting and exercising and now that I am 40ish, I’m beginning to see a perspective change. Actually, it reminds me of a commercial we (Gym Rats) often laugh about. Maybe it hits too close to home…

If you could be anyone…?

Who garners respect in the gym? The massive power lifter or the cross fitter/runner guy?

Of course, the one who’s [Read more…]

A Zombie Apocalypse

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5am Gym Rat

A Zombie Apocalypse?

A look inside the daily routine of a 5am gym rat…

  • Wake before any sane person would ever consider possible.
  • Slam an energy drink while driving – in the dark – to the gym.
  • Warm up, work out!
  • Shower, shave and TCB.
  • Arrive at work before most guys leave the house.

That is just the start of the daily routine of those 40-ish year olds who have a never ending desk job, bills to pay, kids in sports…

All while attempting to maintain some glimpse of being an ‘in shape’ guy.

Types of Zombies

Stop by any health club at 5am and you’ll find nothing short of a Zombie Apocalypse.

You’ve got your mindless, burned out 40-ish men.

Some young pups in their 30’s clinging to their youth

And then a handful of [Read more…]