Herc's Training Blog

[Herc]

Well, I decided to begin another log. I figure this time I’m going to do a more free form format as I hate doing the set / reps / weight thing. So, we will see what I come up with as we go along.

Before we get into things I’ll do a little back-story. All through High School and College I was thin and out of shape. Big time Geek stuff. I was always self conscious and wanted to get in shape, but never could get it all to come together with any results to keep me motivated enough to keep up with it. Graduated and got a job, got busy with living the rat race and dabbled with training on and off. Never did figure out the whole diet AND exercise connection so again on and off again machine workouts with no change in diet = Herc still thin with no results.

Fast forward to 1999. Working insane hours on a Millennium project for the mouse, living off of Oreos and chocolate milk and little to no sleep = Herc gets geek gut. Luckily, beginning in Feb. 2000 I started to get sent on extended back to back Business trips to Japan. Turns out you have a lot of free time when TV is in Japanese. The hotel had an attached athletic club that I began to visit nightly (nothing better to do) and my diet fixed itself seeing as what you eat in Japan is rice and fish 3-4 meals a day /w sushi snacks in between. Lo and behold I began to make gains. Motivation was off the hook seeing as I’m 6’2” so even with my modest gains I was the “big” guy in the gym. (ok so the cliental was also old Japanese business men, but hey). This went on until June 2001 and I went from 175ish to 195ish with little increase in body fat (no reduction either). I joined a gym back home and been making moderate gains through bulks and cuts (some intentional some unintentional) and am generally happy with my progress. I bought a house back in December and the joys of homeownership have been keeping me busy on the weekends and acting as my new cardio workout. I also cut back from a 5 day split to a 4 day split so I could have Wed. nights to do chores and have friends over for dinner. Of course the day I cut out of the routine was leg day, and now the ghost of chicken legs past is rearing its ugly head.

Today: Right now I’m 1 week into a 2-week layoff due to an “interior/posterior shoulder impingement” according to the physical therapist. It is actually going to look more like a 2-month layoff since I actually hurt my shoulder laying a new patio back in April and was forced cut down on all my “pressing” weights due to the pain / weakness. I’ve been doing some rotator cuff exercises, but I don’t think I’ll be pain-free by the end of the week - so here’s my plan.
Focus on legs for the next month. Squats and Machines, no deads until the shoulder is healed, but just working legs again will be a challenge in itself. I’ll do some light upper body work on Tues and Fri, but Mon and Thurs will be killer leg days. When the shoulder is better I start kicking the upper body back into gear and I’ll be back in the game no time.
Short-term goal is to get weights back to where they were with no shoulder pain
Long-term goals is a maintainable 195 with < 10% bodyfat
“Before” stats and pics to follow soon.

[BennettBoy]

Cool. Another journal to........


Hey, and I'd want you to morph a picture of mine once Frannie gets them back and I choose the "right one".....please.

[heathj]

Sounds like quite the transformation from what you once were way back in your geek days. Good luck with the shoulder and have fun with the leg workouts! Leg workouts =
And don't go morphing your before/after pics..

[Herc]

Bennett - No prob. the best is to e-mail me an original with no compression.



and thanks for visiting my journal man that's so cool

[Herc]

Originally posted by heathj
Sounds like quite the transformation from what you once were way back in your geek days. Good luck with the shoulder and have fun with the leg workouts! Leg workouts =
And don't go morphing your before/after pics..

Actually, it's really hard to morph your own pics 'cause your brain won't let you think it looks right. (does that make sense?)

Trust me, I've tried.

[Alex.V]

Squat jockey.





Good luck, man. Nice to see the premiere lurker finally starting one of these!

[Herc]

B- thanks for droping by, we'll see how long it takes before my lurking instincts kick back in...

[GhettoSmurf]

good luck bro. have some

[pruneman]

A hearty GOOD LUCK to you!

[RG570]

Originally posted by Belial
Squat jockey.

tuttut

I love your journal title.

[Herc]

Well thanks to everyone who has stopped by my log. There is not a whole lot to report on the work out front seeing as I’m not jumping into leg insanity until next week. However, I do have a gripe to share.

A good friend of mine is visiting from Paris. She is a show director from the Disneyland park there and two of her previous bosses are now located in Florida. Anyway one of them arranged a dinner last night at a fairly nice local restaurant. We arrived early and ordered a bottle of very nice wine ($80) and some water. Others showed up (6 total) and we shared our wine with them and finished the bottle. The table became available and I closed out our bar tab ($112). We go to the table and one of the bosses orders some mid-level ($40) wine and we decide to share appetizers all around since one of the bosses and his date have already eaten dinner and must leave early. Appetizers are eaten, two more bottles of nicer wine ($55) are ordered (only one drunk at this point), diners ordered by the 4 who are having dinner and the first boss needs to leave. We get the total for the full check and he graciously settles for 1/3 of the pre-tip check ($110) even though he is not eating a salad course or an entrée or having any of the last bottle of wine.

And then there were four. I opt for just an entrée, my friend from Paris has a salad and entrée, the remaining boss has the same, and his guest has two appetizers (soup and salad).
Time to settle the check. ($283). Remaining boss (who organized the event) says lets pay for what we ate and then divide the rest evenly. Fine by me, a little disappointed he is not treating but… whatever. Boss’s guest says “well technically I didn’t drink any of the last bottle of wine”. I keep my mouth shut. Boss then goes looking at me “well technically you’ve already paid for a bottle”. I smile and say “well let me at least put in for my food” and proceed to put in $50 for my $30-ish entrée. My friend from Paris puts in for her food plus some extra for the split costs $70. Boss puts in the SAME as me $50 (no split cost and he had the SAME as my friend) and his guest puts in $40.

So here we are with $210 + the $110 the first boss left so that leaves like a 12% tip, when the waitress has already put up with multiple checks and payouts and a party of 6 who blocked a table for a good 3 hours. I’m already in for $112 at the bar, $50 at the table, and my guest, who was the reason for the gathering, is in for $70. The remaining boss (who makes more than me and my friend put together AND organized the event) is cheeping out on us and is only in for $50 himself and his guest is in for $40.

Anyway, so here’s the question. Should I care? Do I have a right to be pissed even a little? Should the organizing boss have paid? Should I have paid more? Since it was my choice to order and share the expensive wine at the bar, should it have no bearing on the check at the table?

So there is my vent for the day, let me know what you think.

[ectx]

The boss invites and chooses...the boss pays. At least that's how it works in my book. You can't enforce your taste's in expensive food and drink on the people you invite. At my last employee meal we spent over $800 on food and drink and the boss picked up the tab. At the very least he/she should have picked up the tab for drinks.

[ectx]

....ps...almost forgot...

Glad to see you have a journal up. Will you be using any HercTech? LOL

[Herc]

Since my friend from Paris has been in Orlando I’ve been spending a lot of time in the parks and tourist attractions around town. I have to say I am aghast at the condition of most of the people in the country. You know you hear about the obesity problem in the US, but it never really hits home until you go into a theme park in June. Let me tell you it ‘aint pretty. Cellulite and guts all covered in sweat, not to mention the people who have just given up walking all together because they are over weight. I understand that there are conditions out there that can cause weight gain, but really; 60% of the population? My favorite is the fat parents with the fat kids walking around scarfing ice cream bars and French fries between every ride. Can we not put 2 and 2 together here? If you eat crap and sit on you’re a$$ you are going to gain fat.

So after a day or two of the fat parade I started really taking notice of people. Now understand that this is all colored by the fact that I’ve not been able to work out and am suffering from workout withdrawal and “incredible shrinking muscles syndrome”

One thing I noticed was the number of people who if they just did a minimal 30 min a day, 3 times a week of *anything* they could look pretty good not to mention be healthier (appear healthier?). Girls who just needed to get a little weight off their faces and to reduce the roll around their middle, guys with pencil arms and no torsos with moderate guts – people who have their eating under control and just needed a little gym time to bring it all together. I just wanted to scream at them, “it’s not that hard, just a little activity and you’ll feel SO much better – physically and mentally”

The other thing I noticed is the widening of the “fitness gap.” The people who don’t work out seem to be in much worse shape and the people who do work out are in much better shape. You have this whole class of the obese, a middle ground of people who aren’t fat but have no muscle, like I described above, and then a class of people in really great shape. The people who you spotted who worked out – REALLY worked out. Girls and women from high school to soccer moms, if they were fit they were REALLY fit, same thing was true with the guys. If they lifted it was obvious they lifted.

So I started to wonder is there a perception keeping that middle ground out of the gym? that it takes so much work, or chemical help, or genetics, to be fit that they shouldn’t even bother. If they can’t look like that cover model or that person on TV that there is no point in even trying? Is there a new upper class based on fitness level, which is just as intimidating as the old financial classes? I know I felt some intimidation even buying fitness magazines before I started working out regularly, much less entering or joining a gym. Even today after almost 3 years of training and 2 years of warming up bench press with plates, there are still big guys in the gym that I don’t start up a conversation with because they are bigger and have been training longer than I have. I’m sure these are perfectly normal nice guys, but there is a perceived barrier there, at least on my part. So is that what the country is trending toward – an ever widening gap between the fit and the not so fit. We know that fat people are discriminated against in the work place and attractive people get preferential treatment. So as fitness level becomes more and more attached to physical attractiveness (especially for men) are we creating a new caste system? No longer of the have and have-nots but of the active and the in-active?

Anyway just some observations and ramblings…

Oh and I thought of an ad campaign
KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL – JOIN A GYM

[WillKuenzel]

Originally posted by Herc

Oh and I thought of an ad campaign
KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL – JOIN A GYM

You damn straight!

[Tryska]

i notice it too herc. especially when i'm not in atlanta. everyone seems to be so insanely fat.

especially when you see several generations - actually i see them ont he way to the movie theater a lot, eating crap and waddling on. i don't know that there's a class distinction as of yet, necessarily, but i know there is definitely the perception that being fit is not soemthing "everyone" can do.

[Herc]

It just makes me sad / mad when you have the new militant fat people who want the world to change to accomodate them and they don't take responsibility for their own condition.

Also, having been one of the skinny geek kids, I remember the real desire I had to be in better shape, yet never felt like that was a world I could even begin to be a part of. I think also in the 80's there was so little available mainstream knowledge on how to workout correctly, so even if you made the first steps there were no results so you gave up.

Today there is so much available knowledge and help that most anyone who dedicates even a little time can see results, which of course motivates even better results.

[Tryska]

what are oyu saying? Jane Fonda wasn't a good role model for you?

[Herc]

Can't say that I was able to identify with Jane... now Richard Simmons on the other hand. j/k

[Herc]

It is such a nice day outside today. I cannot even wait for the weekend! I’m thinking a little cardio outside after work in the form of mowing the lawn or rollerblade/jogging, and then I’ll be free for the weekend.

Monday starts killer leg workouts. Even thought I probably won’t be able to walk for a week I’m actually looking forward to them. Today is about my third “small” day in a row. Totally mental I know, but everyone seems bigger than me and I’m sure I’ve lost inches of every measurement. Anyway, I figure if I at least start lifting something heavy I can at least get myself out of this “small” funk.

Enough about my deteriorating mental health – I have my house back to myself, this weekend is going to be awesome (for no particular reason), and… and… Life is good.

Has anyone heard Matchbox 20’s new-ish song impaired. I think that is the story of my life right now. SHOULDER INJURIES SUCK!!!

[cphafner]

Herc, good luck with the journal. I agree shoulder injuries suck. I'm on a two week layoff from any upper body stuff(okay I did some bis today) because my shoulder has felt tender. I hate group eatins. Some people are always cheap and leave others to foot the bill. I also agree about the widening gap. I work at the mall(yes thats embarassing to say as a college grad), and I see so many people that are disgustingly out of shape. What kills me is that they walk around stuffing their face with ice cream and other junk foods. I guess to each their own.

[cphafner]

p.s. I really enjoy the doctored photos, damn funny. Maybe you can doctor one of mine sometime...

[IceRgrrl]

Originally posted by Herc

The other thing I noticed is the widening of the “fitness gap.” The people who don’t work out seem to be in much worse shape and the people who do work out are in much better shape. You have this whole class of the obese, a middle ground of people who aren’t fat but have no muscle, like I described above, and then a class of people in really great shape. The people who you spotted who worked out – REALLY worked out. Girls and women from high school to soccer moms, if they were fit they were REALLY fit, same thing was true with the guys. If they lifted it was obvious they lifted.

So I started to wonder is there a perception keeping that middle ground out of the gym? that it takes so much work, or chemical help, or genetics, to be fit that they shouldn’t even bother. If they can’t look like that cover model or that person on TV that there is no point in even trying? Is there a new upper class based on fitness level, which is just as intimidating as the old financial classes?

Glad to see the start of another fine journal...keep up the good work and intelligent musings

I think you brought up a good point in your post about the widening of the fitness gap...it IS happening just as it is happening in other aspects of life.

Public school funding is being cut and cut and cut, and along with teachers and librarians and support staff, schools are forced to cut programs like music, art, and PE to the point of ridiculousness. At the public school where my mom teaches, the kids who are not in athletics get 30 minutues of Physical Education each week...not per day, only 30 MINUTES each week! That's really sad in an era when kids are more inactive and fatter than ever before. Kids don't play outside much anymore, don't ride bikes over to friends' houses, or get other neighborhood kids together to play/invent games...and they eat more junk food and fast food and are thus in worse shape. And 30 minutes of PE during the school year isn't enough to make a difference or to breed good activity habits.

BUT schools still continue to fund athletics and spend on sports programs, so now you have a polarized spectrum of elite athletes who get a lion's share of the resources and time vs. sedentary kids who get 30 minutes of activity a week, and for some, that's the most activity they ever get.

But the same is happening with jobs and education...a widening gap between two extremes and not a lot in between anymore. Either parents have enough money to send their kids to private school OR they move to a wealthy school district with excellent public schools. Those who can't afford a ritzy address or private schools languish in underfunded public schools that can't afford new textbooks or updated technology or programs and deal with more social problems than academic ones.

And jobs...these days either you're part of the educated elite who are benefitting from technology and globalization or you're a victim of it and have to work several jobs or a job with little security or limited benefits. I think it's a widespread phenomenon.

I just remembered an article that I ran across that talked about this same thing...it was about "the U curve" which is replacing the concept of the bell curve or normal distribution to describe socioeconomic phenomenon like income, eduation, health, etc. Instead of small numbers in the extremes (poor/rich, uneducated/very educated, healthy/fit vs. obese, unfit) and a large amount in the middle or center, it's the opposite now...large numbers at either end of the spectrum and not a lot in the middle...I'll see if I can track it down.

Anyways, sorry to clutter up yout journal. I read your entry last week and it just got me thinking further about some things I myself had been noticing and thinking about.

[Herc]

Cphafner - thanks for droping by. sorry to hear about the injury. Ain't it a B!tch. Either send a pic or post one and the next time I get in a Herc-Tech advertizing blitz I'll give it a shot.

IceRgrrl- Great post! I 've not heard the U curve theory before, but I think it describes what I'm talking about perfectly.

[Herc]

Well, I broke down and took some pics this weekend. At first I must say I was feeling pretty good about myself until I compared them to some older pics I had. I have definitely shrunk. More than just that I my muscles were cold, more than I’ve been off creatine, we are talking actual LBM lost here. I knew that I had been taking it easy in the gym due to the shoulder for the last couple of months, but WOW, I never realized how quickly I could burn off muscle.

Anyway, after the pic comparison I decided to do a full scale weigh in to see how bad the damage was. Most all measurements are off by anywhere from a ½” to an 1”. And my weight is down by a good 8-10 lbs.

So, I decided to use these pics and weigh in a big time motivation to rehab the shoulder and put back on that LBM I lost. Today will be my first Leg workout. And I am trying to develop a shoulder friendly upper body workout to stop the muscle loss.

Here’s the Leg exercises, I’ll post weights tomorrow after I dial them in.

Smith Squats
Hack Squats
Leg Curls
Leg Extensions

I would love to do deads, but seeing that is how I messed up the shoulder in the first place (lifting bags of rocks and patio pavers) I’m going to lay off until the rehab is complete.

Here are the stats from the weigh in.

Weight: 182
Height: 6’2”
Neck: 15.5”
Shoulders: 50”
Chest: 41”
Waist: 33”
R. Bi: 15.5”
L. Bi: 15.5”
R. Fore 12.25”
L. Fore 12.25”
R. Quad 23.25”
L. Quad 23”
R. Calf 15.5”
L. Calf 15.5”

Pics Follow in no particular order. Arms and shoulders suck big time right now…