I Walk In The Rain

Its pouring outside. UT plays Ohio today. I have to work a wedding. Wank.

I haven't had time to go the gym since like Tuesday, but its probably for the best. My body was aching up until yesterday. When its game time in Knoxville, things get busy around campus. This makes for awesome drunk Saturdays but never, ever productive ones. I won't be able to get to the gym tomorrow either (unless I wake up at like 9AM, but that rarely happens on purpose). So, I guess that means next week is gonna be 5 days in a row, ugh.

I am narrowing down which girl I want now. Its down to two. One can work, the other simply wouldn't. So that makes the choice pretty easy. Busy weekend so it looks like any real game spitting will have to wait another week. Lame.

~Santos out~
||椎名林檎 - 丸の内サディスティック||

Catching Up

Okay, still haven't posted well on this thing. But take comfort that I am working out hard. Here is what my split looks like now:

Day 1

Chest
Incline Barbell Press: 115, 135, 135, 145.
Flat Dumbbell Press: 100, 110, 110, 110.
Dips: 2 for Pectorals, 2 for Triceps. (sets of 12)
Cable Crossovers: 160, 180, 180, 200. (Hit at multiple angles)
Pullovers: 50. (4 sets of 12)

Triceps
Cable Pressdowns: 40, 45, 50, 55.
Skullcrushers: 45 x 4.
One-arm Triceps Extension: 10 x 4.

Abs
Crunches: 4 sets of 50.
Reverse Crunches: 4 sets of 25.

Day 2

Back and Biceps
Wide-grip Chins // Lat Pulldowns: Get to 50.
Bent-over Rows: 55, 65, 65, 75.
Barbell Curls: 55, 65, 65, 75.
Preacher Curls: 45, 55, 55, 75.
Dumbbell Rows: 40, 45, 45, 50.
Cable Curls: 40, 45, 45, 50.
Seated Rows: 96, 108, 120, 132.

Day 3

Legs
Squats: 135, 155, 155, 175.
Lunges: FML.
Leg Curls: 80, 90, 90, 100.
Calf Raises: 250 and up.

Abs
Crunches: 4 sets of 50.
Reverse Crunches: 4 sets of 25.

Day 4

Shoulders and Forearms
Power Cleans: Still training form, so I won't even tell you my little girl weight.
Arnold Press: 30, 35, 35, 40.
Dumbell Laterals: 10, 10, 10, 10.
Shrugs: 40, 45, 45, 50.
Dumbbell Wrist Curls
Reverse Wrist Curls

That's the split. And if you don't know, now you know, nigggga.

~Santos out~
||The What - Notorious B.I.G. Feat. Method Man||

Structure

Monday ~ 9/15/2009
Weight: 175.4

Chest
Incline Barbell Press: 115, 135, 135, 145.
Flat Dumbbell Press: 100, 110, 110, 110.
Dips: 2 for Pectorals, 2 for Triceps. (sets of 12)
Cable Crossovers: 160, 180, 180, 200. (Hit at multiple angles)
Pullovers: 50. (4 sets of 12)

Triceps
Cable Pressdowns: 40, 45, 50, 55.
Skullcrushers: 45 x 4.
One-arm Triceps Extension: 10 x 4.

Abs
Crunches: 3 sets of 100.
Reverse Crunches: 4 sets of 25.

*Always 4 sets of 12, 10, 10, 6 unless otherwise noted.

Whew. That shit was hard. I am starting to seriously train abs (even though its turning to Fall, I still take my shirt off on the constant). It was a very hard workout that I had to do by myself because Rob gave a verbal commitment to train MMA yesterday (it was gi work and he loves his jits, so it wasn't like his leg was being pulled). Even though I was by myself, the beauty of the gym is that you see the other men in there that are committed in there working out by themselves if they have to. Remember girls, its not gay -- its bodybuilding.

Even though I was super lonely, I still had spots when I wanted and needed them. Again, the truly committed men will ask a total stranger for a helping hand and I am happy to oblige. A sense of pride also develops when someone who is in great shape asks you for a spot. Personally it makes me feel as if I am worthy and trusted based on looks alone to ensure that this heavy fucking weight doesn't crush the other guy's larynx. That makes me feel strangely good.

I can already tell a world of difference in my physique since I have focused on weak-point training my Upper Pectorals, Upper Back, and Deltoids. Deltoids have come in slower, but I remember two weeks ago while doing Upright Rows seeing my front deltoids in action for the first time. Twas tight.

Girls will be girls and I have about two (three?) prospects right now that I am interested in. I'll save that for a time where I don't have to constantly fear upcoming tests -- hopefully after this review session in an hour.

The picture above was taken today as I was getting ready for the day. Its a reference shot for the future, but these certainly have to be narcissistic. For anyone offended by my narcissism, be assured that I am actually more self conscious than I will ever let on.

||Strauss - The Blue Danube||
~Santos out~

Oops.

I've neglected this for awhile. But I haven't neglected my fitness.

Rob, my 4-0 amateur Mixed Martial Artist, has decided to start body building again. His reasoning was something along the lines of:

"Dude, the only thing I ever fucking lose is muscle endurance and it pisses me the fuck off. We've gotta get our gain on."

Rob is a scholar of fighting, bodybuilding, and biology. He has helped me focus more on form and in only two weeks I can definitely notice better gains. My weight has maintained, not that I care all too much. I've started power lifting again. My workouts are completely different and focused on developing the upper back, upper pectorals, and overall growth in the deltoids. I imagine we will stay on this routine(ish) for some time.

Tuesday ~ 8/26/2009
Weight: 175.6

Back
Wide-grip Pullups: 4 sets of 10, 8, 8, 6.
Lat Pulldowns: 2 sets of 10, 8, 6 @ 132 lbs.
Bent-over Rows: 4 sets of 12, 10, 10, 6 @ 75, 85, 85, 95.
Dumbell Rows: 4 sets of 12, 10, 10, 6 @ 45, 50, 60, 70.
Seated Rows: 4 sets of 12, 10, 10, 6 @ 112, and up one weight from there.

Biceps
Standing Dumbbell Curls: 4 sets of 10, 10, 8, 5 @ 20, 25, 25, 30.
Preacher Curls: 4 sets of 10, 10, 8, 6 @ 45, 55, 65.

It was lean. I'll post what I did on Monday tomorrow. I'm fucking sleepy as hell right now.

Oh yeah, had an discussion with a Freshman lady about religion and such.
It was interesting.
Her ideas are very under developed because I don't believe she has ever had the luck to truly question her faith. As she was speaking it was as if these ideas were simply attempting to refute evolution.

Listen America, every scientist of any credit (and 90% of those without as well) accepts the theory of evolution.

Anyway, it ended out working out for the best.

~Santos

Over the past week I have probably run the gamut of emotions. I'll drop it for you in text.

Went to Thomasville, GA to visit my uncle and his family down there. Except, they weren't in town... My uncle was on call doctor of nephrology and an internist. My cousin Lauren was apparently doing an internship at fucking Emory. She is fifteen! My other cousin David, baseball bad-ass, was a bat-boy for some Double or Triple A team in Chattanooga for the weekend. Raul's wife was gone too because Lauren got homesick and she visited her. So the family I went to see for the 4th of July, a time to drink and celebrate all things America, was absent as hell.

Lucky for me my favorite person in my family besides my mother was there. Maria my aunt and her child Sirena ("I am four and one half years old, Cwistopher!") were there. Sirena doesn't stop moving and is spoiled. I used to think she was more spoiled than most kids but upon closer examination I feel that I was able to impose my will about as freely as she was able to. But whenver I said no, my ass got beat. She says it freely followed by an, "I love you Mommy!"

On an aside, if my kids step out of line, they will regret it.

We visited my grandmother who now lives in a nursing home. Its reasons like this that I can't imagine a world where a divine creator and manipulator exists. She is the greatest woman I have ever known. Her life was fraught with struggle and peril for years. I won't go into all the details now (save that for the screenplay), but know that she escaped communism and took her three children and mother to America and created a great life for her entire family tree. And now she lives almost mindlessly. The psychiatrist whose comprehension of the human mind had hers taken away. The site of her frail body and even weaker mind brought me to tears. The last time I saw her she had just had a stroke (last summer as a matter of fact) and I thought that her condition would improve a bit again. I was very wrong. Seeing the strongest woman I have ever met confined to a wheelchair despite her will to stand and walk hurt me in ways that I wasn't prepared for.

Later that night I was about to go to sleep when my Aunt called to me and told me she was going to do a quick workout. She motioned for me to follow and I did. She was doing sit-ups and not crunches. We don't do sit-ups anymore. They have been proven to suck by scientists in ways that affect your sign and don't matter to me. I showed her proper crunches and how to hit at different angles if she wanted to. She has always been the most beautiful person in our family and seems to be struggling with her weight now and I can tell it frustrates her. Whats even more frustrating is that her husband is very learned on nutrition but wastes that knowledge on vegetarianism. Wank.

Well, after she was done she began talking politics with me (I guess she assumes that me being a political science student I have heard a thing or two). Last time we were discussing the US's presidential election and she, a longtime conservative, was struggling in voting for McCain. I tried to talk her out of it, but apparently failed. We then switched to our current president and foreign policy and then terrorism. She then said something about the fact that the Islamist fundamentalists are crazy to which I replied, "But so are Christians and Jews." She gave me a slightly strange look and it just came out of my mouth.

"Yeah Aunt Maria, I'm pretty damn Atheist."

This sparked an actually very stimulating discussion about her faith and why she believes there is a god. She and I have always had the best discussions and perhaps the best relationship in the family (We're number 1!) so this was two-hour discussion until 1:00AM was almost expected to get back to some normalcy. She told me she believed because like all wise humans, a certain amount of comfort in our lack of knowledge is necessary. Correct. But she lost it when she attributed the grey areas to divinity. Incorrect.

300 years ago we knew very little of germ theory. 200 years ago we knew nothing of the beauty of natural selection. 100 years ago we did not have penicilin. 50 years ago we were thinking of mapping our very own genomes to see just how much of us is really animal. We build upon knowledge and search out for more. To me, that is life.

As a former engineer with Lockheed Martin whose team's goal was to design a space shuttle capable of getting to Mars and back, I figured she would be religious only because she needs to take her "four and one half years old" daughter somewhere on Sunday to instill morals. Thats when we got to the discussion of morality. She is of the opinion that we have morals because of Yahweh. This is simply not true. The nature of morality is as intrinsicly human as is the creation of gods. To levy morality on the 10 Commandments of the self-centered deity of the Old Testament or the curriculum of the kind and cool carpenter of the New Testament is simply taking away from the achievements of humanity. But I think she imagines that our morality is god-given into our soul. But this also assumes that we were created and not the result of Darwin's evolution. Now that's just silly.

Anyway, this has gone on long enough.

Tuesday ~ 7/7/2009
Weight: 177.0!

Shoulders:
Arnold Presses: 3 sets of 12 @ 30.
Behind-the-Neck Presses: 3 sets of 12 @ 65.
Bent-over Dumbell Laterals: 2 sets of 12 @ 12.5.
Shrugs: 3 sets of 12 @ 45.

Legs:
Squats: 3 sets of 12 @ 135.
Calf Raises: 3 sets of 15 @ 195.
Leg Extensions: 3 sets of 12 @ 105.
Leg Curls: 3 sets of 12 @ 105.

The workout was rushed in 45-minutes between Jeff and I but felt great! It was the first sign that I have redeveloped some actual endurance again.

Our time has come to a close for now. Until next time, True Believers.

~Santos~
||椎名林檎 - MarunoUchi Sadistic (EXPO Ver.) ||

lawl.


Wednesday ~ 7/1/2009
Weight: 175.6.

Back
Lat Machine Pulldowns: 3 sets of 10 @ 84.
Bent-over Barbell Rows: 3 sets of 10 @ 75.
Deadlifts: FORGOT TO DO THEM. FUCK.
Seated Cable Rows: 3 sets of 10 @ 84. (Note: used separated handles to put more stress on the center of my back)

Biceps
Preacher Curls: 3 sets of 10 @ 65.
Incline Dumbbell Curls: 3 sets of 10 @ 20.
Hammer Curls: 3 sets of 10 @ 20.

Abs
Crunches: 3 sets of 30.
Seated Leg Tucks: 3 sets of 30.
Twisting Crunches w/ 4kg Medicine Ball: 3 sets of 30.

Well, watched Public Enemies today. It was awesome. Comparisons to every other Michael Mann movie are sure to come up. I'll be short about this:

The character of John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) is the complete opposite of Neil McCauley (Bobby).

So while comparisons will certainly come up between Public Enemies and Heat, fret not because they are very different tales and strike very different sections of your heart.

~Santos~
||Shiina Ringo - MarunoUchi Sadistic (EXPO Ver.)||

Monday ~ 6/30/2009
Weight: 177.0! What the fuck!?

Chest:
Bench Press -- 3 sets of 8 @ 135.
Incline Press -- 3 sets of 8 @ 95.
Decline Press -- 3 sets of 8 @ 115.
Cable Crossovers -- 3 sets of 12 @ 80.
Raised Cable Crossovers -- 2 sets of 12 @ 80 and 1 Drop Set @ 60.

Triceps:
Rope Extensions -- 3 sets of 10 @ 70.
Rope Pulldowns -- 3 sets of 10 @ 70.
Skullcrushers -- 3 sets of 8, 12, 10 @ 45.

Abs:
Crunches -- 3 sets of 50.
Twisting Crunches w/ 4kg Medicine Ball -- 3 sets of 30.
Reverse Crunches -- 3 sets of 30.

Well, I gained a lot of beer/stinger wings/jalapeño popper weight this weekend. Oops. Well, I'll be going to spend 4th of July in Georgia with my family [wank]. They are Mormon which means there is definitely no beer in their house; shit, there isn't even any caffeinated beverages! Now, they have no idea that I am atheist as fuck and should they know it would probably lead to an extreme case of "ostracize the heretic." I'd rather keep them in the dark until I graduate and make some money so I can fall back on their wealth if I run into a sticky situation.

I know what you are thinking. Something along the lines of, "Why can't you be yourself in front of your family? If not them, then who?" The stigma attached to atheism is similar to what homosexuals had to deal with for the past few decades. "Coming out" as atheist seems to be the next big step for Americans as the rest of the world sees as high as 85% in Sweeden, 65% in Japan, 54% in France, and 44% in Britain. In America the number is around 12%. Its still a bit taboo in this country. I hope within a few years there will be a greater understanding of non-believers; perhaps the people who don't believe will rise up and drop that mo'fuckin knowledge that the notion of sky kings is just plain silly.

Newsflash. One girl is shady, the other one is flaky. Wank. Both girls need to be single. They are young and just came out of long relationships. Its time to be single for these gals and have fun. Your boy is fun. When you are single I think you are able to be a little selfish and develop yourself more simply by nature of a lack of attention to focus on a significant other. Its important to have this at this crucial and formative junction in our lives.

Oh, Shiina Ringo has a new album out - Superficial Gossip. It's her first solo album in a long time and it is also fantastic. Her solo stuff is absolutely ridiculous. The sheer amount of music she has put out over such a short amount of time is stunning mostly because the quality has been so high. Over the past 36 hours or so I have emersed myself in her music. Here is what I've found out.

First off, Shiina Ringo is simply unheard of in the Japanese pop music scene - she’s a female who scribes her own lyrics, plays multiple instruments, and has a somewhat uncommercial sound (a cover of an older Shiina Ringo song by Tokyo Jihen). She she also doesn’t shill products or have back-up dancers. Hers is a fame that no one (least of all her) would have ever foreseen.

Unlike many of her contemporaries, Utada Hikaru comes to mind (the two are friends and have even worked together), the sound of a Marshall turns her on. Her sound is natural and the melodies entrancing. Losing yourself in her songs is almost a certainty as you might find yourself simply bobbing along while the bass and drums lead you along. Never to overshadow her arrangements, Shiina Ringo allows us to be privvy to her talented band (of which some joined her in Tokyo Jihen). She may be the main attraction but it is her boys that do most of the grunt work.

I think I've probably gone too long with this mother fucker. Hey, listen to Shiina Ringo. Do it. I suggest reading her lyrics while you do so you get a better understanding of her mastery. She is the female Gackt. Both are true artists masquerading as Jpop stars.

~Santos~
||Tokyo Jihen - Shuraba||