teh Forum

I've had 12 beers...I went TexASSed out BBQ today(at 12pm) and had a Shiner Hef, followed by a pyramid hef when I got home afterwards...then my friend gave me a Corona...then I went to Ye Old Japanese Country Buffet (Todai) and had 3 pints of $1 Kirin's along with 5lbs of food I ate in 1.5 hours... This does not best my efforts though considering previously I had consumed 6lbs of food in 30 minutes there...So the Shiner hef was good so I thought a 6pack would be in order...damn...just doesn't do it for me...I could have probably had another four beers if the damn time wasn't after 2am...oh well... The Kirin was a light beer by my standards - and in fact it tasted almost exactly like Corona...which I have found to not be as fond of after having some Sol...Sol is like Corona but it is not bitter...it's good although the only place that I have found that sells it is Trader Joe's.

So I've been drinking the beers like the fishes...and I seem to only get so fat...in fact I have been eating everything in sight and I'm not gaining any weight...I am at a healthy 200lbs usually...today I was 202 but whatever...I've found that I need so much food anymore that I can't actually eat enough to get fat...is kind of a weird thing really, I've been used to eating a certain amount of food my whole life and now I eat a lot more and it's really not enough...I've decided that I am going to go all out and try and put on another 20lbs in the next year and it won't be fat - the goal will be to still have visible abs at 220lbs...I can't imagine what I will look like but the cool thing is if I look stupid then I just have to eat less and all the weight will come off...still though 20lbs is quite a bit...if that is possible that would mean that I gained 65lbs in 2.5 years...ridiculous...

These last 1.75 years have been difficult. I've hurt every part of my body...feet, shins, calves, knees, quads, groin, ass, lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, ribs, chest, shoulders, pecs, biceps, triceps, forearms, wrists, and elbows...I'm sore every fricken day, I can't bend over without pain, I'm extremely prone to injury - much more so than a person who doesn't weight train. It is so easy to get hurt because I am continually thrashing my body without giving it enough recuperation time. I've gotten to the point where my body simply can't take it anymore. I can't do all the things I want to do - I have to pick which one. For example - I would really like to be able to 1) run, 2) BMX, 3) Deadlift, 4) Squat, 5) Bench press - but my body can't take it...I'm always so destroyed that if I try to do all that stuff something gives out - it's both humbling and frustrating...I can do any one of those things totally well, any two decently well, but can't do all five satisfactorily...It took 6 weeks for my right arm to recover from arm wrestling...6 muthafriggin weeks...also my back is so fucked up I've been going to the chiropractor three times a week - but it is helping immensely. Powerlifting has been really intense...I'm starting to wonder how long before I am so fucked up I can't do anything anymore. You have to be either really stupid or really crazy to put your body through what I've done - I'm screwed up. I think opposite of what "normal" people think - like for example if something hurts, say my shoulder for instance, what would a normal person do? Lay off, either stop doing the exercise that hurts the shoulder entirely or lower the weight significantly. I, on the other hand, increase the weight and continue. Why? Because I don't believe that you are going to make things better(stronger) by doing nothing - you have to work through the pain. This is something that I have proven to myself time and time again - but now with my back it's a new game...I really don't know what is going to happen - It's possible that I may have peaked and will never touch the wieght I deadlifted when I was 178lbs...that's depressing...physical limitations suck.

ok time for the sleeps0r, am too tired to write anymore...yours truly, teh l2icks0r!....

You are weak, even though you are strong. I seem to remember telling you this. You may be able to lift ridiculous amounts of dead weight, but some little guy could totally kick you silly. You are becoming decrepit. I've always preferred the exercise that you can do without equipment. (with the exception of a pullup bar) It keeps you strong, but without adding size, and you can maintain flexibility. Flexibility is key. You can't be truly strong without being flexible. If you spent half your time stretching, and half as much lifting, you'd be much stronger and more flexible. You wouldn't get hurt as much either. You shall soon become a broken, lumbering oaf. What's worse than that? You need to start some kind of stretch regimen, so you can get flexified. Stop trying to get bigger. You are seriously going to remain in pain the larger you get. I do agree about working through pain though. Sitting around doesn't solve much. There are obviously certain injuries that require downtime, but for the most part, you should keep going when hurt. You heal better.

As your attorney, I advise you to stop trying to get bigger, and attempt to get stronger overall. Stretch damnit! Lift a little less, keep eating plenty, and you'll be happy and strong.

You currently have the illusion of being strong. You could still be snapped in half by a tiny little guy who has some flexibility though.

Yeah my body is weak, that's what I have been saying - I'm just frustrated. The will is there but the body is weak. I thought I'd eventually toughen up, and I have but it really hasn't been enough. I don't see any way around it though because it seems like injury is just part of the game when you are constantly performing at maximum.

As far as a little guy kicking me silly he would have to be able to kick me silly with one kick or one punch before I have a chance to overpower him. You are really talking about something to totally different though when you are talking about comparing fighting skill of a fighter to that of a non-fighter but any fighter would always benefit from being stronger. So if I was of equal fighting skill with the little guy then there would be no kicking anyone silly - it'd be a good fight though.

I totally agree about flexibility and I do stretch a lot - I pretty much have to or I cramp up at the wrong time. I'm going to do more stretching though and start learning some Yoga. However, none of the injuries I have had have been from flexibility problems - they all seem to stem from ligament/tendon/joint problems. Except for the tendonitis-like pain in my left forearm, I just figured out it's trauma from dead lifting when the inside of my forearm rubs against my knee when lowering the weight during a dead lift. Shoulder problems have been from benching and were caused by having the weight drift back too far which stressed the shoulder too much. I don't know what the hell I did to my back...pulled muscle and vertebral missalignment I think...dunno - it's been like two months now and still have a good amount of pain.

I'm not focusing on getting bigger - my focus has always been on getting stronger. Getting bigger is a side effect of getting stronger though, and the bigger you are the greater potential for being stronger you have. Oh and BTW doing pull-ups has definitely made me bigger - if they haven't for you then you weren't pushing yourself enough and/or not eating enough. I'm just curious what it would be like to add another 15-20lbs. The stronger you are the easier it is to move and it has totally improved both bike control and balance for my bmx. Being strong allows you to do more - it's nice. I don't ever want to go back to the way I used to be...

I think tehJ3rks0r has some good advice. Oooh, a great idea - how about a prize fight tween teh l2icks0r and teh spiderm0nX0r. We can rent out the old 2316 basement and charge admission. That would be teh good matchup - but we would have to think of some way to really rile em up first.

I think strength per weight may be more important than pure strength. Kinda like power to weight ratio with a car. Lean but strong>Strong and big. I see on the joint/ligament/tendon problems. That's no good. When you get problems there, you should slow down your pushing forward. If you damage that tissue too much, you will be more feeble as you age. Connective tissue is important.

I'll see you in the octagon!

Now that I think about it again in a non-drunken state I don't see how being flexible is going to make it so you get hurt less because if you are more flexible you are going to be stronger, and if you are stronger then you are going to be able to push yourself even harder because of greater flexibility. And if you are also really lean then you are also going to be more prone to injury. They say 14.5% bf is as lean as you want to be for powerlifting and I've always been leaner than that except for when I was broken and just drinking beer and lying on the couch all day long at 19% bf.

A good example of someone who is light wieght with a very high strength/weight ratio and immense flexibility as well as great balance is Kelly. She used to be a yoga instructor, a certified personal trainer, and she has a 4yr degree in exercise science - but she has physical problems too because she pushed really hard in gymnastics. OH yeah she was also a state champion gymnast and while doing gymnastics she was also training for her first marathon - but she got injured. She was doing too much, pushing too hard...this is what my frustration is all about, physical limitations are very very real and I don't know if I will ever be what I want to be able to do because of them...it sucks.

Oh yeah, her back is fucked up too...w00t! go injuries!

I think I am going to start mega dosing glucosamine and chondroitin they seem to make quite a difference for me although Kelly has been taking them for a long while now.