Quest for Fire

[Lakshmi Meadows]

Lol just dropped in to say I love this thread..and butterburgers. Keep on keepin' on.

Agree....I love reading about your progress, especially in the chin department.
What's this EVENT at the end of July? You should totally go to the gym before hand and do a bunch of bro curls etc and get your swole on!

[Erok]

The Event - oh yes. More of a happening, maybe. The wife's restaurant boss invites everybody up to her cabin for a long weekend. There's woods, and a trout stream, and meadows - freaking lovely. There's also a box truck with a fully stocked kitchen in it, so food anytime. I have visions of myself nabbing a few trout, tossing big logs into the fire, and hitting a few hay bales with my bow & arrow. There may also be sunshine, of which I will take full advantage, but it's really up to the wife as to whether she wants to show me off or not. I could still have my Power Gut®, but I shall henceforth command my arms to grow!

[Erok]

Thurs., 5/22. Before I hit the gym, wife wants to stop by the grocery store. We get back to the meat counter, and she says: "I want steak. How about that one?" She's pointing at a 32-ounce porterhouse. I go weak in the knees. She makes me feel 21 again.

[Erok]

Thurs., 5/22. 213.5#.

Getting changed in the locker room, I notice something strange about my shorts. They're very tight, and verrry short. I confirm that it's not a water weight thing when I look at the label - unrecognizable. These are not my shorts. How the hell did these get in my dresser? Ugh. Oh, well, they're only riding up in the front, and my underwear seems to match. Besides, it's too late now. At least they're black.

Chins: 3,3,3,3,3. these get supersetted with the squat warmups.

Squat: 45 x 10, 140 x 5, 190 x 5, 230 x 3, 270 x 5, 225 x 5 - ouch, rep three, four and five give me a knitting needle down the back of my right shinbone. Been doing a lot of walking lately, and haven't warmed up my legs enough. Strange that it happened on a drop set, though. I take a break to make sweet love to the pvc roller. I can only imagine what I must look like. My thighs are huge! and lily white. I make a point of using the spray-cleaner stuff on everything.

Bench: 45x..., 95 x 5, 135 x 5, 155 x 5, 175 x 5,5,5. solid.

Power Cleans: 50kg x 3, 55 x 3, 59 x 3, 64 x 3,3,3,3. The leg is fine for these.

Bent Press: using the 30# bar again, I work up to 55# for 3 a side.

Curls: cuz why not? 55 x 20, 65 x 5.

I am approached by an incredibly large, scary strong, very affable man, who asks me all about the bent press. This leads to discussion about the difference between strongman and powerlifting, (He says, "the strongman stuff is about lifting things away from your center of gravity; way out front. powerlifting is about keeping the weight close to your center and moving it straight up & down" - very astute observation, I thought), and then he makes a drumming reference. "You're a drummer? I'm a guitar player!", so we talk music. I made a friend!

Moral of the story: Keep doing the cool lifts, and cool people will like you, even if you wear lady shorts.

Dinner: Fucking 32-ounce Porterhouse steak, y'all! with asparagus & mushroom cream sauce. Did I mention my wife is awesome?

The right knee feels a bit janky & inflamed, so I up the turmeric & pop some ibu. Feels good today. Gotta get some more fish oil, and keep rolling out the legs.

[Erok]

Sat., 5/24. 214#. Uh, Oh - heere comes the GAINZ! Actually, it was probably the plate of french fries & fried fish from last night.

Saturday mornings have a different atmosphere from weekday eves. Not anything like 'more laid back', or 'nothing but curlbros/serious lifters'. Hard to put a finger on it. Maybe it's all that sunshine coming in the windows.

Chins: 5, 3, 4.5. getting there.

Squats: 45 x ..., 140 x 5, 190 x 3, 230 x 3, 275 x 2, 300 x 5,5,3. ugh. The belt was set too low, too close to the hips. Some kind of loss of tightness causes belt to dig into the iliac crest (hip tilt?), setting off some kind of nervine glute weakness reaction.

OHP: 45 x ..., 95 x 5, 125 x 5,5, 140 x 4.

Deadlifts: 135 x 5, 225 x 5, 315 x 2, 365 x 1,1,1. Whew. I'm pooped.

Bent Press: DB, 50 x 3 each side, just to say I did them. No warmup weight, though. Just walked up to my favorite 50# vintage york dumbell and did it.

[Erok]

Sun., 5/25. SKYDIVING! I highly recommend this to everybody on the planet.

Oh, and a note to Project Bicep: my gunz are currently 15". If I bang out some quick curls & tri-xtends, I can pump up to 15.25". And, the left is slightly larger than the right.

[Erok]

Tues., 5/28. 215#. Maybe he's born with it. Maybe it's Creatine.

Chins: 3,3,3,3. these are supersetted with squat warmups.

Squats: 45 x 5, 135 x 5, 185 x 5, 225 x 3, 245 x 5,5.

OHP: 45 x 15, 95 x 5, 135 x 5, 115 x 5,5.

Deadlifts: 135 x 5, 225 x 5, 315 x 5.

Bent Press (little bar): 30 x 3, 55 x 3.

Curlz: 55 x 10, 65 x 10, 10.

LTEs: 45 x 10, 65 x 10, 10.

then some messing around with the 8# sledge for grip work. fun!

Dinner: eggs, with eggs mixed in, and eggs on the side. leftover sweet potato salad and grilled sweetass corn. (recipes to follow)

[Erok]

I make this to bring to parties.

3 big sweet potatoes, diced to 1/2" - 3/4".
bacon, large amount, crispy.
fresh basil, cilantro, etc.
mayo
olive oil
spices: cumin, cayenne, salt.

toss sweet potatoes with olive oil & salt, spread on a sheet or two, and bake at 325 for 40 minutes or so - do not let them get mushy.

chop fresh herbs finely, and add along with mayo, oil, spices, and crumble the bacon over the top, around the sides, and underneath, whatever. Just mix it up and eat it.

[Erok]

Shuck corn and soak in saltwater while you do other stuff.

for each ear, lay out a piece of foil big enough to wrap it up good.

put the ear on the foil, and add butter, salt, pepper, lime, garlic powder, other spices, maybe some mayo or what have you. go nuts.

wrap it up tight, twist the ends, put it on a hot grill, and let it steam for a while.

if you unwrap it carefully, the foil makes a little sauce boat for the corn to float in.

(This can also be done without the foil, by leaving the soft inner husk on. this gives you better char, but does not give you the sauce boat.)

[Lakshmi Meadows]

Shuck corn and soak in saltwater while you do other stuff.

for each ear, lay out a piece of foil big enough to wrap it up good.

put the ear on the foil, and add butter, salt, pepper, lime, garlic powder, other spices, maybe some mayo or what have you. go nuts.

wrap it up tight, twist the ends, put it on a hot grill, and let it steam for a while.

if you unwrap it carefully, the foil makes a little sauce boat for the corn to float in.

(This can also be done without the foil, by leaving the soft inner husk on. this gives you better char, but does not give you the sauce boat.)

Ohmygod! I'm doing this over the weekend.
By the way, I LOL'd with your ''maybe he's born with it. Maybe it's creatine'' comment. I found one that doesn't make you retain water. Let me know if you want the info