Uselessbook

A few months ago I joined Facebook. Not because I'm into "social networking", but because of an article I read stating that adults, and not just teens, were making use of the social utility. So I gave it a try.

I deleted my account yesterday after finding no use for Facebook. When you deactivate, Facebook requires (yes, requires) that you check one of the listed reasons. I checked that I didn't find it useful. Apparently Facebook is smart enough to realize that some people do not find the site useful.

I'm not knocking the site or the idea of networking with "friends". I suppose that there are uses for the site for many people. But there was nothing to keep me there. I found the whole idea of the term "friend" to be at odds with my concept of friendship. I became "friends" with a bunch of people I didn't know in the least.

I have a few online friends, so I think I understand the concept of friendship as it occurs in cyber-space. But my online friends are people that I actually share communication with. To an extent, I get to know them, whether through their blogs, e-mail, or instant messaging. Which sure beats writing on someone's "wall" or posting some little blurb on what I'm doing at a particular moment - since the only thing you can really be doing at any given moment is sitting at your computer desk inputing what you're doing at that moment, which is sitting at your computer desk.

Dropping A Day

Last week, I dropped a day out of my workout schedule. I had been going to the gym 5 days per week, but now it'll be four.

I deleted Wednesdays because my Thursday workout was being adversely affected. I was running out of gas, and when you're tired, your workouts suffer and the risk of injury increases.

So the new schedule, which has worked well for the past two weeks, is Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday. This gives me a rest day after all but one workout. It also still keeps Monday and Friday as off days. Monday is always my busiest day at work; by Friday, I'm pretty worn out by the week's activities. So I avoid workouts on those days.

Short, Short Version

I'll give you the real, real skinny on my NFL picks this week: I'm picking every home team to win. Except for one. I think Tennessee will beat Jacksonville.

My winning percentage thus far is .590, and if you go with the generic Home Team Wins formula, you'll usually end up correct 60% of the time. So what have I got to lose?

Minor Scrape

No, I wasn't in a fight...

I was doing deadlifts in the gym today, and scraped my shin with the barbell.

Scraped shins are a norm with deadlifts. The idea is to keep the bar as close to the shins as possible. Otherwise, the risk of back injury increases.

Normally, a little scrape here or there is no problem - and can even be considered a little badge of honor after a tough workout.

But with staff infections and the possibility of MRSA infection, I try to avoid any contact in the gym which might accidentally open the skin.

So once I detected the scrape, I was sure to wash the wound thoroughly and then apply Neosporin.

It's unfortunate that we have to be concerned about something so little as a scrape on the shin, but one can never be too careful.

Great Game

Last night I watched one of the best, if not the best, games I've seen in quite some time. It wasn't football, or basketball. It was the Penguins vs Red Wings hockey game.

Down 5-2 in the third period, the Penguins rallied to tie it at 6-6 and won it 7-6 in overtime. It was just a regular season game, but it had the intensity of a playoff game, and was worthy of the Stanley Cup Finals meeting between the same two teams last season.

Since I've been on a rant lately about sports events being constantly interrupted by TV commercials, it's worth noting that the third period flew by with virtually no stops in the action. In hockey, each team gets just one timeout, and TV breaks are limited.

Unwatchable Football

A while ago, I made an entry about Major League Baseball's inability to hold my interest once the regular season ends. Had it not been for the Phillies' World Series run, I probably would not have watched much playoff baseball, if any at all.

The NFL may start to lose me too. Yesterday, the two early games - Rans vs Jets and Bills vs Patriots, were unwatchable. I went out to eat and to a bookstore instead. Later, the Colts vs Steelers game seemed interrupted by myriad commercials. For years now, TV commercials have surrounded every score in an NFL game. They occur after the score and then again after the ensuing kickoff, plus after each timeout, and then of course they have timeouts just for TV as well.

Maybe I'm losing patience as I get older, but whatever the case I'm just tired of it. I was actually watching Sci-Fi Network reruns during the Colts-Steelers game. That's how desperate I was for something besides commercials.

Sardines In Philly

I attended yesterday's Flyers loss to the Edmonton Oilers at the Wachovia Center. For the second straight time, the Flyers lost a game at which I was present, so they won't be happy to see me next time.

The game was pretty enjoyable, but the accommodations at the Wachovia Center were not. While there are plenty of bathrooms and decent food, the problem is the seating. You're wedged in tight. Sardines have it better.

For hockey, it's best to be dressed warm, since the arena area must be kept cool. But that just adds to the feeling of being squeezed into your seat. In addition, there are no cupholders, and foot room is scant.

This all means an uncomfortable game experience. I first went to this arena in 1999 for a concert, and noticed right away that the seating was tighter than at the Spectrum, which will be torn down next year.

We Win!

OK, I'm not really one of those "We" guys. They won. The Phillies won - "Phinally" as they're writing here in the greater Philadelphia area.

Last night's abbreviated game - a continuation of Monday night's suspended affair - was surreal. A 3 1/2 inning game that began at 8:37 and was over at 9:55. I'm all for 3 1/2 inning games!

In a city where the Eagles are considered the top dog, it was gratifying to see the Phillies bring home the city's first major sports title in 25 years. I like this edition of the Phillies. Unlike the 1980 team, which had its own charm (mainly Tug McGraw), this team has a more understated aura about it. No Mike Schmidt. No Larry Bowa. And fortunately, no Pete Rose.

But even though I'm not a "We" guy, I do feel somewhat connected to this team. I was never much of a Phillies fan until I started attending games a few years ago, when Veteran's Stadium was still the Phillies' home. I began to pull for guys like Pat Burrell and Jimmy Rollins. I saw Ryan Howard play minor league ball and followed his progress to the majors. I saw guys like Jim Thome and Bobby Abreu come and go, replaced by guys like Howard and Jason Werth.

So it's this team, in this era, that I've come to like as a sports fan. Just as I liked the Oakland A's in the 70s. Or as in football, when I liked the Rams of the late 1960s, the Vikings of the 1970s, and the 49ers of the 1980s. Certain teams, in a particular era. And for me, there's never been a better time than now to root for the Phillies.

How Baseball Lost Me

On September 30th, before Major League Baseball's playoffs began, I made an entry about how, as far as I was concerned, baseball season had pretty much ended. After last night's ridiculous happenings in Philadelphia during Game 5 of the World Series, I can't help but chime in again.

If you haven't heard, Game 5 was suspended after 5 1/2 innings during a rainstorm. There will be permanent controversy surrounding this game and the Series, controversy which could have been avoided.

The bottom line is that there are two problems with baseball's playoffs and its season in general:

1. The games are played too late at night (which I discussed in that September 30th entry).
2. The season is too long.

In the 1970s, World Series games were wrapped up by mid-October. The 1974 Series ended on October 15th. With games now being played in late October, the probability for bad weather increases dramatically in many areas of the U.S. If the Series goes 7 games next year, it will end on November 4th. That's right, November 4th.

If yesterday's game was scheduled for daytime instead, there would have been no problems with the weather. But again, in many sections of the U.S., weather is pleasant during the daytime and considerably more harsh at night.

But baseball is now a slave to Television, so I expect no changes, and no return to the days of common sense and complete games played in good conditions.

Payoff

I noticed growth in my lats when I was reaching for toothpaste the other day. The medicine cabinet mirror informed me of this; I'm not the flexing type. I rarely flex because it seems juvenile, even though it can reveal success as well as areas that need work.


When I was younger, I flexed a lot. In fact, I was so full of myself that I would at times fold my dress-shirt sleeves up a finger-width or two just to show off my biceps. Little did I know then that good triceps development actually contributes more to arm mass. And if you don't have big shoulders and a well-developed back, chest, and legs, big biceps just don't mean much.

Anyway, I was admittedly pleased with the lat growth. After all, back exercises, which for me include various rows, plus pulldowns and pullups, are among the least 'glamorous' of all weight-training exercises. But they must be done regularly in order to facilitate gains in mass and strength. So despite the lack of glamour, the fact that I've been just as religious with back exercises as I have with all other aspects of my workout, and seeing results, shows that the work is paying off.

Odd Day In The Gym

OK, it wasn't all that odd. But I had to take a couple of five-minute rest breaks during my workout (shoulders, arms, some cardio) today. That normally doesn't happen.

I think it was due to the following factors:

1. I had a 30-set workout less than 24 hours ago (back, chest, hams, calves).
2. I had orange juice at breakfast - it's a good nitric oxide booster, but it's high in sugar, which may have caused an insulin spike.
3. I was out Friday night, and my sleep was interrupted last night by what I think was an acid reflux episode caused mainly by some coffee I drank in the evening.

In any case, my workout was still productive. I hit new highs in a couple of exercise categories, including machine preacher curls and Bradford presses, and I totaled 20 sets on shoulders alone, which is a good deal of volume for one muscle group - I generally push my shoulders, chest, and quads with extra sets whenever I can, since they are areas I want to target the most.

Personal Friends and Blogs

I'm wondering how many bloggers give their blog address to people they know personally.

The only people who know about my blog are my online friends and acquaintences. No one that I know personally has access to it.

For those of you who do allow their blog to be accessed by friends, are there any drawbacks? Is there any benefit to asking people you know personally to read your blog?

Season's End

Baseball's regular season ended Sunday (except for a makeup game yesterday and a one-game playoff today, which, technically, is counted as a regular-season game statistically), but for me, it's as if the entire season is over.

Yes, the Phillies made the playoffs, winning the NL East in dramatic fashion for the second straight year. But now, Major League Baseball loses me as it proceeds to shoot itself in the foot for yet another post-season.

Games will be televised on TBS, and some games won't even begin until around 10 PM Eastern Time. I receive TBS, but I have no intention of staying up that late. I can't even get past halftime of Monday Night Football.

Where baseball is hurting itself is that younger viewers cannot possibly watch these late games. I remember fondly the days when playoff and World Series games were played during the day. For many kids, that's when their desire to play baseball is cultivated. But in more recent years, the young boys who would become the players of the future are asleep in bed by gametime of the playoffs and the Series.

50th Workout

Today's workout session was my 50th since joining the gym in early July. I thought it would be a good time to post some of my overall stats thus far:

Number of Different Exercises: 81

Average Sets per Workout: 23.1
Average Reps per Workout: 246.2
Average Reps per Set: 10.7
Average Volume per Workout: 12,543 lbs

Most Sets: 40
Most Reps: 481
Most Volume: 24,641 lbs

When I worked out at home, all the numbers were significantly lower, which is understandable, given the vast array of equipment and exercise choices at a good gym. Even so, I'm surprised at what my body has been able to handle, because I thought I was reaching my limits when I trained at home. It goes to show that when you educate yourself and have access to the proper equipment, you can improve in ways that you might not have thought possible.

Getting Results

Two months after having joined a gym, I've evaluated what I've been able to accomplish so far. I'm lifting more weight, with higher-volume and longer-lasting workouts than I was ever able to perform at home.

Despite all that, a look in the mirror still left me disappointed. Yes, my shoulders and getting bigger, my back is stronger, and my chest looks tighter. And yes, I've seen new muscle on my 50 year-old legs. But I've still been carrying too much weight in the midsection.

The problem is that I've been subscribing the notion of eating more to "power my workouts", to use bodybuilding jargon. The idea is to eat more in order to pack on muscle. But with me, extra calories have a way of ending up exactly where I don't want them. And it doesn't seem to matter how hard I train or how much cardio I do.

So I've looked at my eating habits and made some adjustments. I want more protein from leaner sources. And overall, I want to eat less, not more. The adjustments have helped already. I still eat enough to fuel good workouts, but without justifying added calories by thinking that I can just work them off in the gym or convert them to muscle.

Hopefully, I'll be able to maintain the discipline needed to eat properly, so that next time I take a long look in the mirror, I'll see some better results for all the hard work I've been doing.

New Season

The NFL season began last night, and with it the end of the longest off-season in major sports. One thing that makes the NFL so successful is that it always leaves people wanting a little more.

I consider the exhibition season to be part of the off-season; simply put, I have no interest in pre-season games whatsoever. Despite its length, this off-season could be summed up in two words: Brett Favre. Oh, and Gene Upshaw died. That's it, basically.

Now that the regular season is here, I plan on making a few picks each week, just as I used to do at the Philadelphia Eagles site. But since my favorite football blogger Elizabeth spread her Eagles' wings and moved on, so will I.

This week's picks:

Cardinals 21, 49ers 13 - Despite the fact that these teams have been in the same division since the realignment in 2002, this still doesn't seem like a rivalry. It would help if both teams would actually be good.

Dolphins 23, Jets 20 - Two months ago, nobody cared about this game. But now the Bretts have Brett, and the Dolphins have the Bretts' former QB Chad Pennington. All of a sudden, this is an interesting affair.

Eagles 34, Rams 20 - The Eagles have added some speed. You read that correctly - speed and Eagles in the same sentence.

Summer's End

Summer is over. Sure, we're still close to 90 degrees for daytime highs, and yes, it's still very early in September. But as far as I'm concerned, summer has passed. I go mainly by meteorological changes in season - September 1st for the first day of autumn, December 1st for winter, etc.

Here's a summation of some summer highlights for your friendly neighborhood rocketman:

1. Jamaica - I was there from June 4-9. It was a great vacation, the best I've ever had. Everything went smoothly, even the air travel. One of the best times not just of this summer but of my entire life.

2. The Gym - Joining a gym might not seem like a big deal, but it was a first for me. I joined in early July and have had a great time there, as I've reported on several occasions. If nothing else, it's a great way to check out girls.

3. The Phillies - Yes, they lost 10-4 on July 12 to the D-backs, but taking in a Major League game is always fun. It was a long, hot day between travel and sitting in the sun, but it was still a great time.

4. The 'Pigs - My first time seeing our local AAA Phillies' affiliate, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, was a memorable event. The stadium is nearby, and it's first-class. The August 11 game took place on the summer's coolest day - a high of just 68. And the food wasn't nearly as good as what the Phillies serve at Citizen's Bank Park. But you can't beat the price ($9 a ticket, $3 to park), and the convenience.

Talk To The Hand

At a family picnic yesterday, a large (weighing about 60 lbs) umbrella blew over. When I raised it back up, the upper steel assembly came crashing down, sandwiching my right hand. Quite the painful experience.

But, I don't think any bones are broken. I have pretty good mobility and little pain, except when I rub the top of the my fingers (which bore the brunt of the impact) on something, such as putting my hand in my pocket. There was bruising, but no broken skin.

I can always go for an x-ray to be sure, but for now it feels much better than it did yesterday, so again, I doubt anything is broken.

In fact, I even went to the gym today. My workout gloves provided a nice support, and I worked carefully, doing shoulder exercises and avoiding a tight grip on the weights. For instance, I started with Smith Machine shoulder presses, which enabled me to just push up on the bar rather than grip it tightly. I used a machine for lateral raises, but then I was able to do cable laterals with light weights too. I did some dumbbell presses, but reduced the weight by 5 pounds. All in all, I had a good workout despite the bad hand.

Big Movements

My favorite exercises are the ones which incorporate the most movement:

> Squats - Involving nearly the entire body, these are among my favorites. They're demanding, even grueling, especially when you're doing 20-rep sets, as I did Saturday. 5 sets times 20, plus 3 sets of 12. My thighs ached, but that's the idea. I don't go really heavy with these, and I usually use the Smith machine, which lessens the need to balance the bar, enabling me to concentrate on the movement itself. I go to parallel - thighs parallel to the floor. But no lower. My knees are not as flexible as they used to be.

> Military Press - The good old standing overhead press. Great for the shoulders, and it involves the core too, since everything from the waist up is engaged. Even the legs are involved (many lifters prefer seated presses, but I prefer to stand; doing them seated isolates the shoulders more). I usually do these first in my shoulders routine because I want to be fresh during this big compound movement.

> Bench Press - Another big upper-body compound move. With a barbell, I usually do them flat; with dumbbells, I often incline the bench. Triceps also get hit with these. So do shoulders - proper technique is critical in order to avoid shoulder strain.

There are other big movements too - deadlifts, barbell rows, and pullups, to name a few. Of course, single-joint movements (isolations, such as dumbbell curls or triceps extensions) are also part of any complete routine.

But for me, the more body movement involved, the more I seem to like the exercise. It makes me feel as though I'm really doing something.

For The Love Of Bunny

My daughter's recent pet acquisition, a rabbit, was up to visit twice in the past week. Rabbits, besides being very cute, are very inquisitive, and they often chew on wires. One lapse in bunny-sitting could take my entire home theater system down.

My daughter remarked that transporting little Reese (as you'll note in the photo, he looks like a peanut-butter cup) was much like transporting a baby. She had the pet carrier, food, a bag of toys and associated items, and a baby gate all in tow.

The bunny is also a bit of a Houdini, managing to escape his cage twice (after disengaging the latch, and then later after somehow untying the piece of rope used to tie the cage). Then there's those teeth, with which he chewed pieces of the plastic wheels off the golf cart in the pantry.

The funny stories seem almost endless - whenever my daughter calls, there's a new one to relate. Like finding his head tucked into a bag of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish snack crackers that had been briefly left unattended.

My good friend Jamie (whose own little ball of fur, a pet ferret, sadly had to be euthanized a few days ago) tells me that Reese is my "grand-bunny". I like the term.

Staying Informed

During a discussion with a friend I hadn't seen in a while, he told me that he no longer watches the news or reads the newspaper. He mentioned the adage that "ignorance is bliss" and that he did not care to be bogged down with all the depressing news.

I had to agree that the news can certainly inspire fear and can be depressing, but I continue to subscribe to the daily paper (I still like my news, like most of my other reading, to be done off the printed page); I follow news stories on the Internet and I'm still one of the holdovers that watches the evening news at 6:30.

I don't immerse myself in news - I'm not a news junkie. But I feel that I must have at least a basic grasp of what's happening around me, and to at least be conversant with the information.

I can certainly relate to the feeling of blissful detachment. When I was on vacation early this summer, it was nice to be a little out-of-touch. Ignorance is bliss to a degree, and the world can actually seem like a nicer place when your mind is on other things. But overall, I need to be informed - depressing as it can sometimes be.

Attention-Deficit Blogging

Regular readers of this blog have probably noticed that I frequently change its look. Recently, I also narrowed the content and then ended up expanding it to include my general interests. Why all the tinkering?

Mainly, the answer lies in my attention-span. It's pretty short. I move from thing to thing rapidly, not just online but in many aspects of life. I can't sit in front of a computer for long. Or a TV, or sit down to read for an extended period. When I'm in a restaurant, I'm dying to get out as soon as dessert has been consumed, and most of the time, I don't order it at all. Waiter, check please!

In more important aspects of life, I can and do give my attention for extended periods. I've held the same job for almost 30 years. I've lived in the same home for 26 years. I've driven the same car for 11 years, and before that, I owned one for 16 years.

But when the stakes aren't high, I tend to wander. Blogger has some easy ways to change the look of a blog, and I indulge myself. In terms of content, I experiment at times in order to find the niche I want to fill. As it turns out, I really am a jack of all trades in the blogging sense, so I have widened the subject matter.

I do apologize to readers who may find such changes disconcerting. I realize that a blog is probably more "identifiable" if it maintains a certain look and purpose. So please bear with inability to simply stay put. I'm the restless sort - at least when it comes to the small stuff.

Rapid-Fire Workout

After a mild strain in my pesky groin last week during heavier weight training, I took 3 days off from the weights and then lowered the poundages and did what I call "rapid-fire" training this weekend.

The idea is to ease up on the weight but to shorten the rest periods and increase the reps - thus challenging the muscles with something else besides pure pounds. This also has the effect of making the workout more 'cardio-oriented' without doing cardio.

Todays workout, on shoulders and arms, netted me 37 sets and a new personal record for reps - 422. On some sets, I went as high as 20 reps. In some cases, I rested for just 10-15 seconds. I also did drop sets and some supersets. All in the name of variety, baby.

Yesterday's workout was not quite so speed oriented, and leg training was involved, to the tune of 8 sets of squats and some calf raises, in addition to back and chest work. It all totaled 29 sets. But the volume was heavier, with over 19,000 pounds (since I was working larger muscles) compared to today's volume of just under 12,000. Plus, I threw in 30 minutes of cardio and shadow boxing. My shadow won a split-decision.

Pigs In A Poke

I attended a minor league ballgame in the new local park last night, my first stop of the season at Coca-Cola Park, home to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Phillies' AAA Farm club. My impressions:

The Park - Very nice. A first-class establishment. Good sight lines, good accommodations such as bathrooms and food stands.

The Food - Mediocre at best. The soft pretzels were the worst I've had. Ever. The hot dogs were OK, but the potato bun seemed to get stale quickly. The popcorn was very good. Overall, the food is cheaper but does not compare to what is offered at Phillies' games.

The Game - The Pigs won 5-4. But the game seemed slow for some reason. The Major League games I've been to seemed to move more quickly. Phillies' pitcher Rudy Seanez, on a minor league stint, got the win after coming in to relief duty.

The Mascot - Pathetic. "Ferrous", dressed in a pig suit, with pants that didn't seem to want to stay up. I can now say I've seen the best (the Philly Phanatic) and the worst mascots in baseball.

The Girls - I'm always scoping chicks at public events. With a few exceptions, this just wasn't the place for hot girls. There was a group of hot moms sitting nearby that provided some eye candy on an otherwise lean night.

Peeling Off

Every now and then I "peel off" a portion of a scheduled workout and move it forward or back on my routine. I did that today because I had the afternoon off. I moved my leg exercises forward from tomorrow.

This enabled me to expand on what I normally would do for legs on a Saturday. With the exception of a couple sets of shrugs, I devoted 18 sets to quads, hamstrings, and calves. I exceeded 19,600 lbs in total volume, my second-best volume number to date.

Tomorrow, the schedule will include only back and chest exercises, which hopefully will allow me to expand on those.

Don't Try This At Home

Every now and then I do something training-wise that I normally suggest not be done. Over the past weekend, I had two workouts in less than 24 hours, which I would normally counsel against, unless one is working totally different muscle groups.

So I was at the gym Saturday afternoon and then again Sunday morning, because I was traveling out of town Sunday afternoon. The set total between the two was 54, 28 on Saturday (Back, Chest, Quads, some cardio) and 26 Sunday (Shoulders, Calves and some cardio; I skipped arms because they were well-worked during last Thursday's workout, and my biceps were taxed again during Saturday's back exercises).

Luckily, I paid extra attention to warming up, so I didn't injure anything. I like working out both weekend days - I usually have the most energy on weekends. But after 9 sets of squats plus the other work I did Saturday, then the shorter rest interval, the Sunday workout was a bit of a bear.

Staying Home

An odd thing has happened to me on the way to my increased workout load - I've been staying home Friday nights instead of heading out. OK, it's not really all that odd. The feeling of being tired and wanting to wrap up my evening between 9:00 and 10:00 is a natural by-product of the near 40-sets of weight training-plus-cardio that I've been doing. It's a good kind of tired.

On the other hand, at the risk of sounding a bit personal, my sex drive seems to have increased markedly. Again, that's a natural by-product of challenging oneself with compound lifting such as squats, bench presses, and military presses. Testosterone and growth hormone are released as a result of weight training, so it stands to reason that I might feel this way. Still, at age 50, I am a bit surprised - pleasantly so.

Then again, walking around with increased sexual urges isn't doing me much good from one perspective, and that's the fact that I haven't had sex in over 4 years. Nevertheless, I plan to enjoy this feeling while it lasts.

Stepping Up

There are several types of cardio machines at my gym, but with the exception of using the exercise bikes for the main purpose of warming up my legs for weight training, I don't use them. Except for one that is - the angled stair-climber.

This machine nicely simulates the stair-climbing I do at work. In fact, it's more demanding in one respect - you can go continuously if you want. When I climb stairs at work, there's the inevitable landing between floors that gives my legs a break. Plus, when I'm at work, I'm not exactly dressed comfortably enough to want to work up a sweat on the steps anyway.

My current goal is to be able to do 10 minutes on the climber without resting. Currently, I rest for 10-20 second intervals for each 1-2 minutes of work. It'll be a while before I reach that goal, but the only way to get there is to keep on climbing.

Workout Treat

Today's workout consisted of 37 sets - just one shy of my personal high of 38. I wasn't planning on so many sets, but I sat down for a protein shake and then continued instead of just going home.

The staff at the gym has a friendly competition going in regard to making protein shakes. Each one thinks theirs is the best, and so far I've tried three (all three were peanut butter/chocolate) and it's hard to pick a winner.

Rachel made my protein shake today. Like the other staff members, she's very personable and makes me feel welcome. They seem to genuinely enjoy what they do, which certainly helps.

Weight-Free Training

Today was the first day since joining the gym that I've trained without lifting any weights. Well, that's not quite true - I used five-pound weights for arm circles.

Staying away from the weights is hard for me. I walk into that gym and feel like a kid in an ice cream parlor. There's all those weights and all those machines to tempt me. But today I managed to hit the stair-climber for 10 minutes (with 10-20 seconds of rest for every minute of work), the exercise bike for 15 minutes, and then shadow boxing and calf-raises on one of the weight bench spotter platforms.

I must have looked funny while I shadow boxed the heavy bag. But I find shadow boxing to be just as effective, if not more effective, than actually hitting the bag. And I've learned not to be too concerned with how I might look while doing my exercises, as long as I don't do anything too ridiculous.

Weekend Workouts

My weekend workouts are almost always of better quality than my weekday workouts, due to the rigors of work sapping some of my energy. Over the past weekend I had two good workouts, combining for 58 sets.

I've moved much of my quadriceps work to Saturdays (rather than Wednesdays) for much the same reason - squats, hack squats, and leg presses on a weekday would leave my legs a bit on the tired side. My job demands standing and walking, and a workout that interferes with job productivity needs to be changed.

Some guys post online about doing squats 'till you puke' or 'till you can't walk for days'. Well, I doubt my gym wants to deal with my stomach contents, and since I have the job that I do, I need to be able to walk, and to do so in a way that makes me productive.

Preventing Shoulder Pain

The question of what to do about shoulder pain during certain lifts (especially barbell bench pressing) comes up often at Bodybuilding.com. For example, just this morning, one member wrote:

"I've been having a bit of trouble lifting on the overhead shoulder press and the incline barbell press. The pain is coming from my right shoulder/arm area."

My response:

"Shoulder pain is unfortunately rather common with these exercises, especially so the incline barbell press. Here's what you might want to try:

- Reducing the weight

- Tucking the elbows in more on the incline press (reduces involvement of the shoulders)

- Using dumbbells on the incline press (allows more freedom of movement; this worked for me); ditto for the shoulder press - using DBs may help

- Changing the degree of incline (the higher you go, the more shoulder involvement, which as you indicate is why you can go heavier on flat and decline lifts...though my guess is that you're probably using a lower incline angle anyway, since you report that your flat/decline lifts are pain free)."