Indirect Muscle Training: Biceps

If you read my last post about my current training split, you may have noticed an absence of bicep exercises.  That was done purposefully:  I don't train my biceps...directly.

Bicep History

The bicep, aka the "pretty" muscle.

Those who know me know I've been lifting for many many moons, but I don't think you realize just how many of them moons there are.  I actually started lifting in 6th grade.  I was what, 11?  12?  Something like that.  I'm 25 now, so you do the math.  Unfortunately, not all of those years have consisted of quality training.  Back in the day I did a lot of bicep work and my biceps grew considerably as a result.  I distinctly remember noticing the size of my arms growing exponentially...I remember liking it at first, then hating it later because those other heffas I went to middle school with started making fun of me.  And I remember I stopped lifting for like a year because of it.

As you can see, that break didn't last long.

Fast forward 7 yrs and I'm in college.  This was back during my full body days, so I was basically curling everyday.  Luckily I wasn't lifting heavy, so there was no real threat to tearing anything.  Equally as lucky was the fact that I had learned the value of the triceps, so I was starting to put equal effort into the back of my arms as I was the front.

Then fast forward another 4 yrs and I'm a grad student doing a HIIT program that directly involves copious amounts of curls every 2-3 times a week.  Obvi as a result of all of the stimulation, my biceps grew to their present size.

Present Day

2013 Women's Physique winner Dana Bailey.
She just looks like normal a  gym chick in real life when
she's not shredded for competition.

Here's the issue with being female and lifting weights:  there's a very thin line between being "toned" and being "dude-ish", at least in my opinion.  You can be sculpted without looking like you're working towards a Ms. Olympia competition.  I've mentioned this earlier, but I'm more of a fan of physique and fitness type bodies than the female bodybuilding ones.  I think huge muscles are best left for dudes, since there's a reason God gave them the bio mechanics necessary for massive muscle development in the first place.  Women can and should have good muscle tone, but there's a huge difference between being a gym hottie and being suspected of being hopped up on roids.

With that being said, I started to get a little worried about myself.

I started to feel like my arms were growing faster than other aspects of my body, i.e.) forearms.  I've always been self-conscious of the forearm:upper arm ratio, so when I noticed one was significantly larger than the other, I got nervous.  Forearms are notoriously difficult to grow, especially on women, so I had a lot of ground to cover to get them to the point where I felt balanced.  Since the only way to get rid of the muscle I had amassed in that area would be to lose a dangerous amount of weight, I decided to do some research on what would happen if I stopped directly training them.

The verdict:  nothing.

Indirect Training

Last year I started really focusing on my back, which I felt was noticeably lacking.  Upon further research of back exercises I discovered that bicep stimulation is a by-product of back training, aka pulling exercises.  Have you ever tried to pull something towards you without using your biceps?  Good luck with that.  I found that I was getting a really good pump in my biceps from all the pull-ups I was doing, and I wasn't even doing that many.  I decided this was actually more than enough stimulus for proper training, and there was no need to do direct training of the biceps.  Thus, began my anti-curl life.  I might do a curl every now & then if the weight is in my hand when the Spirit moves me, but curls aren't specifically part of my training.

I'm still training my triceps so they can be more defined, but I'm really not going for size with them.  As a result, I do primarily volume training...4x12 or something in that range.  Every woman wants toned arms; no one wants that upper arm jiggly-ness that tends to happen after oh, say 40? (get outcha feelings).  Tricep work will clear that right up.

When I happened upon this video the other day I was pleasantly surprised to discover that 1)  I wasn't the only one that stopped training their biceps to focus on other areas and  2)  that professional bodybuilders also do it.  For starters, the guy in the video really needed to cut back on his bicep work, in my opinion of course.  If you look at his other videos you can see his biceps are weirdly peaky, which is a combination of them just being weirdly shaped and the rest of his arm being tragically small.  You see he mentions working on his forearms...that's because people kept commenting on them in relation to his biceps.  Apparently he had some wrist issues in the past that prevented him from adequately training his forearms.  I'll buy it.  But aside from that, I surprised to hear about Ronnie Coleman and Phil Heath, both of whom have years of experience in training and sizable arms.  Clearly there's no harm, no foul, and no loss in not training the biceps directly.  I'm sure they change strategies when they start prepping for the Olympia contest, but if they can skimp on the training in the off season and still be OK, I stand by my earlier statements.

Does Indirect Training Work for Other Muscles?

Sure it does.

• Hamstrings in the squat, since it's primarily a glute and quad exercise
• Triceps in the shoulder press and push-ups, which is why I do so many variations.  Narrow grip push-ups work wonders for the triceps
• Biceps in lat pull downs and any type of rowing exercise
• Glutes and lower back in the stiff leg deadlifts

These are just a few examples, but there are lots of others.  I train chest and triceps because you can't do any pushing exercises without using the triceps, so I figured I'd gon' and fully train 'em on that day since they're already in the working mood.  Exercises that work multiple muscles simultaneously such as the ones ones listed above and below are called "compound exercises".

Examples include:

• Cleans (all of the variations)
• Deadlifts
• Squats
• Front squats
• Pull-ups
• Bench press

The deadlift literally works the entire body.

Those are really the best ones to do because it's always better to train the body in the way it functions:  with many muscles working together at the same damn time.  As a result, they also burn the most calories.  I would recommend implementing at least one of these in your training schedule, regardless of how you divvy up everything.  

*SN*  If you're a beginner, I highly recommend getting with a trainer or someone who knows what they're doing to teach you proper technique in these lifts because they're a little complex at first.  With the exception of the pull-ups and bench press, you could injure your back and/or knees if you do any of them incorrectly.  Like I said in my last post, don't let that be you, America.

Conclusion

I haven't been directly training my biceps for like 3-4 months now, but I might reassess my progress in another 4 weeks or so.  If I decide to add curls back into the routine it'll be a few sets...maybe one or two on Chest & Triceps day, and it'll probably be almost exclusively volume training.  But we'll have to see what the Spirit says. 

Why I No Longer Do Full Body Workouts

I happened upon this video while enjoying my post-workout meal, and the first thing I thought of was, "Y U NO post this when I was back in college!?!"  Could have saved me sooo much time, man.  So much time...

Not too long ago in my yester-year I was one of those "intermediate/advanced"(??) people who did full body workouts 5 days a week.  As you can imagine, this was hella time consuming, with most of the workouts lasting in the 2 hr range.  I'd spend about an hour or so doing cardio and the other hour in the weight room.  My friends judged me, and rightfully so.  In retrospect I judge myself, but hindsight is always 20/20, ain't it.  I trained the whole body everyday because I thought if I left a part out I'd be neglecting it and it wouldn't develop  properly...or something like that.  I also just really liked being in the gym, so that whole 2 hr thing didn't really bother me.  The program "worked" in that it kept that college weight off me of (for the most part anyway), but it failed in giving me the physique I wanted.  Personally speaking, I think I look better now than I did back in those days, and heavens knows my cardio game has gone up all the notches.  An hour of stagnant cardio may help burn calories, but it ain't gonna help you run that 1.5 miles in under 15.

The Dangers of Full Body

See all them lines pointing to things?
That's all the stuff that can R.I.P. in the knee joint,
and sometimes multiple things can go at the same damn time....

#1  The biggest reason they're not a good idea is time.  This video is a follow up the guy did that outlines all the exercises you'd need to do to adequately hit the every major muscle group in the body.  Of course you could skip many of the ones he mentioned, but even if you did, you'd still be left with quite a few exercises.  Even if you reduced the number of sets you did to only 2, you'd still be looking at about 2 hrs just to do weights.  Can you really sustain your physical and mental strength for that amount of time?  Prolly not.  Your motivation would start slipping, and you'd start getting sloppy and ineffective.  In essence, the latter half of your workout would be a complete waste of time.

If, by some chance, you have manage to still have adequate energy by the end of your workout, it you weren't working hard enough.  I've read articles and heard people say 40 min for a workout is sufficient.  That's a little low for me even without cardio since I usually aim for around an hour, but it's still very doable if you structure everything properly.  I feel like unless you're a professional bodybuilder, powerlifter, or are potentially doing some rehab work, there's really no reason for you to be pushing the 2 hr mark in a workout.  And this is coming from someone who used to do it.

#2  The next reason full body workouts aren't good for you at that level is if you're doing your workouts correctly, you'll need to give the muscle time to rest and recover.  Unfortunately, I learned this lil' piece of info too late in life, but 'tis much better to be late than never show up for the paaarty.  At one point last year I was squatting heavily several times a week.  I was doing about 85-90% of my one rep max every Monday-Wednesday-Friday, and deadlifting to that same percentage once every 7 days.  I'm not exactly a spring chicken anymore, so you can imagine what essential joint K.O.'ed on me back in November.  Complete devastation.

Anywhos, a quality workout will tear the fibers.  With proper nutrition and rest, these will repair themselves and the muscle will grow.  However, continuously straining joints/muscles in their weakened state will result in overuse injuries that include but are not limited to:

• Swelling of the joints
• Cartilage damage
• Severe muscle tears
• Ligament damage

*SN* Have you seen what a pectoral muscle tear looks like?!?!  Absolutely mortifying.

MORTIFYING.

All of these things can and should be avoided at all costs.  The body part I have specifically in mind:  knees.   Don't let this be you, America.  I've heard fitness people say the heavier the weights, the more rest you need for the muscle.  Judging from what I've personally seen, this is true, for heavy squats + overtraining = patella ligament disaster.

Current Workout Split

I've split my workout several times over the past few years.  At one point it was "upper body" and "lower body".  That wasn't too bad, but I later discovered there are many parts of the "upper body" that needed individual attention that I just didn't have time to devote to all in one day.  Again, the body part I have specifically in mind:  the back.  Admittedly, I neglected it over the years and now I have what appears to be a slight medial rotation of the shoulders.  How do you fix this:  more pulling exercises, less pushing exercises.  Thus, "back day" was born.

I've had this workout split for about 2 months now and I'm seeing pretty good results.  I had an injury that took me out the lower body game for too many moons, so I lost a bit of ground in the gainz department there.  I cleaned up my diet, and by "cleaned up" I mean actively trying to get the recommended amount of protein in per day (grams of protein = lbs of body weight).  I haven't been doing any intermittent fasting because I'm saving that for when I get closer to boot camp.  That'll help me trim the last few pounds.  My muscle definition has increased tremendously.  In fact, my arms have grown an inch over that time period (13").  Might not seem like a lot to you, but that's quite a bit for a 5'0" female.

Monday - Legs

• Stiff leg deadlifts
• Jefferson squats
• Front squats*
• Back squats*
• Calf raises

*One week I do front squats, the next I do back squats.  Keeps things interesting.

Tuesday - Back & Abs

• Dumbbell rows
• Overhand bent over rows*
• Underhand bent over rows*
• Pull-ups**
• T-bar rows
• Ab stuff

*Alternate weeks with these too for the same reason listed above.

**I stopped doing these so frequently do some elbow issues I was having some elbow issues.

Wednesday - Shoulders & Forearms

• Overhead press*
• Shoulder press
• W-Raises
• Lateral raises
• Reverse flyes
• Palms down wrist curls
• Palms up wrist curls

*Overhead press is done with the barbell, so I only do it if I'm not being lazy.  Now I have a dumbbell and do shoulder presses because it's faster (don't have to bust out the rack).

Thursday - Chest & Triceps

• Standard push-ups
• Wide grip push-ups
• Narrow grip push-ups
• Dive bombers
• Butterflies
• One arm tricep extensions
• Tricep pushdowns

Friday - Cardio

Because women usually ride bikes
in dresses and heels.

The cardio I do varies from day-to-day...could be anything from jumping rope for 30 min to running several miles.  Last Friday I went swimming.  When the weather permits, I prefer bike riding.  Mixing up the cardio helps keep things fresh.  Back in my public gym days I used to get bored with the cardio, which effected my intensity.  I've also been experimenting with the placement of the cardio...before or after lifting.  I've read a couple articles that say it's beneficial to do cardio after lifting, so I've been doing that for the past few weeks.  Outcome:  I like post weights cardio better because my body is already nice 'n' warm and I can hop right into it with a good level intensity.  It also allows me to have more energy to devote towards my gainz now that I'm starting fresh.  I like.

Saturday - Rest*

*I deadlift every other Saturday

Sunday - Rest

Conclusions

If you're in a hurry and tryna get quick workout in, I recommend a fully body number.  But if you're a serious lifter going for a standard workout routine, I'd probably stay away from it...unless you have 365 hours to spend in the gym or if you're a some sort of Wolverine-exoskeleton-having mofo who has injury-resistant joints.

Real talk, I wish somebody would have told me about this earlier in life.  I blame you, America - tryna keep a sista out of the fitness loop.  I could have saved so much time and injury energy by spacing everything, and my gainz probably would have been 10x what they are now.   Even though my injury issues set me back quite a bit, and I'm a little behind where I had originally planned to be by this time of year, I still hit that PR on the squat last week and my front squatting has improved exponentially.  In other words, I'm quite pleased with my progress.  The human body is a physiological masterpiece, but like anything, too much of a good thing will still kill that ish.  Keep that in mind, America.

Aesthetics vs. Strength

I happened upon this video earlier today and it got me thinking...

For starters, I totally agree with everything he said. You should care about something because it's important to you, not because someone told you to do it.  In the fitness industry, there's always this "Us vs. Them" foolery:  powerlifting vs. bodybuilding.  Although to the naked eye you wouldn't be able to tell the difference...both spend entirely too much time in the gym to non-gym goers...there are some fundamental differences between the two.

Powerlifting

Team Lilliebridge, aka the first family of powerlifting:
From left to right:  Ernie Jr., Ernie Sr., & Eric

Powerlifters (such as myself) are all about strength, in all it's forms:  neuro-muscular and mental.  The basis of powerlifting is to be the strongest version of yourself.  Our workouts are designed to test, challenge, and strengthen the central nervous system through 3 central lifts:  bench press, squat, and deadlift.  Hence the reason I talk about squatting all the time.  Everything else is essentially classified as "accessory" lifts, designed to build the muscles necessary to complete the aforementioned 3 central lifts.

Physically speaking, a powerlifter won't be as muscularly lumpy as a bodybuilder, but they can probably lift as much weight if not more than them, since strength isn't always determined by lumpiness.  In other words, you don't have to have 22" biceps to be able to bench press 300 lbs.  As you can see, the fella in the video is actually quite small (you can see the rest of his body in his other videos).  He's a small dude...less than 200 lbs (probably 165?), but he squats 500 lbs. And benches almost 300 lbs.

Instead of running around in tiny little speedos, powerlifters where adult onsies.  Frankly, IDK which one is worse; they both show entirely too much man junk for anyone's comfort level.  And instead of having shows they have "meets".  You go in there, you lift heavy ish, then you leave.  And the best part is, you get to be fully dressed.  You ain't oiled and lumpy; you're clothed and chalky.  Because it's not as popular as bodybuilding, there tends to not be as much prize money and notoriety involved.  To become a "pro" you have to get endorsed by someone, which means theoretically you could lift for years and never be considered a "pro".  Becoming elite is a little different in the bodybuilding world.

Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding is like the "face of fitness".  All the girlies think if they lift weights they're going to end up looking like a bodybuilder.  Matter of fact, men think that too.  Both are wrong, for the most part.

Bodybuilders are strictly focused on physique; the more muscles the better.  They're typically strong because having large muscles makes you stronger, but strength only becomes a focus in case of muscle development.

Paul Dillet.  How bout these arms are 27"
and this pic is NOT photoshopped...

For a bodybuilder, the body is eeeverything.  You're literally sculpting your body.  Because of this, diet is also eeeverything.  They have seasons:  "in-season" is when they look best because it's when contests take place.  "Off season" is when they bulk, meaning they gain a bunch of weight so they can "cut" later and get shredded.  Essentially bodybuilding is 80% diet 20% workout, which makes sense because you are what you eat.  If you eat crap, you'll look like crap.  If you eat healthy, you'll look good 'n' healthy.

To become a "pro" you have to place either 1st or 2nd in the major contests of the season.  Mr. Olympia is the major event in bodybuilding.  The winner wins $250,000 and all he has to do is oil up, severely dehydrate, diet like crazy, and parade around in front of hundreds of thousands of people while wearing nothing but a speedo and a smile.  Seems legit.

Why I Like Powerlifting

I have A LOT of respect for bodybuilders.  A lot.  That's A LOT of hard work and dedication to sculpt your body into a something that looks like it belongs in an anatomy book.  But it's also craaazy expensive and complicated to do so.

• Coins:  You need $18247675/mo. for supplements and just as much for food because of the quantity and quality you have to eat.  None of that cheap Wal-Mart meat; gotta get that expensive ish.  Good luck having coins for bills and non fitness stuff afterwards.
• Supplements:   Craaazy expensive and dangerous.  On top of that, finding the right concoction of supplements to give you the results you want is HARD and dangerous.  That stuff has a lot of side effects, some of them life threatening.  Some of them you won't even see until years after you've stopped taking them, i.e. steroids.  It's so rare to see a bodybuilder over 60 because they usually game over well before that from heart problems stemming from years of steroid use.  One guy died just before Thanksgiving 2013 from a heart attack.  He was only 44 yrs old.
• Motivation:  I lack the motivation and dedication to restrict my diet to bodybuilding levels.   I likes to EAT.  Granted, I don't eat fast food often, but I will throw down if the occasion calls for it.  I also can't count calories/macro-nutrients.  That's a lot of work to keep track of carbs and proteins and whatnot.  Just keep your calories down, eat balanced meals, and you'll be fine.  On top of that, the way my coins is set up...well, let's just say I wouldn't be able to financially sustain that lifestyle for too long.
• Strength:  I like being a strong mo fo.  It's part of my napoleon complex.  I'm more concerned with being strong than being pretty.  I'd much rather be the strongest girl in the room than being the most aesthetically pleasing.
• Functionality:  300 lbs. is 300 lbs., regardless of whether it's muscle or fat.  In both cases, that's a lot of body to move around.  After a certain point, bodybuilders lose their ability to perform certain movements.  Touching your back becomes impossible after your lats and shoulders get to be a certain size.  The 44 yr old guy I mentioned earlier...he was so big that he couldn't even wipe his own butt.  He had to bring his wife with him everywhere and she had to do it for him.  I ain't going out like that.
• Aesthetics:  I don't find female bodybuilding the least bit attractive.  I don't think women were designed to be big 'n' lumpy like that.  I think the additional/new hormones do a number on our bodies biologically.  Physique models look nice though.  But again, that's too much work to look that way.

Which is Better for You?

That depends who you are and what you want to achieve.  If you're an athlete, powerlifting is probably going to be better for you because overall strength is central to every sport.  But if you're overweight and want to slim down, you might want to take the bodybuilding approach to slimming down.  Of course you don't need to take all of the supplements and whatnot, but when it comes to designing your training, you probably want to go the high volume route.  But all this is just a suggestion.  You should whichever makes you happy.  There really shouldn't be this "us vs. them" mentality, but it is what it is.

Pulling Up in the Marines

...unless it's pull ups.

It was recently brought to my attention that the Marine Corps tried to institute a 3 pull up requirement for women in boot camp...a feat which failed miserably because more than half of the women currently in boot camp failed to meet the requirement.  As a result, they're moving the implementation date back some...I'm not sure what more time will do since the reasons behind women not being able to complete the requirement have nothing to do with the Marine Corps.  In my opinion, they should either scrap it or enforce it; no stalling for time as that will solve nothing.

Unless of course you're trying to figure out to work this PR nightmare.  Somebody phone Olivia Pope...the Marine Corps has a scandal.

My Humblest Opinions

In my humblest opinion as both someone who's yet to attend boot camp and someone who's been training for boot camp since before even talking to a recruiter, you need to come physically prepared for boot camp.  Recruiters tell you all of the requirements for it and even give you a guide on how to properly train.  And heavens knows there are 91246234 YouTube videos on it and equally as many websites for guidelines for training.  The difficulty of boot camp should be one of the factors in decided which branch, if any, you choose to join.  I can't speak for other branches, but the Navy gives you on average 6-9 months between the time you complete MEPS and the time you report to boot camp.  6-9 months to get yourself physically and mentally trained.  That's plenty of time to improve your run, push ups, pull ups, curl ups, and whatever other ups your branch requires of you.  If you can't swim, you got 6-9 months to get lessons.  I learned how to swim in 2, after taking lessons once a week for 8 weeks.  If you take your training seriously and actually put forth some effort to improving, you'll be fine.  You run into issues like the Marines have when you don't properly prepare yourself.

First thing that came to mind:  dirt in my natural hair.  *le sigh*

Everyone knows boot camp is physically demanding for every branch.  You know this before you sign up.  Why would you sign up if you're not in good shape?!  In addition to having to memorize 129461 different things, your body is gonna be R.I.P. after the first PT session if you're out of shape.  In other words you're setting yourself up for failure.  In a time when some branches already have too many people, that's a sure fire way to get yourself kicked out.

*SN*  I once read somewhere, "Soldiers in the Army don't go to 'boot camp' they go to Basic Training.  The Marines and Navy go to boot camp.  Air Force goes to 'day camp'".  I'm TOO weak!

What makes me even more frustrated about this situation with the Marines is that women are given a choice:

a)  minimum of 3 pull ups
b)  dead hang for 70 sec

Trust me when I say I understand if you can't do 3 pull ups, but keep trusting me when I say you need to be able to at least hang for 70 sec. - basically you need to be able to carry your own body weight.  In this instance, you have options.  Train for one of them.  If it were me, I'd opt for option B...it's actually easier in my opinion.

Physical Reasons for Pull-Ups

Dead hangs or almost pull up?

According to the Marines, they instated the pull up requirement because they simulate the muscular strength required to perform common military tasks.  Seems legit.  Upper body strength is essential for climbing and carrying heavy things, so it makes sense that testing that strength in boot camp would be a requirement, especially in the Marine Corps.  Therefore it makes me nervous that nearly half of the new female recruits to the Marines lack this crucial ability.

From a weight lifting standpoint, an inability to do pull ups can be a result of host of different things:

• Muscular imbalances in the shoulders
• Weak lats and/or pecs and/or shoulders
• Lack of flexibility in the shoulder joints/ligaments and other things of that nature
• Body is too heavy*

*That's right.  Sometimes your body is too heavy for your muscles to pull.  While that's not a valid excuse, it can hinder your ability to do them.  I'll get into that later.

Muscular imbalances are things you can fix before reporting to boot camp.  Simple weight training and practice can correct these.  We'll get into that later too.

Sources are saying the requirement was instated to prep women for jobs we were previously not allowed to hold.  How fantastic does that look for us, ladies.  It's not bad enough some men don't think women should be in the military at all, let alone in infantry and combat jobs, but we can't even meet the physical demands for the job we keep claiming we should be given.  Y'all just took us back 50 years *le sigh*  Thanks to y'all it'll be desk jobs and nurses for the next 50.  Apparently there were 2 women a year ago that applied for infantry jobs in the Marines.  They were accepted but failed the training.

In one of the articles I read someone is quoted to have said,

"Awarding gender-normed scores so that women can succeed lowers standards for all. Women will suffer more injuries and resentment they do not deserve, and men will be less prepared for the demands of direct ground combat."

Offensive lies.  And I don't think standards are being lowered anywhere...men have their requirement which as always is harder than that of their female counterparts, that way we won't hurt their little egos by outdoing them.  Fellas, y'all know how y'all get when a lady is better and stronger and smarter and better at life than you...

Socio-Political Reasons

Coinciding with this sudden desire to give women a shot at glory is the belief that the shift is actually a by-product of Uncle Sam's push for universal equality.  I'll buy it.  I'm more inclined to believe the military would rather spend it's coin in places other than updates facilities to house both genders.  But maybe I'm wrong.  Maybe they're as progressive as the White House makes them.

The moderate Republican in me questions whether or not we would be seeing this shift if Mittens / any other rich white man had won.  First the gays, now the girls.  Usually it's the other way around, but since in today's society sneezing in the direction of a gay person without saying "excuse me" could potentially get you labeled as a close-minded homophob, it makes sense we'd be second in line for our 40 acres & a mule.

But all jokes aside, these are good changes Uncle Sam is implementing, which is why it's important ladies get this pull up thing under control.  The gays assimilated into their new roles (of being f'n left alone), but when it's our turn for glory there's all these problems?!  Ladies, getcha life.

Training

I'm gonna be honest with you, pull ups are hard for me.  I'd still the Marine minimum standard, but just barely.  Luckily they allow you to do chin ups (palms facing you) or standard pull ups (palms facing away from you)...I'm much more successful at the first one.  I think one of my issues is my body is simply to heavy.  When I first started getting for reals for reals serious about pull up training, the first thing I did was drop a few lbs.  I'm 100% sure I've made my body much bigger than God intended to it to be (sorry God!), so I was understanding of the fact that my little arms and shoulders weren't equipped to fight gravity with all this weight attached.

While I'm in the honest mood, want to know a secret?

For a time I considered joining the Marines.  This was some time ago, and by sometime I mean my college days.  If you read my earlier post about why I joined the Navy, you'll understand why I opted against that plan.  I started training specifically for the pull ups and the dead hang by...well, dead hanging.  At the time I couldn't even do half a pull up.  Just looking at the bar made my body weak all over.  I started by attempting to hang for 30 sec...but I think I was only able to make it to like 20 sec.  Eventually I made my way up to 30 sec...then 60.  Here's what helped:

• Static holds - started with 80 lbs then eventually worked up to 135 lbs.  I could probably do more, but the idea is to hold it for as long as possible.  So, 135 for 60 sec.  I do these for both thoracic extension (for improved deadlift and posture) and for grip
• Deadlifts - No need to go super heavy on these unless you're a lover of all things heavy like me
• Squeezing dumbbells and barbells very hard
• Flexor and extensor exercises like wrist curls

Fast forward a few years...

I upgraded to actual pull up attempts.  It was 365 degrees beyond pitiful.  I think I got my chin 2/3 of the way to the bar before it was game over.  I decided to do some research on how to make improvements and talked to a real life powerlifter about how to improve.  He suggested, as did the research, static holds in the up position, meaning, pulling up as far as possible and holding it there for (insert your desired amount of time here), usually as long as possible.  Once I was finally able to get up to the bar I did holds for 15 sec...then 30.  Now I do as many pull up / chin ups as possible then static hold on the last one.  I also do slow descents.  That's when you go down as slow as possible.  I do a couple sets of 5-8 of those after the holds.

From a weight lifting standpoint, I realized that I was probably a lacking in the shoulder / lat region so I stepped up my reps and variety in that area.  Back now gets a whole day in an attempt to undo / balance the years unbalanced training with the chest and shoulders.  The three things I started doing more of:

1. Lat pull downs
2. Bent over rows
3. Military press

When lats go terribly wrong...

Back strength is essential for the deadlift, but it also plays a huge role in the pull up.  The lats are the biggest muscle in the back, so they need special TLC.  Bent over rows aid in getting your body used to pulling heavy ish while also working the lats, shoulders, and back in general.  Basically every body builder does some form of these, whether it's overhand or underhand.  I do both.  Military press are great for the shoulders and again, prep the body for pushing and pulling heavy ish.  Also, military press = shoulder press.  IDK why it has two names...maybe because one is done with a barbell (military) and the other with dumbbells?  But it's the same movement.  People are silly, don't let the name fool you; one isn't more military based than the other.

Navy-style curl ups

You're bound to improve if you do all of these exercises, but the best way to improve on something is practice, practice, practice.  If you only need to do 3 to pass, aim for a quality 7.  Trust me, I know the struggles with some of these numbers.  I have 2 min to do at around 50 curl ups.  The issue isn't so much the number as it is the form...they do them cross-arm numbers, and anything that breaks form doesn't count.  Adjusting to the new form is proving to be tricksier than I thought.  And if you think it's easy, try it yourself:  see how many you can do in 2 min while imagining all your hopes & dreams fading away as the clock ticks down and you're nowhere near 50.

Of course all of these exercises are done at Hillary's House of Muscle.  In fact, I did some pull ups, chin ups, and rows the other day.  In light of these recent developments in the Marines I've decided to do pull ups / chin ups in some for 5 days a week.  I'm determined to get to 10 quality ones by my birthday in February.

Conclusions

These issues the Marines are facing actually start in grade school where girlies aren't being forced to do pull ups with the boys.  We're trained to be weaker from the jump, so it's not really surprising that we're a step behind as adults.  Is it true that men are biologically designed to be physically stronger than women?  Yes.  But that has nothing to do with a woman's ability to use her own arms to pull her chin up over a bar.  I think as a people we should hold girlies to the same physical standards as lil' boys in terms of activities & exercises, meaning the reps are the only things that should change.  No more cutting off corners for us.  Like I always say, equal pay for equal work.

The MEPS Slim Down

So most of you already know, I joined the Navy earlier this month.  And as you also know, if you read that

post, I had to drop some weight to do so.  In my journey to weight loss I discovered an ancient secret that I'm about to share with you...a secret that will help you lose any amount of weight you want...

Are you ready?...

EAT LESS, SWEAT MORE. 

That'll be $25 each, please.

I'm bout to market this ish and make a fortune.

Real talk people, the secret to weight loss is simple:  you have to burn more calories than you consume.  To do that, you have to eat less and move more.  Sometimes life really is just that simple.

Now if you've been following this blog you know of my weight loss struggles.  You know I tried everything:  changing my diet, changing my workout routine, spending $89216 on stupid fitness DVDs *cuts eyes to Insanity*, and nothing worked.  I lost maybe 3 lbs doing all of that, and that was over the course of several months.  I just lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks.  I was literally losing lbs. every other day, trust me, I weighed myself.  Four days before MEPS I was 143 lbs.  On the day of MEPS I was 138 lbs, and yesss I was eating.  Ya'll know how I feel about food.  God is good and food is great.  And the church says:  Amen.

Elliott Hulse

I got the idea for the weight loss from watching this dude on YouTube named Elliott Hulse.  He's a professional Strong Man and seems to really know his stuff.  I trust no one and he does come off hella arrogant at times, but I encourage you to Google anything he says to vet it - we all know the internet doesn't lie, right...  But for reals, I judge people's legitness from their own physique.  I'm totally ignoring everything you say if you look worse than me.  WTF am I supposed to learn from you?!  If you're fit and aren't talking about taking a bunch of pills and whatnot, I'll at least listen to what you have to say.  Basically what I'm saying is, Elliott's physical progression (which can be seen over the course of the videos in his channel) is great, therefore I believe him.

Fasting & Hunger Pangs

What he talks about in the video is intermittent fasting.  It's exactly how it sounds:  don't eat during the day a couple times a week.

*SN*  Remember when I said I actually gained weight during Insanity?  He explains why in the video.  Now I know my body isn't weird.

Fasting means you eat in the evening but not during the day, so I would make sure dinner was extra nutrient-packed to make up for the other missed meals.  He suggests Mondays and Fridays.  What do they have in common:  they're near the weekend.  By fasting on the day before the weekend, you essentially increase your caloric allotment for the weekend.  This allows you to be a little more relaxed about your weekend eating.  This does not mean eat like a starving child.  It does means you can have those precious chocolate chip pancakes you love to make every Saturday morning *eyes to bag of chocolate chips in cabinet*  By fasting on Monday, you can off set the increase in calories by using the extra you accumulated over the weekend for when you're not eating.  Tuesday-Thursday is standard eating; small meals, no cakes candies, cookies, joy, or soda.  Since he studied nutrition and the like in school, he's able to go into details about how you should divide up your carbs and proteins for the week.  But if you're like me and ain't got time for all that math, just don't eat like a fat horse.  Veggies, sweet potatoes, chicken, steak - if you're feeling daring, fruit, post workout protein drink, eggs, and spinach, lots of water.  Naturally this isn't an all-inclusive list, just some suggestions.

Starbucks!  *gasp*

I reduced the number of meals I was eating to 3 a day because I felt like 5 was too much with this program.  It wasn't that I was eating bad food, it's that I was consuming a lot of hidden calories trying to get all of the nutrients I felt like I needed.  Too much fruit = too many carbs and sugars - although I can't prove it, I feel like that was the guilty culprit.  Those of you who drink (insert unacceptable amount of alcohol here), this is where you live; I don't know that they're really anything physically good about consuming alcohol.  I'd venture to say it's benefits are purely psychological.  I'm not saying don't drink, I'm saying that you're consuming ridic amounts of calories, carbs, and sugar from something that gives you little to no nutritional value in return.  Just saying...

I'd take the chocolate chip biscuits over the beer.  But that's just me.

I take a multi-vitamin and an omega-3 pill everyday so I figured I'm getting 90% of what I need for the day there, thus making up for whatever I don't physically consume.  This main point is eat less.  Although I wasn't eating on Mondays and Fridays I was still working out with the same routine as I did when I had eaten.  Force yourself to work harder; remember, your mind gets tired long before your body does.  On Fridays I motivated myself by thinking of all the d'licious food I was going to be able to eat because of the workout I was doing, and on Mondays I just told myself I was a fat had to be punished for my caloric indiscretions.  Whatever floats your boat. 

Results

As the date for MEPS neared, I was instructed not to do any type of physical fitness 48 hrs prior to the actual date:  apparently it working out puts protein in your urine?  Not sure how that happens, but if someone who's been doing this for 198246 yrs tells you not to do something, you don't really question them.  MEPS was on a Monday, which meant I couldn't workout after Friday.  I decided to make Thursday my last workout just to be on the safe side.  Since I couldn't burn a high amount of calories by working out I simply ate less those two days, essentially fasting over the weekend as well.

In my post about joining, I mentioned how I had to make sure I could still eat breakfast without going over the weight requirements.  I had a very small dinner at 5:00pm the night before MEPS and a couple of granola bars (which I ate for psychological pleasure).  I figured I'd be OK eating these since I really hadn't eaten that much prior to arriving at the hotel that day and the dinner rations were meager at best.

Long story short, I went from 148 in late September to 138 lbs on October 7th.  Even moms said she noticed I was getting smaller.  Because they also measure you if you don't make the weight requirements, I was also losing weight to make my hip and waist measurements go down.  They did:

- Hips:  before = 40", after = 37"
- Waist:  before = 32", after = 31"
- Neck:  before = 14", after = 13"

Not huge changes, but they got the job done.  I don't know what those measurements equate to in terms of Naval standards for BMI, but since I was 138 lbs, they didn't have to measure me. 

Weren't You Hungry??

Of course I was.  You'd be hungry too if you didn't eat anything for 12 hrs.  But I wasn't as hungry as I thought I'd be.  I didn't pass out, didn't get light headed or weak.  In fact, I was able to do 1.5 - 2 hr workouts on nothing but the dinner from the night before.  Before I started fasting I feared hunger pangs; the minute I felt a twinge of one I ate something.  With the fasting I had to adjust my mode of thinking:  hunger pangs just meant my body was dipping into its tragically plentiful fat supply.  I imagined myself physically shrinking and more importantly, making weight.

You're not going to be in pain if you don't eat.  Trust me, you'll survive.  The human body can go daaays without food and/or water, so a few hours won't kill you.  If you're really concerned about going for so long without food, eat a late dinner the night before.  It helps.  I usually eat on the late side anyway since I don't get home from the gym until 7-8pm.  After I shower and cook the food, it's about 9-9:30.  You also have the option of having a light snack before gym if you're concerned about working out on an empty stomach.  I experimented with a few things and I found greek yogurt works great for this.  But you really don't need anything.  Here's the thing:  if I can hit PRs on the deadlift and run on the treadmill for 15 min, you'll survive. I'm 100% sure the rest of the world isn't as intense as I am at the gym, therefore I'm equally as sure fasting won't kill you.

What I Learned

The main thing I learned from this was that you can survive if you're hungry.  The first few times you do it are the worst, but that's because you have to change your thinking.  I used to get hungry around times I used to eat before I was fasting.  The human mind is highly trainable; the external forces that make you think about eating are called triggers.  They're purely psychological.  Smokers have triggers that make them want to smoke.  Drinkers are the same way.  Train yourself to not think about eating and you won't think about it.  I occupy my time at work during lunch.  I'll run an errand or write these here lovely blogs.  Or work on whatever random project I have going on in my life at the moment.  I trained myself to not get hungry around meal times and now I don't start getting hungry until I'm fixin' to head to the gym.  And when in doubt, don't provide yourself with options:  I don't keep food at my desk, nor do I keep change for the vending machine. 

Humpty Dumpty

Now let me preface this section with this statement:

I have nothing against fat people and I know losing weight if hella difficult for some people.  I don't cast judgment on fat people or make fun of them when I see them.  Real talk, I'm always hella happy when I see them in the gym because the first step in weight loss is actually trying.  I don't think I'm perfect nor do I think everyone should aspire to look like me.  I am a gym crackhead.  All the peoples in all the world can't be gym crackheads because gyms would be overcrowded and I wouldn't get my turn on the squat rack.  Sometimes I feel sorry for big people when I see them.  This is not to be confused with pity; I feel sorry for them because I'd like to think no one would willingly choose to be big in a world where small is style.  I feel sorry for them because I know many people who actually put forth a great deal of effort, sometimes exceptionally risky effort, to lose the extra lbs.  I'm fully aware weight loss isn't as easy as I make it sound, otherwise no one would be fat.  When I say "it's simply", part of that is sarcasm.  And part of it isn't...

So there's this chick in my life who for reals resembles Humpty Dumpty.  I won't go into details about who or where I see this girl, but those of you who follow me on the Book will be able to put 2 & 2 together.  What pisses me off about her is that she doesn't have to look like that.  In my mind, there are only 3 reasons to be that fat:

1. You have a medical condition that makes you gain weight.
2. You are taking medication that makes you gain weight.
3. Your cognitive functions aren't running at 100%, and I believe you know exactly what I'm hinting at here.

I wish this were an exaggeration...

Granted, there are varying degrees of fat, ranging from plump to complete devastation.  This chick is that max level:  complete devastation.  I say again, it pisses me off because she doesn't have to be.  She's a really pretty girl, but at 4'11" you simply cannot be tipping the scales at 200 lbs.  Ain't not doctor in the world gon' say that's a healthy weight for that frame, not matter how it fits you.  At 23-24 yrs old, that's unacceptable.  Your body is suffering:  Your intestines are a mess because all you do is eat crap all day - not a veggie in sight, your heart is a mess because the only exercise you get is moving from the couch to the fridge and back again, your arteries are all clogged from the crap you got from said fridge, your teeth are probably a mess from eating unsightly amounts of sugar,  your hair and skin are suffering because chances are you're not eating healthy foods to get the essential nutrients to keep them healthy, and your joints/bones are literally slowly dying because of all that excess weight they have to lug around.  At 4'11" your knees are not designed to carry 200 lbs around on a daily basis.  This type of weight carrying isn't like lifting weights at the gym.  I lift heavy for an hour a day, then go back to normal body weight.  This chick carries around 200 lbs 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.  Her joints get no rest.  I don't workout on Sundays because like Jesus, my knees also rest on the 7th day.  Her muscular-skeletal system never gets to rest.  That's a tremendous amount of weight to have on such a small frame, and I get pissssssed every time I look at her.  She can barely move her legs to walk and I'm certain she can't touch her toes.  In fact, I don't know that she can even see her fer toes...

I know what she does with her body is none of my business, but she keeps her egg-shaped self in my line of sight all the time, so I can't help but notice things, hence the Humpty reference.  I know she has trouble finding clothes to fit because if I'm this size and can't find decent pants, you might as well go naked at 4'11" 200 lbs, real talk.  I'm sure she doesn't have to be like this.  You simply cannot eat crap and sit behind a desk all day long, then go home and eat more crap, sit, then go to bed.  If she were a child, I'd blame her parents, but as an adult, I can only blame her.  Having jobs that require disrespectfully high amounts of sitting require you to eat less because you're not burning hardly anything sitting on your butt all day long, TRUST ME.  Everyone at my job is fat but me.  People who started here after me have even gained noticeable amounts of weight.  People here are so fat Weight Watchers comes to us to have bi-weekly meetings!!  Literally.  Now y'all can't tell me that ain't shameful!!

I say again, I'm not saying everyone needs to be a gym crackhead.  In fact, you don't even need a gym or a personal trainer (so trainer friends) to be healthy.  You can make healthy food choices at the supermarkert and walk/run outside for free.  You can do burpees in the comforts of your own home and get a quality sweat on from that.  If you're feeling extra daring you can invest in a bike.  If you have a little bit of coin you can invest in a gym membership and go 2-3 times a week.  You don't have to go to the gym everyday or spend hours there.  Real talk, you can get a quality workout in 50 min, 2-3 days a week.  If you get a personal trainer, that's they're going to have to come in for sessions for the same amount of time and frequency.  Don't be intimidated by my 2 hr sessions; I have no social life, thus the copious amounts time for weights.  If you don't know what you're doing, Google it.  YouTube anything you're curious about.  If you're self-conscious about going tot he gym, buy yourself some weights and check YouTube for some workouts.  The internet is a beautiful thing, people.  I've been lifting for 13 yrs and I still check YouTube on the daily for ish.

Conclusions

I actually like being smaller.  In all honesty, I haven't seen the 130s since high school...I've missed them greatly.  I like the way my clothes fit at this size.  I didn't think it was a visible difference until Milk Dud at the gym said my arms looked incredible and used me to motive one of his clients.  I'm glad it's noticeable, but that's not the reason I did it:  Aside from the Navy thing I'm gad I was actually able to lose weight for once in my life.  I'd been trying for years to get down to this size.  I'm actually planning on going down to 130-135 lbs by summer 2014 using this method, so hopefully I'll be able to do it before leaving for boot camp.

Since MEPS I've allowed myself a little leniency in terms of eating, so I'm about 141 right now.  That's right about where I'd like to say that way it won't be too difficult when I need to slim down again.

Lifting While Pregnant

I happened upon this last night and it gave me a chuckle, mostly because it's foretelling my future.  That is, if I decide to have children, which at the tender age of 24 is still TBA.

The article poses this question:  Should pregnant woman lift weights?  If you know anything about me, you already know my opinions on that, but I thought it was funny that the question was asked in the first place.  Being pregnant isn't a handicap; the walking incubator is still (presumably) a fully functioning human...she just happens to also be carrying another human in her stomach.  As long as she's not slamming anything against her stomach, I see no reason why she couldn't lift weights.

Society vs. Female Lifters

I've talked to you guys about this before...about how people think women are too fragile to lift weights...about how we'll somehow damage our ladies parts...about how our uterus will fall out, and how lifting magically prevents you from having children.  I've been lifting for 13 yrs and trust me when I tell you my uterus is just fine.  And for those who have seen me in person, you know I'm muscular but I don't resemble a man - another myth about female weight lifters.  While I have your attention, allow me to dispel some additional rumors:

Women will get buff like men if they lift weights.  False.  Women will get buff like men if they take steroids.  Do you know what steroids are?  Artificial testosterone.  Testosterone builds muscle (when taken for weight training purposes).  Men naturally have almost 20x more testosterone than women (or something to that effect), which is why they have beards, deep voices, and get hella buff when they lift.  Don't take steroids, and this won't happen to you.  Just that simple (see exhibit A). You can look at her face and see the softness is going; she's starting to get the physical characteristics of a dude.  That ain't hot, at least in my opinion.

There is a certain level of physicality women can naturally achieve with proper diet and a quality workout regime (see exhibit B).  Unless you add something to this equation, you have a 0 chance of looking like exhibit C.

Lifting will prevent you from having children.  I know women who lifted when they were younger and they had children, as many as they wanted, so that's a stupid and unfounded myth.  Again, steroids may cause child-birthing issues, but you did that to yourself.

Exhibit A
N0.

Exhibit B
Andreia Brazier

Exhibit C
Kai Greene

 *SN* The circumference of Kai Greene's chest is the same as the length of my entire body...

 You'll lose your boobs if you lift weights.  I'm a very full 34DD.  So there's that.  All that crap exhibit A took to get like that is what eliminated her boobs.  I do push-ups and bench.  Still DD.

Lifting weight makes you gain weight.  This is true at first because muscle weighs more than fat.  But you'll soon start to lose weight because muscle burns more calories than fat.  Muscle toning also helps with fat loss, not to mention you'll look 91247x better with a toned, slim body than you will with a slim body full of saggy nothingness.  IDK what this foolishness is with girls saying they only do cardio.  That's like saying you only walk in one direction.

Lifting With Baby

If these are 25s I'd say that's too much...at least for me...
at least if I was carrying a baby human

Overall, I'm pro this idea.  I think as long as the incubator isn't lifting hella heavy weights or doing things movements that put her carrying case in harm's way, I don't think she's doing any harm.  As long as you talk with your doctor before you do anything, I think you're fine; I can't imagine you'd harm the baby doing overhead press.  On top of that, lifting is good for the incubator's health.  Just because you're carrying a baby human doesn't mean you need to gain ridic amounts of weight.  That ish is hard to get rid of once the baby human is out of it's knapsack.  And don't be blaming the baby either...baby didn't make you eat all them donuts.

IDK how you would even keep proper form
with a knapsack that big

From a lifter's perspective, I can't imagine being able to do too much with all that extra going on in the frontal region.  I certainly wouldn't be squatting excessive weight since the pressure from the bar would probably cause your baby to fall out in front of you.  The kettle bell stuff you see the girl doing in the article isn't bad either.  I can't imagine that having anything to do with baby.  Deadlifts would probably be out for me because I can imagine your center of gravity is distorted with the addition of another, abet smaller, human.  Simply put:  your stomach would be in the way.

There would also be some concern about the spinal region, but don't hold me to this since I don't know exactly how difficult it would be to carry a baby human in a knapsack.  This would be something to discuss with the doctor.  I'm sure they'd probably advice against lifting the amount of weight the woman above appears to be squatting, but I'm not a doctor.

Also, these pics are extremes.  There are 389146 different weight lifting exercises you can do that clearly don't have anything to do with your knapsack, nor do they require straining it.  Things to consider, America.

The Great American Double Standard

So you judge the hell out of women for being fat post-pregnancy but you don't want them to do things to keep that from happening while they're pregnant?!  Have several.

Let's think about this for a min...

No need for a sitter, bring baby along.
The cost-efficient and healthy option.

Let's say an incubator finds out she's with child at 3 months.  According to you, she's supposed to spend the next 6 months sitting, eating, and not moving until the baby is born.  You do realize how ridic that sounds, right?  No wonder incubators blow up like houses during and after they deliver.  She's carrying a human; that doesn't make her an invalid.  She didn't lose a leg or a lung.  She's the same person she was before she got k-nocked up.

If you married a weight lifter, she'll lift right up until her due date.  Heck, she'll probably lift the morning before the baby is born.  I encourage you not to expect this to change.  If you married a non-lifter and you don't want her to get fat on you, I suggest convincing her to start lifting.  And if you're a female non-believer in the weight lifting movement, I suggest you start believing before your husband leaves your fat butt with the baby for a exhibit B listed above.

Review of McDaniel's Gym

 Last Thursday was the first time I used McDaniel's gym.  On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best, I'd give it...well, allow me to explain first...

The Facility

This is the font of the gym.  Those doors are exit only.
The entrance is around the other side.  I think that's stupid.

This has to be the smallest gym I've ever been in, and I've been in quite a few.  It had two floors, but for real for real, it was unnecessary.  The gym is part of the building the houses the basketball courts, classrooms, and Exercise Science & Physical Education  department, which also includes all of their fancy sciency-ness stuff.  Essentially the gym appears to have been built as an addition to the building itself; it's much fancier than the rest of it...unless it got the funding for an upgrade and the rest of the building didn't.

It's got a 100% glass front that faces the parking lot.  That's great for people like me who get the privilege of parking in that lot.  The real gag is that all four doors are locked from the outside, thus the gym can only be accessed from the side door used as the main entrance for the entire building.  Not sure what the purpose was for that, other than to make people walk in front of the front desk welcome man for the building.  But since he usually ain't paying attention, safety can't possibly be a factor.  Plus the gym has it's down check-in table, thus I was hella annoyed after discovering this.

The view from the 2nd floor is d'licious

On the first floor you have the weights, free and machine.  The machines are in one section and there's a separate room where the free weights are.  The top floor has all of the cardio and ab stuff.  It was surprisingly sparse up there for a school with a football team...

It stays open until 11PM which would be awesome if I lived on campus.  SMCM should take note of this.

The Equipment

The equipment was average, nothing special to report there.  What really interested me was the clear emphasis on weight training and the de-emphasis on cardio.  The cardio area was tiny.  And I mean it had 4 elliptical machines, 4 gazelle thingies, and 8 treadmills.  That's really not a lot if you think about it...I've seen that many Mexicans pack into one car.  They had a couple flat screen TVs in the area, but nothing fancy.

This is the cardio area.  Got this from Google...
the machines are arranged differently now.

I've moved away from machine weights for the most part, so I didn't really go over there.  What I really liked about this place were the multiple squat racks they had.  These were real racks...manly racks...racks on rack on racks.  There were 6 of them and one assisted one that got no love was off in the corner.  Each one had it's own platform attached to it that was padded on each side so it wouldn't sound like the apocalypse was happening every time someone dropped the bar.  This is a blessing for deadlifters because I can focus my energy on doing quality 1x1 instead of worrying about quietly lowering the weight to avoiding public shame.  A deadlift is just lifting the weight, ain't nobody say nothing about putting it down...

Aside from that, it was pretty ordinary.  It looked kinda old though, much older than the rest of the gym...like maybe that was the original gym and the other parts were newly renovated areas/additions.  Some of the free weights looked like they were part of the original gym, and you may take that however you want...

The People

It wasn't crowded at all, which was good because I really don't feel like being bothered with crowds after driving for 2 hrs to get there an sitting through 2.5 hrs of class.  Overall, it was mostly white, frat-looking boys and skinny, wealthy freshmen 18 yr old white girls.  in other words, children and brutes.  It could be worse.

But of course those are just guesses.  I didn't see any brown girls, and the only brown boy appeared to be a football player.  All the white girls kinda looked the same...either freshmen or sophomore...preppy...skinny...and sans yoga pant - I'm sure that last part will change with the seasons.

Everyone was pretty nice though.  No one actually spoke to me, which doesn't really bother me all that much.  I'm sure I stood out to them, between this chocolaty skin and these muscles.  Everyone stared though.  I'm not sure if that was because of the muscles or the fact that I'm brown, or the fact that they've never seem me before.  It's likely a combo of the three.

2012-2013 team

I saw the women's basketball team on my way in. They stared at me...I'm not sure why since I wasn't dressed like I was about to play ball.  I thought it was funny so I stared back.  One guy stared so hard when I walked by he actually turned all the way around to watch as I walked by.

*SN*  Guys, ladies have the same perif vision you do, meaning we can see you look at us from a lateral angle.  You ain't foolin' nobody.

Real talk, maybe I give off an unfriendly black hottie vibe.  Wouldn't be the first time I've been told that.

The Overall Feel

Overall, wasn't too bad.  I could get used to it.  I'm still surprised how small it is though.  Maybe there's a part 2 somewhere on campus I'm missing?  I'll look at the map later, although I don't think I am.  It seems a little inadequate for a school that has undergrad and graduate level exercise science programs...and 21479 sports teams.  But whatevers; maybe they like to share.  The equipment is fine, there's just not a lot of it.  Odd.

The best part about it was the fact that it wasn't crowded...in fact, it was surprisingly sparse considering the time (6:00-7:30PM).  Maybe everyone was eating dinner?  Who knows.  We'll see if next Thursday is different.

Rating

7.5/10 - It'll do for the time being.  I only have to be there once a week this semester, so we'll see if things change in the spring.  I feel like I should give it an 8, but something about it feels empty...like it's missing something.  Maybe it's because I'm used to using a real gym now?  But it's pretty good as far as small college gyms go.