DE Upper

"People don't go to the circus to see the mice. They go to see the elephants."
Matt Rhodes

Sunday 2/28/10

Warmup
Benchpress w/purple bands attached to the bar holding 25's work up to 135x3 x9 sets (3 grips)
JM Press 3x5/225, 235, 240 S/S with Pushdowns (straight bar) 3x15-20 light weight
Dips 2x20
CSR 4x10/105, 130, 150, 160 (v-grip) S/S with One-arm side raises 2x15/30, 35
DB curls 2x15/ 30, 40

I trained in between clients. One ran late so I was still at the gym when Kevin staggered in (from an all night session of Wii) then 4B and J$ came in. They were waiting on Shawn to do shirt work and he was running late so I stayed to help out. It turned out to be a reunion of sorts as The Captain came in. Then Big Auto. And a few more. Pretty soon the gym was humming. It has been quite a while since I have seen that type of energy in the place. As I wrote about previously, with the closing of the other local branch of the gym there has been a large influx of metrosexuals (transferred emplyees and gym members alike). In one corner, there were the metros, in another some bodybuilder-types (because I don't know what else to call them) and some lifters in another. Sprinkled amongst the various cliques were the usual denizens that comprise the membership. Oh, did I mention the semi-pro football team cheerleaders practicing their routines in the aerobic room?!? It was a scene, man. Kinda like an athletic version of Toby Keith's "I love this bar".

4B was trying out a new bench shirt (Titan). He worked up to 425x2 on a 2-board press and decided to call it a day. Shawn asked him if he was going to take another then stopped himself and said, "oh yeah I remember you guys are doing that 2-4-6-8 workout!" So 4B took 440 for a real strong single then hung up his shirt. In the raw department, The Captain easily repped 315 several times whcih was a big accomplishement for him. Shawn took 405x1 off a 1-board shirtless (not literally). Then put on his new welding coat and took 500 to approximately an inch off his chest. He may have taken another one after that and before his last one but I do not remember. Stuck in my head was the comment from one of the metro's that he felt soooooo shredded. Yeah, like cheese.

Anywho, 600 was loaded for another attempt. A comedy of errors ensued. Beware, the following is not for the faint of heart. The crew was working off of a bench that was not the greatest for what we were doing. There was no platform for the head spotter to hand off the bar from. So there was an uncomfortable mingling of bodyparts in close circumstance to one another. Usually the hand-off guy (me in this case), pulls his britches up, so the lifter doesn't get a face full of one's drawers. I "overlooked" this important detail... So I hand the bar out to Shawn and I am spotting him closely, following the bar down because I know if he misses it, the bar will head back towards his pretty face (and the last thing I want is Mrs. Shawn mad at me for damaging his looks!) He lowered it half way down then rammed it back up and we racked it. So he comes flyin' off the bench laughing, "I couldn't see a f#$^&%g thing 'cause Ed was t-baggin' me!" Ooops. Did I feel stupid. Fortunately, no one got hurt. Shawn had jacked up his shirt prior to that attempt which was why the weight wouldn't touch (and my snafu didn't help). And he was keeping his lifting belt "up" on his abdomen. Usually, it is pushed down (towards the feet), thus allowing the lifter to push his belly up as he pulls the bar down. Afterwards we spoke of this. I think he could've touched the 500 with the loose shirt if the belt was down. We also had to allow for the fact that he has lost about 25 pounds, so consequently his gut is smaller. The weight loss has helped him though as he is moving the bar a lot faster. His bar speed was the fastest I have ever seen it.

Boys, hike up dem britches,
Ed T.