Before this site was active, I would repeat a quote to my friends in creepily deep voice; “You gotta make sacrifices if you wanna be…70’s Big…”
It’s true. Everyone isn’t a genetic freak so you have to work hard for your strength and muscle gains. You have to put in the time, do the work, and eat right. Sometimes “eating right” means “eating lots”. Can you dig it?
Here is the shopping list that Harrison (5’9″, 185, up from 160) and his roommate used when they shopped at Costco recently. He said it’ll last them about a week.
32 chicken breasts
5 ribeye steaks
4 pounds of ground beef
4 packs of bacon
Pork spare ribs
126 eggs
Wheat Bread
Huge bag of frozen vegetables
Almond Butter
Fish Oil
Glucosamine
Alieve
Whey
Fresh Spinach
Huge bag of carrots
Huge bag of walnuts
Fresh asparagus
Many gallons of whole milk
Many fruits (apples, oranges, bannanas, strawberries, peaches, pineapple)
Teeth Whitening Strips (gotta stay pretty)
Case of beer because we ran out of home brew ale (gotta stay happy)
Here is the accompanying picture:
In related news, Michael e-mailed me about someone throwing down a challenge at work. Since he was the only “Man” in the department (only guy above 200 lbs.), he kindly obliged to attack The Whopper Challenge.
The Whopper Challenge consists of a Triple Whopper, Double Whopper, Single Whopper, and Whopper Jr. in one sitting. There is an hour time limit, but Michael shrugged that off (Brent told him to) and finished in a smug 17 minutes. The meal netted Michael around 3100 calories. Anybody want to challenge his time?
It’s time to get serious. What sacrifices have you made?
James Henderson tells it like it is (his sweet haircut and shirt that says “BAAD” reaffirm this fact). He impressively preaches many lessons in the following video, and I’ll highlight some of them for you (you’ll appreciate them more if you watch the video, because Henderson is awesome).
Lesson 1: Light repetitions, heavy weights
You can’t get strong unless you lift heavy weights, yes. Heavier weights are necessary for structures to adapt and to neurologically get used to handling heavy weights. And light reps. Yeah c’mon.
Lesson 2: Thank you very much.
Be nice to everyone, even if you’re a big, imposing figure.
Lesson 3: Take your time, and do it right.
Be patient with strength training. Over time, you won’t need “all that fancy stuff like shirts and drugs”. It’s easy to say if you’re a massive human being, but exhaust solid training before reverting to other means.
Lesson 4: If you take shortcuts, you get short responses.
“We believe in workin’ for what you get, ya know, ain’t nothin’ gonna be givin’ to you.”
Lesson 5: “Why play with little change when you can go for the big dollars?”
Lesson 6: Be positive about your workout.
James requests 405 on the bar (to bench with), and says, “Gonna have a good workout today. A powerful workout.” There’s not doubt in his mind he’s gonna move some weight.
Lesson 7: Respect your warm-ups.
Watch James bench 405 for a few reps, then go back and watch him bench 225. They don’t look that different, and it’s because he reps out the light weights the same way that he’ll rep out the heavier weights. Respect your warm-up sets. At the very least you won’t expend any unneeded energy on lighter weights because of bad form, and you’ll establish solid motor pathways.
Lesson 8: Blow off some stress.
Training can be a sufficient outlet for stress. It’s probably preferable to murder.
Lesson 9: Call out your spotters.
If they aren’t doing their job, accuse them of being drunk.
(See 5:30 of the video. Might be the best part.)
Lesson 10: The Zone is a delicate place, and it requires good people and a good environment.
Pretty self explanatory. This is why there are a lot lifters who opt to train in their garage instead of the local fitness gyms.
Lesson 11: Speed.
Think speed on all of your lifts and it will make it feel faster, even on the heavier lifts. James did 500 for 6 reps while thinking “speed”, and THEN he bumped on up to 600 for a triple. His focus at 500 was to move the weight fast. Moving a weight fast will increase the number of muscle fibers that are innervated, so James is on the right track.
Sorry Brent, we’re gonna talk about football again. Roger Gooddell, the commissioner of the NFL, and the team owners want to increase the regular season from 16 games to 18. This would be a good thing because they’d eliminate the worthless pre-season games, but then the owners want more games (because they want to match or increase their revenue). Some of the players realize the problem here:
“I would vote to eliminate two preseason games and then keep it at a 16-game season because the longer you’re out there playing, the more your body breaks down,” Chicago Bears tight end Desmond Clark said. “When you get into December, you’re like walking zombies. You can’t feel your joints.”
The players are TURNING INTO ZOMBIES! OMG!!!1111@!@!11!224ehjr09fujdlvkn
NFL players have resorted to eating BRAINS and the NFL wants to increase the season? I always knew there would be a zombie outbreak, and now I know the source of its inception. (GASP)…Is this a dream? I’m gonna need a kick. But…how can you kick me without any gravity?
All right, the point is that the only thing left to seal the deal on the 18 game season is playing nice with the player’s union. Let’s just assume this will happen, much like we have to assume the whole “death, taxes, and Brent Kim will be shrugging” thing. NFL players get injured enough as it is in the 16 games they already have. A quick search yielded this bit of research about injuries in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association. Regardless if it’s good research or not (I only skimmed it), we know intuitively that players are more likely to be injured in a game, on turf, if they are veteran players, if they are fatigued, and if they have a pre-existing injury. Injuries can remove a player from participating in practice and games, or it can be a less severe injury that the player has to deal with depending on their position.
The point is that football players are injured enough, and now the work load is going to be increased to a point that will be more difficult to handle, genetic freak or not. It’s obvious that pre-season games don’t garner the same physical effort or intensity as real games, and the real games are where guys are more likely to get hurt. Owners don’t realize that this will be debilitating to their investments (the players), and players will find a way to survive: steroids or other drug enhancement.
Cooking has become increasingly popular over the years on television, and it has branched throughout the internet. I’d like to share two websites, Bargain Bites and swEEts, that may entice some of you. These sites are run by lovely ladies that are friends of mine who are also married to or dating some of my good friends. For those who are looking for delicious soup recipes, consider visiting sites like https://makeadish.net/recipe/french-onion-soup-du-jour/.
Bargain Bites is pretty cool because it is focused on cooking all different kinds of foods while on a budget, and Aimee, who runs the site, has created all of the recipes on her own. She was just telling me the other day about her Triple Threat Cookies that look pretty awesome.
swEEts is run by Evan, another third of the top three funniest girls I know, and is full of, well, sweets — cookies, cupcakes, cakes, buttercreams/icings, breads, breakfast foods, and other desserts. Some of you might be amused by these Guinness and Bailey’s Swirl Brownies:
I can personally vouch for the cooking and baking prowess for both of these gals (especially Evan’s cookies, oh man), so you can just slobber at the recipes or give it a try. Both would be more than happy to help you out if you wanted to e-mail them.
We’ve also had quite a few posts on 70’s Big about food, and I’ll recap some of them here.
Chicken Fried Steak by Gant — First and second posts
Gant is also the king of barbecue — Brisket and lots of meat (totally no homo, Gant doesn’t play like that)
Jacob shares his chili recipe Eating to gain
And a great post by Gant on general eating habits that is applicable to lifters and people trying to eat healthy.
That should have made you hungry, so let’s talk about food in the comments. You can talk about your favorite food or what you’ve eaten recently. In the last few weeks I’ve had three of my favorite meals that my mom makes; pork loin, buffalo wings, and chicken and dumplings. It is the bayst.
Act: 2010 Olympic Weightlifting European Championships
Scene: 105+kg weight class
Actors: 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Matthias Steiner (144.4kg body weight), 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist Evgeny Chigishev (130.6kg), 20 year old Ruben Aleksanyan (144.5kg)
Snatch
The 20 year-old Aleksanyan opened with a pretty solid 190kg snatch. Steiner, who hasn’t competed since the 2008 Olympic games, took the same weight as his opener. Steiner racked the weight solidly overhead but had a hesitation in the bottom of the snatch before he stood up with the good lift. Chigishev, who was beaten by Steiner by 1kg at the 2008 Olympics, opened with a beautifully easy 195kg. Even though Chigishev has gained 6kg since the Olympics, he still weighs 15kg less than the other two lifters, but looks extremely strong and powerful (especially with his beard). Aleksanyan hit 195 for his second attempt all though he had to wrestle with the squat. Steiner lost his second attempt of 195 behind, much to his chagrin. He went for it again on his final attempt, but looked slow on the pull and never racked the bar. Aleksanyan called for 197 on his third and final attempt, but didn’t pull the bar high enough for a no lift. Chigishev lumbered to the bar for his second attempt of 200kg, and it almost looks like the bar flies out of his hands before he racks it. Easy second attempt for Chigishev. He asked for 205 on his third attempt, pulled the bar, racked it, and squatted it with some trouble, but it looked good for his third made lift. This was significant for Chigishev because he is only 6kg away from his best of 211kg, and he’s doing it 2 years out from the 2012 Olympics. Look for him to storm into those games looking for retribution for his missed opportunity in 2008.
Looks like Chigishev is gonna roll with this one, right? Not so fast my friends…
Clean and Jerk
Steiner opened with a white lighted 230kg clean and jerk that seemed some where in the range of medium to heavy. Chigishev opened with pretty standard 235, although I would have expected him to be a little faster on the clean (the front squat was easy, though). Steiner calls for 236 on his second. The clean required some extra oomph but it was never in doubt, but he had to wrestle the jerk into place once he racked it. Nevertheless it was still good for a 2-1 good decision. Not to be out done, Aleksanyan hit 237 for his opener. The clean wasn’t picture perfect, but he rocked the piss out of his jerk. And here’s where things get a little hairy…
Chigishev came back out for his second attempt of 240, and he was ready to do work. You could tell he was going to hit his lifts and force the other two lifters to push it for a medal advancement. He cleaned the weight and started squatting it up when his thigh comes up lame. He missed the lift and would sit out for the rest of the competition. Chigishev was sitting on a 440 total. Ain’t too shabby, but now his European Championship was in jeopardy. Aleksanyan smells blood so he calls for 246 on his second attempt to go into the gold medal position. He has a victorious, yet tough clean, and then left the jerk out front. No lift. Aleksanyan follows himself to repeat the 246 on third attempt. This is fucking competition after all. The clean and front squat were equally painful, and then he held the jerk overhead for a wonderful instant…but he let it drift forward and he tried to hang on but it drove him into the ground. No lift. A valiant effort by the 20 year old who was crushed by his defeat.
But don’t forget about Steiner. He’s been watching in the back this whole time and has One. More. Lift. He had found himself in a eerily similar situation to the 2008 Olympcis. All Chigishev can do is watch from the warm-up room. The room is tense as Steiner approaches the bar. The clean is racked, and Steiner is stuck, seemingly pinned at the bottom. He battled with the bar, and by god Steiner is a fighter, and the crowd roared as he ground out a dead stop front squat with about 550 pounds. Steiner, who is known for his come from behind victory, knew he was close. He dipped, he drove, but it wasn’t enough. The bar fell to the floor as he agonized over his loss.
