I bought the TrueNutrition.com 38 Flavor sample pack.
Cookie Dough.
This was a let down. I love cookie dough ice cream. I love cookies. So I guess I had particular expectations of flavor, and when this didn’t meet them it was a real let down.
The flavor wasn’t bad, but it just wasn’t what I wanted. I tried to place what it was about it, but just couldn’t come up with a way to describe it.
To be fair, I figure this is more a failure of expectation than anything about the flavor itself.
I bought the TrueNutrition.com 38 Flavor sample pack.
Citrus Limeade.
This was better than the Old-Fashioned Lemonade, but maybe because it was mixed in milk. I have to say tho, all the artificial colors are what you’d expect… the Lemonade was a bright (like neon) yellow. This Citrus Limeade was a bright neon green. The flavor wasn’t as off-putting as the Lemonade was, but it still didn’t float my boat. Pass.
I bought the TrueNutrition.com 38 Flavor sample pack.
Old-fashioned Lemonade
Um… no.
I had this in water and it… well… just no. Maybe if it tasted more like Countrytime, maybe. But… well, no. 🙂
I bought the TrueNutrition.com 38 Flavor sample pack.
Orange Creamsicle.
Wow. That brought back some childhood memories! I don’t think I’ve had a creamsicle since I was a kid, but my Mom bought them for us all the time. And boy if this didn’t nail that flavor…. yes, powerful enough to bring back memories of childhood. And good memories too. I sure did like creamsicles.
Still, that was childhood and today, not so much. 🙂 I don’t think I could drink this on a regular basis. But I could see this making a good basis for a fruit smoothie.
The workout of no workout.
I’m not dragging the sled today. As mentioned in yesterday’s workout post, an old ankle injury is flaring up. I don’t need to inflict more damage on it. 😦
I bought the TrueNutrition.com 38 Flavor sample pack.
Cookies and Cream.
Mmm… Good. Well, if you like something that’s kinda like drinking an Oreo cookie. And yes, you better mix this one in milk. 🙂
And it wasn’t too sweet. Just a nice flavor, not too strong, but not too weak either. I liked.
This morning as I got into the shower after my workout, I looked in the mirror and realized my ass has gotten bigger.
All hail the mighty squat. 🙂
And I thought about how much I actually hate to squat. It’s always been the movement I liked the least. And I reckon it still is, relatively speaking. But I did realize that I don’t hate it as much as I used to. How to get good at what you hate? Keep doing it until you don’t hate it any more. You probably hate it because you suck at it, so keep doing it because that’s the only way you’ll stop sucking at it. It’s like shooting weak-hand-only… I still suck at it, but I don’t hate it so much because I practice it more and have gotten a lot better at it. And same with squats.
But then I started to think what my favorite lift is. I still think it’s deadlift, because there’s just something so basic about picking up heavy things. It’s probably also because it’s the lift I can move the most absolute weight with, but I really think it’s the visceral primitiveness of it all that appeals to me somewhere deep down inside.
So on that note, I was surprised to find that what came in a very close second was the Press.
Yes, Bench Press is relegated to 3rd place.
While The Almighty Bench is such a hallmark of weightroom manliness, I like the Press even more, probably because no one does it. And probably because it’s also got this visceral primitiveness… because once you pick something up, what’s a logical thing to do with it? Lift it over your head! (or maybe throw it). It’s hard to do. It’s a little scary. It’s intimidating. And you just can’t move a big number… it takes a while to work up to being able to put 45’s on and press it up for reps. It’s even more work to get to pressing your bodyweight. And so, it’s not as ego gratifying, and people are going to stay away from it because it’s hard.
And maybe that’s why I like it so much.
So by wonderful coincidence, this morning Mark Rippetoe publishes an article all about the Press.
Yes, this video is awesome:
And Mark is awesome:
But if the real reason you don’t want to press is the fact that you don’t want to confront a hole – likely a gaping-ass hole – in your strength, then the bar is right: you’re a pussy.
Lifting is hard. Lifting heavy weights is harder. Swallowing your ego and making yourself better is hardest.
I bought the TrueNutrition.com 38 Flavor sample pack.
Watermelon Wave.
Another one that’s ok for what it is, but just too sweet for me. Just not my flavor preference. Heck, in a bag of Jolly Ranchers, watermelon is my least favorite.
But I still get a kick out of watching the color change when the powder mixes with the liquid.
I’m glad I listened to my body.
“Week 1”
My body was feeling beat up, so I took last week off. I’m glad I did. I figured since I had already completed 1 week of cycle 12, I’d just start over, still call it cycle 12, and do week 1 again. I figure as long as I can meet what I did, I’m happy.
I actually could have done more this week. My squats felt good. Yes I was falling forward a bit on the last set, but I was moving fast and using a lot of power. I really felt good, went deep, etc.. I made no conscious decision nor thought before the workout, but as soon as I started getting under the bar I found myself working to make my entire upper body tight: grip the hell out of the bar, flare my lats, tighten the torso, everything upstairs got tight as hell. I didn’t manage to keep it 100%, but I tried my best and boy it made a difference. I also thought about things like raising my butt first (not my knees), pressing with the arms, press my head back into the bar… all these things just happened, maybe not together, maybe not in the best of ways, but I didn’t think about lifting all last week (other than the sled drags) and I think the time away let some things sink into my head. Good stuff.
Bench… heck, that just flew. I could have done more, but opted to stay fresh. Again another case of really working on form, staying tight, squeeze the hell out of the bar with my hands — that really helps cue the whole body to be tight.
Assistance work was whatever it was. no fuss, no muss.
Felt good. Well, mostly good. Years ago I blew out my left ankle doing some martial arts stuff. This past weekend it started to flare up on me and it still kinda hurts. I opted to drive to the gym instead of walk today, just to avoid any extra wear and tear — save it for squats. Glad I did. Move Aleve for me today….
I bought the TrueNutrition.com 38 Flavor sample pack.
Concord Grape Juice.
When you think of this flavor you think of Welch’s. And, it was true to that sort of flavor.
Of course, it turned purple in milk (purple cow, anyone?).
I do not really care for the Welch’s Concord Grape… jelly, juice, whatever. It’s too sweet to me, and tastes more like a candy than a grape. But this mix wasn’t as sweet as I was fearing. I actually kinda liked it. It’s not what I’d normally go for, but really, I could see drinking this again. I’m not sure about 10# worth of the stuff, but yeah, I could go for it again.
Stuff From Hsoi 