Strength in numbers (and with lots of rest!)

"As a young lad of influential age, I was counselled to live by three rules... Get eight hours of sleep. Real men don't wear pink. And summer muscles are made in the winter." -- Achieving ODJ

When its strength phase, a partner is always appreciated. First and foremost as a spotter (safety first!) Then as a comic distraction during the long rest. Strength phase is a slow grind with short burst of excitement followed by three minutes of sitting around. Every exercise is five sets of five with 180 ticks between each. The worst math student would have little trouble surmising that four exercises can get a touch long in the tooth... so having a partner is key. For Jaron and I, a great deal of our raw material for the blog is produced during rest periods.

As stated in the last post, we had to clear up a matter of contention surrounding concentration curls. Long story short, my poor technique inflated my weight selection. To the excitement of Jaron, who held his composure, but admittedly felt concern over the possibility of a large gulf in bicep curl weight, we are still equals in the right arm. However, I am taking a 5lbs leap for my left. Jaron quickly resolved my look of confusion over the difference in weight. "You carry around babies!" He went on to state; "We're right-handers. We carry all the bulk in the left hand so the skilled operations are handled with the right." But I'm still not sure I believe his theory... he is strong in both arms. I guess some mysteries are not meant to be solved. Maybe we'll tackle that one in 2015.

To all our loyal readers who read in spite of our dribble, and to my partner in pain who writes with me in spite of our audience, I wish everyone a Happy New Year. May your resolutions make it past MLK Day. I end another great year of snark and self-deprecating humor with this quote: "Don't blame the holidays. You were fat in August!"   

Chest & Triceps                                                                      
Incline press - Hammer Strength       105lbs/side    
Decline press - Hammer Strength      125lbs/side
Tricep press - machine                           230lbs
Chest Fly - machine 2 arms                  190lbs

Back & Biceps
Pull ups - overhand grip                    
One arm rows - Hammer Strength      135lbs
Concentration curs                                   30lbs
Bent over one arm DB rows                    65lbs

Legs
Leg press - weighted sled                    540 + sled
18" box step ups with DB                    Two 40's
Front squats on Smith Machine       135lbs
Donkey Calf                                            135lbs

40 by 40

Common folk: "Hey Jaron, you were a swimmer? I was a swimmer too... in high school."
Jaron: "No. You swam. You were not a swimmer."

 The taper for my swim meet was fun; and getting fat while resting for the meet was even funner. My coach actually said to me after one of my more exciting races; "Could you imagine how face you could go if you lost weight and trained more!?!" I told him, "skinny Jarvis is not fun Jarvis." But in reality I need to trim 20 large off my score card to really get the most out of the pool and the weight room. So I guess it's time to buy a ticket for the wagon and get back to business.

This chubby boy is back on the wagon as of today! However, unlike years past this next go around of dieting, complaining, lifting, mocking, and blogging will be dedicated to Jaron's goal completion. Outside of a suicide challenge I am working toward, which will remain classified for the near future until we agree it is worth the pain and embarrassment, my efforts in the gym will be supportive. Jaron is turning the big "4-oh my gosh!" in April of 2015; and more importantly celebrating the occasion on a tropical beach. And as any loyal reader of this rag will recall, the Evangelist of Ego refuses to travel abroad without a firm base tan and solid summer muscles to impress the ladies. Hence 40 by 40!

kinda...

Since Jaron is a reformed fat guy who rarely relapses, there is no way for him to lose 40 pounds. But titling this entry "27 by 40" would be a bull in my fung shway china shop. Cue my supportive role. I will be covering the balance of his weight loss for this challenge. I am hoping his vanity carries him well past the 30 grape fruit mark. I'm good for a dime -- anything else could cause my obesity to flare up. I would prefer not to shock the system. I'm married, comfortable in my invisibility to the ladies, and I ain't got no dragons to slay this spin around the sun. Don't need to kill myself this year... Just focus on being a supportive workout partner for one of my brothers from another mother. Trim enough L-B's to get us to 40, keep the old lady on the verge of jealousy, and avoid man-boobs. Everything else will be gravy in Twenty-15.

Next blog will outline our current strength phase and progress to date. I made a game time decision to hold off on publishing this round's exercises that Jaron has laid forth. We need to clear up a point of doubt to ensure our code of ethics around full disclosure and crystal clear transparency is upheld. It's no minor point. There are possibly "student becomes the master" type implications. You'll just have to "concentrate" on the next blog.

Post script: Rumor has it ladies, Jaron "The ODJ" will be submitting a shirtless photo from his aforementioned beach trip.