Such an Ass….

Does anyone have that friend that just ALWAYS has to tell the truth?  They can’t ever just gloss over the fact that the person you’re talking to is totally full of crap and will never make it to a professional MMA career, or has zero chance with the guyat the bar that she’s been oogling for the last two hours?  Unfortunately, that’s me.  I’m very honest, and sadly short on tact.  On my very best behavior, I’ve been known to let a few things go but it causes me physical pain.  In my mind, I’m screaming the entire time, “JUST SHUT UP!!!!”    But on most days, I’m the Debbie Downer that walks around crushing people’s dreams.

Case in point.  I was approached by an acquaintance at the gym yesterday.  I was in the middle of my 5×5 @ 80% bench workout when she came over to talk.  First she commented on the weight that I was lifting.  This is always awakward for me.  Thanks?  It really wasn’t much though. It was more of a volume set, so the weight was lower than what I would/could use.  Of course, trying to explain that just makes me sounds like an egomaniac.  “Thanks, but I can actually lift a shit ton more…just didn’t feel like it today (while flexing of course).”  Then she said, “You’re ripped.  I want to look like you some day.”  What do you say to that?  A normal person would probably say, thanks!  Me…no.  I said, “well, a lot of it is genetics.”  Seriously…that’s what I said.  Like I was just born this way or something…stupid.  Of course, that’s not what I meant.  I was trying to refer to the whole meso-, endo-, ectomorph thing and how different people add muscle differently.  Just to give you some background….here is an exaggerated comparison of her and me.

Her:

Me:

So you see what I’m saying.  I’m short and stocky.  I make gains somewhat easily…whether it’s muscle or fat.  She, on the other hand, is tall and skinny with no visible muscle on her at all…not even a quad.  So it’s going to be a bit more of a challenge for her to get “ripped”.  After bluntly explaining that, I moved on to her workouts.  Right now, she’s doing more cardio based workouts with some lifting incorporated, but it’s all high reps with low weight.  Well that’s not going to work.  Yeah, I told her that too (*wincing*).  So within 60 seconds of her complementing me by saying she wanted to look like me, I told her that it was likely unattainable due to her genetic predisposition AND that she’s never going to get there by doing the workouts she’s doing anyway.  WTF?  I am SUCH and ass.  She took it like a champ though.  I swear, next time I’m just going to say thank you.  I’m going to have to take her through a powerlifting workout or two to make up for this one!!

On the plus side, I’ve been having some great workouts this week.  No failed attempts, no excessive levels of pain.  Overall, I’m happy.  I did have to suffer through Wednesday’s deadlift workout with no chalk.  My poor hands were a mess after that one, but I survived.  My bench workout was good yesterday, and my shoulders are still holding up, thankfully.  This morning’s workout was probably the best one of the week though.  I did box squats 10×2 at 62.5%.  Last week I did them at 50% and they were a joke, so I just used 135 this morning and got it over with.  Then I had 4×8 front squats.  I did 115 last week and it wasn’t too bad. I was pretty sore this morning so I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to sustain much of a jump, but I eventually talked myself into it….125 pounds.  It seriously wasn’t that bad.  It even made me think that I should really give 135 a shot again.  I have to admit, I’d be pretty proud of myself if I could do sets of 135 pound front squats.  It’s a goal!

What are your gym goals?  Do you have a weight that you’ve been flirting with for a while?  Come on….put it in writing!  Or tell me about your best “foot in mouth” story….it will make me feel better.

Have a great Father’s Day weekend!!!