My NROL Experience

[missjane]

Absolutely. Cannot. Do.

[tcoy777]

Do you buy Brooklyn beer locally or do you order it? I love that beer, but can not buy it around here. I think their Oktoberfest beer is the best I have ever had.

[stingo]

We get it locally, both kegs and cases. I thought it was appropriate in that my cousin and her husband live in Brooklyn. And they had one case of the Brooklyn O'fest left.

[stingo]

Originally Posted by missjane

Absolutely. Cannot. Do.

I doubt I can now either, as 1) I can still feel my midsection from yesterday's attempt and 2) got lots more water weight from the beer, so it's unlikely to happen lol.

[SpacecityPaula]

I think I'll be skipping superman planks for a while. I don't have energy for much else other than little things the past few days.

[DirtyMartini]

Originally Posted by stingo

...for me anyhow... Why? Because my keg of Hennepin Saison has kicked tonight, so the days are suddenly shorter, the nights abruptly colder, and the light itself more circumspect. But it's ok... for Oktoberfest started this week in Munich, which means of course that all the pumpkin beers and marzens are fair game. I hope to pick up my keg of Southampton's Pumpkin Ale tomorrow. *Rubs hands together gleefully*

Loved this post.

I tried Southern Tier's Pumpking ale last weekend and it was... interesting. A bit too floral for my liking, but certainly not the worst pumpkin ale I've had.

I CANNOT WAIT for the winter seasonals. Aged barlewines, Christmas ales, spiced beers.... I'm salivating as I type.

Originally Posted by Espi

Superman planks = aptly named, and you bet I couldn't do those. Nor most others here I guess (or hope?)

Silly me, I read Tom's description of them and thought, "surely they can't be THAT hard" - even after reading several people's claims they couldn't do them.

Yeah, no. Not even close.

[stingo]

Originally Posted by SpacecityPaula

I think I'll be skipping superman planks for a while. I don't have energy for much else other than little things the past few days.

Heh no worries Paula - you've got enough to deal with without having to worry about working out.

Originally Posted by DirtyMartini

Loved this post.

I tried Southern Tier's Pumpking ale last weekend and it was... interesting. A bit too floral for my liking, but certainly not the worst pumpkin ale I've had.

I CANNOT WAIT for the winter seasonals. Aged barlewines, Christmas ales, spiced beers.... I'm salivating as I type.

Silly me, I read Tom's description of them and thought, "surely they can't be THAT hard" - even after reading several people's claims they couldn't do them.

Yeah, no. Not even close.

Interesting - the Pumpking is all the rage on the beer board I frequent. Me? I'll be happy with the Southampton Pumpkin Ale. It's not a world beater, but it's a good beer for a nice price. If you can get your hands on Brooklyn's O'fest offering, try it - it's a meatier version of the O'fest style that I like a lot. And to be honest? I had a keg of apple cider on in the fall one year and that was really nice too - Woodchuck Apple I think it was.

As for the winter seasonals, yes, I think that's when the brewers can really let loose and go crazy with what they come up with. Troegs' Mad Elf, Victory's Old Horizontal and Storm King (though I think SK is produced year round now ), Bethlehem Brew Works' Rudolph's Reserve (or whatever they're calling it this year due to copyright issues) and Delirium Noel are all welcome at my table in the colder months.

As for the superman plank, I feel like I should make a video of it when I clear out the water weight from the beer, so you can see what I'm talking about. Would hate to have people not being able to do it because they're doing it wrong.

[stingo]

None today - I walked into an impromptu staff meeting so I really had to stick around. All that does is spare me seeing a really high number on the scale today due to the beer and pizza this weekend. Ah well, back to the grindstone.

[Karen411]

Originally Posted by stingo

As for the superman plank, I feel like I should make a video of it when I clear out the water weight from the beer, so you can see what I'm talking about. Would hate to have people not being able to do it because they're doing it wrong.

If you get a chance, I'd love to see it . I tried from several angles and the only way I could even begin to get it is if I had my elbows to brace from so they had to be closer to my body than they would be for a traditional superman. And that's not even how I envision it's supposed to be done, just the only way I could lift myself off the floor .

[stingo]

We'll see - I'm not sure I can get it done this week for the reasons I mentioned above, but also because I have some DOMS left over from Saturday's attempts. I know that I tried a few preparatory planks with my arms closer in, and on the first attempt at the full one I really felt the upper part of my lower back muscles, but my midsection didn't come off the ground. After resting a bit and trying again, it felt like everything came up at once. I'm not sure if I was in full superman position but if not, I was pretty close.

[stingo]

All weights in pounds.

A Turkish Getup 2x5@25 (each side)

B One-Arm Swings 2x10@62.5 (each side)

C Core Push Press + Goblet Squats 3x10@52.5

D Assisted Pull-up 1x10@-130, 2x10@-145

E1 Front Squat + High Pull 3x12@62.25 (each side)
E2 Front Squat + Lateral Raise 3x12@17.5 (each side)

F1 Pushups 3x15@BW (each side)
F2 Row 3x10@62.5 (each side)

A Turkish Getup - Remember when I was talking about DOMS in my midsection earlier? Well, they were very much in evidence here.

B One-Arm Swings - Symmetry re-achieved as I added the platemates to get to 62.5.

C Core Push Press + Goblet Squats - Arms were pretty ok here, it was the legs that did the complaining.

D Assisted Pull-up - Led off with a set of -130 today but I knew that wouldn't hold for the next two sets, so I backed it off to -145.

E1 Front Squat + High Pull - Difficult to start, but once started it got easier.

E2 Front Squat + Lateral Raise - Getting more control here.

F1 Push-ups - 15 for all sets, which brings the total number of push-ups done to 90.

F2 Rows - This seems a lot easier than the push-ups - not sure why, but they do.

Overall - Metabolic difficulty today, as well as extra sweat, no doubt due to the extra water weight I'm carrying around. Still, a good showing regardless. Wednesday will be the last time I'll be doing this workout as it's time for a change, which Tim will give me on Saturday.

[stingo]

Two women - my guess both were in their late 20's/early 30's. Both were attractive, with average bodies (neither fat, nor ripped - just natural). They spent about half an hour to 45 minutes on the treadmill on a steady walking pace, talking straight through it. Then they moved to the weight machines (still talking), where I happened to notice in the mirror they were both using as little weight as possible. They then moved to do a few dumbbell exercises (I think curls was one - didn't see the others), but I did notice that the 5lb weights (and maybe the 8lb) weights were being used. Most of the weight stuff happened while I was finishing C (core push press + squat) and starting D (assisted pullups). I don't know what their goals are, but I couldn't help but think they'd be better served moving more weight than what they were using. Also, I'm not putting them down - just wondering in the sense that, to me, if you're going to set aside the time to train, that you should really TRAIN. As a side question, I wonder what benefit they think would accrue from what they did...? (A rhetorical question really, but thought I'd throw it out there.)

[tcoy777]

I see that stuff all the time at my Y. Men and Women, talking on their cell phones while doing cardio and then fumbling around the gym doing nothing more then wasting time. For those that are extremely over weight, I really wish the trainers would take time out and help them.

Like you not putting them down. I was them a year ago, fumbling around not knowing how to really lift and gain muscle or strength.

[tkinsley]

Originally Posted by stingo

Two women - my guess both were in their late 20's/early 30's. Both were attractive, with average bodies (neither fat, nor ripped - just natural). They spent about half an hour to 45 minutes on the treadmill on a steady walking pace, talking straight through it. Then they moved to the weight machines (still talking), where I happened to notice in the mirror they were both using as little weight as possible. They then moved to do a few dumbbell exercises (I think curls was one - didn't see the others), but I did notice that the 5lb weights (and maybe the 8lb) weights were being used. Most of the weight stuff happened while I was finishing C (core push press + squat) and starting D (assisted pullups). I don't know what their goals are, but I couldn't help but think they'd be better served moving more weight than what they were using. Also, I'm not putting them down - just wondering in the sense that, to me, if you're going to set aside the time to train, that you should really TRAIN. As a side question, I wonder what benefit they think would accrue from what they did...? (A rhetorical question really, but thought I'd throw it out there.)

Oh come on, Tom... you know they just want to "tone" and don't want to get "bulky".

It's sad that this is still in the popular imagination of how weightlifting works, huh?

[stingo]

Originally Posted by tcoy777

I see that stuff all the time at my Y. Men and Women, talking on their cell phones while doing cardio and then fumbling around the gym doing nothing more then wasting time. For those that are extremely over weight, I really wish the trainers would take time out and help them.

Like you not putting them down. I was them a year ago, fumbling around not knowing how to really lift and gain muscle or strength.

Yup - I was the same way... My original trainers had me doing the bosu ball and mostly machine stuff. Looking back on it now, it's another way to see how far I've come. My balance is so much better now, and I didn't step on a bosu ball or use a stability ball in a long time.

Originally Posted by tkinsley

Oh come on, Tom... you know they just want to "tone" and don't want to get "bulky".

It's sad that this is still in the popular imagination of how weightlifting works, huh?

I doubt the weights they were using would've let them do that. And I'm not referencing just women here - I've