Day 44 -- Working Out with Mr. America

Want to increase the effectiveness of your work outs? How about working out with a guy who actually placed in the Mr. America competition. My buddy Ken placed in the Mr. America competition quite a few years ago, but he is still extremely buff. I mean humongous! I have always been very intimidated to work out with him even though he has frequently invited me and we are very good friends. So I finally got up my courage and decided to let him "bring on the pain!" I met him yesterday at Gold's Gym in Herndon and the manager immediately gave "any friend of Ken's" a free 7-day trial membership. The pass lasts until September 3, 2008, which is the day before I fly off to California to start a new job and new life. So until then, it's just me and Ken at the gym every evening. Last night we worked on our backs. We "warmed up" doing a lift with a barbell wedged in a rack on one side and 45lb plates on the side we were lifting. Ken said the inside grip was better than the similar machine with the bicycle-type handle bars. I liked it cuz it felt "old school." Next, I learned how to do proper dead lifts. Dead lifts are apparently the best exercise ever invented for total body workout. Next we did a machine that was like a lat pull but worked more my upper back and Ken had me keep doing the exercise while he took off the plates and I couldn't pull back on the handles anymore without any plates left. So here I am feeling like if a two-year old ran into me I would fall over and Ken says we would finish up with pull ups. I have not completed a pull up for years. I say completed, not attempted, because about three months ago I was at a playground with my kids and I attempted a pull-up. I also charlie-horsed in both arms about half-way up. So, to my amazement, I did complete two pull ups and then Ken grabbed my feet and made me do 3 more. Needless to say, my back is very sore today. The great thing about today is I learned how (at 40 years old) to finally do proper squats. Ken trained me with just the barbell first and then I worked my way up to 185lbs. But the absolutely amazing thing was to watch Ken squat 400+lbs. That is 4 big plates on each side. The steal barbell actually bends down it has so much weight on it. There were some teenagers next to us squatting in the 200lb range and they all stopped and starred with amazement, just like me. Then Ken told me about back in the day when he would squat 600+lbs. Anyway, this post is getting long, so I will just say that I could barely walk down the steps from the gym when Ken was done with me tonight. Tomorrow -- biceps and triceps -- Wahoo!