Don't skip leg day

[clevermanka]

As I left the gym this morning, the eastern sky was the colors of a bomb pop and there was some planet (mckitterick would've known which one) was a blazing pinpoint in the darkest part of the blue. Gorgeous.

Yes, I was able to wake up in time to go to the gym again this morning. WOO HOO! Once again, I was the only person in the weight room except for the guys whom I've named (perhaps unfairly) The Douchebros. They're not spectacularly awful, and now that they've seen me doing actual Olympic Lifting on a regular basis I don't get the snickers and eyerolls they gave me when I first encountered them. On Tuesday one of them came over to help me remove a stuck spring clamp from a barbell. Wow, do I hate those spring clamps. I'm seriously considering buying my own set of Lock-Jaw Collars to bring with me to Robinson. But anyway, the Douchebros. They talk really loud and play the radio so I have to turn my MP3 player up pretty loud to drown them out. And all they do is upper body stuff, so they've got those body shapes that I find comical--super developed shoulders and arms (nearly no neck) and skinny legs with pretty much zero definition. I mean, I know it's hard for some guys to build leg muscles, but y'all aren't even trying. Not judging people's bodies is a big thing for me, now, but I'm not yet to the point where I don't judge other things, and the guys who lift only upper body stuff are as ripe for my derision as the guys who get on the Nautilus machines (always men, it is always men doing these things), make the weight super heavy and then do teensy little movements where they move the weight like three inches and think they're really building those muscles.



BTW, there's some fun stuff in the image results for "upper body weight meme."

"Skipping Leg Day" even shows up on Know Your Meme.

Awesome.

Aaaaaaaaaand I just remembered that I was supposed to do the summer course descriptions as well as the fall ones by noon, so BYE.

Comments

[etcet.livejournal.com]

It's squat day, assuming my back is up for it after seeing the chiro this afternoon. Otherwise, MOAR DEADLIFTS.

I suppose I could do leg curls and extensions, but that seems like cheating when the barbell is *right there*.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I did squats and deadlifts this morning, which seemed unfair until I remembered that I fucking love squats and deadlifts and doing them both really evens out the tired stiffness from all the kettlebell swinging.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

As a note of the inappropriate, College Daughter refuses to date any dude who are of the "skips leg day" species. She's dated a range of muscle-bound and lanky guys, but feels that skipping leg day is an indicator of non-debatable un-fuckability. Or something. Not sure how I feel about knowing that, as her mom, but there you go.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Well done, College Daughter. Well done.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

I hate squats even when I'm healthy (they're my worst lift, relatively speaking, so I *should* do them *more*), and something in my left hip needs to pop like whoah because it's out of optimal alignment from compensating for the compression fracture and the muscles have been tight as fuck in self-defense.

Now that I have my house back to myself (except for the cats), I will feel less self-conscious about doing weird workout things and, uh, not worrying about smacking my parents with a weight or leaving something large and metal in the middle of the floor where it presents a hazard to one or both of them. *shifty look*

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

[msmitti.livejournal.com]

Don't they look in a mirror? Ever? They have mirrors at the gym and lots of guys spend lots of time watching themselves lift. They should maybe try that to see that they have NO leg muscles and look silly.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Mirrors are a funny thing. They don't always reflect reality. I've learned that from observing myself in the mirror. Some days I think I look great. Some days I think I look flabby and bloated. But when I take measurements, I haven't gained or lost an inch.

So maybe these guys think they look fantastic? *shrug*

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

She's a kinesiology major, and has OPINIONS about that shit.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

FWIW, some women DO get big. My sister barely has to look at weights and her muscles get huge. In the meanwhile, I lift heavier and heavier and don't get much bigger. I just get harder.

I've known a few other women who do bulk up quickly. It's rare, but it does happen.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

That's one of those situations where the "danger" of getting big is SO RARE I'm not considering the exceptions. Basically it's a "But not ALL Men/White People/Fill In The Majority Of Your Choice are like that!!!" statement.

There are exceptions to EVERY SINGLE STATEMENT.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Yep! I just remember a female body builder a while back doing a, "Hey, guys? We do exist" sort of post. I wish I could find it. It was good.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

They can't see their legs past their pecs. *snrk*

[seascribe.livejournal.com]

You are a lot braver than me--people snickering at me would have me out of there in a flash.

(oh my god, real people actually do that? They look so silly. I mean, I appreciate your point about not making fun of bodies, but they are actively making theirs really weirdly proportioned)

[zitronenhai.livejournal.com]

When a guy is that disproportionate, I start to wonder if he's abusing steroids. Is that an unfair stereotype, or even based in reality?

Not judging people's bodies is a big thing for me, now, but I'm not yet to the point where I don't judge other things, and the guys who lift only upper body stuff are as ripe for my derision

You know, I am sure this is probably some bias I need to let go of, but I am creeped out by the skinny legs in those meme pictures, particularly the one on the right.

And now for a moment of superficiality on my part: I initially wanted to know more about philrancid after seeing a picture of him in shorts. I am a leg man.

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

Normally I cringe at the use of "douche" or "douchebag".. but Douchebros kind of made me laugh.

:small voice: I wanna work at KU and have a cool gym membership.
Can I be you for a day?

Luv ya!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

People snickering at me is an encouragement for me to do what I'm doing more often and with increased vigor. =D

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Guys can get that big without steroids. Which is not to say those guys aren't using steroids. Because I'm not sure that people like that have the inclination to put in the time it takes to get that big without steroids.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Interesting! I love the term douchebag because it's not a gendered slur and equates the person concerned with an utterly worthless object.

You can totally be me for a day, bb! But only a day because in spite of all my issues and problems I kinda like being me.

I kinda like you, too.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Re: I kinda like you, too.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

:D See, it's definitions. It's gendered for me, because I only ever heard of a douche bag was used for women to supposedly "clean" their vaginas. If it was used for a man, it was called an enema bag.
You got the more correct medical terminology!

But anyway... YOU:




ME:

[the-lucky-nun.livejournal.com]

Technical question: 1) what are the spring clamps for?
Also, what has your experience been with using Robinson, in terms of cost and convenience?

[siro-gravity.livejournal.com]

omg, those pictures are a RIOT!!! esp the one on the right where the legs are like matchsticks! haaa!!!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Spring clamps keep the weight plates from falling off the barbell.

Robinson is free for faculty and staff. The hours aren't great, but I can't complain about the free.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

SRSLY.

[the-lucky-nun.livejournal.com]

Good to know.

[femfataleatron.livejournal.com]

If they are using steroids they are doing it badly. Steroids are an equal opportunity builder, they don't care about leg days... If one did a cycle one might put on 15 pounds of muscle without lifting a weight, just 'cuz of the change in the endocrine environment. If one happens to pick up some weights during the cycle, the change might only be a couple more pounds... If however, one doubled ones workout volume, (which would normally cause some serious overtraining and maybe an injury) there would be a potential for serious (30#) gains. As one cycles PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) ones gains taper off slowly as ones body adapts to the new hormone environment. Just doing upper body exercise during a cycle would hardly make a difference to where the muscle was gained.
Oddly, there is not much evidence to suggest that just exercising the upper body and not the lower is the cause of this. Bodies try their best to maintain functionality and balance, and while it's possible to deprogram them, it's pretty hard to cause obvious imbalances without causing corresponding performance failures. (Standing bicep curls, also work your hamstrings!) There are just as many stories about folk who exercise their tiny little stick legs 'til doomsday and never gain any appreciable size, while becoming noticably stronger. There are at least three factors I can think of right now that could cause this appearance that could not easily be overcome with NOT skipping leg day.
In my own experience, skipping leg days all the time made no difference, my legs kept getting bigger. Apparently there were not enough leg days to skip...