Michigan Muscle Boy

Nice Workout at the Sweat Shop

I missed yesterday's max strength (MxS) workout because I shot over to the Platte River for a little tubing and beach fun.  However, today I went over to the Sweat Shop where Jason Paris workouts and trains clients.  It's a nice homey atmosphere, a little like the Outback that I visited several months ago with Nancy. 

There are a lot of average gyms out there.  What really differentiates them is the quality of the people.  I liked the people there.

Since I'm on vacation, I've realized that MxS is likely not to be possible, particularly under the regimen we're following.  It seems silly not to do anything though, so I decided to do a bit of hypertrophy from the program.  Here's the workout:

• Triceps extensions (70% 1RM): 75/8X4
• Behind neck pulldown (70% 1RM): 110/8X4
• Bent Arm Dumbbell Laterals (60% 1RM): 15/8X4
• Dumbbell Shrugs (70% 1RM): 55/8X4
• Lumbar Extensions: 12X4

Hypertrophy at the Underpowered Powerhouse in Traverse City

I worked out on vacation at the Powerhouse in Traverse City, MI.  Nancy had worked out here when she was up here a week ago. 

The equipment was adequate, but the room was hot.  Men and women had to share a locker room while the women's locker was being renovated.  Almost needless to say, I saw no women the whole time I was there, a real rarity even at muscle gyms.  Nancy's tougher and more singleminded than most, super serious about training.  That must be how she made it through.

At any rate, I did manage a solid H workout.  Here it is:

• Triceps extensions (70%):  75/8X4
• Behind neck pull down (70%):  105/8X4
• Standing dumbbell lateral (70%): 17.5/8X4
• Smith Machine Lunge (70%): 125/8X4
• Swiss ball crunches: 4X12
• Incline biceps dumbbell curl (70%): 30/8X2; 35/8X2

Jason Paris, who lives up here, recommended The Sweat Shop, but said it was small.  I'm going to give it a try for Max Strength Day tomorrow.  One nice thing is that it is closer to where we are than Powerhouse.

Gold's Gym in Ann Arbor, WOW!

Nancy and I visited this fantastic new gym in Ann Arbor, Gold's.  It's the town's best lifting gym, no questions asked.  The picture at left  (click on thumbnail to enlarge) shows the three Hammerstrength benches this gym sports.  In the distance, you can see the two lifting cages and the Smith machine.  On the left are the dumbbells going from 5 to 120 lbs.  To the right are Hammerstrength machines such as the iso-lateral front press we used in our workout there.

LifeFitness equipment and one or two Free Motion pieces complete the round-up for all classes of lifters.  Cardio machines are out front.

This clip (Quicktime, 5 MB) shows Nancy and I luxuriating in all the high quality free weight and Hammerstrength equipment.

I mentioned to Bart, the director of marketing, that this was the most upscale Gold's I had ever been in.  According to him, Gold's was purchased by Omni Hotels' holding company, and they are trying to make it more female and family friendly.  The cardio machines have a video hookup to the childcare area.

There are two dominant gyms in Ann Arbor, Liberty Athletic Club, where I and my family are currently members and the YMCA which recently got a massive new building.  Both of these target the family market with the Y having a very successful community program and Liberty appealing to the club set.  Both have weights, but they are a poor cousin to the facilities' other activities.

Lifting gyms in Ann Arbor tend to be downscale.  Gold's costs about 75% more per year than those facilities but significantly less than Liberty.  My cut is that Gold's is aimed at a younger set and dedicated fitness buffs who just want a high quality place to workout.  If it weren't for Mary and Nancy, I'd go sign up right now.

And I think that is the biggest hurdle Gold's faces.  For instance, the Y was in horrible shape when we made our decision.  We considered shifting when the new Y opened, but decided to stay where we were connected.  That said, I am sorely tempted by Gold's.

Studio Eskap: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Behold my final conveyance from Munich to Prague, today's last leg of the journey from Ann Arbor to Prague.  The airline was Air Dolomiti, a subsidiary of Lufthansa with a nice Italian flavor.

All of this just to visit Studio Eskap at the Czech Management Center in Celakovice.  Studio Eskap might be thought of as a Czech version of Outback, Nancy Arnold's hometown gym in Michigan.  However, unlike Outback, I'm not sure it's worth the trip.

One need only start with the rather drab exterior.  As we saw with Outback, this need not be a fatal flaw.  However, Studio Eskap does not exactly contain wonders within like Outback.  Rather, there is a collection of home fabricated equipment missing important features like the ability to adjust benches to work well ergonomically.

With this in mind from my last visit two years ago, I determined I would do a limited workout.  For me, it was back, abs, and biceps.  Arnold did this routine over the weekend.  Truth be told, I'll probably manage one cycle to Arnold's two here because the facilities are so limited.

Of interest are the dumbbell rack and the pulley machine.  You can see the dumbbell rack in this photo to the right.  Weights are in kilograms, interesting to an American used to lbs, but range is limited, topping out below the equivlent of 100 lbs.

Next is the pulley machine to the left.  This thing had to be an antique from the soviet era.  I swear the pulleys creaked.  I did a straight arm pushdown and a rope curl there.  The main limitation is that the weight stack did not exceed 50 Kg.

So you might be getting the impression at this juncture that I see nothing of merit in Studio Eskap.  Well, it has one saving grace.  It's a real weight lifter's gym in spite of its modest assets.  The atmosphere is illustrated by their extensive collection of bodybuilding competition photos from in and around Celakovice.  I even found some worthy competitors for Arnold who has been complaining about the lack of female bodybuilders. Okay, Arnold look to the right for some competition if you think there's not enough yet.

Lest my readers think that all I did on this trip was scope out female bodybuilders to spur Arnold forward.  I did do a workout.  Everything was 10 sets of 4.  I report maxima in Kgs.

• Bent dumbbell rows (tripod stance):  35 Kg.  It was hard to tell the exact weight.  I had to add up the plates.
• straight arm pushdowns:  50 Kg.  I have done 130 lbs. with a wider grip.
• Dumbbell curls: 15 Kg.
• Rope curls:  35 Kg.
• Three sets of 20 upper ab crunches.

Cranking on like this will be okay for this week.  I can't really do anything else because we are in a remote location out here.

Europe, another name for hell?

Well, no gyms visited so far though I have planned to.  Stuck in airports.  I've been traveling 48 hours straight with no sign of my baggage and Prague, the destination I was supposed to be at 24 hours ago, ever elusive. 

Ah, the European rate for wifi minutes, just another drip in the water torture that is traveling through Europe.

Did I die somewhere over the Atlantic?  Is this my purgatory for having been ever so boastful about my weight loss?  Well, my eating over the past two days will put an end to that pride.  Now, I know why I gave up this lifestyle as a regular thing.

Legs at Outback Gym in Dexter

So, The Big Girl and I decided to take a break after her visit with the guru and go to Outback Gym.  Outback is in Dexter, the next town over from Ann Arbor.  Dedicated readers of Miss Arnold's blog will recognize Outback as her weekend workout haven.  It was our first sortie as training partners to another gym, and we both had a hoot. 

Although, as shown in the photo above, Outback's exterior is unprepossessing, the interior contains many pieces of wondrous workout equipment. I'll quickly highlight these as they relate to our new, high reps (15) leg routine.

First is the hack squat machine, it was so fun to push Miss Arnold on this.  She even made a PR at higher reps, and you can see the look of relief in the photo below.  I know my presence influenced her (LOL, not sure which way, though).

For my part, I discovered the Roman Chair Squat pictured next, for which Arnold will soon produce an analysis on Muscle Ventures Media.  I wound up eventually doing them with a plate, and will go for more the next time I get to Outback.  Almost want to run back tomorrow.

Our final thrill a minute new exercise was the Butt Blaster.  Yes, you read that right.  That's the name printed on the machine.  I can only do it justice by showing a photo array of The Big Girl and I demonstrating perfect form on said device.  If I get enough demand, I will do a video analysis of this exercise.  The videos are hilarious.

Just so you don't think this was all yucks and giggles, we did do a serious workout.  I report maxima in lbs., and all exercises were done for 3–4 sets of 15–20 reps.

• Hack squat: 230
• Leg extension: 140, harder than the one at Liberty.
• Roman chair: 15 with 10 lb. weight.
• Standing single leg curl: 40 lbs., a very hard exercise.
• Prone leg curl: 55 lbs.
• Butt Blaster: 50 lbs., I should have gone for higher weight.  It was just too funny.
• Donkey Calf: 240 lbs., and I could have gone higher still.

As you can see from the attached photo, The Big Girl left our little excursion happy, back to hang out with Jim (it was thought he might join us, but no luck).  I left happy too and had a great evening with Mara and the boys.