No, they don't usually live on top of that bombe chest. I just thought you might like a different backdrop than the other two I photograph everything in front of. You know, for variety's sake. Anyway, they are Nike Free 2.0s. (I'm pretty sure. Something like that.) They are minimalist shoes.
And these are my weightlifting shoes:
They are Jambus, the style name/number of which I can't be arsed to look up. Sorry. Bad, lazy blogger. I did not originally buy these for the gym. I thought I could wear them to work. Alas, being even more minimalist, they have absolutely no support and walking in them isn't particularly comfortable. Plus, they make my feet look goofy. However, they are FLAT. They are squatting shoes.
This past Friday night, I trained with Liz. However, unlike my usual practice, I went home in-between work and the gym. It was a lovely evening and I said to myself, "Andrea, instead of going to the gym early and walking on the treadmill to warm up, why don't you, y'know, walk to the gym?" Brilliant thinking there. However, I did NOT want to wear my Jambus as, see above, not great for walking. So I wore my Nikes.
Liz took one look at me and said, "Those running shoes aren't good for squatting." I protested that they were flat. "Not flat enough."
I did my warmup set. "Did you feel your heels coming up?" Uh uh. "They did. Your heels never come up. It's the shoes."
And so I squatted in my socks, boys and girls. Liz said I could try a barefoot set and if it didn't feel right, I could put my Nikes back on and she'd put a couple plates under my heels. That sounded...I dunno...effete, or something. No. I squatted barefoot and I kept my heels down like a good girl. And the shoes came back off for sldls, too. Lesson learned. Of course, I later got a little gentle reminder for the future that I really shouldn't do rack pulls in my running shoes either. Sigh.
Today was rack pull day. I walked to the gym in flip flops, with my Jambus in my bag. (Why, yes, walking in my Reef flip flops *is* more comfortable than walking in those ugly shoes. I really cannot recommend them for anything other than moving weights. For that, they're stellar.)
What's with all the extra walking, Andrea? Well, kids, that's the other thing. It's very controversial, but I've heard here and there that doing more than the bare minimum of cardio whilst bulking helps with "partitioning"--i.e. that the extra calories are more likely to go to muscle-building solely and thus you'll have less fat gain along with the muscle gain. And I have become aware that there is some fat back over my hipbones that was not there two or three weeks ago. Not that some fat on the hips is amiss. I'd just like to stop it at "some" before shiz gets outta control.
Then there's this:
That's the dress I bought at the Tarzhay today without trying on. I would like to claim the reason it wouldn't zip all the way when I got it home is because of my awesome huge lats. (I dunno if you heard, but, uh, I did a chinup.) However, the more likely explanation is fat. If this keeps up, I may need to use my running shoes for actual running again. Gasp! Just when I was getting used to eating 2300 calories a day.
xoxo
P.S. I swear, I am still working on books i hate, part 2. It'll be worth your wait. Maybe.
