Running and "aesthetics"

Had my first "aesthetics" day today, which is the name I am giving to wednesday which was previously "arms" day, because I will now be running and doing some abs as well - paying attention to all the stuff that I, as a powerlifter, tend to neglect as "stupid."

It went well. Started with some 200 meters - run 200, walk 200, for 5 rounds. First round was ROUGH, cause I forgot how to run haha. But I figured out the mechanics again, and rounds 2 and 3 actually felt really good. I was running at maybe 80%, moving pretty nicely, but I was getting a big leg and ass pump while I was walking haha. By rounds 4 and 5, the walking just wasn't as much time as my body wanted to recover, and those 200's were a bit slower and more painful than 2 and 3. However, it wasn't too bad. And it's good to just be doing it I think. Hopefully, within a couple weeks my body will get better at running, I'll be able to go faster, and I'll be able to recover with ease. That added work capacity and endurance will probably help me a lot in the gym. I just hope that squats tomorrow don't feel awful haha. I know adding some running in is a great idea in the longrun, but I hope it isn't totally depressing in the short term.

After running, went inside and banged out some curls supersetted with a close dumbell-bench to hit my triceps. Hit two warmup sets, then grabbed 22.5 lb dumbells and curled/pressed them for 3 supersets of 12 with maybe 60-90 seconds rest between. The curls felt good, and the weight was really light for the presses, but HOLY SHIT were my triceps burning. Not sure why, but those hurt. Got a pretty solid pump.

Finally, hit a set of 40 crunches. Nothing crazy, but it was something

Anyways, I actually feel great. My body and mind are loving this new diet. It's nice to actually be hungry when I have to eat haha. I feel healthier. I definitely feel like I am losing weight already, although I'm not actually sure (going to weigh myself tomorrow). And, it's SO much easier to get all my protein in when I am focusing on it, instead of ANY food. So, bottom line is I feel great running and eating cleaner - only time will tell if those things will negatively affect my strength gains. But I am going to keep training smart, REALLY hope that I can keep progressing the way I have been, and keep in mind that even if gains slow down I am a) stronger than I have ever been, b) GOING TO KEEP GETTING STRNOGER, and c) gonna look awesome very soon. Ps. All the pics in this blog are of Frank McGrath and Antoine Vailiant, who are both 5' 11" and compete around 245 - aka, my ideal physique. Sure I won't look quite as huge, cause I'll probably have slightly more BF and a thicker trunk cause I'm a powerlifter. But a man can dream, and I'd be happy being even 85% as huge looking as them. Lets keep at it.