Aussielicious

Because people asked what I was referring to, here is the men’s health explanation of the 300 workout.

Now that the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras parade is only 9 days away, I’m about to kick my all-too-pathetic training regime up a notch. Tomorrow morning is going to hurt at the gym. I’m going to do the Spartan 300 routine again. I’ve only done it 3 times, many months ago and it hurts like a mother fucker. Mainly because I never do any cardio.

I am fully aware that it’s all a case of too little, too late, but hey, I need to do what I can. So, it’s off to bed for me so that I can get up at 5.30. That bit hurts just thinking about it.

For months now, I’ve been seeing these two guys working out together in the mornings at my gym. One of them is fairly attractive and has a really strong muscled body. The other is obviously his protege. The protege is taller but a lanky build that is definitely showing signs of good muscle growth. They do seem to work fairly hard, but the protege has a really annoying gym presence.

He’s a grunter. When he’s straining with a weight he groans and grunts as if he’s giving birth. There are a lot of us in the gym in as much pain, lifting heavier weights and carrying on a lot less. He also never puts weights away, leaving that to his training partner while he wanders to the next piece of equipment trying to look determined and pumped.

There are two options. He’s intimidated by the gym which is very normal for a lot of people, especially starting out, so it’s a bravado thing. Or, my guess because he annoys me, was that he had short comings in the pants department and it was macho posturing to make up for it. Today I saw him in the locker room after he’d showered. He dropped his towel before pulling on his underwear. Let’s just say that while he’s not the biggest in the world, he doesn’t have anything to be making up for. Dammit. Annoying and hung? That’s just not allowed.

Yesterday was the end of another era for me. My training partner at the gym has a new job outside the city so we won’t be able to workout with each other any more. I’ve made a lot of progress in the last two and a half years or so working out with Craig and it’s going to be hard without him.

I find if I don’t enjoy a workout I find excuses not to go so I am thinking about routines I can do by myself but still enjoy and get results from. So the time has come for me to suck it up and have a go at the 300 workout. Man this shit is going to hurt.

I don’t actually mean the gym itself, but rather my attendance and motivation this week is suffering. I’ve been fighting and fighting a cough and sore throat for a week now and it’s not getting any better. Factoring in the physical effort of moving house I figure I’m doing enough this week and don’t want to get worse before we actually get fully moved in to the new place on the weekend. I want to be able to enjoy a nice nude glass of champagne with the new flatmate to celebrate and christen the place.

Despite the situation with the Irishman falling in a heap, all else seems to be going along fairly well. I’ll be getting up at 5.35am tomorrow for what will be my third consecutive gym day this week.

My training partner hurt his knee on his boy’s road trip on the way up to his wedding a month ago and has had to have surgery. He’s back this week and it’s great to have him there.I’ve been a lot better at motivating myself in the gym but he pushes me and motivates me that bit extra.

I have a confession to make. The last couple of weeks I haven’t been very good with the gym, with being away and then just finding excuses. Well no more. Craig, my training partner is back at the gym tomorrow so I’m back too. I’ve got a photo shoot to get ready for in just under three weeks time so I’m trying to eat better and be good at the gym.

If the showers were open like this, I might get my arse to the gym more often. Not only are the showers all becoming individual stalls these days, but now all the steam rooms are going co-ed too. WHY?? It’s just plain uncomfortable sitting in a steam room wearing clingy swimwear or underwear and a towel is just going to be bloody heavy and smelly if it’s in your bag all day in the office.

Since we’ve switched back to our old gym routine I’m actually enjoying the workouts and have been good about going 4 mornings per week.

I wonder, is it reasonable and ok to use a fantasy to get you out of bed and to the gym? Years ago in my early/mid teens, I did the swim leg of a triathlon as part of a team. I was a very skinny little thing but a strong swimmer. The water was cold so, as soon as I was out of the water and handed over to my team mate, I headed to the showers.

The sight that greeted me (once I’d stopped shivering enough to focus) was to become a lasting fantasy. There were 4 or 5 communal showers at the end of the room and long open benches and the room was full of men happily stripping off and showering together and chatting while they were completely naked. These were triathletes, so there were a lot of good bodies around. Ever since, I’ve loved the idea of sex in a changeroom.

So, with that in mind, I will haul my butt out of bed in the morning and get myself to my workout. I rarely see sights that equal the fantasy, but that’s what fantasies are all about.

Last week I posted about whether nude sport was a good idea after nearly losing my “boys” at aerials class. I still really like the idea of nude sport but definitely think it has to be a very carefully selected sport. I’ve mentioned on here in the past that I love the idea of a nude gym. It’s not for everyone but damn, look at the second photo of the guy doing squats. Personally, it would get me to the gym a lot more often.

I’m getting increasingly frustrated with myself and my lack of motivation at the gym. Granted I had a very restless sleep last night but I really should have gone to the gym this morning yet, once more, I didn’t. Having said that, if silks class was every day, I’d be there religiously. It might be the motivation of knowing that I’m capable of performing or just that it’s a great challenge, but I’m loving class this term. I’ve always really enjoyed it but both classes this term have been great fun. My teacher told me last week that I’m nearly ready to go up to the advanced class and then this week she said she’d finally watched the video of my performance and she was proud of me. Yay!

A few weeks ago I posted a photo of a guy as inspiration for the gym and I’ve come across this equally spectacular shot of him from behind. Sadly, right now I have a cold and can’t really go to the gym, even though I’m still going to go to silks class tonight.

Today is 14 degrees celsius in Sydney for the second day in a row and I hate it.  I operate on a much happier level when I’m warm in the sunshine, not all rugged up trying to stay warm and dry. And like most men, I’m a wimp when I’m sick. It’s just a cold but if it gets much worse, you know I’ll be pretending I have ebola trying to get sympathy.

Last week, even after all my inspiration and enthusiasm to train hard, last week I only made it to the gym twice. I missed one day because of laziness and another because I had worked really late and needed to sleep in.

This guy must have had to train hard at his chinups. He’s naturally carrying a whole bunch of weight in front before he even starts. My lordy that thing must get in the way, but it is pretty.

Tomorrow is chest and calves day at the gym and no doubt I’m going to be in a world of hurt afterwards. If there are any personal trainers out there, feel free to send me and my training partner a new program. We’ve been doing our current one for a while and need to change it up a bit.

There is a guy at the gym that has me thoroughly intrigued. He’s not model good looking or stunning but definitely very cute in my books and from what I’ve seen, totally the kinda guy I could see me introducing to my family.

The intriguing bit kicks in because I get the odd smile and more recently hellos have been exchanged in a very casual way. It’s a kind of very mild flirting but he has a wedding ring on. I’m never the guy that straight-but-curious guys flirt with and test curiosity so I’m finding it quite amusing, knowing full well there will most likely never be an answer to the mystery. It’s a fun little intrigue to add to motivation to get to the gym so early.

It was a big struggle to get out of bed this morning and get to the gym, but I’m determined to be good and get myself into the shape that I want to be in. I didn’t sleep very well last night again because of strange dreams. Not necessarily bad dreams but not that thoroughly entertaining either.

This guy is today’s inspiration. I don’t want to be this big but I’m inspired by his discipline that he obviously has to get in this shape. I don’t think anyone of you out there is going to complain either.

Over the years, having grown up a very skinny guy, I’ve always felt skinny and now after being relatively consistent with the gym and now aerials and pole dancing, I’m heavier than I’ve ever been at 81kg (178lb) I’m starting to realise that gone are the days that I can eat what ever I want. My diet is fairly bad through the days. I try and eat well at night but burgers and chips feature too heavily in my diet.

So I’m going to be more disciplined with my food and I’m also going to try and get myself measured properly, like biceps, legs, chest and all that stuff so that I can get a better idea of progress. I may never look like Tyler here, but a lower body fat percentage wouldn’t hurt me.