Sounds like you're certainly on the right track. You know about diet obviously because you eat better than I do.
I'd be eating the other half of my chicken breast tonight after a few beers, but I gave it to some pan handler who claimed to be homeless even though he was smoking expensive cigarettes and looking pretty fresh in a pressed shirt.
Injuries do suck... my left elbow has been complaining for the past few weeks. I thought it was from excessive masturbation, but I suspect that coupled with lifting and LOTS of riding and clutch-in-out probably all contribute. I suspect it's some kind of tendonitus, "tennis elbow" or basically just inflammation of the ligaments connecting my striated forearms to my rippling triceps. Oh man, I love being fit. It's literally life with god-mode cheat codes. Injuries are a pain though.. figuratively. You know what you're capable of, but your body just won't. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I'm going to keep throwing around the cliche weightlifting quotes until someone comments and then I'll probably spout off even more of them. Obsession is what the lazy use to describe the dedicated.
The sweet spot is always riding your personal edge. Asking just a little more of your body than what it is capable of giving. --- Note I said capable, not what it easily gives. Most people underestimate their limits. They run a few hundred feet and the lactic acid starts flowing so they feel tired and sit down. The real glory happens when you keep running, and you run more, and more, and suddenly WHAM your body realizes that you aren't going to stop so it pumps out that runners high and BAM your legs go numb, your arms feel light, the top of your head tingles, and you don't have a single thought in your head... just content and mellow. That's the real celebration of it all. Push through the pain until your body becomes accustomed to it, looks forward to it, revels in it, feeds off it and neeeeeds it. Then one day you look in the mirror or catch your reflection in a window and it hits you... "wow, look at that beautiful animal.... that's... is it?... is that... me? WOW damn I am a monster."
My diet isn't much of anything, I try to get some protein in after the lifts, but other than that I don't pay much attention to anything other than eating within a few hours of getting hungry. I feel lucky to have the body type that I can eat whatever I want, or not eat at all and still retain my figure.
^^ I'm guessing that's the vid where arnold goes... "yeeaaass, ze pummp, feels sooo nizee, like you are cummming, like someone is blowing aiiiiree into ze musscle and it feels so full and like you are cumming and you are cummmming 24/7 and feels so nizeee you are justtt commmming all ze timmmee!"
That was a good documentary.
I don't change my workouts much and I generally focus on high-reps with medium weight. On the third/final set, I'm doing 15 rep curls, 12 rep other things, 25 rep other other things, and 35 rep other things.. Set one, warm up, no breaks, power it out in 17 minutes, set two, feel that burn and push it, set three... fatigue on last rep each exercise, have to time the breaks right otherwise I can't finish the lift due to oxygen debt in the blood.
Now running on the other hand... I try to stick to my ten miles on the days I don't lift. Running on the beach is an added workout because you are dodging coral, driftwood, broken glass, thick sand, heavy sand, waves coming in... sometimes you're sinking 5 inches with each step.... juuuusttt keeeeeppp goooooiiiing. Left foot, right foot. Repeat until nausea comes on, then keep running until it passes. And hey, the faster you run, the sooner you're done
Surely I'd be a much more capable athlete if I didn't consume enough beer to kill a classroom of toddlers each night, but the body adapts to thrive on what you feed it, and that is certainly true. So here's to another two and burning all the toxins out of my blood tomorrow bright and early at dawn!
Keep up the good work everyone and take what works and leave the rest. And above all, push yourself and you'll find that the limits your mind imposes you are just that... limits that are easily overcome once the determination over powers the fake feeling of fatigue.