Total Physique Online

During the next 24 hours we will be trying a new theme for this web site. There seem to be a few bugs to work out, so bare with us as we had to go live with the theme in order to weed out some of the trouble spots.

Thanks for your patience, and please Contact us if you have any difficulty with the site!

Ever since I adopted this three column theme for Total Physique, I wanted to change the images up top to reflect strength, power, athleticism, wellness and the like. I have been looking for generic images that would display my passion for lifting and other forms of strength and it’s just been challenging to find images that fit. So, the quest continues, but I think I like the first two images to the right. Now if I can just get the last image I will be ever so happy!

UPDATE:

OK the images are now done, more or less, unless someone comments and tells me they do not like them, in which case I will try once more…but I think this looks good enough for now.

Just a quick post to congratulate Tom Glavine on becoming the 23rd pitcher in Major League Baseball to win his 300th game, and only the 5th lefty to ever accomplish the feat. The win came on 8-5-07, at 11:29 PM at Wriggly Field against the Cubbies!

What’s even cooler is that because of Glavine, the number “300″ now belongs to him and this will all but erase from my mind that lousy movie by the same number that came out earlier this year. Thank goodness!
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…Just ask the Albermarle County Fire Department!

Three months ago, our condominium complex was burned down and in an instant I was thrust into a new phase in my life.

The last 3 months have been an adventure to say the least, and while part of me really wishes the fire had never happened, I have to admit that there is a part of me that is grateful it did. When I think about it, if the fire had not happened I would still be in that condo with my brother, living a life as stagnant as a 3-day old bucket-full of rainwater.
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I suppose an apology is in order. In fact, many apologies are in order. When one breaks a promise, sometimes so many folks are harmed you really do not know where to begin. However, I suppose I shall begin at the place where are apologies should begin: Admission and confession.

About three months ago I was forced out onto the street. Yup. You heard me right. Yours truly was homeless.

On April 10th a fire was started that completely swept my life into total disarray. A catastrophic fire, which destroyed my home and was started through no fault of my own, became my master, and the next thing you know I was bouncing from couch to couch, hotel to hotel. What money I had evaporated faster than a ticks fart in a strong headwind. A link to the post can be found here: My Private 9-11.
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Something told me that the title of this post was about as original as the notion of inventing a long pointy thing you can write with. It’s not as if The Zen of Strength Training has not been discussed before, right? Surely the Internet must be loaded with articles on this subject. So, to test my theory I did a google on “The Zen of Strength Training”. Guess what? Very little is discussed on the topic. At least, not as Zen relates to strength training.

Oh sure, there is tons of information on the Zen of Martial Arts, The Zen of Poetry, the Zen of Motorcycle Riding etc. Yet, nothing on The Zen of Strength Training.
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The last week has been a blur.

My clearest memory during the past seven days was that of Saturday night, April 14. I was in bed. It was the most comfortable bed I have ever been in. There were three sounds I clearly recall hearing: The music piping over the small speakers of my Apple Laptop; Hershey, our cat, using the litter box, and the piff-piff sound emanating from the sheets as I moved my legs back and forth across the mattress as if I were making angels in the snow. I had not been this comfortable in a while. It was hard to reconcile the peace I felt with the reality of the situation.

This was not my room. This was not my bed. This was not my home. But I wished it were all of those things. The truth is my home was gone. Literally gone. Yanked out from underneath my brother and myself by one of natures most enduring and destructive elements: fire.
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Dave, our prayers are with you for a speedy recovery!! God Bless You and Laree

Dave Draper - Musclebuilding and Spring Gliding

Reprinted with kind permission from Laree and Dave Draper (thanks guys!)

From Dave Draper’s Post Column

If you missed part one from February 22, 2007 — read this first.

April has a nice ring to it, a sweet sound, chimes in a faint breeze. Girls named April are automatically cute — cover girls, centerfolds and starlets. Warm showers from blue skies come to mind, songbirds and spring flowers, shorts and T-shirts, long days and a convertible with the top down.
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I cannot remember the last time I picked up a bodybuilding magazine. However, I can remember the first time I did. I cannot remember the last time I wondered who would win this years “Mr. Olympia”, but I can remember the first time I did. I cannot remember the last time I spotted a cover of a leading bodybuilding magazine, thinking to myself, “I wanna look like that guy!” But I can remember the first time I did.
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OK, Superman I ain’t, but I did catch a cold, or something. My guess is I became over-trained a bit.

I really did not mean to get sick. Honest injun. Seriously, I need a cold like a need another hole in the head, and I have seven holes already! This is why I did not train yesterday. Or today. Or the day before yesterday. Whew. In fact, I think I have worked out two times in two weeks. Is that setting a good example, or what?
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