Buffalo Bar

We added a new weapon to our arsenal at the gym. You need to do this occasionally to reassure the troops and boost their morale. There are potential Bombers out there and we intend to surface them and develop their firepower. The 92.5" Buffalo Bar with its magnificent curve boldly rests on the angled uprights of our Excalibur power rack. What a truly handsome piece of steel it is; super-long with it's super-thick deeply knurled bar, smoothly rotating Olympic sleeves and cool silver-steel finish. We don't use this ultimate squat bar for training purposes, as it is far too beautiful for clanging around, dropping and racking. We, girls and guys, take turns standing next to the thing like it was a frontiersman's musket or a gladiator's lance, vain warriors posed for a point n'shoot photograph. Enlarge it and hang it over the fireplace. Very fashionable.

Seriously, this excellent squatting device arrived yesterday and already has a scratch on it from my cutting knife as I excitedly shredded the cardboard in which it was wrapped. First cut is the deepest. At least, now, it can serve us as it was meant to serve us; for performing extraordinary squats. And, perhaps, ordinary squats. However, I plan to do SQUATS with it while others may simply employ it for, well, squatting. The Buffalo Bar is a bar exclusively for squatting, BTW.

The beast weighs 50 pounds, is 8.5 inches longer than an Olympic bar and has a 1 3/8 inch diameter. The extended bar is designed with a long arc that agreeably accommodates the shoulder structure and allows a wide eagle-wing grasp. This positioning plus the bar thickness distributes the resistance over a broader, healthier plane, and the arc drops the center of gravity and prevents the bar from rolling from place. The plate ends are identical to our favorite lifting bar and are slightly pitched upward when settled across the shoulders, ready for action. This angle promises that the plates will not shift outwardly and that the needed plate rotation is unhindered.

The bar adds comfort and sureness to your lift without diminishing the integrity of the exercise or altering your groove. I typically roam the gym floor twirling bars on the racks looking for one that is bent and will provide similar though limited benefits of the bar about which I rave. Check out the Zeller shot of me squatting at Joe Gold's original gym in Venice thirty years ago. That was the "house squat bar" pre-bent by time, toil and tons. We fought over it. Now we'll fight over this one.

Guy, this'll only take a sec. Stand here with your hand affectionately on the bar, chest out, shoulders back, flex those mighty lats and say cheese. Swell.

Got it from IronMind.com, Randy Strossen's strongman company for 320 bucks. Quick delivery. Guy, get that thing out of your gym bag and put it back where 'ya found it. Please... thanks... big kid.

ONLY TEN YEARS?

Ivan, the Barbarian Librarian, alias, Books, alias Bookster, alias, The Page Shredder, alias, The PT Man 2000 (Positively Terrifying), has recently inferred in a post to IOL that once mankind reaches forty-five years of age, he or she has only ten years left. Scared half the folks in the discussion group to death. I say the man's out to get us, Bombers, and he's ruthless.

Truth is, though Ivan is capable, he's as ruthless as a canary. Furthermore, I personally suggested to the zealous fellow privately in a telephone conversation that, given he's forty-five, he probably has another ten years to grow. Then, from all I've been able to gather, the maintenance process begins. Serious muscular growth for anyone 55+ and already 10 - 15 years invested in hard training is doubtful. We can hope for some shape here and some size there, a cut or two someplace, but mostly we're done. Great workouts are ahead as we adjust to age, inevitable injury and limitations.

I love my training more than ever, push it as hard as ever though the groove of any variety of movements and the weight I use is altered to accommodate my 58 years of planet survival and 40-some of iron-battle. As we proclaim regularly, we're all different. Some wonder types will defy gravity, hoist the tonnage and retain the youthful features longer. The word drifted north to Santa Cruz from Joe Gold's gym not long ago that fifty-five seems to be the mean number. There is thoughtful and philosophical discourse often amongst the originals at Joe's World Gym in Venice who have traveled the road less traveled. They know this stuff. I arrived at the number on my own.

The paragraph written below is only hearsay (very possibly a lie) and you are welcome, even encouraged, to skip it and continue on to the more rational subject matter outlined in this newsletter. None of us here need to clutter our minds with trash.

The demons of aging (gulp) we can expect as bodybuilders include diminishing muscle mass and density, declining strength as we adapt to injury and overuse limitations, tight skin tone giving way to looseness, gathering skin and wrinkles (are we having fun yet?), loss of muscle and ligament tenacity, gradual joint enlargement, fading joint flexibility, and slower recovery evident in general everyday achy-ness. Neat. How about these? The nose droops, the pecs sag, ears enlarge to the size of saucers (upside: more room for piercing or a possible tattoo), hips broaden and the knees bow. You get shorter and can't remember your routine. Good-bye hair. I could go on but why? Take good care of yourself.

A man or woman who is returning to the weights after an extended layoff, however, or starting to workout for the first time at 55 or 65 or 75+ can expect wonderful muscle and strength improvement. It will extend their precious years with more energy, power and purpose. This is particularly true should they be under the guidance, support and inspiration of IOL or a reasonable facsimile. It takes courage and heart.

I poke fun at the years as they pile up. To this day I've never been happier.

'Cept when I was younger.

Your friend for life,
Good ole' Joe ...er ...Just kidding... Dave

BUFFALO STAMPEDE

ONLY TEN YEARS?