It has long been suspected that the relationship between humans and cats dated back to the golden age of Egypt (4,000 – 5,500 years ago).  A recent discovery changes that assumption and likely indicates that humans had domesticated cats for pets as far back as 9,500 years ago.  You can read the details of this fascinating new discovery at ABCNews.com.

The most obvious and entertaining statement in the entire article, of course, is when Nicholas Nicastro, studying human interaction with cats at Cornell University, said, "I think cats have evolved to become better at managing and manipulating people."  Well duh!

I just wanted to draw your attention to a classic dose of Ronald Reagan's sense of humor.  It's also the perfect example of why, even when you think you're off the air, you're probably on the air.

One still can't help but think that our collective sense of humor, personified in Ronald Reagan, played a significant part in determining the outcome of the Cold War.

My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever.  The bombing begins in five minutes.

Ronald Reagan, said during a radio microphone test, 1984

I don't know about you, but I miss the man he once was.

If you haven't been paying attention over the last few days, there have been some interesting comments left about some of my recent posts.  Take a look at Your husband is fish bait, Pets are good for your health (duh!), and Perhaps to see what's being discussed.

I mention this only because using the comments function allows you to provide direct feedback to what you read here — and it becomes part of the post.  That's the fun of interactive web design!

Although the majority of you communicate with me via email, I offer the comments system in order to make these discussions public.  It ensures that my voice isn't the only one that's heard and that different points of view are not squelched (I'm no censor, but it's not easy for me to post feedback like that without having to constantly go back and edit past entries).  Although this site is about me, discussions like this engage me on a level not possible with the normal "I post and you read" methodology.

On that note, I will be enabling the user engine on the site in the near future.  You may remember that I disabled it about a year ago.  I'm now trying to make the site more interactive, so using the user engine will help me do that.  It'll allow you to post comments using your own name, send and receive private messages, access secure content (things I hide from the general public), and utilize advanced site features.  Expect to hear more about this in the coming week as I finalize and implement this change.

The idea behind my trunk workout is not to build bigger muscles but instead to strengthen and tone them.  I'm of the mind that abs are to be lean and mean without being big and protruding from the normal curvature of the body.  This is the same idea surrounding workouts involving the erector spinae and deep spinal muscles of the lower back.  You certainly don't want them to be huge as that wouldn't be very attractive and would destroy the look of a well-proportioned body.  I've just always thought that huge abs make people look fat and thus defeats the purpose of staying in shape.

So how am I doing abs now?  My new trunk routine (abs routine doesn't really describe it anymore) involves seven separate exercises performed every time I work on my abs.  I do the abs routine every three days.  Since muscle tissue needs 48-72 hours to recover from previous stress, doing abs every three days is perfect.  It also ensures I'm not overworking them and thereby causing them to grow the same way one would want biceps or pectorals to grow.

The routine involves upper and lower front abdominals (rectus adbominus), intercostals (muscles between the ribs), side abdominals (obliques), the lower back muscles (erector spinae) and deep spinal muscles.  Although the lower back muscles are also worked during the leg workout (squats, dead lift and stiff-leg dead lift all work these), they are only used as stabilizers in these exercises and are not specifically targeted.

As for my trunk routine, here's what it entails.

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You may remember that I stopped working out at the end of 2003.  Although I used the horrordays as a cheap excuse, I had actually hurt my shoulder at some point (stress-related) and found my workouts increasingly difficult and incomplete.  That’s why I stopped working out altogether in the hopes that it would allow my shoulder to heal.  Now that it has and I’ve grown to hate the couch-potato attitude I’ve had of late, it’s time to get my ass back to the gym.

In that spirit, I began my workouts again this past Monday (April 5, 2004).  After several months away from the gym, it’ll take me a few weeks to get back into the full workout routine.  Until then, I’ll focus on training my body to get through the workouts again and on proper form and control.

I’m still looking at personal trainers, but, for now, I think it’s more important to be working out and looking than to be looking alone.

I once again optimized my strength training routine in the hopes of better focusing my time and energy.  The biggest change is how I’m doing my abs.  Rather than doing abs on a schedule concurrent with my other workout, I’ll now be doing abs on a separate schedule.

Why?  See my trunk routine for details.

Since I’m looking to make my muscles grow with this workout, I’m keeping the reps in the middle at 8-10 per set.  If I were trying to tone them, I would shoot for a higher number of reps (12-15) per set.  Likewise if I were trying to strengthen them, I would aim at a lower rep count (6-8) per set.

All of that having been said, here’s my new strength training routine.

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