No, not the Mod, the real, hard sweat and blood work that comes from years of hitting a weight pile, rain, snow, and blistering sun. Too many people think shirlsguy just wants to put a pin in his arse and get swol.

1995 saw me on a little weight pile in Terre Haute (some people know where). I was 140-lb dripping wet and a nice candidate for roommate of the decade... not me. The riots that year saw that nothing under 20kg remained on the pile except a very small set of change. Poor shirlsguy could barely bench 60kg but no one really hit those numbers, everyone hit 140kg for about 25 reps and some were even repping 220kg... yeah 495 pounds for reps on a bench.

Poor shirlsguy had to wait up to two hours to get his hands on one of the two sets of 25-lb plates and sulk off to the incline bench.. he could hit 3 reps. Poor bastard would do his three reps until the bar was stuck on his chest... reckon no one really believed he was stuck under it, but he would slide it down to his waist, onto the ground, pull the plates, rack the bar, load it and go again.

Arms and shoulders were pretty much the same story, but that hard-headed runt kept hitting that pile when after a year or so a few guys took to shirlsguy. He had learned that being fast in line and heading straight to the pile got him all the small change he needed and some of the big guys learned that shirlsguy would work like a dog to have a complete setup waiting on them. So, shirlsguy would scavange wheels so big that he had to pry them off the ground with the bar and roll them to the work station, but he hit it every day, no exceptions.

These guys were good men, big men and they showed shirlsguy how to pack a quart jug with noodles, beans, veg., mackerel and anything else that could be gathered up. They would force him to eat a quart at a time until his weight started to go up, up, up. After two years, shirlsguy was 200-lbs with a 315lb squat, 225bl bench and 135lb military press. He kept at it for his whole ten years and blew up to a point that he was squating 500lb with ease, pulling 405lb and military press of 225lb... sadly he let someone talk him into a 405lb bench press attempt and ended up lifting light ever after.

Now, 'muscle has memory' and that is a fact! I've seen complete junkies show up with wasted bodies and rotting teeth and hitting a weight pile just for something to do. Three square meals and a nice bed to sleep in and these junkies were monsters in weeks... all natural. Shirlsguy worked years to even come close to weight these guys could hit in 90-days and he was dedicated to getting that base!

Now, it's my turn! Yeah, just six months back on the pile and I'm hitting the numbers I used to hit. It is more than the pins and shirlsguy knows that. Shirlguy knows natti lifting and that is a fact.

Tuesday puts me back on free weights and overhead lifting for the first time in 11-years; we're going to load those bars up again... this time much more respectful of that tricky shoulder. Yeah, six months under those free weights and we'll see if shirlsguy ever lifted or no.