I benched pressed for the first time when I was thirteen years old. I was taught, or should I say "trained"...a more popular word when referring to the weight lifting sports, by a master...I was fortunate. My trainer's name was Roger Richards. He was a power lifter from the Northeast in the 70's and won or placed in more than a few state and regional contests until he suffered a back injury. After the injury that rendered him uncompetitive on the dead lift, his passion for ripping muscle down to rebuild it stronger was undiminished. No, Roger was determined to continue throwing the weights around, but the goal would be slightly changed. Now the focus would still be on ripping up muscle, but this would be a means to a different end. Now when the tissue was rebuilt, although increased muscle strength and endurance would still be a result of his workouts, he was shooting for increased mass and definition. Roger was going to compete in bodybuilding.

He trained hard to compete in this sport at a time when steroids were just coming onto the scene while regulations against them had not yet arrived. In an environment that by no means could be considered a level playing field, Roger was competitive without the unfair advantage of steroids that his competition relied on. He took fifth in his class in the state competition, and I was proud of my coach! I was also grateful. Because my coach hung on to his love for power lifting, in the spirit of "those who can't do, teach" he made me his protege, and introduced me to the sport. By the time I was fourteen years old, and at only 105 pounds, I took first place in the New England Championship for my weight class with a 145 lb. bench, a 185 lb. squat and a 305 lb. deadlift, and my coach was proud of me!

I remember well our first workout. It was all about the bench press. I remember even more vividly the day after when I called Roger and asked him, "am I supposed to be this sore" ? Without getting into any detailed explanation about muscle cells working so hard that they require more oxygen than the blood can supply therefore causing fermentation that produces lactic acid that causes a kid who has just really pushed himself at his first workout to have an entire upper body that feels like one, big, bruise, he just laughed and said "yes, get used to it, that means you did a good job yesterday". Well, he did a good job too. He taught me the finer points of this particular exercise, quintessential in the workouts of the body builder and the power lifter or anyone else with the goal of increased upper body strength, mass, and endurance.

Here are seven of those finer points:

1) Form, form, form. A lot of what appears to be strength is really a matter of leverage. When you grasp the bar for the first time, you will most likely naturally find the best position: Not too close, not to big of a spread. As your spotter helps position the bar over your eyes, with your arms extended, bring the weight down to your chest, and press it up to a point over your chin. Try one rep at a time, changing positions slightly each time until you find that sweet spot. You will know it when you have it.

2) Breathe correctly. Inhale quickly and deeply as you bring the weight down. Exhale on the way up. Don't hold your breath, ever.

3) Keep a log. You want to document your reps as well as the weight, for each of your sets. This is what your sets should look like: You want to start with a weight that you can do 10-12 reps with before failing. For someone who can do 15-20 push ups, this should be about 40% of your weight. Increase the weight by about 10%-15% and go for 8 reps. Continue to increase the weight by 10%-15% as your reps should decrease by 2, until you do just one rep, with or without help from your spot. Resting for up to three minutes between sets, do six or seven sets.

4) Always do the opposite exercise. This means the pushing required for bench pressing should be counteracted by a pulling exercise that uses the same muscle group; like rows or pull ups. Do six sets of as many reps as possible. Remember to document these too. Document everything, you will enjoy seeing your gains on paper as much as in the mirror!

5) Rest. Give your muscle time to recover. It's OK to work out every day, just be careful to work a different muscle group the next day. You can get injured if you keep ripping muscle without letting it mend. Eight hours of sleep per day is very important for muscle recovery, and the body and mind in general.

6) Stretch. Before and after the workout. A good way to stretch the chest is by putting your hands at shoulder height, on a door frame, and leaning in. Hold a stretch for ten seconds.

7) Experiment. Try different starting weights and percent increases until you get it down to steady 12-10-8-6-4-2-1 rep sets.

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Have you ever played "I spy" while on a road trip? A trip through the woods is an on-foot enjoyment that can be compared in many ways to the on-wheels kind. There are so many things to pass by and observe, albeit much more slowly. When hiking you see many less things, yet you can look at them so much more closely. Mushroom hunting is to hiking what "I spy" is to driving. I hope to inspire hikers to make photographing and gathering mushrooms kind of like a B story or a subplot to their forest trek adventures.


Mushrooms have saved the lives of countless people. Did you know that penicillin is a form of mushroom? There is a story of a group of soldiers from WW II trapped in the woods without supplies for a few months. They barely went hungry, and totally sustained themselves because one of the men could identify edible mushrooms. It is a common myth that mushrooms have no nutritional value. They have plenty. In addition to proteins and carbohydrates it is being discovered that there are elements that prevent and fight cancer in the organic matter that makes up this amazing plant.

There, I just called this fungus a plant. I did that just to shake up the mycologists that may be reading this article and sort them out from the audience that I'm trying to target. If you did not know that a mushroom is not considered a plant because it does not grow by way of photosynthesis...then read on. This is an introduction to mycology. You can consider yourself a true mycologist when:

1) You know that a mushroom is not a plant, and that if you compared it to one, the mushroom would be considered the "fruit" of the plant as the underground or embedded in wood and invisible mycellium, a thread like growth that produces this "fruit" would be more accurately compared to a vine.

2) You have found, photographed, and correctly identified a few mushrooms.

3) You have determined from the identification a possible unsafe species and left it in the woods.

4) You have determined from the identification a safe and edible mushroom and took it home.

5) You did a spore print of that mushroom. A spore print is done by leaving the body of the mushroom on a piece of paper covered with a bowl or glass. After several hours, preferably overnight, you will see a dusting of spores on the paper. The color of the spores help determine the species.

6) You really waxed scientific and examined the spores under a microscope at about 400x magnification to observe the shapes of the spores; another factor in identification.

7) You consumed a wild mushroom that you found and positively identified.

Mushrooms have killed a counted number of people. They have also made a great number of people hallucinate, either purposely or accidentally. Sickness from different species of mushrooms varies in severity. Some types are completely edible yet certain people will find the protein hard to digest and get an upset stomach. Another kind works like "Anabuse" -a drug used to combat alcoholism. You can consume this mushroom without any ill effects...until you drink some alcohol within about 24 hours before or after you eat this particular mushroom. Then you will be talking to RAAALPH extensively about his BUUUICK. Some species have cost people, like the guy who wrote "The Horse Whisper" the use of their kidneys. Some destroy the liver. The deadly Aminita AKA "Destroying Angel" can put you down for a "dirt nap" in 48 hours.

Safety first....second, third, etc.

Enough said about what most people already know; some mushrooms are poison, about 25% in fact. This is why most people do not take any part in the hobby I'm encouraging you to pursue. But I'm going to show you an ultra simple, very safe way to partake. I want to educate you on just a few different types of edible mushrooms that grow in the Northeast USA. These are delicious...more tasty than cultivated store bought varieties. These three types of wild mushrooms are difficult to cultivate and therefore more valuable...yet available for free in your local woods. Most importantly, they are extremely easy to visually identify, and resemble the poisonous varieties about as much as a strawberry resembles an eggplant. Literally, a blind person could tell the difference.


Let's start with my favorite:

Chicken of the Woods

This Mushroom has a texture similar to chicken. It is a bracket type mushroom. In this part of the world, no bracket type mushroom is poisonous. Some are inedible only because they are too hard or "woody" . Even this delicious mushroom can get too tough, old, and less tasty like the big brownish one I found last week. It's bright yellow and orange colors make this species an unmistakable, exciting find. The color proves it's freshness. Be sure to cook it before eating, and note that this is a mushroom that some people can be sensitive to.

Hen of the Woods

This mushroom is called Maitake in Japanese. It also grows in that part of the world and is considered a delicacy. Japanese people have a saying like our "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" yet they replace "apple" with "Maitake". It means "dancing oak" in their language. This is because it is considered such a prized find, the discoverer will dance around the tree it was found growing at the base of, usually Oak.

Boletes

This class of mushroom is not as easy as the chicken and the hen to differentiate from it's non edible counterparts because it looks like, well......a mushroom. There is a major visual difference between a bolete and say the deadly Destroying Angel. When you look at the underside of the mushroom you will not see gills like the poisonous varieties have. Instead, boletes have a sponge like substance. There are many different types of boletes here in the Northeast and elsewhere. None of them are poisonous, but not all are delicious. In other parts of the world there are poisonous mushrooms with this sponge like underbelly. So to be extra, extra safe leave these behind in the woods. They don't have an appealing texture in my opinion, so they only make a really good soup. Some have a lousy taste, so try a sample before you throw them in the pot.

I once found a peppery bolete. One little nibble was like a teaspoon of Tabasco! This type can be dried and powdered and used like a spice. The Porcini is a prized bolete all around the world. I've found a few, but they seem rare around here.

Did I entice you? Did you do those seven steps? Did you puke? Did you hallucinate? Did you die? Search the woods, and search the Internet for more info...and recipes. If you go no further than step seven with the mushrooms I featured, and answered no to those last three questions, you are a mycologist. Send me a SASE and I'll send you a certificate, your name hand written on it in beautiful calligraphy, suitable for framing. All kidding aside, I hope that I have NOT enticed you to do something dangerous. Be careful. I'll close with just a few more safety tips.

Take a picture, submit it to a site like http://forums.mycotopia.net/ they will help you ID your find.

Eat a small amount at first, a single bite, and if you feel OK by the next day...pig out.

Keep a sample of the mushroom in the fridge to bring to the doctor should you get sick.

Don't eat any found in a place like someones lawn. They could have been sprayed with chemicals.

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Writing...That's my latest endeavor. This blog, started September 25th, 2008, after a hard day of splitting fire wood for sale on Craig's list - "P" is for purveyor of alternative hydrocarbon fuel, is where I want to showcase my writing, and correspond with potential clients who will pay me to write content on diverse subjects- thus moving writing from the "hobby" catagory to the "job" catagory. Of coarse, I have some of my own things to "hock". But I don't want to sound, or worse yet, be - "pitchy". My main goal is to share information, and the experiences that this "three ring circus of a life" of mine has been enriched by.

I'm really charged up to get this writing work rolling. Having been a hard-core "knowledge junkie" from the time I mastered reading -33 years ago, it's been a long time coming. I'm going to get busy on a few writing projects, and some other content ideas and post them on this blog of mine.
So poke around, and better yet subscribe, I hope you'll find some stuff that will enrich your blog, website, maybe even you're life.

I've been self employed in different fields for over 16 years so I know how essential the first few projects are in getting the work to flow with less effort. It's like pushing a broken down Ford...I had to single out Ford for this analogy and car enthusiasts understand why. At first, you depend on strength to lean in while applying all the force you can. Once it gets going, if you didn't burn out too much from the initial push, you can ease up on the force and switch over to endurance to maintain that hard earned momentum and keep it rolling.

When moving a vehicle with your hands on the trunk instead of your feet on the pedals, the short stretch of road ahead of you isn't looked at with the typical apathy of the people driving by in their Chevys. No, it's looked at in an entirely different way; inclined -with dread, level -with steady determination, declined -with glee! Who is going to do for me what I've done so many times for others? Help me push this thing off the shoulder just a hundred feet over level asphalt to a downhill coast all the way to the garage.

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