Dennis Reynolds is my spirit animal.

"Much of what is called lunacy..."

#TheStruggle

Training.

8/19 - press, chins, dips, pike pushups, stretch
8/18 - stretch
8/17 - squats, box jumps, lunge, knee raise, stretch
8/16 - stretch

Funeral For My Fat, You’ve spent months reaching your goals, or you’re...: "You’ve spent months reaching your goals, or you’re just starting your journey and now BAM. Summer is here, family trips are planned, beach weekends with your besties are booked, road trips are scheduled. You name it, vacation time is here ☀️ So what does that mean for your new found love or loath with healthy eating habits and fitness?? Well…

Like I said earlier, I’m on a strict plan right now. So I do cardio in the morning and weighs in the evening plus cardio again. I typically sleep in, but while on vacation, it’s fun to get up early and walk/jog the beach or break a sweat in the Hawaiian gardens for Body Sculpt class. In the evening, after dinner, My husband and I go lift weights+cardio for an hour. Our late evenings are free so we can walk the beach, find a fun live music spot, explore the night. For you, one workout might be enough! And that is great. Or every other day. Whatever feels right for you. Just know that fitness is part of your healthy life so you want it to be part of you vacation too.."

Guest post: Obesity re-programming – is perception being manipulated?: "Are we being re-programmed via an ever-growing press trend to not only accept obesity but laud its appearance and acceptance, as if it were an inherent and unchangeable, aesthetically pleasing characteristic, like eye color? 

In the search for romance and partners, individuals are being vilified for stating preferences for slender/fit types, which heretofore was argued as biologically driven selectivity for healthy (fertile and able to bear children) partners. Parents are being condemned for not accepting their children’s obesity and castigated when they call it out, however hard it must be on all sides, regardless of the extreme level of destruction they are witnessing in their beloved children and trying to curtail. That this calling out is now also being done for the entertainment of the masses is its own monster; the desire for one’s warholian fifteen minutes overrides tact and privacy in this media saturated culture, where attention comes at vitalized cost. 

As it sells commercial spots, it is supported by big industry, from a mass media need to fill 24/7 time slots to all weight-related industries, whose success depends on the ongoing attempts and failures of their consumers. Likewise, designers, retailers and their representatives are being attacked and boycotted when word that their demographic is not all-inclusive is viralized. Given the vast realm of physical and financial demographics, when ever was there a mandate that all clothing lines be manufactured for everyone? Fashion and wearables are material, materialistic products; this is a garment industry reality. Price point alone structures a bigger societal divider than any range of sizes and is not only accepted but celebrated. 

Additionally, online and print articles prepare readers beforehand with warnings of disturbing, so-called “triggering“ images when a photo of a corseted or over-thin body is shown, yet articles everywhere else tout the beauty in obesity and champion its integration as a personal, permanent physical reality. Image after image and story after story of overweightedness/obesity is presented by the media for purposes of mass acceptance, admiration and even congratulatory support. In contrast, witness the viralization of non-celeb, fitness-boasting mom posters, bloggers and celebrities who are attacked and denigrated far more than they are congratulated for their slender forms, even if it is about the reclaiming of women’s pre-pregnancy figures. Obesity is the result of overeating and a stagnant, sedentary lifestyle..."

"Men: What the Fuck Happened?"

Stanhope Gets It.

"...whereas men consistently were held to the strict standards... the women were allowed lighter duties and exceptions to policy."

If you can do the job, you should get the job.  But this, if true, is bullshit.  Female Rangers Were Given Special Treatment, Sources Say : People.com: "...whereas men consistently were held to the strict standards outlined in the Ranger School's Standing Operating Procedures handbook sources say, the women were allowed lighter duties and exceptions to policy. Multiple sources told PEOPLE: 

 • Women were first sent to a special two-week training in January to get them ready for the school, which didn't start until April 20. Once there they were allowed to repeat the program until they passed – while men were held to a strict pass/fail standard. 

 • Afterward they spent months in a special platoon at Fort Benning getting, among other things, nutritional counseling and full-time training with a Ranger. 

 • While in the special platoon they were taken out to the land navigation course – a very tough part of the course that is timed – on a regular basis. The men had to see it for the first time when they went to the school. 

 • Once in the school they were allowed to repeat key parts – like patrols – while special consideration was not given to the men. 

 • A two-star general made personal appearances to cheer them along during one of the most challenging parts of the school, multiple sources tell PEOPLE. 

 The end result? Two women – First Lts. Kristen Griest and Shaye Haver – graduated August 21 (along with 381 men) and are wearing the prestigious Ranger Tab. Griest was surprised they made it. "I thought we were going to be dropped after we failed Darby [part of Benning] the second time," Griest said at a press conference before graduation. "We were offered a Day One Recycle." 

...On May 8, eight women were allowed to repeat the first phase. Once again, the women failed, sources said. They stumbled on patrols. "They were not aggressive enough," a source with knowledge of events tells PEOPLE. "They made poor combat decisions." Patrols are a crucial element in Ranger School. "If you fail patrols, it's significant, because you don't have what it takes," says Bubba Moore, a former Ranger Instructor with close ties to the Ranger and Fort Benning communities. "People will get killed." 

In late May, with more failed events, commanders reassessed what to do with the women. Five women were sent back to their home units. Three were offered the chance to start Ranger School all over again, from the first day. They accepted the offer. The three women again failed patrols during the first phase, sources say. 

That's when Gen. Miller himself arrived on the course, according to sources. Fort Benning later acknowledged to PEOPLE that Miller had gone to the training grounds while the women were on the course. A Fort Benning spokesman said Miller went there to commemorate his 30th anniversary of attending Ranger School, and did not go to pressure instructors into passing the women. Nevertheless, with Miller on scene, the women passed and progressed to the next phase. "Was it undue command influence?" a source with knowledge of events tells PEOPLE. "No matter what the general intended to convey, the instructors had no choice but to take this to mean, 'Play along.' " "The instructors knew what they were expected to do," the source says. "They did it." After the women continue to struggle, Miller showed up again, sources say. Two women passed and ultimately graduated on August 21."

"All the world's waiting for you..."

Melissa Benoist (@melissabenoist) • Instagram photos and videos:

Disrupting the narrative.

 Is 'Opting Out' The New American Dream For Working Women? - Forbes: "According to a new partnered survey cosponsored by ForbesWoman and TheBump.com, a growing number of women see staying home to raise children (while a partner provides financial support) to be the ideal circumstances of motherhood.  

Forget the corporate climb; these young mothers have another definition of success: setting work aside to stay home with the kids. For the third year running, ForbesWoman and TheBump.com surveyed 1,000 U.S. women in our joint communities (67% were working outside the home and 33% stayed at home with their children) about their employment decisions post-motherhood, and how their family finances and the economy affected those choices...

At a moment in history when the American conversation seems to be obsessed with bringing attention to women in the workplace (check out “The End of Men,” or Google “gender paygap” for a primer), it seems a remarkable chasm between what we’d like to see (more women in the corporate ranks) and what we’d like for ourselves (getting out of Dodge). But it’s true: according to our survey, 84% of working women told ForbesWoman and TheBump that staying home to raise children is a financial luxury they aspire to. What’s more, more than one in three resent their partner for not earning enough to make that dream a reality."

Training - "Structured discipline is your magic ticket to long-term success."

8/15 - bench, bw rows, pushups, bridge, speedbag, stretch
8/14 - stretch
8/13 - stretch
8/12 - power cleans, deadlifts, situps, backxt, stretch
8/11 - stretch
8/10 - press, chins, dips, pike pushups, speed bag, stretch

Not wrong - #POWERLIFTINGMOTIVATION - POWERLIFTING MOTIVATION:

Question and Answer: Instagram – Jim Wendler: "Trust the program and understand that there is bad days, good days and a lot of average days. He who perseveres, wins."

Question and Answer: Instagram – Jim Wendler: "N.O.V. is more of people shutting off the static and noise of this industry, not basing their training decisions on the fear-mongering and personal hatred disguised-as-motivation that plagues many “experts”. You eat, you train and you do things in a logical manner with a tremendous effort. And then you go do other shit in your life that is based on same principles: Action, not reaction"

Motivation: You’re Doing It Wrong. | Nerd Fitness: "So, the next time you are motivated, don’t use that motivation to JUST do the activity you are fired up to try. Instead, use that motivation build permanent systems that make you stay in the action zone longer. Long term, non-fleeting stability.  How does this work?  STRUCTURED DISCIPLINE! Mic drop...

Structured discipline is your magic ticket to long-term success. The more discipline you have, the less reliant you’ll be on another dose of motivation to take action.  In short: “F*** motivation, cultivate discipline.” Motivation is going to promise you things, and then leave you when you need it most. When you can capitalize on that motivation by lowing the amount of inertia you have to overcome to take action every day, the more likely you’ll be to succeed."