Wednesday, September 03, 2014

"Everyone gets a turn..."






The multi-talented Christian Kane. 


Patton Oswalt: Why I Quit Twitter—And Will Again | TIME: "A couple of times, in line at a grocery store or coffee shop, instead of taking out my phone to stiff-arm the creeping ennui, I’d look around instead. At the world. At the people around me. Most of them looking at their phones. We now inhabit a planet where the majority of the population is constantly staring downwards, entranced, twiddling like carpenter ants. Do pickpockets know they’re living in a second renaissance? Sometimes I’d catch the gaze of a holdout like me. A freak without a phone. Adrift in this gallery of bowed heads. A teenager, whose phone had probably died. Or a slightly older “millennial,” probably waiting for a video to load. But they were unique and far between. It was, mostly, people my age, and older—stooped, staring statues, peeping at windows in their palms...

Those holdout freaks I talked about? The teen whose phone battery I assumed had died? Or the older millennial I assumed was downloading a video? They were the ones not using their phones. They had the strongest immunity to the devices’ pull. It was the older people, the over-40s like me, and those way older, who couldn’t escape the tiny gravity of connection constantly yanking us out of existence."







Monday, September 01, 2014

Training - "Strength is a choice..."

9/1 - press, seated Arnold press, plate front raise, side/rear lateral combo, Gironda swings, btn press/push press - leg raise, twisting decline situps


T Nation | Maybe All You Need Is Lifting: "For me, doing general warm-ups and stretching drills are total drudgery – to the point where if I have to do them I'll start hating my workouts. And if I hate my workouts, I'm less likely to do them. Not good. Now, we all sometimes need to do things we don't particularly like – I get it. But often, perfect is the enemy of good. Meaning, an overly-zealous determination to make everything "perfect" might lead to you becoming overwhelmed, which in turn negatively affects your ability to be consistent...

At 6'1" and 200 pounds, I'm pulling over 500, squatting about 400, benching in the 270 range, doing sets of 18 strict chins, and my body fat is low. I have no orthopedic issues, I don't hurt anywhere, and I almost never pull a muscle or incur other injuries. So when I look at other 55 year old guys, I think I'm probably in the top 1-2% based on these criteria...  I'm currently in my best shape ever, despite the fact that I'm in my mid-fifties. Interestingly, when I look back about six years ago to a period where my training was much more varied – I was doing Olympic lifts, conditioning work, some foam rolling, etc. – it's clear that I was weaker, fatter, and more injury-prone then as compared to now. In the interests of complete transparency, my nutrition is a lot better now than it was then. But all in all, I'm convinced that my current approach is paying off more than previous approaches.

...think about this: many of the resistance-training drills most of us do, including squats, hip thrusts, and deadlifts, are an effective way to improve muscle length in and of themselves. So, just because you "don't stretch" doesn't necessarily mean that your mobility is going to hell. So, do all those movement screens really matter? Should you be concerned if you don't pass them? The last time I checked a few years back, I scored a 7 out of a possible 21 points on the Functional Movement Screen (FMS). Yet I haven't had any injury issues in many years, despite lifting consistently, training hard, and competing in powerlifting... 

Warming Up: Actually, I do warm-up, but I prefer specific warm-ups over general. Rather than riding a bike for 10 minutes before taking my first warm-up sets on squats, I'd rather spend those 10 minutes on the warm-up sets themselves. In this way, not only do I achieve the same benefits as a general warm-up, I also get more practice time for the lift itself. In the past I've occasionally experimented with general warm-ups, but I always keep coming back to my present practice. Which would better improve your squat? Ten extra minutes on bike, or 10 extra minutes under the bar?"


2014 NPC Muscle Beach Championships - Promoting Women In Bodybuilding Fitness and MMA: "Stefanie Reitzel Bikini- Class B 4th place and Novice Class B 4th place "


A ten-pack?  Ridiculous.  Awesome. 




Sunday, August 31, 2014

"Because we smart."

21 Things All Blunt People Know To Be True: "8. Your lack of a filter accidentally hurts people’s feelings on some occasions.
Just ‘cause you’re blunt doesn’t mean that you’re cruel. 

9. Your friends offer a disclaimer or apologize in advance before introducing you to other people.  
 He’s kind of a dick."

This is outstanding.

"Star-Lord, man..."
  

Friday, August 29, 2014

Training - "Say yes to your workouts no matter what."

8/29 - pullups, pushups, bw rows




Awesome work. 
Eat Clean Train Dirty: "I’m not proud of many things. but yeah this is one!"









 HOW TO GET MOTIVATED when you don't feel like WORKING OUT - "Say yes to your workouts no matter what."