Saturday, May 28, 2016

EVEN MORE RANDOM THOUGHTS


-Concern over 1rm inhibits the growth of strength for many.  The 1rm itself is a skill, and some are better at it than others, but adding 30lbs to your 8rm is still growth in strength even if your 1rm doesn’t move.


-Initially, when I was injured, everyone assured me that the recovery process was long.  After my surgery, everyone then assumed I was recovered well before I was.  First, they wanted me to heal slowly, then they assumed I had healed quickly.  Interesting.


-I notice that, often I write about an idea in close proximity to another author (eg: Greg Nuckols just wrote on the topic of unrealistic expectations).  Rather than assume spontaneous shared inspiration, I imagine we observe the same trends at the same times and have the same reactions.  At least it assures me that I am not crazy…ish.


-Fat lifters think cardio and nutrition are stupid.  Small lifters think anything other than WILKS is stupid.  I try to assume that, in most cases, I am stupid, and I try to fix that.


-Do people even want the benefits of sponsorship, or is it just the “prestige” of being a sponsored lifter?  30% protein powder doesn’t seem worth it to me.


Image result for condom depot ufc
"Hey guys, follow me on instagram and use code IHAVENOPRIDE for 10% off your condom needs #FINALLYSPONSORED!"


-The above having been said, if I got sponsored by Gorilla Tape, that would be alright.


-They make sugar free ketchup now, and I am unreasonably excited about that.


-I get nothing out of incline benching and barbell rows.  I am curious if arm length relative to torso is a factor.


-Everyone wants an antagonistic relationship between movements.  Squats vs Front Squats, etc.  You can train for 50+ years folks; use every movement, just not all at once.


-I know it’s cliché, but most folks need to get in shape to train, rather than train to get in shape.


Image result for Glenn Ross strongman 
I mean, not Glenn Ross, but a lot of people still


-All of this is ridiculous; don’t take it so seriously.  But, you can still do your best while laughing at yourself.


-I was more amazed at the reactions people had to Hafþór diet than the diet itself.  What were people expecting?


-My heart goes out to surgeons and physical therapists, because I know I’m a terrible patient.


-Why was it that, in the 80s, when action heroes had crazy physiques, no one was upset, but as the standards have slid people cry “unrealistic” louder and louder?

 Image result for conan the barbarian
Reminder; this was fine, Chris Evans is setting an impossible standard

-No matter how many hashtags you use, it won’t add weight to the bar or take away bodyfat.


-If I look in the mirror, I am meeting my goals.  In photos, I am either too small or too fat.


-I shaved over a minute off my 1.5 mile time.  My ACL was weighing me down.


-If you feel the need to reference studies/authors vs your own success, stop arguing.


-Heavy vertical pulls are a surefire recipe for elbow tendonitis.  I should stop re-learning that.


-Jim Wendler has the patience of a saint.

Image result for Jim Wendler
He must keep his patience in his traps

-If you interpret all questions as attacks, you don’t know what you’re talking about.


-My dietary weakness isn’t food choice but portion size.  I am sure I’m not alone on that one.


-5 months and 22 days post ACL reconstruction to get cleared from physical therapy.  Considering I started a month late, I will take it.  And considering I trained the whole time and didn’t re-injure myself, it’s a real victory.


-Something I have observed; weak skinny lifters tend to think they are training harder than they really are, while fat lifters tend to think they are eating better than they are.  However, the former tend to overcomplicate training AND diet, while the latter approach both with simplicity.


-It’s ridiculous that people want proof that conditioning benefits lifting; we use to just call that “being in shape”.


Image result for mariusz pudzianowski farmers walk
"Psh, how could that possibly get you any stronger?"

-I observe a correlation between concern with injury prevention and lack of results.


-I’ll take 100lbs on my total over 10,000 youtube followers.  It’s alarming how many “lifters” wouldn’t.


-“I train like a ____ (strongman, powerlifter, bodybuilder, etc)” is a statement made by those with no real understanding of how these folks train.  All it takes to be one of these things is competition.  A successful athlete is simply one who strengthen’s their weaknesses.


-What is with the paradox of mocking crossfitters for thinking that they are hardcore while at the same time mocking them for stupidly dangerous workouts?  Either they AREN’T hardcore, and the workouts are easy, or the workouts are stupidly dangerous and they’re hardcore for managing to get through them.


-Hell, Mark Felix isn’t above doing a crossfit workout.



He makes it look good


-Just because a guy can design an app doesn’t mean you should listen to them on training advice.  I’m looking at you Mehdi.


-Don’t justify why you do something; justify why you DON’T do something.


-People view lack of mobility as some sort of sin.  If you “need” weightlifting shoes to squat, you have a mobility issue to address.  Or, hey, maybe you just found a solution and can just keep lifting weights.  If you spend all of your time fixing all of your problems, you won’t have any time to actually train.


-I mean, seriously, when is the last time you saw women drooling over how mobile a man was?


-Don’t do what weak people do to get stronger; how would they know what to do?  Do what strong people do to get stronger.


-Marketing being fat as “hardcore” has been terribly destructive.  We’re still undoing the damage.


Image result for Dave Tate reasons to be big 
This looks like the scene from a different sort of "hardcore" movie


-You can win a lot of medleys by being the best at picking up an object and the fastest to run back to the start line.  Most people ignore these variables.


-I wonder how much Eddie Hall could deadlift if he would quit deadlifting wrong.


-No one has money for books or lifting equipment, but everyone has money for supplements, shoes, and knee sleeves.

10 comments:

  1. Always love your content, if you ever write a book, I'll be the first to buy it.
    The mobility issue is complicated because people don't have a plan. Just like with training itself, you have to analyze your weaknesses and know what you need to improve. Rolling your IT band for 10 minutes isn't going to do anything for you, but if you have tightness and can release your hip flexors it can definitely keep you from messing up your back by over-extending when deadlifting. Same thing with shoulder impingements; if you have terrible posture, your shoulder can't move freely. It's not a structural issue, you just need to re-teach your body appropriate movement.
    TLDR: I agree that most mobility work is a waste, but it is only because people aren't addressing their own unique mobility issues in an appropriate way.

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    1. Thanks for the support dude. Glad to have you as a reader. I really appreciate your response as well, as it's the kind of response I WANT from the pro-mobility folks. As you noted, mobility work is a tool to fix a problem. It makes sense to use it if you need it, but as you noted, too many people get obsessed with just doing mobility work for the sake of doing it. And, of course, I'm a big advocate on simply being mobile to increase mobility, but if people want to roll on foam, they can at least know WHY they're doing it.


      Thanks for the intelligent response. It gives me hope.

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  2. -I observe a correlation between concern with injury prevention and lack of results.
    Jason blaha.

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    1. Haha, I am SHOCKED that people felt the need to "expose" Blaha in order to realize that he was a crackpot. I've never watched one of his videos because I never wanted to give him traffic, but just from his fanbase I could tell he was a fraud. It's sad the low standards people have for their authority figures.

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  3. I used to be confused that my actual 1RMs were so far short of my projected 1RMs. Meanwhile, I almost never did sets of <5 reps in training, so no wonder. Now I'm a big fan of peaking blocks when appropriate, haha.

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    1. You got it man. A lotta folks don't realize the difference between strength built and strength realized. It took me YEARS to get my head out of my own ass on that one.

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  4. "If you interpret all questions as attacks, you don’t know what you’re talking about"

    #I'mWithHer

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    1. Oh, and GNucks is a reddit guy as well so you are probably right that you two frequently see the same /r/fitness silly shit.

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    2. Oh my god don't get me started on politics. I can't stand election season as it forces my brain to overload observing all the logical fallacies, haha.


      I've seen Greg on reddit, but he's not the only one where him and I have written about the same thing at almost the exact same time. I've seen it with Jamie Lewis and a few other authors. I usually get upset about it because they do a much better job than I did, haha.

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  5. Also a Redditor...https://www.reddit.com/user/chaosandpain. Was more active before his main account got banned in a typical Reddit e-peen competition. But yeah, I know what you mean. For the most part everything swings through a few major forums, bb.com for example too.

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