north face borealis
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I’ve read lots of good reviews on the Borealis and other TNF packs. Good choice 
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I can tell why.
It’s really light weight but also sturdy. I’ve read good thing about durability, but I’ve only used the pack for a month
My only complaint is that it doesn’t open up as widely as I’d like, probably won’t work for grocery runs
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Completely forgot to press send on this reply (apologies if the convo moved on but I spent effort on the reply so might as well post)
- That’s a given considering you they are the same height and “weight”
- You shouldn’t really compare yourself to professional athletes and certainly not the elite ones
- They are 100% heavier than you with more muscle mass and dehydrated (to different extents) so they appear leaner
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What you weigh in as and what you weigh for real are two different things. I woke up 140lb this AM… Give me a few hours to weigh in under 130 and I can do that easily. Give me a day and I can get close to 120
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They do weigh in under 47 as much under as they can. In fighting there is no reason to weigh in below the weight limit (hence why most fighter weigh in on the dot or 0.1lb under) But what happens if two lifters have the same total at the end of the comp? Oh wait it Gold goes to the person with lower bodyweight
I think you really don’t realise the cycle of a weight class athlete. But in reverse chronological order it’s something like:
- Competition
- Weigh in post water cut
- Water cut
- Peaking
- Prep
- Pre competition prep
- General training and life
I know you are smart enough to realise that no one will deprive themselves and stay 10% above bodyweight during general training and life.
In all honesty the 10% is a very generic number given regarding water cuts to be safe (as you can imagine sucking water out of the body is not great) which a lot of top level athletes ignore. It also changes depending on muscle mass. The more muscle you have the more water you can cut (and the leaner you look when dried out)
Typically for maximum performance it is suggested that going into prep that:
- An athlete with 24h weigh in window stays within 16% of competition weight
- Athlete with same day weigh in stays 10%
But just to do quick maths for a 47kg athlete (103lbs) during a 10 week prep cycle (Google says its the most common)
- Weigh in post water cut= 103lbs
- Water cut= be conservative and say 5% so at this stage 108lbs
- Peaking= ** Lets say 6 weeks so again conservative 0.5lb per week loss to not hinder strength= 111lbs**
- First part of prep= Lets say 4 weeks and 1lb weight loss= 115lbs
- Pre competition prep= The top lifters know when they are competing so at this stage is where the big actual weight loss would happen. The duration of this depends on the lifter and there weight during everyday life
- General training and life= No idea
In the example above where I was VERY conservative with the water cut then we are about 10% going into prep (not deliberate). The question is how much weight is lost between the “General life” and prep during pre prep?
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I’ve been thinking about getting a hunting backpack so that I can carry a climbing rope between the pack and the frame. They are just all so ugly, and don’t have all the features that I want like a bottom easy-access sleeping bag compartment if and when made at a reasonable volume. The Marshall has all the features I desire but is 30-40 litres too big.
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It also sounds like the harness (shoulder straps, area behind your neck, and back panel) fits you well, or at least better than previous packs.
You can test the pack’s opening by trying to fill it with foods you own that you’d normally buy at the store. If it’s too small, there’s always buying another pack… 
Seriously though, packs are like shoes; each has its own purpose. I have shoes for heavy lifting, boots for hiking, dress shoes, etc. Similarly, I have a small hydration pack for summer walks and lightweight EDC (everyday carry), a medium-sized day pack that’s my workhorse, a large pack for multi-day backpacking, and even a nice leather pack that pairs with my suits for an office environment.
In the event you (eventually? inevitably? lol) get another pack, look into travel backpacks and packs with clamshell openings.
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@SkyzykS
did you see this?
No! I generally avoid the news, but I just turned it on.
That’s just across the park from your school, isn’t it?
Crazy, that timing, huh?
Edited in photo.
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Week 1: day 5 (two days ago)
16x(5 devils press-20lb dbs+12 alt db plank crossover-20 lb db+30dec rest)
3x(15 tricep push down+15 face pulls)-22.5lbs
- got HR up and went by quick, felt really good and surprisingly took a lot out of me
Week 1: day6 (yesterday)
Jumps: 3x5
Deadlift: warmups up to 90; 1x3-100,105,110; 3x15,1x5-85kg, hell yeah! @SvenG
Dead bugs: 5x10/side
4x(5 clean pulls+4 snatch grip dl)-60kg
Leg extensions: 2x(10-65lbs+10 burpees)
- woke up extremely buzzed- walking on double speed and actually sprinted up the stairs a couple of times bc excess energy, turns out this doesn’t translate to heavy work. The triples felt smooth but heavy af. The BBB sets flew. I think I finished them in 11min or so. My muscular endurance was definitely the limiting factor(it’s usually conditioning), I’m also really surprised at how easy the leg extensions felt
Updates:
- I am scrambling to come up wjth a new topic for my senior thesis project. I cam up with the idea months ago and had started doing a lot review but since my advisor (not the nitpicky one) was super busy, we only met yesterday. She shut the idea down within the first 10min… I basically spent the rest of the day thumbing through papers and brainstorming, to no avail. I’m quite stressed now
I’d appreciate any ideas related to ethical decision making - on a similar note. I’ve come to realize that my “academic superpower “ is that I’m good at collecting and synthesizing resources (information, ppl).
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Nice work, @anna_5588!
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The workout still took 90min though bc I made a new gym friend 
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“Moral injury” has become a big discussion point in medical circles since Covid, though it’s been an issue all along. For example, a nurse manager was telling me a couple of weeks ago that medication is being reserved for the sickest Covid patients, which means the vaccinated and boosted are being denied it. They may suffer permanent damage as a result of not having it, but it could save the life of a sicker non-vaxxed patient. Staff is struggling with the unfairness of this, and of the risk to their own lives the unvaxxed and now favored-status patients present to them. It’s a churning anger problem that bumps into their moral medical code of care for all.
Lifestyle choices and medicine is always a seething cauldron. I had a huge (slightly drunken) argument/debate with one of my friends’ dates when at a get together my respiratory therapist friend mentioned “too fat to fly,” which means can’t be transported by helicopter to a higher level hospital. I then meandered into passive suicidality, which triggered her.
Anyway, medicine, psychotherapy…all rife with ethical dilemmas and moral injury.
Which may have nothing to do with what you’re looking for.
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Moral injury is really interesting! Unfortunately idk if I’d be able to run an experiment as an undergrad
It does sound like something I could potentially write a model for.
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Week 2: Day 7
8x(3 front squat-60kg+4 alt DB snatch-35lbs+5 burpees)- Every 2 min
DB snatches: 1x50-25lbs, 1x40-30lbs, 1x30-35lbs, 1x20-40lbs, 1x10-45, 1x10-50lbs
- felt sore going in, but decided to get some work in, I wanted to do 15 rounds of the first thing but the gym was busy and my friend wanted to use the barbell. the snatches were awesome. I literally forgot to quit
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Is this a typo? Around here the vaccinated and boosted are getting the preferred treatment. Not only in medical care but also work…
Not trying to start a 5000 comment off topic spree, just curious if I’m reading this right lol it’ll be my only post on this topic.
Also, @anna_5588 been killin it in here!!!
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Thanks! That means a lot
Same here in NM, especially for work. Similarly, this is all I’ll say on the topic in Anna’s log.
Total reps or per arm? Either way, that’s a heckuva volume AND a heavy top set.
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Thanks!
Total reps lol 
I’m really happy with my db snatches. A year ago, I had trouble cleaning a 45lb
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Yes, here, too, but in the hospital saving lives take precedence over making people less sick. It has not yet come to a “no lung transplants for current smokers” kind of refusal of care.
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Week 3: Day 1
jumps: 3x5
Squat: warmups up to 80; 1x1-85,90,95, 100!!!; 3x10-70
Good mornings: 8x6-50kg
Lunges: 4x(10 alternation-50kg+5 burpees)
Front squats: work up to 80… fail LOL
- felt pretty crap going in but got my arse in and crushed those squats!!! I was VERY surprised that I could hit 100kg unpeaked and only 2 days after some pretty heavy front squats, bribed myself so skipped 2 BBB sets but made up with “BBB” good mornings, played around with lunges and front squats LOL
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