Yes and Yes. Cali made the covid vaccine mandatory for all in-person schooling (public and private), and we all already had covid. The data also shows an increased risk of developing myocarditis for children and overly-athletic folks, which applies to all of us. We’re Florida-bound before long.
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Your kiddos are so lucky to have you and your wife – for lots of reasons!
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The weekend felt like four days instead of two. We had wildly different plans between the morning and evening, so Saturday felt like two days crammed into one, and then Sunday ended up feeling the same.
On Saturday morning we hiked.
Then on Saturday evening Chris and I went to the range. He did his own practice and I took a class where we learned what to do about various types of gun malfunctions and misfires. My accuracy was better than it’s ever been! (Probably because I was using the H&K VP9L instead of my itty bitty sig.)
The dude in the Live Free shirt to the right of me is my buddy during classes. I try to team up with him because he knows as much as the instructors. And the instructors are a hoot too. Fantastic teachers.
Sunday Morning we went to church. Any chance I get to wear a dress, I’ll take it! It’s usually too cold here, but somehow I’ve accumulated a million dresses.
Then Sunday evening we went to an Easter party at the same house that the Maytag family used to own. We finally met the (current) owner too. His wit was so fast that I barely caught his jokes in time, but we loved meeting him and so many new people that were there. Unfortunately no pictures were taken there because we were chatting the whole time.
But my friend Debbie sent me home with some roses from the party.
And then I had a sore throat all night so I decided not to risk it and skipped today’s workout.
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Holy crap we’re slaughtering sacred cows - you are courageous (and I mean that sincerely). I actually left one (and oof it cost me), but it was worth it (I mean, my kids aren’t going to college and I’m never retiring, but other than that).
I think I’m also the last person that actually liked Bud Light, so I was hurt the most. I did hear an interview with the VP of brand management that I thought was hilarious - paraphrasing, she said her job was to update the out-of-touch fratty brand. It was almost like marketing 101… is the brand out-of-touch or are you out-of-touch with your customer segment? Early Wall Street reaction is not a good indication, by the way, because ESG lists artificially drive investment dollars; we’ll want to look at market share and revenue in about 6 months to see if she’s right or we are.
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I’m not the courageous one, you are! To leave a job for your convictions is truly admirable. That says a lot about your character and I’m sure you had a supportive wife along the way too, so it says a lot about her as well. I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like to be in that position. I’ll keep your family in my prayers, but I’m betting you all will do just fine!
I suspect most people can guess where I stand on the trans topic. Anyone who read this article has known my thoughts about men who get ahead by pretending to be women. I’m just avoiding companies which promote such lies and celebrate the outright rejection of God.
That’s pretty interesting about the VP of brand management. And I was actually surprised how many brands Anhauser-Busch owns aside from the obvious Budweiser and Bud Light. So I wonder if we’ll see more of them go the same direction. If you guys ever find yourselves in our area we’ll introduce you to better beer. (Kidding! But we would.)
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I am from Wisconsin - we didn’t even drink bud light while we were broke.
Heck, Steel Reserve and Hamms are better.
Might as well drink O’douls - effect is about the same.
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I have a buddy who enjoys terrible light beers like Bud Light. It’s funny because that’s what he drinks when he’s “not drinking.” (His words.)
He says, “This is just water for me, dude!” When he’s really drinking, he goes for the good stuff from brewpubs and whisky.
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That’s a real thing when your tolerance is high. If I wanted to fit in with the crowd during parties but didn’t want to actually get drunk I would drink miller lite all night. 1/ hour had no effect.
Now that I don’t drink I bet one Lite would make me feel tipsy.
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I don’t even use my real name on here. I don’t know it was just selfish or not; it was a lot of uprooting. You’re right - my wife yes pretty awesome. We’re all good and the dust is settled and we’re back where we want to be, so all good! Thank you! I appreciate that you’re willing to say what you believe even in what’s pretty much a workplace for you here.
@Chris_Shugart @cyclonengineer that’s exactly my thoughts with lights beers! I can have one in my hand all night and it not be a problem.
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I almost missed this part! Careful - I’ll take you up on it.
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So there’s a dude that identifies as a chick on a can of water that identifies as beer…?
Seems pretty on brand to me.
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You don’t seem like the type who’d uproot for selfish reasons. Sounds like you made a wise choice that’ll pay off in the long run, and likely in more important ways than just income.
I’m so relieved to hear this!
I’ve been blessed with bosses and superiors who don’t punish us for our thoughts and opinions. Even if we have dumb ones (I’ve had plenty of dumb opinions before), we’re free to hold them. We’re free to change our minds too. This is how jobs should be, and I am so grateful to be here.
That makes sense! I’m such a lightweight that I usually don’t get through a whole beer, so gotta choose something memorable and delicious. Wait a minute… Maybe I can’t get through a whole one because the memorable beers have a really high percentage of alcohol.
Ok just solved that mystery.
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Do it. Chris and I love our local breweries. Great places to meet up with friends!
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That’s an oxymoron isn’t it? There’s an inverse relationship between remembering and alcohol content.
I really appreciate the kind words. I didn’t intend to come in here and hijack your conversation with a “look at me.” At the end of the day, most of us are fortunate enough that a little money really is not a sacrifice (and less so every day in USD - ha!).
You guys are in Colorado Springs if I remember right? I don’t believe I’ll be back out that way for at least a couple months, but you’re on my speed dial!
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You didn’t! I use this log as a form of social media, rather than just tracking workouts. So the more discussion, the better.
The less of it you drink, the more you remember! 
I’m a fan of tiny doses of the really good stuff. If you ever happen to see it in store, there’s a brand called Dragon’s Milk that Chris and I love. It’s basically dessert in a bottle.
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I’m in SW Ohio - I love the bourbon barrel beers! It’s pretty rare I actually drink them anymore, but they’re good.
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As you know, I abandoned Nike a long time ago. What’s surprised me most though is that Nike was an early advocate for women’s sports, getting young girls into competitions, etc. Their classic commercial, “If You Let Me Play” brought tears. It was awesome. (Look it up on YouTube.) Now it’s “Screw women, except the ones with the penises.”
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Upper Body Day
I was revved up and ready to lift today. So of course that meant blasting some old school N’SYNC.
Superset:
• Cable Straight Arm Pull-Down: 4x10-15 reps
• Seated Cable Row: 4x10
The slower you go (with moderate weight) on that first exercise, the more you can shift tension to whatever muscle group you want: lats, traps, triceps, even rear delts will feel this. The pump and the burn are insane if you prevent the weight stack from dropping all the way down. It’s constant fiery tension. (Note: If you’re unable to feel different musculature working, try decreasing the weight a tad.)
• Hammer Strength Chest Press: 5x5
Weight used:
160
160
170
170
180
Back-off set: 90 pounds for 15 reps, with partials at peak contraction.
Last time I did this, I started with 140 and ended with 180. This time I started 20 pounds heavier. So I’m doing the same amount of reps, but inching the weight up. It felt really cool to have two 45-pound plates on each side. Honestly though, I didn’t really feel this in the pecs until the back-off set.
• Banded external rotations: 12-15 reps each side between chest press sets.
• T-Bar Row: 5x5-8 reps (every minute on the two minutes)
Weight:
45
55
60
65
45
When I was in my 20’s, I’d do the T-Bar row with a lot of intensity techniques, but I never put more than a 25-pound plate on it. So while this may not seem like a lot of weight, it’s pretty darn heavy for me.
• Machine Lateral Raise: 3 extended sets with partials and drops in weight.
I saved bicep work for leg day. The goal will be to use the weight the older gentleman (Mike) got me to use last week. But I’m going to start with it this time. Everyone needs a Mike at their gym. Hope you’ve found one.
Some Thoughts on Female Muscle
The whole conversation about bulkiness is pretty silly. Even among fit pros who tell women not to worry about ever achieving that look. Why? Because it’s okay for different people to want to look different ways. And some women truly do not want any visible muscle. Why shame them for that?
It doesn’t hurt my feelings if someone sees my body and says, “not for me!”
A woman actually DID say that one time. She was responding to a Facebook (boomer-book) post that had my picture on it. She commented something like, “Yuck, I don’t want to look like that.” And I got a kick out of it! She’s free to have her opinions and they may evolve over time… or not. Who cares?
And it’s not just randos on social media. One time I showed my dad a video where I was doing an excruciating metcon session with my personal trainer at the time. It was brutal, and I thought Dad would be proud.
But he said, “don’t you want to be softer?”
HA! No, I do not.
I think the preference for visible muscle is often generational and even cultural. My dad is proud of me for other things, but he’s just not into lifting and that’s okay. We can’t force non-lifters to like what we like. But we can encourage them to be healthier in other ways.
Here’s the crazy thing though: so many people underestimate how much a muscular body can transform – in a matter of hours – appearance wise. Not enough people talk about this!
A carbed-up body with a pump and a flexed pose looks extremely different than the same body in a relaxed state without any pre-workout or pump. And those changes can be even more dramatic when you factor in time of month (which can contribute to water retention), clothing, lighting, and body position.
Why even mention that? Because if a woman is worried about looking too muscular, all she has to do is wait a couple hours for the pump to go away.
Here’s an example:
Flexed Pose
Do I even lift?
Granted, these pictures weren’t taken on the same day. But I wasn’t doing anything dramatically different with my diet or exercise. My diet is called, “avoid crap food in general” and my workouts are always just a mix of moderate weights with my favorite intensity techniques.
So what do you think? Have you ever been able to successfully convince someone to build muscle when they were resistant to the idea? Has anyone ever been grossed out by your physique? Tell me your stories.
What’s funny is that a person who’s considered “too” muscular to her general population friends might also be considered “too” puny and weak within the lifting world.
So exercise however you want because none of those opinions matter.
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