Do Meatheads Dream of Iron Sheep?

Training Over 35 Lifter
1781

FIRST PANDEMIC POST IN MY LOG.

I just got a letter from my gym owner with a grim out look for re-opening prospects. I hope they weather the storm, but even if they do it may not be until July or even August before I get a real barbell in my hands.

Who knows when I’ll train jiu jitsu again? That’ll be the last business in Maine to re-open.

My stepson is using my adjustable bench and adjustable dumbbells at his mom’s house, so I’ve been using limited equipment that I have at home.

70lb kettlebell
50lb kettlebell
spinlock weight set with two dumbbells and a barbell.

Today I busted out a quickie on my lunch break as I was cooking. Rotated between

Squats with the 70, sets of 10
Swings with the 70, sets of 20
Presses with the 50, sets of 10

Warmed-up with bands and light DB’s. 30 minutes or so total.

Time to start logging again.

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1782

Tuesday 5/26/20

Today I did a ton of single-arm pressing with light DB’s and band work on my shoulders. I didn’t manage to get anything else done before I needed to shower up on lunch and run some errands.

50 slow press reps for each arm.
Buncha band work.

Swings later?

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1783

Sounds like you’re in a good spot for Simple Sinister or Dan John’s 10,000 swing challenge.

I think if you’re knocking out high-rep, explosive one-armed swings and slow Turkish getups with the 32kg KB it certainly won’t hurt your BJJ.

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1784

10,000 swings has been on my mind. I’m now 10 days alcohol-free and feeling ready to put together a new fat-loss stretch after some regrettable early quarantine behavior that would not secure my place in Valhalla.

Magic always seems to happen for me around the one month mark whenever I man up and just say no to all of the delicious, bubbly, smile-inducing beer that’s available in astonishing varieties, all ready to wrap me in their warm and comforting embrace.

I’m sorry, local economy. You’ll have to find a way through the rest of the pandemic without me.

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1785

Well I got a few more in tonight. Only 9,900 swings left to go.

1786

I saw some ridiculous effects, fat-loss-wise, from the 10K challenge. Give it a proper go, 500 swings a day, 3 days on/1 day off for 20 workouts. I can guarantee you’ll be pleasantly surprised (as well as bored and miserable along the way) with the results, especially given you’re carrying a good deal more muscle mass than me.

1787

I think I will. I’ve got nothing better to do and WFH is extended another month as of today. That 70lb 'er is my best option without buying more crap or making space by getting rid of the mats.

I don’t think I’m ready to do 1,000 swings tomorrow, so I’m just going to push a little further for another week or so to get used to the movement. I’m 40 now, and in no hurry to blow my load or a hamstring right off the bat.

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1788

I would definitely say playing it safe is a good idea. I would also say that despite you being strong, grip will already be the limiting factor when you eventually get to high-rep (50) sets, and I think you’ll get as much benefit with less wear and tear on your hands with the 50 lb-er vs the 70 lb-er. Besides that, just make sure you’re not squatting down with the weight, just hinging and snapping, and you’ll likely avoid any back discomfort. Best of luck, dude.

1789

I skipped accessory work doing this workout which caused some strength loss. Gloves didn’t work as well as workout rag on handle to minimize blistering; sides of fingers will likely develop callouses.

I started the routine with 1 x 15, then sets of 25 (quickly hated 50 rep sets) to get 500 swings/workout, 4 workouts/week. Stomach shrank a few inches. I used a 50 throughout, 70’s fine as long as you do the accessory work. Maybe 50 for warm up.

Will refine mental toughness.

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1790

I need to sharpen that up a little, no doubt about that. I’ve grown soft in the last few months.

The last two days have been beating the heat at the swimming hole on lunch. It’s been a scorching mid 80’s here this week. I suppose I can log the installation of my main air conditioner as well. It’s an older model, but she still checks out. 75 lbs of awkward object lifting up two flights of stairs. I felt I deserved a beer, no, a six pack of beers after that, but I don’t.

Almost two weeks since the last alcohol. Good things are ahead. Just not any beer for a while.

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1791

Apologies for cluttering up your log, but figured I’d drop this here, since I’m bowing out of PWI (except for the occasional troll post…LOL):

My .02: you’re debating, they’re (mostly) arguing. They’re (mostly) not trolls, but they most definitely have very strong feelings that will not be swayed.

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1792

I want to add though, that when it comes to training/diet discussions, this site definitely delivers.
Make sense, since with training/diet, results are what count, and no amount of emotion can trump (pun?..) that.

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1793

@punnyguy No worries, my log is far from cluttered lately. I haven’t picked up my kettlebell in a week, but I’ve done a lot of hiking, walking and a few brisk dips in the lake.

What you say is mostly true. I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything, it is more of a writing outlet with a somewhat engaged audience who is unlikely to find me in real life to cause problems. It is also an interesting thought exercise to take a position of supporting a Donald Trump executive order in a hostile room. I didn’t look for some take from a conservative talking head to regurgitate, I just read the E.O., the law in question and the wikipedia article on its history. Off we go.

In real life these are conversations I’ll only have face-to-face, where people react differently if you pin them down. It is also not really possible to “quote” in normal conversation, where you pretend that someone means something other than what they said, put things in a different context or just move the goalpost again and again. Only internet forum conversations look that way. Quoting is a useful tool, but it is also easy to quote a text out-of-context and shift the goalpost, which happens all the time.

Most people won’t whip out their phone and google in the middle of a conversation, either. You either follow along or get lost, and its much more obvious when someone is lost in real life. You can only excuse yourself from the conversation to become Google Smart so many times before people begin to wonder why you keep taking 10 minute long shits.

The phenomenon I find so amusing is that we’re at this place where anything short of denouncing Trump on anonymous internet forum (well, as anonymous as a place can be with video of you floating around), is seen as a serious character flaw and/or somehow producing harm in the world. As if we can do much more than vote on a coin flip every four years. Nothing said or done here is helping or hurting Trump, and you have to have serious delusions about yourself if you believe otherwise. It is not like we’re crafting and implementing actual policy here. It’s a discussion forum that nobody crafting policy knows about, let alone takes into consideration.

I suspect a few NPD’s, but who knows? It would explain a lot. You shall know them by how they handle themselves when being challenged and the veneer of expertise and/or having the highest IQ in the room gets pierced. The narcissist will not shatter their self-image of infallibility and importance. They will run in horror, lash out at whoever is exposing them and or change the subject, but they will not own the flaw, no matter how minor it is in the grand scheme of things.

Maybe that’s why people so many are so quick to know the hopes, dreams and deepest, darkest intentions of one Donald J. Trump, not to mention semi-anonymous internet forum posters. Who knows though? I’ve only got a semester and a half of college, just like Tony Soprano.

How many of these experts on everything have ever said “you got me”, “I’m wrong”, or even revised an opinion when challenged? It rarely happens, if ever, so everyone gets to remain an expert on everything in their heads. Forget “I was wrong”. How often do you even hear “You have a point”? You don’t.

There’s a few PWI denizens I’ve never witnessed do anything remotely close to admit fault or error, let alone keep a workout log or tangible evidence of lifting weights :slight_smile: You have to wonder what brought them here in the first place. Who knows?

I’ve also had a lot more free time lately. Usually my PWI posting coincides with injuries or really bad weather, but I guess we can add pandemics to the list. I should probably post less and swing that kettlebell more, but I’m 40 and I’ll do whatever I damn well please.

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1794

Wait until you get a few more years under your belt, young man…

FTR, I had to google NPD, but yep I agree. My favorite smh moment recently is when some expert arguers “proved” the erroneous point of view on war held by…an actual war hero.

I have four years of Ivy League, which makes me part of the hive mind. You’re hanging out with the likes of Bill Gates, subverting the free world…seeking planetary dominance.

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1795

Wait. What happens then? Do you STOP doing whatever you damn well please? I expect to grow even more direct and ready to challenge absurdity.

Judging by how a difference of opinion gets treated, you’d think I’m loading Jews into an oven instead of continuing to be a conservative even though Donald Trump is now president. As if I’m simply crazy for not becoming a Democrat because Trump was elected. I don’t understand the broader thought process beyond “Orange Man Bad”, but that’s part of what makes engaging with it amusing.

“I can’t believe you haven’t completely re-thought your ideas about the role of government in the last 3 years. Don’t you follow Trump’s Twitter? Conservatives are such hypocrites, and they hate dancing college girls”

Meanwhile, you can say whatever you want about Trump, anyone who fails to denounce everything about Trump, and even make things up in your head, and all of those ideas go unchallenged. As soon as someone comes along and says, “hey, you can’t judge people on imaginary actions that never took place”, the knives come out. You can’t even ask someone to name an actual person if they put forward a stereotype or narrative. Basic questions like who, what, and why turn into a multi-post back-and-forth to move the goal post somehow.

That’s amusing to me. At least in a pandemic, where my standards for amusement are lower.

Speaking more broadly, so many people have lost the assumption of good faith, let alone the ability to converse in good faith. This affects me in real life, where my white upper middle class sister in-law is having what I can only describe as Harriet Tubman fantasies about herself. As if there is a connection between her personal social media activity and real world outcomes in violent situations involving police. Good luck asking her to explain that connection and stay on the mailing list for niece pictures over Christmas.

I don’t even think many in that thread understood the good faith concept. It is practically alien in 2020. You’ll never bother to understand someone else’s point of view if you think they’re a terrible person, and you’ll never get past your own limited thinking if you can’t see past your own nose. It isn’t like understanding a conservative view takes a lot of legwork. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me on everything, but if you can’t understand a good faith position then the problem is with you, not the other person.

Oddly enough, the conversation over there seems to have shifted to training. Apparently even anonymous internet political posters who never post about training are here for training first, politics second.

It could be fun to attempt to argue like a modern liberal, but there aren’t many conservatives who are willing to engage. Gee, I wonder why? Who wouldn’t want to talk politics in a room like that?

On one hand, arguing like a liberal is easy. Just rip on Trump and you’ll get plenty to agree with you. That’s laughably easy. The bigger challenge for me would be defending the Democrat’s policies, which is why nobody ever wants to talk policy. It would also be very hard to keep it serious when discussing policies, because so many are patently absurd.

How do I keep a straight face and not drip with sarcasm when discussing the merits of Biden’s stated policy goals? That could be fun.

Who knows? Work from home keeps getting extended and I still can’t train jiu jitsu, can’t lift barbells, can’t go to restaurants and my kid is starting a full-time job today, so I’ve got LOTS of time. Maybe I’ll pretend to find their arguments convincing and start taking them to their logical conclusions. Maybe I’ll swing that goddamn kettlebell some more.

For now I’ll let the group get back to high-fiving each other, because they know what Trump is really thinking, what Trump is really doing and where the policy decisions are taking society. Someone else can come along and provide superficial scrutiny to their ideas and get mobbed because of it.

/rant over.

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1796

I may be ranting to myself now, but here is an extension of the notion you see on this forum that affects me in real life. My SIL just posted this. The poisonous notion is that failing to virtue signal on social media like she does is a de-facto racist position. In fact, failing to vote the way she does is a de-facto racist position. Just don’t ask her to explain why.

The fact that I don’t, “like”, “share”, or post similar crap on my public social media is evidence that I’m a racist, you see. In fact, if I were to ask her to explain exactly what she thinks should be done (i.e. what would be “enough” to use the meme’s terms), and how that will improve outcomes in the real world, she will become very angry.

She also has a master’s degree, which she is quick to point out if I get too uppity and ask a question like “how does posting this help anyone, anywhere?” or “why do you only post stuff like this when it is all over the news?”.

This wouldn’t be a concern of mine, if not for her status as my nieces’ mom and her judgement that not using my facebook account for cause du jour activism makes me complicit in oppression. She simply cannot fathom that I use my social media for socializing how I want to socialize over the internet, which doesn’t involve talking about things like politics, religion, guns, martial arts or any other niche topics. Then again, like some of our posters have said…

Your silence is telling.

Just like how the absence of commentary on these forums is adequate information to infer all manner of details about someone. It is so common and so rarely challenged that people sometimes get upset when someone calls them out on it.

Especially the uncle who didn’t finish college. What does HE know?

image

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1797

No, it only gets worse…

For example, when your nieces grow up and you’ve established an adult relationship with them, you will be unable to resist the urge to tell your SIL to piss off. (come to the dark side, young one)

You make an excellent point about the assumption of good faith. It speaks favorably to your mindset, and I applaud you for it. My achilles heel is I’m more likely to assume bad faith until proven otherwise…perhaps another symptom of more years under the belt lol.

The circle jerking is mindblowingly annoying. Also, what’s the frickin’ point, besides the blatant need for validation.

Mini rant -my minority view is that the only “minority” that still deserves “favoritism” imo are the Native Americans. And they still have it the worst. Everybody else needs to get out there and mow their own GDMF’ing lawn…non-motorized.

…you need to rant more. It’s like “exercise” for the psyche, promotes healing.

1798

I’m already the subversive Uncle. Some of the sins I’ve been scolded for…

Not selling off all of my locked and secured firearms, thus introducing the possibility that my nieces will somehow be shot during a visit.

Letting them watch Gremlins.

Letting the youngest climb a small rock wall with padded floors.

Failure to virtue signal on social media.

I once made a post asking “Are you sick of politics?” and posting a Miles Taylor deadlift video, which I was promptly informed was me showing my privilege, because being “sick of politics” is privilege in action when people are LITERALLY DYING. You can’t make this stuff up.

It depends on context. In a political conversation I think it is especially important. I don’t think many liberals desire the outcomes of their policies, they just have trouble connecting the bad outcomes to their good intentions. That’s why things seem to short circuit so often when you bring up policy and ask for an explanation on cause and effect.

How does your intention (let’s say you don’t want police to shoot so many black people) translate to policy and how does the policy translate to outcomes? There is almost never a clear connection between the feels and the outcomes.

Outside of discussions like that I’m generally assuming bad faith if it is some random person I’m interacting with. Fuck people, I’m suspicious of everyone. Get off my lawn.

I generally agree. Native Americans have gotten dealt a very poor hand in the last few centuries. I have no idea how to fix that, but as a start I’d be fine with none of them ever paying a cent in Federal taxes.

I wonder if any of our self-educated lawyers are willing to argue the same notions with Native Americans that they do with the tech companies…

It’s all right there in the terms of service, er, I mean “Treaty”. You guys agreed to it, and the Federal Government has always operated within a perfectly legal framework. If we didn’t, we changed the law so our actions became legal. If you don’t like the reservation we put you on and the treaty your ancestors signed well, you are free to go somewhere else.

That’s the new liberal thought process regarding social media, apparently.

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1799

Gremlins was such an awesome movie. (probably taught them a valuable lesson which they will understand in due time…)

You’re clearly already their favorite Uncle. (probably unspoken, heh)

Agreed and free should also be in BIG quotes.

These days, when the big boys see a new startup company that might be competitive in the long run, they just nip the problem, easily, in the bud by buying up the new kid with an offer they cannot refuse.

Back in the day, Microsoft allowed Apple to stick around, only because Apple provided the “competition” needed to avoid MS becoming a monopoly, and thus kept that nasty gov’t oversight at bay. MS could’ve easily squashed or bought out what was left of Apple at that time. Jobs was a black swan event in that space.

Giant (social) media companies “influence” thought, giant wall street firms (i.e. GS) “influence” finance/money. US in the future, if not already, in a nutshell.

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1800

Only one of those problems is something I can get my head around. There’s a reason you don’t hear me discuss or debate finance. I’m not ashamed to say that my mom manages my 401k for me. At some point I’ll need to learn up and take it on myself, but not today.

Enough posting tonight. I’m going to take a stroll and see what people in my town are protesting.

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