For me just the 9-10 hrs in a car is a solid recipe for back problems lol
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Despite it being a great physical challenge, the mental fortitude it takes to complete something like this is more admirable. Talk about a mind numbing experience haha.
I could see myself doing 1 session as a conditioning workout though, that would be solid.
Be careful. I allegedly tried to do one last week thinking I could kick off doing the challenge. That’s a big fuckin nope from me
1d of it is aids. 2 days later your forearms still throb. Generally all around terrible.
Massive props @flappinit
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It’s amazing for conditioning, but
This is pretty much true. I’m still kicking myself for doing 5 days in a row to start off, and im certain my ring finger got a stress fracture from it, I’ve been taping it up before every workout since day 5. Grip is everyone’s limiting factor. I’m definitely gonna do this at least 1x/week from now on though just for the conditioning and to make sure I don’t lose grip strength.
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Hope you’ll get better quick mate. And I would advice you to take the extra rest day.
Knowing myself, if it was me, I knew I should rest, but I’ll do it anyway. I’m kind of stupid.
Awesome challenge btw. Well done so far.
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Not to down play the physical challenge, but to me the hardest part would be the mental challenge. I only did the first day and couldn’t do it anymore. I wanted to die. Of course I probably wasn’t killing like you in 20 minutes 
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As an inexperienced drinker, how much does it “take” to get hungover?
I drank for the first time this weekend with 2 buddies, and we went through a bottle of Jack. Barely felt like I got drunk (first just really pissed off at nothing in particular, then really giggly about dumb stuff, but never “out of it” or not in control), HATED the taste, and woke up feeling like I had the best night of sleep in my life (might have to do with being the first night in several months of not having to wake up at 4am for work). Not hungover at all. I suppose it depends on what you drink and how much though, as well as the person.
When you start drinking - and you should avoid it as much as possible, not that I did, but it’s a bad habit - your ability to recover will be borderline superhuman. I definitely had a lot of whiskey, polished off a $60 bottle between us, and that did the trick. I wasn’t super hungover or anything, and some people go their whole lives without getting hungover (sensible people), but a truly horrible hangover is something to behold, dude. A headache that makes you want to dig your fingers through your eyes, crippling nausea, legs like jello, plenty of vomiting, and the thought that everyone who gets one of those has - “I’m never drinking again.”
Different people have different ideas about alcohol, but one thing is absolutely undebatable - the less you drink, the easier it is to get big and strong. Alcohol is a diet and gains killer. There are big people who drink of course, but your body’s recovery - which is what’s important in building muscle - is SHOT after drinking.
Thanks buddy. You’re always super encouraging and a hard worker yourself, I always appreciate you stopping by.
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Hope you recover soon man.
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Thanks! It’s just a cold and a self-induced headache. Nothing some sleep can’t fix. I still had to be up at 7 this morning with the kids despite not going to bed til 2.
And:
Don’t seem to mix in my experience. Which reminds me, I should probably sleep.
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So…I kind of spurned @jackolee ‘s advice, and, 15 minutes after getting out of the car from a 10 hour traffic jammed ride from NY-VA with a crying 2 year old the ENTIRE TIME (the 4 year old was great though), this happened:
10K KB Swing: Week 4, Workout 15
Time: 35 minutes
50 lb KB
Clusters 1-5:
10 swings
15 swings
25 swings
50 swings
Total swings: 7500
My grip held up, but being sick messes up conditioning and despite being well past the hangover, the drinking is a factor too. Took a video of the last 50 reps of the workout. Was really gassed and hurting, swings had NO snap to them and I wasn’t bending over quite as far, but they’ll pass for the circumstances.
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@kd13 (and @boyce79 ) finally got around to reading that entire Dante post. Good lord, it’s a treasure trove of fucking information. Need to read it again before I start.
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Also, a positive note: I’ve mentioned my previous back problems here before, but as a recap for any newcomers, about 1.5 years ago I finished up a 5-ish year stretch of chronic back pain. I still have problems due to herniated discs, but I’m talking being 25 years old and having my feet go completely numb after 10 minutes of standing. Lightning bolts down my leg while walking, unable to sleep, waking up with back spasms, just horrible persistent nerve, muscle and joint pain. I finally figured out how bad my posterior pelvic tilt was - I.e., I had my ass poked out like a ratchet chick twerking without even realizing it, just my natural posture, and began strengthening my core and tucking my hips properly. I used to be unable to move properly after a 6+ hour car ride for a couple days. Today, I finished up a 10 hour super stressful car ride- and my back DID hurt a bunch- but 15 minutes later after walking around with proper posture, glutes clenched and abs tight, I performed 500 reps of a weighted hip hinge exercise with ZERO lumbar discomfort. Anyone who has dealt with chronic pain can testify that this is nothing short of a miracle. Just had to put it out there.
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can’t like this enough! Back problems suck ass. I’m usually good for like 18 months and then it all goes south for a month or so. I’m due for a big problem here soon but I’ll cross my fingers. Not sure if you saw it on my log but I’m sure you can appreciate this horrific spasm! I couldn’t get any straighter than this for almost six weeks.
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When the KB is the furthest away from your body, do you actively bring it back to the starting position?
A little bit, yes. During the 50 rep sets it’s just about getting through them, and the top of the movement can let you rest your grip ever so slightly, but for the 10-15-25 rep sets, I’m pushing it down a bit to engage the lats and make the reps faster. But that’s not a big deal if you do or don’t push it down, 95% of the movement is using your hips to catch and lift the weight.
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You forgot the existential dread. At this point, after all the crippling hangovers I’ve had, I think that feeling is the least manageable part of them.
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I plan to. Throughout high school I’d always planned on never drinking, as the combo of my Native American-ness and very prevalent addiction issues on both sides of my family didn’t make it seem like a smart idea to try. Met up with my two best friends though, hadn’t seen them since Christmas, and decided, hey, what the hell.
Definitely wasn’t appealing enough to make a habit though. Most of my friends/peers that drink more often than is maybe smart, all seem to do so out of liking that they’re much more confident. Uncoincidentally, they are the type of people with a lot of insecurities about themselves. That’s never been my issue, so the “feeling” wasn’t appealing to me, nor the taste (really, how the fuck do people like that stuff?).
As far as recovery goes, I absolutely SUCK with my diet (that’s my own fault) and sleep depends on work and my stress levels. If I do ever want to become bigger & stronger than the average dude, I think recovery and just general consistency with everything will be my biggest hurdles, so alcohol won’t be a part of my life. And I’m healing from an injury at the moment anyway, so it probably wasn’t smart. Might do once a year with the same friends (possibly try @loganator 's challenge) but that’s it.
Anywaaay, haven’t been very active lately but still have been following along with your log! Great work dude, very awesome stuff. Especially your post about the back pain getting better. That’s awesome! I think a lot of people with back pain would consider going to a chirporactor instead of taking meds hard work, but most never seem to consider “Huh, maybe if my back/butt was stronger, it wouldn’t hurt so much!” and that almost always, when done correctly, seems to work!
Keep it up dude!
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