How much longer do you have? I’m sure once you ‘retire’, it’ll be about pursuing activities and ‘work’ that is enjoyable?
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@dchris It’s not too far off at this point, but that said, I’ll most likely be doing the same thing I’m doing now when it’s done. For me, work has never been about life satisfaction: it’s about life subsidization. I work so that, when I’m not working, I can be my best me. And, in turn, I do the work I’m good at, rather than the work I like, because I find that, when I tie my passion to my income, I lose both. I treated my education similarly: I studied politics not because it interests me but because I was good at it, which, funny enough, stemmed from me being a top theology student, haha.
Nutrition recap
Fun day of experimenting. I made corned beef “non-burnt ends” by cutting a point into some 1.5x1.5” cubes, sous vide bath at 155 for 24 hours, and then air fried at 450 for 3 minutes with a little wagyu fat spray to crisp them when they’re done. Quite enjoyable, alongside some beef liver, and 3 whole eggs/5 whites topped with a little cheese and sour cream.
Wanted to treat the Valkyrie to a taste of home for dinner, so I did some Island Grinds. I had to have 2 sections there: one for local flavor and one for those with bland palates, but I had a combination of BBQ chicken thighs, spam, and kalbi ribs plus unseasoned variants. I cooked the ribs for too long and they were literally falling apart tender, but they were incredibly flavorful as well. Literally melted in your mouth, with a taste and texture like butter. The Valkyrie said it was the best at home Hawaiian BBQ we’d ever done: a big kudos. I had a generous portion of it all, and a little leftover kalua pork to round it out, alongside 3 whole eggs and 5 whites.
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Have I mentioned that my youngest, the strength training one, is a partner in and runs a butcher shop? It’s super cool to have it in the family, though we get our beef from the farm two doors down as his shop is 35 minutes away and priced for the tourist/second home market. He’s an outstanding cook as well, having now bypassed the others of us in the family who like cooking.
Anyway, I think you should go for it! What could go wrong? You accidentally eat a cow one day instead of cutting it up for the shelves, then you just spend an extra 15 minutes rucking the next day.
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This is not out of the realm of possibility. 
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@EmilyQ That’s so awesome! I didn’t know that about your kiddo. Certainly living the dream. I’d actually be curious if you could share the career path that got him there. Did he need any sort of education for the butchery part of it, or was that all on the job training? I imagine he needed to get some education on the business side of course.
And the “eat a cow a day” tied right into my “Milo of Croton” protocol. Carry the bull to the market, then eat it, then repeat, haha. However, my concern is definitely getting busted for whatever the butcher shop equivalent of embezzling boils down to. Having the boss say “I don’t mean to accuse, but ever since you’ve started working here our inventory has been depleted yet sales haven’t gone up…”
@BethB One bite at a time!
AM WORKOUT (0500 wake up via Valkyrie’s alarm)
TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 6, Workout 2
“VIKING RAID”
15 minutes
- 100m row
- 150lb sandbag carry
- Add 100m each round
Notes:
- Got all the way through the 6th round before the timer hit. Second best performance of the training cycle. Really tried to make it up in the rowing portion, as I was being a bit ginger on the carries.
- Opened up the workout with 17 chins.
- My hip has turned a corner thankfully in time for a deadlift PR attempt tomorrow. I was on the fence with doing this workout in order to spare the hip for said attempt, but this didn’t seem to bother it too much. Tang Soo Do may be another story. Right elbow/forearm is still a little pissy with this workout in general, but far better than it usually is this deep into Grey Man.
- Yes: I specifically wear my shirt that says “Viking” for this workout.
- Weighed 83.8kg this morning. Highest so far in the training block. With it being a gaining block, that’s not a bad thing, but I’ve also been living off the most sodium laden foods for the past several days, between kalua pig, corned beef and that Hawaiian BBQ spread last night. Consequently, thirst levels have been elevated as well.
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So now for something completely different: my kiddo and I were coming up with a tier-list of Disney characters and physical strength. We sub-divided between superhuman and non-superhuman tiers, but could easily combine them into one master list. See if we missed any, or if you disagree with it.
SUPERHUMAN TIER (Strongest to weakest)
- “Phenomenal cosmic power” and only 3 limitations on wishes (no killing, no falling in love, no coming back from the dead) means the Genie has unlimited physical strength and the capacity to grant it to others. He can, quite simply, wish to be stronger than everyone else on the list, to include…
- The demi-god of Strength himself. As far as we know, his limits have not been discovered. And being strong is kind of his “thing”. He SHOULD be at the top, were it not for Genie being able to simply grant the wish to be stronger than Hercules. Speaking of Demi-gods…
- I was torn on this one, but my kid’s reasoning was that Maui is a demi-god just like Hercules, so it stands to reason that he has demi-god tier strength: just BELOW Hercules, since Maui is the demi-god of the sea and wind rather than strength. And true: we DO see Maui do some pretty strong things in the movie, and he doesn’t ever struggle to do so, which means we’re not familiar with his strength limits. Because he’s part god, I can give it to him, compared to the rest of the list, which are enhanced mortals, like…
- Much like Genie, Louisa’s strength is magically granted (also like Cain Marko, the Juggernaut, but that’s a different subject). She has lifted buildings, rerouted rivers and, of course, carried multiple donkeys, putting Milo of Croton to shame. She displays no struggling when fully powered, once again making it difficult to know the exact limit of her strength, but it’s reasonable to assume that a magical house can’t quite compete with demi-godhood.
- You WOULD think a superhero based around being super strong would rank higher, but the truth is that Disney just has a LOT of heavy hitters to call upon, and Mr Incredible has, unfortunately, displayed some degree of struggle in his feats of strength, meaning he DOES have limits and we have discovered them. Certainly no slouch in the strength department, but not hitting at the top tier.
- Self-described as “9 feet tall, 643lbs”, Ralph display’s immense physical strength in destroying buildings and carrying heavy “in game” objects, along with being able to propel his body at incredible speed through strength alone. I’m a bit split between him and Mr Incredible, but I give the latter the edge simply because, again, “being strong” is supposed to be his thing.
- Full credit to my kiddo for remembering this scene, because I completely forgot it. In turn, it definitely ranks Stitch up there in the superhuman strength category. Throwing a VW Bug means being strong enough to lift it AND send it at fast enough speeds to be a threat. I’m certain everyone above Stitch can accomplish that and then some, which is why he ranks here, but again: no slouch.
- Prince Ali specifically. At one point, Aladdin possessed the strength of “10 regular men”. Considering that Aladdin takes place in a realm that is “barbaric” (the song’s words, not my own), the regular men there are a bit more stout than our modern men, as possessing the strength of 10 regular men these days would most likely not actually make you superhuman but, instead, “peak humanity” (Eddie Hall deadlifting 500kg when a regular man most likely tops out at 50kg…). That said, being as strong as 10 regular men still isn’t going to get you to quite be able to press a VW Bug overhead, let alone throw it. A 150lb strict press would be a VERY generous strict press to grant a “regular man”, and 10 times that is still “only” 1500lbs. Quite strong…not VW Bug throwing strong.
HUMAN TIER
- Yeah, I have some bias here, but 1 arm lifting a table with 3 girls on it while still belting out some Broadway caliber singing is definitely a feat of strength that puts Gaston at the top tier. His breakfast of 5 dozen eggs a day also means in ONE of his meals alone he’s taking in about 4000 calories, with about 400g of fat and protein, and assuming 3 meals a day of equal amounts of intake, he’s running at 12000 calories like Michael Phelps, so he’s got the potential for a VAST amount of physical output.
- I’m split between these next 2, and only grant Tarzan this place due to observed feats of strength. He is quite clearly agile and strong, being able to swing from vines and fight off wild animals with his own physical strength. That takes some doing. That said, given how “in a wrestling match no one BITES like Gaston”, I think, if the two were to tangle, Gaston would wreck Tarzan’s day. This isn’t SUPPOSED to be a “who would win in a fight” list, but Gaston being a master hunter would possibly also have an advantage by having an understanding of how animals fight to defend themselves, which is what Tarzan would employ. And I’d like to think that Gaston was trained in Savate as part of his time as a solider/war hero for France, but now I’m just writing Fan Fiction.
- I always dug Clayton as a physical foil to Tarzan. Tarzan is more “wiry”, with a physique like a male gymnast, while Clayton looks like he got there with some serious gym time. Just from looks alone, I want to give Clayton the edge over Tarzan, but we never really see just what he can do. Him being at the bottom of the list doesn’t make him weak: he’s certainly outclassing Prince Charming and similar Disney males. He’s just the bottom of the list for those humans that are meant to be classed as “strong”
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There’s also Ming, the giant red panda from Turning Red, destroying the Toronto Skydome.
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I was torn on including shapeshifters, because it would mean accounting for Ursala and Malificent with the dragon form (along with Maui’s MANY forms). But a fair shout for sure. Might be a good sub-sub category to explore.
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Prince Ali is … technically … a shapeshifter. At least that’s not his natural form. 
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Louisa would qualify in that regard as well, but I’m seeing it more as “magically imbued strength”, similar to Cain Marko.
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I’d throw Beast (beauty and beast), Sulley (monsters inc). How about a nod for Yoda? He’s technically a Disney character now.
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Ooh, the Beast occupies and interesting spot. I’d either put him at the very bottom of Superhuman OR tied with Gaston. We see the two go toe-to-toe in the movie, with neither seeming to have the advantage, but it was a weakened/heartbroken Beast at that point. Prime Beast was able to toss off a pack of wolves, but this speaks more toward fighting prowess, as I imagine Gaston could throw a wolf as well. He seems to be a magically imbued being granted the strength of a peak human, similar to how Steve Rogers as Capt America is a peak human but NOT superhuman. But given the fact the Beast was an 11 year old boy when he was transformed, it was STILL a strength boost.
I’ve had Monsters Inc in the background before, but haven’t actually sat down to watch it. Does Sully demonstrate any sort of feats of strength in it?
The issue with including Yoda is, if I include THAT outside universe, I need to include Marvel as well, at which point the list explodes. However, one of the best parts about that is now all of my Punisher stuff is technically Disney stuff too. I joke with my Valkyrie that I’m technically the biggest Disney fan in the family since I have a “Disney tattoo”, haha.
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If I recall right, he runs with 4+ monsters in one arm, without showing any signs of fatigue. He smashes through doors and picks up cars.
ya, kinda figured this would happen. I like Yoda strength tho, because it’s not exertion or use of ‘force’, but use of ‘The Force’. I don’t know how you reconcile Marvel Universe. I stopped watching because their powers didn’t stay consistent from individual movies to the Avengers.
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Actually, as far as I know he’s learned all of it on the job. He started there in his late teens. The owner of the shop gave my son a small ownership stake in it several years ago when he was negotiating to get him back after he’d left the shop for a grocery store chain with what seemed like more stability and better benefits. The owner died last month, by which time my son owned 49% of the shop. He also owns the house next door to the shop, which he rents out. I would imagine his goal is probably to acquire the remaining share of the shop and continue building from there along with expanding his real estate holdings. He and my DIL are also involved in various ways in the late boss’s other enterprises, and are clearly planning to follow in his entrepreneurial footsteps. This is the only one of my four kids not to go to college, and he’s crushing it. (The other three are doing well, too.)
All of my kids love learning, in school or out. It makes for cool family gatherings.
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@dchris Funny enough, inconsistent powers across storylines is very much keeping with the comic tradition, haha. It’s always about who the writer is. “Plot armor”. Good intel on Sully: I’ll have to put him in there. Sounds like he’s stratting alongside Stitch, which checks on the whole Aliens vs Monsters thing. My family also clued me in that, on the human side, I’ll need to include General Shang and Chien Po. I’ll have to work on that.
@EmilyQ I really appreciate you sharing that. That sounds fascinating, and that spirit that loves to learn is such a valuable one. I may pick your brain some more sometime.
Nutrition Recap
Coffee fast until the end of the day and totally made it worth it. Those beef shanks went through some sous vide shennigans but turned out incredible. I didn’t plan on eating both of them, but once I started in on the second it had no hope of survival. Absolutely blissful. I actually finished these in the air fryer, rather than on the cast iron, but DID pour the drippings from the cast iron over them, since I finished my Valkyrie and Kiddo’s steak there.
Which, in turn, I also produced the BEST filet mignon to date for the Valkyrie (I am so proud of that crust), and I managed to transform eye round into something wonderful for my kiddo, to the point that I had to cut myself off of completely finishing their leftovers as well.
Oh yes: I made sure to eat off the bone with my hands this time. SO much better
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AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm, good night of sleep)
TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 6, Workout 3
MAIN CLUSTER
Axle Bench Press
4x3x266
Texas Deadlift Bar Deadlifts
12x440
SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER
Lever belt squat
4x8x275
Dips
3x8x85
7+1x85
Axle curls
4x8x91
ASSISTANCE CIRCUIT
Reverse hyper/Hanging leg raise
3x15x360/3x10
Notes:
- Sleep was good, so I didn’t wanna get up when the alarm went off, but I’ve been excited about this training day enough that I told myself, if I really wanted to, I could just walk away after the deadlift.
- On that note: I’m quite pleased with the deadlift. I noticed I was low backing it today, which seems to be me trying to save my hips, but even with that, the weight felt SO much lighter than my previous attempt at this weight. I’ve grown significantly stronger, and this was a 2 rep PR. I also saw places where I can chill out on the hips a little during the concentric. 12 reps was my goal and I met it. Grinded out a bit more than I should have, but so far no worse for wear. And the moonwalk afterwards was legit, as was seeing all the blown out blood vessels in my shoulders after my shower. I’m coming back to what I was.
- Benching was ok. Little bit of elbow pain to deal with. Felt it on the dips as well, and really showed itself on the hanging leg raise when I’d get off the bar. Felt more specifically in the bicep, similar to how my left felt before I tore it. Something to keep an eye on.
- Happy with how the belt squat is feeling these days. Far more viable movement when I don’t have knee pain.
- Tang Soo Do last night was a good traditional class of basics and forms. I’m really trying to get my stances deeper, now that my knees play nicer. Tonight is the 90 minute class.
- Weighed in at 82.8kg this morning: a full kilo drop from yesterday, despite eating like an absolute champ. Definitely some water weight shenanigans going on.
- On the topic of weight, this training phase has made me think I’ve got a decent year-round protocol going so far. Gain Oct-Dec, lean out first 6 weeks of new year, Recomp/reverse diet to June, lean out/be active outside for the summer, repeat. I’ve naturally fallen into the pattern and it’s really working well for me.
- I’ll update the tier list in a bit.
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Ok, so we got some more Humans for the Human-tier list. Previously, we went
Gaston/Beast
Tarzan
Clayton
Now we introduce 2 from Mulan: Li Chang and Chien Po
Li Chang
- With a singing voice provided by Donnie Osmand and responsible for making many young girls question what is an appropriate way to feel about an animated character, Li Chang demonstrates outstanding physical prowess in general and is a capable martial artist. He has a physique that reflects hard work. That said, as far as feats of strength go, he hasn’t demonstrated anything on the level of Gaston (lifting a table 1 handed with 3 people on top of it), but he has Clayton beat by having SOME physical talents on display. I’d be willing to put him on the same level of Tarzan, or very slightly below him.
Chien Po
- What hoss! Here we observe the gentle hearted Chien Po carrying 4 full armored soldiers in an effortless manor, and he’s doing so as part of an effort to pull ANOTHER armored solider to safety! He can pick up a (admittedly on the smaller side) man like a stuffed animal and rock them to calm, and seems to have a physical stature like Wreck-it-Ralph. The biggest confounding variable here is we’ve never seen him struggle when it comes to feats of strength: only matters of agility. He honestly reminds me of Paul Anderson, in terms of build, appetite, disposition, and the effortlessness aspect. What made Paul stand out as one of the strongest humans to ever live is we never saw him STRAIN to lift. We really had no idea what his potential was. As much as it pains me, I think I actually have to give him the top spot here. Gaston’s table lifting WHILE singing is still incredibly impressive, but I think even he would struggle to bearhug carry 4 fully armored soldiers as though they were pillows. And it seems him and Chien Po both have incredible appetites.
I now want to actually see these 2 put head to head. A wrestling match and a “Cool Hand Luke” style egg eating competition.
EDIT: This is exactly why we have AI
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Time to upgrade the pants yet? How’s the skin on the knee/quad post those DL’s good sir? 
Love the getting to yes on that set, I could ‘feel’ your core bracing thru the screen watching…
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@raven78 These actually ARE the upgrade. I own 3 pairs: one still in the package, one without rips, and this pair. These are my deadlifting pair, because what I need is something that prevents the bar from catching on my cerberus strongman shorts. The cuff of the short is just a few CM beyond my lockout, and the bar will snag on it and prevent lockout. These pants have material that covers that portion, so the bar moves smoothly. I used to use a pair of swim trunks for a similar effect.
Skin on the knee/quad is good: zero issues. Since this is a deadlift bar, there’s no knurling on that spot.
And these pants are now the “somewhat damaged joggers” in multiple senses, haha.
Appreciate the feedback dude! It was a great set.
Nutrition recap
Breakfast was another 14oz of corned beef point cut into “burnt ends”, which I’m going to refer to as “drowned ends”, as they never see smoke, but instead are cooked in the sous vide and then air fried for crispiness. Served alongside some beef liver and 3 whole eggs/5 whites topped with a little cheese and sour cream.
Dinner was an absolutely wonderful leftovers night, with 3 whole eggs and 5 whites alongside some 93% lean ground beef taco meat, chicken thighs, kalua pork and a sirloin like steak. I had another serving of kalua pork on top of what was shown here. That stuff is addicting.
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Always wondered for you, why just the whites, Since you don’t track and not afraid of fats?
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