When the crisis has passed, you can always tell people that you grind your teeth at night.
Or, you’re so strong that you need a mouthguard when you lift. (Brian Shaw uses one)
This is why I think gym PR walls are meaningless. If you want powerlifting PRs, get on the platform and get white lights. Otherwise keep uour PRs to yourself.
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I used one for a few years. Eventually retired it, since it was affecting my ability to brace, but that was a cheap boil-and-bite deal. It was handy to bite down during a set of squats, but I seem fine without it now.
I never realized how much I was missing till I got one of these though. Custom fitted is night and day difference.
When I was eight, my dad bought two pair of 16 oz gloves and matched me up against my older brother in the living room one day. We went three rounds. I took a pretty good beating.
I recently confronted my father about this egregious behavior and he claimed, “They were 16 oz gloves, those things are like fucking pillows.”
Explains a lot methinks.
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I’m not laughing at your pain. Just the violence.
When we were kids we played rock-em sock-em robots. Me and my next older brother were the robots and the two oldest were the controllers.
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It was pretty fucked up. I think I was actually about six. My brother Jon was eighteen months older, but at six, that is a big age difference. I think it was some sick experiment my dad had in mind. He coached me on the left jab and the right hook as a follow up for the first round, and I won that.
Then he taught the same to my brother, and he kicked the shit out of me for the second round.
The third round he just let us go at it. Think I got knocked down twice, pretty sure I got concussed, even with 16 oz gloves.
It was by far the mildest beating I took as a kid. And surprisingly, not the most egregious behavior by my father. I think the most egregious was buying beer after our first round of golf and sharing them on the car ride home.
I was eight.
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Reading the last two posts, I’m torn between thinking you had an awful childhood, or an utterly fantastic one
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The former, lol. I’m pretty open about the dysfunction in my family. Oddly enough, my oldest brother is mega wealthy, a lawyer that doesn’t practice law, buys and sells businesses, my middle brother passed in 2001, an ER doctor, Stanford grad, worth close to $5M when he passed, and I have three graduate degrees and teach HS English.
Guess it wasn’t that fucked up.
Except, I suffer severe depression, am a recovering alcoholic, separated, and struggling.
So, there is that.
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I have athletes foot right now.
I am not an athlete.
I have foot fungus that was named to make fat, lazy people with poor hygiene of their extremities feel good about themselves.
We should name more things like this.
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Really sorry to hear that. Good on you and your brothers for making something damn impressive of yourselves despite adverse circumstances. Alcoholism is fairly prevalent in my family, harder than hell on those who have to fight it. I’ll be honest, I absolutely love bourbon, which is why I hardly ever drink it. Watching the men in my life has made me worried to follow that path.
I reckon I’m conflicted on how I view rough childhoods. Didn’t have the rosiest myself, dropped out of school in 6th grade, spent 3 years working on a ranch when my mom got sick and pops wasn’t in the picture (much, much longer story than that, but for the sake of brevity). By 13, I was driving myself to work, putting in 40+ hours a week, dipping Copenhagen and drinking with the other ranchhands In the evenings. Ended up going back to school for high school, did pretty well in my classes despite just missing out on middle school, got into college etc. part of my looks back and thinks “wow, that was really f’ed up” but then another part of me thinks “hey, I really, really doubt I’d be the man I am today if I hadn’t learned how to work and take charge when I was young.” Guess my confession is I’m a little bit glad for my subpar childhood?
(Btw, if you like to read, “David and Goliath” by Malcolm gladwell is pretty awesome, which I feel like you’d appreciate given how you and your brothers turned out)
Yeah. Almost my entire parenting strategy is based on “don’t do that…”.
Yep, I think it’s all how we deal with it and who we are. I’m a sensitive person, and that stuff really bothered me. Just got off the phone with friend who was a youngest,got the shit beat out of her, and she loved it, tough as nails. Different cat.
Lol, English teacher with an MA in English and an MFA in Creative Writing, love to read, intimately familiar with Gladwell, but not that particular book. I will add it to my queue.
Thanks for the response!
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Me too.
I had a bit of anger at my dad for a while, but then I realized his dad was fucked up too, and his dad was fucked up too.
Can’t really blame my dad, he had no clue.
Guess it’s mine to deal with.
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Yeah, should of picked up that you like to read…
Ever check out his podcast? “Revisionist history” I really enjoy it. Listen to podcasts when I run (anything to distract myself from the fact that yes, I am indeed running)
I read Tipping Point years ago, don’t really remember it that well. And a post he wrote, or a podcast, on the waste of spending money to go to Harvard.
My brother went to Stanford and it was a great choice for him. I went to Oregon State, and it was a great choice for me. In those days money, Stanford was $25K and Oregon State was $3K. My other brother went to Pacific Lutheran at $20K - probably not worth the money.
Gladwell addressed this brilliantly, and having two very smart kids, I’m going to have to have this discussion. My daughter wants to go to Delaware Valley, which is $60K, but she knows it’s expensive, knows she gets $10K for a 90 average, and another $10K for an 1100 SAT. She also knows there is more money available and if she wants to go, she knows she needs to get that money.
She also knows Stony Brook is a great school (she wants to be a vet), and it’s about $20K and help available, but highly competitive.
What she doesn’t know, and I won’t tell her, is that my brother is going to pay off her loans when she finishes.
Gladwell talked about Harvard versus University of Toronto - he opted for Toronto.
Makes sense to me.
Sorry for the rant.
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Where you go to school is only important if you want to jerk off a top law firm in NYC for 5 years until you make associate.
No one has once looked at my resume and I’ve done very well, at 28.
Good point.
Do you make $750,000 a year? My brother Jon did.
Do you make $1,000.000? My brother Joe did last year.
Which proves your point, sort of. Jon went to Stanford, Joe went to PLU.
The key is the 28 deal. I think you’re really smart, and will make a shit load of money, but you’re 28. That’s not a dis at all, but when you get older, you’ll get it.
Love my fellow Oregonian and look forward to you killing it.
EDIT: Joe also went to Willamette law school, then transferred to NYU where he finished with an LLM in Tax and Estate planning, graduated Cum Laude, so that shores up your points as well.
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The buck has to stop somewhere. Might as well be with me. 
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I think this depends on the job and the degree you got/level of education you got up to.
Exactly, anyone can make money. I think formal education is a joke. The same information can be attained for those who seek it. Prestigious education is a foot in the door to be coat hanger at a top firm.
Certainly, science and research are examples of this. I was being hyperbolic.
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