Persistence and Tenacity

A Tale Of Losing Muscle (Theoretical) :
I sit here just after midnight sipping on both a glass of milk, and one of orange juice…

A moment prior I had done the day before’s pushups, and as I got down on the floor I had the idea of what to write ;

How To Fail At Losing Muscle :

Now firstly my “post workout” macros are surely off, of which that I am certain.
~16oz orange juice, and the same of milk.
I have drank mostly carbs, and committed the heinous act of mixing fat into s “meal” which containeth carbs.

I’m not concerned.

If anything getting something quick into me, and just before sleep is anabolic as can be.

But that’s not the main point here…

So long as I do daily pushups it would be hard for me to lose muscle mass on my upper body.

With a decade and a half of experience, essentially daily and unbroken with pushups this entire time I get much out of them, even if the total on the day is some silly low count like 30 total.

I can put them into just about any muscle group, I can fly through them with zero range of motion and too I can do them very strict, very mentally focused, using perfect form, and a high level of mind-muscle connection for the ever gainful squeeze.

One simple exercise has become abundance, unlimited ability with just the one thing.

A few pushups backed by so much training history so as to never…it’s hard to define…

Need more.
Backslide.

& More…

…..

I can’t rightly say I identify as an advanced trainee.

I tend to look at myself as “a very strong normal man”, with the emphasis in my eyes on the latter, on being the normal, or at least what should be.

For a handful of years now I’ve identified my own goal in mind as to be “the best nobody I can be/the strongest nobody around”.

I don’t see myself as ever going to medal in weightlifting or win a world’s strongest man/arnold’s competition.

But I place high value on strength, have had so much adversity (it seems – all is perception) in my own training journey that I’ve simply adapted.

In any environment I’ll find a way to strength train, even if it’s simply “revert to pushups” which I can, and have done in the past.

I don’t view genetics as being all that important to 99.9999 or 99.99999%.

Maybe it matters to the one in a million or the one in ten million outlier “genetic freak”. To the rest, the “everyman nobody” whenever they may be, those NOT in the spotlight on the world stages of nfl sunday, or in the olympic games, the latter of which I haven’t watched since 2012, the former…the last, a single game in maybe 2018…

Just train.

Without an addiction to being a spectator, which is most in society you’ll end up pretty impressive in the real world, in your own life, in…the place that matters.

Real World

One moment, I’m pouring another glass of orange juice. I’ve been drinking mucho as of late, around carton a day honestly – it’s a kick.

Often I eat like that, on kicks…

…..

Okay, I’m back, with another tall glass of oj to sip.

Maybe the writer’s stereotype was an alcoholic alone in his madness, maybe now it’s the yuppie in a coffee shop with laptop.

Here I am flow writing, at the kitchen table, smart phone plugged in charging as I type. Between midnight and 1am.

Initially my point was going to be how hard it’d be to lose muscle.

That so long as I train some, it’d be pretty hard to even starve off on me.

I feel for all that it is more truly this way.

It’s a cultural psyop, supplement companies or something selling you on the belief that you have to not only struggle to build, but struggle to maintain muscle.

Maintaining muscle is the easiest thing.

Like many (including my mother) say “oatmeal sticks to your ribs”, that’s the case with muscle.

Once muscle has been built it sticks to ya.
The built muscle ain’t going anywhere.

Believe THAT

It’s now 1230am, I’ve finished sipping the second glass of oj, and I’m off to bed.
Have a good night, or a good day, and a good life.

Be strong, and best to ya,
Persistence & Tenacity

crossposted from youtube community posts in full, and instagram in part with

Jimmy Soul – If You Wanna Be Happy
as the choice of music

If you hit 200g of protein a day, likely for anything shy of marching siberia in winter whilst wearing rags that’s more than plenty to feed your muscles.

To remain anabolic.

(the picture just ain’t uploading)

Even 150g is probably plenty, though it’s not going to hurt to be the type who eats more meat.

Ribs being most preferable, but messier to cook or more expensive to buy.

It’s real easy to get to 150g.

A pound of chicken breast is 100 to 110g.

Six Eggs = 36g
Nine Eggs = 54g
A Dozen Eggs = 72g

So easily, and realistically you can cut up some chicken breast, pan fry it, crack some eggs over your now fully cooked chicken, fry that up (now together), pour a glass or two (or more) of milk, and hit all of your necessary nutrition in one meal of chicken, eggs, and milk.

Playing 1800s Farm Diet
roll film

Now, maybe as a beginner it helps to have some pretty rigid and structured guidelines for eating and training, but do so long enough and it all mostly become minutia.

The part that matters is progress.

If you’re making progress it’s working.
You could put the pedal to the metal, but too it’s okay (and only recently have I started accepting this) to simply keep doing what I’m doing
SINCE IT’S WORKING!

Right now I want the scale to move downwards, a laissez faire cut (rather unstructured, not too many guidelines in effect) with a hands off approach to “I know my pullup reps will increase with dropped weight and continued kettlebell workouts”.

That’s it.

Now, what works for me is eating infrequently.

I just don’t like having to digest outside of the evening/night generally.

So one meal a day is a guideline, but if I’m still hungry my nutrition was already covered by the meal, and my calories are pretty low overall…I’ll have a snack or two if I instinctively feel it’d be better to eat.

And I’m not a snob about this.
As I type it’s a couple extra glasses of milk, a few cookies, and a pack of top ramen.

The calories aren’t wild, and there is now some more protein to add to the day’s count.

See, whenever I eat really, my go to is dairy.
There’s going to be some protein every time (rare exceptions) I take in calories as most every time I do is drinking a glass of milk or eating a little cheese (often with some honey roasted peanuts – these being the most affordable and always convenient nutritious thing to eat known to man).

Spend $2.50/lb, buy three to five jars, and throw one in your car, in your backpack, etc.

Might not be a particularly low calorie option, but it’s good enough nutrition – very low dollar cost and with perfect travel logistics.

At home lately I’ll just drink a couple glasses more milk, and have a pack of ramen.

THAT might not be the best source of protein, being wheat, and even still that’s another eight or ten grams to add to the day’s total.

In a way, in the strength game, the picky mouth starves, stagnates, doesn’t grow.

The not picky eater, the human garbage disposal, this type puts on muscle much faster, and as I’m now finding…

My lack of discernment has made cutting not terribly complicated.

I actually like chicken breast sans even salt and pepper, a little butter in the pan, the raw meat chopped into little pieces, then fried up on all sides to a nice golden brown.

Like that.
Boom. Delicious.

Crack the day’s eggs over that.
Cook two or three pounds of chicken (in batches) back to back, have a couple or a few days of meat ready to go.

The rest fills in around that pretty easily.

…..

Even if I never hit any of those barbell goals I had in the past…

I’m getting pretty strong on the kettlebells.
As I type there’s a nice, light soreness in my traps from doing a decent looking swing-snatch with double 32kgs.

With a little more violence of pull/extend I can make it a better rep, but what I did earlier…it would count (video up in about a week), and snatching double 32kgs seems to me that it’d be something to the kettlebell community.

And too I have double 40kgs. There’s no doubt in my eyes that I’ll get there, from here – eventually, over time.

That’s what’s cool about the kettlebells.
To a degree, just train with what you’ve got.
Occasionally try out a harder movement.
You may have it.

What’s the worst case?
You stick to c&p, add reps to ∞ with a moderate weight…something real real world useable via a handful of kettlebells used for…half hour a week.

Easy.

Just don’t stop at only the sig klein challenge.

Aim for more reps. Aim for heavier bells.
Aim for both. Mix the sig klein challenge with the grace wod, train their bastardized child…

30 reps clean and press with as heavy a pair of bells as you can (kb or db – either is fine).

Dang, now I just typed up the point of a talking “podcast” that’s not yet live.
Haha!

Persistence & Tenacity

don’t stop thinking about tomorrow

Okay, it’s about 615pm, and I’ve finished eating, a meal that I’d sat down for an hour to eat, this breaking a little longer than forty hour fast (~42).

There is no fasting in american culture, and this is a shame.

Just one occasional twenty four hour fast will show you that not only are you eating more than necessary as far as quantity, you too are also eating far more often than is necessary (first world problems).

My eyes were bigger than my stomach. I ate about half of what I made intending an after fast feast!

Now, in my weight training journey I’ve long been good at bulking, naturally an endomorph I can put down quantities of food, gain a pretty substantial amount of muscle (some fat to go along with it, but not slovenly, and seemingly no upper limit to this physiologically, just logistically), but I don’t much like stopping to eat more than twice a day.

So fasting was something that made sense to me, for me to try out.

I think once in the past year I’d done a 24 hour fast, prior to that maybe one a year for a year or two, prior to that I did one every month or so for a few years, and once I’ve done 48 hours of which I believe half that particular period was also without water.

Normally I drink water freely – not wanting to play with dehydration, I just call a fast zero calories with water allowed, and for me I consider a little salt acceptable as well as genetically I sweat profusely, but mostly this isn’t included. Normally just water.

These are all rather individual practices.
You have to do what’s right for you.

Psychologically I find they reset my relationship with food in a healthy manner.

At the very least you’re very thankful for that “break fast”, whether it’s a massive feast or something rather light and simple.

I can’t help but think of the spiritual implications to a people who never fast, as every religion the world over has some manner of fasting built in as a practice.

Man in optimal state fasts to a degree.
For clarity. To feel hunger. To strip unnecessary fat off the bones.

What I see online about fasting is often far too “primal, trendy, and yuppie”. If your finances aren’t there it’s okay for your fast to end with a pack of ramen and some $2/lb chicken instead of the organic bone broth and raw dairy “everyone” is eating on reels.

Don’t compare yourself to social media, you’re probably doing far better in real life than it’d say.

Health, fitness, and spirituality (religion) are meant for all, so do not see gatekeeping as a turn away, experiment as best as you can for yourself, see what works for you, where you are, with what you have, right now.

Best to you friend,
Persistence & Tenacity

P.S. Probably 2300 calories at once, this with no joke having prepped about double the ramen and chicken, dropped a giant scoop of peanut butter in them, drank a good deal of milk, then had dessert (m&ms) – still I’d say the past two days were “weight loss days”.

2300 calories across two days at a bodyweight probably in the high 280s.

At 18yo, right around high school graduation, I squatted 50x195lbs while weighing 225lbs.

I was actually doing one or two high rep sets daily or nearly so, and at that point had simply gotten bored with the sets of 50 reps.

Walking around I felt very real world strong from that training.

It’s funny to me, that at 30yo, here I am now with the kettlebell – a single 40kg bell or pair of them, training with a similar but different approach.

I look to amrap every movement ; 2h swings, dbl bell front squats, one arm press, bottoms up press…

Cause if you’re hitting a set on any of these x50 reps with 40kg/dbl 40kgs, you’re SOLID.

50x40kg is not a weak person, it’s a solid level of strength and amazing level of strength endurance.

People often look at limited equipment as a limitation, while the reality of it is that you can achieve something quite impressive by pushing rep range into the stratosphere.

A 50rm is often at a % of 1rm much closer to that of a 10rm than is commonly believed.

Persistence & Tenacity

I’m still mad proud of the throwback blog on this.

“I Have The Best Genetics” – my blue linking is erroring right now.

…..

Basically I’m on youtube. That’s what I care about the most.

Instagram? I feel like ig is a zombie – very little feedback/exposure on it. Still doing it…because

Threads…it’s only been about two weeks. Thus far I’m enjoying it. If y’all are here, definitely come on threads.

It’s what the ig version of tweeter. lol Definitely enjoying it.

Persistence & Tenacity

 

“Pressing Thoughts” July 7, 2024
On any given day I can press 5x185lbs.
PR is 10×185 to my knowledge, though it could be a little higher at 12 or so.

Most days I can press 2x205lbs.
I’ve definitely pressed 5×205, maybe 6 or 7.

On a few occasions I’ve pressed 225+, with
2X225lbs, and a 1rm of 235lbs being PR.

Basically I want my current 1rm ish weight to be 15-20rm, these alongside ≥300lbs for 1+.

From a bodybuilding standpoint, getting 75 reps across five sets with long rests is stellar.

That puts on shoulders like you wouldn’t believe!
And a lot of upper back with it.

Everyone with underdeveloped shoulders likely is not pressing hard enough, whether that’s weight, volume, or frequency wise – none of it.

75+ in 5?
I’ve done it, 75+ reps in five sets, with 155 to 165lbs, not caring if the session took around an hour (yeah with rests that long) but there’s a big but here…

I debate whether the press should be treated as a grinding strength-endurance high rep lift at all or solely as a powerful low rep lift.

With the exact same movement pattern it’s like a set of 1-3 and a set of 10+ are entirely different lifts.
I don’t observe this so much on any other big compound lift.

And a set of 5+ feels more to me like the sets of 10+ than a set of 1-3.

10×3, each set off of a clean, preferably a hang clean (this statement holds to all rep ranges – at least for me the hang clean is far more a bodybuilder) consciously driving every rep skyward with as much force as possible…that’s how the 1rm moves upward.

Honestly I have a problem with training heavier percentage wise than I should, instead of dropping the weight and/or reps per set and getting the powerful bar speed which pays off.

Either way, whatever frequency I barbell press at (and backfilling with kettlebell is amazing to barbell press low frequency while scratching my high frequency itch which I do not care to battle against)…

I’m on the journey to a 300lb clean and press.
Common yesteryear. Rare in the present.
Me. One of those who can.

Persistence & Tenacity

P.S. My continued kettlebell habit, I’d say the 2h swing with the 40kg mostly, has added much ease to the barbell cleans as of late.

#barbellpress #overheadpress #militarypress #cleanandpress #doughepburn

motivation – ti (cause the instagram version has this, while all the hashtags only made it into the youtube character count)

“We Look At Bodybuilding In The Wrong Way”
Lately, more and more I’ve been coming to the conclusion that most look at bodybuilding in what is altogether the wrong way.

In an entirely incorrect manner.

People think of bodybuilding as this jacked up, juiced up, commercial gym and machine required thing – which admittedly it is when you’re trying to be on an olympia stage in the current year.

However yesteryear has a rich history of both bodybuilding and strongman (this before steroids, or so early in their history as to disregard the possibility) that people don’t look to for standards, and as a metric to reach.

No Excuses

…..

Plenty have gotten really strong with just a barbell and the floor, or these and some dumbbells and/or kettlebells.

Unlike today where it’d be dang near impossible to find a meathead doing handstands, near one hundred years ago handbalancing was a thing, whether this solo doing handstand work or as a partner exercise of hand to hand balancing.

Sig Klein, the famous Sig Klein Challenge, was him doing BODYWEIGHT for 12 reps of dumbbell clean and press, plus the man did double digit reps of freestanding hspu on the edge of a bench.

Maybe this is the peak natty middleweight goal.

He was after all.

Doug Hepburn, I mention him A LOT, and that’s cause I’m chasing him.
In my mind I’m chasing him, chasing it – the freestanding hspu.

He may have been, probably was, the heaviest to do a freestanding handstand pushup.

I’m a bit taller, similar in bodyweight…
“Heaviest To Do A Freestanding HSPU”
That title?
IT COULD BE ME!

I got a negative the other day.
I’m still not so solid on handstands.

But I’m practicing daily or near it.
I feel my upper body strength is there or if not, is close to it.

…..

You really could think of bodybuilding while looking at weight class athletes.

Think three factors :
•heavily muscled
•relatively lean
•off of COMPOUND movements

With a barbell your first movement is the clean and press, your second the deadlift.
Squat in some manner if you want to.

Now, in addition, do lots of calisthenics.
No one has been worse for the steady training of pushups, pullups, dips, walking swamp lunges.

And in addition you lift kettlebell(s).
I really am press centric, particularly bottoms up, but as long as you’re getting some volume – have at it with the movements…

Snatches are awesome. Swings are awesome.

It’s free choice after all.

I’d suggest a lot of rows as well. Whichever implement(s).

Compound lifts are the way for the natural bodybuilder, the natural strongman.

We can look at peak ped, be impressed…an not participate an iota.

Go be your best you…no crutches!

(Initially I meant that figuratively, then realized I’d seen this literally ; Unless you’ve paralyzed legs and you’re that hardcore middle aged dude who wrist crutches himself around the gym, plants himself at machine after machine, uses a good deal of weight, and repeats the process…His story being he switched from powerlifting with good numbers at the 242s to HIS bodybuilding after a car accident took the use of his legs.)

Go and be awesome!

/flow

Persistence & Tenacity

#gym #motivation #bodybuilding #strongman #oldtimestrongman #sigklein #doughepburn

make it rain instrumental – fat joe
(cause on ig it has music but not the full text and on yt it has the full text but no music)

twas a crosspost it was

You can bulk on $50/week, and vegetarian…if you had to.
Present day 2024.
Inflation not an excuse.

Now, if you’re allergic to peanuts or have any sort of dairy intolerances – man, I feel for you…that’d take this easy method off the table for you.

So, the following is assuming that you can handle eating peanuts, drinking milk…

Now, no matter who you are if you tell me you can’t drink a quart of milk at a time I don’t believe you.

I call you a liar.
A quart goes down in a few big gulps…

You mean you need to build up to drinking 32oz of whole milk 4x a day?
Okay, THAT’S acceptable.

“Linear progression of calorie consumption.”
Gonna get bigger.

You’d start at 8oz, then two to four times a week add 4oz or 8oz to each serving.

Pretty soon you’re at gomad.

Now, 4oz of honey roasted peanuts isn’t much.

They come in a 16oz jar.

See where this is going?
4x4oz=16oz = the jar
4x32oz = 128oz = a gallon of milk

You’re gonna start eating and drinking the entire container of each.

DAILY

It’s over 5000 calories, about 250g protein, costs $5.09 (for me at least – prices current).

Then just make stew or something, use a bunch of ingredients, to therefore add a bit of variance to the diet.
Stew can be made anywhere between vegan and carnivore, tends to be affordable and nutritious.

Bulking is overcomplicated.
So easy a vegetarian could do it…or a caveman lol

Pictured Above :
a normal midnight “snack”, eaten every other day or so as of late
•three slices american cheese
•4-6oz honey roasted peanuts
•32oz milk

#bulking #vegetarianstrongman #vegetarianbodybuilding #vegetarianbulking #gomad #peanuts
#bodybuildingonthecheap #affordablebulking #bulkingdiet #5000calories #dreamerbulk #foreverbulk #highcalories #gotmilk #wholemilk #bulkingonabudget #highcaloriediet

5/11/24
It’s been like 21 months since I worked with the guy, but I was just laughing to myself at our running gag in the kitchen of me pressing his 5’6″ 200ish lb stocky muscular ass of polska genetics overhead by the back of the armpits.

It was a significant show of real world strength for me. The first time I pressed him he came down laughing unable to finish a sentence saying stuff like “I can’t believe you just manhandled me as if I was a wee babe – I’m not small”.

And friends that is why there are weight classes.

It too is why in professional wrestling picking another man up overhead is a show of force, a show of dominance…

My dad’s coworkers at his labor job are ballpark my age, speaking with him the other day he was saying something about “alpha males” and I laughed “you’ve been talking too much with your coworkers haven’t you – the dudes are all roughly my age right”…

Yep.

One dude he worked with recently is like 6’3″ low 300s and coming down. Dude says he feels so much more able to move – had been in the 400s, fully 100+ lbs heavier at his heaviest.

Whereas in the past I worked with a guy who was like 6’2″, at least 280lbs who showed me a pic that vaguely looked like him but two or so years earlier – all jowls and shit…at, I think he said his top weight was, 450lbs working in a school, before moving and getting into a physical job.

Dude might not have worked out, but you could tell he was strong on the fact he was on his feet all day working, able to carry himself like that, and his thighs + calves had a lean sumo wrestler type development.

I’ve been reflecting lately on my having been just a handful of pounds under 300lbs just under a year ago – thinking to myself that certain muscles as I loose weight will show that I’m not walking around at my peak weight class.

I think the limbs show maximum development while the torso shrinks down to accomplish current weight.

My buddy, starved down in depression years back – from a strong 6’1” 240lbs down to like 165lbs – he still had biceps, thighs, glutes, and once he got part time work, reentered the gym, and upped from 1500 to 3500 calories (basically eating clean the entire time – yes even at peak conspiracy theory reading, netflix binging, couch sleeping on depression) he was back to 235lbs or so in a few months, looked like a pale gorilla in the low 250s a few months of bulking after that.

I’m pretty excited about this stage of my journey.

Daily soccer ball dribbling, brief daily walks, and daily though rather unstructured kettlebell training – random other stuff there, but not too much, and just seeing where I end up.

My arms are looking good, particularly forearms which are hypertrophied.

My torso looks tighter.

My upper back and shoulders both are knarly. Certain stimulus definitely adds to my traps…

I think what I notice most is on camera that my glutes are much more muscularly thick, off camera that my quads are far more dense though only a small bit smaller.

The kettlebell does amazing things – develop it into your own habit.

…..

thinkin bout you – dustin lynch ft lauren alaina

Tearing up man, tearing up – it’d have that effect if it was going while I lift on camera.

Pushups :
5×5 strict, fairly quickly – 2:00 or 3:00 minisession to the above song then drink some cherry pepsi post workout

…..

I feel like whether it’s an overhead press or not that each day I should do some movement high volume, in bodybuilding parlance a “day”.

•one arm rows
•c&p
•one arm snatch
•swings
•dkb
•deadlift
•burpees
•reverse curls
•curls

There was a time where I did both squat every day, trained full body, and trained a body part split with my training partner.

I call the body three categories; push, pull, legs, and want at least two, and preferably three categories done in the session.

Simply I’d do leg day, back day, and shoulder day with him, tacking on a little bit of the other two as he was doing some exercises I didn’t care to bother with or he was on the elliptical to end.

Arm day I’d skip half of both the triceps and biceps exercises he did, and do like squats, pullups, incline press during.

It worked well.
The daily full body session with volume on one part, minimal on the other parts, with which is what rotating is a way I enjoyed to train.

“The full body body part split.”

I “should” be doing something like this with a focus on an exercise, mostly but not exclusively one from on the list above, in addition to my minimal full body.

Heck, I’ve already a by feel rotation of how much soccer ball, walking, and lifting goes into each day.

A real lazy, minimal, just get the bare minimum in session is 5:00 of soccer ball, about a half mile walk, and one set of kettlebell pressing.

Yet too I could spend hours of my day, every spare moment really, at some combination of walk/soccer ball/lift.

…..

pizza and cherry pepsi

soccer ball on video (some of it) – also took shots on goal and then had the extra walking of the chase (no netting), five pullups (carried solely by kettlebell – fairly easy considering haven’t done any in a while – it’ll improve by increased kettlebell performance), walk

here here

VIDEO EDIT

more soccer ball (now barefoot at home)
it’s harder to control barefoot – requires a more sensitive touch, more control both to calibrate harder and lighter

pizza, buttered toast, honey roasted peanuts, cherry pepsi

my weekend cheat really could be simply some baked beans, buttered toast, honey roasted peanuts, milk, maybe some rice – pretty much clean wholesome foods but with carbs

there is the idea to simply enjoy whatever is on the plate in front of you, to cherish it all

…..

did two kettlebell minisessions after dark
presses and swings with the 24kg

if you dropped the $500 to $600 on a pair of up to 32kg adjustable kettlebells you could train a very long time with those

it may sound funny, but I feel more wiry of arms – it’s the kettlebell – mostly using the adjustable bell set to 24kg I really see how that kettlebell wth effect exists – a few pullups without issue, every kettlebell session tends to dip into the conditioning zone, while it’s training full body anyway – that’s not to be underestimated – I wonder what I’m going to look like in three months, four months, six months – it’s gonna be good, why…cause I’m consistent, and there’s little that stops me from doing any of my daily habit things

…..

might as well lift barefoot as often as possible

I’ve been rather enjoying half my time on the grass being in the grass

…..

Pushups :
x25, x30, x15

great seconds to midnight pump

Persistence & Tenacity

5/10/24
Did last night’s pushups just before midnight, and now just after midnight am doing duolingo, and a bit of video editing while drinking a can of iced tea.

I really enjoy a can of iced tea after exercise.

~40g carbs

Though I’ll likely fast from this til somewhere between 5-8pm, then go HIGH CARB then.

I’m looking forward to it, and tomorrow, but it may stay mild – real mild, just frozen meatballs and cheese instead of a free for all, but it could be a free for all.

Put a question mark with “let the donuts commence”.

Either way, I should get in some kettlebell swing volume today.

And I resteeped the cold brew tea from a few hours ago as well.
Theoretically that’s no additional carbs, just a hint of berry and tea flavor in cold water.

Pushups :
x20, x10

…..

It’s maybe a couple weeks of eating cleaner, and being clean shaven I can see less of a double chin.

Looking in the mirror my back is awesome.
For a second I start to think “if only I had a bunch of machines to train volume with”, then I laugh at myself ;

1. That’s an excuse pure and simple.
2. I’m not deadlifting.
3. I’m not doing pullups.
4. I’m not doing any rows.
5. It’s really being carried by the kettlebell habit.
6. If I wanted to really improve my back I’d simply add twenty minutes a day of rotating movements with what I have available.

On that note ; go to a pullup spot, do 50 or so before leaving – do lots of one arm rows with the equipment I have – do lots of barbell rows – actually deadlift (any variation for volume) – use the salvaged forearm forklift as trx row as intended when I snagged it before it went in the dumpster…

There’s no excuse but to do the work.

And often lately I realize I’m doing no burpees, nor have I tried to join any pickup basketball, nor have I ran any…

But I’m CONSISTENT with at least ; five minutes of soccer ball, one set of pressing, a couple sets of pushups, and a ten minute walk each day, and that well rounded daily consistency is working for me.

Somewhat related ; as I walk I tend to get to a place of thinking good thoughts, and while there I keep hearing “keep daily posting for forever – you have a message, and will help others”.

See, I’m a financial wreck.
I’ve been a social wreck.
A lack of local opportunity for me, something snapping in me the last time I lost a job – it got me online.
And that’s worldwide.
The paths we walk…
(to greater destinations)

Film what I’d be doing anyway, and get monetized on youtube (fix my finances with it as side effect) by showing people everywhere how simple it is to be strong.

That’s what I’ve long taken issue with in all the programs, all the workout advice online, all the gym culture, etc – there’s very few who just pointedly simplify.

Do the work.
Do anything consistently.
Equipment is nice, equipment is spice, but no equipment and personal ingenuity make it so you can fly so long as you decide to.

I used to say “I make gym floors wherever I go”…while really it’s ; “I am the gym wherever I am…and I can teach you to be too”…

What a good midnight to 1am hour.

…..

I find it hilarious that I’m craving buttered toast and baked beans – I’d not even need to do keto, I could just eat normally fairly low calorie and be set!

…..

Breakfast :
~2.5oz honey roasted peanuts
16oz milk
~40g carbs

I was RAVENOUS – got this in quick
Will eat reasonably free today, looking like eating big tonight.

It was interesting going four full days without milk – very rare for me.

Early Afternoon

Lift :
goofing around trying to hub lift first a 25lb plate, then 10lb plate – then pinch c&p a 25lb plate then a pair of 10lb plates smooth side out

I have a long ways to go with grip strength, but it already seems like the sort of thing I can do lots of, without much regimentation, which frankly is what I like.

immediately after this a
can of iced tea
~40g carbs

120g carbs on the day thus far and it’s not yet dinner

Soccer Ball :
5:00

Lift :
playing with bumper plate pinch grip clean & press

today’s video of that

Walk :
thought it’d be ten minutes, but my capita half mile walk at the usual turn around point – I completed it in about eight minutes instead of about ten minutes – walking pace is increasing back to the ~15:00 mile it used to be (from ~22:00/mile)

this portends well to at some point starting to jog/run/spring with the walks – my thirties are going to be far more fit than my twenties

note : that grip focused clean and press was quite fun – it’d be fairly quick to get the double 25+10 bumpers pinch c&p successfully

…..

Dinner :

•half a takeout pizza
•orange juice

Man that was filling, probably don’t need to/won’t be able to go all out on junk food this weekend.

•chocolate bar
•milk

…..

Pushups
x10, x10

…..

Lift :
barbell c&p
30×1 w/135lbs every :24 on :24

used a whole lot of grips and stances – was ugly on purpose

Today’s barbell c&p was without mouthpiece – the form was all over the place, bad on purpose – I have the feeling I can brute force my way while losing weight to doing a 300lb clean and press, plus doing workouts like these in the 225 59 255lb area.

The barbell felt like a toothpick in hand, ridiculously thin – not only would I rather be using an axle, but continued kettlebell is only going to make the barbell when I touch it feel like that more and more.

In some ways I have decent grip, and the kettlebell is probably the only normal enough gym type route to really give you strong hands…it’s ballistic nature alongside all the volume shore up the grip as if it was manual labor, and NOTHING gets the hands strong like years of certain jobs/trades/tasks in the manual labor world.

Second Dinner (quite late) :
•baked beans with cheese
•buttered toast
•milk
•cherry pepsi

The beans and toast I’d been craving on the low carb, particularly the real low calorie carnivore days.

Carb cycling would be real easy.

It was interesting today that about as soon as I’d entered high carbs into my system that I HAD TO step back outside for another lift.

Wanted to IMMEDIATELY go burn off some energy.

The next few months are gonna bring some good things on body composition, strength, and fitness.

Pushups
x10, x10

w/x10 dkbs in between

Persistence & Tenacity