How You Making That Work For You?
10/22/19 ~550pm
Grocery Store :
I’m standing in the checkout line when in my peripheral vision I see my high school throws coach, the cool one, this giant older Irishman, Catholic as all hell, with a limp no one knew the cause of (Vietnam?), not the little blonde midget bro with an attitude issue from a Napoleon complex, his football playing days, not to mention the large stick he had to have had keister stashed, pushing an empty cart…
“Hello Coach”, he turns towards the sound, greating me with, “where you lifting now”.
I reply “PF”,
he says “Really”,
“Surprising I know”,
“How you making that work for you”, he asks, a test to whether I’m doing pussy shit or not.
“Mostly dips and chins”, the truth and judging by the look on his face an acceptable answer combined with my build which backs it up.
It was cool to see Coach. At 17 during practice I spotted him benching 5×405. The last time I saw him would’ve been a little over 3 years back, 2016, before getting kicked out of the commercial gym, probably spotting him on a 365 single about two years back in the same grocery store where all he really had to say was roughly the same thing, my answer at the time a place not Planet Fitness.
It wasn’t so much a greating back to me as making sure I was still training, and clarifying that it wasn’t piddly bitch shit style working out either. I like that mindset. Sees an old student, the only thing that matters to him is whether I’m training, and seriously at that, or not.
Man was a good athlete, huge 6’3″ frame, strongest curling I’ve ever seen, and kept his upper body strong in spite of whatever caused that major limp. He coached his entire lifetime at the local public and Catholic schools, I always thought he was the product of another time.
“Look like an athlete” – Him berating something that didn’t look athletic, heard ever practice.
Chins & Bridging
Minimalistic workouts :
With a barbell you have clean, clean and overhead (press, push press, jerk), snatch, deadlift, squat, front squat, bent row all as things that are acceptable to be the one and only movement you do in a session.
With no equipment I suggest pushups, and hindu squats as a solid option.
With access to something to hang on and a pillow or similar you have the title “Chins & Bridges”.
Right now instead of 300+ rep a day dip odyssey, I seem to be on chins nearly daily odyssey, doing 20-100 every time I’m at the gym.
I’ve been doing weighted wrestler’s bridging at least every third day.
The majority of today’s session was about 55 chins, and two weighted wrestler’s bridge holds of over a minute apiece with the 50lb preload barbell.
The two movements train the entire back, with no tearing you up bad type soreness!
It is a full body workout. 30 chins in my abs are sore, passing 40 my hands may be going (especially the day after 100 reps instead of 25-50) with forearms visibly growing, I get a solid lat and bicep pump, and the the bridges not only train neck, and the entire spine, with locked glutes hit the glutes, the movement stretches the abs, has a cardio effect, but most shockingly trains the legs in a manner analgulous to a wall sit.
PR is 2:00 at bw, 1:00 with the 60lb preload, and 1:15 with the 50lb preload. Double progression with time and weight. Owning the movement is 10:00 with the pair of 75lb dbs. There is also high rep bridge pressing, it’s likely harder than timed holds with weight at lockout due to extra required stabilization. Do both.
Trail Mix As If It Were Cereal
I joke about how I eat both trail mix and nuts out of a bowl with a spoon as if it were cereal.
(the other day actually eating two foods normally not associated with bowl & spoon for lunch each with bowl & spoon, cheeseburger “animal style” (no bun), and peanuts
if you were wondering).
It strikes me that eating nuts like this is very similar in ease of prep/eating, but far more nutritious.
Nuts/Trail Mix > grains
Cereal is sad, yes it’s standard american diet, but that’s not what I’m getting at here. The majority of the time I view eating a bowl of cereal as having a sad excuse of a meal, eating “sad cereal’, sad as in the emotion. I’ve went years without a single bowl before, as I had not worked through a strong disgust reflex in which I associated bowls of cereal with bitch tits and a disgusting slurping sound. My friend and his family when I revealed this were shocked, it’s a funny memory. I hope he’s doing well.
Trail mix and nuts are a far better food to eat in the place of cereal. I only rarely have bowls as easy energy, generally when refueling at night contrary to general practice. Corn Pops taste good, as do Peanut Butter Puffins, which is about the extent of that.
A Note On Recovery aka How The Body Will Adapt To Running Yourself Into The Ground
As long as you have enough recovery coming from mindset/food/sleep (yes in that order, the mental being as powerful as you can imagine), you can allow the muscles to stay sore, not fresh, you can allow yourself to run yourself into the ground.
March or die y’all, the body will eventually adapt.
It’s somewhat Bulgarian, and I’ve heard some interesting things out of college wrestling, and the military worlds on this note.
Gunnery Sergeants outrunning groups of in their prime 20 year olds, instructors donning pack, boots, and gas mask for competitive 5ks, heavyweight wrestlers running good 5ks.
Even if you’re doing none of the shit that gym knowledge claims you require…the body will catch up and adapt.
It has no choice, adapt or die, the mental allowing consistency forces the physical to…eventually.
Persistence & Tenacity