Month: February 2020

“Can 10 years of imaginary training be put to use?”

“Apparently it can.”

I watched this movie about 5 years ago. A strange movie, but this clip left an impression.

You have 10 years of discipline and it’s gonna pay off.

Any training is better than no training. And through time will become effective.

Persistence & Tenacity

Recent Archives :
~1/30/20

I’d always considered it rare for females to be capable of good strict pushups.

The pf I go to?
I can’t consider it rare anymore.

Like in my commercial gym anecdote of the person least likely to do pullups, I’ve seen the same at pf with pushups.

(Good pushups being more rare than dips and pullups for females as far as I’ve seen. In that order.)

Yesterday I saw a tall skinny fat late 20s blonde, and a normally built middle aged women do good reps.

The other day I saw a different middle aged woman, not particularly fit, and a 30ish short haired slightly pudgy lesbian looking women (who actually is always with a guy) doing good strict reps.

A few days earlier than that I told a nerdy glasses wearing, curvier, college girl good job on her pushups.

I’ve told a handful of women/girls similar. (Not just the attractive ones either. It’s me putting good vibes out there. I’m honestly impressed seeing a girl do strict pushups…and I was very impressed seeing that middle aged tall light skinned big boned clearly from south america immigrant woman going about 5×5 on STANDING ab wheel.)

At this pf location I’ve seen the gamut of female build variation (and ages) pull off good pushups from a super petite college chick or two to a tall chubby 40 something to a muscular used to compete in women’s physique 40yo and everything in between. From maybe 100lbs to around 200lbs…like that heavy women doing pullups all those years ago.

Fitness can be achieved anywhere. Places you don’t expect may have the superior atmospheres.

How many girls have I seen do good pushups?

Around 15, 20.

All but 2 or 3 have been at this pf location.

With this in mind, it blows my mind when I see dudes doing garbage reps, or incapable of one like some asian college kid a day or two back to the mild disgust of his buddy doing lightly weighed reps.

I cracked up this petite college chick awhile back telling her she does pushups better than most guys while motioning to some indian guy seemingly humping the floor with his face in what commonly is called pushups by the guys in the building.

Another time I told the guy in a couple “dude, she’s doing them stricter than you”.

It’s an observation I’ve had over the years…girls doing better on average at the gym than guys.

I have my ideas as to why this is, but that’s for another time.

Archives:
8/9/19 (Sorta, I watched this video months ago, but expanded the writing the other day as the topic was on my brain.)

My calves were often the envy of my bodybuilding training partner.

They were built by one set of 100 calf raises, from the floor, no extra stretch, done daily for a couple years as a teen.

Pushups have been my mainstay.
I’m now working on handstand pushups. As I type I stop for a one arm pushup on each side, what a great way to loosen the spine!

At 20 and ~215-220lbs I did over 120 dips in a set (127) at a v angle improvising using the landing at the top of the stairs to my apartment. Over the summer I got back up to between 65 and 75 reps.

The unweighted lateral raises and curls I’d call dynamic tension. They worked for me when I was doing that sort of thing mostly simulating karate positions, though I did a few gym inspired moves.

You can get your workouts in for the full body simply flexing the muscles.

I’ve gotten tremendous results with horse stance, wall sits, and similar static holds/postures for the legs.

Isometrics can be improvised anywhere.

The knowledge of a few modalities of training, and everywhere you go you’ll have an effective gym.

You don’t even need to improvise equipment.

You are the gym. Zero equipment, all the equipment in the world.

Persistence & Tenacity

The most important thing for those with muscular builds (mesomorphs)…

Is staying loose!

As you change from body type to body type (and change between them you can), as a mesomorph you will need to consciously keep loose far more, something with other builds you took for granted.

Shake out limbs, stretch, relax… relaxation is in the head too.

Fast and loose drills and a calm mind.

That’s gonna be your most important training.

Stretch more big guy. A superior human isn’t immobile.

Persistence & Tenacity

2/3/20

~3pm
“Hey, J. You owe me a rematch.”

We met again, two days ago on a job site, today the first time back at the shop since May. Left side again, he insisted, and the side which he claims to be the arm he arm wrestles with more well.

Like last time there was a stalemate of roughly 45 seconds, but today with two coworkers from my home shop watching, he started to gain advantage over me. One coworker commented such.

We hold there for a 10 count, I realize we can hold here a while, him slowly gaining…unless…I curl my wrist, his bends back. My realization was correct, the high rep wrist curls at the gym have paid off here. My wrist is stronger than his.

I slowly start moving back the inch or less to dead even. Probably 20 seconds later I have him near pinned. I shift my bodyweight rightward. I win.

A long arm isometric, still feeling like he was attempting to pool shark/card sharp me…but this time it was a true win to me, none of that pussy quitting bullshit that he’d done last time. I’ve never liked “winning” like that, it steals the glory. I’d rather have a true win or loss. I have a vivid memory of this principle from junior year high school wrestling.

~445pm pf pizza day

I almost always forget that planet fitness has “pizza monday”. I drive over right after I got off of work to a bonkers packed parking lot, walked in and saw the pizza line which explained it.

I intend to go and workout. Sometimes I’m surprised with free pizza. I ate a little before training, and nicely enough a little after I finished training.

The day before yesterday I ate about ¾ of a customer provided cheese pizza.

Pizza isn’t nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Customers often feed movers on pizza. And pf feeds everyone (including those who only come to eat) pizza.

Pizza is actually a fairly anabolic food. It’s a mixed macros (including meat if you’re doing it right) meal easily held in your hand. I’ve found the key to stomaching pizza is to be highly physical and eat it nearer the end of the day.

It still cracks me up that the key to supreme physical ability is to work labor, do volume at pf, horse stance and pushups at home, and eat enough nutrition. I am the strongest I’ve ever been and am progressing. Breaking every gym guideline you’ve read on the internet, while disregarding barbells has been wonderous for me. Why? Because I’m not stressing minutia, just putting in work.

Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

Physically robust is Man as God intended.

Persistence & Tenacity

It’s been my experience that I get more out of pushups than everyone else does.

Why?

It’s not because I’m good at pushups, though this plays a small role.

It’s really a function of consistent high frequency.

By doing pushups for thousands of days, day after day, my body has not only become good at pushups, but good at getting benefit from pushups.

Thousands of days, probably more than a million reps, I’m at the point where nothing keeps me big and strong (across the whole body), and easily able to keep making progress like pushups.

Consistent high frequency created a simple movement that single handedly gave me what is functionally the possession of good genetics.

It’s patently ridiculous how much of a pump I get from a set of just 20-50 reps. And repeated muscular pumps (this same consistent high frequency principle) is how a lot of permanent muscular size is built. Muscular size will transfer to strength, at the very least the potential for strength.

Peer approved scientific studies don’t know the value of the pump quite like the bros do. Many good pumps builds quite some size and strength.

I get more than you can imagine from my nightly pushups. Why? Because I’ve been doing them for over a decade almost unbroken.

I regret stopping part of my senior year of high school. I’m at about 3 years and 9 months without a missed day. This is nearly my daily reps streak record. The 4 year mark on May 14th will set it. I’m committed to pushups everyday for life. It’s a worthwhile daily practice.

Persistence & Tenacity

I’m talking with this guy, “yeah, he’s like 250 with abs”, the gear question is asked, I honestly answer “he’s into sarms so I can’t tell you whether that’d be considered natty or not, I just know that regardless it’s reason for me to work harder”

Thanks dude.

This is my philosophy on natty or not. Disregard the answer. Work harder yourself.

Always one for frequency, my 17 year old brain decided 531 wasn’t high frequency enough, and while maybe there are “official Wendler variants” now that would fullfil my frequency habit, at the time (early 2012) there wasn’t so I did my own thing taking the training percentages but turning the frequency way up.

Firstly I didn’t use training maxes, I used my actual maxes.

I went A/B M-F (Sat too when incline was up) on incline bench and military press.

I squatted M/W/F at percentage. Front squats for warm up sets. On Tue/Thur I did front squats BBB 5×10 at 95-115 usually, and probably some moderate deadlifting.

No “4th week” (more like 4th session the way I ran it) deload. Fuck deloads! I was hitting a three week cycle weekly or every other week depending on the lift. Months of as written packed into each month.

I don’t remember deadlifting at percentage, just going “boring but big” 5-10×10 at 225lbs. I had a workout where the finisher was 10×10 @ 225 with maybe 15 second rest periods.
Most of the school year Friday had been drop the squat and deadlift instead day, so Friday was where I did the challenge deadlifting reps.

Monday through Friday assistance would’ve been dips “boring but big” lightly weighted 5×8-12 or 15, superset with dumbbell rows, self supported, hand on knee, usually the 75lber,
matching reps each hand with the dips. I did leg curls too. Sometimes other stuff too.

Warmup was 500 revolutions on the jump rope, and shoulder dislocates.

Cooldown could be the warmup again but was usually stairs or bleachers, sometimes both, jump rope then bleachers. I got a lot in during those last 20 minutes. “Distance” days on the bleachers would equate to a 5k at 235lbs in 20 minutes. “Sprint” days happened too.

Weekends I’d often hit high rep light squats (sets of 30 via Dan John’s bulking made simple ie 2-4×30 with 95-155lbs, as break in for…)

My next period was a run towards squatting bodyweight x 50. At 225lbs I got bored of it at 50 x 195lb just before graduation.

(At 20 I hit 37×225 at 225.)

Nothing as written (by someone other than me that is), and I was strongly inspired by reading
“5/3/1 for the injured weightlifter”.

https://www.elitefts.com/education/rehab-recovery/a-twist-on-531-for-a-recovering-weightlifter/

This was basically the fastest weight room numbers progress of my life, particularly on incline bench where what was my 1rm became something like failing rep 14 with an extra 10 lbs. I repped out every top set. 5/3/1 was more like 12/8/5. Barely shy of 18. Annoyed by the lacrosse teams presence in what was practically my weight room.

Until the hockey coach/gym teacher started locking it to lift by himself, I had a barebones barbell gym mostly to myself with brief bench n curler and/or lacrosse team forays.
The only other regular being “weight room guy”, a very fit 50yo, who seemed like prior military or a cop. He’d be on his way in as I left. No student knew his name, letting himself in, he had a key to all sports facilities from being a basketball coach around 20 years prior.

I controlled the boom box playing burnt CDs, mixtapes of stuff only I knew.

It was an interesting time.
That year was where I truly began to love the weights, doing my own programs.

(Well I just rewrote this, here’s another version for ya,)

From The Archives :
8/17/18

In my future as an eccentric multimillionaire I fully intend to do this :

I’m not going to hire a trainer.

I’m not going to be the dudes (that is dudes plural) trainer either.

I’m going to hire a crew of guys to be my training partners.

Since I don’t train like any particular gym going clique (strongman, powerlifting, weightlifting, bodybuilding, calisthenics, physique, general fitness, though some guys may cover multiple categories), I’ll simply have one of each with me at my gym on standby.

“Mark wait at the deadlifts” and while he’s doing that it’s “ok Steve bench drop set”

After those benches and deadlifts Ryan and I will be outside to see who can carry the yoke farther.

Then for some reason I get the urge to do some volume lateral raises…Steve’s earning his pay today.

“Brian pullup ladder time!”

Ahh, the session done.

And you have a whole different roster of cute chicks for when you for whatever reason want to go to a commercial gym or maybe GASP Planet Fitness.

-J

8/16/19

I had walked it, twice. I was nearly back, and I realized…

The street sign said “Sprint Dr”, I couldn’t not do it.

I ran one sprint, had to, just to say I did.

A 40 yard dash for a story.

“Dude, did you realize that street was Sprint Drive!”
“You sprinted on it, you had to have.”
“Of course I did, Sprint Drive begs to be sprinted on. I ran a 40yd dash.”

Persistence & Tenacity