September 2021 - Persistence and Tenacity

September 2021 Flow – Elbow Tendonitis? There’s Still A Way To Train :

I like to keep my mental point of origin as “more than human” while doing things physical, so I hate to admit that, of all things, I’m having something of an elbow tendonitis flare up.

It’s been the case for maybe two weeks, and is tied wholly to my having loaded up squats too quickly.

For me, the handful of times I’ve had elbow tendonitis, it’s always been when I’ve pushed up my back squat max – the elbow tendon(s) adapting more slowly to squat every day (or heavier weights alone) more slowly than the rest of the body.

In general I hate taking time off from the gym.

I only do so when mentally I’m okay with doing so.

This isn’t that time!

I’ve been in the gym daily, with some double sessions.

Why?
•I want to.
•screw sitting around the house

You learn things observing the gym floor.

I’ve noticed the in shape 50ish crowd tends to just do lots of light pump work.

So I took a page out of their playbook – I’m doing lots of light work, training around the flare up.

I cut pushups down to 100 a day, 200 tops.

I actually get a euphoric stretch from dips when I’m strongly checked in mentally, so I’ll hit an easy 5 rep warmup set at bw, then one set easy, but more meaningful – for more reps, at bw+45.

Pictured – Marvin Eder going a bit heavier than bw+45.

Just for a laugh I’ve refused to do bw pullups this month, only doing weighted chins a handful of times.

(This decision was before the elbow tendonitis flare up, and low volume, not amrap sets of weighted chin have been fine on it.)

I actually wonder now if dropping the loads of bw chins I was doing in some manner led to the elbow tendonitis flare up.

I could see less work actually have been a problem in this case, the chins may have kept the tendon good, or better than it/they are right now with the flare up from the heavy smith squats.

But I’ve been loving the squats so I’ve just been hitting sets of 10 at 1p each session.

So light, but enough to get a pump, my glutes and quads having been feeling nicely solid.

Hell my back feels “one piece”, the muscular system well worked, but not in a way so as to create soreness.

This feeling also comes with the volume wrestler’s bridging that I’ve been doing.

The wrestler’s bridge is your best friend if an elbow bugs you!
All day baby! Bridging all day!

This full body light feel the muscle work has the muscles left in a way that I’m amped up to go back, and have been – it’s been double sessions for days.

Look around the gym, plenty of women have nice firm builds using very light weights, often on machines ; you, as a man, effectively are on testosterone overdose in comparison, and therefore can do the same thing.

So I’ve been training light with high frequency – fuck giving up to an inflamed elbow tendon!

Persistence & Tenacity

Thinking, Thoughts, The Hard & The Soft :

The idea of thinking yourself fit, healthy intrigues me.

Through the mind to be the Wim Hof mantra of “happy, strong, & healthy”.

I’m not convinced of the sheer necessity of physical training.

Conscious thought is the difference between gym development and labor builds generally.

A gym built body is more aesthetic as thought was aiming for that.

Yet on the flip side I’ve seen and done many things on the job, on the mat, and on the field where it was beyond my perceived, or my estimation of them based on, gym “limitations”.

I’ve known laborers stronger than gym knowledge says they should be, far stronger, and that’s a matter of not thinking the limitations.

I’ve done a few things like that myself.

The mind is working towards something, that’s a given.

The above examples show it goes both ways – the thing is to control it, and guide it.

The “necessity” of warm ups comes to mind.

Plenty of experience tells me that you only need to warm up as much as you think you do.

Once the mind accepts this as truth you’ll be set to, or soon will be, able to hit 90+% 1rm performances essentially on the spot.

I ask you this ; did the rugged workers of yesteryear warm up?

The answer is a hearty no.

There’s freedom to, not shine – that’s the wrong word by definition, do as thou wert designed when you don’t have any conception of what “proper” ability is.

“proper” the result of societally imposed limits.

Without having been raised by wolves in a cave, without being the nature boy – it’s best to look at only the elite, the top, the record performances, and systematically, until it is your genuinely held belief and instinctive expectation for these to be the norm, more especially the norm for yourself.

You have the necessary genetics.
I have the necessary genetics.

Why are you saying someone has better genetics than you!

That shit is just a cop out for being, fat, lazy, but worst of all resigned, and apathetic.

I hated seeing the fat kid say the school running back was in shape because of “good genetics”, while I barely kept the thought inside, my thought ; “you fat motherfucker, why not try lifting hard, and running bleachers every day, and see where you truly stand”.

I’ve put in enough training time that good results are a given.

I have the best genetics.

In martial arts there’s the concept of hard and soft.

Both work!

It’s just not the typical western way to practice muscle control and meditation, thinking yourself to the image of health you desire – from the start.

But going the “hard” route (note the quotations, as doing what you must is anything but difficult), moving that weight, brute force, like a bull in a china shop…eventually you actualize the power and validity of the “soft” (thinking) route.

Everything works!

You must believe.
You must take the actions.
You must give it time.

Frequency doesn’t matter.
What you eat doesn’t matter.

There’s plenty of precedence to individuals of humanity shining beyond what “science” says is limit.

Go build muscle barely training, barely eating, on little protein.

I guarantee it’s been done before!

Every so called limit is thrown out the window by, note this is an and/or proposition, a zen state and/or a madman state of “fuck it, you can’t stop me”.

What is called lunacy and zen are two sides of the same coin.

It’s all in the perception, and what works for you in the moment.

Go train.
Or don’t.

Eat clean.
Eat dirty.

Barely eat, fast.
Smorgasbord, feast.

It’s all in the choice, the belief, and having the tenacity to own these fully.

Self ownership, knowledge of rightness in all that you do.

Accepting both the hard and the soft styles, having them both work for you.

Persistence & Tenacity

The Easiest Vegetarian Bodybuilding Meal Prep :

Vegetarian bodybuilding meal prep ; I realize how simple, and inexpensive 5000+ vegetarian calories daily could be.

Food “allergies” galore on this one :

A big 40oz jar of peanut butter says :

35 servings of 190 calories, 16g fat, 6g carbs, 7g protein.

That’s :

•6650 calories
•560g fat
•210g carbs
•245g protein
for the whole jar

Eat that at 20oz each day, the big jar good for two days, and maybe mix it into some top ramen, or make some sandwiches with bread for ease of eating.

Though you can just eat it out of the jar.

The spoon method, hands even…if you must.

You know the calories and macros on a gallon of sweet sweet beautiful lovely whole milk.

So you’re just massacring :
•peanut butter
•milk

It’s more than 5000 calories, nearing 6k, bout 250g protein, plenty of carbs, plenty of fat.

Stock that fridge up with gallons, fill the pantry with peanut butter.

You could even do this out of a backpack with the help of a few large thermos.

Easy!

Affordable and zero prep work involved.

Could even work for those who aren’t vegetarians, pb travels well, and milk has both the gas station method and the thermos method.

Before you ask – lol, nope. I ain’t a vegetarian.

Persistence & Tenacity

September 2021 Flow – Bottom Position Squats :

Yesterday I smith machine squatted from the top.

This was the first time I’d done so in, well it’s probably nearing two years.

However, roughly every other day for the past 3-5 weeks I’ve done bottom position squats in the smith machine.

Whether in a rack, or using a smith machine – bottom position squats work.

That challenge of feeling 10-20% heavier, as it’s without the stretch reflex, it ends up building your squat quite well.

It’s brute force, and when you actually get to have the negative and it’s following stretch reflex…it feels like cheating.

I started doing the bottom position squats as I know it’s me, I’m at pf, and this is a way to make it more challenging.

Tending towards low reps, in the best spirit of the thing you pause on the pins at the bottom for a few counts each rep when not doing singles.

You don’t have to do this however, I’ve repped out before with just the first few reps paused like that.

It needn’t be low reps either, one could do progressive range of motion with higher reps to really diesel yourself up.

Whatever you do, starting squats from the bottom at least on an occasional but regular rotation in is going to move your strength up.

Persistence & Tenacity