12/2/19
Carrying a loaded c-bin at the end of the shift I wasn’t joking when I told my coworker “if I can’t hold it you’ll know it if my middle finger gives out”…
My right middle finger was legitimately near failure from the repeated carries. I actually clarified this to him, in my mind it having been an ambiguous comment possibly implying I was going to flip him off when the ponderous thing was placed back down.
We didn’t have to carry it, but did in his words “because testosterone”.
The manager had recently given us work gloves. The warmth is nice, though it makes the work even higher on level of grip demanded.
The only pump or muscular activation I felt was in my forearms.
Just forearms, it was like nothing else besides popeye forearms attached to the vessel of my consciousness.
The whole body may not be a certainty to a brain in a vat, but at that point the forearms and hands most surely were certainties.
They were there alright, they were there alright.
I’m not sure if the items were that hard grip wise or if it was the result of labor work after a day of peak activation one arm lat pulldowns and a bunch of dumbbell curls at the gym.
Either way. It is what it is. The job got done. My right hand was only momentarily a claw.
I enjoyed the challenge.
Gym hand strength is not nearly as challenging as labor hand strength.
There’s a lot of bitch in gym mentality. Labor you’ve just gotta keep going, and those who pussy out or are lazy don’t last long.
I don’t like that I regripped. The carry while tough was something that physically I could’ve pushed through. The carry was within my physical capabilities, I didn’t truly need the regrip.
Man is meant to labor. We’re built for it, the gym is mostly a preening simulation (not that I don’t enjoy it too).
One or the other usually isn’t all that healthy. Combining the two in a smart manner gives you the best of both worlds.
When I’m making good money, I still intend to do part time labor. Men need it always and forever. In the future it won’t be for the cash, as a labor job’s primary benefit is the physicality built. Oil field hands were called “roughnecks” for a reason.
Hay delivery may be the most fun I’ve ever had on a job. That type of strength can be built using a kettlebell in non traditional manners.
Simulate throwing hay, the throwing events, chopping trees, or swinging a sledgehammer.
With hay work in mind, a 20lb kb in hand, that’s why my ribcage was cramping while shoveling.
As I’ve said ; mix the worlds to build a superior you.
Not gym only. Not labor job only.
Both in a smart manner.
I’m not for using the gym in bland generic ass cookie cutter ways.
Creativity is the spice of life.
Strongman competition may be the closest I’d ever get to identifying with a strength sport. To a degree it’s labor but made shorter timed, and closer to max strength.
Truly though I have to do my own thing.
I’d rather quit than follow another’s program. Training is how I express my individuality. It is an individual thing after all.
I’m the only gym I’d ever need.
You’re the only gym you’ll ever need.
Persistence & Tenacity