One of the funnier videos I've watched in a while

Some artwork I made at work today.

I like to use scrap pieces of steel to practice bending while I'm at work. It just gets thrown away after forgotten about but one of the guys I work with took a picture of this one with his phone.

Charlie Bronson

Like a lot of people, I find this man fascinating. He's a proper lunatic. It astounds me when a relatively normal person can go so completely apeshit for no apparent reason. I've observed this sort of thing (on a much smaller scale obviously) in real life with many of the guys I grew up with. It's almost like violence is an addictive drug.

Solitary Fitness is one of my favourite books that I've read on working out. Anyone who can follow this regime and put 100 per cent effort into it will end up a powerhouse. Much easier said than done when you consider that "Bronco" himself has got literally all the time in the world to do pushups all day long but there's still a lot you can take away from it. Some of the isometrics are brutal and they tire you out fast. For my neck in particular I've found they work better than anything else.

There's a lot more to it than just a collection of exercises though. It's an all encompassing system and method of healthy living along the lines of Charles Atlas' Dynamic Tension or any of those old fashioned mail order fitness courses. A very interesting read, if nothing else, just because of the perspective he brings. Some of the shit he writes is literally laugh out loud funny. For me anyway, but I'm an asshole and make no apologies about it.

What are You Good At?

Everybody is good at something, aren't they? What are you good at? What particular talent or skill are you known for among your little network of "friends" and acquaintences?

Have you ever noticed that very successful people tend to be at least moderately attractive? That's probably part of the reason they're successful. It goes way back to their childhood, most likely. Rather than being shut down or ignored, they were encouraged to develop their talents because everyone was happy to see them as it was and wanted them to see them succeed.

If you ever had some talent or skill but never developed it to the point of it being something you're at least well known for, go and take a look at yourself in the mirror. You probably look like a can of smashed assholes with a head like a sun-fucked onion.

Thanks for reading, you ugly fuck.

Boxing Practice Tonight

Normally Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights are for the little kids but with last night being Boxing Day the gym was closed. So the little kids trained tonight with us.

Wow. I've never seen so much boundless energy wasted. That's a bit harsh. Some of these kids are absolute machines. One little guy with an afro was running laps around everybody and didn't seem to get tired at all. Thing is, even with all that energy they sure do whine and groan a lot.

"Oh, more pushups? Ohhhh!"

If only these kids had any idea what it's like to not have that energy anymore and have to really work at it. It makes me wish I'd gotten into this sport a lot earlier. I dabbled in wrestling in the sixth grade but unfortunately none of the schools I went to after that had a wrestling team so I never got the chance to get really serious about that sport. That's too bad because I really do believe I would have been good at that one. In high school I competed in taekwondo and did a tournament every two months. Sometimes every month. I also played a ridiculous amount of ball hockey but being Canadian that almost doesn't even count. We all play ball hockey. Then of course there was strongman which I did for about 10 years. But nothing I've done so far compares to boxing. Especially for what it costs. My gym is only $25 cash per month. No contracts or anything and you get exactly what you put into it.

York Dumbbell Courses

York Course Five, Heavy Dumbbells

1. Hammer Curls, two dumbbells
2. Two Dumbbell Press
3. Two Dumbbell Swing
4. Bent Arm Pullover with two dumbbells
5. Side Bend with one dumbbell
6. Deep Knee Bend and Press with two dumbbells
7. Bent Over Row with one dumbbell
8. Bench or Floor Press
9. Calf Raise holding one dumbbell
10. Clean & Press
11. Sit Up on Bench holding one dumbbell
12. Overhead Squat holding two dumbbells



York Course Eight, One Heavy Dumbbell

1. Windmill Exercise (if bell is overhead in right hand, touch right foot with left hand)
2. Reverse Concentration Curl
3. Normal Concentration Curl
4. One Arm Clean & Press
5. One Arm Swing
6. Upright Row
7. One Hand Military Press (heels together)
8. One Hand Swing with Split
9. One Hand Snatch
10. Side Press
11. Bent Over Row
12. Side Bend

 

 

Wondering how many sets and reps you should do? Guess what, numbnuts, I don't give a shit how many sets and reps you do. Just do it.

Something that helped my workouts more than 10 years ago

Most people who work out keep a training log of some sort. Recording exercises, sets, reps, etc.
eg. Squats, 135x10; 225x5; 315x4; 405x8; 315x18
or something along those lines.

While I was in college, I started writing things down differently. Instead of adding up the weight on the bar, I would just count the plates instead. So something like 405 would have been written as 4P. Something like 275 would have been written as 2P,25. Something like 530 would have been written as 5P,10,5,2½.
So the same squat workout as above would have been written as:
Squats, Px10; 2Px5; 3Px4; 4Px8; 3Px18

It may seem unnecessarlily complicated but what this allowed me to do was ignore the actual poundage and not get caught up in the "numbers." I just concentrated on adding more and more plates to every lift. It also eliminated having to do any math when all I wanted to think about was lifting. Maybe this won't help anyone else but it helped me get into a mindset of constantly getting stronger.

Use it or don't use it. Makes no difference to me.