Aakjfaksldjfaksldf Raptron Keyboard Smashes

[raptron]

This is going to be a challenge, probably. I don't know.

 

WHAT AM I EVEN DOING?!?! Other than losing my shit about still being in my house over and over again. This is my chaotic energy the last few months:

 

Brain dump:

Well, I am strength training. I am trying to go to gymnastics once every two weeks. I have been doing a poor job of making space for flex training and yoga. I have been sometimes doing handstands. I have not been walking as much as I like to. I am definitely not running until the spring. I could probably eat more vegetables and fiber. I could probably journal more consistently. I could spend more time outside (I have great winter gear). 

 

Hm. 

 

I will transform the above dump into a challenge format by next Monday. 

[Renate]

1 minute ago, raptron said:

I have great winter gear). 

 

 

Great mind dump! Could you share what winter gear you have when you have time

[raptron]

1 hour ago, Athena said:

Great mind dump! Could you share what winter gear you have when you have time

Well, great for like... OUR winter which isn't so bad. Our lows have been like 8 F lately -- definitely not the -40 F/C that some of our other members are dealing with. They might have better recs for those cold-cold days. As for me, I just mean: 

• Good, waterproof, fleece-lined boots (I finally upgraded my terrible, cheap winter boots to a new pair of waterproof Sorels that have changed my life in the recent storms)
• Earmuffs (warmer than hats, IMO)... I have a rabbit fur pair
• Microfleece lined wool mittens
• Wool socks (Darn Tough) 
• Base layers from North Face (I use these on hikes only)
• Down jacket

I get really hot when I am active for more than half an hour, so I usually have something to stow unneeded layers in for longer outdoor activities. When I run, I eschew  most of these and run in tights, running socks, quarter zip, windbreaker, running headband, and tech gloves. The windbreaker and gloves usually start to come off around mile 2, headband off almost always by mile 5 -- even when it's like 20 degrees, haha. I've stopped winter running for fear of dying on an ice patch, though. 

[Mad Hatter]

[Epsilonte]

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

[Renate]

1 hour ago, raptron said:

Well, great for like... OUR winter which isn't so bad. Our lows have been like 8 F lately -- definitely not the -40 F/C that some of our other members are dealing with. They might have better recs for those cold-cold days.

 

That is usually what our cold weather is like though this week has had days with exceptional cold lows, today as cold as14ish F 🥶

[Mike Wazowski]

So it took several watches to catch what it said, but I love the shirt choice! (Not that I'm super knowledgeable on the issues with USAPL, but I'm aware there are some)

[sylph]

[raptron]

18 hours ago, Mike Wazowski said:

So it took several watches to catch what it said, but I love the shirt choice! (Not that I'm super knowledgeable on the issues with USAPL, but I'm aware there are some)

Haha, thank you! It was created specifically in response to a new rule they created that political words/symbols on T-shirts can be banned at the discretion of the meet director (which THEY in turn created in response to all of the pro-trans athletes protests when they functionally banned trans participants.) I'm not REALLY involved in the drama (other than advocating for trans athletes in casual gym conversations), but I think the shirt is great. 

 

Great keyboard smashes, all. 

 

Still don't have challenge goals, but I did two workouts this week so far and I'll just start updating in here anyway. 

 

Day 0.2-0.3

I have my new program. SHINY. We're going to max out deadlifts and bench in the next week or two to see where I'm at. So many new accessories and variations happening. 🤗 Also, fewer top sets and not having to waffle around deciding what to do has made these workouts a bit quicker, which is definitely not a bad thing because then I can spend the extra time joining in the classic "should powerlifting be in the olympics" debate with gym friends, ahahah. (No, obviously, it should not.)

Tues

Bench: heavy singles 1 x 165#, 1 x 170#, AMRAP sets at 115# (oh god why): 2 x 20

Paused sumo deadlifts: 5 x 3 x 255#

Cable rows: 4 x 12 x 60#
B-stance db RDLs: 4 x 10 x 40# DBs

Preacher curls: 4 x 10 x 15#

 

Wed

Squat: 4 x 255#, 4 x 265# <-- NEW shoulder positioning in progress. It feels (unsurprisingly) a lot more stable, but is going to take a lot more practice

Tempo safety bar squats (slow 3s descend, 1s pause, regular up): 4 x 5 x 185#

CGBP: 4 x 5 x 135#

T-bar rows: 4 x 10 x 55#

Arnold press: 4 x 10 x 20#

Leg extensions: 4 x 20 x 85#

 

Squat shoulder positioning

Spoiler

We're going from here: 

To here: 

I slept a LOT the last two nights, which has been nice. I had a dream about taking a train to visit @KB Girl last night -- though there was a lot of drama of like missing a stop and accidentally winding up in London...?!? and then having to go back and maybe not paying for a ticket and trying to evade the authorities, hehe. 

 

[sylph]

That shoulder adjustment looks like a good one. More under-the-bar support rather than pushing the thing into the back of your neck

[Mike Wazowski]

1 hour ago, raptron said:

Haha, thank you! It was created specifically in response to a new rule they created that political words/symbols on T-shirts can be banned at the discretion of the meet director (which THEY in turn created in response to all of the pro-trans athletes protests when they functionally banned trans participants.) I'm not REALLY involved in the drama (other than advocating for trans athletes in casual gym conversations), but I think the shirt is great. 

Ahh nice, way to be an ally! I was vaguely aware of that from USAPL (or at least, it didn't sound "new" to me, so maybe I just think I remember it). I get why organizations try to tamp down on their athletes advocating for causes (from a blah blah blah capitalism and maximizing profits sense), but especially when that advocacy is about the sport, it seems odd to try and silence athletes.

 

1 hour ago, raptron said:

Day 0.2-0.3

I have my new program. SHINY. We're going to max out deadlifts and bench in the next week or two to see where I'm at. So many new accessories and variations happening. 🤗 Also, fewer top sets and not having to waffle around deciding what to do has made these workouts a bit quicker, which is definitely not a bad thing because then I can spend the extra time joining in the classic "should powerlifting be in the olympics" debate with gym friends, ahahah. (No, obviously, it should not.)

Ooh, glad you're happy with the shiny new program so far! Is she also helping with the changes to squat positioning you're implementing?

 

Feel free to pass on responding, but what are some of the most convincing reasons for you to keep powerlifting out of the Olympics? Ballroom dancing has had a similar debate for a while (it actually caused a schism between the two major world organizations around when I started), but my sport's reasons are a bit different, so I'm curious on another take on why to avoid the Olympics from a different sport. For the record, I'm anti-ballroom-in-the-Olympics because it'd push the genre away from it's current multiple-couples-on-the-floor-at-once, performance-in-the-round, nobody-knows-the-song-list-in-advance competition format that feels more connected to its social dancing roots than if it became more like ice dancing with music chosen in advance, one couple performing at a time, and pre-prepped programs to a single list of songs used for an entire comp season. There have also been attempts to turn the scoring system more quantitative in a way that, IMO, started to strip the artistry out of performances and make them a little unpleasant to watch as the movement got more focused on meeting the athleticism rubric than being about two people expressing movement to music together in the moment. Oh, and that's not talking about how likely or not ballroom is to actually make it into the olympics, even if all the changes were made to make it olympics ready. That was a ramble, lol.

 

[Waanie]

Following! It seems we have a lot of commong goals this time around .

[Mad Hatter]

5 hours ago, raptron said:

I have my new program. SHINY. We're going to max out deadlifts and bench in the next week or two to see where I'm at. So many new accessories and variations happening. 🤗 Also, fewer top sets and not having to waffle around deciding what to do has made these workouts a bit quicker, which is definitely not a bad thing because then I can spend the extra time joining in the classic "should powerlifting be in the olympics" debate with gym friends, ahahah. (No, obviously, it should not.)

Yay, sounds awesome! Hope having a coach will be a great experience for you!

 

@Mike Wazowski I have exactly the same feeling about pole in the olympics! There are already orgs/comps that are much more strict  and promote "pole sport" vs dance and they're sooo much more boring to watch than the artsy/theatrical/creative comps where creativity is valued and the art is still being pushed forward.

[KB Girl]

6 hours ago, raptron said:

I slept a LOT the last two nights, which has been nice. I had a dream about taking a train to visit @KB Girl last night -- though there was a lot of drama of like missing a stop and accidentally winding up in London...?!? and then having to go back and maybe not paying for a ticket and trying to evade the authorities, hehe. 

 

brain part 1; taking a train around here and then ending up in London is quite miraculous! not buying a ticket.. when I was younger I got away with that sometimes by being very apologetic, polite and probably by being girl. 

brain part 2; YES YES YOU MUST COME VISIT

brain part 3; honoured by being featured in Raptron's dreams

 

6 hours ago, raptron said:

Squat shoulder positioning

pffssh I said you should do that years ago but when fancy coach from Chicago says so suddenly you listen? 😛

I'm absolutely thrilled for you that you found a coach! and thrilled for me that I get to see what she's making you do  

[raptron]

4 hours ago, Mike Wazowski said:

Feel free to pass on responding, but what are some of the most convincing reasons for you to keep powerlifting out of the Olympics? Ballroom dancing has had a similar debate for a while (it actually caused a schism between the two major world organizations around when I started), but my sport's reasons are a bit different, so I'm curious on another take on why to avoid the Olympics from a different sport. For the record, I'm anti-ballroom-in-the-Olympics because it'd push the genre away from it's current multiple-couples-on-the-floor-at-once, performance-in-the-round, nobody-knows-the-song-list-in-advance competition format that feels more connected to its social dancing roots than if it became more like ice dancing with music chosen in advance, one couple performing at a time, and pre-prepped programs to a single list of songs used for an entire comp season. There have also been attempts to turn the scoring system more quantitative in a way that, IMO, started to strip the artistry out of performances and make them a little unpleasant to watch as the movement got more focused on meeting the athleticism rubric than being about two people expressing movement to music together in the moment. Oh, and that's not talking about how likely or not ballroom is to actually make it into the olympics, even if all the changes were made to make it olympics ready. That was a ramble, lol.

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

 

@Mike Wazowski I have exactly the same feeling about pole in the olympics! There are already orgs/comps that are much more strict  and promote "pole sport" vs dance and they're sooo much more boring to watch than the artsy/theatrical/creative comps where creativity is valued and the art is still being pushed forward.

Ummm, my primary argument is that powerlifting is really fucking boring. Though, I actually think STRONGMAN would be a super sweet addition to the olympic round-up.

 

My general thoughts:

• Powerlifting takes forever and is boring to watch, even if you care about the people/sport
• There are a TON of disagreements about what it means to do each lift
• There are a TON of disagreements about what equipment is permissible (and how much you have to pay to make the "permissible list")
• Even if you agree on "raw" or "equipped" you run into the same issues as above
• Doesn't have an exciting "win" criteria (and many lifts that are completed wind up not counting due to definitions about what it means to successfully complete a lift)
• Certainly doesn't have any good performance criteria 
• If you want to see strong people doing cool stuff, you'd probably rather watch something else.

It's a sport I think would only be hurt by attempting to fit one mold -- much like the arguments you both have regarding pole and dance. 

 

15 minutes ago, KB Girl said:

brain part 1; taking a train around here and then ending up in London is quite miraculous!

A connection one can only make in the dream world, I think, hahah. 

15 minutes ago, KB Girl said:

brain part 2; YES YES YOU MUST COME VISIT

brain part 3; honoured by being featured in Raptron's dreams

I AM FULLY RDY TO VISIT WHEN VISITING IS A THING AGAIN. My dream was like "well I can just WORK REMOTELY FROM THERE and USE THEIR GYM it'll be GREAT!" Hehehe.

 

15 minutes ago, KB Girl said:

pffssh I said you should do that years ago but when fancy coach from Chicago says so suddenly you listen? 😛

Hahahah! I actually started working on it right before I decided to hire her because other lifters in my gym FINALLY went "yo what the fuck is with your elbows?" 

 

Sometimes it takes hearing the correction 20x before you make a change. 😝 APPRECIATE YOU!! 

[miss_marissa]

11 hours ago, raptron said:

classic "should powerlifting be in the olympics" debate with gym friends, ahahah. (No, obviously, it should not.)

Powerlifters are such snowflakes every time they don't like something they just create a new fed and then call themselves a "world champion" when they win against 1 other person.

 

If they can't agree on the rules to even band together under 1 group, there is no way they could reasonably agree on rules for the olympics.

[Mad Hatter]

10 hours ago, raptron said:

Ummm, my primary argument is that powerlifting is really fucking boring.

Does olympic weightlifting not suffer from many of the same issues? (Purely speculating, I've watched neither)

 

10 hours ago, raptron said:

My dream was like "well I can just WORK REMOTELY FROM THERE and USE THEIR GYM it'll be GREAT!" Hehehe.

Brilliant plan.

[raptron]

11 hours ago, miss_marissa said:

Powerlifters are such snowflakes every time they don't like something they just create a new fed and then call themselves a "world champion" when they win against 1 other person.

 

If they can't agree on the rules to even band together under 1 group, there is no way they could reasonably agree on rules for the olympics.

100% lol.

 

6 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Does olympic weightlifting not suffer from many of the same issues? (Purely speculating, I've watched neither)

Haha, I do not find that to be the case! I find weightlifting more impressive in general, they have to get everything OVERHEAD, so the objective is clear, they're on a strict timer, and weight can never come off the bar (unlike in most powerlifting meets, which do a round-robin of competitors), so sometimes lifters have to FOLLOW THEMSELVES. Competitors might also bump up THEIR next attempt to intentionally try to fuck someone else over or have to make them lift sooner. It's like a weird mind game. I do not think this format would be safe to copy in powerlifting.

 

Also snatch and C&J have more room for kind of wild movements and contortions to try to get under the weight than the 3 power lifts. 

 

They also show this insane countdown timer backstage of these lifters looking nervous as fuck, haha.

 

I got really into watching it during Rio. 

 

Quote

Brilliant plan.

Right? Flawless.

[Mike Wazowski]

6 minutes ago, raptron said:

Haha, I do not find that to be the case! I find weightlifting more impressive in general, they have to get everything OVERHEAD, so the objective is clear, they're on a strict timer, and weight can never come off the bar (unlike in most powerlifting meets, which do a round-robin of competitors), so sometimes lifters have to FOLLOW THEMSELVES. Competitors might also bump up THEIR next attempt to intentionally try to fuck someone else over or have to make them lift sooner. It's like a weird mind game. I do not think this format would be safe to copy in powerlifting.

 

Also snatch and C&J have more room for kind of wild movements and contortions to try to get under the weight than the 3 power lifts. 

 

They also show this insane countdown timer backstage of these lifters looking nervous as fuck, haha.

 

I got really into watching it during Rio. 

Sold. When the next summer Olympics happen, I’m blocking time to watch the oly events. I didn’t know there were MIND GAMES and DRAMA!!

 

[raptron]

Day 0.4

Go for a  heavy singleeee, she says. I say ok, with some reluctance. They felt good! 340# felt so solid that I didn't want to be a wimp and go to 345# when 350# was RIGHT THERE. So I just went for it... and it didn't move. 🙄 🙄 🙄 

 

Deadlifts: 3 x 305#, 1 x 320#, 1 x 340# ( 🎊 ), 1 x 350#, 1 x 350# <-- I think it's really closeeee. Set-up issues again, as usual. I'll get it next time. 💪

AMRAP deadlifts: 2 x 14 x 245# (oof)

Pull-ups: 4 x 5

Cable lateral raises: 4 x 10 x 20#

Cable pull-thrus (I didn't like these -- they're weird to get right and I feel like I'm mostly just like chafing my thighs with the rope) 4 x 10 x 70#

Bottoms up carries: 4 x 40ft x 15#

 

Home late, ate my second-to-last chicken tinga burrito bowl with my leftovers from making nachos for the Superbowl, read a bit of Giovanni's Room (for our inaugural work lgbtq+ book club!), and went to bed. 

[Mike Wazowski]

1 hour ago, raptron said:

Deadlifts: 3 x 305#, 1 x 320#, 1 x 340# ( 🎊 ), 1 x 350#, 1 x 350# <-- I think it's really closeeee. Set-up issues again, as usual. I'll get it next time. 💪

 

1 hour ago, raptron said:

Cable pull-thrus (I didn't like these -- they're weird to get right and I feel like I'm mostly just like chafing my thighs with the rope) 4 x 10 x 70#

I chortled at this description. After googling the exercise, I see your concern.

 

1 hour ago, raptron said:

(for our inaugural work lgbtq+ book club!) 

❤️

[Mad Hatter]

When put like that oly lifting does sound more audience friendly. 🙂

 

3 hours ago, raptron said:

Cable pull-thrus (I didn't like these -- they're weird to get right and I feel like I'm mostly just like chafing my thighs with the rope) 4 x 10 x 70#

 

1 hour ago, Mike Wazowski said:

I chortled at this description. After googling the exercise, I see your concern.

Pretty sure my imagination makes this exercise worse than it actually is in real life. 😅

 

[Stronkey Kong]

 

I love that you can manage proper capitalization during a keyboard smash. That's talent.

 

Following.

[KB Girl]

On 2/11/2021 at 10:39 PM, raptron said:

I AM FULLY RDY TO VISIT WHEN VISITING IS A THING AGAIN. My dream was like "well I can just WORK REMOTELY FROM THERE and USE THEIR GYM it'll be GREAT!" Hehehe.

 

YES ❤️ your dream was right, it would be awesome. Except that the gym is closed, haha. 

 

On 2/11/2021 at 10:39 PM, raptron said:

Hahahah! I actually started working on it right before I decided to hire her because other lifters in my gym FINALLY went "yo what the fuck is with your elbows?" 

 

Sometimes it takes hearing the correction 20x before you make a change. 😝 APPRECIATE YOU!! 

haha I know, I used to get frustrated about that, watch people and think WHY ARE YOU NOT DOING THE THING that I explained to you in 5 different ways already. But I am now resigned to explaining it 15 more times and then reminding them of sticking to the change until the end of times. But really I try to keep my mouth mostly shut here on NF because it's usually not that helpful x) 

 

On 2/12/2021 at 3:23 AM, miss_marissa said:

Powerlifters are such snowflakes every time they don't like something they just create a new fed and then call themselves a "world champion" when they win against 1 other person.

 

If they can't agree on the rules to even band together under 1 group, there is no way they could reasonably agree on rules for the olympics.

I feel this in my kettlebell sport loving soul.. why must we be like powerlifters instead of weightlifters? ;_;