Osu

[Teirin]

Sorry for your loss *hugs*  Definitely thinking about you and those around you. 

[WhiteGhost]

7 hours ago, Kishi said:

So I made a decision to switch over to Athlean X for a minute.

I have never tried GB, but I did buy a program from GMB, and didn't see much from it.  I have not ever purchased anything from Althlean-X but he has enough stuff on his Youtube channel that I was able to build myself a program from that.  The Athlean-X inspired program, on the other hand, made a huge difference and has really taken my workouts to a completely different level.

[Kishi]

18 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

There's probably a name for it better than what I call it, but when death seems inevitable people engage in pre-grieving, where the grief process starts before the actual loss. In those cases, often the death itself isn't the big shock we think it should be, or as you put it "The grief response is kind of muted."  The situation isn't normal, but your response to it is. 

I will be praying for you and those around you.

 

 

Pre-grieving. Like pre-gaming. I like that term a lot, and I'm glad to know that my response is normal.

 

Thank you.

 

14 hours ago, Teirin said:

Sorry for your loss *hugs*  Definitely thinking about you and those around you. 

 

Hey, I'll take that too. Thanks. *hugs*

 

11 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

I have never tried GB, but I did buy a program from GMB, and didn't see much from it.  I have not ever purchased anything from Althlean-X but he has enough stuff on his Youtube channel that I was able to build myself a program from that.  The Athlean-X inspired program, on the other hand, made a huge difference and has really taken my workouts to a completely different level.

 

And you know, if I was any good about following challenges like I used to be, I'd probably know and recognize it. So, sorry I haven't been around. ;;

 

That being said, hey, that's awesome! Have you found a lot of carryover to "real world" strength?

 

Edit: Oh yeah, I was gonna update y'all.

 

So we got together at the gaming store last night and played the game that brought us all together in the first place. Pretty much every trope that we'd ever encountered with the original DM from wiseass remarks and things going spontaneously wrong to bribing the DM so that things could go unwrong was on board. It was as good a tribute as we could have made, I think.

 

Got out later than I would have liked, but the neat thing about this Burst-style training is that it doesn't take long. So, even though I didn't hit the workout until 22:30, I was done at 23:00 and I mean done. But in a good way; I walked out feeling better than I did walking in, and it wasn't just endorphins. That's the nice thing about having a physical therapist design your strength and conditioning work.

 

Today, I could make an hour of Karate tonight, but I'm having to balance that against chores and such and I'm honestly not sure which I value more right now. Because the hour that I get is probably not going to involve any fighting, which is what I want. (not that I don't need technical work, but man, I'm hungry for some bareknuckle).

 

Strength training either way tonight.

[WhiteGhost]

8 minutes ago, Kishi said:

And you know, if I was any good about following challenges like I used to be, I'd probably know and recognize it. So, sorry I haven't been around. ;;

 

That being said, hey, that's awesome! Have you found a lot of carryover to "real world" strength?

Probably not, I have been doing my own thing for over a year now so I suspect even if someone were ardently following my stuff (which I doubt  ) they probably wouldn't know it either.

 

Not sure what you mean by real world strength?  

[Kishi]

4 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

Not sure what you mean by real world strength?

 

Well, one of the things I've observed in my training is that I could be very strong in the gym, in terms of a certain exercise, but I wouldn't necessarily be able to transfer that strength and use it outside of the gym.

 

I used to do workout programs - some my design, some other's - where I would work out very, very hard and put out a lot of effort and do better in the gym, but then when I had to use those attributes in a non-training context, they wouldn't materialize. Probably the most striking example of this was when I was working to do a sprint-based strength/conditioning program and also working for UPS. You know the kind, it's one of those that promises the full package, "and in less time than P90X!" I got better and better on the sprinting, but the work I was doing never got easier.

 

To provide a contrast, this is the main reason I harp on Simple and Sinister so much - 100 kettlebell swings and 10 Turkish get ups teach your body so much about tension and moving through all these different ranges, and I found that even when working with the 24kg bell I was already showing more strength and stamina in terms of being able to lift couches and do hard physical work and with plenty left in the tank to go off and dance or fight or do whatever I wanted to do.

 

Part of what sold me on GB was the idea that getting good at their movements would have a lot of transfer to S&C as well as mobility. In the end, it didn't. So I was just wondering if your training as influenced by AX had had any carryover into non-gym contexts?

[WhiteGhost]

Ah, I see what you mean.  My case may be unique because I don't go to a gym.  I don't even lift, Bro!

 

I mostly looked at his Xero program for bodyweight workouts which is where my focus lies.  I really like the AX motto which is all about training like an athlete.  Because of that, I feel like I was getting a really good full body workout that then carried over with the other things I was interested in (Parkour, Gymnastics, etc).  I don't have a job that requires any physical strength or agility, but I did find carryover into play activities, even things as simple as climbing trees, rocks or jumping over things.  So I guess in a way, yes, I did see carryover into real world strength.

[Mistr]

My sympathy on the loss of your friend. I agree that it feels different when someone is sick or elderly than if they die unexpectedly. Either way, it sucks to loose someone you care about.

*Hugs*

 

I hope you like the new program. It has been a long time since you switched programs. I will be interested to hear what you say about this one.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

5 hours ago, Kishi said:

And you know, if I was any good about following challenges like I used to be, I'd probably know and recognize it. So, sorry I haven't been around. ;;

 

It gets hard to keep up that level of awareness for every challenge. I have challenges where I follow far fewer threads than normal, and you've been doing this longer than I have.

[Urgan]

9 hours ago, Kishi said:

On 4/8/2019 at 4:00 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

There's probably a name for it better than what I call it, but when death seems inevitable people engage in pre-grieving, where the grief process starts before the actual loss. In those cases, often the death itself isn't the big shock we think it should be, or as you put it "The grief response is kind of muted."  The situation isn't normal, but your response to it is. 

I will be praying for you and those around you.

 

 

Pre-grieving. Like pre-gaming. I like that term a lot, and I'm glad to know that my response is normal.

 

Thank you.

 

What Tank said, 100% One of the tiny silver linings of a protracted death is it gives everyone involved the opportunity to try to come to grips with the thing and reflect before it has arrived and demanding you face it square on. Vs a sudden death, which tends to be much more of a surprise staccato of emotion. It's one of those things only direct experience can demonstrate. And how people handle that event whichever way it comes is very different. I was surprised when some close relatives that I loved very much died and I didn't cry at all--I was very sad, but no tears. Turns out we all don't act like secondary characters in movies and healthy grief looks different from person to person. I'm sorry for this loss and it had to come now. It sounds like you and your gaming group are leaning on one another really well.

[Urgan]

9 hours ago, Kishi said:

 

Well, one of the things I've observed in my training is that I could be very strong in the gym, in terms of a certain exercise, but I wouldn't necessarily be able to transfer that strength and use it outside of the gym.

 

I used to do workout programs - some my design, some other's - where I would work out very, very hard and put out a lot of effort and do better in the gym, but then when I had to use those attributes in a non-training context, they wouldn't materialize. Probably the most striking example of this was when I was working to do a sprint-based strength/conditioning program and also working for UPS. You know the kind, it's one of those that promises the full package, "and in less time than P90X!" I got better and better on the sprinting, but the work I was doing never got easier.

 

To provide a contrast, this is the main reason I harp on Simple and Sinister so much - 100 kettlebell swings and 10 Turkish get ups teach your body so much about tension and moving through all these different ranges, and I found that even when working with the 24kg bell I was already showing more strength and stamina in terms of being able to lift couches and do hard physical work and with plenty left in the tank to go off and dance or fight or do whatever I wanted to do.

 

Part of what sold me on GB was the idea that getting good at their movements would have a lot of transfer to S&C as well as mobility. In the end, it didn't. So I was just wondering if your training as influenced by AX had had any carryover into non-gym contexts?

 

It's a stress scaling problem. Anything with a free weight involved is going to be easier to scale up in terms of resistance vs BW. KBs make big jumps, but they're consistent and don't rely on you to cut/bulk to increase the resistance of a specific exercise after a finite number of reps have been nailed. For that, you have to change the exercise, right? My belief from observing your log lo these many moons is perhaps a given BW exercise template only gets you so much precision as to how to challenge you to make the progress required to increase the difficulty. Your work ethic is not in question in anyone's mind, but some tools might not be able to fine-tune your needs as someone doing a lot more than just this one program in a week. A great gymnastic's coach should be able to get you nasty-strong, it requires increasing complexity the longer you train to eke out gains and a great coach has all the tools and will expose a trainee to them at the right time. A mediocre or poor one would have you drilling exercises whose only real end product is to make you really good at doing those exercises. And perhaps even a poor coach could make you stronger for a short time, but at some point they play all their cards and you have to move on. 

 

Addit: great vs poor is not necessarily a matter of competence (tho that sure is a thing, too....). Some tools are purpose-built for specific times in a trainee's athletic life. And perhaps some are just kidding themselves about their true Best By date.....

[Kishi]

On ‎4‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 12:34 PM, WhiteGhost said:

Ah, I see what you mean.  My case may be unique because I don't go to a gym.  I don't even lift, Bro!

 

BRUH.

 

On ‎4‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 12:34 PM, WhiteGhost said:

I mostly looked at his Xero program for bodyweight workouts which is where my focus lies.  I really like the AX motto which is all about training like an athlete.  Because of that, I feel like I was getting a really good full body workout that then carried over with the other things I was interested in (Parkour, Gymnastics, etc).  I don't have a job that requires any physical strength or agility, but I did find carryover into play activities, even things as simple as climbing trees, rocks or jumping over things.  So I guess in a way, yes, I did see carryover into real world strength.

 

Cool! That totally pumps me up to keep on with this program, then.

 

On ‎4‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 1:03 PM, Mistr said:

My sympathy on the loss of your friend. I agree that it feels different when someone is sick or elderly than if they die unexpectedly. Either way, it sucks to loose someone you care about.

*Hugs*

 

Yeah. Life isn't the same without him around. *hugs*

 

On ‎4‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 1:03 PM, Mistr said:

I hope you like the new program. It has been a long time since you switched programs. I will be interested to hear what you say about this one.

 

Oh, I'm sure I'll rant and rave plenty.

 

21 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

It gets hard to keep up that level of awareness for every challenge. I have challenges where I follow far fewer threads than normal, and you've been doing this longer than I have.

 

Yeah. You do a really good job, though. If anyone was gonna chaplain the Rebellion, it should be you.

 

17 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

What Tank said, 100% One of the tiny silver linings of a protracted death is it gives everyone involved the opportunity to try to come to grips with the thing and reflect before it has arrived and demanding you face it square on. Vs a sudden death, which tends to be much more of a surprise staccato of emotion. It's one of those things only direct experience can demonstrate. And how people handle that event whichever way it comes is very different. I was surprised when some close relatives that I loved very much died and I didn't cry at all--I was very sad, but no tears. Turns out we all don't act like secondary characters in movies and healthy grief looks different from person to person. I'm sorry for this loss and it had to come now. It sounds like you and your gaming group are leaning on one another really well.

 

Thanks. We're trying. And... yeah. Ultimately, just trying to take it a day at a time and let my responses be my responses. I think that's the best thing I can do.

 

18 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

It's a stress scaling problem. Anything with a free weight involved is going to be easier to scale up in terms of resistance vs BW. KBs make big jumps, but they're consistent and don't rely on you to cut/bulk to increase the resistance of a specific exercise after a finite number of reps have been nailed. For that, you have to change the exercise, right? My belief from observing your log lo these many moons is perhaps a given BW exercise template only gets you so much precision as to how to challenge you to make the progress required to increase the difficulty. Your work ethic is not in question in anyone's mind, but some tools might not be able to fine-tune your needs as someone doing a lot more than just this one program in a week. A great gymnastic's coach should be able to get you nasty-strong, it requires increasing complexity the longer you train to eke out gains and a great coach has all the tools and will expose a trainee to them at the right time. A mediocre or poor one would have you drilling exercises whose only real end product is to make you really good at doing those exercises. And perhaps even a poor coach could make you stronger for a short time, but at some point they play all their cards and you have to move on. 

 

Addit: great vs poor is not necessarily a matter of competence (tho that sure is a thing, too....). Some tools are purpose-built for specific times in a trainee's athletic life. And perhaps some are just kidding themselves about their true Best By date.....

 

I'd like to think my best days are yet to come.

 

In any event, yeah, I think you're right. Something I've had to make peace with in the past few days is that I don't owe it to myself to keep working on gymnastic stuff, because if the work had been productive, I would have stayed. This new S&C program, combined with all the other stuff I'm doing, will be stress enough on the system. And this is on top of kettlebell play and skipping rope and going off to fight dudes.

 

I still want to keep working on handstands, though. Those are just too much fun.

 

*

 

So, Tuesday down!

 

Ultimately wound up focusing on chores and home front stuff versus going to class. Also had my first leg day and y'all. Let me tell you. I had forgot what it was like when you let weights destroy your legs. I did back squats and stiff-legged deadlifts and dumbbell lunges and even the dread barbell hip thrust.

 

Still feeling good, though. Which is good, because if I get to train tonight, it'll be sprint intervals. No lie, I'm a little nervous. But realistically, it's not going to happen, and I'll probably just wind up playing with kettlebells for a bit instead. So I'll have a little chance to rest and recover, and hit those tomorrow.

[Treva]

Hey, I'm sorry for the loss of your friend.  *hugs if you would like them*  I will pray.  Even with those on and off illnesses, it's hard.  I don't think I can say anymore than the excellent responses that have already been posted.  Everybody's grief looks different, and none of it is wrong.  Going day by day is the best way you can take it, and reach out if you need to.  We are here as you process, for whatever you need, especially if it whacks you sideways out of the blue in seven months.

 

--

 

I feel you on the wanting your training in the gym to materialize out of the gym, and your reasons for KB work are the same reasons that is a mandatory daily part of my exercise.  I'm interested in hearing more about what you find is good functional training; I always through it would be practicing things you have to do a lot of in daily life, or working the muscle groups you know you have to use, but with your sprinting story I have no idea where to go next.  I know you liked the gymnastics work, and I support you keeping the handstands.  All martial artists should be able impart wisdom while doing handstands, because that's in the movies and movies never lie.

 

  Do you mind refreshing me on what your S&C program is?

 

[Kishi]

1 hour ago, Treva said:

Hey, I'm sorry for the loss of your friend.  *hugs if you would like them*  I will pray.  Even with those on and off illnesses, it's hard.  I don't think I can say anymore than the excellent responses that have already been posted.  Everybody's grief looks different, and none of it is wrong.  Going day by day is the best way you can take it, and reach out if you need to.  We are here as you process, for whatever you need, especially if it whacks you sideways out of the blue in seven months.

 

Hey, I like hugs. I'll take 'em. *hugs* And yeah, I have a feeling that this is going to be one of those things that whacks me out of the blue; my only hope is that you and everyone else will be patient with me if/when that happens.

 

1 hour ago, Treva said:

I feel you on the wanting your training in the gym to materialize out of the gym, and your reasons for KB work are the same reasons that is a mandatory daily part of my exercise.  I'm interested in hearing more about what you find is good functional training; I always through it would be practicing things you have to do a lot of in daily life, or working the muscle groups you know you have to use, but with your sprinting story I have no idea where to go next.  I know you liked the gymnastics work, and I support you keeping the handstands.  All martial artists should be able impart wisdom while doing handstands, because that's in the movies and movies never lie.

 

In general, I find that if I want to get better at something, I need to do that thing more. "Functional training," then, is training that allows me to increase the relevant attributes without forcing me to spend time away from doing the things I want to do.

 

What is "functional" then is going to vary from athlete to athlete. A football player has different functional training from a power lifter, and a marathoner has different functional training from a tennis player. Each has a different set of attributes necessary for them to excel in their pursuits, but the training has to be programmed such that it doesn't interfere with the pursuit.

 

I can't tell you what functional looks like for you, because you aren't me. You're a musician, a swordswoman, and a doctor to be, amongst other "functions" that you may serve which I don't know about. I'm a writer/striker/grappler/desk jockey/itinerant mover of stuff, and that's just what I remember right now. Functional training for me is going to be anything that makes me better at those things that doesn't interfere with my ability to do them.

 

Broadly speaking, then, that means kettlebell work for me. Swings and Get Ups done Soviet-style, meaning plenty of rest and plenty of gas in the tank. I've found after lots of personal experimentation that even as little as once per week is enough for me to maintain a wide base of physical preparedness, when taken in combination with all my other activity. The swings are good for total body tension and grip strength, meaning that I'm very good at using my strength well in non-gym settings. Get Ups take me through just about every kind of motion - pulling, pushing, sitting, hinging, standing, and squatting, meaning that I can display that strength in a wide variety of physical situations.

 

And it's worked well enough for me to think that it can work for just about anyone. Which is why, if someone asks me and they aren't committed to something that they enjoy already, I'll steer 'em this way.  But that's just me, and I don't want to be so dogmatic as to think that a prospective trainee must do this. It simply so happens that for me, for what I do, and for where I find myself, this works the best.

 

But the neat thing about Swings and Get Ups as I do them is that they can be hitched on to just about anything, and that makes me curious to see what else my body can do. So I'll hitch these to various other programs to see if I like the results. Which is part of the reason that doing these on top of deadlifts and sprints makes me a little leery, because the last time I mixed these all together, it didn't turn out so good.

 

With that being said...

 

4 hours ago, Treva said:

Do you mind refreshing me on what your S&C program is?

 

At this time, I'm following the AX-1 "Training Camp" program from Athlean X. Athlean X (AX) is a training company put together by Jeff Cavaliere, CSCS and former physical therapist of the New York Mets. At present, he's been involved in the training of various combat athletes and also professional wrestlers.

 

"So wait, you're telling me trains a bunch of dudes who look good with their shirts off and can breakfall like whoa?" I asked myself one night. "Tell me more!"

 

He does have various training programs that range from specific goals (fat loss, muscle gain) and vocations (military and first responders) to more generalized type things, which is what I'm doing now and what @WhiteGhost has referred to. This particular program is a 5-day/week program with three strength training days and two optional conditioning days. The first day was a "push" day, lots of chest and shoulder pressing work with dumbbells and push ups. Second was an agility day working with an agility ladder. Third was leg day, and fourth will be sprints.

 

The reason I'm willing to let deadlifts and sprints back into the mix is that his overall volume is a lot lower. One of the quirks of this program is that he's big on controlling the tempo and "building strength with weight you can control." Last time I tried to do deadlifts, it was with heavy fives done with 20 seconds of rest, grinding down to 4s, 3s, 2s, and 1s. Total tonnage would be, like above 12000 lbs, but that caused me to tweak my hamstring pretty hard. I tried some heavy deads again after it calmed down again - set of 5, then 3, then 1, then two working sets of 8. Tonnage was ~4400 lbs, but even that proved to be too much in combination with what I was doing at that time.

 

This past leg day, using all Jeff's cues and wisdom, I achieved a tonnage of 2,085 lbs. Hamstrings feel so much better, glutes feel like they did more work than they have in a long time, and it represents such a drop in volume that I don't think this can bugger me up too badly.

 

Unless it does. Stay tuned to find out.

 

Also, daily ab work, because vanity.

 

*

 

So, my plan had been to do S&S last night at home because I didn't think I was going to leave my friend's house on time to make the gym. So I did my ab work in the morning, since this program involves flexion through the hips and doing that after S&S is specifically proscribed.

 

I turned out to be half right. I did get out too late to make it to the gym, but I also was too drunk to do S&S. Don't worry, I was a safe driver, but I could feel it enough that standing under 35 lbs of iron was a bad idea. Also, dude got me with half a sleeve of thin mints and extra beers. So, I indulged. I wound up getting grocery store pizza and also some buffalo chicken mac and cheese, which is nothing but salt and fat and spice and I love it. Capped it with one of the new Ben & Jerry's core flavors - cherries, sweet cream, with sugar cookie dough in the core.

 

Regrets? Absolutely none.

 

So obviously I'm fasting today to make up for it. Took measurements beforehand - weight's stable, body fat is stable, but my shoulders are trending upward while my waist remains stable, which explains why I look so much better to myself than I normally do.

 

Tonight's training is just going to be BJJ and gym time. This isn't me ceding to reality; the neighbors commandeered the laundry facilities and I was unable to get my karategi cleaned in time. I had a third BJJ gi that was clean (because you never train with dirty gi, that's just foul) so, that's the hand I get to play today.

[Treva]

3 hours ago, Kishi said:

Also, dude got me with half a sleeve of thin mints and extra beers. So, I indulged. I wound up getting grocery store pizza and also some buffalo chicken mac and cheese, which is nothing but salt and fat and spice and I love it. Capped it with one of the new Ben & Jerry's core flavors - cherries, sweet cream, with sugar cookie dough in the core.

 

Regrets? Absolutely none.

 

So obviously I'm fasting today to make up for it. Took measurements beforehand - weight's stable, body fat is stable, but my shoulders are trending upward while my waist remains stable, which explains why I look so much better to myself than I normally do.

before I get into the meat of what you wrote me

all 57 of those academics were me, btws, YOU LOOK GOOD AND CAN STILL EAT NICE THINGS I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!  

 

3 hours ago, Kishi said:

Hey, I like hugs. I'll take 'em. *hugs* And yeah, I have a feeling that this is going to be one of those things that whacks me out of the blue; my only hope is that you and everyone else will be patient with me if/when that happens.

Good!  As many hugs as you want! and absolutely, I can't speak for the others but I'm happy to be patient with you for the if/when whatever you need to process and grieve.  Page me beep me any way you want to reach me.

 

3 hours ago, Kishi said:

 

What is "functional" then is going to vary from athlete to athlete. A football player has different functional training from a power lifter, and a marathoner has different functional training from a tennis player. Each has a different set of attributes necessary for them to excel in their pursuits, but the training has to be programmed such that it doesn't interfere with the pursuit.

 

I can't tell you what functional looks like for you, because you aren't me. You're a musician, a swordswoman, and a doctor to be, amongst other "functions" that you may serve which I don't know about. I'm a writer/striker/grappler/desk jockey/itinerant mover of stuff, and that's just what I remember right now. Functional training for me is going to be anything that makes me better at those things that doesn't interfere with my ability to do them.

This I do understand.  I have been working on what is good for my work, and what is my body also physically shaped best for.  There are a lot of functions, and I still haven't found (and haven't searched hard for) the best way to get strong and stamina for chest compressions.  S&S and the upper body work has been great for sword stuff, since everything just feels so much lighter now.  I have been wondering if there's any extra parkour-ish training I can add in, since I feel like being able to successfully navigate an urban environment better than someone else might be helpful.  

 

3 hours ago, Kishi said:

And it's worked well enough for me to think that it can work for just about anyone. Which is why, if someone asks me and they aren't committed to something that they enjoy already, I'll steer 'em this way.  But that's just me, and I don't want to be so dogmatic as to think that a prospective trainee must do this. It simply so happens that for me, for what I do, and for where I find myself, this works the best.

 

But the neat thing about Swings and Get Ups as I do them is that they can be hitched on to just about anything, and that makes me curious to see what else my body can do. So I'll hitch these to various other programs to see if I like the results. Which is part of the reason that doing these on top of deadlifts and sprints makes me a little leery, because the last time I mixed these all together, it didn't turn out so good.

I mean, you know how I feel about S&S, and it's that I'm a freaking convert to whatever cult this is, and I hate cults on general principle.  What do you like to hitch your swings and getups to?  I love them as all around conditioning, and I know I have my own strength training sets.  Do you have feelings about the other types of KB exercises, like snatches?

 

3 hours ago, Kishi said:

At present, he's been involved in the training of various combat athletes and also professional wrestlers.

 

"So wait, you're telling me trains a bunch of dudes who look good with their shirts off and can breakfall like whoa?" I asked myself one night. "Tell me more!"

 

He does have various training programs that range from specific goals (fat loss, muscle gain) and vocations (military and first responders) to more generalized type things

like, would you say, paramedics?  Because what trains them would be good for me.  But in general.

This looks like a neat program, I like that it's vocationally structured, and has the option for specific goals.  I want to look into this for sure.  does it cost a bit?  and I'm not above looking good either, that's always a nice bonus to come with one's training program.

 

3 hours ago, Kishi said:

This past leg day, using all Jeff's cues and wisdom, I achieved a tonnage of 2,085 lbs. Hamstrings feel so much better, glutes feel like they did more work than they have in a long time, and it represents such a drop in volume that I don't think this can bugger me up too badly.

 

Unless it does. Stay tuned to find out.

 

Also, daily ab work, because vanity.

That actually sounds great, I've been worried about my form, and it sounds like you've had good results with the program.  I am going to stay tuned, because it sounds like this worked you through a lot of problems to a smooth deadlift.  

oh yes, the abs are always so important.  Dude.  I do my TGUs as pure curl ups without arm supports as much as I can, because...girl wants abs.  with you on the vanity.

 

Thanks for your awesome responses, if that wasn't clear.  I am here to absorb the knowledge.  

[Kishi]

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 6:09 PM, Treva said:

before I get into the meat of what you wrote me

all 57 of those academics were me, btws, YOU LOOK GOOD AND CAN STILL EAT NICE THINGS I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!  

 

I am bad at taking compliments but I will try to take this graciously okay so here I go:

 

afj;ajraurlh liawuyroru3ur lhlyro3y 3hhlHL HE ;aojf; ahg;anfef  ;JA;GH;AEH; AEIFJDJ

 

...

 

yeah.

 

But seriously, thank you.

 

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 6:09 PM, Treva said:

This I do understand.  I have been working on what is good for my work, and what is my body also physically shaped best for.  There are a lot of functions, and I still haven't found (and haven't searched hard for) the best way to get strong and stamina for chest compressions.  S&S and the upper body work has been great for sword stuff, since everything just feels so much lighter now.  I have been wondering if there's any extra parkour-ish training I can add in, since I feel like being able to successfully navigate an urban environment better than someone else might be helpful.

 

I mean, when the zombies come, you'll be the best prepared if you decide to parkour.

 

Not even joking.

 

That being said, do remember: the more training you do, the more you pour out of yourself, the more you're going to have to recover. If you can recover and get what you need from the training, then add more things! But don't add more things if you can't recover enough to get what you need from it.

 

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 6:09 PM, Treva said:

I mean, you know how I feel about S&S, and it's that I'm a freaking convert to whatever cult this is, and I hate cults on general principle.  What do you like to hitch your swings and getups to?  I love them as all around conditioning, and I know I have my own strength training sets.  Do you have feelings about the other types of KB exercises, like snatches?

 

Well, so far, everything.

 

As to other KB exercises, well, I can't say I've run into a bad one. As far as they go, though, again, it all kind of comes down to bang versus buck. I find that for what I need, swings and get ups are enough. Snatches in particular are fantastic, but they don't offer that much more conditioning benefit and are really technically demanding to boot. Doesn't make 'em not worth doing; just not worth it for me. I've played around with them before, though, along with cleans, presses, and front squats, and every last one was a real challenge. Ultimately, my choice not to include them was based on not being able to recover enough from them on top of everything else.

 

There's no sense in letting 'more' be the enemy of 'enough.' But hey. Maybe snatches and cleans and presses should be a part of your program. You do you.

 

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 6:09 PM, Treva said:

like, would you say, paramedics?  Because what trains them would be good for me.  But in general.

 

Well, he says so. I'm still in what's effectively "Training Camp," so I don't really know, but. It's worth looking at.

 

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 6:09 PM, Treva said:

This looks like a neat program, I like that it's vocationally structured, and has the option for specific goals.  I want to look into this for sure.  does it cost a bit?  and I'm not above looking good either, that's always a nice bonus to come with one's training program.

 

It does cost a bit. I've not seen a program of his cost less than $50, but I find that the quality of product that I get for what I pay is pretty high - I get videos of the workouts, I get separate technique videos, I get swaps that I can make depending on my access to equipment, I get pointed to various parts of his extensive library of free material that will be relevant for the day's training, I get access to a community of fellow trainees, access to a shuffling library of ab workouts, monthly challenges, and on and on and on.

 

And yeah. Looking good is nice. Of course, I'd offer that you probably look good already; the rest is just loving yourself enough to express that beauty in motion and strength.  That being said, if aesthetics are a concern, I would advise contacting them and asking about their recommendations, as it's not really clear from their site whether the female success stories are based solely on the women's program or if they did the others. Wouldn't want to advise you on one thing just for it to turn out to be not what you wanted.

 

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 6:09 PM, Treva said:

That actually sounds great, I've been worried about my form, and it sounds like you've had good results with the program.  I am going to stay tuned, because it sounds like this worked you through a lot of problems to a smooth deadlift.  

oh yes, the abs are always so important.  Dude.  I do my TGUs as pure curl ups without arm supports as much as I can, because...girl wants abs.  with you on the vanity.

 

Heck yeah! TGUs are good that way.

 

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 6:09 PM, Treva said:

Thanks for your awesome responses, if that wasn't clear.  I am here to absorb the knowledge.  

 

Hey, any time. Just gotta make sure I give you something good. ;;;

 

*

 

Good Lord, I haven't been here in like a week. That's... uh, a sign of things.

 

The short version is that life got busy and stayed that way. Work's kept me late and the supervisor decided to be a pain on some of my cases, so I wound up having to stay late enough to get the work caught up that she wanted me to get caught up, and that kept me off the mats. Saturday I went to office hours for the Company and wound up spending all day hanging with them. So no mat time there either. Sunday I wound up at a watch party for GoT, and cue the snooty "But I don't watch GoT!!!11!one" because I don't, but I made an exception for my friends and watched some cliff's notes videos to get caught up.

 

Gym-time's been happening, so I'm staying sane, and writing's been happening as well, so that's cool. And I was really glad to be there for my friends. I just miss my mats, though.

 

The hardest part of the past week has been diet. The program recommends meals and snacks, and I initially found myself eating more to get protein. It's hard to control calories and get enough protein on a vegan diet, so I tried introducing some meat back in, and curiously enough got some signals that my body didn't like it. At this point, it looks like my options are either meat substitutes or protein powder; I'm not sure I like either one, but I gotta work with what my body will give me, and I'm sure I can find a way to make these taste and mix better. I dunno how that's going to work; I just know that I've picked up some extra fluff I don't need in the past few days and the metabolism ain't taken care of it yet. I guess for now, maintenance/recomp truly is in the 2500 range of calories for me.

 

Monday, nothing happened except taxes. Came out owing $8. Not bad for being in a higher tax bracket. Tuesday, I got out too late to make karate, but the boxing class has new times on Tuesday, so I decided to check that out instead. Showed the coach the sparring gloves I use in karate now, and he was duly terrified.

 

Training so far has been a push day, Burst day, and leg day. I'd like to hit the gym again tonight because I was able to buy some additional modules for the program I have now to help my chest and shoulders, as I consider these to be lagging parts, but I'm not sure if it's realistic or not. Might have to settle for S&S, or might not do anything at all depending on how much I decide to drink hanging with friends tonight.

 

And the days go on.

[ladylydia]

On 4/9/2019 at 10:34 AM, Kishi said:

Pre-grieving. Like pre-gaming. I like that term a lot, and I'm glad to know that my response is normal.

 

Whenever I've had someone in my life die, I almost forget about it, my grief response is so muted.  I tend to be very compartmentalized and if I have other stuff to do, I take care of that other stuff first.  It usually hits me hard a few hours  or days after the funeral, when a part of me always wants to check in with the person who passed away to see how they liked the reception. 

 

It takes time to process certain things, your response is very normal.  

[Kishi]

21 hours ago, ladylydia said:

 

Whenever I've had someone in my life die, I almost forget about it, my grief response is so muted.  I tend to be very compartmentalized and if I have other stuff to do, I take care of that other stuff first.  It usually hits me hard a few hours  or days after the funeral, when a part of me always wants to check in with the person who passed away to see how they liked the reception. 

 

It takes time to process certain things, your response is very normal.  

 

Yeah. Still, his absence is felt and marked. In some ways, it feels like he's still at the hospital, but we all know he isn't coming back.

 

*

 

Time, y'all. It just keeps passing. Not as much as it was, though. Let's attempt a brief catch-up, shall we?

 

Wednesday, drank too much for training to be a good idea. Wound up playing Settlers of Catan: Star Trek edition. I always have a good time playing that game, although it tends to be very hit or miss in terms of whether I do well or not. Wound up not doing well this time, but that happens. I enjoyed the company I played with enough for that to be not an issue.

 

Thursday wound up being a long training day. Coach was back for BJJ, so did that. Then to the gym for some mixed conditioning and chest work. Felt good.

 

Three day weekend happened, which was a nice change of pace. Friday, more gym time. Found myself doing pull ups again. Lost a lot there, but that's not surprising. Still annoying, though. Fortunately, a protocol exists for that, so I'm low-key working on getting my numbers up using inverted row variants. I'm also pleasantly surprised that the bicep work isn't really aggravating my elbow like it was. It's a good sign.

 

Saturday I wound up hanging with friends and spending the day working on the business and just taking in the town. It was disconcertingly normal, but it felt good to just wander and not have something to do. Afterward, wound up at an authentic Greek place masquerading as a hole in the wall, which was just awesome. Ate red meat and baklava cheesecake and regretted nothing. Not even no training.

 

Sunday was relatively light on account of the holiday. Only the gym was open, so, that's where I went. Just a general pushing day, although I decided to tack on handstand work to that. I decided to hit up S&S for funsies and did a set of swings with the 24kg again. They went very well. I'm not sure how to add this back together again, but I'm trying. Ate more junkfood for the holiday, and again didn't regret it. Woke up hungry the next day, but fasted anyway just to clear out the system and feel right with God and the world again.

 

Yesterday, we started putting together characters again for Harnmaster. It is definitely not the same without the DM there, but at the same time it feels... good, I guess? That somehow this is a part of our lives that we get to keep, and it almost feels like we're growing, tentatively shooting out roots and feelers to grow something new. After that, went back to train. Finally had a situation where I didn't have the equipment to do the prescribed workout, but I found one in his free material which was cleared for substitution and involved sit-throughs, which are good for BJJ. Did some easy inverted rows afterward and felt good.

 

So, how am I feeling so far?

 

I'm feeling good, actually. Better than I thought I would. Not having had the time to really skip rope or do kettlebell work has actually allowed my hamstring to feel better than it has in months. You never really notice how used to pain you've gotten until it vanishes, and it's a kind of giddy, addictive feeling.

 

The only things that seem to bring it back are either swings or going too long on the heavy bag, and even then it's muted at best. Not sharp at all. All the same, though, given that my S&C hasn't fallen off, I've pretty much convinced myself it might not be a bad idea to put kettlbells on the shelf for a while and just drill down and focus on this program here for the next 2 months or however long it takes me to get through. (because it might take longer if I can't meet testing requirements at the end of the month).

 

Because, yeah. Pain and discomfort aren't normal, and they shouldn't be normalized. So. I think that's what I'll do. Again, all the fighting I'm doing on top of this as well as handstand training should suffice for a training effect.

 

Speaking of, off to Karate tonight. I think I'mma go play with them for an hour and then cut out to go visit the boxing class. Should work out to an extra half hour of mat time, which will be good.

[Kishi]

So! Last night turned out to be an adventure.

 

I got out on time, got to the dojo, and trained for a while. Ky-sensei decided to focus more on conditioning last night - he started us off with 25 laps around the dojo and didn't really let up from there. From there we did Russian twists and squat to punch and sandbag work, mostly squatting and then kicking for a while. Then, we went to practice various kicks on the standing pad - mine came out looking great, Ky-sensei especially liked how I threw knees and said everybody better be as good as me.

 

We even got to play with the Tornado Kick, which is that weird flippy kick that you see them throw sometimes in Kyokushin. Couldn't land it on the pad either time but definitely had the power. All that time in judo taking falls really helps.

 

I skipped out afterward to go box, and I initially felt bad about it but it turned out to be a good thing I did because when I got in the car I found I'd got a call from the coach. His car broke down and he needed a ride to dojo. So I wound up going there, picking him up, and then getting over to the dojo where, surprise, we had new students to box with! They'd never thrown hands before, but they had good attitudes and a willingness to suffer. We can work with this.

 

So I did wind up getting to do some sparring, although it wasn't as hard as I was hoping it would be. And I ultimately wound up skipping the gym because we went late at boxing to make up for late arrival, and the coach wanted to stop by a store and get some food on the way back.

 

That's a bit of a first. I... dunno how this is gonna play out. AX of course has a contingency plan for this, which is to focus on strength training; all the same, I have this sense that the rest of the week is going to play out more complicated than I initially thought.

 

Sic semper.

 

Onward!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

You are doing enough fitness things not to have to worry if you don't do all 3,567 in a single night. 

[Urgan]

28 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

You are doing enough fitness things not to have to worry if you don't do all 3,567 in a single night. 

 

Bless your heart. If Kishi wasn't feeling guilty about (missing) something or having to split the baby that is hours in the day, I'd start worrying.

[Kishi]

21 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

You are doing enough fitness things not to have to worry if you don't do all 3,567 in a single night. 

 

I am both surprised and humbled that you went all the way out to actually count them.

 

21 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

Bless your heart. If Kishi wasn't feeling guilty about (missing) something or having to split the baby that is hours in the day, I'd start worrying.

 

... yeah. Although it's mostly a matter of having this new lease on life that is hanging out with friends and having a life both on and off the mats. Don't want to lose one or the other.

 

*

 

So, as has become my custom, I skipped the gym last night in favor of time with friends. We watched Civil War to prepare for Endgame, which I'm skipping out of work tomorrow to go see. This was part of why I was doing myself a concern - tonight and tomorrow represent my last two real training opportunities before the next "week" begins, as Saturday I'll be seeing Endgame again and then brunching and doing business stuff with the Company, which could conceivably last all day and into the night as they have for the past few weeks.

 

Meanwhile, it looks like the karate dojo is hosting a fight night on Saturday night and part of me feels a need to be there.

 

So, how's this gonna go?

 

Feh if I know. Still, I'd be lying if I said that this sense of uncertainty was unwelcome. It's nice to have a life.

[Mistr]

Yay for having a life!

 

I think you are making a good decision to put the kettlebells down for a few weeks to concentrate on your new program. That will give you more time to focus and to see what kind of progress is due to just the new training.

 

I hear you on wanting to attend all the events from your dojo. You are allowed to tell them that you have previous committments on Saturday night. No explanation needed.

[Teirin]

Hope things are good!

[Kishi]

...

 

okay, wait.

 

It's been how long since I posted last?

 

...

 

I mean, really? Really?

 

Lord.

 

Okay, uh.

 

o/ Hi everyone!

 

It's been a busy-ass two and a half weeks, and I don't really know where to start. I guess just a short summation will have to do:

• Training is ongoing. Failed the challenge portions of my new program last week so I'm back to the beginning again... or will be, when this head cold is done.
• Right now, nutrition and training are on sick protocols. Took four days for my symptoms to peak, so four days to chill. Hate it, but it's not like I couldn't use the rest. I think my body knew something was up because I use yoga as a form of therapy for sickness and I'd been getting the sense that I needed it.
• Saw Endgame. It's good. I'm not sure how safe it is to talk about it yet, but it's a wonderfully unique piece of work and a worthy capstone to the MCU up to this point. I wasn't ready for it the first couple times, but me and MCU films seem to follow the Rule of Three and even then it was still effective.
• I've been working on my writing. Work's been hairy enough that I haven't been keeping up with things here very well, and I wanted to prioritize my prose. Do regret the loss of time here, but don't regret working on what needs to be worked on.

Other worthy mentions for reasons for busyness include my boxing coach needing rides back and forth from his house to the dojo and needing to be available for that, and lemme tell you, that man does not rush for nothing. Also, one of my friends is getting a divorce which has opened up a whole can of Drama and Feelings, and I don't quite know what being supportive of her looks like right now since I'm definitely in the Untrustworthy Men category for her right now. (I don't know why. There's no accounting for taste. I'm not taking it personally).

 

But, uh, yeah. That pretty much sums up the past couple weeksish. I need to be more active for y'all, though. I'm not a Guild Ghost. I'm a Guild Leader. I need to act like one.

 

On ‎4‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 5:31 PM, Mistr said:

Yay for having a life!

 

I think you are making a good decision to put the kettlebells down for a few weeks to concentrate on your new program. That will give you more time to focus and to see what kind of progress is due to just the new training.

 

Yup! I think it's for the best. Letting lots of things go has actually been really good for me. My body feels like it's moving better and while it's not a night and day kind of difference, things are trending better than they have in a while, recent illness notwithstanding.

 

On ‎4‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 5:31 PM, Mistr said:

I hear you on wanting to attend all the events from your dojo. You are allowed to tell them that you have previous committments on Saturday night. No explanation needed.

 

I know, and I wasn't pressured into showing up or anything. I still wanted to, though. And, that Saturday, I wound up doing so, because I didn't have anything that night and I really wanted to get some work in. It felt good. The Iron Shirt stuff I'm doing on top of boxing conditioning actually helped a lot.

 

On ‎5‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 8:44 PM, Teirin said:

Hope things are good!

 

They are! Just, very busy.

[Urgan]

Time flies when you're living life, huh?

 

1 hour ago, Kishi said:

Also, one of my friends is getting a divorce which has opened up a whole can of Drama and Feelings, and I don't quite know what being supportive of her looks like right now since I'm definitely in the Untrustworthy Men category for her right now. (I don't know why. There's no accounting for taste. I'm not taking it personally).

 

Instincts say, if you are not trusted, you cannot effectively support. Stay out of flamethrower range, lest you be burned by the hot mess.