cline's Rattling the Ancestors

[cline]

descriptive language

purse

eating

dance moves

 

yup

 

[Librarian of Doom]

The word ladylike makes me shudder...everything I actually wanted to do as a kid wasn't "ladylike" 

[weirdquark]

I feel I've mentioned this before but whenever I hear the word "lady" in reference to myself my brain goes "I'm not a lady! I'm not any kind of a lady!" and continues into Aldonza's Lament from Man of La Mancha.

[AKLulu]

Wait, is deadlifting and buddy carrying the proper way to behave in a dress? Because I'm pretty sure I'm ladylike. 

[erawka]

Wait. Why is being ladylike desirable? I mean, if these are the criteria... forget that. 

[cline]

I am, for all intents and purposes, an old man.  I am not a lady.  LOL.  

 

ladies....get off my lawn....

[cline]

Updates then wrap up next post.

 

Let's see - I think we last left off on Friday.  

 

Friday was a bunch of pressing and assistance work and then a walk home.  

 

Saturday was Muay Thai and we worked these awesome elbows!!!  One involves essentially pushing up through your legs and bringing the elbow down on the top of your opponent's head.  Yeah... mmmm illegal in US but legal in Thailand and elsewhere so coach thought we should learn it.  Cause you know.... never know.  Then we also did superman elbow (flying elbow).  Got to work with a good, evenly matched partner but he was southpaw - boooo but he's from Ohio so YAY!  

 

Fun stuff with spousal unit Saturday night.

 

Sunday I lifted a bunch of really heavy stuff.  By that I mean 85% working max squats 36x, a bunch of heavy deads, heavy bench 36x, then assistance work.  BB shrugs now over 200#.  

 

Yesterday involves some additional heavy items, heavy squats volume, heavy pressing,  heavy row for volume, assistance work and then walking home.  

Today, shoveling snow.

 

Tonight, Muay Thai.

 

Sunday at the gym:

 

Dude in power rack next to me:  do you want the pad?

Me:  what? what for?

Dude:  you're squatting right?

Me:  yeah but no, I don't use the pad

Dude:  My trainer told me you get hurt if you don't use a pad

Me:  A pad?  Man, that's what your traps are for

Dude:  0.0

 

Monday at the gym:

Dude in power rack next to me (note:  different dude):  do you want the pad?  I'm done.

Me:  What?  no, I don't use the pad. Man, that's what your traps are for

Dude:  *laughs* I have sensitive traps

Me:  0.0

 

"Pad?   That's what traps are for."  - The Art of Clineliness

 

And then today on the bus.... bah.  I have a gigantic bag for my 10,000 meals and my Muay Thai gear/clothes/etc.   Normally,  I put it up in the front on the luggage area on the bus so I don't have to smoosh it through a crowded bus.  But this morning...

 

No.  Stupid chicka (ladylike) is standing there (she's one of those who won't move to the back or sit down b/c you know:  like, ick, it's the bus... like omg like I totally hate riding the like bus). I can't stand these bus riders.  Anyhow...

 

she's got her quasi jumbo purse (ladylike) and a little laptop bag thingy (kind of a neoprene sleeve w handles) on the luggage area b/c she can't hold the damn bags while she's standing

 

Me:  you need to move that stuff so I can put my luggage there.

Her:  I can't... 

Me:  you need to move it so I can put this there and then move to the back of the bus

Her:  *struggles*  It's heavy (NOTE:  it's not... GAH! ladylike)

Me:  *not moving, starring*

Her: *sigh* ugh ugh *moves it over just enough*

Me:  *slings bag up over her head onto luggage rack* (Note:  bag is about 35#) *slinks off to back of bus*

 

Texting the spousal unit begins

 

Me: [... text text text] ... took her 3 tries to move her little bags!!!

Me:  bitch... I lifted heavy rows last night, shoveled snow this morning, and have a bag of fight gear.  Srsly?  I will crush you.

SU:  Crush her!  oh yeah!  Girl fight!  LOL.

Me:  It would be like Roussey vs yoga girl

SU:  yoga runner skinny bitch (NOTE:  seriously?  who is this man?)

Me:  and I learned an illegal Muay Thai elbow.  bitch is going down

SU:  Oh yeah!  Illegal elbows!! You go girl!!!

 

I have never loved that man more.  Esp since at the end of the texting he adds "on call w Charlie right now".  wtf?  LOL.  Totally made my day. 

 

That and the fluffy brown dog I saw playing in the snow.  So freaking cute.  He was some type of kaboodle diddle dog (aka snobby Gen Y name for mutt dog).  Adorable.  And he was soooo happy in the snow.  So cute. 

[cline]

Main quest: Be like Rocky - It’s about finding out how hard I can get hit and keep moving forward; how much I can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!

Motivation: â€œGoing in one more round when you don't think you can - that's what makes all the difference in your lifeâ€.

 

1. CANI = constant and never-ending improvement, stemming from the Kaizen philosophy of improvement.

elbow tendonitis... less vigorous shadow boxing, being more particular with my partners about pad holding, and working on retracting my punches more forcefully....work on power punching

I'm still trying to rehab and rest the elbow.  It's cranky with jabbing.  I'm being more assertive with my partners and pad holding and I'm really careful in shadow boxing now.  

 

We'll see.  Some of the problem lies in the extensors in the forearm.

2. Mental Toughness

I start this work by remembering I always listen to coach and by making an appointment to work with my Muay Thai coach.
 

Meh.  I follow my program.  I ask for help when I need it.  I have not made an appt with Muay Thai coach yet b/c I promised myself I would do that when I felt elbow was nearly healed.  I'm probably 80-90% right now.  So this waits.

3. Emotional Control 

I need to be more careful about protein. I get enough but not the amount coach wants me to get. I gave in to the lure of Greek yogurt for a couple of weeks and got very sick. I need to eat meat, whey, and eggs.

I need to drop some weight but not muscle. That means keeping protein high and eating less fat. So no more butter w eggs and limit red meat. I keep very low carb already.

I'm on a much lower fat diet (almost exclusively lean protein), veg, and coach had me add in some sw pot.  I'm following the diet and have dropped several pounds finally.  But I'm still not where I want to be but making progress.   Coach has suggested more tweaks for my diet, including one cheat meal a week.  I cannot bring myself to do this.  He means full on eat whatever I want and he ordered me to include dessert.  That was two weeks ago.  On Saturday, we went out and my cheat meal was tile fish, rutabaga, salad, a few ounces of duck breast, and I had a few bites of spousal unit's very small dessert (which was pretty close to paleo).  *sigh*  

 

I'm easily eating 2x the protein spousal unit is eating.  

4. The spirit of a warrior = Warriors value life. They lead and inspire. They respect death and fight the big fight. They act out of love and compassion and do not act from ego. They act with courage.

Every day I will continue to find happiness, to challenge myself to be better, to be compassionate, and to serve others.

First up, 6 promises (1 per challenge week) because I said I would.

 

I kept 4, tried to keep one but the schedule didn't work, and the other one is scheduled.  

 

Meh.  Challenge = meh.

 

But I don't really care.

 

Not sure about next go round b/c really all I do is log training and whine about my bf/weight.  People don't really care how I train.  Not sure what I have to contribute here.  I have goals and I have good habits. 

[Librarian of Doom]

I for one would be sadder without cline updates. I want more Art of Clineliness! And you are a reminder to me to choose happy and look on the bright side!!!

[ChristArtist]

I love you! And I feel so womanly about my huge gym bag. ...when I get back there! I feel so sissy with the girly bags! You can't hurt anyone with them. .. what's the point of carrying them?

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[weirdquark]

Even if you don't think you contribute in your own thread, you contribute in other people's by being supportive. And you should have your own so we can return the favor.

[jstanlick]

I think your challenge was better than meh. You've made progress on your diet/weight. Your lifts have improved and all the Muay Thai!

Plus, you always remind me to choose happiness. I think that's a great deal to contribute!

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[AlexCold]

Whao. You got to stick around, we need the Art of Clineness.

 

At the very least a battlelog!

[ChristArtist]

Hey, if I go to Boston with wr, can we meet up? I mean, I know you work an all that. ....

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[cline]

Hey, if I go to Boston with wr, can we meet up? I mean, I know you work an all that. ....

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Boston.  smeh.  I don't live in Boston.  It's a great city, but I live in the City of Brotherly Love!

 

Buy yeah, I'd totally meet up - but I'm not there.  :-(

[cline]

I think what I mean is

 

people here don't care what my work out is - not in a bad way - but seriously, nobody cares what I lift or if I do rows. 

 

I've begun to feel like posting this stuff is navel gazing.  Or a dopamine fix.  Or something. 

 

The thing is this:  I have really good diet and training habits.  I don't really need challenges to get to something.  I never really have. 

 

I'm really not a big "look at me" kind of person and I've been posting here for a while and I feel more and more like it's a "look at me I'm so awesome" kind of endeavor. 

 

I am not a person who seeks validation from others in the difficulty of my training.  My worth is not created by posting about how awesome I am and seeking to have others wish they were as badass as me.  My worth is created by serving others and by living an intentional life filled with joy.  Training is a part of that. 

 

So in the end.... I'm not sure what is to be gained by a challenge thread.  I've stuck it out for a while and I like the camaraderie but my question is this:

 

How do I grow and become better as a person if I spend my time boasting, navel gazing, and hyper focused on my ego?

[Maledictus]

How do I grow and become better as a person if I spend my time boasting, navel gazing, and hyper focused on my ego?

 

Well, I could manage it, but I'm starting from a very different place.

I suspect that's a trick question.  You obviously can't on those terms.  So just change what you use the challenge thread for.   Or stop using it entirely and just stalk the rest of us .  I don't think you've ever come across as particularly boastful but then I work in the city where being a self absorbed tool is almost a prerequisite in some places.  You can hardly be blamed if other people take inspiration from what you do.  I've tried to make a concious decision to post more rather than just using it as a point scoring exercise (curse that skinner box tendency of mine), since fitocracy gives me all the validation and points I need without any of that icky interpersonal crap.  But I can see the benefit of the interpersonal crap (ish, baby steps).  It's always interesting to see what others are doing but if you're not getting anything out of it you could always just sit a challenge out and see how you go.

 

... of course, that then means I won't know if you pop over to london for a visit, so that would suck.

[Wufkar]

Re: continuing to post.

 

I post for myself, I like to be able to look back and see where I was a year ago because I am horrible at feeling like I haven't progressed despite the numbers increasing.

 

I don't quite understand people feeling inspired or motivated by me because I'm not even close to where I want to be. At the same time, if that's what it takes for them to get to where THEY want to be, I'm okay with it. Their being motivated by me causes me to be less likely to fail because I feel like someone else is counting on me.

 

That being said, if this is no longer your thing, or you no longer see a point, don't do challenges.

 

Yes, people will miss you but again, the point of NerdFitness is to make yourself the best version of yourself. No one says you have to do challenges forever.

[weirdquark]

Yeah, I kind of feel like I'm sticking it out too. I'm not really getting anything out of the challenges. I don't have six week goals anymore. I stopped logging my workouts here except to say what lifts I was doing and what I thought about them, which has no numbers and doesn't really show progress because I'm keeping that information elsewhere. And since everything is scattered it's not a great way to track my progress for me; I have no idea how helpful it is to other people to hear what I'm thinking about my workouts. And I also like the camaraderie but I do keep considering not doing challenges, or really, coming in here at all, but so far the camaraderie keeps me posting even if my challenges have become "I'm going to keep doing the same things I've been doing plus whatever I need to get done before the day the challenge ends that I'd have to do anyway" which really seems beside the point.

[Librarian of Doom]

Then don't make a challenge thread. Make a "cline shares awesome t-nation articles, funny gym stories, and Art of Clineliness quotes" thread.

 

Or something like that. Whatever works for you. Others have said it better above.

 

I like the challenges because it helps give me an impetus to build new habits, but I'm not in the same place you are, training-wise. So yeah. Do what you need to do.

[jstanlick]

Or stop using it entirely and just stalk the rest of us . I don't think you've ever come across as particularly boastful.

I would have to agree with all of this.

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[cline]

I might stalk. I might do LoD's suggestion.

I have come to believe that chasing dopamine - chasing the numbers, chasing the check it off my list, chasing the ego - is not the way I want to live my life. It's not really how I live now. Dopamine is addictive and short lived. It does not make us better people. It does nothing for my development as a leader in my work. Sure, it's a part if life and serves a purpose, but it's not good to live there.

I've been doing a lot of work on leadership development and what we've been discussing is what makes a good leader. Chasing the dopamine fix is not it.

And we know chasing the fix is addictive and a problem for us as we live.

While bragging is certainly normal, I don't think it's healthy. It does nothing for long term development of our moral beings.

When I die, I don't want people to say she could really deadlift. I want people to say "she touched my life". I want a funeral filled with people I've helped, not people I've impressed. I want a funeral where attendees come to pay respects to my family and to give thanks and honor, not a funeral people attend because I was a badass.

When you are truly humble, the world knows and honors you she you deserve it.

http://deadspin.com/jeremy-abbott-eats-it-gets-up-and-finishes-to-huge-app-1522179186

[ChristArtist]

Boston. smeh. I don't live in Boston. It's a great city, but I live in the City of Brotherly Love!

Buy yeah, I'd totally meet up - but I'm not there. :-(

Duh, I knew that. ...

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[ChristArtist]

Fwiw, after meeting you and Greg. ...I have been inspired.

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[erawka]

I might stalk. I might do LoD's suggestion.

I have come to believe that chasing dopamine - chasing the numbers, chasing the check it off my list, chasing the ego - is not the way I want to live my life. It's not really how I live now. Dopamine is addictive and short lived. It does not make us better people. It does nothing for my development as a leader in my work. Sure, it's a part if life and serves a purpose, but it's not good to live there.

I've been doing a lot of work on leadership development and what we've been discussing is what makes a good leader. Chasing the dopamine fix is not it.

And we know chasing the fix is addictive and a problem for us as we live.

While bragging is certainly normal, I don't think it's healthy. It does nothing for long term development of our moral beings.

When I die, I don't want people to say she could really deadlift. I want people to say "she touched my life". I want a funeral filled with people I've helped, not people I've impressed. I want a funeral where attendees come to pay respects to my family and to give thanks and honor, not a funeral people attend because I was a badass.

When you are truly humble, the world knows and honors you she you deserve it.

http://deadspin.com/jeremy-abbott-eats-it-gets-up-and-finishes-to-huge-app-1522179186

 

<3. I knew you were my hero for a reason.