Jarric

W4D3 Yesterday was a good day. Crossfit was split squats with the rear leg elevated, and I did kneehab between sets. Then a horrid workout of deadball to shoulder and wall balls for 10 minutes - 2 movements that I'm rubbish at. I took it slow and focused on form, but it wasn't very inspiring. In the day I fitted a new wing mirror on WW's car... Then I renewed our car insurance, so of course I started getting warning lights on the dash 2 hours later Bouldering was rubbish, everything felt lumpy and awful and painful. I called it a day early and went home to chill. Did some calligraphy in the evening, languages done, calories tracked, no money spent, teeth done. Sorry this post was so long - I didn't have time to write a short one.

I hadn't thought of it like that, but you're right. Thanks Yes, this is very true. Anything that helps with my pistol squats is a win all on its own Probably fairly strongly I would think? Knees are a mess of forces placed on them with all of the muscles above and below, and in my experience knee problems tend to result from either ankle issues or hip issues that pull on the knee joint in an unhelpful way.

I think I'll be borrowing from this extensively for the next unfamiliar social situation I'm in - thank you for sharing.

W4D2 Yesterday was a good day. A little yoga first thing, then physio. Work was busy, not helped by the late start after physio, but I got at least one big job ticked off. I worked a bit late whilst cooking dinner (the joys of home working!). In the evening we met up with the Pathfinder group. No game as a couple of us were away, but was nice to catch up. Spent money on parking. Did a 30-second doodle when I got in, and languages done. Calories tracked, slightly over so 200kcal used from my buffer. Teeth brushed. 5/6.

Physio update So I figured the physio session yesterday warranted a separate update. I got in, talked about the knee injury, and he had me do the usual stand on one leg, do a squat, hop up and down routine. Almost immediately he said "You've injured your right ankle before, haven't you?". Now, to the best of my knowledge I haven't, but he was immediately convinced that this is where my problems are stemming from. I few more tests and he diagnosed me with a weak soleus and possibly a weak gastrocnemius (i.e. the two major calf muscles), which is causing my right foot to over pronate. It seems plausible as a working theory, and at least gives me something to target. He also said that I will still need rest for the tissue that I've irritated to recover, but the main thing is to get that muscle stronger before I try to run again. With the speed that he came to this conclusion he's either extremely good at his job or foolishly over confident. Either way, I've got some exercises to do (single-leg, bent-leg calf raises and single leg squats), which should mostly fit into my morning workouts making them much easier to do every day. I'm seeing him again in 3 weeks, hoping to maybe try a run in the days before I next see him, if the exercises are going well.

Understood. Yeah, I can't think of many times that I've seen a film before I've read the book, but I guess it helps to be predisposed to like the story. Fair enough. Given that I've been listening to Glass Cannon Podcast for about 5 years, and I'm still at least 4 years behind on it, I might not add this to my list! Ah I see. To be fair, the concept of cutting political history lore dumps out of fantasy books is pretty much fine by me (the Counsel of Elrond in the LotR books was just too much for me). Oo, now that sounds more fun that the book the film was based on. I might just add it to my infinitely long reading list!

Ok, that makes sense if that's the kind of thing we're talking about. I was more thinking about general behaviour/the way one presents oneself. I would probably make more of an effort to appear professional to someone senior in the company than I would to a friend or someone unrelated to my work. Although, as you say, it's pretty hard to get fired if you're good at your job, it's also easier to get promotions/pay rises/fun opportunities if your boss thinks you're competent and professional (depending very much on the type of career of course). That's interesting, I don't think I've ever thought something that I've seen you write was blunt. I definitely can't think of an example I thought was rude.

I'm not sure what's better between bench/pushups/flys to be honest. I definitely find that I feel my chest a lot more on DB bench holding the dumbbells against each other though, because it forces a narrower grip than normal DM bench. Pushups are hard - I think we tend to think of them as a foundational exercise but they're actually really challenging to do well. I do (close grip) wall pushups as assistance for bench, because if I did full pushups I wouldn't get enough reps to be helpful without fatiguing my muscles and actually making my bench reps worse.

I think it's just brand and flavour - I've never found an unflavoured protein powder that wasn't horrible. For pec engagement I find presses with my hands close together help - either close grip pressups or dumbbell bench press with the dumbbells held together in a neutral grip. My pecs are really underdeveloped too, so I'm doing sets of 12-15 close-grip wall pushups, with a focus on pushing my hands together as well as away from my body, between sets of bench. The hope is that if I remind my pecs that they exist, they'll take part in the bench press and get some training benefit there too. So far it seems to be (slowly) working for me.

This sounds like a very good thing. I'm still working through my Christmas chocolate, which will probably last until Easter, which is proving tricky right now.

Oo, that does sound like a fun device though. Maybe not if it's overplayed, but I definitely like the idea. I presume it's a parody of epic fantasy/sword and sorcery type novels that spend 10 pages describing the beauty and history of a mountain range?

W4D1 Yesterday was a good day. It was deadlift day - 145kg x 5 - plus Romanian deadlifts, calf raises, and l-sit work. Would like to build a bit heavier, but this felt good. Packed a small lunch for work, which is good because the weekend has left me craving chocolate like nobody's business. Managed to squeak in under my calorie allowance regardless. I worked late, and was shattered by the evening. I came home, cooked dinner, and collapsed on the sofa until it was time to crawl to bed. Kneehab, art, evening Duolingo, and teeth cleaning all not done, so 2.5/6 for the day.

Thank you! It was a good day, just a chill one. I didn't realise there was a book until I saw 'based on the book' in the opening credits. I wonder if the book also includes the device of the grandad reading to his grandson, or if the book is just the book he's reading. A. True enough B. Thank you mate! Given that I bought myself a new pen less than 2 weeks ago, I'm going to say probably not C. I think even here Princess Bride might be more classic nerd culture than Dr Who Christmas Specials. Certainly more so than any one individually. I'm just very bad for having not seen classic movies. Thank you, your threats of violence are greatly appreciated ❤️ . I've got some new exercises now, which should be easier to fit into my day (and will also just keep me interested for a bit!) It's a very funny film; I don't think it's just nostalgia for you. I've never listened to that, is it any good? (I ask, as though I have time for yet more D&D actual plays...) Thank you! Me too ? Thank you!

Love a Volcanic Inferno - Lapsang Souchong is such a treat. Ah, the eternal struggle. I should probably work through the 15-20 varieties of tea in my house too...

I think you could briaden it out to the opinions of people whoch affect your wellbeing. In addition to immediate safety, I care about my boss's opinion of me, because it affects my job security and financial security. Arguably one could say that they care about their friend's opinions because that matters in retaining them as friends. That's enough Speaking of opinions, do you need to be concerned about the opinion of the person that made that comment? Or can you safely ignore that that person thinks something you've done is rude?

Week 3 results The muscle: 3/7 for kneehab, only applied heat once, and 2/4 for cycling - I'm losing momentum a bit on this, which isn't ideal. Thankfully I'm seeing the physio tomorrow, so hopefully they'll give me a bit of a kick to keep this going (and maybe some new stuff to do). The decisionist: 6/7 days tracking calories, no idea what number I finished at but I know it was over budget. This was actually pretty much to plan for the week - managed what I ate carefully Monday to Thursday, then cut loose Friday (work drinks for a colleague leaving), Saturday (dinner out with WW for my birthday) and Sunday (grazing on chocolate all day for my birthday). Apart from not tracking on Sunday this was spot on, and I only gained 0.2lbs this week as a result. The cartographer: 2/7 days drawing, did not share art. WW got me a calligraphy book for my birthday, which I'm going to 100% count as art and hope that it gets me back into the swing of regular drawing. The translator: 4.5/7 (2 days on target, and 5 halfs). The problem here was motivation in the evenings, unfortunately. The hoardsperson and the campmaker: 4/7 (2 days with no spending, 2 days cleaning). A spendy week, but I kind of new it would be with the birthday and whatnot. The face: 3.5/7 days brushing teeth. Not ideal. I was really in a bit of a funk last week, with various things playing on my mind. Now that my birthday's been and gone, and some other stuff feels resolved, I'm feeling a little more positive. I hope that that will feed into more motivation to hit the bits of my goals that I do in the evening and which I've been struggling to get myself to do. Also, in nerd news, I watched The Princess Bride for the first time ever on Saturday. Great film, loved it, and nice to see where all of the memes are from!

That's really interesting; I've not come across the idea that protein is an appetite supressant before. Generally I only worry about protein when I'm cutting - when I'm bulking and sticking to my normal protein shake routine I figure I'm going to get enough protein without trying, but it's a little harder to fit in on a calorie budget.

01/01/2024 - 174.4lbs 08/01/2024 - 172.0lbs 15/01/2024 - 170.9lbs 22/01/2024 - 169.2lbs 29/01/2024 - 169.0lbs 05/02/2024 - 168.8lbs 12/02/2024 - 169.2lbs 19/02/2024 - 165.7lbs 26/02/2024 - 167.1lbs 04/03/2024 - 167.3lbs I'll take that to be honest. I stuck to the plan, and kept calories low early in the week to the point that I dropped to 163.8lbs by Saturday morning. After 4,000kcal on Friday, and another 3,750 on Saturday I'd pretty much used my weekly calories. As Sunday was my birthday I didn't track, and just grazed on chocolate most of the day which was really nice to do for a change. Overall, I'm happy with how I managed the week and optimistic that I can get the scale going down again this week.

See now I don't know if there's an actual Carl Withakay character somewhere, or if you've just added something great to this character Either way, I've just asked WW if Erica has a brother called Carl, and she said "She does now."

Same as any other lift, but with reps instead of distance. e.g. 3 x 100ft. x 155kg or whatever. (to be fair, I definitely don't do half mile farmers' carries ) That mantis shrimp comic is fascinating; thanks for sharing that.

Well, it's Sunday now... I've never heard this saying before, but given that a UK pint weighs 1lb 4oz it's probably not very useful here. Though we have the saying 'a litre of water's a pin and three quarter', which I guess doesn't work in the states. That's great news! Congrats on getting back on track so quickly.

Isn't the valsalva manoeuvre the thing where you hold your nose and breathe out to equalise pressure when swiming? And no, I don't breathe during a squat/deadlift rep either, I was just talking about taking in air to brace your core before the start of the lift.

True. Also when it's mild. And when it's hot. Lebküchen is great. I use vegan protein powder (because WW complains about the smell of whey protein if the shaker isn't washed out instantly). I've found a mint chocolate vegan protein blend is palatable enough for me to drink every day. Or vanilla-flavoured pea protein isn't too bad. I'd avoid rice protein personally, more from the texture rather than the taste. I've always been intrigued as to what beef protein powder is like, but it's crazy expensive here.

I think that sounds like a sensible plan - I'd hold off on calorie tracking if you really don't feel mentally up to it right now. In theory you never need to count calories to lose weight, though for me it would be harder not to. If you're aware of your regular eating patterns then you can tweak the tyoe and quantity of food you eat, and probably see weight loss for a while. Then after a while you'll hit maintenance, and will have to reassess again. This is actually exactly the same process as with calorie tracking, it's just that with calorie tracking it's easy to go 'I'll drop my target number by 200kcal/day', whereas with tweaking your diet you have to think about more carefully about change strategies. Either way, for now reducing junk and increasing veg is probably enough to see results.

My coach always encourages us to breath through the nose only on squats and deadlifts. I'm crap at it, but theoretically it should be possible to go heavy doing that (with practice).