Tip Toeing in my Vibrams

[DCR]

nor do I care about discussing the plight of the Saints. Neither a Super Bowl

You also here in the sportsman’s paradise? I’m now looking at your outdoor sessions in a whole different way… damn. I left stunningly gorgeous NYS fall weather for my latest stint here. Going from 70 to 98 was more than a little unpleasant, right after I’d gotten used to jeans.

I miss a good chest pump.

Dude, the other day on a whim I rocked out on the hammer strength incline press. The pump was so good. Now thinking about finishing off all my sessions with machine work, just for the feeling. What goes around…

[Renascent]

Working in an office exposed me to women that were openly "Loose", as if they are trying to be as sexually interested as men are portrayed as being. Not a good look usually, but I guess if you are into cheap hookups outside of your marriage... I also did not need to know most of my co-workers better. That's how I came to experience how racist and ignorant most of them actually are, they get a false sense of intimacy over time and get too comfortable so they stop hiding it. Seriously, I thought it was an historic thing and that no one was really like that anymore because my actual friends aren't like that. Then I got to see be there for open conversations amongst my white colleagues when the black guy and the lesbian weren't in the office on night shift. Wow. I don't ever need to find out what they are like when they really relax and act like they really are.

I did not necessarily enjoy my last stint in a manual labor position, but I miss being in a setting that didn't actively encourage small talk or smiling. You could show up, shut up, do the work, and go home. If everyone figured you were too pissy to be around on a given day, they'd send you off to man a station somewhere on your own, and no one got their genitalia all knotted up just because you weren't excited to see 'em more often than your own family.

It was awesome sometimes.

I've been in an office setting for the past 11 years, and I've mostly managed to keep my atheism and lack of interest in football on the hush. I think a few people suspect I don't worship their god, and some have tried to lay forth their assumption(s) that I'm a Rastafarian, a Muslim, NOI, or something more fashionable (a glamorized militant?), to see if I'll unwittingly out myself. I've had to keep my religion (or lack thereof) and tolerant views under wraps to avoid punishment.

I've sat through meetings where members of management have made shitty comments about their same-sex-couple neighbors (because what good is your God if he/it doesn't allow you to feel superior to somebody else?). One of my previous bosses got comfortable enough around me to refer to some other dude as "kinda f*ggy." I suppose, in their mind, lifting weights and sporting facial hair means I'd be welcome to that kind of talk, but at the same time, I gotta eat, so I said nothing in response. Just took my food out of the microwave and ducked outta the break room with haste and befuddlement. Another co-worker once lamented sitting next to "Al-Qaeda" on a plane ride to Chicago.

Some of these stupid motherfuckers even look like me, so it's hard to listen to them proudly display their intolerance, words all swaddled in the cloth of the good baby Jesus, and say shit that somebody most definitely would've been saying about them sixty or seventy years ago, in a management meeting that they almost certainly would not have been allowed to attend.

The good ol' boys don't surprise me much anymore. Every now and then I meet a flailer starving for attention, but otherwise it's the same old uninspired rhetoric.

As for some of the "attention" I get, I suspect it's a proximity issue. We see the same people every day in more or less close quarters. People get bored, understimulated, or whatever. Some people want a conquest, and personally I don't care what they do to get their rocks off -- as long as they leave me out of it.

I think some of these folks -- regardless of gender-- wanna shit where they eat for the sake of excitement.

It makes their occasional talk of loners being lonely hilarious to me.

Fucking tired of dealing with people, man. Same damn dance everywhere.

[Renascent]

You also here in the sportsman’s paradise?

Indeed!

I’m now looking at your outdoor sessions in a whole different way… damn. I left stunningly gorgeous NYS fall weather for my latest stint here. Going from 70 to 98 was more than a little unpleasant, right after I’d gotten used to jeans.

Thankfully, the swampy season is coming to a close, but yeah, sometimes it's so humid that I can't even hook grip properly (too lazy to deal with chalk; I would probably kid myself into thinking I'd actually brush the bar afterwards).

I miss a good chest pump.

Dude, the other day on a whim I rocked out on the hammer strength incline press. The pump was so good. Now thinking about finishing off all my sessions with machine work, just for the feeling. What goes around…

One of the things I miss about commercial gymming is being able to do finisher sets with machines. Quick and dirty-like.

[alek]

I've been in an office setting for the past 11 years, and I've mostly managed to keep my atheism and lack of interest in football on the hush. I think a few people suspect I don't worship their god, and some have tried to lay forth their assumption(s) that I'm a Rastafarian, a Muslim, NOI, or something more fashionable (a glamorized militant?), to see if I'll unwittingly out myself. I've had to keep my religion (or lack thereof) and tolerant views under wraps to avoid punishment.

I've sat through meetings where members of management have made shitty comments about their same-sex neighbors (because what good is your God if he/it doesn't allow you to feel superior to somebody else?). One of my previous bosses got comfortable enough around me to refer to some other dude as "kinda f*ggy." I suppose, in their mind, lifting weights and sporting facial hair means I'd be welcome to that kind of talk, but at the same time, I gotta eat, so I said nothing in response. Just took my food out of the microwave and ducked outta the break room with haste and befuddlement. Another co-worker once lamented sitting next to "Al-Qaeda" on a plane ride to Chicago.

Some of these stupid motherfuckers even look like me, so it's hard to listen to them proudly display their intolerance, words all swaddled in the cloth of the good baby Jesus, and say shit that somebody most definitely would've been saying about them sixty ot seventy years ago, in a management meeting that they almost certainly would not have been allowed to attend.

There's a local artist here, Panhandle Slim, that paints portraits and quotes of various people--we have one of Mr. Rogers in our living room. I saw one recently that I really like. The quote is by Zora Neale Hurston, "Gods always behave like the people who created them."

Yeah, I really like that.

[Renascent]

I've been in an office setting for the past 11 years, and I've mostly managed to keep my atheism and lack of interest in football on the hush. I think a few people suspect I don't worship their god, and some have tried to lay forth their assumption(s) that I'm a Rastafarian, a Muslim, NOI, or something more fashionable (a glamorized militant?), to see if I'll unwittingly out myself. I've had to keep my religion (or lack thereof) and tolerant views under wraps to avoid punishment.

I've sat through meetings where members of management have made shitty comments about their same-sex neighbors (because what good is your God if he/it doesn't allow you to feel superior to somebody else?). One of my previous bosses got comfortable enough around me to refer to some other dude as "kinda f*ggy." I suppose, in their mind, lifting weights and sporting facial hair means I'd be welcome to that kind of talk, but at the same time, I gotta eat, so I said nothing in response. Just took my food out of the microwave and ducked outta the break room with haste and befuddlement. Another co-worker once lamented sitting next to "Al-Qaeda" on a plane ride to Chicago.

Some of these stupid motherfuckers even look like me, so it's hard to listen to them proudly display their intolerance, words all swaddled in the cloth of the good baby Jesus, and say shit that somebody most definitely would've been saying about them sixty ot seventy years ago, in a management meeting that they almost certainly would not have been allowed to attend.

There's a local artist here, Panhandle Slim, that paints portraits and quotes of various people--we have one of Mr. Rogers in our living room. I saw one recently that I really like. The quote is by Zora Neale Hurston, "Gods always behave like the people who created them."

Yeah, I really like that.

I never knew who originally said that, but yeah, that quote comes to mind pretty often.

[Hardartery]

Working in an office exposed me to women that were openly "Loose", as if they are trying to be as sexually interested as men are portrayed as being. Not a good look usually, but I guess if you are into cheap hookups outside of your marriage... I also did not need to know most of my co-workers better. That's how I came to experience how racist and ignorant most of them actually are, they get a false sense of intimacy over time and get too comfortable so they stop hiding it. Seriously, I thought it was an historic thing and that no one was really like that anymore because my actual friends aren't like that. Then I got to see be there for open conversations amongst my white colleagues when the black guy and the lesbian weren't in the office on night shift. Wow. I don't ever need to find out what they are like when they really relax and act like they really are.

I did not necessarily enjoy my last stint in a manual labor position, but I miss being in a setting that didn't actively encourage small talk or smiling. You could show up, shut up, do the work, and go home. If everyone figured you were too pissy to be around on a given day, they'd send you off to man a station somewhere on your own, and no one got their genitalia all knotted up just because you weren't excited to see 'em more often than your own family.

It was awesome sometimes.

I've been in an office setting for the past 11 years, and I've mostly managed to keep my atheism and lack of interest in football on the hush. I think a few people suspect I don't worship their god, and some have tried to lay forth their assumption(s) that I'm a Rastafarian, a Muslim, NOI, or something more fashionable (a glamorized militant?), to see if I'll unwittingly out myself. I've had to keep my religion (or lack thereof) and tolerant views under wraps to avoid punishment.

I've sat through meetings where members of management have made shitty comments about their same-sex-couple neighbors (because what good is your God if he/it doesn't allow you to feel superior to somebody else?). One of my previous bosses got comfortable enough around me to refer to some other dude as "kinda f*ggy." I suppose, in their mind, lifting weights and sporting facial hair means I'd be welcome to that kind of talk, but at the same time, I gotta eat, so I said nothing in response. Just took my food out of the microwave and ducked outta the break room with haste and befuddlement. Another co-worker once lamented sitting next to "Al-Qaeda" on a plane ride to Chicago.

Some of these stupid motherfuckers even look like me, so it's hard to listen to them proudly display their intolerance, words all swaddled in the cloth of the good baby Jesus, and say shit that somebody most definitely would've been saying about them sixty or seventy years ago, in a management meeting that they almost certainly would not have been allowed to attend.

The good ol' boys don't surprise me much anymore. Every now and then I meet a flailer starving for attention, but otherwise it's the same old uninspired rhetoric.

As for some of the "attention" I get, I suspect it's a proximity issue. We see the same people every day in more or less close quarters. People get bored, understimulated, or whatever. Some people want a conquest, and personally I don't care what they do to get their rocks off -- as long as they leave me out of it.

I think some of these folks -- regardless of gender-- wanna shit where they eat for the sake of excitement.

It makes their occasional talk of loners being lonely hilarious to me.

Fucking tired of dealing with people, man. Same damn dance everywhere.

MOst "Christians" don't even know what the Bible actually says, and certainly don't imitate Jesus. Religion is just an shield they hide behind for legitimacy. I remember open offers and strong implications of offers of fornication, in spite of the fact that they al knew me to be married and not a philanderer. And the crap people say when they think they are amongst only like-minded people.... I admit to not having a real grasp of racism prior to the office experience. And the pettiness of people. I was there to get a check and do a job. I did the job better than anyone else I worked with, why does there need to be more than that? I didn't want to go drinking with them, I didn't want to have parties during or outside of work with them, and I certainly wasn't going to sleep with somebody I had to see in the office every day and have that kind of drama. Maybe their home life sucks, that doesn't mean I want to be dragged into their misery at work.

[Renascent]

Maybe their home life sucks, that doesn't mean I want to be dragged into their misery at work.

This, pretty much. I've been in the doghouse before for expressing my desire to keep a distinct boundary between work and my home life.

I get the feeling that some of my coworkers who get the majority of their kicks through consumption-based pleasures reach a point of dissatisfaction that demands the consumption of other people for further gratification.

I've no moral objection to how some of them seem to water their flowerbeds, so to speak, but it's not my thing and keeping to myself is apparently a crime in settings that don't necessarily require that forced camaraderie.

[Renascent]

(9.23.2022)
Overhead Press
155 x 10
175 x 6 x 3
185 x 4 x 3
195 x 2 x 3
205 x 1
210 x 1
215 x FAIL
215 x FAIL
185 x 3



Shouldn't have bothered with 215, based on the bar sway at 210. I'll give it another week or so of (hopefully) consistent lifting. I'd like to see how quickly I can get back to 225, for the hell of it.

Yazmin Press
185 x 7 x 5
195 x 4 x 4

Rope Pushdowns
60 x 15 x 2
70 x 9 x 2
80 x 7 x 2

Barbell Hang Shrugs
225 x 20 x 2
315 x 10 x 3

Overhead B-Stance RTEs
80 x 9 x 6
70 x 10 x 2

Seated Incline Dumbbell Curls
25 x 12 x 4

Face Pulls
50 x 10 x 3

Ab Wheel Rollouts
12 x 3

[Renascent]

(9.27.2022)
Low Bar Squat
135 x 10
225 x 10
275 x 6 x 4
295 x 3 x 7
225 x 5 x 2



Cable Lateral Lunges
10 x 12 x 2
20 x 10 x 3

Been wanting to try these out for a while. Plans changed midway through the afternoon due to some undesirable circumstances. I scrapped deadlifts, and figured now was a good time to give these a shot.

Apparently the dumbbell version I've used before on a few occasions are actually lateral squats, i.e., the working leg did not leave the ground.

Figured I'd try genuine lateral lunges before knocking them. I'm hoping for some eccentric-based hypertrophy for the adductors, not dissimilar to Nordic curls for hamstrings. I suspected the cable is meant to load the glute on the working leg, and sure enough, I felt it after a certain point. The glute on the planted leg has to work as well, for stability at the start of the movement.

It's like a monster walk mixed with an adductor stretch. At first, I thought it was one of those hybrid "general fitness" movements akin to the bodyweight squat/dumbbell OHP standby that I've seen personal trainers prescribe (for efficiency of time?), but I guess the working leg has to drop into a lunge to allow the planted leg a greater range of motion for the stretch.

I guess we'll see if lateral lunges pass the arcane (and very scientific) soreness test. If I wake tomorrow feeling like I've returned from a second honeymoon, I'll consider keeping them in rotation for a while.

Standing Cable Leg Extensions
50 x 12 x 6

Kneeling Face Pulls
55 x 12 x 4

Weighted Sissy Squats
25 x 10 x 4

Ab Wheel Rollouts
12 x 3

[Renascent]

(9.28.2022)
Deadlift
225 x 7
315 x 7
405 x 7
465 x 3 x 3
445 x 3
405 x 3



Good Mornings
175 x 10 x 5
185 x 7 x 3

Seated Reverse Calf Raises
60 x 35 x 6
50 x 40 x 2

Seated Cable Leg Curls
45 x 16
50 x 12 x 5
45 x 16

Standing Barbell Calf Raises
205 x 25 x 4

Nordic Curls
8 x 3

There was some adductor soreness today, which mostly registered during deadlifts and some hamstring shit, but the glute DOMS was fucking unreal.

I doubt it was the low-bar squats, as I rarely feel them in that way, but it was so intense that it was an almost unwelcome sensation. People usually yield when we cross paths in the stairwells at work, under the assumption that I'm going to move much more quickly than they do, but I was plodding slowly down each step like a dejected pimp. Some woman tried to ask about my well-being, and I just interrupted her and blurted out, "Squats!" to avoid a conversation.

Kinda torn between leaning into a hypertrophy-oriented direction for the time being, or figuring out how to close in on the goals I set for 2022. I am still adjusting to an extra body in the house, things at work are in flux, the boy's gone off the rails with some poor decision-making of late, and I'm really just appreciating how much lifting calms my nerves -- regardless of the intent.

Daylight savings time is gonna fuck some shit up too, so it's kind of hard to make a plan and stick to it, hence the desperado lifting at the moment.

[DCR]

Ride the Lightning

Yes.

Kinda torn between leaning into a hypertrophy-oriented direction for the time being, or figuring out how to close in on the goals I set for 2022. I am still adjusting to an extra body in the house, things at work are in flux, the boy's gone off the rails with some poor decision-making of late, and I'm really just appreciating how much lifting calms my nerves -- regardless of the intent.

I’m a broken record on this, but lifting is supposed to calm my nerves and yet rarely does, very likely because I was hitting a single @11 nearly every time in, for reasons of which I’m internally aware and that were dumb as shit. As of my last session, I’ve moved (if I can make myself stick to it) back to my preferred method of training, top end strength be damned - work up to a weight just heavy enough such that the reps are satisfying, and do a bunch of volume / get a pump. Last time in and today, did 6x6 squats, without hitting any single or otherwise working up over the working weight beforehand. Felt great. Gotta keep the mindset.

Excuse this having little to do with your log but your thought spurred me.

[Renascent]

I’m a broken record on this, but lifting is supposed to calm my nerves and yet rarely does, very likely because I was hitting a single @11 nearly every time in, for reasons of which I’m internally aware and that were dumb as shit. As of my last session, I’ve moved (if I can make myself stick to it) back to my preferred method of training, top end strength be damned - work up to a weight just heavy enough such that the reps are satisfying, and do a bunch of volume / get a pump. Last time in and today, did 6x6 squats, without hitting any single or otherwise working up over the working weight beforehand. Felt great. Gotta keep the mindset.

Excuse this having little to do with your log but your thought spurred me.

Eh, I think it's relevant commentary.

Sets of "satisfying reps" are pretty much the foundation of how I choose to approach lifting in general. Everybody likes progress, and while an actual tried-and-true program is likely the most efficient way to gain ground with strength, I don't get much mental satisfaction out of doing exactly what I was told/prescribed, all of the time. Maybe that points to a lack of discipline, I dunno.

My favorite sessions are the ones I can look forward to, with no undue pressure, and still walk away feeling like I got something worthwhile accomplished.

[Renascent]

(9.29.2022 -- Morning)
Bench Press
135 x 10
225 x 10
255 x 7 x 2
285 x 3 x 5
305 x 1 x 2
315 x 1 x 2
225 x 8 x 2



(Evening)
Kneeling Cable Crunch
65 x 20 x 5

Cable Hip Adduction
30 x 15 x 4

Lateral Plate Raise
20 x 15 x 2
25 x 12 x 2

Incline Side Lying Hip Raise
12 x 3 (Elbows up)

Lying Cable Knee Raise
70 x 12 x 3
50 x 12 x 2

Rows tomorrow, I guess. Sacrificed some sleep to get a head start this morning, and was barely awake by the time the afternoon came around, so that backfired.

At least the morning was not a loss; rushed through bench press, but somehow managed to hit some singles I didn't originally plan on. Nothing Iike heading into a sluggish day at work with that surly, meathead-ish glow.

Glutes are sore, adductors are really sore for some reason, and anything that fell off my desk stayed there until the end of the day. I may or may not have taken the elevator to the second floor a few times when no one was around to shame me.

Since the weekend is already open to likely derailment, I may wait until Monday for overhead presses and use the time in between as "lab days" to experiment with other novel movements.

[DCR]

Sets of "satisfying reps" are pretty much the foundation of how I choose to approach lifting in general. Everybody likes progress, and while an actual tried-and-true program is likely the most efficient way to gain ground with strength, I don't get much mental satisfaction out of doing exactly what I was told/prescribed, all of the time. Maybe that points to a lack of discipline, I dunno.

When I get in these moods, I justify myself by re-reading Jamie Lewis’ various excoriations of planned programming. Of course Jamie lifts twice what I ever have and gets to say whatever he wants.

[Renascent]

Sets of "satisfying reps" are pretty much the foundation of how I choose to approach lifting in general. Everybody likes progress, and while an actual tried-and-true program is likely the most efficient way to gain ground with strength, I don't get much mental satisfaction out of doing exactly what I was told/prescribed, all of the time. Maybe that points to a lack of discipline, I dunno.

When I get in these moods, I justify myself by re-reading Jamie Lewis’ various excoriations of planned programming. Of course Jamie lifts twice what I ever have and gets to say whatever he wants.

Yep. I'm starting to appreciate ol' Jamie more and more every day. On days where I think I don't have enough time to do what I wanna, I think of some of the stories he's curated about forgotten lifters of yesteryear who simply did what they could, when they could.

[Renascent]

(9.30.2022)
Barbell Hang Rows
225 x 12 x 2 (Pronated)
225 x 12 x 2 (Supinated)
255 x 6 x 2 (Pronated)
255 x 6 x 2 (Supinated)

Neutral-Grip Straight-Arm Pulldowns
75 x 10 x 8

Gonna assume this version removes some anterior delt involvement.

Single-Arm Kneeling Iliac Pulldowns
55 x 12 x 4

Seated Single-Arm Cable Rows
50 x 12 x 4

Kneeling Cable Pull-Aparts
35 x 10 x 5

Overhead Cable Front Raise
35 x 10 x 4

Seated Dumbbell Rear Delt Flyes
25 x 10 x 3

[Renascent]

(10.2.2022)
Weighted Pull-Ups
50 x 6 x 6
60 x 5 x 2
70 x 3 x 2

Barbell Hip Thrusts
225 x 14 x 2
275 x 9 x 3



Ab Wheel Rollouts
10 x 4

[Renascent]

(10.3.2022)
Overhead Press
155 x 10
175 x 6 x 3
185 x 4 x 3
195 x 3 x 2
205 x 1
215 x 1
185 x 3



Form left something to be desired, but I'm pretty sure I'm at a lower bodyweight than the last time I pulled off 215. Haven't bothered to step on a scale since May. April was a time of plentiful anxiety, stress eating, and devil-may-care doggedness. September was all about the anxiety, and not much else.

Yazmin Press
185 x 7 x 4
195 x 5 x 4

Cable Hip Abduction
25 x 15 x 2
35 x 12 x 2
45 x 8 x 2

Rope Pushdowns
65 x 15 x 2
75 x 10 x 3

These practically became partials near the end of the latter sets. Not sure why I gassed out.

Barbell Hang Shrugs
245 x 20
265 x 18
285 x 15
315 x 12 x 2

Overhead RTEs
80 x 12 x 2, 10 x 2, 9 x 2

Same deal as before, but this time with shoulders in flexion. Form fell apart around rep 9 or so, each set.

Dumbbell Silverback Shrugs
75 x 20 x 3

Nearly forgot I did pull-ups yesterday. Quickly remembered once I started with these. But, as EggMcLoudMuffin said, "If you believe it, you can achieve it."

So, take that Monday night.

Ab Wheel Rollouts
12 x 3

[MarkKO]

You were due a win

[Renascent]

You were due a win

Most definitely.

Trying to recover lost ground is a bore sometimes.