We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
People who do Soul Cycle and similar programs, if done daily, might exceed those sprint warnings - if you believe them. Still, sprinting is like flying. It feels good.
As we have discussed before, HIIT is true Cardio exercise, meaning that it is designed to stress, not just use, the heart muscle. The goals are to improve or maintain heart function and to increase your odds of surviving your first unfortunate "cardic event" by developing collateral blood supply.
As we have also discussed here, it is sprints which have this effect. Exertions commonly grouped as "cardio" - like biking, swimming laps, jogging, rowing - are worth doing to maintain general endurance but do not get the heart rate to the 70-90% max that efficiently stresses the heart to the point of heart muscle development. Same idea as curls for the biceps.
Assuming you have a well-balanced fitness program(weights, calisthenics, and both types of cardio), two 20-minute sessions/wk of HIIT is good. Most calisthenics circuits include bits of HIIT too, such as speed rope, heavy ropes, or row sprints.
Obviously, all of this depends on age and level of fitness.
What is a typical 20-30-minute HIIT session? It's 30-60-sec. all-out sprints followed by 60-80 seconds of slow recovery. Rinse and repeat. The sprints are anaerobic.
The way I do it is to include sprints in one weights recovery day, which is like an hour of treadmill jogging, fast-walking, or elliptical, interspersing sprints in it. It keeps it interesting. On another day, I do 20-min of HIIT and then 30 minutes of weights or accesssory weights. You do not need to monitor your heart rate, because you know dqrn well when you are going all-out.
Funny to be mentioning the Urban Hike. It's been a long time. We were trying to plan out an Upper Manhattan/Bronx hike last year (much more technically difficult than it may seem), but if we do get to have a hike again, maybe it will be in the fall of 2021. I hope so. I'm thinking movie sites or movie-related sites - which could be very engaging.
I told Mrs. Bulldog that I had found this and decided it was a place we had to visit. Normally, Mrs. Bulldog isn't very interested in this sort of thing, but one thing made me realize she had to go with me.
Basically, this is the real-life story of The Heiress (or, if you want the modern version Washington Square). The Heiress had a great cast, a great story, and was very well done (not that Washington Square was awful or had a bad cast).
Untapped New York struck a chord today, by publishing this little item, which we could have "visited" on the last Urban Hike. Those of you with us on that hike may remember standing on the hillside of Coogan's Bluff, just north of 155th Street, which leads to Macombs Dam Bridge, and hearing the brief commentary about walking down to the Polo Grounds from that spot.
The Urban Hike is very much on my mind and I hope we have a chance to run another one this Fall (and then get back on a Spring schedule in 2022). Movies, and movie-related, sites may be a fun source of material. Any thoughts or suggestions from our regulars - or from anyone hoping to join?
The Deadlift - the King of Lifts - is not really about Body Beautiful. It is for sturdiness, in my view. You can call it strength, but I prefer to think in terms of sturdiness.
My new weights trainer is more of a high-rep guy (8-12) than my previous guy was (more 5X5). I think it's because it's what he feels I need for right now. All I can say is that he makes it damn difficult. And no, I do not really need to use a mask in my gym. People fake it.
A video is not really a substitute for a trainer who can critique your form right at the moment, but this guy is good. Best mental trick: Push the floor away from the bar.
I know many who follow Maggie's may be unfamiliar, at best, or skeptical, at worst, of Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency. But there is a lot of promise in the technology, and the tokens (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.) are modern versions of 'value transmission' which are not unlike money. They represent the value of the technology. So, to understand why cryptocurrencies are important, it may help to understand the technology. Here is a brief video which explains the tech behind the currencies. Not all blockchains are the same, that's an important thing to remember. Improvements are made almost every day on all the different kinds of blockchains, and their uses. It's my personal opinion that the next 'big' one may be Cardano, as it has solved many issues behind the concept of 'smart contracts'.
Everybody has seen Seth Thomas clocks. Seth Thomas, born in 1785, brought mass production to clockmaking in the US.
The Seth Thomas company had a good run, going defunct in 2009. The factory employed so many people that the town's name was changed from Plymouth Hollow to Thomaston.
Yes, the clock in Grand Central Terminal was a Seth Thomas company product.
It happens to be part of a Seder, but I have often grown it. It is a perennial in New England, grows like a weed, but does not spread.
When you want some fresh root, you just stick a shovel in and chop some side root out. Then grate it. I love it on almost anything. It will not damage the plant.
Easy to find beginner plants online. It is kind-of like growing rhubarb.
11:1 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples
11:2 and said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it.
11:3 If anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.'"
11:4 They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it,
11:5 some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?"
11:6 They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it.
11:7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it.
11:8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields.
11:9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
11:10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!"
11:11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
This morning, when I went out to fetch the morning newspaper, at my door was a box, a gift from the local Chabad, containing all the makings but the feast for the Passover seder. Instead of wasting my time over tea to scan the headlines which repeat mostly the answers that the legacy media want us to repeat, I went online to see what wisdom I'd find at the Chabad.org website, a frequent source of thoughtfulness.
The Passover Haggadah is the booklet containing the order of the prayers and rituals at the seder feast table on Passover. It starts off with the Four Questions by each of four sons of differing knowledge and attitude. The point of this Chabad essay is that the point of the seder is to solicit questions from the young, so they may understand what's truly meaningful, not just to repeat what authority tells them to. Authority rewards youth for repeating what authority wants them to say and think. Education rewards youth for questioning the delivered authority and then finding out what is accurate.
So, I tossed the morning newspaper aside. Each year I find some meaningful readings from different angles and insights to share with my sons at the seder table. Here's the one that spurred this post that I'll share with my sons tonight night at the first seder. You may share it with me.
As a general rule, the next time an official, a politician, or an expert lectures us on the “science,” make sure that he is not projecting his own unscientific biases onto others.
Eighty-six percent of all voters believe political leaders are more interested in protecting their power than in doing what’s right for the American people. Eighty-three percent believe the country is run by an alliance of incumbent politicians, media pundits, lobbyists, and other interests for their own gain. Further, 79% believe that powerful interests from Wall Street banks to corporations, unions, and PACs use campaign and lobbying money to rig the system to serve themselves and that they loot the national treasury at the expense of every American. … Ninety-two percent say we must recruit and support for public office more ordinary citizens and fewer professional politicians. Not surprising when you consider that 81% believe both political parties do what’s in it for them rather than fix our nation’s problems.
Such figures bespeak neither conservatism nor liberalism, but widespread alienation and disdain among people who understand themselves to be subjects of a selfish power to which they have no personal connection and that exists beyond their collective control.
Like the Soviet empire, the American empire is now a confusing black box. It does things and makes noises, but none of it can be accepted on its face, so the world is left to guess. As citizens, we are forced to rely on private networks and create our own narratives to explain what we are seeing. There is the public truth and then millions of private truths. This is the result of black-box government. It is a wilderness of lies.
The NYT
CNN analyst Asha Rangappa wants gov’t to
Everybody has seen Seth Thomas clocks. 
It happens to be part of a Seder, but I have often grown it. It is a perennial in New England, grows like a weed, but does not spread. 
Mark 11:1-11