Friday, August 3. 2018
Since our physical fitness posts here are oriented towards building and maintaining general functional fitness and athleticism, we tend not to get into the weeds of strength-building.
For general conditioning, we view strength (weights) as about a third of the program. 2 days/week, with heavy powerlifts etc. However, the strength component is crucial even if 2 hrs/week will not produce an Arnold physique.
Speaking of physiques, we are genetically programmed for a body type (even if we cover that up with layers of fat). Certain body types were built for running, some for lifting up dead mastodons and elephants, etc. One aspect of that is our muscle cells. We are born with a life-long number of them, and a predetermined distribution of Type 1 And Type ll muscle cells which in part determine where our athletic potentials might be. Strength-building can build up the fibers inside those cells when subjected to serious demand. At the same time, a significant part of muscle bulk is blood supply.
But getting to the point, the rapid improvement in strength during the first 6-10 months of lifting is attributable to neuromuscular development and efficiency. That's the first step in strength conditioning, and when progress is most gratifying.
After that initial phase, progress slows and that is when the real slogging begins.
A reader sent in this technical essay on neuromuscular training: Neuromuscular Efficiency (NME). A little basic Bio helps.
Thursday, August 2. 2018
 Why is it called "science"? To make it sound more serious? The distribution of power is serious enough.
Swimming with “Leviathan” - Reconsidering Hobbes’s magnum opus with the release of a new edition. Generally, I find it much easier to read about Hobbes than to read Hobbes.Deep thinkers are difficult to read.
Wednesday, August 1. 2018
 It's not either-or. Low-rep (1-5) high weight is for strength. High-rep (8-12) with lower weight is for muscle endurance, but we would never suggest more than 10 reps for any powerlift set.
A typical powerlift sequence is a warm up set with very light weight, then 4-5 working sets advancing to your day's target. For example, lately I have been doing, say, with deadlift (most important exercise, I feel), warm-up set of 5 at about 100, 5 reps at 155, 5 reps at about 180, 1 rep at 200 and another rep around 225. Like I say, I am not a big strong guy. Everybody is different. My one-rep max is probably 245, but I don;t know for sure. My goal is 300.
Many fitness people do a week of high rep every month or two. "Lower weight" is around 60-70% of your one rep max. "Higher weight" is around 80-90% of your one rep max.
As always, there are exceptions, mainly for accessory exercises. For example, for curls or tricep cable push-downs, 10-20 is fine to keep those things "toned".
My take on heavy weights: Pull-ups are heavy weight. Push-ups are just calisthenics. If you can do 20 pullups bravo to you and put some weights on you to be more efficient. I won't do barbell bench or barbell squats without trainer or partner. Without those, I'll do dumbbell bench and kettlebell lunges or squats instead. If no weight station is free, I'll do kettlebell deadlifts or trap bar instead of regular. It's all good as long as it is HARD and makes you want to cry or spout 4-letter words.
Since I only do half of my powerlifts one day, and half of them another day (not ideal for strength but ok for fitness), I fill in my weights hours with accessory lifts to get a full workout. But to be more precise, I also do pullups twice/wk and one day of dumbell bench and another day barbell bench because I want to focus on those right now. There's only so much time to fit in weights, calis, and plain cardio. If a week had 8 days, I'd do another day of weights. It doesn't fatigue you like calis, but it kicks your ass and kicks your mind.
Just got an email from a second old friend (ie, elderly - 60s) who has produced a third kid under age 7. I wonder what it's like to be a dad in your 60s.
It would not work for me. Maybe it keeps them young, but who has the patience for little kids? For that matter, what guy ever did?
 Toon via Theo
Mario Vargas Llosa’s journey from Castro groupie to steel-eyed critic of both Leftism and populism gives the observations and commentary of his latest book the authority of a long life both lived and examined. To describe it as a joy of the first order would be to engage in understatement
UW-Madison encourages students to report communists ‘microaggressions’
The Nation Apologies for Publishing an 'Ableist' Poem - "Caused harm to members of several communities"
I doubt it. Nobody reads it
Distributing the Green (Cards): Permanent Residency and the Income Tax after the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
Former Hippies Put in Horrible Position of Rooting for F.B.I.
California:
Its political leaders and a credulous national media present California as the “woke” state, creating an economically just, post-racial reality. Yet in terms of opportunity, California is evolving into something more like apartheid South Africa or the pre-civil rights South.
Connecticut is poised to reject Democrats’ economic mistakes
Study: "Medicare for all" plan touted by Bernie Sanders would cost $32.6 trillion
VDH: Progressive Regression
German Police: 126,000 Immigrants Set for Deportation Have ‘Disappeared’
I need to find out more about this artist, Julian Merrow-Smith. Update: I did. He's a picture/day guy in Provence. I love that painting.
Image via Dalrymple's An Evening in France
Tuesday, July 31. 2018
It's our summer for roofing, painting, and repairs. Maintenance on the HQ. Mostly outside, some inside too. Maintenance sucks, because it entails no improvement and is just a holding war against entropy. We are fortunate to have a remarkable team of workers thanks to our genius project manager. Perfectionists. Replaced with all new flashing because the old was second rate, especially for the crickets. New copper gutters, but we do not have many gutters. Let the rain fall off the roof. No problem. All bad wood replaced with Azek "wood".
Good thing about their max-size dumpster? Old brown furniture, broken lawn stuff, old clothing and crap that is just no longer needed or wanted. In it goes. Empty closets to bare essentials. And do you know what old brown mahogany furniture is worth? Zero. You have to pay people to get rid of it. I am tempted to toss our 1800s lovely dining room table and chairs in there because nobody in the world wants this old brown stuff - and never will.
Wish you had a giant dumpster in your driveway? A great chance to unload all the crap that your kids will have to toss in a dumpster when you croak. Do them a favor.
Monday, July 30. 2018
 Why Are Men So Terrible, And What Can We Do About It?
A simple guide to CRISPR, one of the biggest science stories of the decade - It could revolutionize everything from medicine to agriculture. Better read up now.
Nat. Geographic Admits They Were Wrong About Famous Climate Change Polar Bear Pic
WaPo: Connecticut is drowning in debt. Should the rest of us have to pay?
Mike Rowe Talks To Ben Shapiro About The Gap Between So-Called ‘Elites’ And Everyone Else
Martin Armstrong: Is CNN Creating A Civil War?
You Have Just Entered The Twilight Zone; CNN — Creating Narratives Nightly
Tucker Carlson Reports the FBI Collaborates With Southern Poverty Law Center
Trump Anxiety Disorder: Therapists Say Patients Are Experiencing More Trump-Related Anxiety
Mueller probably hasn’t exhausted the possibilities of building obstruction of justice charges against Trump based on his regular activities. Trump’s use of Twitter barely scratches the surface of the potential wrongdoing that falls within the scope of Mueller’s probe...
President Trump Is Correct--Study Shows 90% Of Administration Media Coverage Is Negative
I see CNN and MSNBC in the gym all the time. It truly is Destroy Trump's Reputation 24/7
The Rules For Beating Donald Trump
Janice Atkinson, MEP: The EU Is Killing Itself from the Inside. As All Dictatorships Do
Amsterdam 'lawless jungle' at night, ombudsman warns
Number of Islamists in Germany Reaches Record High, says Intel Report
Sunday, July 29. 2018
The Eastern States Exposition runs from Sept 14-30 this year in Springfield, MA. Basically, it's a combination of State Fairs. Good fun, and not only for kids.
Info and tix here.
The best places to admire NYC’s incredible comeback
A friend had a birthday dinner at Danny Meyer's new place, Manhatta, recently. Loved it. Loved the views, too.
 That's what our pal Roger's wife terms them. English Sparrow, aka House Sparrow, aka Dumpster Birds, were imported from England in the early 1800s to help clean the NYC streets of horse manure and other detritus.
Their population spread rapidly.
They are not sparrows, they are a sort of european finch. Like rats, they are highly adapted to live amongst civilization, and can never be found in woods or meadows but they like working barns.
This morning, I ripped up a large loaf of stale bread and tossed it in the driveway to do my version of Loaves and Fishes, without the fish. Within 15 minutes, the MacDonalds birds arrived. Their activity attracted a bunch of Grackles (native to North America), and then a handful of hungry Red Wing Blackbirds. A few chipmunks came out for breakfast, and finally a couple of Blue Jays. A Mourning Dove stopped by to have a taste. I fed multitudes. In 2 hours, it was all cleaned up.
Photo is a female. You can see that they have a finch bill, not a sparrow's.
6:1 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.
6:2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.
6:3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples.
6:4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.
6:5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?"
6:6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.
6:7 Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little."
6:8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him,
6:9 "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?"
6:10 Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all.
6:11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.
6:12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost."
6:13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.
6:14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world."
6:15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
6:16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
6:17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
6:18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
6:19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.
6:20 But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."
6:21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
Saturday, July 28. 2018
 It's not uncommon to see small family groups of Chimney Swifts overhead during the summer months. Wonderful fliers, catching bugs on the wing.
I've seen parents pass a bug to a child, both on the wing. Cute.
Their numbers have declined drastically over the past 40 years, for unclear reasons. Maybe more chimney caps, or steel flues. They need masonry flues to get a grip.
My best Chimney Swift story is about the day one accidentally came down our old church's chimney and started flying around the church - on Pentecost! I finally was able to snatch it when it was banging against the window, and somebody opened the window and off it went like the Holy Spirit.
There are a couple of other species of Swifts in the western US. If anybody can distinguish a Vaux from a Chimney Swift, good for you. Swifts spend the cooler months in the Amazon basin.
Fun: PT Barnum's Museum
Barnum commuted by train from Bridgeport to NYC daily
Annoying people in the grocery store
Breaking news: “Men Are Programmed To Be Less Satisfied With One Sexual Partner”
San Francisco Straw Update:
If the ordinance passes as drafted on July 31, set to take effect in July 2019, local businesses that sell takeaway cups and lids made out of compostable plastic can’t use straws made from the same material.
Will the Trend of Low Birth Rates Be Reversed?
The Remaining Obstacle To President Trump's Plan For U.S. Energy Dominance
How Social Science Might Be Misunderstanding Conservatives
Economic growth hits 4.1 percent for second quarter
Unmaking Affirmative Action
How much does George Will hate Trump?
Dershowitz: Who Leaked The Trump Tape?
We should know who President Trump is financially beholden to — a lawsuit might make that happen
Friday, July 27. 2018
There’s water on Mars! Signs of buried lake tantalize scientists
What is Transgenderism?
It's a fad, like hula hoops and tattoos
Chautauqua Institution’s Destruction. Chautauqua Institution was once a fine place to visit, many years ago.
The long march through the institutions - it has worked
VDH: The Strange Career of White Privilege
Portland, Ore., to clean up 'disgusting' Occupy ICE camp, calling it biohazard
Donald Trump could win reelection in 2020, help the GOP win all 100 seats in the Senate, all 500+ in the House, push the Dow over 40,000, reunite Korea, liberate Iran, cure cancer, walk on water and pay off the national debt and it will mean nothing to these people. He will be hounded for the rest of his life, and then they will try to destroy his kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, wipe out his business empire and whatever legacy he leaves behind as retribution for stealing their thunder and making them look like fools for all the world to see. The other reason is as a warning against anyone who thinks they can do what he did and go against the Deep State elitist-globalist enterprise.
Guy on the radio said that if Trump personally cured cancer, CNN would have on people saying "Trump doesn't care about people with heart disease."
Thursday, July 26. 2018
Look, I really don’t want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you’re alive, you got to flap your arms and legs, you got to jump around a lot, you got to make a lot of noise, because life is the very opposite of death. And therefore, as I see it, if you’re quiet, you’re not living. I mean you’re just slowly drifting into death. So you’ve got to be noisy, or at least your thoughts should be noisy and colorful and lively. My liveliness is based on an incredible fear of death. In order to keep death at bay, I do a lot of “Yah! Yah! Yah!” And death says, “All right. He’s too noisy and busy. I’ll wait for someone who’s sitting quietly, half asleep. I’ll nail him. Why should I bother with this guy? I’ll have a lot of trouble getting him out the door.” There’s a little door they gotta get you through. “This will be a fight,” death says. “I ain’t got time.”
Mel Brooks, 1975 interview
Commenting function here was screwed up yesterday. Should be ok now.
Photo: An Ohio bar got in trouble for that
This guy got screwed by The Mob
They are the Red Guard. It does have an intimidating effect.
Jail Time For Handing Out Plastic Straws?
Parking Has Eaten American Cities. A new study documents the huge amount of space taken up by parking, and the astronomical costs it represents, in five U.S. cities.
Boot: Without The Russians, Trump Wouldn’t Have Won
No doubt. The Russians got me to vote for Trump
Trump Secures Concessions From Europeans To Avoid Trade War
Bravo
Nets Refuse to Declare Trump Victorious as E.U. Buckles on Trade
In Trump-Cohen flap, Left and Right trade places from Clinton years
Palestinian Authority Silences Students
Israeli farmers scorched by latest attacks, coping with ecological disaster
Craziest part of it is that Israel gives Gaza wheat
China's Aggression Is Starting to Backfire
Wednesday, July 25. 2018
For general fitness/conditioning, probably not necessary and especially not if you do 2 hours of calis or calis classes weekly along with your 2-3 hrs/wk of mostly powerlift work.
What are typical accessory weight exercises? Things like curls, calf raises, cable pulls and pushes of all sorts, leg press, lateral raises, leg curls, and many gym machine activities which target specific muscle groups.
Typical compound-movement powerlift work (deadlift, rows, pullups, barbell squat, military press, bench press, maybe dumbbell lunges) strengthen pretty much all skeletal muscles - and your core too- and are more functional than isolated muscle exercises. (Most people do not do Olympic lifts but if you want to try them, go for it. With a coach, please.).
There are a few exceptions. 1.Beginners often need accessory exercises for a few months before moving forward 2. Some accessory exercises can help ramp up your powerlifts. For example, I work on overhand curls and kettlebell Farmer's walks for my grip strength because that can be a limiting factor for my deadlifts. I have weak forearms. 3. Another exception is for bodybuilders who choose to focus on developing good-looking specific muscles. (That's not really about functional fitness, though - more about looking great naked.)
We stand by our Fitness For Life recommendations for women and men of any age: 2-3 hours of mostly heavy weights, 2-3 hrs of calisthenics without heavy weights, about two half-hours of HIIT cardio, 1 hr of endurance cardio (replaceable with a 5-6 hr hike, bike ride, etc). Not counting hikes, a total of 6-7 hrs/week is sufficient - but no less than 2 hrs of real lifts with some accessories if needed to complete the hour)
 Get the L Out: Lesbians Secede from LBGT Movement
There’s A New Privilege In Town: ‘Thin Privilege’
The latest global warming scare might make you want to kill yourself
PUERTO RICO HAS NO MONEY FOR ANYTHING EXCEPT GOVERNOR'S $245K LIMO
US farmers group rejects Washington aid
New Details Indicate Toronto Shooter May Have Expressed Support For ISIS
Jihad Denial in Toronto: Hussain Was a Known Wolf
Is Carter Page Really a Russian Agent?
FUSION GPS DOUBTED THE CREDIBILITY OF A MAJOR DOSSIER SOURCE
None Dared Call It Treason . . . When It Was a Democrat
WaPo's Richard Cohen seems to be asking the right question, according to the headline, "Why people like Trump."
I don't think people "like" Trump personally, but he is the peoples' weapon and they like what he does (not always)
Bret Baier says Trump loves messing with biased reporters: 'He wants heads to explode'
He trolls and controls
France: Bring your own condoms
Destructive international organizations and a second-best choice
Sweden struggles over child marriage
Tuesday, July 24. 2018
The Villages. There are ten females to each guy, there seems to be a lot of golf and drinking, everything is phony, and the STD rates are skyrocketing. It's the fastest-growing zip code in the US.
From what I hear, it's popular with midwesterners and vets.
Ten women to every man, a black market in Viagra, and a 'thriving swingers scene': Welcome to The Villages, Florida, where the elderly residents down Sex on the Square cocktail in 'honor' of woman, 68, arrested for public sex with toyboy
The Villages Retirement Community: 'Disney World for Adults' - The largest retirement community in the nation allows the elderly to stay young at heart.
This guy, who lives there, offers a clear-eyed view of the place, along with a thoughtful discussion of retirement options in general.
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Not drinking alcohol in middle age
The Enlightened
On