GoldenTongue

A few books that I'm listening to depending on what I'm doing and how much bandwidth I have available: NOISE: A FLAW IN HUMAN JUDGMENT , by Daniel Kahneman (R.I.P.), Olivier Sibony, & Cass R. Sunstein - I don't think there's anything I've ever read from Kahneman that disappoints, and so far, NOISE continues that trend. I'm not too far in, but within the span of 2-3 chapters, the book's done a masterful job of illustrating just how pervasive statistical noise truly is, in a number of fields, many of which result in some incredibly disheartening truths. THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A F*CK , by Mark Manson - Just started listening this morning, not far enough in to have any thoughts yet. THE DESIGN OF EVERYDAY THINGS , by Don Norman - This is among my personal favorites. Discussing the various ways in which psychology intersects with design in ways which can be humorous, frightening, catastrophic, or just utterly confounding. The example of pseudonymous "Norman Doors" (doors which leave users confused on how they function as a result those visual features which serve to support fundamental design practices of discoverability and usability) serves as an engaging point of entry into what the book is focused on. DAVID AND GOLIATH - UNDERDOGS, MISFITS, AND THE ART OF BATTLING GIANTS , by Malcolm Gladwell - This is a personal favorite of mine, which I'm revisiting mainly for the sake of writing a more comprehensive personal review for a WhatsApp chat for one of my recovery groups. Gladwell is (generally speaking) somewhat subversive by nature, and the ways in which he challenges conventional wisdom on a number of points (from the underdog status of the titular pair, to morally questionable actions embraced by leaders of the Civil Rights movement, to deeply unsettling approaches employed by a doctor desperate to find ways of treating patients in a childrens leukemia wing, to the effectiveness of "Three Strikes" laws such as those used in California for a time) is always engaging. And his discussions of "Desirable Difficulties" in discussing several dyslexic individuals who went on to become titans in their fields not in spite of, but largely because of, their condition (or more specifically, through application of the practices they had learned and utilized in navigating the disability) really resonates with the recovering addict in me who has come to appreciate a number of counter-intuitive truths while recognizing that some of my own defects are closely aligned with some of my greatest strengths. WHITE FRAGILITY - WHY IT'S SO HARD FOR WHITE PEOPLE TO TALK ABOUT RACISM , by Robin DiAngelo - Ever since my wife received her LMSW in a masters program in which she was the one white person in an incredibly diverse cohort (during which time she came to have a whole new understanding of white privilege), I've tried to find good sources on exploring the subject further. This book has caused me to feel more than a little discomfort at times, which I regard as a positive, given that the discomfort comes from ignorance butting up against realities for which my understanding can only be, at best, limited.

First comp for the year done: Lift For Autism 2024. Pissed with myself that I didn’t spend more time practicing CBD work; came in dead last in the first event; had I been able to do just a little better, would have wound up winning overall instead of finishing third. Still a great time; ended up with the longest hold time for the Hercules Hold for anyone in the men’s class, which was nice, and had the most reps on Saxon Bar Block DL for anyone in the men’s classes, also nice. Here’s a highlight reel for anyone interested in seeing me doing my stupid human tricks, lol.

But what does that really mean? Turn on him in favor of what? Those R's aren't about to cross party lines, nor is this more likely to make them stay at home and refrain from voting, not when they see the left capitalizing on national sentiments regarding the issue.

This is purely confusion between correlation and causation, fueled by sampling size errors. While rescue pets can be predisposed to certain idiosyncracies as a result of their upbringing (abuse, neglect, failure to get regualr veterinary care/checkups, etc.), those purchased from breeders can just as easily be prone to certain types of aberrant conditions. In the overwhelming majority of instances, poor behavior is a reflection of the owners, as there are countless stories of animals who've been rescured from absoutely abhorrent conditions to become happy, well-adjusted members of the family. Is that possible for 100% of rescues? Of course not - some rescues have sufficient past trauma that they cannot be rehomed to any random person, but that is something that the shelter/rescur organization fostering the animal should be aware of and sensitive to when vetting out potential adopters. Unfortunately, rescue organizations and shelters all over the country are currently in a state of crisis, as thousands of animals adopted during COVID have been returned (or simply turned loose on the street) by worthless pieces of shit with no sense of responsibility - as someone who works actively with my wife for two rescue organizations, typically fostering anywhere from 3-6 cats at a time, I'll admit to some bias on this point. As a result, some shelters and organizations have loosened some standards when it comes to potential adopters, simply because they don't have the capacity to continue fostering an overabundance of rescued/recovered animals. From 2004 through now, I've had (or have) ten cats and two dogs, all rescues: two cats rescued from a shelter, four cats rescued from the street and ultimately adopted (aka Foster Failures to those of us who work in the TNR/rescue sector), two (dogs) adopted from another rescue organization, and four cats adopted from another rescue organization. All have been/are cherished members of the family, despite several having some definite idiosyncracies. As for the original topic - I would have zero qualms sterilizing anyone who believes or advocates for anti-vax bullshit. Addition by subtraction in terms of contributions to the collective gene pool.

Starting on choline and inositol, although I'm going to start with 2g/day and check my labs in three months. Into a peaking block now; realizing the strength gains feels incredible, but I fucking hate seeing how quickly I started becoming deconditioned with the sharp dropoff in volume. Not as bad as it's been at other times, since I'm back into doing KB swing intervals each day, but there's still a noticeable drop in work capacity that irritates tf out of me, especially knowing how much the start of the next training block is going to just suck when I'm going from high intensity low volume work, back to relatively high volume at medium intensity...but such is the nature of periodization. Fun few weeks coming up though. I have a charity strongman comp this coming weekend that should be fun, and without anything overly taxing in terms of max efforts, shouldn't leave me feeling too terribly beat up: I have a 125# circus dumbbell clean and press for reps (60 seconds), 135# Saxon Bar Block Deadlift for reps (60 seconds - RIP my thumbs, for which I've come closer than I'd like to ripping callous tissue more than once with the Saxon barbell grips), Sandbag load and carry medley 150/200/250, 675# Yolk Carry, and a Hercules Hold, which I'm hoping has a cool-looking setup as I'd love to get a good photo for that one. Then another comp three weeks later, which will probably beat the shit out of me: Car deadlift for reps in 60 seconds (front handle which sucks so much more than side handle), Circus DB Clean & Press 130# for reps, Keg Carry/Load Medley 200/225/250, Head to Head Farmer Hold with 250# frames (RIP my thumbs again fucking hook grip), Sandbag Toss (easy enough weights), and a Conan's Wheel rated with a 600# load - I have no idea wtf that means, since I can't imagine a 600# barbell load in the crook of my arms; that's got to be a total weight somehow distributed along the length of the arm extending out from the center of the wheel. Really hoping I don't end up passing out on that one, since I've seen it happen numerous times. Will plan on a light/deload recovery week after that depending on how I feel, then I may test some new 1RM's: 405 for the bench feels questionable at the moment, as does a 550 squat, but 275 OHP and 600 deadlift are looking good. And my biggest strength bucket list goal (315# Strict OHP) feels like it could be attainable, although it may take another year (maybe two), to get there. All that said, I am really looking forward to starting a new training block. As much as the first couple weeks is going to just suck until I regain some muscular conditioning, life just feels so much easier when I'm not training with loads north of 85-90% of 1RM.

Absolutely amazing epsiodes. Absolutely loving the degree to which Bad Batch (and Andor, in some regards) fleshes out how repugnant the Empire really is; so much of Star Wars presents it in on a grander scale, which nonetheless feels a bit more sterile. Episodes like the first of the two from this week on Bad Batch evoked a similar (albeit much stronger) feeling of the episode last season that ended with Crosshair killing the Imperial officer; both showcased just how utterly dehumanizing the Empire's influence is/was on personal levels. Absolutely riveting. And the second BB ep of the week, just an extraordinary buildup of tension and inevitability. Semi-spoilerish based upon the events from the BB episodes this week -

TUDCA + NAC? My doctor recommended those to me since my ALT & AST are chronically about 10% higher than testing reference intervals. I'm a bit skeptical since the levels have been relatively steady at those numbers for a long, long time now, and there are no other indicators of liver damage.

I think this conclusion is a bit flawed. You could have a bridge which exceeded every modern code requirement by a factor of 150%, and it is still virtually impossible that it would have withstood the force imparted by a load of that size impacting a primary member at the speed of contact. As for ships being allowed under their own power - how many ports utilize tugs for the majority of passage into/out of the port of entry, as opposed to being used to assist in docking operations or for direct transport of non-directly propelled vessels such as barges, oil platforms, log platforms, etc. You're essentially assigning root cause to a failure in policy that doesn't actually exist. Countless ports relay on bay/harbor pilots to guide larger vessels into/through major port waterways, and do so with a relative minimum of incident. If you want to argue that that policy should change, that all major shipping traffic should be guided via tug throughout most of the entry/exit of a port, that's fine. But recognize that that represents a significant change from how port traffic is handled throughout much of the world, and would incur a substantial additional cost, to say nothing of the delays that would be encountered until fleets of tugs could be built to adequately service the demand.

I’m not sure about either. Sniper was interning in the business back in the IGN days iirc, and I think (not sure) that Warner worked in the business in some capacity. Or, could it be….Ernest Rister? Lol

Sniperpuppies? Warmer? Give us a hint.

As much as I enjoy high-brow cinema, I love me plenty of B-roll schlock. Do those with such schizophrenic tastes qualify? ;p

Wondering (and hoping against) seeing (spoiler from events in those two episodes) in the next episode.

Two new episodes this week

Not really, no. The article cited the basis(es) for the headline, and qualified it appropriately with the fact that the general election is months away.

Which Trump will use as another point against her; how she's being supported by the broken system that's trying to keep him down. Drain the swamp v2.0. And his chuds will eat it up.

I can completely understand. But given the amount of time I've spent being less than active, I don't have nearly as much accumulated joint/tendon wear and tear as you've amassed, despite being north of 45. 1RM efforts for me are something I consider a once/year (maybe twice) type of thing, something I'll consider trying depending on how I'm feeling at the time I'm doing a peaking phase for a competition. Squats are a big question mark for me, but I still feel comfortable enough with exposure to near maximal loads for bench, OHP, and Deadlift, as that's all included in my peaking work; all told, in a full 24 week meso (base phase plus peaking block), there are roughly 4-6 weeks where I'm touching loads at 90% or more of 1RM, and my programming uses submaximal volumizing as a form of progression for most movements, with progression in intensity limited to the big four compound movements along with four variations (done at a lower intensity threshold than the main lifts). I do feel like my passion for strongman/strongman training has had a marked effect in conditioning me not only for heavy loads, but also higher capacity work effort, to say nothing of training to handle disadvantaged loading, which has led to me feeling like my back is damn near bulletproof. Aesthetically? I'd say I'm looking better than I have at almost any point in my life, certainly better than I did for most of my 20's and 30's, although I'm still carrying more fat around the midsection than I'd like. Moving in the right direction there, but being at/near clinical obesity for most of my life means there is a lot of visceral fat to burn through, which is always the hardest to get rid of.

New toys: Saxon Block Barbell Grips. Like Fat Grips, but they simulate a 3"x3" saxon bar (I have Saxon Bar Block DL for reps for an upcoming competition). I'm lovehating them: strange feeling being humbled on a 135# deadlift where pinch strength is the limiting factor, but by the same token, this is going to be a total game-changer for improving my grip strength. No more heavy ass trap bar/farmer carries beating the shit out of CNS; now I can get an absolutely incredible grip strength workout with less than 150# of load. Training going well; feeling good about hitting some new milestones later this year after next training cycle. 405 bench feels very attainable, 275 OHP should be doable, but 550 squat and 600 DL still seem like they might be a ways out. Although tbh, I'm actually wondering if my days of 1RM Squat PR's are behind me: I'm starting to feel a familiar ache in my hips that's happened in the last two cycles around the time my worksets get to ~420 lbs or so, which is right about where I'm at now.

I’m a bit curious myself. Between EMDR and some various types of exposure therapy, to say nothing of some new forms of pharmaceutical interventions, trauma treatment has evolved significantly over the past 10-15 years.

I'm nearly choking on the self-righteous demands of doing research before offering judgement. Take off those rosy glasses and try applying some of that critical thought you're charging others with, yourself. RFK Jr is an anti-vax nut who has acrtively advanced the vaccine-autism causal link BS, repeatedly asserted that COVID-19 was a genetically engineered weapon (and that it furthermore targets certain races while immunizing others), that mass shootings can be directly linked to anti-depressants, has claimed that per capita gun ownership in Switzerland is comparable to the US, that several notable public figures had attempted to exaggerate the COVID pandemic in an effort to profit from vaccine proliferation, among other fanciful and/or outrageous assertions. Ridiculous comments, indeed.

Good to see the majority in the House shrink even further, but I'm skeptical of any forecasting/extrapolating based upon the results of this election. And as someone living in NY who's been absolutely inundated with ads for/against both for the past month...I'm just as glad that those are over. Unbridled smear games played by both sides in the runup to the election.

I could watch it endlessly. The commitment to absurdity is beautiful.

Solidly back into my groove, although I'm probably not as far along at this point in the macrocycle as I would have been under better circumstances. Integrating sets of KB swings before and after worksets of my lifts to help develop work capacity and to get some additional density from each workout. Feeling like this cycle will definitely yield improvements in my bench, OHP, and deadlift numbers, but I'm thinking I need to increase my squat frequency in my next round of programming, as that feels as though it's lagging. Sounds like something which might have a lot of specious science surrounding it. There are any number of effective squat variations, many of which can be beneficial for strength-building and injury prevention. So far as bodyweight squats (of any variety) - once the body adapts to the stress of completing the full squat, then there is no further strength development, you are only maintaining the level of strength/mobility required to complete the movement. In order to continue developing strength, the stimulus (resistance) would need to increase in some manner: an increase in load, increase in volume (to an extent), or some other training variable, in order to present the body to a stress to which it is not adapted (that being the mechanism through which the body recovers and adapts during the rest periods between training).

So, while I'm not as active here as I once was, I still lurk fairly regularly, and post on occasion. And wanted to share some good feels on something that I can't celebrate as openly as I'd like out there IRL. Two years ago today, I walked in to a GA (Gambler's Anonymous) room on the recommendation of my therapist. For the better part of two years prior, my relationship with a mobile game (Lords Mobile, for any who might be aware of it), which started as a distraction and grew to something much stronger, compulsive, and toxic, had led me to a point where dissociation from family/friends/work, habitual lying, and any number of other maladaptive behaviors had become the norm for me, all while spending ungodly amounts of money on growing and building my account in the game. Denial was a central tenet of my life - denial that I had a problem, denial of the pain I was causing myself and others, denial of what I was doing to myself, denial that I was "coping" with my problems by (trying to) escape them into the fantasy life of the game and the "social" aspect of the all-too-shallow friendships formed from other players on Discord, Line, Teamspeak, etc. So, I walked into the first meeting feeling pretty hopeless, lost in despair, and more than a little shame and guilt - not over what I'd done (as I deluded myself into believing at the time), but rather, shame and guilt over having been caught lying, stealing (from our joint savings while amassing staggering amounts of credit card debt), etc. I spent a lot of time in meetings in my first few months just talking about how badly I felt, but didn't actually start experiencing any sort of recovery until (at the prompting of another member) I starting opening up and talking about what I'd done, the terrible acts I'd committed, the countless lies I'd told, how I'd reached a point where when asked a question, my first inclination wasn't to tell the truth, but rather to run through this sort of twisted calculus in an attempt to come up with the best answer to satisfy whichever need I felt at that moment, which usually amounted to a need to be left the fuck alone so I could resume escaping into the game. But over time, after 100+ meetings or so, and with continued support from my therapist, my wife, and our couples therapist, I started to recover, to find and regain a sense of normalcy and stability. I started to understand that although I'd done some awful things, that that didn't mean that I was, or would always be, an awful person. Having always been a compulsive reader (one quirky benefit of my own compulsive tendencies), I started studying addiction, learning about the disease model of addiction, among other things. Even more valuable, after regaining a sense of clarity (and empathy, and the capacity for growth), I've been able, between work done in GA and with my therapist, to learn so much more about myself, coming to realize that the seeds of my own compulsion/addiction issues took root long ago, back in my childhood. Which is not to lay blame on anyone else - while there is plenty of baggage I'm still working on unpacking, these issues are my own, and are no less the fault of others than they are of me. But it very much feels like a mixed bag at times: gaining these insights and coming to understand more of who I am, and (to some extent) why I am the way I am, is a blessing, although I'd be lying if I said that there aren't times when I wished I could have gained these insights when I was younger, on one of the many occasions when I've experienced some particularly painful personal falls - gaming took me to a rock bottom, but I've headed in that direction on several occasions in my past, and it's entirely possible that but for some minor twist of fate, that I might have ended up in an NA room, or perhaps AA (although my more destructive compulsions seem more inclined to those which stimulate rather than depress). But regardless, January 25th is now as important a date to me as my wedding date, and in all reality, more personally meaningful to me than my birthday. Life isn't perfect, nor can it ever be, but as many in program can attest, our worst day in recovery is better than our best day in action. It still feels strange for me to say that getting caught by my wife (a truly awful day which I will never forget) might be one of the best things that could ever happen to me. I was cautious and cunning in my deceit, working hard to maintain the facade of stability, and although she knew that something was wrong with me, she had no idea of what I was doing to myself, and the ways in which I was starting to significantly undermine our financial security. If not for an email alert indicating a high balance on one of our shared credit cards, I shudder in horror to think of how much damage I could have done before something far more destructive brought my actions to light. I owe her in more ways than I know how to count, and will never forget the fear and pain in her eyes the night she discovered the depths of what I'd done. Her recovery continues along a track similar to my own; family and friends of addicts suffer a Hell every bit (or more) as nightmarish as those of the addicted. Addiction is referred to at times as the great eraser, in how it can erase and erode the feelings of safety, comfort, and ultimately, love, which bind us to family and friends, and rebuilding those things which have been lost is so damn hard. I'm blessed that my wife has remained by my side, recognizing that the person she was burdened to be around which I was in addiction, is but a diseased fragment of who I truly am (or can be). It is a (at times painfully slow) process, but we are healing, and remain united in the fierce and unwavering conviction of what we can, and will be, together. For those who've made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read these thoughts. I'm incredibly grateful for where I am, what I've regained, and for the opportunities I've been granted in recovery. If there is anyone who has any questions and would like some input from someone who's embraced the pain of self-destruction and has been able to start the journey towards healing and recovery, feel free to shoot me a message. Addiction is a terrible disease, and the unfortunate reality is that it can never be truly understood from the outside looking in, but I'm always happy to try to share my own perspective if it can help others find some degree of understanding.

What do you mean by over the knees squats?

Back to the gym yesterday after a semi week off from a cruise last week - went to the gym every day on the ship and did a bit of a full body circuit workout using the machines there. Got a decent pump each day, but definitely fell a bit out of groove. Now that the holidays are done and vacation is behind me, looking forward to really dialing back in on my training. One Strongman comp in April, and another in early May so I'll be focused on development and prep for those, and afterward, I'm thinking of doing minimal strength work and spending six months or so on high volume bodybuilding/aesthetic work. Using the machines on the ship and feeling light DOMS in new places was a nice reminder of the benefits of a more diversified training regimen, and I wouldn't mind the novelty of something genuinely different for a few training cycles. Standard/conventional deadlifts shouldn't really be leaving you feeling terribly sore, unless you're deliberately slowly lowering on the eccentric, but even then, doing so should end up limiting your working load. As far as being more/less risky than squats, there really isn't a valid body of evidence to support either argument. At the end of the day, nearly any barbell movement can be risky if done with poor form/poor bracing. In terms of value, it really depends. The stimulus:fatigue ratio for deadlifts makes them less than ideal for many people whose primary goal is hypertrophy/aesthetic work, although RDL's can be fantastic for hamstring development. But if one's goals include any degree of strength development, then I think deadlifts merit a spot in someone's program. Even if there isn't any perfect direct carryover in terms of how you might have to handle lifting things in real life, development of the posterior chain is beneficial for nearly everyone. And to quote many coaches, there isn't a single muscle in the body that is relaxed during a heavy pull. And for the average person, I'd argue that a simple LP using something like Starting Strength, or (even better) Greyskull LP represents the most efficient use of one's time, when time available for training is limited. Not to pick at too many nits, but that isn't universally true - if trt (or some other form of HRT) isn't pushing levels close to or beyond normative levels, then I'd argue that there isn't really a negative impact. And for those who are genuinely deficient (and not pursuing TRT for optimization, which is admittedly the case for a sizeable majority of the current TRT market), excessively depressed testosterone levels which fail to respond to all other interventions absolutely merit TRT, in terms of risk/reward. My main pet peeve with many who opt for TRT is that they use that as a first resort, without first considering if deficiencies in Vitamin D, or magnesium, or some other micronutrient might be a problem...or if they are getting proper rest, or if they are engaged in a meaningful training program, or, or , or...