Strength in Interesting Places IV: I'm too sexy for these logs

[JauntyAngle]

Awesome:

http://redalertpolitics.com/2016/07/11/american-hero-chases-pokemon-isis-across-iraqi-desert/

A former U.S. Marine and Afghanistan War veteran is in Iraq fighting Islamic State soldiers and hunting for virtual Pokémon characters at the same time.

Louis Park, who is fighting in Northern Iraq alongside a Christian militia, said on Facebook that he captured his first Pokémon while playing the new popular mobile game Pokémon Go on Friday.

“Just caught my first Pokemon on the Mosul front line by Teleskuf. Daesh [ISIS] come challenge me to a Pokemon battle,” he wrote on Facebook Friday, two days after the game was released.

 

[JauntyAngle]

This is an old boyhood friend of mine- we used to hang out a lot as teenagers and in our early 20s:



First Brit to be given a blackbelt by a Gracie, he spent a large part of five years in Rio studying with all the legends and pioneers. If you watch the video and hear the names of the people who were there, it's pretty amazing.

His dad was a boxer and so he could box when he was about 12. He found out about Muay Thai later, and then somehow about BJJ. He was doing local no-holds barred fights really early- maybe in the mid 90s- 96, 97 maybe. I remember us sitting in my bedroom all talking shit, and him describing his fights. After a while he started disappearing, other friends told me he was spending half of every year in Brazil studying martial arts. At the time I didn't have much interest in this stuff, I didn't realize that what he was doing was amazing.

 

[JauntyAngle]

A little catch-up

Front squats
Warmup
5 sets of 3 @95kg

Bench
Warmup
5 sets of 3 @80kg


Notes

For various reasons I didn't get to the gym yet this week. So today I decided to make it an easy session so that I wouldn't be rusty when the weekend comes around. So it was fine, obviously. I was really burying the front squats, which was fun. Oddly, the extra depth didn't seem to make it any harder. It felt pretty much the same coming up in the deeper positions as it did later, and there was no real sticking point. Maybe that's how it's meant to be, or maybe that's just because it's light. Oh well. At the end I tried a few back squats too- worked up to a single at 90kg. It was a bit uncomfortable on my wrists, but even burying it and with a pause at the bottom, it felt very easy. Almost like there wasn't any weight on the bar. I'm minded to do back squats as assistance sometimes- I get the feeling I am strong enough to break my old record now, if I was just used to the form.

 

[MIDMOBOX]

I accept your bjj friend and raise you the coach of the clevland cavilers(coch of the year) was my point guard in highschool. He was better than me.

 

[JauntyAngle]

I accept your bjj friend and raise you the coach of the clevland cavilers(coch of the year) was my point guard in highschool. He was better than me.

Well, I don't know who the Cleveland Cavaliers are, but I imagine that they are from the top division of one of the US sports... basketball maybe.. so I guess that is a legitimate raise.

I posted it partly because I myself didn't know about some of that stuff- just how many top guys he was rolling with.

Plus the weird stomach thing.

 

[Obscure Terror]

Ben is a beast, although I think Rick Young was the first UK black belt and I think he got his belt from a Gracie. However it could have been a Machado who belted him.

Going to Rio in the late 90's and early 2000's would have been...intense.

 

[calvus]

Thats cool!

 

[MIDMOBOX]

The stomach thing is something arnold used to use.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Ben is a beast, although I think Rick Young was the first UK black belt and I think he got his belt from a Gracie. However it could have been a Machado who belted him.

I don't know about this stuff, not being a grappler, but I think it's Ben who says he was the first Brit given a blackbelt by a Gracie in all his promotional stuff. I would have thought he wouldn't have put it out there if it wasn't true. He definitely doesn't claim to be the first UK black belt though. I think people say he was one of the first group of 12 or so in the country.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Something for people who like sport, public policy and economics (i.e. me)- Oxford University study of cost overrun involved in hosting the Olympic games:

The Oxford Olympics Study

TL;DR-

• All Games, without exception, have cost overrun- the average is 156% overrun (i.e. 2.5 times the planned/agreed budget)
• The Olympic Games have the highest average cost overrun of any type of megaproject- roads, bridges, megadams... Olympic games blow them all out of the water for costing more than expected (some of those are occasionally done under budget and the average overrun is nowhere near 2.5x).

Adds a lot of substance to the view that poorer countries taking on the Olympics are probably hurting themselves.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Pants

So, I haven't gone out at all this weekend- because of the attempted Coup. It might have been alright, but I was a bit worried about crowds of protestors and also police roadblocks. Emotions are running very high at the moment, and it's also somewhat possible that if police or other officials run into foreigners, they will subject them to more scrutiny. We were advised not to go anywhere, and I went along with it. So I feel antsy and frustrated. Booooooo.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Quick- cheese it!

Front squat
Warmup
8 sets of 3 @103kg

Chins
5 sets of 6

Shrugs
Warmup
4 sets of 10 @60kg


Notes

Yep, these were not bad at all. I could maybe push the weight up a bit on the next 8x3 day, but I don't think I will. Quality reps, time under the bar etc. Had a bit of energy to spare though- can probably do more next time.

 

[JauntyAngle]

I'll build my own theme park

Bench press
Warmup
8 sets of 3 @85kg

Reverse fly isoholds
6 isoholds per set, 6 sets (done between sets of bench)

Assistance
BB curls: 4 sets of 10 @25kg, 2 sets of 10 @30kg
Lateral raises: 3 sets of 10 w/7.5kg DBs
Band brodowns: 5 sets of 10
Bench press: burnout set with the empty bar


Notes

Yeah, better. Just a bit hard on the last rep of some of the last sets, but much better than any other time I tried this.

 

[JauntyAngle]

No, through savings and wise investments

Front squat
Warmup
8 sets of 3 @103kg

Power clean practice
Warmup
Clean pulls- 5 sets of 3 @80kg
Power clean- 75kg x1 (a PR, somehow)


Notes

Front squats were meant to be "heavy singles and doubles" day, but screw it... I did 8x3 again. So that weight is pretty much nailed now- time to move on 105kg for 8x3. The power clean was a PR. I probably could have done this ages ago, I just didn't try. It wasn't particularly good as I haven't been racking them very often lately. I should practice these more- a couple more kilos and it will be my bodyweight. A nice little milestone (that I should have hit about 4 years ago, but anyway).

 

[JauntyAngle]

Chest day

Bench press
Warmup
5 sets of 2 @90kg
4 sets of 10 inverted rows with feet on bench between sets

Chins
50 reps total (random sets and reps)
Random ab exercises done between sets

Standing unilateral landmine press
+25kg- x8, x8, x8, x8, x15 (each side)

Bonus pump work
Band brodowns: 5 sets of 10
BB curls: bar x10, x10, x10; 25kg x10, x10, x10; 30kg x10, x10
Bench press: burnout set


Notes

Yes, good. I could have done a few more sets, a third rep on the first set might have been possible. Things continue to get slowly, slowly, slightly better. Now I just need to keep my consistency, make sure I build on this and don't end up resetting for some stupid reason.

The assistance was all good fun. Roll on, next bench press day.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Update

I finish up this work input on Friday, and head back to Thailand. I have only 2 weeks off, which sucks a bit, but such is life.

I should be headed back to Jordan after my next leave- will stay there for a week or two. Then I may have a short trip to Beirut coming up, which I am really looking forward to. I could do with accumulating some time away from Turkey as right now my residency arrangement isn't super-clear. Jordan would be a good place to do it as I have access to a good gym there.

This input has been pretty decent exercise-wise. There were a couple of small blips, partly out of my control, but I feel like I have made some progress. My benching has come on a bit, and even though the front squat hasn't got much that much heavier I feel it has come in on volume, work capacity and also depth. The main thing is that I feel I have a great platform for further progress... now I just have to not blow it because I am traveling too much.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Skimpy mid-week catch-up

Front squat
5 sets of 3 @105kg

Bench press
5 sets of 3 @86kg

Notes

The head of my project is away this week, and has been taking a well-earned break by being 100% offline. (Usually when either of us are away we are online all the time and working about 50% of the time.) Unfortunately, it's been a particularly hectic period in the project and in Syria. If you've been following the news, the Regime has finally encircled Aleppo, and is ready to impose a siege. People are already running short of food and will run in a few months as things stand. So not good.

Against such a backdrop, lifting doesn't seem to amount to a whole hill of beans. Some sessions were missed for various reasons, but I managed to do my little catch-up. Totally bare-bones, but good. Once again, the front squats actually felt easy. Progress is still in the offing. And the benching was the heaviest triples I have done in ages. Woooh!

 

[MIDMOBOX]

Do they offer dial a whore services where you are?

 

[JauntyAngle]

Do they offer dial a whore services where you are?

Nope, not in Turkey. At least, not here in Gaziantep. That sort of thing is very much available in Thailand though. At least in the big cities. There are escort agencies, "massage" places with a number you can phone, plus tonnes of working girls on Tinder.

But it's not really necessary to go 'pay for play' in Thailand, if you live there anyway. Plenty of friendly normal girls there.

 

[MIDMOBOX]

Who wants normal