Studs and Himself

With the passing of Studs Terkel and DFW last month, Mr. Terkel’s quote is very apt.

“With optimism, you look upon the sunny side of things. People say, ‘Studs, you’re an optimist.’ I never said I was an optimist. I have hope because what’s the alternative to hope? Despair? If you have despair, you might as well put your head in the oven.”

October 31, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

335-squat

Hit my goal plus a bit more. 335 squat for one rep, the most I’ve ever done. That gives me a three lift total of 1020 lbs.  Right now my body is very unhappy with me.

October 30, 2008 | Filed Under personal | Leave a Comment 

300 bench

Did a max lift today of 300 on bench press, since that was my year-end goal, I’m going to have to crank that up a bit and try for 315. The good news is if I can hit 315 squat tomorrow I’ll have my 1000 set (385 deadlift + 315 squat + 300 bench). I’ve done 315 in the past, so I’m feeling pretty confident but the year-end goal is still 350.

I need to maintain a mix of primary exercises so I don’t lose the feeling of weight on the bar (having 300+ lbs on your back pushing you to the floor takes some getting used to) as well as complimentary exercises so I don’t blow out my back or shoulder.

It feels good to actually reach some goals.

October 29, 2008 | Filed Under personal | Leave a Comment 

30min

Checking my iTunes playlist of new music, I just passed the 30 minute mark of new stuff that I’ve written.  Eight tunes so far, between two and six minutes. I think they feel as part of one project.  I think a couple more song-ish tunes and I’ll dump the lot of them online.

It’s a good feeling to know my way around the set of tools to compose, not fighting with the software or the interface and just creating. I couldn’t imagine having this technology in school.

October 27, 2008 | Filed Under digital life, music | Leave a Comment 

on the road to 400

Pulled a 385lb deadlift this morning: no belt, no gloves, no knee-braces.  That was on set number six with another five speed sets afterward and 4.5 hours of sleep. The rest of the year is scheduled for heavy deadlift, squat and bench.

I’m working on a three month plan to start the year with an emphasis on cutting some weight and focusing on mobility. I love being excited to hit the gym, looking forward to pushing things a bit and testing my abilities.

October 27, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

WWs04e01

Making my way through the West Wing DVDs. The end of episode 1 season 4:

“If our job teaches us anything, it’s that we don’t know what the next President’s gonna face. And if we choose someone with vision, someone with guts, someone with gravitas, who’s connected to other people’s lives, and cares about making them better… if we choose someone to inspire us, then we’ll be able to face what comes our way and achieve things… we can’t imagine yet. Instead of telling people who’s the most qualified, instead of telling people who’s got the better ideas, let’s make it obvious.”

October 25, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

lifting more

Good workout this morning. 315 on the squat rack. The goal is 350 by the end of the year. I did 315 on set number 9, I’m pretty confident of hitting the goal. I was stuck at a 250 squat for far too long, but I concentrated on lower body work for most of the year. Relatively speaking it’s not a great squat, but I don’t have the body type for squatting; long skinny legs and a barrel torso.

The semi-long-term goal is 300 bench, 400 squat and 500 deadlift. I’ve hit a 365 deadlift and 275 bench without too much effort, so I should be able to hit 300 bench and 400 deadlift in another two months.

I haven’t benched much in nearly a year, trying to rehab the left shoulder after surgery and trying to prehab the right shoulder and prevent surgery. The gym has only 100lb dumbells, so I needed to move back to bench since the dumbells were getting too light.

October 23, 2008 | Filed Under personal | Leave a Comment 

Weekend update 10/20/08

Productive weekend:

October 20, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Photo plugin fixed

I restored an old version of the photo library plugin and it’s working (mostly) correctly. It’s a little buggy, but at least the photos are displaying.

October 20, 2008 | Filed Under geek | Leave a Comment 

Bad Day – High Load

Part of the day why yesterday was a long day at work.

high load

high load

That’s right, a load of 96.75 with a five minute average of 69.14 … ouch.

October 17, 2008 | Filed Under geek, work | Leave a Comment 

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