Mixed Nuts

[digitaldiscipline]

I'm thoroughly enjoying the fact that non-summer weather has finally frigging arrived, and had the windows open all weekend (I'd sleep with them open, but the combination of ambient noise and lack of alarm enablement render that slightly impractical). You mean I don't have to sweat my balls off mowing the lawn? Fan-fucking-tastic.

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Friday, I tried to test myself for Kettlebell Certification after work; managed plenty of reps (60 @ 54# in about 4:05, 30 sec rest, then 30 more by about 6:15). Not sure if my form is quite up to snuff, per xany's observation[1] at his place on Saturday - it's supposed to look like this. So, something to keep working towards, in addition to continuing to lurch in the direction of some flavor of Personal Training certification to legitimatize pursuing that as a part-time job, instead of merely being an overly-helpful source of advice and guidance to my coworkers for free. Heh.

Aside to Xany: You were absolutely right about those Apex cookies; despite not being a fan of caramel, that one was still delicious. The s'mores and energy bar will be my office snacks today.

Also, to complete the Xany-centric trifecta, he linked up http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/ this morning, which is just hysterical to me. I was a massive Garfield addict when I was a kid (remember ordering books from Schoolastic in elementary school? I had something like the first fifteen of 'em).

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Else-life, there's been a lot of acute suck going around my circle of both close and distant friends, tempered by some very good things happening to other folks. Very little of the foregoing is mine to divulge, but, suffice it to say, I wish there was something more I could do for them that needs, and am happy for them that warrants.


Personally, I'm dealing with what, in the grand scheme of things, is relatively modest suck - C14 ended up costing about as much as a small new car (about a third of which I'm directly absorbing), and I'm currently wrangling with paperwork to try and cope with the balance. Those of you familiar with my antipathy for lawyers (in general, but not in specific) and bureaucracy will hardly be surprised to note my procrastination on this point. Heh.



[1] "What the hell was that? An overhead clean?"

Comments

[ruefullyamused.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the kettlebell youtube link. I'm lazy, so hadn't seen them in use yet. I now have a far greater appreciation for what the hell your icon implies, heh.

Now, if *I* were to try that, something tells me my arm would look like a tri-fold brochure with bones sticking out, but only after leaving a crater in the back of my head and a face imprint in the floor filled with teeth.

*When* I get started at the gym (2-6 weeks from now depending on bills), something tells me I'll be wise to stick with machines at first, heh.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Just use a more sensibly-sized weight. Start with 18 or 24# if that's where you're working comfortably.

[ruefullyamused.livejournal.com]

I'll definitely keep that in mind. Especially now that I've effectively started shuffling money into bugout gear, having the wherewithal to actually lug it around gets higher on the list every day, heh.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Practical strength has a lot going for it, which is why I, personally, don't tend to do isolation exercizes on the machines - range of motion and complex movements are a lot more useful when you're doing something in the big blue room.

[ruefullyamused.livejournal.com]

Another fine point. At this rate I'll have to put ya on the payroll dammit. Seriously, though, making the switch from a life of indulgence and excess to a more active lifestyle is daunting, so thanks for the great feedback.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

simple first step:

STOP SMOKING, YOU ASSHOLE.

see how easy that is? plus, five bucks a day doesn't suck, either.

[ruefullyamused.livejournal.com]

damn, yer on a roll! :P

believe me, every puff causes massive internal conflict. still trying to balance smoking cessation stress against the desire to throttle people work stress, but that's a cop-out and i know it.

don't get me wrong, though...i appreciate the unapologetic support *eg* maybe if more ppl jumped on the "frank, you asshole" bandwagon i'd wake the fuck up :)

[etcet.livejournal.com]

If more people jumped on the bandwagon, you'd get stomped to death with all the boots.

[ruefullyamused.livejournal.com]

ya know, some would cheer and have a party afterwards ;)

[auroara.livejournal.com]

Scholastic books is the only thing that kept me alive as a kid. I swear. Waiting for those books and the little flyer every month was just torture. My kids get it now and it's totally different.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

There were two things that I absolutely couldn't wait for - Garfield, and the Guinness Book of World Records (this was back when it was an 800 page paperback that actually served as a desktop reference); I'd read that sucker cover-to-cover.

[auroara.livejournal.com]

My brothers and I would sit huddled together looking at the Guinness Book of World Records. We loved it.

[ladysoleil.livejournal.com]

I loved those little flyers.

I love them far, far, far less now that I am the person who has to put them online. There are probably 50 of those little bastards on my desk right now, taunting me with their inky newsprint stench.

I am going to go weep softly under my desk now.

[auroara.livejournal.com]

I'll never forget the smell. It's kind of like that horrible pink floride crap that made everyone use. I think that's where I got my serious problem with saliva. EW!

double check....

[maelstromsl.livejournal.com]

go back and re-read the RKC requirements, you'll find its a swing style snatch, and not a snatch from the dead position as in the video you linked. Though Steve Cotter is the bomb diggity, btw... and yes you should get SOME kind of certification.... just think, you could make all fitness related purchases a business expense... thats my plan.

"overhead clean..." I'm guessing the kettlebell faced downward the whole time and flipped at the last moment?? What are you doing, crazy man?!?

Re: double check....

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, your visualization is pretty close - I don't flip it hard, so there's a small twist at the end to absorb some of that.

I almost never dip at the top of the move (if anything, I'm going up on one toe from momentum). I don't come to quite a dead stop at the bottom, but almost (my breakdown was 15L, 15R, 10L, 10R, 10L, 10R, break, 10L, 10R, 5L, 5R).

Re: double check....

[maelstromsl.livejournal.com]

hmmm maybe you're gripping the hell out of it too - not necessarily a bad thing, especially when applied to a bottoms up press...

Pavel seems to have lessened the dip at the top in his snatch form over the years, so I wouldn't worry about that too much... the "graduates workout" however seems like it might be slightly hellish...

Re: double check....

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Today, I did 30 meters' worth of alternating overhead presses with 1 pood in each hand, and then did an asymmetric bear crawl (1p in one hand, 1.5 in the other for 15m, then switch hands for the return trip).

Re: double check....

[maelstromsl.livejournal.com]

someone burnt some freaking calories today, eh??

Re: double check....

[etcet.livejournal.com]

not really, no. i was completely unmotivated and felt "off" and was pretty much slacking. if i'm busting my ass and sweating for 45 minutes plus, that's one thing, but if i hardly ever reach for my towel, i know i was fucking off.

in short, the gym time is paying off, because a few months ago, i couldn't have done most of the shit i did today at all, and now, it feels almost like i took the day off.

Re: double check....

[maelstromsl.livejournal.com]

Very cool then! :)