Intelligence Among Us

I’m not sure why I find it so difficult to keep this up to date on a timely bases.

July 20 – Run 7k
July 21 – 15 minutes of interval training on the treadmill.  Started to feel a tightness in my right quad so I stopped.
July 22 – pushups 42, 30, 25

July 24 – 20 minutes of Hammer strength preacher curls with 2 45 lb plates for sets of 7.  20 minutes of dumbbell curls with the 45 lb dumbbells for sets of 7

July 26 – 100 pushups in 5 minutes.  This was mainly to assuage the guilt of not working out very hard last week.

July 27th – Work up at 4 am and did 100 pushups at about 4:30.  Went to the gym for 6:45 am. Workout consisted of: 

Hammer Strength dips: 4X45lb plates for sets of 8-9 reps
Overhead extensions for 10 minutes
100 pushups – these really sucked as my triceps were already pretty cooked.
I’m going for a 7k run at lunch.  I’ve really got to start running further in order to get ready for the half marathon in September.  Just not today

July 15

20 minutes of Hammer Strength dips with 4 45 pound plates for sets of 8.

20 minutes of overhead tricep extensions

5 sets of pushups

July 16

Today will be 30 minutes of biceps and then a 1 hour spin class.  I will post later about the specifics.

Overall I have been eating much cleaner this week and am down a few pounds.  I’m currently sitting at 180 pounds.  I’m not sure what my ideal weight is with the amount of muscle that I currently have but I’m thinking closer to 170 would be better.  I haven’t actually been below 175 in years so we’ll see how things go.  I don’t want to work towards a specific number.  I want to be as fit, strong and healthy as possible and not look like a slob.

Well I’m slacking off again.

July 11 – 584 pushups in 45minutes.  I use the perfect pushup handles.  This was an improvement of 30 over the last time.  I did 50 sets total.  And for all the haters out there these are full pushups

July 12 – saw a picture of myself at the beach and realized I am a fat slob.  While it was disappointing it was necessary.

July 13 – Ran 7k.  I didn’t time myself but the pace feels really good.

July 14 – 1 hour spin class at the gym.  Weights tomorrow.

I went for a 7km walk with my Dad yesterday which was nice.

Today I was at the gym for about 7:30.  I began to do some triceps but they are still killing me from all those pushups the other day.  Interestingly my lats are very sore too. 

I did 25 minutes of Hammer Preacher curls.  95-70-45 drop sets. 

Then about 5 minutes of dumbbell curls with the 45s. 

6 sets of pushups.

I just got back now from a 6k run.  It’s way too hot to be running.

I was at my parent’s place so I went to the Y there and did a quick workout.  It was nothing great but I wanted to feel like I did something.

Lat Pulldowns – Sets of 8 for 20 minutes.  I can’t remember the weight.

Barbell Rows – 185 pounds for sets of 6 for 20 minutes.

2 sets of pushups.

Well, I have been sucking at keep this up to date but I will do my best.  This is a few days late.  I was travelling out of town for the past few days but a local gym in Belle River, Ontario just happened to be open on Canada so I grabbed a workout.  As always it was very simple.

Dumbbell Curls – double drop set.  Grab the 60 pound dumbbells and do a set of 6.  Immediately grab the 30 pound dumbbells and do a set of 6.  Repeat as many times as possible for 20 minutes

Hammer Curls – I used a barbell with vertical grips.  I actually can’t remember the weight I used but did sets of 10 for 20 minutes

Tricep Pressdown – I started supersetting sets of 12 for about the last 5 minutes of my hammer curls.  This was just light as they were quite sore from the other day.

5 sets of pushups.

Six Great Reasons to do a Technical Webcast « It’s Possible.

I had something happen to me today that is really causing me to reflect on how lucky I am to have met wonderful people throughout my life.  This is going to be an uncharacteristically cathartic post for me.

A phase of a relationship that was very important to me has ended but regardless of whether it continues in a platonic capacity or fades away I am better for having experienced it.    Everyone has a story and if you are open-minded enough you can learn something from pretty much anyone.  I confess that I am not always as open-minded that way as I would like to be but I, like most people, try.

I met someone that had a lot to teach me and although bullet points don’t do it justice, a long and rambling overview that no one will read wouldn’t cut it either.  She taught and reminded me how to:

1. Be an incredible parent despite facing adversity that most of us will never have to deal with
2. Be kind
3. Listen with an open mind
4. Be there when the other needs to talk and to be astute enough to realize when input is necessary or when listening is what’s needed
5. Be funny and smart and well-informed
6. Realize the importance of friends and family
7. How being a douche bag can actually be a positive characteristic.

We’ve all met people like this and some of us have probably taken it for granted.  Don’t.  And if things take an unexpected turn be enough of an adult to focus on all the good that you derived from the relationship and use it to help you move forward.  I will.

I thought I would start posting my workouts for my own benefit but if anyone else can get some ideas or suggest some then all the better.  I have been doing a version of Charles Staley’s Escalating Density Training for a long time now.  The great part about it is that it requires very little thought.

Today’s workout started at 7:20 am and consisted of triceps (and secondarily chest).  Very simple:

20 minutes of Hammer Strength Dips.  Triple drop sets from 4-3-2 plates.

20 minutes of Lying Triceps extensions.  85 pounds.

4 sets of pushups.

All I do is do as many sets and reps as I can in 20 minutes.  Sometimes I lift heavier, sometimes lighter.

I will do some more pushups tonight and go for a 7-8k run when I get home.  I’ll update when I’m finished.

I believe in liberty.  That means that I am free to live my life as I see fit.  That means that I can associate with whomever I choose and express my opinions without fear of repression or persecution.  When presented with the false choice between liberty and safety I will err on the side of liberty.  I believe that the state’s power should be constitutionally limited so that my basic freedoms are not relentlessly eroded over time.

From the Edinburgh Review in 1843: Be assured that freedom of trade, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and freedom of action, are but modifications of one great fundamental truth, and that all must be maintained or all risked; they stand and fall together

I believe in law & order and that we have more than enough laws currently on the books.  I believe that if evidence is seized by the police illegally then it must be inadmissible in any attempted prosecution and the police punished.  This means that guilty people will occasionally walk free.  I believe that the state should never be able to seize a citizen’s property without being convicted of a crime. The state will argue that this can be necessary in the interest of public safety.  I contend that this is a nascent form of tyranny.

Benjamin Franklin: “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”

I believe that those who commit and are convicted of crimes against people or property should be harshly punished equally before the law – regardless of race, colour or creed.

I believe capitalism is the least bad economic system the world has discovered.  I believe in creating an economic climate where corporations can do business competitively is the surest way to generate wealth for all a country’s peoples.  This means that corporate taxes are low and  red tape is kept to a minimum.   I believe that people should be rewarded for taking risks, being innovative and working hard – more than those who don’t.

I believe that I am a better judge of how to spend my money that the state.  I believe I should keep more of what I earn.  The indignity of being bribed with my own money is an affront to my intelligence and liberty.

I believe that as a rule, the private sector is more efficient than the public sector.  I believe single-payer private/public health care system is ideal.  I also believe that we should be able to have a reasoned debate about this absent the histrionics.

I believe that I, and I alone, am ultimately responsible for my successes and failures as a person.

I believe that men and women are equal and different and that those who judge others based on race or religion are fools.

I believe that if a gay couple wants to marry it’s no business of mine or the state’s.

I believe in having a strong military to assert our sovereignty and protect ourselves against foreign invaders.  I believe that war is a political tool and that clear political objectives must be established before sending our best and bravest into harm’s way.  I believe attempting to spread democracy and Western values through the projection of military power – either by war or occupation – is a mistake.

I believe in immigration as a way of making our country stronger by welcoming with open arms people that will contribute to the building of a strong and prosperous Canada.  I believe in them assimilating these newcomers into Canadian culture while enriching it with the best of their history and traditions.

I believe in democracy. I believe that democratic countries are more prosperous, advanced and free than those that aren’t.  As Winston Churchill stated, “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”

And finally – I believe I ate far too much Chinese food buffet at the Mandarin for lunch today.