I love May. Last year, Adam posed a challenge to Pick Shit Off The Floor Edvery Day in May. It is called PSOTFED. I intend to do this all 31 days in May. Anything counts. Kettlebell swings/snatches, Axle deadlifts, Pendlay Rows, Barbell Snatches, Rack pulls, Pinch Lifts, etc.
I don't give a shit what you do, as long as it falls in that criteria. You might have to be creative. Take a video. If you do something cool, or potentially useful or it makes you proud and you want to share, post it as a comment, email it, or post it here.
Make it fun, hit the PRs and notice your body comp improve. You'll be thankful.
The other day, I posted my latest post on my facebook page. (Go like it, if you have not). Some motherfucker asked what it had to do with death metal and/or deadlifting, then proceeded to call me a motherfucker. Fair enough. I rarely post about death metal, though I come from a land where it was once revered like the holy grail of all music, much like powerlifters tend to think three lifts are the holy grail of exercise. Consequently, those who fall into both camps stagnate.
Opeth: as innovative as Pink Floyd, Meshuggah and Iron Maiden
It's quite easy to make a comparison of death metal and deadlifting. Both appeal to a small minority of the general population, both are generally male dominated fields, and the practitioners of both seem to have deeply focused anger issues (though, in actuality this is not the case--many in both camps are genuine people and are very humble).
With such a fringe appeal, it's difficult to market either practice. If you have ever been to a powerlifting meet, it's fairly boring, from an excitement perspective and from a movement perspective. The psyching up and what not can be somewhat laughable, if you aren't used to it, and the same thing goes for a crowd of metalheads getting ready to mosh. If you have been to a death metal concert and have but a passing interest in the genre, you probably won't have a fucking clue as to what's going on, since the majority of bands don't do a lot in the way of theatrics--which is to be expected, since they have normal jobs and lack the budget to go as theatrical as a band like Pink Floyd can do. Moreover, you probably don't understand a word they are saying, unless you are a fan and have listened before.
With such an obvious lacking in the formula department, nothing catches on. It makes it less marketable. The one thing we notice in all art forms are thematic elements that repeat themselves that are communicated coherently. My favorite song has all of these, and consequently it is regarded as one of the best songs of all time.
In powerlifting, as well as metal, there are also ridiculous amounts of division. If you ask someone what metal is, the answer will be different, and the genre preference will be wide (death core, death metal, metal core, djent, grind core, black metal, symphonic epic metal, etc.). Compare this to powerlifting. There are so many federations in existence that it is almost becoming meaningless to set world records because someone is bound to do it sooner or later (though the all time records are a bit tougher to touch). With these divisions, it makes it even less appealing to the general public than it already is.
Combine all this with a lack of interest from the public (if I knew five years ago how to sell people in the death metal capital on the music I played, I would probably still be in a metal band) unless it is someone that established themselves 20 years ago, it makes it a seemingly godless endeavor.
I don't purport to know the full answers on how to make either of these avenues extremely marketable again, aside from assembling a loyal fan base. For lifting and metal, I think getting more women involved will probably help immensely. From what I have seen, colleagues are accepting of women in these two fringe areas than in other areas. (I'm sure sexism will still exist in both, but based on watching bands like Arch Enemy succeed, and athletes like Kara Bohigian, or Ronda Rousey do their thing, acceptance is more common, than it would be in both, since in all fringe events it seems like overall ability, at the end of the day, is key).
Angela is a far superior vocalist compared to the last guy singing for them.
So, there you have it. A few of my critiques on the entitled subjects.
Usually, I talk about stuff I do, as opposed to talking about myself. Since I don't get a lot of comments from the readership, I thought I would post several factoids about myself in an effort to let you all get to know me, and together we might share experiences with each other. That said, I'll make a list of ten things I find interesting about myself (though you may not).
I am neurotic when it comes to time. I never like to be late to things that have a formal start time. Concerts, movies, classes, work, plays, etc. If I am late to any of these types of events, I feel like I committed a moral failure on my end. This idiosyncrasy was so great that in 2006 Arielle and I (this was our first go round at dating) were driving to a show I was playing for the band I was in at the time, and we got there two hours early. The venue was empty with the exception of another musician I knew, so I immediately left Arielle alone to talk to my friend. It went something like this:
I was fairly poor growing up. My father and I moved to a quaint redneck town called Plant City when I was four years old, and my grandfather and he converted a brick building into a home for us. The down side of this was that the only rooms were a bathroom and a living room, so privacy was very minimal. This made things like watching internet porn, or masturbating very difficult. It also destroyed my belief in Santa Claus at an early age, since we had no chimney and my dad never dressed up as Santa. I also could never sleep on Christmas eve, so without having a room I had full view of the distribution of presents. This same setup allowed me to get exposed to great cinema as a kid, too. I saw movies like Silence of the Lambs and A Clockwork Orange before I was ten years old. Some people say it fucked my mind up a little bit, but I see no evidence of that.
My mother, several uncles and cousins have/had substance abuse problems ranging from alcohol to crack. Thankfully, my mother managed to quit smoking crack sometime around ten years ago and is living a sober life. Others of my family are not so lucky, and are still addicted to these drugs. I am thankful that in all my experimentation, the only thing that took hold of me was cigarette smoking, which I started when I was 12. As of now, I do not smoke or do any sorts of recreational drug and I rarely take NSAIDs or anything similar. I will occasionally get some cheap bottles of wine from CVS (3 for $10) and enjoy a few of those.
Speaking of substance abuse, the first person who introduced me to anything resembling Westside Barbell methodology or powerlifting at all worked at a gym in Plant City. He claimed he trained there and maybe he did. He later stopped showing up to our lifting sessions due to a warrant out for his arrest involving meth.
Plant City was also home to a lot of protestant Christians, and I grew up with a lot of disdain for them. I took a class on the New Testament in college so I could argue with the Christians in my town. Later, I would go on to get a degree in religion, focusing on Black Muslims and Malcolm X. The highlight of this was when I spoke at the American Academy of Religion South Eastern Regional Conference. My paper was on the Nation of Islam and Gnostic elements within the religion and was a blast to present. It was the first original thought I had, and I am still proud of it. To top it off, I had an interesting homeless person encounter. I was pumping gas on the way back home from Atlanta, and a homeless guy approached me. He asked for food money as I was pumping gas. He offered a leather jacket in exchange for this food money. I told him to hold on and he waited. I went inside to buy some coffee and a bottle of water. I also bought the homeless guy a burrito, which I warmed up for him. I went out to hand him his burrito, and he said, "Well, I actually wanted $8.00 so I can get some Boston Market." I convinced him to take the burrito, and he offered up a leather jacket. As it turns out, he had a bunch of jackets sitting on the ice chests. I declined, and wound up in Tampa, Florida eight hours later. I unwound myself by watching my favorite live action television show--Married with Children.
The first person I fell in love with and lost my virginity to was a black immigrant woman from Trinidad. Her mother was a doctor, and together they had the best grasp and command of the English language out of anyone I have met to this day. We met at a concert when we were in chorus in high school. I put ice down her shirt, and that was the catalyst that started our relationship.
In no particular order, my favorite movies are Apocalypse Now Redux, Terminator 1 & 2, Blade Runner, Malcolm X, and Natural Born Killers.
My favorite musical artist is Prince. I was fortunate enough to see a concert of his in April of 2004. It is one of the best shows I have seen, and even for a 46 year old man, he still danced and sang like he did back in the 80's. The highlight of the show was when he performed an acoustic set of his older material in the center of the stage. All by his lonesome--and a rhythm guitar accompanist in the shadows.
My favorite song is "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles. I think it is the best example of songwriting as a craft, insofar as it defines, develops and resolves a plot relevant to many people. It does so simply, without any superfluousness and moreover, it has a memorable refrain over a simple chord progression.
I am more physically and mentally active at 27 years old than I was at 17, despite having a shitty job at the moment (which most use as an excuse not to do anything at all). Had I been lifting or playing Jiu Jitsu since I was, I would probably be really good at both of them. At the very least, I am getting better daily.
Often times we get bombarded with other people telling us to adhere to their standards. When I was in high school, I had to get a 1270 SAT score and 75 community service hours to get the state of Florida to pay for 100% of my college education. I damn sure did not get a 1270 SAT score (1110) and I sure as hell was not interested in serving my community when I was 14-18 years old.
If someone is giving you something for meeting those standards, that's well and good. For health and exercise, however, you won't be rewarded by an outside party for your efforts--except maybe your significant other, or what have you. If you compete and meet their standards of "Win" you'll likely be rewarded with a trophy or something.
Usually, when you see marketing for exercise books and fitness products, the makers will tell you what you need to do to be a "real man," or some other nonsense. Here is one example:
The ad copy for Convict Conditioning. Do you really need someone to tell you what it takes to be elite, or to be a man? If you were in a bodyweight competition with standards judging for what an elite bodyweight athlete should do, it might make sense. Otherwise, set your own standards.
This book seems to be marketed towards people who have low self esteem. On the other hand, other products merely give you features and benefits, and will allow you to set your own bench marks. Here is an example of that:
There is ad copy for one of Adam's products. All it promises is better, which is true. It also does not berate you, the buyer, and it does not tell you what you should do to meet an arbitrary standard.
Keep in mind, this kind of stuff applies to all sorts of marketing, be it on a porn site, the television, or at the cinema. Now, they even have sleazy commercials at gas pumps. Infomercials are probably the worst, since they think we are all the dumbest fucks who have ever walked the earth.
One of the things I like about the marketing within the movement is that the only thing we all promise is better. We won't tell you you will be a real man, or an elite athlete. All that shit is up to you.
The point of all this is simple. People in your life who set standards for you often under (or over)estimate you. I'd like to think mostly underestimate you. The government, your university board of trustees and admission directors, your bosses, CEO's, Tyler Durden, might not think you are a unique snowflake, but you are. The best thing about this is that your goals are truly your own. Sure, you might share them, but only you can hit them or miss them. As such, your dedication to a goal(s) is wholly your own, and will set you apart from everyone else as an individual. You have goals. If not, set some. Then own them. Don't let anyone else set standards for you.
I guess powerlifting is like a double edged sword. When I imagine a powerlifter, the first image that comes to mind is an obese guy with a red face who is really fucking strong. Oftentimes, this image is accompanied by no other practical value--like being able to walk a flight of stairs and not be winded.
We can spin obesity into somewhat of a positive with this kind of thinking.
Thankfully, I know tons of lifters who do not fit that stereotype, and many of them can walk stairs and push prowlers just fine--in fact, some have great physiques and can walk several flights of stairs and keep their breath.
I think the point of what I said was to note that I overlooked an audience of people who just want to look good, and don't really give a shit about competing in a sport that involves probably the narrowest set of movements around. Furthermore, not everyone likes the smell of ointment, or ammonia.
There is a reason for this gravitation and it is not without merit. If you take a beanpole of the street, and they get strong, that's a good thing. They get more lean muscle tissue, they'll get a faster metabolism, men and/or women might want to fuck them more, and they won't get sand kicked in their face like the old comic shows.
Poor guy.
Take a larger person and you get them stronger, they lose fat, and generally feel better about themselves. Bonus: if they are a big son of a bitch who also happens to be really strong, they have a good physique hidden away.
That being said, there are more ways to get strong besides the squat, the bench and the deadlift, though I don't see any rational reason why a person wouldn't want a heavy ass deadlift.
Before I go further on that, let me just say that what follows will be an alternative. Hopefully, you will find it fun. But if you are of the mindset that you need to waste your life on a treadmill or an elliptical or anything that has you standing next to a motherfucker worse than you are, with horrible BO or hangover breath, or garlic smelling sweat, this is for you.
I am a fan of Paul Chek's primal patterns of movement--Squat, Lunge, Push, Pull, Bend, and Twist. It makes shit simple. PC said that those types of movements are what we start doing as infants. Squatting to stand up, lunging to get back up after falling after a few steps, pushing their weight up from a crawl to a stand, bending to pick shit up and so on.
Aside from the bowling pin fetish they seem to have, this is pretty good at demonstrating what PC was talking about. The good thing about these movements are is that you can make them as complex or as minimal as you have to depending on where you are. One of my favorite starting points for bigger people is the Turkish Get-Up. Before the RKC fucked it up and made it less efficient with extra hip bridges and shit, the idea was really simple. You press a weight, you stand up and get back down with it. It's a hybrid of several PM patterns, and the good news for big folk is that your body will be the heftiest thing you lift during it.
Here's a guy doing a TGU with a woman. Pretty rad. Here's a good starting point for moving. Getting up and getting back down. If you can't do it from the floor, a couch or a chair can be a good place to start (though it is my sincere hope that none of you reading are that bad off). Get better at it using minimal effort, then hold some weight. If you can't use a woman, a kettlebell, dumbbell, light backpack or anything similar will do. The main key point is don't drop the weight on your face, or otherwise hurt yourself. Always err on the side of caution.
For other movements, you can also squat. You don't need a barbell. Use your body weight. Can't get low? Get where you can, and you will be able to get low over time. Key points for that: push your butt back, drop between your legs and keep a douche bag chest for max efficiency. Fuck with it til it feels good, scale it back as needed. If you really need to, use a counter top, or a door handle to help.
If you want more lunging, you can actually do lunges. You need to throw in some twisting, you can lunge and twists. Need some minimal pushing movements? Push-ups are good. Can't do full push ups? Do half push-ups or the ill named "girl push-ups," which will be termed "knee push-ups" from now on.
Hopefully, you get the idea. Call it whatever you want--primal moving, animal movements, etc. The limit is your creativity. And if you are severely uncreative, here is an idea for you: take a twister game and lay it out. Spin the spinner 10 or 15 times and write out the spots it landed on a white board. Hit each spot as fast as you can, using the minimal effective amount of effort. Do this a few times. You might enjoy it. If you video it and send it to me I'll give you a handshake and some praise.
The take home point is that you can start your path to better by getting strong. It will pay off dividends over paying for a gym membership to walk or "eliptic." You can do this stuff in your home, or outside if you want. And if you must do steady state cardio, at least use God's treadmill (the earth).
And a final example of how complex and awesome human movement can be.
I have written about my foray into BJJ once before. Recently, I was asked about what I do to train for BJJ. The answer is remarkably simple--I practice the mEA (minimal effective amount) of BJJ. The mEA is ever increasing, as I follow the gym movement protocol during the practices too.
As a caveat, I will explain a few things: I took Karate to a yellow belt when I was a kid. I don't remember jack shit about the practice, other than a front snap kick, and for some strange reason, I can do the kata that got me the yellow belt. I have also never pursued an interest in MMA fights. I watched maybe one or two with friends, but didn't pay a lot of attention. That said, I am not in a position to assimilate the things I see on the big time fights.
I said in the last installment that the seasoned practitioners always advise to relax. This is good advice, and I am fairly relaxed now during the practice. I am also more relaxed while lifting as well, which is a good thing for both practices.
At this point, if I am rolling with someone better, I do a few things to make my life easier. A lot of guys at the school go for arm bars. And they can all get to an arm bar from about 5 million positions. If I noticed I fall into a certain trap, I generally tap before the arm bar (or submission) so I can start back over and not waste a lot of effort fighting to escape. Though, if I do see the opportunity to escape sometimes I will go for it.
Ideally, I will have the chance to roll with varying skill levels (equal to or better than I) so that I can see what the margin of error on my fuck ups are. Furthermore, if I am able to pick a partner, I try to pick the guys who won't tap me in four seconds if they are able to do so.
Worst case scenario, your shit gets broken.
If I start breathing too hard, I take a break. It's literally no different than doing any other movement I have spoken about. If you need to chill out, close your guard and chill out. It's pretty simple.
As for the actual conditioning, I don't do anything extra. In fact, I get away with less in the gym than I ever did, since BJJ involves me being in a fuckload of other positions I don't train a lot of in the gym. Some of them are as follows:
Thoracic and Lumbar flexion
Plantar flexion
Hip and neck flexion
Rotation of the hips
Lateral leg movement
Twisting patterns
And more
Currently, in the gym I practice a lot of thoracic extension with the high bar squats, I practice the extension with the deadlifts, and my bench is getting better possibly because of all the strength I am getting in similar positions, and with the added pulling movements (rows and pull ups still test well all the time).
I haven't had to spend loads of time swinging or snatching kettlebells--I still use them as testable extension movements when deadlifts (regular or axle) don't test well, or if I have no means to deadlift. Of late, snatching tests better, undoubtedly to counteract some of the positions I am in while rolling around. I would go on to say that having a familiarity with the Turkish Get Up helped me figure out how to shrimp out of certain situations, and move my hips around to help facilitate escapes. With that awareness, I can apply it to actual situations, in lieu of training it as a "gym movement," though it is not out of the realm of testing.
So, nothing ground breaking for this sort of thing. The key is to move yourself in as many ways as you can, using the mEA. You'll figure it out. Darryl tipped me off to the fact that the shit you will inevitably choose to do will be contraspecific (or nonspecific) to what you already do, and this is a pretty good example.
Female readership has expressed discontent with so many pictures of the female posterior. So, here is a picture of a guy with a nice ass. It might not even the score, but the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
At some point, perhaps around 2007 or 2008 I made a comment to a friend regarding our government. I said that if a government loved its people it wouldn't allow them to have sugared cereal such as the kind we see on store shelves.
If you read this now, you probably also know I like to eat pop tarts. So much so I may get a tattoo, like this person.
I no longer feel the way I did circa 2007 or 2008. I think it was a logical extension of how I always felt I related to the world. I didn't really listen to anyone. I "didn't give a fuck," if you will. To the point, I give less of a fuck, than ever before. I'm of the opinion that a lot of people do give a fuck about the wrong things in life. Furthermore, nobody should give a fuck whether I eat poptarts, drink sodas above 20 ounces or wear seat belts.
During the time I gave piano and guitar instruction full time, I was exposed to a lot of children and young adults. Many of them gave a fuck about what their parents thought. Some of them gave a fuck about what I thought (the smarter of them all questioned what I said and found their own way).
The thing I noticed is that when given the freedom to choose, (and in turn not give a fuck about what their parents thought) the lessons went smoother. I didn't have to teach them any boring shit that they didn't want to learn or weren't ready to learn. Like chord theory, or music reading. In turn, the student wound up happier and progressed faster, and learned songs and skills they liked. This made me really fucking happy because the time flew by.
The overall concept I was going for was to show that you didn't have to follow a perceived norm for happiness in your craft. The ideal paradigm perceived by others (and me to a great extent) upon entering as a beginner guitar player was as follows:
Start playing on an acoustic guitar.
Learn to read music.
Play Beethoven or other assorted classical pieces.
I started similarly. My first guitar was electric, instead of an acoustic though. I learned theoretical components of music and then went on to write my own shit.
The mold I tried to teach to and am still trying to break out of today was to a form of more unconscious thought to do what I do. Others would call it going by feel, intuition, learning by ear, or whatever. This comes back to giving a fuck. Had I not given a fuck back then, I would have progressed faster, developed my intuition and learned (and gained unconscious awareness of) theoretical concepts quicker. Alas, I can concentrate only on what is next to develop those skills.
Chuck played with three fingers, though he had all five on his left hand. He clearly gave no fucks.
Sometimes, these same students would stick with me until they were in college. Talk about a mind fuck of a social norm. I gave just enough fucks to buy into that one too, though I didn't listen to my parents and do anything practical. I am happier with the choice I made simply because I know so many people who did what their parents wished and wound up miserable. I would hear the same complaints often, and my answer was--and still is--to quit school. They had the power to quit. The response would be they would lose financial support, or they need school to get a job, etc. But, they could have been better by not giving a fuck.
The question raised is "how do we not give a fuck?"
I posit that the first step towards not giving a fuck is to question everything. You will become knowledgeable, and a lot of people will argue that knowledge will you make you unhappy--the whole ignorance is bliss idea. However, the more pathways you open up, the more chance of self discovery you have, and you can find out and unlock shit you didn't know about yourself. You'll always adapt, whether you like it or not. Religions are a great example. We will use Christianity as an example, since most of us are familiar with it, but if you ask the right questions you can find the following to be true with any faith.
The tenets of the magus figure of Christianity (Jesus) were rooted in certain sectarian aspects of Judaism and were regarded as another group of Jews in the diaspora. Fast forward to today, most Christians worship on Sundays, probably couldn't tell you anything about Levitic laws or the Noachide covenant.
We can see, over time, derivations from the original teachings (which many teachers love to see) but for a 2000 year old religion, we can make the argument that the rate of adaptation is slow, due to the lack of questioning. Stop giving a fuck about your dogma, you evolve faster.
The second step is to realize that what you do to better or yourself (or destroy yourself) will affect you the most. Sure, if you give yourself a shotgun face lift your close friends and relatives will feel sad. You'll be the dead one, they still have a chance to better themselves.
If you find yourself adapting at a faster rate than your peer group, you will be alienated. It's not your fault if you know how to get better, quicker, and your friends don't. Someone said you are like the five people you hang out with the most. Do you want to be another random fuck? Didn't think so. Disregard what is not useful.
I don't claim to have all the answers to this. Surely there are more things associated with not giving a fuck, but these are a few that I can think of off the top of my head. If you question these things, you can find other things to question to lead you down your own path to better. Then you can eat your poptarts in peace.
