Author: hsoi

Being prepared – bug out bag

/ hsoi / 7 Comments

If there’s anything this wildfire situation has demonstrated, it’s that I’m not as prepared as I thought I was.

Sure, we have some preparations in place for sitting tight, like if bad weather rolled through, could we sit tight on the homefront with extra water, food and so on. There are certainly some areas here where we could tighten things up, but we’re alright.

But we’re just not as prepared to bail if we have to. We thought we were, we’re not.

Oh sure, we can get it together, but consider the fires. Here’s raw footage from the Bastrop fires showing how fast a fire can spread:

If a fire broke out in the greenbelt behind our house, we have to leave NOW. Can we do that? Well, we can leave, but we’d be almost empty-handed.

I’ve looked into the concept of “bug-out-bags” for a while, but it was something that always got pushed down the priority list because other things took greater priority. But now? No… it can’t be a lower priority any more: it has to be up at the top.

The helpful thing? Wife has bought into the concept. I have to admit, that it’s sometimes hard to get things going in the household when I’m the only one that buys into it. But if Wife buys into it too, that helps the Kiddos buy into it, and so when everyone’s behind it, things have a better chance of getting done and staying a priority. Plus I think the reality of the fires made things more concrete for the kids, because well… they’re kids, they just don’t have the life experience to put things into perspective, but this sure gave them that perspective.

So, we’re going to be picking up our prep efforts in this area. Building bug-out-bags, and just being prepared. Because well… we hope to never need them, but we’ll be so thankful to have them if we do. It’s just like anything in life: the better prepared you are for when something happens — especially something that catches you by surprise — the better off you’ll be.

2011-09-09 workout

/ hsoi

“Week 1” – 5 reps

  • 5/3/1 – Deadlift (working max: 275#)
    • 1x5x110 (warmup)
    • 1x5x140
    • 1x3x165
    • 1x5x180 (work)
    • 1x5x210
    • 1x6x235
  • Asst. #1 – Hyperextensions
    • 5 x 10 x BW
  • Asst. #2 – Hanging Knee Raises
    • 5 x 7 x BW
  • Metcon – jump rope
    • 1 Tabata set – all single hop

First deadlift of the new 5/3/1 cycle. Bumped my working max up the prescribed 10#.

My main focus was really working to keep my back straight, and not just straight, but rigid. Keeping proper “flatness” to the spine, keeping the torso very firm and rigid by better use of Valsalva Manuver. It worked well, I feel better, tho a lot more worked. I certainly had to squat deeper too, which makes sense since lacking the rounding in my lower back well… gotta get down there. It was more noticeable when I would lower the weight. It just changes the whole track of the movement, where the bar goes. It’s all good, and likely why I only got 6 reps with 235# because it’s just stricter. All good tho.

Then I moved to hyperextensions. This is my first break from the “boring but big” approach. I wanted to do this specifically to help address my back issues and “posterior chain” stuff. I opted to start with just bodyweight, and that was good because certainly my chain was worked from the deadlifts and bw was certainly a good start. I would let myself go from a total hang (and feel the stretch in my hamstrings) to as high up as I could get and squeeze myself, feeling that in my hamstrings and butt and back. All good. I’ll probably slowly work to add some weight, like 10# at a time. But no rush.

I really missed doing the hanging leg raises. My shoulder felt better, but really what I love? How it works my grip and forearms — they get a nice pump. 🙂

On the jump rope, I certainly think it’s time to consider a second set. My coordination is good and I can make it through without stumbling. My rate is a bit faster, maybe 30-35 skips per rep tho I don’t know for sure — I tried to count on one set and thinking about it caused me to stumble. It’s better when I just skip and don’t think about it, but the point is I’m picking up the pace, able to stay at that pace through all 8 reps, and while feeling worked not feeling so beat dead at the end of it, especially in the muscles of my feet. Going to let this firm up a bit before I go to the second set, but yeah, a second set is in my near future.

Really felt good today. Really worked my back so I may be feeling it come Sunday. Just eat more!

2011-09-07 workout – starting cycle 2 of Wendler 5/3/1

/ hsoi

Today was a good day.

“Week 1” – 5 reps

  • 5/3/1 – Press (working max: 120#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x50
    • 1x5x60
    • 1x3x75
    • 1x5x80 (work)
    • 1x5x90
    • 1x10x105 (PR)
  • Asst. #1 – Press
    • 5 x 10 x 55
  • Asst. #2 – Lat pulldowns
    • 3x10x100 – supinated grip, slightly wider than shoulder width
    • 1x10x100 – close, neutral grip
    • 1x8x100 – close, neutral grip
  • Metcon – jump rope
    • 1 Tabata set – all single hop

Today I begin my second round on the Wendler 5/3/1 program. Being a new cycle, it’s time to up the working max weights. The general recommendation is to go up 5# on the press, but I opted to go 10#. I figured that my press working max was under what I’m actually capable of. When I was on PPNP Novice I never felt like I got to my limit, and Wendler recommends starting light and underestimating. PPNP also never pushes you to the limit, like the last set of a Wendler 5/3/1 set. So when I did my “week 3, 1 or more reps” set, I ended doing 1x8x105, setting a new PR. When you do the math on that, it blew out of the water what I figured my 1RM would be… well out of the water. I’m stronger than I think I am. So I decided to ensure I better workout, let’s bump up the weight 10# on this cycle. Still conservative, but a little more work.

So far, I think that was the right move. We’ll see how it pans out in coming, heavier weeks tho. 😉

Thing is, 2 weeks ago I set that PR doing 1x8x105. Today I broke it doing 1x10x105. Furthermore, I had bumped my assistance weight from 45# to 55#, and that too was a good move. Interestingly, Jim Wendler just posted an article on “5 Ways to Increase Your Press” and I had taken some of that advice, like looking at the 5/3/1 sets as a movement and the assistance work as a muscle, but still having to lift heavy and hard. Without question the last couple reps on the 1x10x105 were just trying to get the weight overhead, and on the assistance work I strove to be stricter but even the last couple reps of the last couple sets was tough. I think it was all a good move. No, it’s not huge weights and big numbers, but it’s still pushing my limits, so that’s fine with me.

On the pulldowns, as mentioned previously the close, supinated grip was causing me some shoulder discomfort that lingered for a few days. I don’t need to screw up my shoulders. So today I started out by experimenting with different grips, both width and direction of the hands. I really want to stick with a supinated grip if I can, but a neutral grip was much nicer to my shoulders. I did 3 sets with a supinated grip that was just wider than shoulder-width; the closer the hands were together, the more they bothered my shoulders in the extended/top position. That wasn’t too bad but still had some shoulder annoyance at the top of the movement. I switched bars for the last 2 sets to a neutral, close grip (palms facing, a few inches apart). That was much nicer on my shoulders, but really limited the range of motion; furthermore, it’s not as mechanically strong as a supinated grip (biceps not as activated) so I didn’t get the full set of 10 reps. There’s another bar at the gym that allows for a neutral wide grip; I’ll likely try that next time and see how it goes. I want to do a motion that’s as close to chin-ups as possible, but that doesn’t irritate my shoulder and lead to shoulder problems — the last thing I want.

On jump rope, I think I may be at a point where I want to bump it to 2 Tabata sets. Not quite yet, but close.

All in all, it was a good workout. I’m really stoked about my press performance.

Could I be a Possibilian? I don’t know.

/ hsoi

Via Fark and HuffPo, I learn about this thing called possibilianism.

What is possibilianism?

Possibilianism is a philosophy which rejects both the idiosyncratic claims of traditional theism and the positions of certainty in atheism in favor of a middle, exploratory ground. The term was first defined by neuroscientist David Eagleman in relation to his book of fiction Sum. Asked whether he was an atheist or a religious person on a National Public Radio interview in February, 2009, he replied “I call myself a Possibilian: I’m open to ideas that we don’t have any way of testing right now.” In a subsequent interview with the New York Times, Eagleman expanded on the definition:

“Our ignorance of the cosmos is too vast to commit to atheism, and yet we know too much to commit to a particular religion. A third position, agnosticism, is often an uninteresting stance in which a person simply questions whether his traditional religious story (say, a man with a beard on a cloud) is true or not true. But with Possibilianism I’m hoping to define a new position — one that emphasizes the exploration of new, unconsidered possibilities. Possibilianism is comfortable holding multiple ideas in mind; it is not interested in committing to any particular story.”

An adherent of possibilianism is called a possibilian. The possibilian perspective is distinguished from agnosticism in that it consists of an active exploration of novel possibilities and an emphasis on the necessity of holding multiple positions at once if there is no available data to privilege one over the others.  Possibilianism reflects the scientific temperament of creativity, testing, and tolerance for multiple ideas.

But better than reading about it watch this 20 minute presentation by David Eagleman.

I was baptised Presbyterian and presently live in a Roman Catholic household. I remember at a very young age one of the first “deep thoughts” I had was realizing that everything in life and the world is relative: we can only know something in relation to something else. I think from that moment on it shaped how I viewed the world. Sure, I had a lot of growing up years spent in church youth groups and whatnot, but all that time did was demonstrate to me just how un-Christ-like so many Christians are. I get to undergrad and of course that becomes a good mind-opening experience (especially when you’re surrounded by so many people who claim to be “progressive” and “open-minded”, but in reality are some of the most close-minded individuals you’ll ever meet). I took courses on religion and philosophy and gained deeper thought and insight into many things. I received my first exposure to Taoism in undergrad, and while I don’t consider myself a Taoist, the philosophy, has much wisdom.

Then one day I realized that the best label I could give myself was “agnostic”. Why? Because the best I could come up with was “I don’t know”. Positions of theism or atheism are held as so definite: we KNOW for a FACT, or at least, that’s how those believers carry on. But it’s just that: belief. Neither group can know for a fact that their position is right. I often talk about how of the thousands of religions we’ve had in recorded history, and if we even bump that number up a bunch to count religions in unrecorded history and religions that maybe have never been recorded (e.g. small tribes, etc.) well… whatever you bump that number up to, it’s still quite small against the infinite possible explanations to questions like “how was the world created?” and “what happens when you die?”. So some simple math tells you that the chances of YOUR creation story being THE way things were created? Well, it’s possible it could be, but it’s more likely it’s not.

As well, I never liked the fact we called things “mythology”. To those ancient Greeks and Romans, to those ancient Egyptians, to those Vikings of yore… that was their religion. They believed in Zeus and Ra and Odin just as strongly as some today believe in Jesus and Allah. But people today shrug off that mythology as silly and uneducated. So, how will the religions of today be viewed 1000 years from now? All I can say is, I don’t know… but I can look at the trend and perhaps make a reasoned guess that today’s serious religion will be tomorrow’s silly mythology.

So when I stumbled upon this notion of “Possibilianism”, I didn’t know what to expect, but it sounded interesting and resonated with me. I watched the video and Mr. Eagleman was saying many of the same things I’ve been saying, only his presentation was far better put together. I never really liked the term “agnostic” because one, it never felt quite right, two, it has too many meanings that are either complicated to explain or are just misunderstood and you’ll never explain it well enough for someone to truly understand. So a new term like “possibilian”… maybe that’s a better label for me.

I don’t know.

the fires burn on…

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

The fires presently consuming central Texas have naturally been on my mind the past 48 hours.

Personally, I’m fine. My home and family are not in any direct danger from the major fires occurring in the area. There are lots of small fires popping up, including one that burned a couple acres of woods that bordered the north side of our church just a few miles from my home. I back up to a small greenbelt which connects to hundreds of acres of dry trees and grass. I used to love looking around Austin because it was full of greenery and was not a concrete jungle like so many cities… but now all I see is a tinderbox.

As least the winds have died down.

Last night we saw our mother muscovy duck and her 14… no.. 15?? ducklings? Suddenly there was a newcomer, but we could tell it was a mallard duckling. Strange. Haven’t seen any mallard mother/baby groups around here, but since the mallard was being aggressively rejected by the muscovy’s we scooped up the mallard and went to the pond to go look. Ran into a couple kids there that claimed the duckling was theirs, that they had released. They are evacuees from Bastrop, came to stay at a friend’s house and of course they brought what critters they could. Apparently there were other ducklings but didn’t make it (unclear as to why) and I guess then they figured seeing the one mother and babies that they’d adopt this one… alas, that wasn’t the case. We encouraged them to take the duckling back since he’d for sure not make it on his own right now, but I suspect the duckling will be released again because if this family lost their home… what can they do with and for the duckling?

I wanted to reach out and hug those kids last night, tho social properness told me not to. I just didn’t know what to say to the kids so I just let them talk and tell their story. One boy… all he has is the clothes on his back, his skateboard, his fishing pole, and his Bible. He said those were the most important things to him and so that’s what he grabbed as they hurried to leave.

I’ve seen scenes that horrify me, like pictures of the burning homes. Or I can just look up in the sky and see the thick haze of smoke that literally surrounds Austin.

I’ve seen scenes that anger me. TXGunGeek recounts some jackass opting to burn things! Wife told me she read a friend’s Facebook posting where their neighbor was grilling; was confronted and told to stop and he flat out refused. So they called the police and 4 boys in blue came to persuade him to stop grilling. Good. With all that’s going on around us, people continue to engage in behavior that feeds these very situations. People are still flicking their cigarette butts onto the ground. Why they do it is a mystery to me, but I’d be happy to educate them with a size 12 boot up their ass.

But I’ve also seen scenes that make me smile. Local morning DJ Dale Dudley was displaced by the fires but instead of sitting on his butt he got to work to do something about it. While not formally organized, he kept active on Twitter calling for help, working to get with some groups, and organize something to gather donations and get them out to people who needed it. The entire show this morning was talking about the fires, getting information out, taking calls, and so on. Seeing people wanting to help, people setting aside problems and matters of less importance and trying to do what they can to help…. that’s great.

It’s going to take months to recover from this… maybe years. I’m supposed to head out Bastrop way on Saturday and I’m sure the entire drive is going to be done with mouth agape and lots of somber headshaking. Things are going to be mighty different.

 

It’s hard to get on with my life when I can only think about all the people around me whose lives are so radically disrupted. We are packed and ready to go out the door if we have to, and I even think about that and what that would be like. Frankly, it’s nothing I want to think about. Look forward, help those affected, continue onward.

Why I Trust Aimpoint

/ hsoi

My friend Charles, over at TacticalGunReview.com, recounts an experience with his Aimpoint red dot scope that only serves to further his trust in that product. I’m with him: I’m Aimpoint all the way.

Go read. It’s a good testimonial for their product.

Fires

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

The greater Austin area is burning. Many fires are breaking out. Some 16,000+ acres in Bastrop (east of Austin), 300-400 homes estimated destroyed. Lots of evacuations, other things. The increased winds not only are fanning the flames but taking humidity out of the air.

What gets me?

Much of this could have been prevented. Just about every fire I’ve heard about (these new ones or ones throughout this past summer) were started by something that could have been avoided. I know one up north of us yesterday was started because someone left their grill unattended. I read this morning another was started because some girl was burning love letters.

Yes people… it can happen to you. You are not so safe in your practices that somehow you are the exception to the rules of nature and physics.

I know it’s Labor Day. I know we’re all excited because the temperatures are cooler. But we’re still in the worst drought ever. We’re in conditions just ripe for fires — witness what’s burning this morning! I know that burgers taste better cooked over an open flame, but uh… these aren’t the sort of open flames we want. Folks, your burger isn’t that important.

Please, don’t have outdoor fires, even in bbq pits because embers can and do escape.

Please, don’t throw your cigarette butts on the ground or out your car window. Many fires start that way.

We were going to go shopping for clothing for the kiddos today, but instead we’re going to prep some things around the homefront, just in case.

Stay safe.

Wender 5/3/1 – impressions from the first cycle

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

Today I finished my first cycle on the Jim Wendler 5/3/1 program.

I think it’s a great program. It’s simple, it provides a lot of flexibility for you to meet your needs. Training for football? 5/3/1 can work. Training for powerlifting? 5/3/1 can work. Bodybuilding? 5/3/1 can work. At its heart it’s about building strength, which also will build muscle mass. What you want to do from there, be it develop power, speed, dynamic explosiveness, sculpt your body, whatever, it can be done. But… you have to think. A key factor is recovery.

Growth doesn’t happen while you work out, it happens when you rest. You have to expose your body to progressively increasing loads, then your body realizes that load isn’t going away so it has to change and adapt. This can only happen when you 1. don’t overtrain yourself, 2. rest. Wendler’s program facilitates this because there’s always your core lift (press, deadlift, bench press, squat) that you work hard but in a submaximal way (working max is 90% of your 1RM, and it’s from that working max that you calculate your workout), then you really only do a couple more exercises to address any specific needs you have (tho there’s nothing that say you only have to or can do or are restricted to just 2 more exercises). What those assistance exercises are depends on you and your needs. Me? I’m wanting to build mass and strength. Yes, I ultimately want to eliminate the flab around my middle, but I’ve come to terms with that (more on that shortly).

The one (arguable) downside to the program? It’s slow. The basic progression is a 4-week cycle and you only up your weights 10# on squat and deadlift and 5# on press and bench press per cycle. So in theory you’ll only go up 120# on your dead and squat in a year, and only 60# on your bench and press. Of course, that sort of increase is fantastic, especially for people who have been training a long time, because gains are much slower and smaller the longer you’ve been at this and the closer you get to the limits of human potential. For a novice like me, I could gain a lot faster if I stayed on something like one of Rippetoe’s programs or moved to something like the Texas Method. The trouble there is those programs are very intense. If I was someone who could dedicate more of my life and time to lifting (and resting) sure, I’d probably be on the Texas Method right now. But that’s not my life. Wendler’s program looks like it could be a good long-term program for me because it’s not pushing me too hard too fast, and allows a lot of time for recovery. There’s a lot about the program that’s smart… subtle details in terms of how it’s done, it’s really well-thought out and constructed, so you get the work you need, when you need it, but it doesn’t kill you. I like that. Ultimately I’m in this for my health, not competition or sports, so hey… if I can jack up my dead and squat 100# in a year? That’s great. Just means I have to keep at it.

As for diet… that’s always been my tough spot. I have made changes, like I don’t eat grains that much (sometimes I do, e.g. I’ll still eat the buns on a burger), and I try to consume a lot more fresh veggies, which has been made easier with our CSA veggie box that we get once a week. I tried cutting carbs out almost entirely, but my body called me a fool. See, I do want to shed my gut, but I realized something. My weight has been a fairly steady 235-240# (depending on time of day, etc.). There’s no question I’m putting on muscle, so if I’m gaining muscle but weight remains the same, I must also be losing fat. Very slow fat loss, but still loss. Then I noticed something the past couple weeks: I was eating more useless carbs, especially in the afternoon/evening… like after a crappy day at work, I was happy to shove a few (more) cookies down gullet. I’m now hovering 240-245#. Just so happens I’ve been reading articles about insulin response and some other things and I see a pattern. Carbs? Fine, but if there’s going to be any cookies, have them in the morning. After lunch and especially after 3 PM or so, I need to have carb intake be pretty minimal. I do need some carbs (still need a crapload of protein), just focus it more during the day/morning.

The thing is, on this Wendler program, if I’m going to build mass and strength, I have to eat like a horse. That means there’s going to be some gut. That’s just how it is. I’ve come to terms with that. I do think I can eat a little smarter: if I can get back to where I have a steady weight number, muscle being built, that means fat being lost… that’ll work for me, and eventually I’ll get there and shed my gut.

All in all, I’m pleased with the program. I’ve lifted weights on and off since I was a teenager, but never did I enjoy it so much as I am right now. Finding programs like these? Geez… if I could have only had them 20+ years ago. Oh well, better late than never.

The plan now is to keep going with the Wendler program. Slow and steady. Going to change up a bit on my assistance work… more “Boring But Big” strict adherence, but trying to be I guess more “triumvirate” in picking what 2 assistance exercises work for me. The journey is good.

2011-09-04 workout

/ hsoi

Had to lift a day early since the gym is closed tomorrow for Labor Day.

“Week 4” – Deload

  • 5/3/1 – Squat (working max: 220#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 2x5x90
    • 2x5x110
    • 2x5x135
  • Asst. #1 – Squat
    • 5 x 10 x 85
  • Asst. #2 – Leg curls
    • 5 x 10 x 35
  • Metcon – jump rope
    • 1 Tabata set – all single hop

Today marks the last workout of my first cycle of the Wendler 5/3/1 program. I’ll have some thoughts on that in another post.

Again, since it’s deload “week”, I just doubled up on the warmup weight/sets. I did go up on my assistant squat weight and my curl weight, and while they didn’t really kill me today, they did work ok and I will keep them as-is for the next cycle because it’s hard to know if the “non-work” today was due to being a deload week and so the work squats didn’t exhaust me enough, or if in fact the assistance weights are too light. But if I do go up, I’ll only increase 5# and see from there.

One cool thing? Since the weights are light it’s very easy to let form go out the door. But on the same token, it’s a great opportunity to ensure form is tight and strict. I focused on keeping my chest high (tho still drive with the hips) and my torso tight; in fact, everything tight (arms too). That made a huge difference and I was really feeling it in my hamstrings during the assistance squats. That was cool, haven’t felt them like that while I squat… because I know I can tend to tip forward and involve the quads too much.

The workout felt good. Really pleased. But I’m so looking forward to the next workout, starting cycle 2. 🙂