Tip Toeing in my Vibrams

[Renascent]

You're not old, that guy's just dumb. I can understand young kids not knowing that the save symbol is a floppy disk, but c'mon man an older 10 dollar bill?

Lord have mercy on that kid's soul.

I think it was a matter of culture shock on both ends. I've heard plenty of jokes (and more neutral observations) about the youth not knowing how to count change, what change even looks like, and so on, so it was interesting to actually meet someone in person who thought my money wasn't real.

In his defense, I think his confusion may have come from that ten-dollar bill not being one of those notes with the 2000-present (?) enlarged president portrait on it. It didn't look any different to me, and I thought nothing of it until he started acting like it had grown warts or something.

I had a neighbour in NC that liked to carry and use $2 bills. The bank kept them in stock because of him, he went and picked up a bunch every week. For my fellow Canadians, yes the US has $2 bills but no one uses them because of old superstition killing the use. Which Canadians find odd, as the 2 and now the Tooney were always the most common pocket change to use.

I was not aware of a superstition surrounding the usage of two-dollar bills. My mom used to have a huge stash of those when I was a kid. Kept them like trinkets. My sister and I, not knowing any better, would sometimes use them (without permission, but that's another story) and always got funny looks from any clerks we happened to patronize.

[Renascent]

(2.28.2023)
Overhead Press
165 x 7 x 2
185 x 5 x 5
195 x 3 x 3
205 x 2 x 2



Yazmin Press
185 x 8 x 3
195 x 6 x 3
205 x 4 x 2

Rope Pushdowns
80 x 12 x 4
85 x 8 x 2

Barbell Hang Shrugs
255 x 25 x 2
315 x 15 x 2

Overhead RTEs
85 x 8 x 6
80 x 10 x 2

Dumbbell Silverback Shrugs
80 x 20 x 3

Face Pulls
55 x 12 x 4

Lost a bit of time at the end because I got distracted by Jupiter and Venus.

Simple minds and such.

[DCR]

Went to buy milk before the store closed, and the guy at the register asked if I wanted to pay with a card or cash. When I handed him two ones and a ten, he slumped across the counter and stared at the ten long enough to make me nervous. Finally he tells me that he never saw one like it before, and, after beating around the bush, told me it wasn't "legal tender." He called a manager over, who simply held it up to the light and explained that it was legit, albeit a relic of the nineties (or prior).

I said something like, "They've looked like that all my life, so I didn't know what was so weird about it." Manager and I had a good laugh, and he told me a story about a college football player who, after requesting fifty dollars in change, was given a fifty dollar bill. Dude had never seen one before, and thought they were trying to fuck over him with a prank.

So I guess the clerk thought I was gonna go nuclear when he tried to reject my money. Manager and I were amused, but the kid was too embarrassed to look me in the eye after that, despite my efforts to soften the exchange with some laughter.

Every now and then I'm reminded that I'm fucking old.

I had a neighbour in NC that liked to carry and use $2 bills. The bank kept them in stock because of him, he went and picked up a bunch every week. For my fellow Canadians, yes the US has $2 bills but no one uses them because of old superstition killing the use. Which Canadians find odd, as the 2 and now the Tooney were always the most common pocket change to use.

Friend of mine grabs a bunch of these at the bank every year around the holidays - he likes to use them for tips, largely because it nearly always starts the conversation of what the hell is this.

[Renascent]

Friend of mine grabs a bunch of these at the bank every year around the holidays - he likes to use them for tips, largely because it nearly always starts the conversation of what the hell is this.

I might ask for some just for the hell of it (I just hate going inside the bank).

[Renascent]

(3.1.2023)
Low-Bar Squats
135 x 11
225 x 11
275 x 6 x 3
315 x 3 x 6
335 x 1 x 3
275 x 4
225 x 5



Gonna call it here. I had to shit about halfway through this, but didn't want to cool off, so I stuck it out, plugged it up, and kept going. For your intestinal hardship.

Probably going to do some accessories tomorrow, and pull on Friday, daylight permitting. Got an exam to prepare for soon, and it might be time to take care of the yard this weekend.

[DCR]

Gonna call it here. I had to shit about halfway through this, but didn't want to cool off, so I stuck it out, plugged it up, and kept going. For your intestinal hardship.

Haha it’s really something when you know it’s gonna be such a monumental heat drop that by the time you get through it alive, you’ll have cooled off. Been there many a time.

[MarkKO]

Exam?

I can't squat if I need to go. Props.

[houzi]

For what its worth, I live out in asia, and havent been back to the UK in years. In the past 11 years ive been in the UK maybe 3 months cumulative total. My last trip back was in 2018 for only a few weeks, and at that time I hadnt been home in about 3 or 4 years. In that period the currency all changed, all the cash bank notes were different. Cue my friends laughing at me on my first day back, while im trying to figure out WTF these new coloured notes are worth, while the shop assistant stares at me like im stupid (which I clearly am!).

Best of luck with your exam!

[Renascent]

Gonna call it here. I had to shit about halfway through this, but didn't want to cool off, so I stuck it out, plugged it up, and kept going. For your intestinal hardship.

Haha it’s really something when you know it’s gonna be such a monumental heat drop that by the time you get through it alive, you’ll have cooled off. Been there many a time.

The rule is that if it's gonna take me longer than five minutes, I'll either hold it or just nix the whole session and go do what I gotta do.

Exam?

Yep. For a class I'm taking.

I can't squat if I need to go. Props.

I'll usually have a cup of black coffee as soon as I get home as prep work, but I ate quite a bit yesterday. Ended up pacing the floor for a half hour after loading 135 on the bar because I knew what was up.

Best of luck with your exam!

Thanks!

[Renascent]

(3.2.2023)
Bilateral Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squats
40 x 10 x 2
50 x 8 x 2
60 x 6 x 2

Standing Cable Leg Extensions
45 x 15 x 2
50 x 12 x 2
55 x 8 x 2

Cable Pull-Aparts
35 x 12 x 5

Kneeling Cable Chops
40 x 12 x 3

Lying Cable Knee Raises
70 x 12 x 4

I keep hearing so many good things about QL butt walks that, out of habit, I'm already a little skeptical. I may give them a shot tomorrow night, assuming there's no wet weather to thwart any intentions to get some pulls done first.

[MarkKO]

Gonna call it here. I had to shit about halfway through this, but didn't want to cool off, so I stuck it out, plugged it up, and kept going. For your intestinal hardship.

Haha it’s really something when you know it’s gonna be such a monumental heat drop that by the time you get through it alive, you’ll have cooled off. Been there many a time.

The rule is that if it's gonna take me longer than five minutes, I'll either hold it or just nix the whole session and go do what I gotta do.

Exam?

Yep. For a class I'm taking.

I can't squat if I need to go. Props.

I'll usually have a cup of black coffee as soon as I get home as prep work, but I ate quite a bit yesterday. Ended up pacing the floor for a half hour after loading 135 on the bar because I knew what was up.

Best of luck with your exam!

Thanks!

Makes sense. Don't think I'd relish the thought of taking a class on top of working, training and parenting. Much respect.

[Renascent]

(3.3.2023)
Deadlift
225 x 8
315 x 8
405 x 8
465 x 3 x 2
485 x 2 x 2
455 x 3



Romanian Deadlifts
275 x 9 x 3
315 x 6 x 3

Seated Cable Leg Curls
50 x 15 x 4
55 x 8 x 4

Cable Side Bends
45 x 12 x 4

Side Lying Hip Raise
10 x 3

I went back and forth on the idea of trying out seated cable twists and opted to forgo them for now. I've neither the credentials nor the life experience to refute anything Stuart McGill has to say on the matter of spinal rotation. On the other hand, I can't entirely dismiss the idea that the quadratus lumborum can't -- or shouldn't -- be trained through rotation in some form (nor the obliques, for that matter).

As for QL butt walks, I'll give them a try later tonight after I finish up some homework. I'm having a hard time visualizing why they'd be more effective than side bends or hip hikes, unless removing the legs from the equation is entirely the point.

[MarkKO]

My n=1 for buttwalks is that they are perhaps the most effective rehab method for lower back pain that I've ever come across.

I do them as part of my warmup for squats or deadlifts. If my back is acting up I do them at home in the morning and evening and usually that calms things down within a few days.

[Renascent]

My n=1 for buttwalks is that they are perhaps the most effective rehab method for lower back pain that I've ever come across.

I do them as part of my warmup for squats or deadlifts. If my back is acting up I do them at home in the morning and evening and usually that calms things down within a few days.

Sets/reps/distance/time?

I'm mostly interested in them with regard to muscle imbalances and ironing things out in the hip region...

[MarkKO]

My n=1 for buttwalks is that they are perhaps the most effective rehab method for lower back pain that I've ever come across.

I do them as part of my warmup for squats or deadlifts. If my back is acting up I do them at home in the morning and evening and usually that calms things down within a few days.

Sets/reps/distance/time?

I'm mostly interested in them with regard to muscle imbalances and ironing things out in the hip region...

Anywhere from three to seven metres. I always make sure to do the same distance forwards as I do backwards as well.

I understand that Donnie Thomson has quite a bit of experience for them so his YT channel and IG would be good places to start. He's a legit goldmine of effective ways to fix things and/or prevent things going wrong. I rate him far, far better than almost any other source out there.

[broseph]

My n=1 for buttwalks is that they are perhaps the most effective rehab method for lower back pain that I've ever come across.

I do them as part of my warmup for squats or deadlifts. If my back is acting up I do them at home in the morning and evening and usually that calms things down within a few days.

Sets/reps/distance/time?

I'm mostly interested in them with regard to muscle imbalances and ironing things out in the hip region...

My dudes. I did these before squats today and it was the best my low back has felt going into squats in a long time.

Thanks.

[Renascent]

My n=1 for buttwalks is that they are perhaps the most effective rehab method for lower back pain that I've ever come across.

I do them as part of my warmup for squats or deadlifts. If my back is acting up I do them at home in the morning and evening and usually that calms things down within a few days.

Sets/reps/distance/time?

I'm mostly interested in them with regard to muscle imbalances and ironing things out in the hip region...

My dudes. I did these before squats today and it was the best my low back has felt going into squats in a long time.

Thanks.

Interesting.

I was too tired to do it yesterday (didn't even finish homework), but I'm gonna make time this afternoon and see what's what.

[Renascent]

(3.9.2023)
Bench Press
135 x 12
225 x 12
265 x 7 x 2
295 x 3 x 4
315 x 2 x 3
275 x 3 x 2
225 x 6



Single-Arm High-Cable Reverse Flyes
25 x 12 x 2
30 x 10 x 2

Kneeling Cable Crunch
75 x 15 x 4

Cable Side Bends
45 x 12 x 3

Standing Cable Leg Extensions
50 x 12 x 5

Face Pulls
50 x 15 x 3

[MarkKO]

Your bench really is coming along.

You must have wondered, how long until you hit 400? Because I'm pretty sure it's there for you in a few years.

[Renascent]

You must have wondered, how long until you hit 400? Because I'm pretty sure it's there for you in a few years.

Perhaps.

I try not to think about it, to be honest. I can't have my bench surpassing my squat.