Speaking Off The Record?
Maybe it’s a fear of failure, or of looking foolish, but too many people have “goals” they aren’t willing to talk about.
In my experience, it’s generally better to recognize (and respect) your challenges by stating your goals out loud – especially among others who can support you as you work towards that goal – than it is to keep it to yourself.
Once you have a clear picture of what’s standing between you and success, you’ll have a good idea what it’ll take to win.
So what challenges (fitness or otherwise) are you going to overcome this year?
Well?
Poll: Fitness Goals
Following up on yesterday’s poll, I have my own sneaky suspicions (as usual), but here’s one more for ya’…
Eureka! New Unit of Energy Described
If you’re anything like me, you respect and admire the science geeks who brought us the Watt, Joule, BTU and Calorie, but as far as units of energy go, those are all like, so 1860s – ya’ know?
Funny how I was just thinking the other day, “Joe” (as I said to myself) “it’s high time we have a new way to describe energy.”
And whaddya know, as I was working out in my near freezing garage this afternoon, I discovered it.
Being the humble kind of guy that I am, I’m naming it the Jcal (that’s short for ‘Joe calorie’ in case you’re wondering. Capital J should go without saying)
I certainly don’t want to make you feel insignificant by tossing around any hard-to-understand scientific mumbo-jumbo or mathematical formulas, so the simple explanation of a Jcal is that it is the amount of squatting it takes to raise the temperature of my garage gym from 34 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit.
Take that, James Prescott Joule!
How do you measure the intensity of YOUR workouts?
Lifting Gloves: Fashion Statement Or A Waste of Perfectly Good Leather?
“Will my training partners think I’m a wuss if I wear ‘em?”
“Will they help my grip?”
“But what about these bleeding callouses?”
“Do these gloves make my butt look fat?”
Personally, I know that if I can’t grate a block of Parmesan cheese by dragging it across my palms, I’ve been slacking on my workouts.
Professionally, I have clients who, for one reason or another, can’t go around with calloused, bleeding hands, so I can’t always rely on my standard “don’t be a candy-ass” response when asked what I think about lifting gloves.
If you’re into powerlifting or Olympic lifting, you know that gloves aren’t allowed on the platform, so it wouldn’t make much sense for a competitive lifter to wear ‘em during training.
But what the regular guy/gal in the gym?
Perhaps a more meaningful way of looking at the glove/no-glove question for the non-competitive weight lifter is to ask: Is there a legitimate reason to NOT wear gloves?
It’s what yoga/pilates idiots freaks enthusiasts refer to as ‘mind-body connection’. The rest of us can just lump it under the category of “proprioceptive awareness”.
Call it whatever you like, but gloves dampen your body’s natural ability to FEEL. And that sense of feeling is something I certainly wouldn’t want to lose.
What you feel determines how quickly and accurately you can react to sudden (or not so sudden) changes in pressure, direction, ‘grippy-ness’ or any other forces that may come into play in and out of the gym.
If grip is your concern, try lifting chalk (magnesium carbonate – it’s available at sporting goods stores everywhere. If all else fails, search the web)
The shifting/rolling/sliding of a bar might not be a big deal if you’re using those little weights covered with pink foam, but any serious weight trainer should consider weaning themselves from their glove dependency.
Of course, the first consideration of any training program should be safety. So if you absolutely feel there’s no way you’ll be able hang on to a bar/dumbbell or any other training implement effectively without gloves, go ahead ‘n’ wear ‘em if you like. I won’t be offended. (see, I told you I have a professional side!)
If your biggest concern is overly rugged hands, you can always soak in Palmolive after your workout (ya’ big candy-ass).
***** ***** *****
I won’t bore you with the details of my extremely limited blog posting for the last month or so (yet!), but it sure feels good to be back to THE CUP. Suffice it to say, changes are on the way. More to come…
Nice Marketing Strategy, Mr. Congressman, but…
Earlier this week, a friend reminded me that back in the ‘old days’, steroid-assisted athletes who’d get slapped on the hand would be the ones who came in second place.
Or maybe they were good enough for the big-leagues, but they only made the practice team.
They were pawns and were therefore expendable.
Of course, the champions and franchise players would always test clean.
Never-mind any potential health consequences, this system provided ‘social-proof’ that steroids were for “losers”.
These days, the message is different.
Now if you “load up” you’ll be able to run faster, hit further, dish out more punishment in the ring, on the field or in the water.
In short, performance enhancing drugs work like MAGIC!
If superstars are even suspected of using steroids, this only increases the perception that drugs work.
This also sends a message that the ‘evil’ performance enhancing substances we keep hearing are so bad for us can actually take a regular schlep to superstar status and put millions in his (or her) bank account.
In a different arena, drug addict/train-wreck Amy Winehouse is awarded with SIX Grammy nominations and five WINS for her ability to go in and out of rehab (or whatever her actual talent may be).
Are these really the messages the government and media are trying to get across?
Maybe it’d make more sense to put the prematurely balding, grape-nut testicled, gap-toothed, always-injured minor players on the chopping block and send the message, “hey kid, look what really happens when you take steroids”.
Sure, some big names will slip through the cracks and eyebrows will always be raised, but LOSERS getting busted sends an entirely different message.
Guilty or not, Roger Clemens, Marion Jones and Lance Armstrong still outperformed the competition when it counted.
Not a lot of incentive to stay clean now, is it?
"Mighty" Joe Stankowski
