When is it that things go south? When we rush things, and don’t take our time.
For example, all of the injuries I’ve got at the gym or weightlifting have always happened when I tried to rush a workout, and didn’t sufficiently warm up etc. stretching.
Has anybody ever written a truly critical essay on bodybuilding, who doesn’t take steroids or any weird stuff?
Question: what does it mean to “build†a body?
There are a lot of things that you can build in your body. This includes muscles, strength, your sinews and ligaments and tendons, your blood, and your bones.
Simply put, it seems that the overall goal is to increase muscle mass, and lower body fat, a.k.a. adipose fat tissue. Not to “increase weightâ€, or to “gain weightâ€, or even to “lose weightâ€.
My theory is that because it almost sounds too harsh when you tell somebody, or when somebody says, “I need to lose fat“, instead of “I need to lose weightâ€.
Also, this whole nonsensical notion of quantifying everything. For example, it seems that most guys gauge their own self-worth levels compared to other men is how much they weigh, or how little they weigh.
Lots of problems here. First and foremost, it seems that everybody is on steroids, some sort of performance-enhancing drugs, testosterone boosters, whether “natural†or not.
Also, there’s a lot of money to be made here. For example, protein powder, whey protein powder, creatine, and all this silly weight lifting paraphernalia which includes weight lifting belts, knee wraps, wrist wraps, etc.
Maintenance is for losers!
The difference between a growth mentality and a maintenance mentality.
Boring is not virtuous!
Almost everything is lame.
Insane optimism is good!
I love life!
How I get it:
What is the point of existence? To fuck shit up:
Fuck up the world!
To fuck shit up, to fuck up the world! (FUTW as JAY Z says)
If you feel adrenaline, and maybe some fear, this is a good thing.
A lemming is “wiseâ€, a savage is “foolishâ€.
Lemmings “do their research“, while savages simply experiment for themselves.
Lemmings do “proper form“, and ask for critique and feedback and get coaches and trainers. Savages disdain what is proper.
Perhaps in life and our equipment, we want to have overconfidence in it.
Better at the gym.
The basic idea is every day, increase the weight by 1%.
The world adapts to you — the Steve Jobs approach.
In praise of lamb meat! Costco Business Center has lamb meat in the frozen aisle chopped up into cubes for super cheap!
For example, countries starting to accept bitcoin as tax payment?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liechtenstein
When people see me, they are shocked, to see my full body tan, etc. People are surprised to see I healthy human being?
The funny thing is at the gym, everyone wants to become super big, buff, “put on weight“, etc. But, I don’t think this is the goal. The goal is simply not to be a weakling and puny.
For example, my physique and my look. Whenever I atlas lift 895 pounds and beyond, and I strap on more than nine plates, and max out the barbell, I am always kind of a spectacle. I think this is the shock that people have:
I do not look like this huge, steroided out guy, yet, I can lift a demigod amount.
The only knowledge, wisdom, ideas, etc. that I have gleaned from reading, reading philosophy, reading literature, or even from documentaries cinema movies etc. is when the things I learn are useful.
Maybe a thing with education and life and things is this; it isn’t about having positive “good†role models, but simply, to keep your kids, and also keep yourself away from bad influences, bad role models, etc. Or in other words, your kid doesn’t have to go to the best private school, or the best school in general, just make sure that they don’t go to a bad school or a ghetto school.
For example, where is it that kids learn bad behavior, bad words, bad behaviors, etc.? Once they go to school, and they meet other kids, and when kids exhibit “bad“ behavior, it is not their fault, simply a reflection of their parents. For example, if you got elementary school kids cursing, saying bad things, doing bad things etc., the parents are probably doing it in the house around them.
A very simple and good workout and strength training exercises this: only using chalk, grab the heaviest dumbbells at your gym, lift it up, and just see how long and far you could walk it out.
For example, at my local crunch fitness gym, the dumbbells go up to 150 pounds. This is what I thought:
All of these guys at the gym what they try to do with heavy dumbbells is that they try to overhead press it, or they tried to shoulder press it, or they try to incline press it, or they try to do flat dumbbell press with it, or some sort of lying down or seated or elevated exercise with it.
But the simple funny thing is this; it is much easier and more efficient and in terms of leverage, more straightforward to simply pick it up, and carry it, in terms of moving the weight. Because, my thought:
Isn’t the point to simply be able to use the most efficient and effective mechanism of movement, an action, to simply manipulate and move a weight?
For example, I could pick up 150 pound dumbbell, lift it off the rack, hold it in my hand, grip it, and also walk with it, whereas I cannot lie on my back, and do a floor dumbbell press with it.
Then, people might think,
“What’s the point of doing this?â€
A lot of people say it is good for a “grip strength training“, but that doesn’t really mean anything. Nobody really cares for “grip strength“, look at all of these guys call instead of using chalk, simply use the hand wrist straps when weight lifting, whether it be doing rock pools, deadlifts, shrugs, rows, etc.
The reason why I am anti-wraps is this:
It prevents you from getting stronger.
The ultimate point is it to lift heavier weights, it is to become stronger. By using wrist wraps, you do not give your body, your hands, your fingers, your forearms, your grip, your hyped and focus to effectively choke the barbell or dumbbell.
My simple thought:
Grip strength *IS* strength.
For example, how strong your grip is might be the greatest indicator of how strong you really are. Just overall strength.
Even as a thought, maybe the best way to judge the strength of men is to simply challenge them to the farmers walk with the heavy dumbbells. The simple competition:
Only using chalk, no wrist wraps, how far can you farmers walk the heaviest dumbbells?
Another good example I have is the legendary 330 pound golden dumbbells at golds gym Venice Beach. I mastered it.
Grip strength *is* strength:
Instead … what do we want?
Greater adventures, dangers, challenges, conquests.
Notions of “timeâ€, “efficiencyâ€, etc … just modern day Taylorism in action?
For the ancient Greeks, there was no real notion of “time“. There were no stopwatches, no clocks, no notion of seconds, minutes, hours, etc. There were only notions of sunrise, sundown.
Even when it came to speed, the closest thing that we have is looking at the Iliad, the funeral games, in which there was a chariot race, as well as a sprinting foot race.
Also, no real good measurements of weight. The way that Homer describes the strength of Achilles is his ability to lift a stone that barely even two strong men could lift.
Simple — to prove that my unorthodox strategies work!
Thinking about Achilles.
Achilles was by far the greatest “role model“, we’ve had in terms of a man. Yet, he is not by any means virtuous, or even “manly“ in the common regard.
What is the virtue of Achilles? His pure power. That by far, he is the most potent fighter, the most lethal, the most powerful both in physical strength, and also battle prowess.
However, in terms of his personality, he seems a bit soft at times. Him crying by the shore, and complaining about such a petty matter like his “prize,†Breisis.
He also, to an extent his foolish stubbornness. It is only the death of his best friend which pumps him back into battle. In someways, if Achilles wasn’t so stubborn, Patroclus would have never ran into battle with Achilles armor and died.
Then, perhaps the goal is this; power and wisdom?
Seeking approval from others, is actually, fear conquering in disguise?
For example, with imageGPT, chatGPT, etc., is there really a way that we can authenticate truly whether it was created by a human being or AI?
What Chainlink seeks to fix.
In modern day times, we think that more money means more power. This is actually not the case.
We must create a more philosophically precise and accurate notion of power.
If in fact, did you spend more money on equipment and things and invest in yourself and your equipment, will it really help you earn more?
Maybe.
There is no “perfect” camera. Don’t fall into GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and falsely believe that buying a new camera will make you a better photographer.
If you’re not feeling inspired in your photography, I recommend you to buy books, not gear. Also check out these 75+ Inspirational Photo Books You Gotta Buy. You can also download my free books.
Currently my favorite camera is the RICOH GR III:
This is a list of my personal favorite equipment in photography, computers, and life:
Of course, this list probably won’t apply to you — but this is advice I would give myself (if I needed to buy stuff):
If you’re new to shooting film, pick up a copy of FILM NOTES.
Leica MP + Leica 35mm f/2 Summicron Lens
Leica M6 + Voigtlander 35mm f/2.5 Lens
Contax T3
Hasselblad 500-series
Kodak Tri-X 400 (pushed to 1600): $5
For medium-format/35mm: Epson v800: $800
For 35mm: Plustek OpticFilm 8100: $270
Fits 13” Laptop and Camera: Thinktank Perception 15 (black): $120
Adobe Lightroom
iMovie (free) or Final Cut Pro X ($300)
“The Suffering of Light” by Alex Webb
On the Shortness of Life – Seneca ($8) // 10 Lessons Seneca Has Taught Me.
Maxed-out 13” MacBook Pro (Refurbished)
The smallest iPhone available (currently iPhone Mini)
IA Writer (for writing)
Camtasia
JPEGmini Pro
In-ear monitors
ExOfficio Men Boxer Brief (black): $26
Outlier NYC Merino Wool T-Shirt
Outlier NYC Black Merino Wool Socks
Merino Wool Leggings (black)
Chase
Dropbox (Pro)
Intermittent fasting — with one big meal a day (only dinner)
Deadlifts (one rep max) + squats + dumbbell press + chin-ups + pushups
Of course this is just a list of stuff that work for me. It probably won’t work for you.
But I got inspired to make this list– because it took me about 10 years to figure out the best equipment for me. And this works for me, and I hope it can help simplify your purchasing decisions (at least in photography and some other details).
I’ll continue to do articles and videos related to equipment– because I do believe (up to a certain degree) having the ‘right’ equipment in life makes life easier. But the problem is falling victim to GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) where we are buying stuff for the sake of it (has happened to me).
If you already have a bunch of equipment that works for you– stick with it. But if you need some help, I hope this list helped you.
Always,
Eric
The goal isn’t to placate, to either placate others or yourself.
Placate means to make smooth, flat.
The truth is that human nature is implacable. We have “divine dissatisfaction†as Jeff Bezos says.
Therefore the problem I think is that in life, we think the goal should be to placate others, to make them “happyâ€, and to give them everything that they ask for. However, this isn’t and shouldn’t be the case.
For example, weightlifters, bodybuilders, powerlifters shouldn’t seek to an achieve some sort of satisfaction or placation. Instead— to simply lust for more is a virtue?
Compliment others honestly!
“Sexism†as not the issue but disrespect. Both sexes should and must respect one another.
Also, everyone should respect one another.
By saving time, you save life. And then the philosophical question is this; what is it that you really want to do with your time, or achieve in life, while you are still alive?
The first simple thought is once you have achieved all of your great life dreams, then, you can simply pursue things which seem inconsequential to you.
Others are fragile.
First, just make it personal. When in doubt, better to Overshare than under share.
Second, all media. Make it video, audio, and also photo.
STREETGODS WEIGHT LIFTING CLUB:
Traditional powerlifters are out:
I’m starting my own weight lifting club:
What is “motivation� What does it mean, and why does it matter?
