Looking for a 1 bedroom (or studio!) on the Westside, dog-friendly please!!

ensode · 2 months

Hehe, pee spots!

bbqbrah · 2 months

You can't just leave us hanging with that bomb. Any context - details - you can fill things in with?

ADocksideBar · 3 months

both bankers and politicians are to blame.

Exactly! I would say that oskar_s is only reporting on half the story. Yes, these bankers were out to enrich themselves. But they were only able to pull it off thanks to teaming up with an overpowered federal government.

Many of the governmental policies that led to the unsustainable housing boom (e.g., the Community Reinvestment Act that made it less costly to extend mortgages to high-risk poor people; printing a bunch of cash and feeding it to Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac so they could eat up the toxic assets that inevitably began to show themselves on everyone's balance sheets) were originally lobbied for by the bankers.

Those bankers threw money and privilege at elected representatives and unelected tax-payer-funded bureaucrats alike until lawmakers (and Alan Greenspan) set in motion the legal and financial snowballs that eventually led to the those same banks being able to justify their shitty long-term housing investments.

So yes, the banks were much to blame. So were the politicians. And if those politicians had been kept accountable for operating within the defining characteristics of our constitutional republic, our governmental body would have been unable to wield those powers that ended up bought and paid for by the bankers, clearing the latter's ill-fated path toward self-enrichment.

After all, it was the government's unconstitutional move to create the Federal Reserve in 1913 (itself an unconstitutional entity) that, decades later, enabled Alan "The Maestro" Greenspan to inflate our currency, leading directly to the events of 2008 by way of the Austrian Business Cycle Theory (insert highly-entertaining 4-minute summation of Hayek's 1974 Nobel Prize-winning work on Austrian Business Cycle Theory). Government needs to stay away from manipulating our currency and our economic signals; otherwise, people and organizations mistake bad choices for good ones and everyone suffers.

And finally, some quick thoughts from economist Steven Horowitz on the subject.

Starrfx642 · 4 months

If I'm correct, the link is so far just a way to 'pledge' that you will be donating. In other words, you are making it known that you expect to donate a given amount once the donation day arrives and you are called upon to actually provide cash to the cause.

Just make sure you follow up with an actual donation when the Money Bomb rolls around!

EDIT: Here's the link to the actual Money Bomb: http://www.reddit.com/tb/od33r

Hirschfelder · 4 months

Last year, my phone was pickpocketed early on the first day in one of the tents (at Skrillex).

It turned out to be a lucky chance event, really. I was 'free' from knowing when/where my various groups' meetups were, and quickly learned to relish the freedom of planning my days as I saw fit. And then, when I inevitably ran into friends over the course of the weekend, it was so much more spectacular and special.

Greenkeeper · 5 months

Thanks for putting together that reply. Ha yes, "flower essences" - as they are called - sometimes use brandy in the solution. It's not very much though, especially as I assume you were applying the stuff with an eyedropper?

What "health risks", as you say in your last bullet, would you be most concerned about?

Greenkeeper · 5 months

As someone who has considered applying RR to rehabilitating a dog I rescued off some bad city streets, I would like to hear the results of your research. What conclusions have you been able to draw, if I may ask?

Dogs are awesome - I love that you do what you do.

Tzeentch99 · 5 months

Get your hands on a copy of Anatomy Trains. I was turned onto the book/subject after reading this post in /r/AF.

If you anticipate pursuing a life-long relationship with physical development, you will enjoy the insight the Anatomy Trains approach sheds on how to prehab/rehab all your aches, pains, pulls, postural issues, etc. Also, science!

rathau5 · 5 months

Wow. Bret's article is a huge perspective shift for me as someone whose knowledge base is primarily in line with the conventional powerlifting wisdom.

What clicked for me was his comparison between sprint-type versus jump-type movements and the former's superiority in glute activation. I will be trying out his progression when I have access to a gym - for now, I'll settle with tweaking my use of available equipment to emphasize heavy KB swings, hill sprints, and heavy horizontal-emphasizing pistols.

I have a theory that his 'horizontal v. vertical emphasis' line of reasoning also serves to explain the famous "what-the-hell effect" of heavy KB swings, i.e., heavy high-rep swings' inexplicable crossover to max deadlift performance. Swings emphasize horizontal loading and action of the glutes much more than vertical - perhaps this fact, more than the overspeed eccentrics of the downswing/momentum reversal or the explosive drive and hard-contraction lockout, is to thank for the swings' fantastic upper/lower glute strengthening/hypertrophy and crossover into posterior chain powerlifts?

jnphoto · 5 months

Fuck, this shit is hard.

Only managed to eke out 18 sets of six reps with 24kg before finally admitting to myself that my form was less than stellar. It all came down to my inability to grip the damn thing, which was itself likely a result of the thin-but-still-too-thick fingerless gloves/wraps combo I was wearing to prevent callousplosions (the gloves alone were starting to tear holes until I added wraps to cushion the 'finger root area'). Basically, it's a fool's errand to attempt overspeed eccentrics without a reliable grip...

I switched off to a 16kg to finish 22 additional sets at a 8-rep cadence. From this, I learned that 7 reps w/ 16kg (i.e., my first 15:15 sesh) is doable without needing to emphasize overspeed eccentrics, but upping the cadence to 8 was impossible without working hard to pull the weight faster than gravity on the downswing. Fucking eye-opening.

I took a rest day, conditioning-wise, following that sesh. The day after that, I was still too sore in my upper back to snatch, so I busted my ass on hill sprints instead. I can't imagine I'll be able to VWC more than twice a week until my traps get with the program.

Damn you, Kenneth Jay. Damn your pale, Danish ass to hell.

Tzeentch99 · 5 months

I ran with your example as a way to illustrate my (admittedly roundabout) suggestion on how to handle this issue in my response to Eliam19.

I know exactly what you're describing - especially wrt to that particular body position. Proper PNF stretching, by having you forcibly contract the muscle you are trying to stretch, avoids that issue as you will be contracting not the outside of the leg/hip abductors, but the groin area itself (the adductors).

If simply getting into position for the PNF stretch is causing you to cramp up, consider taking on a stretch 'lower' on the 'progression hierarchy' that avoids the subtle challenges of joint positioning that are currently giving you a hard time.

Tzeentch99 · 5 months

I'm guessing that the charlie horse-d muscle isn't the muscle you're actually trying to stretch? For instance, using the hip abduction example to illustrate a groin stretch where the femur moves away from the midline, I'm guessing it's your hip/ass area that is cramping, and not the groin area that is being stretched, yes?

You can avoid the cramp and focus more on the actual stretch by avoiding active contraction of the cramping muscle. This might mean selecting an alternate body positioning that takes 'active abduction' (again, I'm no expert, as Forbiddian pointed out, so I'm relying here on ad hoc terms of my own to describe movements) entirely out of the picture while still focusing the stretch on the groin.

Still using the same example with the groin stretch (and cramping outer leg/hip), instead of trying for the splits, explore the tactical frog - illustrated here and here. It eliminates the issue by making the 'active contraction' irrelevant.

As you gain flexibility/joint mobility, you may try revisiting the splits and discover that you can explore a larger range of motion without incurring cramps, simply because you will have learned the subtlety of 'joint positioning' (there's another ad hoc term) and will find it a simple task to subtly 'relocate' where your leg is in position to your hip, and how actively you are contracting it to get the most out of your stretch (without cramping the antagonist muscle groups). The lesson? Consider following progressions as you grow - some stretches are easier and involve far less accidental cramping/joint impingement than more intensive/advanced positions. Master those first! For solid guidance on how to progress, I suggest the resources I listed above (Stretching Scientifically, courtesy redgrimm's post, also seems awesome from the Amazon page). If you have trouble finding them, PM me and I can share them over Dropbox or something.

(NOTE that the YouTube clip is not of the same "Beyond Stretching" DVD that I alluded to above - while this YT series is also great and not to be missed, the older title I listed is definitely one you want to DDL/torrent as it is comprised of easy/fast, get-up-and-go, non-intensive movements that you can do every day, throughout the day, to stay limber and cement gains made during more intensive routines like those in the YT series.)

rathau5 · 5 months

That article is leaving out a major time-saving training method: the kettlebell.

You shouldn't have much problem googling around on how to use the kettlebell swing for the specific goal of building up your posterior.

I spent forty days with the swing program outlined in Pavel's book ENTER THE KETTLEBELL, where you swing three times a week for no more than twelve minutes per session, taking as many breaks as you need in between swing reps and condensing those breaks as your fitness improves.

The result? My mom had her friends at our Thanksgiving get-together line up to punch my flexed ass. Seriously, that thing is tighter than you'd believe - I didn't even plan for this shit, I just wanted a workout that would condition me and build explosive hip drive.

Three times a week, never more than twelve minutes a session, rest as much as you need. So easy, so effective.

Tzeentch99 · 6 months

Could you define the cramping sensation better?

Is it your muscle 'seizing up' and spasming, like a charlie horse? Or are you feeling a squeezing of tendons/muscles in the joint area, as though you were compressing the tissues in the outside of your hip/leg as you abduct the hip (by moving the femur out toward the side, as in the splits)?

kebabskies · 6 months

What exercises will you be GTG-ing?

I have experience GTG-ing the one-armed pushup (OAP), pull ups, and one-legged 'pistol' squats - six days a week, via multiple sets of each movement consisting of 2-5 reps per set.

OAP: I went from being unable to do more than two elevated OAPs off a four-and-a-half foot trash can (I'm 5'8", so this was a relatively high elevation for me) to knocking out five decent reps on flat ground - in a little over two months' time.

Pistol: Couldn't do a single one on either leg, can now rep five on each with a 53-lb kettlebell held in the 'racked position' (i.e., against the chest after the weight has been 'cleaned'). Just over two months.

Pull ups: 5 reps w/ a 35 lb weight --> 5 reps w/ a 53 lb weight. Just over two months.

Shit works as long as you listen to your body and NEVER train a single movement to failure. Stop two reps or more short of failure, each and every set. If five reps get easy, increase the weight or, if training with bodyweight, remove leverage advantages.

The best resource to consult is Pavel Tsatsouline's Naked Warrior. The book and DVD rip are readily available online, or PM me if you can't find copies.

This woman (woman!) GTG-ed up to a 53 lb weighted pistol, 53 lb weighted pull up, and 53 lb kettlebell press. Skim through for some great details on her programming/GTG journey.
Recently, Dan John and Pavel got together and released a book titled Easy Strength, which applies the GTG principle to barbell and kettlebell lifting (the older Naked Warrior runs through bodyweight strength feats like the OAP and Pistol). Here is Dan John's further simplification of Easy Strength, aptly-titled Even Easier Strength. In line with the wisdom behind GTG, you train big barbell lifts six days a week - the same lifts, every day, with only one day's rest at the end of the week.
Finally, some of our AdvancedFitness compatriots are GTG-ing big lifts like the deadlift.

Hope that helps. Be well!

Tzeentch99 · 6 months

I know it's not a rigorous explanation, but my goal was to cobble together an effective illustration of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching (PNF stretching), and more importantly, to convey that time-intensive "hold, breathe, breathe, etc." techniques aren't necessary to achieve relatively significant gains.

And another thing I wanted to add:

The material in Beyond Stretching and Fast and Loose are NOT to be overlooked as you explore PNF stretching and isometric stretching. The dynamic stretching and rapid relaxation techniques in those two videos take almost no time out of your day to practice throughout the day - and make for a great way to crystallize gains made through the more intensive PNF techniques.

If I'm feeling tight or out of energy in the mornings, it always helps to run through BS and F&L with a few front kicks, side-to-side kicks, and back-and-over-the-shoulder kicks to open up the hammies, quads, and hip flexors (god... fastest way I know to loosen up the hip flexors - just three to four well-placed back-OTS kicks is enough to calm down my flexors so I can produce the hip drive I need for my kettlebell work). The dynamic side bends are great to free up your lats, obliques, triceps, and all the torso tension in between, getting you ready for a long day of sitting upright or resetting you for some upper body strength work.

Finally, look into plow position from hatha yoga - any long-time barbell lifters can be sure that the deep back release this provides (to loosen up the psoas, ultimately...simply divine) is a "path of most resistance" and worth exploring.

Be well!

Tzeentch99 · 6 months

"Do not seek out the path of least resistance. Embrace and explore the path of most resistance."

When you are working on flexibility and mobility, greasing up certain muscle groups/movement patterns will prove to be far more challenging than others. Work this to your advantage: those are the groups/patterns that are holding you back the most - work HARD at those right away, and other issues you may not even knew you had will resolve themselves in turn. This domino effect is one of the most rewarding aspects of flexibility/mobility training.

Don't know what to tackle? Well, what hurts the most? ...There's your answer.

Rethink what it means to 'stretch', and why you currently can't.

It has nothing to do with the length of the muscle belly, per se. It has everything to do with your nervous system's ability to coax the myofibrils, which comprise the muscle fibers that comprise the 'macro-muscle' (my ad hoc term, stfu) you are trying to 'stretch', into relaxing out of their currently-contracted state. Again, your muscle is not short and does not need lengthening - it is contracted due to inexperience in handling loads in the uncontracted (eccentrically-contracted?) state, and therefore stays contracted as a safety precaution.

The above insight (as lay as it may sound) suggests the route to flexibility/mobility is to utilize hacks that override the nervous system's current inhibitory reflexes. Done right, the reflexes will slacken for a brief window (around five seconds' time) at which point you increase your stretched position while your nervous system is snoozing - the muscle will instantly 'stretch'.

If this is a new approach for you, you will be shocked at its efficacy compared to more popular 'sit, grit, and wait' approaches.

For details on techniques using the aforementioned approach, and guidance on how to structure your program, torrent/DDL the following works by Pavel Tsatsouline:

Relax Into Stretch: Instant Flexibility through Mastering Muscle Tension (book)
Beyond Stretching (the DVD rip)
Fast and Loose - this one is a freebie

PM me if you're nasty - I can send you the first two files directly.

Best of luck!

jnphoto · 6 months

So I ended up doing my second round of 15:15 with a higher weight, instead of upping the cadence with the 16kg as originally planned.

22 sets of 24kg w/ cadence of 6 per 0:15

Weakening grip precluded correct execution of overspeed eccentrics by halfway point, so I sort of muddled through the rest of the workout by letting gravity take the KB downward and forcibly 'braking' its momentum with a not-very-smooth jerking movement at the bottom... jeez I feel silly just revisiting the movement pattern as I write this.

Going to do another round with the 24kg at 6/0:15 cadence - not concerned as much with improving set count as much as nailing form during each set.

TheEternalCowboy · 6 months

Quality, quality program. You can easily DDL both the book and DVD.

Or fuck, PM me if you can't find them - I have both.

jnphoto · 6 months

No one in r/kettlebell has tried this? WTF??

I started it last night after ddl-ing the pdf and reading begin2dig's review.

Baseline cadence tested out at 28 snatches (16kg) per minute. So I did my first go of the 15:15 MVO2 protocol w/ 7 snatches per 0:15 work set.

Was able to get the full 80 sets, surprisingly easy. Didn't even start to feel like a workout until set 60. I'm a 140 lb dude and have gone through Pavel's ETK Rite of Passage w/ a 24kg, and can snatch the 24kg for 110 reps in 8 minutes (pretty substandard wrt the SSST, I know).

Will be doing the 15:15 protocol again some time in the next two days w/ 8 snatch cadence.

Results forthcoming.

Andrikas · 6 months

Heard of Pavel Tsatsouline? The guy has some fantastic stuff on mobility/flexibility. And since it's Pavel, you can expect it all to be efficient and effective (dude is king of 80/20-ing fitness).

For everyday use, five minutes or less:
- "Beyond Stretching", an old vid from Pavel in his 20s. Focused on 'dynamic stretching' that you probably know well from your wushu background. An essential set of movements that you can do right out of bed and throughout the day to keep blood flowing and knock out any kinks or tightness without sacrificing strength. You can find a direct download with little effort.
Intense static stretching guide (necessary for the splits, etc.):
- Relax into Stretch: Instant Flexibility through Mastering Muscle Tension. This book (also easy to find online, free) focuses on the (sometimes) painful technique of 'contract-relax stretching', whereby you stretch a muscle (in a static position) to its limit, then CONTRACT AS INTENSELY AS POSSIBLE, HOLD, HOLD, HOLD, then RELAX near-instantaneously as you INCREASE THE STRETCH. Done right, you will have 'tired out' the muscle's stretch reflex through intense contraction, which means there are fewer neuromuscular signals to keep your muscle tightened/shortened... so you can extend the stretch a little more without impediment.
Icing on the cake: *Fast and Loose, *an updated version of "Beyond Stretching" supplemented with some partner-facilitated relaxation techniques and more dynamic moves.

BelgoCanadian · 10 months

Arizona - I thought so! Seeing that picture of your boy in the front walkway took me back to my house in Ahwatukee...what a great place to grow up.

How's that summer weather these days?

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