I'm a dirty old man, having officially completed my 25th adventure around Sol since leaving the womb.
Squats
10xBW
10x20kg
5x60kg
5x80kg
3x100kg
10x110kg
6x110kg -- First or second rep was a dud, which messed me up for the rest of the set. My left shin has been disagreeing with me lately, so I did some foam rolling before the next set. Left shin was very tender, right shin not so much.
10x110kg
Bulgarian Split Squats
3x7x10kg
RDL/Calf Raise
3x10x70kg/10x280lb
Didn't do GHR today. My body insisted that doing RDL's was as great an idea as jumping out of an aeroplane, but I persevered through them. Couldn't bring myself to keep training after that, though.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Trying to Earn Heaven = Cosmic Regifting
Thank God for children. This morning while I was helping out with Kids Biz, one of the boys mentioned that "You can't bribe God." These words are not new to me, but something clicked in that moment and the meaning of that statement hit me deeply.
I've been thinking lately about what makes a human valuable. In meritocracy, you might argue that someone's value as a human being comes either from their success, or from their potential for success. This could be in any area: strength and fitness (seems relevant to this blog); intelligence; academia; finances; business; family; seduction. However, from a Christian framework, a human's value comes from being a creation of God made in His image, and this value is demonstrated by God laying down His life for humans as we lack merit.
How does this relate to our inability to bribe God? Well, if we're made in God's image, then anything we could possibly offer Him that might in itself be pleasing to Him is something He has given us already. Any love we may offer Him is love that He gave us first by making us in His image. Any love we may give to our neighbours is love that He gave us first by making us in His image. We have no power but the power God has given us. We cannot give Him anything good that wasn't His to begin with.
And so if it were possible for you earn paradise, it could only be because God made you innately worthy of paradise, in which case there would be nothing to earn. And as we do not have any innate power to be Godly, we do not have the ability to make ourselves worthy of paradise. What can we possibly offer God that wasn't given by Him to us in the first place?
I've been thinking lately about what makes a human valuable. In meritocracy, you might argue that someone's value as a human being comes either from their success, or from their potential for success. This could be in any area: strength and fitness (seems relevant to this blog); intelligence; academia; finances; business; family; seduction. However, from a Christian framework, a human's value comes from being a creation of God made in His image, and this value is demonstrated by God laying down His life for humans as we lack merit.
How does this relate to our inability to bribe God? Well, if we're made in God's image, then anything we could possibly offer Him that might in itself be pleasing to Him is something He has given us already. Any love we may offer Him is love that He gave us first by making us in His image. Any love we may give to our neighbours is love that He gave us first by making us in His image. We have no power but the power God has given us. We cannot give Him anything good that wasn't His to begin with.
And so if it were possible for you earn paradise, it could only be because God made you innately worthy of paradise, in which case there would be nothing to earn. And as we do not have any innate power to be Godly, we do not have the ability to make ourselves worthy of paradise. What can we possibly offer God that wasn't given by Him to us in the first place?
Saturday, September 14, 2013
The Terminator: Do You Even Time?
There's something that's always itched at the back of my mind when I think about the Terminator movies, and it's the inconsistent model of time.
In the original Terminator movie, we have time travel working in a circular model. The future, for obvious reasons, is dependent on the present, but the present is also dependent on the future. When Kyle Reece and the Terminator come back to 1984, they don't change time, because the timeline they both come from is a timeline that could only exist if Kyle Reece and the Terminator went back to 1984. Without them both going back to 1984, John Connor would not have been born and then raised up to become the leader of the humans, who would later defeat the machines, prompting the machines to send back a Terminator (and the humans to send back Kyle Reece) to 1984. It's a neat, internally consistent system.
Then the sequels happened.
In T2, we discover that the presence of the Terminator in 1984 left technology that was the basis for research that would later develop into Skynet. In other words, the Terminators exist in the future because a Terminator (from the future) existed in the past. This feeds beautifully into the closed circular system of time established in T1. Then what happens? The heros come along and destroy the research that would later become Skynet and destroy all evidence of Terminators or Terminator technology, seemingly changing the future. Circular time is now broken, and an alternate timeline has been established.
Of course, then T3 happens, justifying that the rise of the machines has just been delayed, which I assume is 1) a weak grab at an excuse to cash in on a franchise, and/or 2) a sloppy set up to allow future Terminator movies. This also means that the R&D based on the remains of the original Terminator from 1984 is a red herring.
Now, in T1, the revelation that Kyle Reece is John Connor's father shows us that a future in which the humans win is dependent on a past with Kyle Reece in it. So then, if the machines can't kill John Connor directly or retroactively abort him by killing Sarah Connor before she gives birth to him (the mission from T1), a viable alternative is to prevent Kyle Reece from going back in time -- if they know that he's the father. In T4, this is exactly what they attempt to do, making a young Kyle Reece a target. The problem here is that if they know that Kyle Reece is an issue, and if that's the case, all they need to do to prevent John Connor from being born is to never use time travel technology.
Yep, it's that simple. If the machines don't send any Terminators back in time to try and get rid of John Connor, then Kyle Reece doesn't go back in time, therefore the machines succeed in removing John Connor from the equation and win the war. Now, if T2 hadn't ended with the humans destroying all the R&D and melting the two active Terminators, then we would have logical cause for the machines using time travel whilst knowing that Kyle Reece's existence is a problem for them: without using time travel, they wouldn't exist, so failure to use time travel is an instant complete and utter fail for them.
So, if I had a say in the making of the Terminator movies, I would not have the humans succeed in destroying the R&D in T2. Then the machines could rise up against mankind in T3 without some lame explanation for why that's still going ahead. We could go either way with Kyle Reece being targeted in T4 -- the machines don't have to know that he's John Connor's father, however they don't need to be ignorant of that fact, either, so long as they know that their existence is dependent on having sent back a Terminator to 1984.
There are other continuity and logic errors that show up throughout the series (eg why can the T1000 travel through time when he isn't living, organic flesh over metal, but is metal in the appearance of flesh? why send only one Terminator back to each point in time -- why not send multiple Terminators back to 1984 to finish the job of the original Terminator?), but that's what Cracked.com videos are for.
In the original Terminator movie, we have time travel working in a circular model. The future, for obvious reasons, is dependent on the present, but the present is also dependent on the future. When Kyle Reece and the Terminator come back to 1984, they don't change time, because the timeline they both come from is a timeline that could only exist if Kyle Reece and the Terminator went back to 1984. Without them both going back to 1984, John Connor would not have been born and then raised up to become the leader of the humans, who would later defeat the machines, prompting the machines to send back a Terminator (and the humans to send back Kyle Reece) to 1984. It's a neat, internally consistent system.
Then the sequels happened.
In T2, we discover that the presence of the Terminator in 1984 left technology that was the basis for research that would later develop into Skynet. In other words, the Terminators exist in the future because a Terminator (from the future) existed in the past. This feeds beautifully into the closed circular system of time established in T1. Then what happens? The heros come along and destroy the research that would later become Skynet and destroy all evidence of Terminators or Terminator technology, seemingly changing the future. Circular time is now broken, and an alternate timeline has been established.
Of course, then T3 happens, justifying that the rise of the machines has just been delayed, which I assume is 1) a weak grab at an excuse to cash in on a franchise, and/or 2) a sloppy set up to allow future Terminator movies. This also means that the R&D based on the remains of the original Terminator from 1984 is a red herring.
Now, in T1, the revelation that Kyle Reece is John Connor's father shows us that a future in which the humans win is dependent on a past with Kyle Reece in it. So then, if the machines can't kill John Connor directly or retroactively abort him by killing Sarah Connor before she gives birth to him (the mission from T1), a viable alternative is to prevent Kyle Reece from going back in time -- if they know that he's the father. In T4, this is exactly what they attempt to do, making a young Kyle Reece a target. The problem here is that if they know that Kyle Reece is an issue, and if that's the case, all they need to do to prevent John Connor from being born is to never use time travel technology.
Yep, it's that simple. If the machines don't send any Terminators back in time to try and get rid of John Connor, then Kyle Reece doesn't go back in time, therefore the machines succeed in removing John Connor from the equation and win the war. Now, if T2 hadn't ended with the humans destroying all the R&D and melting the two active Terminators, then we would have logical cause for the machines using time travel whilst knowing that Kyle Reece's existence is a problem for them: without using time travel, they wouldn't exist, so failure to use time travel is an instant complete and utter fail for them.
So, if I had a say in the making of the Terminator movies, I would not have the humans succeed in destroying the R&D in T2. Then the machines could rise up against mankind in T3 without some lame explanation for why that's still going ahead. We could go either way with Kyle Reece being targeted in T4 -- the machines don't have to know that he's John Connor's father, however they don't need to be ignorant of that fact, either, so long as they know that their existence is dependent on having sent back a Terminator to 1984.
There are other continuity and logic errors that show up throughout the series (eg why can the T1000 travel through time when he isn't living, organic flesh over metal, but is metal in the appearance of flesh? why send only one Terminator back to each point in time -- why not send multiple Terminators back to 1984 to finish the job of the original Terminator?), but that's what Cracked.com videos are for.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Training -- Thur 12/09/2013
High Bar Squats
10xBW
10x20kg
5x60kg
3x10x87.5kg -- Now as I'm getting ready for bed, ,y quads tell me that I wasn't nice to them this morning.
Pause Squats
3x5x87.5kg
Deadlifts
5x60kg
2x100kg
3x10x115kg -- First set was right under left over. My right elbow didn't feel good locked out like that, which is a bad sign, since unlocked elbows while deadlifting transfer load into the biceps. Second set (right over left under) felt a million times better. Final set was with straps, because lazy.
10xBW
10x20kg
5x60kg
3x10x87.5kg -- Now as I'm getting ready for bed, ,y quads tell me that I wasn't nice to them this morning.
Pause Squats
3x5x87.5kg
Deadlifts
5x60kg
2x100kg
3x10x115kg -- First set was right under left over. My right elbow didn't feel good locked out like that, which is a bad sign, since unlocked elbows while deadlifting transfer load into the biceps. Second set (right over left under) felt a million times better. Final set was with straps, because lazy.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Training -- Tue 10/09/2013
Band Pull Apart/Rotator Cuff/Lower Traps
2x15xOrange/10xOrange/15"x1.25kg
Bench Press
10x20kg
5x40kg
3x10x60kg
L-Pull Up/Board Press
6xBW/10x65kg
6xBW/8x65kg
L-Pull Up/Incline DBBP
2x6xBW/10x17.5kg
One Arm Cable Row
4x12x10kg -- Super hardcore training at this point. Does actually cause a pretty potent lat contraction.
2x15xOrange/10xOrange/15"x1.25kg
Bench Press
10x20kg
5x40kg
3x10x60kg
L-Pull Up/Board Press
6xBW/10x65kg
6xBW/8x65kg
L-Pull Up/Incline DBBP
2x6xBW/10x17.5kg
One Arm Cable Row
4x12x10kg -- Super hardcore training at this point. Does actually cause a pretty potent lat contraction.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Training -- Mon 09/09/2013
Squats
10xBW
10x20kg
5x60kg
5x85kg
2x10x105kg -- I decided it's time to put the belt back on. It felt weird wearing it again, and it felt too tight, so I unscrewed it and loosened it off a notch.
1x105kg -- And now the belt was too loose, and jabbing into skin folds at my side. My body might be telling me something.
7x105kg
Bulgarian Split Squat
3x6x10kg
RDL/Calf Raise
3x10x65kg/10x260lb
GHR/Calf Raise
5xGreen/10x260lb
2x7xGreen/10x260lb
10xBW
10x20kg
5x60kg
5x85kg
2x10x105kg -- I decided it's time to put the belt back on. It felt weird wearing it again, and it felt too tight, so I unscrewed it and loosened it off a notch.
1x105kg -- And now the belt was too loose, and jabbing into skin folds at my side. My body might be telling me something.
7x105kg
Bulgarian Split Squat
3x6x10kg
RDL/Calf Raise
3x10x65kg/10x260lb
GHR/Calf Raise
5xGreen/10x260lb
2x7xGreen/10x260lb
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Training -- Sat 07/09/2013
Band Pull Apart/Rotator Cuff/Lower Traps
2x15xOrange/12xOrange/15secx1.25kg
Bench Press
10x20kg
5x40kg
3x10x57.5kg
L-Pull Up/CGBP
2x6xBW/10x40kg
L-Pull Up/OHP
6xBW/9x25kg
6xBW/10x20kg -- It's officially been too long since I've trained OHP.
Cable Row
4x10x50kg
After training, I went and voted in the federal election. I went below the line on the white ballot paper, so I apologise in advance to Australia when we wake up tomorrow in a nuclear wasteland.
2x15xOrange/12xOrange/15secx1.25kg
Bench Press
10x20kg
5x40kg
3x10x57.5kg
L-Pull Up/CGBP
2x6xBW/10x40kg
L-Pull Up/OHP
6xBW/9x25kg
6xBW/10x20kg -- It's officially been too long since I've trained OHP.
Cable Row
4x10x50kg
After training, I went and voted in the federal election. I went below the line on the white ballot paper, so I apologise in advance to Australia when we wake up tomorrow in a nuclear wasteland.
Friday, September 6, 2013
Training -- Thur 05/09/2013
High Bar Squats
10xBW
10x20kg
5x60kg
3x10x85kg -- It's funny the difference between the body and the eye, although I'm not sure how much of that is actually a disconnect, and how much is just training the eyes to spot errors. I was told that my technique looked good. Here's how it felt:
3x5x85kg -- First set felt really tight in the right lat and loose in the left. I may have positioned the bar or my hands wrong. Later sets felt better.
Deadlift
10x60kg
3x10x110kg -- First set started with DOH grip. About halfway through I switched to hook grip. Towards the end I switched to mixed grip. Second set was all left over/right under; third set was allright over/left under.
Snatch-Grip Deadlift/Calf Raise
2x6x65kg/12x260lb -- I was going to do rack pulls today. Based on time and generally feeling spent (as demonstrated by my lacklustre SGDLs: 2x6 at what I ought to have been able to do for sets of 10 after rack pulls), I opted out of that.
10xBW
10x20kg
5x60kg
3x10x85kg -- It's funny the difference between the body and the eye, although I'm not sure how much of that is actually a disconnect, and how much is just training the eyes to spot errors. I was told that my technique looked good. Here's how it felt:
- Inconsistent depth
- Inconsistent loading over the feet
- Inconsistent loading from side to side, frequently feeling like only one side is doing the work, then overcorrecting to feel like the other side is doing all the work
- Torso collapsing forwards or hips rising too fast for the torso on the way up
- One side coming up faster than the other
- Rotating throughout the movement
- Chest not up nearly enough
3x5x85kg -- First set felt really tight in the right lat and loose in the left. I may have positioned the bar or my hands wrong. Later sets felt better.
Deadlift
10x60kg
3x10x110kg -- First set started with DOH grip. About halfway through I switched to hook grip. Towards the end I switched to mixed grip. Second set was all left over/right under; third set was allright over/left under.
Snatch-Grip Deadlift/Calf Raise
2x6x65kg/12x260lb -- I was going to do rack pulls today. Based on time and generally feeling spent (as demonstrated by my lacklustre SGDLs: 2x6 at what I ought to have been able to do for sets of 10 after rack pulls), I opted out of that.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Training -- Tue 03/09/2013
Band Pull Apart/Rotator Cuff/Lower Traps
2x15xOrange/10xOrange/15secx1.25kg
Bench Press
10x20kg
5x40kg
3x10x55kg
L-Pull Up/Board Press
2x6xBW/10x60kg
L-Pull Up/Incline DBBP
2x6xBW/10x17.5kg
Cable Row
3x12x50kg
10+2x50kg -- Rest-pause at the end
2x15xOrange/10xOrange/15secx1.25kg
Bench Press
10x20kg
5x40kg
3x10x55kg
L-Pull Up/Board Press
2x6xBW/10x60kg
L-Pull Up/Incline DBBP
2x6xBW/10x17.5kg
Cable Row
3x12x50kg
10+2x50kg -- Rest-pause at the end
Monday, September 2, 2013
Training -- Mon 02/09/2013
Squats
10xBW
10x20kg
5x60kg
5x80kg
3x10x100kg -- Feels good achieving that without a belt, although I rested for about an hour between sets, and I'm trying not to do that at this stage in training. I did 1 partial squat at 110kg, but didn't feel right doing it, so immediately reracked and moved on.
RDL/Calf Raise
3x10x60kg/10x240lb
GHR/Calf Raise
3x6xGreen/10x240lb
10xBW
10x20kg
5x60kg
5x80kg
3x10x100kg -- Feels good achieving that without a belt, although I rested for about an hour between sets, and I'm trying not to do that at this stage in training. I did 1 partial squat at 110kg, but didn't feel right doing it, so immediately reracked and moved on.
RDL/Calf Raise
3x10x60kg/10x240lb
GHR/Calf Raise
3x6xGreen/10x240lb
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)