on gyming it up 6

I never did finish this did I? The saga continues...

Our culture has created certain ideals for each of us to live up to. There exists for men a certain ideal image not in some metaphysical realm but in the world of the social. Call it a Social Form, if you will. Now unlike Plato’s forms these particular ideals are subject to change over time, much like language. The antecedents of the ideal Social Form for men were given voice during the Enlightenment period. Human well being (health) and incredibly optimistic views about our abilities to manipulate nature (power, some might say hubris) have lead to the culturally conditioned Social Form that visually confirms to us whether or not a given man is in possession of these attributes. A toned (fatless) body with generous muscle definition denotes manliness evoking a sense of power, vitality and well being; this is the Enlightenment reified.

Our culture is saturated with signs which give birth to the Social Form. As this composite model of what is desirable becomes ingrained in the value system of a society, we can decide whether or not to conform to the form presented. That is, we may attempt to simulate the image. The images are everywhere we see them on bill boards, and advertisements showing us what the epitome of manliness looks like. The cultural theorist Baudrillard applies an interesting interpretation to the concept of simulation. At its most advanced level simulations no longer duplicate reality they replace it. Early civilizations attempted to reproduce scenes from nature, as technology advanced more elaborate signs and artifacts became possible. The ideal male body seen in this light is a simulacra, when one attempts to simulate its Social Form a piece of reality is not being reproduced but a new object that is created replaces the former figment of reality. We now have entered the hyper-real, the real that is more real than real, the manly that is more manly than manly.

This is me re-enforcing the stereotype:

 (except I can't remember what I've done at the gym these past few weeks so the following is an approximate)

bench 87.5/2*8,4

chins, dead hang (me)/3*8

seated row 65/3*10 

front squat 90/3*5

I have found that training in-season is exceptionally more difficult than the off-season. It hurts. It really does.

the end of an era

Yes it's true, I'm afraid to say. I'm too busy to maintain heaps and heaps of blogs, so with great sadness I bid a fond farewell to iLoren. You we're always there for me you little ripper. On to bigger and better things then eh. Everything that would have been posted there will now be here yada yada yada. I will still document the unlikely tale of my journey from ignoble slumdog wretch to impossibly fantastic geriatric league guy, until I change my mind and decide to do something else again.

guess what's back? The ever-lovable work out log, for your reading pleasure:

we're in season, it's maintenance time
front squat 100*5
a2g back squat 120*3,2
hang clean 60*5
clean 60*7,70*2 trickier than it looks, and it looks pretty dang tricky

Bonus league update
I curse the heavens. I didn't score again. In other news we won 38-10 against Burleigh. Hurrah.

The Dark Knight Returns

Where have I been? All over the place. He returns in strange ways quantifiable only in diminutive increments immeasurable by common means. Loren walks in the door and the gym stops mainly because it never moves. According to relativity there are no objects at rest. NZ is not the wondrous place I thought it was. Not in Hamilton. Among like minded people, he likes to think different. We all do. That way we're always alone together. The best of all possible worlds is inaccessible only when you don't DYI. So, if you want a job done right there's only one option, alternatively you could outsource; I really can't be bothered living off the land. He moon walks to the bench, Michael Jackson never had it this good. Neverland never really happened, but I did. Home at last.

workout>>

front squat 60*30
OHP 60 /3*3;40*10
seated row 84/3*10
lat pulldown 54*9,68*9,61*9
hang snatch 40/3*5

volume: 7507kgs

a christmas workout

After finishing work for good Friday last week, I used my new found free time to do some crazy things like waking up at 5 in the morning to play basketball for 2-3 hours at a time. This takes some getting used to. My legs are totally drained, yet I still feel compelled to squat like I'm fighting to hold onto an abandoned house. Sometimes it feels like a loosing battle. Next time you're completely pasted try doing as many front squats as you can (full depth) with 60kgs/132lbs. It doesn't seem like much weight, but it wears you down fast when you're used to low rep ranges. I was disappointed to find I could only do 26 before wussing out.

bench 50*38,16,21
front squat 60*26,10,10

the time is nigh at hand

My younger years included little in the way of physical activity (or any other type of activity for that matter). I was born under a small bridge in the south of Auckland and my parents tell me that I'm at least half troll. Do you have any idea what kind of impact that type of lineage has on a youngster? For a significant portion of my life I was forced into hiding as to conceal my monstrous awesomeness from the rest of humanity. Moving around during the day proved difficult as direct sunlight had the unfortunate of effect of transforming me into stone. Damn that hole in the ozone layer. During the day if I needed to venture out of the house in order to procure appropriate sized morsels of sustenance, I was forced to wear a long coat and hat similar to that of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles of the early nineties, except that I was a child and the only thing retailers stocked in my size were those shiny yellow plastic raincoats (with hat). Looking back it was a regrettable fashion choice, but these items helped protect my delicate skin from the suns harmful rays. I owe them a huge debt of gratitude. I could go on, but suffice it to say that my mobility was limited (troll anatomy takes a lot of getting used to), my will blase, and my surroundings unhelpful for my over all physical development.

As it was I eventually grew up. My aversion or more correctly my extreme allergic reaction to sunlight faded. My night prowls for the dead carcasses of creatures, which shall remain unnamed here, payed off in the form of extreme physical prowess, a recently developed habit of lifting large metal objects could have also been a contributing factor. So, I decided it was time to unleash the beast for good, but not here in New Zealand, a troll is never accepted in his own country, except by unscrupulous means. I'll conduct an experiment in Australia with myself as the test subject: playing rugby league in the number one rugby league nation on the planet (NZ's world cup victory notwithstanding). The most difficult thing will be that I may have to start up another blog (again) to cover it. I'm not so sure how successful a blog that covers randomly assorted topics (as this one is presently constituted) can be numbers wise. Going niche seems to be the way of the world now days. People who are interested in writing are probably uninterested in my sporting pursuits. Then again this is my blog and the content is up to me. People may not care what I did for my last workout, but here it is anyway (hey, I warned you I was half-troll):

OHP 50/3*8
Chins me/3*8
Power snatch 60/10*1
front squat 60/2*10

on gyming it up 3

here's part 2

Health, the converse of the above afflictions which are commonly incumbent on the human condition, is therefore a worthy pursuit and a natural consequence of the tenets espoused by Enlightenment thinkers. Unfortunately doctors, the high priests of modernity[1], have not been wholly successful in actualizing this Enlightenment ideal. Great strides have been taken in the elimination of many diseases to be sure, but the terrifying spectre of death still remains. Short of confronting this fact head on as Camus suggests[2], many men have been content to make the most of what time they have by pursuing this concept of health at gyms as a form of recreation. We certainly have other apparatus’ at our disposal to deal with the stark reality of our mortality (drugs come to mind), but they are more or less distractions, whereas, gym going is one particular activity that continues the spirit of the Enlightenment as far as taming nature is concerned. It may be of small consolation, but a healthy life style is the next best thing that we have to a cure for death. The enlightenment ideal is still alive then, but now modified; men, generally speaking, seek to live for as long as possible in the most ideal way possible. “If you haven’t got your health you haven’t got anything[3].”

What's this, a work out?
front squat 20*10,40*30,20,10
power C&J 60*3,100
power snatch 60*3, 70


[1] Cook: Medicine in Advanced Modernity, p 10
[2] Camus: The Myth of Sisyphus, p 3
[3] Reiner: The Princess Bride

Anything is possible!

Every time I watch this clip, I shed a tear and I'm inspired all over agian. Kevin Garnett, thank you, thank you for saying what nobody else could!

3/4 Chins me/2*8

front squat 60/2*10; 8o*10

hang snatch 40*5

power snatch 60/2*3

volume: 4080kgs