Strength in Interesting Places IV: I'm too sexy for these logs

[JauntyAngle]

Strength in Interesting Places IV: I'm too sexy for these logs

About me

Boring stuff: I am 40, from Britain, male, daughter from a failed marriage etc.

More interesting stuff: I work as a "development consultant", which is like being a management consultant except that my work is in developing and conflict-affected countries. Over the last 10 years, my work has taken me to Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, Turkey, Peru, Bolivia and Colombia. In the last 6 years 90% of my work has been in Afghanistan, but I have recently moved to working more or less full time on a project in Syria, basd in Turkey.

People like pictures, so here are some pictures that I have taken over the years:

When I am not working, I live in Thailand.


My approach to strength and conditioning

So, I don't really follow a proper strength or conditioning programme. It's partly because of my stupid level of injuries- after my first year of trying to do this properly I haven't been able to train longer than 2-3 months without experiencing some sort of major injury-related setback. I've torn my rotator cuff twice, torn ACL and PCL in one knee and damaged the meniscuses in both, I've had tendinitis in the shoulder, hamstrings, triceps and knee, and I've sprained my SI joint badly enough so that I couldn't walk for 2-3 three days on four occasions. I've also put my neck out twice. It's also because of my work and lifestyle- particularly over the last year or so I have been working only 3-5 weeks in any one place, and then continually moving around for the next couple of weeks, staying in one place anything from 2-5 nights as I try to juggle commitment to my daughter, love interests, life in my home town and family and friends in the UK. On top of that movement schedule, there's the fact many of the places I go to don't have proper gyms (or if they do, I simply don't have time to find one in a 1-4 day stay). So these days my goals are simply to stay active and healthy, and to keep a good, balanced range of physical abilities.

I do try to do something though. This is roughly my approach:

Overall
- I am trying to work in blocks of anything from 6-12 weeks where I will have a priority- conditioning, weight loss, strength, jaktness, etc. This is partly so I can be realistic about other things and avoid overuse injuries.
- For similar reasons, I am trying to get a good variety in my work and not to repeat the same exercise too frequently

Lifting
- For weights, more and more I prefer a "one main lift plus assistance" template. That can be done in lots of different ways- e.g. two squat days and two bench days a week, one day for each of the "big four", one squat day and one bench day a week.
- When lifting, I've started to like doing a shit-tonne of reps in the 75%-85% range, in sets of 2-5, and then all my assistance done a bit more like a bodybuilder (5 sets of 8-12). I also find it more logical to organize my assistance more or less by body part. So on deadlift day I might to loads of assistance for my back, on overhead press day I might do loads of assistance for my shoulders.
- I have a basic grasp of Oly technique as a result of taking a course with proper coaches and then working on it for a while afterwards. But it hits my knees exactly where they are messed up at the moment, so I haven't been doing much for a while.

Conditioning
- I mainly do Long Slow Distance (LSD)/Low Intensity Steady State (LISS). That's because I am not training for a sport and one of my main interests is keeping a low RHR, for health benefits.
- I sometimes do anaerobic stuff- either Burpee intervals or a Ross-style circuit (the April Conditioning Challenge) mainly for variety.
- I really like running if I can run outside in nice environment. In the past I have spent several periods trying to get my 5K time down, and in general I really like that as a way to organize your running, as it requires you to combine longer/slower runs, speed work and timed 5ks. But it has definitely contributed to my knee problems, so at least for a while I am not going to be doing too much running.

 

[JauntyAngle]

I've had some dark times but not in a way that I can attribute directly to a place I've lived. That's got to feel strange going back, particularly after so long; hopefully it ends up being cathartic in some way?

It wasn't the place as such. After my masters I started a PhD, got one term into it and then had to take a break because the depression was getting too much. I ended up taking about 9 months off studying, but stayed there. And it was a great time. Then I made the mistake of going back into it and trying to finish my PhD, and the depression came back like magic. It's weird, but it was something about academic studies in that environment.

Last night there was a drinks reception, which was actually my old college. It was funny, being back there just seemed normal somehow. Possibly because I'd had a beer.

Anyway, back at Heathrow now, about to get on the plane.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Gaziantep, Turkey

Had a very short period of time, so I just did a mini-session:

• Front squat. 4 doubles @95kg
• Bench. 4 doubles @85kg

The front squat was a lot harder than last time, first rep very slow and second rep was a full grind. I don't recall the same weight being so much harder just 3-4 days after doing it the first time. Maybe just not completely recovered from last time- I have been slacking off a lot and perhaps my capacity is not what it should be. The bench was okay though.

Barely counts as a session, but I am travelling for the next few days- going to Istanbul and then Amman. I won't get to the gym until Sunday, and if I hadn't been able to go today it would have been another week off. This will keep me going until Sunday and hopefully I can do a slightly better session then.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Gaziantep, Turkey- 9 December

Disappointing fall off in consistency over the last 5 days or so.

At the weekend I just got too drunk and was too hung over to do anything. Then the days on other side, various stuff came up. Social things. Feeling crap. Chatting up girls over the internet ahead of my return to Thailand. (Actually, the last wasn't disappointing, it's a valid and important use of my time.)

Today I managed to get my ass in gear though. Just a very very short session, but it happened and that is the main thing:

• Front squats. 5 sets of 3 @95kg.
• Abzors. Ab wheel- 15, 10.

This was definitely several kinds of PR for me- a new 3RM, and I sets across with it too. The quality of them wasn't brilliant, but I did them. If I repeat this, I am sure I will get it a lot better. This has come late, it should have been ages ago, but I am still pretty happy. Tomorrow I have to get my ass in gear again and go do some upper stuff.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Official log music

The following three songs are the official songs of this log/my life. In a figurative but also in an almost-literal sense, they are playing continuously in this log. It would be helpful if, before reading or posting in this log, you click on one of them, and have it playing in the background.

 

[JauntyAngle]

On 09/05 you mention getting drunk bit dont mention on what or how much. Is it time to pull the plug on this log? Do you even care anymore

It's so true. I apologize, I will do better.

That night I drank a bottle of Italian red, then had a glass of someone else's. Then two cans of Stella.

 

[MilkManUK]

Better than nothing Jaunty. Hope your travels go OK.

 

[JauntyAngle]

December 12th, Gaziantep- Homeward bound- woo-hoo!!

Ahhhh yisss. My 8 weeks, or possibly 7 weeks, is over and I am headed back today.

I have a long layover because of the stupid connections- arrive in Istanbul at around 1pm and have to wait there about 6 hours. But I can use the lounge, and there is also a very solid burger place in the airport. I can do some work and a couple of other things. Tomorrow I am meeting my lady-friend, then a free day in BKK before my friends arrive.

I've had some sort of sinus infection over the last couple of days and I didn't manage to get into the gym on Thursday, but I did managed to squeeze in a very short trip yesterday. I was conscious that I am not going to be in the gym much over the next month and so wanted to do whatever I could:

• Jerks. 4 sets of 2 @53kg.
• Bench. 5 sets of 3 @80kg
• Reverse fly iso-holds. Lots, between sets.
• Chins. Ladder to 6 and back down, with very short rest.

Bench was the new technique again- chest up, but otherwise fairly flat and with a belt. It just feels more stable and is definitely much easier on my back.

 

[MilkManUK]

Januty, You're My Mate and all, but this log title is Deeply Dippy.

 

[monkeyrhythm]

It wasn't the place as such.

I guess I meant associate rather than attribute.


Anyway, I hope the solid half a day of travelling 'home' isn't too painful!

 

[JauntyAngle]

Amman, Jordan- 18th November

Been a long week.

On Thursday night and Friday night I was staying in Istanbul. I was staying in a very typical Istanbul hotel in Karakoy. Multi-story building with very very small rooms but high ceilings, with a lot of character. Not great facilities at all but the location was awesome. Surrounded by restaurants and bars, it's actually the first time I've been to Istanbul and it made me want to come back. I found some really great back streets with funky bars and a couple of really swanky wine bars stacked to the rafters with mostly Turkish wines. So I will be coming up to Istanbul more. I guess I will have to find a gym I can get a day pass for, or stay in a hotel that has one.

Saturday I travelled to Amman, arrived just before dinner time and met one of my colleagues for dinner. Well, technically, I am her boss but we have a good relationship. Had a pretty decent steak and I nice South African sauvignon blanc.

Work has been pleasant because I have a good relationship with the team in Amman. Our project manager (I am the deputy) tends to use her visits to whip them into shape, whereas I tend to use my visits to get them to understand the point of what they are doing and given them a chance to have some input into new developments in the project. So they unsurprisingly like my visits more than hers. Being the "good cop" in the "good cop/bad cop" game is great. There have been some slight downsides, for example, I had to tell someone we were kind of letting him go, but was at least able to soften the blow by giving him an alternative assignment for two months which could potentially lead to other, better work with my project or another of my company's projects.

I am staying in a massive apartment in an old part of Jordan. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms and an extra toilet, separate dining room and living area. It's pretty damn rickety- the water pressure is virtually non-existent and the heating takes about a day to warm up. I actually can't quite figure out how to consistently make hot water work in the two bathrooms. In some of the rooms, none of the plug sockets work. I have the option to move to another apartment (I stayed in a different one the first night), but those are tiny 1-beds which have almost no space to cook or cupboard space for cooking equipment. This place has a massive kitchen and loads of equipment. It's also in walking distance to the gym I use. So... right now I have stopped not showering here, just washing quickly in the morning with the one set of taps that produces hot water, then showering at the gym. This is proving an extremely effective method for getting me to the gym in the evening when I don't feel like it. So there is something to be said for living in a crappy giant apartment where nothing works.

Gym- 17 November

• Front squats. 3 sets of 2 @90kg, 3 sets of 3 @80kg
• Bench. 5 sets of 2 @85kg
• Assistance. Chin and dip ladder, 2 sets

Gym- 18 November

• Stationary bike. 50 minutes.
• Assistance. Chin and dip ladder, 2 sets; back extensions, TRX rows, abs

 

[MIDMOBOX]

Agreed. Overall, their performance is fairly satisfactory. Being such a romantic, I tell them as much during their periodic evaluations.

This is solid posting

 

[JauntyAngle]

Januty, You're My Mate and all, but this log title is Deeply Dippy.

Milkman, I just have to Stand Up for this log title. If I get criticism, I will just Stick It Out. But as I see it, the only way is Up.

 

[JauntyAngle]

I guess I meant associate rather than attribute.


Anyway, I hope the solid half a day of travelling 'home' isn't too painful!

Thanks! It's not *too* bad. Heathrow to Istanbul is only three and a half hours. Then Istanbul to Gaziantep is only one and a half hours. Although such is the sucky nature of travel that I will in fact not get back to my apartment until midnight. So it's actually quite a bit more than a half a day- even allowing the time difference it is about 14 hours door-to-door.

To add to the insanity, on Friday I have to go to Istanbul and come back the same day.

 

[dexbot]

Bah, you're so sexy....!

Also good work on the front quad press and the chest press.

 

[MIDMOBOX]

I'd discuss the possible role of low cost turbo prop attack aircraft verus the much higher cost jets being in theatre now but of course i know nothing about any of all that and you just do money stuff.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Quick lifting catchup

Saturday: Bench day
Bench: 5 sets of 2@75kg; 5 sets of 3@70kg; 4 sets of 5@65kg
Upper back; 10 sets of 5 DB rows @38kg and 3 circuits of reverse fly isoholds (superset with bench)
Pump circuit Curls, tricep extensions and cable crossovers, random weight, 3x10 of each

Sunday: Squat day
Front squats: 5 sets of 5 @50kg
Trunk stuff: Back extensions and plank, 5 sets (superset into squats)
DB luges: 5 sets of 8 w/20kg DBs
Chins: 5 sets of with bodyweight (superset with lunges)
Pump circuit: Barbell hip thrusts, hamstring curls and calf raises, random weight, 3x10 of each
Bonus pump: Curls and flyes

Notes
I joined a gym here in Turkey. I had a couple of light reminder sessions, and then this weekend did something a little more like what I intend to do over the medium term. Since I have hardly been in the gym for the last 5 weeks, it was all very light even by me incredibly low standards. Few comments
- Bench is starting to feel normal, so with some consistency the weight should move back up to where it starts getting tough (basically, everything about 10kg more than it is at the moment)
- Squat I am going super slowly because I am just getting back into it after 3 months off to rest my knee. I am planning to add weight or reps really really slowly, I doubt I will even be doing this with much more than 60kg 2 months from now. Also, I am doing these in a very measured way, not accelerating into the hole- seems much better for my knees.
- I'm cleaning to squat and also to press, which is fun. The movement to the waist is probably okay, but I need to finish my pull better. I am very much one of these "thinks getting under the bar faster means going earlier/not properly pulling" types. Also, elbows up faster- got to remember that the elbows should be like the partner of the feet- just as you stomp, the elbows should be coming up explosively.
- For all the assistance stuff, I am working up to a target of 50 reps/5x10 each session. But that can be pretty DOMS-tastic if you're not ready for it, so I just did 3x10 this time. Should be able to managed 5x10 on everything next time.

I need to do some sort of conditioning tomorrow. It is tempting to go for a run in the park, but the wiser thing would be to do something low impact since I am just reintroducing squatting and my knees probably need a rest.

 

[MIDMOBOX]

It's so true. I apologize, I will do better.

That night I drank a bottle of Italian red, then had a glass of someone else's. Then two cans of Stella.

I accept your apology for letting down basically everyone.

I figure if i dont keep you accountable on here no one else will. Theres so few long term memebers left with active logs. Mine is actually about my physical life as ive pretty much removed my life life from it over the last few years.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Bah, you're so sexy....!

Also good work on the front quad press and the chest press.

Thanks! I am thinking of moving to flat bench (without an arch) for a while to emphasise the chest even more. I can't think of a way to make front squats emphasise my chest more, though.

 

[JauntyAngle]

This is solid posting

I am hoping to evaluate a new candidate in the coming weeks. I believe in providing opportunities to a reasonably wide group. And I believe that incumbents should be subjected to competition- without competition and the possibility of losing their position they can become lazy and unmotivated.

 

[MIDMOBOX]

Less talky talky.

More asians

 

[JauntyAngle]

Turkey- gym and Istanbul trip

Gym- Thursday session

• Front squats. 6 sets of 2 @90kg, 3 sets of 3 @85kg, 3 sets of 3 @80kg
• Overhead press. 45kg- 8, 6, 5. 40kg- 5, 5
• Messin' around. Some burnout bench just with the bar, some chins

It was just really tired- too much travel, not enough sleep. Managed to battle through the squats. Felt as much mental as physical- lately when the bar slows down I feel really comfortable bout pushing through, like it's a fun challenge. This workout, it was just a drag. I was just sort of checked out, so I half-assed the press and everything else.

At least I did what I planned with the front squats.


Pain in the ass trip to Istanbul

So like an idiot I agreed to go up to Istanbul for a meeting with two of our corporate people on Friday- even though it was a weekend for us but not for them. It was a pretty horrible trip.

Left the apartment at 7.30AM, and the fun started with the plane being delayed an hour and a half. The trip from the airport was okay, but it didn't leave us the time for the good lunch we were promised. Pretty much had a two hour meeting and then had to head back to the airport. However, the government had declared a very long weekend and so what should have been about an hour tool... three hours, twenty minutes. When we got to the airport we had of course missed our flight. The remaining flights to Gaziantep that evening were fully booked, and the only options the next day were 5:00AM from the other airport in Istanbul, 6.30pm or 8.30pm.

So we plumped for the 5:00AM, but had to get new tickets. Booked rooms at the airport hotel, and had to wake up a 2.15AM in order to take the 45 minute trip over to the other airport. Probably slept about an hour. The morning trip went off without a hitch, but still... I wouldn't like this at the best of times, but with my trip to Oxford this week, back from Afghanistan last week and the general crazy amount of travel I was just really worn down. And so this went particularly badly.

 

[dexbot]

Thanks! I am thinking of moving to flat bench (without an arch) for a while to emphasise the chest even more. I can't think of a way to make front squats emphasise my chest more, though.

You know, I think it was Mark Bell who taught me to stay tight, no matter what you do, bench press, squat or whatever. And by "taught me" I mean I watched some of his videos. But I honestly think flexing your upper body during the squat really helps. I noticed the difference during the benchpress, when I concentrated on pushing my knees out. It's weird when you think about it, but it really helps.

On another note, how do you like the people from Istanbul? It looks like a nice place to spend some time from what I can tell through TV and your writings, pretty much an open minded place and culture.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Less talky talky.

More asians

Good point.

My top 5 Asians from my last log:

Number 5:

Spoiler

Number 4:

Spoiler

Number 3:

Spoiler

Number 2:

Spoiler

Number 1:

Spoiler

 

[JauntyAngle]

Gaziantep, Turkey- Monday

• Front squats. Recovery- worked up to a couple of doubles @70kg
• Split squats. 3 sets of 8 @55kg, 2 sets of 8 @50kg.
• Bench. 6 sets of 4 @80kg, 5 sets of 8 @65kg
• Power cleans. Worked up to 10-12 @65kg
• Assistance. Curls.

Been pretty sick since coming back from Istanbul. Yesterday was a bit more perky and so was able to get off my ass. I wanted to do split squats as I'd done a couple of sessions of front squats. As is my way, I warmed up with a bunch of split squats and front squats. The split squats themselves were horrible and grueling. I am sure they shouldn't be so hard. I couldn't quite finish sets across at 55kg, which i think I did do before in Kabul. D'oh.

Bench was okay. It would have been better if frequency hadn't fallen off a bit with all the travel, but it was okay. As I am not going anywhere for a couple of weeks I should be able to improve that a bit. Power cleans were pretty nice. I haven't been practicing them much as I think they might not be great for my back. but still I feel a bit stronger than before.

 

[JauntyAngle]

You know, I think it was Mark Bell who taught me to stay tight, no matter what you do, bench press, squat or whatever. And by "taught me" I mean I watched some of his videos. But I honestly think flexing your upper body during the squat really helps. I noticed the difference during the benchpress, when I concentrated on pushing my knees out. It's weird when you think about it, but it really helps.

The longer I do this, the less I feel I know about it... but at the moment it seems like that my lower back is mobile enough so that I can quite an extreme arch, or at least more arch than is needed. And when I get into that really arched position and then move weight, my back doesn't like it. So I am going more for "straight or mild arch" while trying to keep everything tight, if there is such a thing.

When I was back squatting I would try to pull everything in my back together, and generally try to make the back of my torso feel like it had the feel of a lamp-post or a concrete block or something like that. But, and here I venture back into areas I have no confidence about any more, it doesn't feel as necessary doing front squats. I think it's hard if not impossible to retract and depress your scapula when you have the front squat, and I don't feel any pressure to bend my back when front squatting- it's more about controlling the overall angle of the torso.

This being said, I think there is one thing we can agree on: sexiness is all.

On another note, how do you like the people from Istanbul? It looks like a nice place to spend some time from what I can tell through TV and your writings, pretty much an open minded place and culture.

I find Istanbul and its people to be pretty cool. Turkey is sort of half Europe and half Asia/Middle East, but at least in parts of Istanbul I go to they seem more like the European types- more European, more liberal, more cosmopolitan. The city itself is full of interesting night life and culture, and there seem to be tonnes of young artists, writers, musicians and so on. There are tonnes of things I haven't done yet- been on a ferry down the Bosphorus, gone to see a football game, seen some of the famous sites- so it seems premature to judge. But overall it seems like an awesome city. And I know a lot of well-travelled people who say it is one of their favourite places, one of "the world's great cities" and similar things.

 

[Flash_Monsta]

I would definatly take number 4 out for a nice romantic meal. Treat her nice, compliment her facial aesthetics. And when the time is right, after 2-3 dates and with her Daddys permission, take her back to mine and give her a night of uninterrupted disappointment in the sack.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Eye Candy

Haven't done this for ages- so here's some eye candy. Fit women!

 

[dexbot]

The longer I do this, the less I feel I know about it... but at the moment it seems like that my lower back is mobile enough so that I can quite an extreme arch, or at least more arch than is needed. And when I get into that really arched position and then move weight, my back doesn't like it. So I am going more for "straight or mild arch" while trying to keep everything tight, if there is such a thing.

Same here. The longer I train, I come to the conclusion it's 80% the brain that makes a good or a bad lift. Not so much the cues to keep in mind, but the muscle-mind connection (duh) which is the most important thing.

I don't think you have to arch in the benchpress but have to find out what works best for you. Arching has its place and I arch the hell out because reducing the ROM by 1 cm works wonders for my BP.
But theres some great pressers who don't care about arching really.

When I was back squatting I would try to pull everything in my back together, and generally try to make the back of my torso feel like it had the feel of a lamp-post or a concrete block or something like that. But, and here I venture back into areas I have no confidence about any more, it doesn't feel as necessary doing front squats. I think it's hard if not impossible to retract and depress your scapula when you have the front squat, and I don't feel any pressure to bend my back when front squatting- it's more about controlling the overall angle of the torso.

For squatting I found that setting the bar low (but not too low) and not leaning to much forward. It's kind of a Zen thing, because you do a squat 1000 times and 1-10
of them feel perfect. I feel front squats are easier technique wise because you don't have so much varieties with the back angle. You just stay upright.

This being said, I think there is one thing we can agree on: sexiness is all.

Not to dramatize it but sexiness is kinda the alfa and the amiga amirite??

I find Istanbul and its people to be pretty cool. Turkey is sort of half Europe and half Asia/Middle East, but at least in parts of Istanbul I go to they seem more like the European types- more European, more liberal, more cosmopolitan. The city itself is full of interesting night life and culture, and there seem to be tonnes of young artists, writers, musicians and so on. There are tonnes of things I haven't done yet- been on a ferry down the Bosphorus, gone to see a football game, seen some of the famous sites- so it seems premature to judge. But overall it seems like an awesome city. And I know a lot of well-travelled people who say it is one of their favourite places, one of "the world's great cities" and similar things.

Man I hope you enjoy that side of your job. You seem to be abroad most of your time, is homesickness a thing for you? And how do you deal with all the foreigners there
Oh and I think the Turks have this oiled up wrestling thing and I'm not talking about hot chicks who wrestle each other...

 

[JauntyAngle]

I would definatly take number 4 out for a nice romantic meal. Treat her nice, compliment her facial aesthetics. And when the time is right, after 2-3 dates and with her Daddys permission, take her back to mine and give her a night of uninterrupted disappointment in the sack.

Pfft.

Everyone knows when a girl says "Is that it?", they really mean, "Ah yeah, baby, that's it". It's just, you know, because of the passion and the incredible performance, they're too tired to remember all the words, and to use the right ones.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Turkey- Gaziantep: Thursday 24th September

• Front squats. 5 sets of 3 @90kg
• Overhead press. 5 sets of 5 @45kg, 5 sets of 6 @45kg
• Chins and pullups. wide grip pullups- 6 sets of 3, chins, 5 sets of 5
• Clean high pulls. Worked up to 10 reps at 75kg
• Dat pump. "Burnout" sets of bench (2), curls, tricep extensions

What a difference some rest and recovery makes. The rough progression I have in my head calls for me to be able to five triples at the top set weight by round about now in the month. It seemed like a bit of a jump as six sets of two felt minging last time. But this was really do-able. Fun even. I was really satisfied with these as 85kg was my long standing PR until a couple of months ago- that feels pretty far in the rear-view mirror. I would imagine I could fairly easily front squat 100kg if I wanted to right now, perhaps more. But I am content to keep building up slowly.

Overhead press did not feel awesome, I don't quite know why. But I did more or less what I wanted to, so I feel okay. Did chins and pullups between sets, including wide-grip pullups, which I have hardly ever done. They felt very uncomfortable so I didn't do many. Overall I really didn't push them. They were more just something to do between sets.

Clean high pulls were okay. I am making a bit of effort to up the weight as it feels like I have been fucking around in the 60s for age. It just feels like the right time. On the last rep, I took a pause at the knee for some reason and as a result got a much better sweep and hip pop. So I think I need to do more of that. I am feeling that I will stay with clean high pulls as the primary focus for a while. I'll practice turning the catch/turning them into power cleans every now and then.

Tried a fun way of doing "burnout" sets- taking the bar or some other light weight, trying to do five fast reps, taking a couple of breaths, then five more fast reps. Repeat until the bar won't move anymore. It actually takes more reps that I thought it would, but the effect was quite satisfying. Surprised how many reps I could do of bench and curls- I guess the speed gives you some sort of bounce/stretch reflex, which helps quite a bit.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Man I hope you enjoy that side of your job. You seem to be abroad most of your time, is homesickness a thing for you? And how do you deal with all the foreigners there

I miss Thailand a lot more than I miss the UK. Thailand has my daughter in it. And it is where I consider my home- when I go to the UK I feel like I am just visiting. With my friends and family it is a bit more complicated- I am an "out of sight, out of mind" person usually so if I don't see them for a while it doesn't really bother me. Overall I can handle it, although I wish I was back on a 6 weeks work/2 weeks off rotation and not 8 weeks/2 weeks. 8 weeks/2 weeks sucks.

Oh and I think the Turks have this oiled up wrestling thing and I'm not talking about hot chicks who wrestle each other...

Yeah, they do. Really manly men in leather trousers, oiled up and wrestling in fields. It is weird.

 

[JauntyAngle]

And for variety, let's have top 5 non-Asians from my logs to date:

Five

Spoiler

Four

Spoiler

Three

Spoiler

Two

Spoiler

One

Spoiler

 

[JauntyAngle]

Gaziantep, 24 September- Notes

So this is the rough programme I've been following for the front squat. The idea is to do two main squat days a week, and also do some recovery squats and split squats at some point in the week. It's a monthly progression, you have a top set weight for the month, which is going to be somewhere around 85%-90%. Going to write it down as "W" in what follows.

I don't really follow this exactly, but it's meant to be something like this:

Week 1, Day 1: 5 singles @W
Week 1, Day 2: 3 sets of 2 @W, 3 sets of 3 @ W-5kg
Week 2, Day 1: 5 sets of 2 @W, 5 sets of 3 @W-5kg
Week 2, Day 2: 8 sets of 2 @W, 3 sets of 3 @W-5kg, 3 sets of 3 @W-10kg
Week 3, Day 1: 2 sets of 3 @W, 2 sets of 3@W-5kg
Week 3, Day 2: 3 sets of 3 @W, 3 sets of 3 @W-5kg
Week 4, Day 1: 3 sets of 3 @W, 3 sets of 3@W-5kg, 3 sets of 3@W-10kg
Week 4, Day 2: 5 sets of 3 @W, 5 sets of 3@W-5kg, 5 sets of 3@W-10kg

Once you're done, you add 5kg to your top set weight (W) and restart.

It is actually pretty simple. You are trying to progress on the top set from 5 singles to 5 sets of 3, via doubles. You're also doing backoff volume, at 5kg and 10kg below your top set weight. You progress on that, but when you move from singles to doubles or doubles to triples, you back off on the volume of those (because you are a bit fried when you first add reps to the top set). Overall, you are building up from being able to do five singles at the working weight, do being able to do five sets of three, plus five sets of three at that weight minus 5kg and minus 10kg.

I've been really enjoying it, although some of the sessions take a long time.

Edit- with example numbers. Say 100kg is your top set. It's about 85%-90% for you. These are the lifts you do:

Week 1, Day 1: 5 singles @100kg
Week 1, Day 2: 3 sets of 2 @100kg, 3 sets of 3@ 95kg
Week 2, Day 1: 5 sets of 2 @100kg, 5 sets of 3@ 95kg
Week 2, Day 2: 8 sets of 2 @100kg, 3 sets of 3@ 95kg, 3 sets of 3 @ 90kg
Week 3, Day 1: 2 sets of 3 @100kg, 2 sets of 3@ 95kg
Week 3, Day 2: 3 sets of 3 @100kg, 3 sets of 3@ 95kg
Week 4, Day 1: 3 sets of 3 @100kg, 3 sets of 3@ 95kg, 3 sets of 3@ 90kg
Week 4, Day 2: 5 sets of 3 @100kg, 5 sets of 3@ 95kg, 5 sets of 3@ 90kg

 

[JauntyAngle]

Amman, Jordan- 20th of November

Last day of the week yesterday- like a lot of Muslim countries, they have Friday and Saturday off here. It was a pretty quiet day, I actually called it in early as I was pretty much done. The benefits of being the boss (the only people senior to me in the project are in Turkey or the UK).

I went to the gym and had a pretty quick session, and then went to the awesome restaurant round the corner. Had seared tuna to start and then their amazing burger. The patty is so soft it is almost like it has pâté in it. Probably too many glasses of wine were drunk as well. I got there to enjoy a goodly portion of happy hour, so didn't spend too much money.

Today was super quiet. Gym, went out to buy a few things for the apartment (extension cables and such things), made lunch, relaxed a while, went food shopping. A pretty darn quiet day.

19th November- Random Stuff

• Oly drills. Light cleans and jerks. Worked up to some complexes- power clean, jerk, back to the hang, hang power clean, another jerk. 5 of 'em, with 50kg. Not much weight, but I haven't done any Oly type stuff a little while, haven't done jerks for a few months and my back is still not loving police (although it has got time for the street). With all the warmups and so on it was probably about 40 minutes of work. Funny that.
• Bro time. Got my pump on- curls, tricep extensions, pec deck, and also some back extensions and TRX-rows.

20th November- Legs

• Front squats. I've lost a bit of ground, but these were not horrible- speed was okay and I buried them, I think: 5 singles @95kg, 5 doubles @90kg, 5 triples @85kg.
• Clean high pulls. Worked up to 5 sets of 2 @70kg.
• Assistance. More t-rex rows, back extensions, some abzors, some hamstring curls, some split squats.

Tomorrow I will be doing upper body work.

 

[calvus]

Very nice Jaunty!

 

[JauntyAngle]

Gaziantep- 25 September

• Conditioning. 40 mins on treadmill, 8.5kmph/3% incline.
• Other stuff. Chin ladder to 5 and back, dip ladder to 5 and back (very short rests)

Quite enjoyed the running. But I guess I didn't quite put one shoe on properly because after about 30 minutes I started to get chaffing, and I could tell I would get a blister if I went as long as I wanted to.

Afterwards some chins and dips. Went 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, with really short rests (just a few long, slow breaths). My arms got pretty tired despite the low volume. I think if I did 3-4 sets of these in a session it would have an interesting effect- as it is I suspect it's exactly enough to tire me out a bit but not actually stimulate any real progress.

 

[MIDMOBOX]

This log is losing steam.

 

[MilkManUK]

Number 5 on the non-Asian list makes me want to don't talk, just kiss.

 

[MIDMOBOX]

and what kind of shoe were these blister inducing menaces? Did these shoes also kick any retired nuns or steal any candy from small children? What about puppies, did these shoes injury any defenseless puppies?

 

[JauntyAngle]

This log is losing steam.

True. Let's start to get it back in track.

 

[miaou]

I'll have four and two to go, plz.


Good luck with the new log, J.

 

[JauntyAngle]

and what kind of shoe were these blister inducing menaces? Did these shoes also kick any retired nuns or steal any candy from small children? What about puppies, did these shoes injury any defenseless puppies?

Well, they were not INNOV-8, so the answer to questions 2, 3 and 4 are "almost certainly".

 

[dexbot]

Your girlfriends are quite attractive.

 

[Jake Pudenz]

Good point.

My top 5 Asians from my last log:

Number 3:

Spoiler

Ashanti is definitely black and not Asian.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Music

Awesome. Discovered some new music that I like- Nils Frahm. He is a "post-classical" guy like Max Richter and Olafur Arnalds who combine classical music with electronica and ambient, which is one of my favourite things. He does a full range from straight-up piano pieces, piano with not too much electronic overlay, and then pretty far out stuff. Here's a pretty amazing piece. Starts off pretty weird, warms up after 4 minutes, is great after eight minutes and is jaw-dropping from about twelve. I gather that what is going on is that he lays down some loops and is somehow controlling them with his feet (while also playing the piano).



Another live set. Very weird for the first five minutes, becomes quite haunting after six minutes:



Much more conventional, straight up beautiful piano:



I guess this is my taste in music now. I feel like all the main genres have been done again and again. For decades- hundreds of years in the case of classical. I don't feel like new rock, pop, metal or rap bands add anything at all compared to what has already been done. Same for most genres. For me, it's all about crossover- the only way to make something interesting is to start crossing the stuff that's already been done.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Your girlfriends are quite attractive.

Agreed. Overall, their performance is fairly satisfactory. Being such a romantic, I tell them as much during their periodic evaluations.

 

[belph]

Well, she isn't hard on the eyes. Can't we let it slide, jakearoo ?

 

[JauntyAngle]

Gaziantep- 27 September

• Front squats. 3 sets of 3 @90kg, 3 sets of 3 @85kg, 3 sets of 3 @80kg
• Bench. 5 sets of 3 @83kg.

Pretty minimal session, but satisfying in its own way. For some reason the front squats didn't feel brilliant, so I cut the top sets a little short, but kept my plan for the backoff. For bench, I was able to find some 1.5kg ankle weights so was able to do some micro-loading. 83kg is almost exactly right for sets of 3, so I am looking forward to doing a tonne more work at that weight (or thereabouts).

It was getting a bit late, it was dark and I was feeling like going home. So I just left it with the main exercises.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Amman, 22nd November: Because Billy Jean actually *is* my lover

I did virtually nothing yesterday, other than going to the gym, cooking, eating and lounging. "Today was a good day", I would have said if I yesterday I had been prompted to say what Cube would have said of yesterday. (And, as in the classic track, I also didn't have to use my AK. Once again, my life echoes Cube's with eerie accuracy.)

Today was a rather normal day in the office, ploughing through a large editing task. In our project we have a standard application form for our communities in Syria to get funding to do different projects, and then a different set of guidelines for every one of about 50 project options. We decided to change the application form, which requires changing all the guidelines (one set is about 6-8 pages). Fortunately a lot of it is just rearranging and once the main rearranging is done I can send them off to the "sector experts" for finalization, which requires a bit more finesse. Unfortunately, I am the sector expert for two of the five sectors (public sector capacity development and economic development, in case you were wondering).

In Syria, the Regime has taken some high ground close to one of our communities and is shelling the office of the local council that we work with. Fuckers.

Gym, 21 November- upper body

• Flat bench. 5 sets of 5 @70kg (done with no arch or leg drive).
• DB backchest reverse press. 5 sets of 5 w/30kg db (between sets of bench)
• Chins and dips. 3 sets of each, done as ladders.
• Other assistance. Abs, landmines, curls, tricep extensions, all sorts of good stuff

Mostly bro stuff, really. And that was what made it so awesome.

Gym, 22 November- conditioning

• Stationary bike. 60 minutes, low intensity.
• Heavy bag. 20 minutes, medium punchitude.

 

[Ethan]

I'll take number five and number five please.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Work stuff

Came across this. It is data on the civilian death toll in Syria. Reported by a neutral NGO that tries to record *documented* deaths in Syria- the UN uses them as their main source of statistics. As I understand it, a lot of people in the West are under the impression that either (a) ISIS is the main problem, and the reason why people are fleeing Syria, and (b) All sides are roughly equally bad- the Government is bad but the rebel forces are also full of bad guys, jihadis etc who also kill indiscriminately. So, the data:

As you can see, the Government forces kill around 8-10 times as many people as IS and 20 times more than the opposition. This is a war where, essentially, Assad is being funded by Iranians, Russians and others to kill his own people. The main reason why people are fleeing is also, not ISIS. The ISIS controlled areas are mostly very sparsely populated. They are fleeing the indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas by the Regime, and possible armed siege of the towns and cities that they live in.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Amman, Jordan

• Front squat. 8 singles @95kg, 3 triples @90kg, 2 sets of 5 @80kg.
• Clean high pulls. 6 sets of 2 @75kg.
• Assistance. TRX rows, curls, a burnout set of bench press

The front squats were a lot better than they have been for the last couple of weeks. Practicing with more frequency and getting in more volume seems to help. What a surprise. I was pretty pleased with the front squats but didn't have the energy to go to town and do all the lower body assistance- split squats, hamstring curls etc.

 

[Jake Pudenz]

Well, she isn't hard on the eyes. Can't we let it slide, jakearoo ?

She is smokin' hot. I was just pointing out that she is definitely not Asian.

 

[Tosa]

That is very informative. I actually read an article recently that argued that the Assad government was the lesser of two evils between them and ISIS, and that the various opposition forces were too unlikely to eventually come out on top, and therefore, the least bad option was Assad being propped up.

Which the above information doesn't really support, although with what you said about ISIS occupying sparsely populated areas, it isn't necessarily contrary, either.

At any rate, thanks for sharing.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Gaziantep, Turkey- 29th November

Back in G-Town!

Headed back to Turkey on Friday. My company got my leaving time confused, arranged for an 11.15AM pickup for an 11.30AM flight, but luckily Google knows everything about me and sent me a reminder to go to the airport at 8.20AM. Also luckily, a colleague was headed out at the same time so an airport pickup was already happening. I threw my stuff in a bag like a mad thing, got picked up and made the flight just fine. The other guy doing the airport run was our new security guy, I vaguely knew him from Afghanistan and he's a super-nice guy, so it was a very pleasant journey.

Picked up a bottle of good rum in the airport- Ron Zapaca 23, Gran Reserva. Really smooth- I think I like the Mount Gay XO more, it has a bit more heat. This is a bit more mellow. Maybe a better "gateway" to quality rum. Had a couple of friends over to sample it and it went down well, of course.

Been a relatively quiet weekend. A couple of trips to the gym (more of which later), shopping, cooking, lunch with my boss/friend (she is the #1, I am #2 in our project), some socializing. Today I spent a lot of the time working as I have a massive, massive writing task to get done in the next two weeks. I am pretty much the fastest worker than there is- I can write 8,000-10,000 words a day of decent quality, and generally people say that what others do in 2 weeks I do in 2 days. But what I have to do is really more than I can do- the last time we attempted the task it took four people about 6 weeks. So I have been starting at 7AM, working on the plane, all the stuff I usually don't do. Going to do it though. Fuck it.

Working out.

Yesterday- legs

• Front squats. 5 sets of 2 @95kg. 3 sets of 3 @80kg.
• Clean high pulls. 7 doubles @75kg.
• BB split squats. 3 sets of 5 (each side) @40kg.

Front squats were not too bad. Should have been here early in the month, I have been pissing around a lot and half-assing it even more than normal. Had an okay session, despite spending time between sets checking my internet dating profile. Ah, smartphones.


Today- arms and chest

• Jerks. 12 reps, 50kg.
• Bench (flat/no arch). 8 sets of 3@75kg.
• Chins and dips. Ladders to 5 and back down again, very short rest. 2 sets each.
• Other stuff. Landmine presses, curls, reverse fly isoholds.

Jerks felt like ass. Timing off, just ass. Oh well. Bench was very very interesting. I tried benching with a belt but no arch, and actually I felt the ability to press against the belt was more helpful than arching. And when I did press against the belt there was zero inclination to arch. The press felt kind of different, but also quite a bit more stable. I am quite keen to stick with this and see if a tiny bit of progress might be possible. There was basically zero hard work in this session, but I got a decent pump on.

 

[belph]

Fair.

 

[JauntyAngle]

That is very informative. I actually read an article recently that argued that the Assad government was the lesser of two evils between them and ISIS, and that the various opposition forces were too unlikely to eventually come out on top, and therefore, the least bad option was Assad being propped up.

Which the above information doesn't really support, although with what you said about ISIS occupying sparsely populated areas, it isn't necessarily contrary, either.

At any rate, thanks for sharing.

Whether the Regime or IS is worse is a tough question.

The Assad Regime was and is somewhat like Saddam Hussein's Iraq- a brutal and oppressive regime masquerading as a secular democracy. While the level of public services and economic development was not bad (somewhere toward the lower end of middle-income countries), Syrian people live in constant fear of abduction and torture by the State if they were suspected of involvement in political activities- or if they were named by someone. The Syrian secret police had and have a system not dissimilar to the Stasi, where everyone is informing on everyone. Many people are overtly or covertly members of the secret police- one story I heard was of an an activist who was tortured by his former University professor (an undercover member of the secret police). The level of brutality is quite shocking. One of our former employees was kept in a jail cell with about 20 other people, so small no one could lie down, they would sleep sat down, with their arms around their knees, jammed together like a pack of Penguins. Every now and then, one would be pulled out and tortured for a while, then thrown back into the huddle. One of my colleagues was detained, briefly questioned and released. He then decided to leave the country. The Regime changed its mind and tried to bring him in, when they could not they took his brother, tortured him and broke every major bone in his body. Then you have to add the "Military tactics"- they besiege their own cities and have razed one or two to the ground- it's a long-standing "scorched earth" tactic that they use. In the rural area of Damascus, the area is totally encircled. They have turned off water and electricity and people are starving to death. There is also the practice of barrel bombs and rocket attacks- indiscriminate release of non-targeted missiles in civilian areas (sometimes killing 30-100 people in a single attack) and targeted attacks against schools, civil defense centres, hospitals etc.

So I would say that the Assad regime is more or less as evil as they come. ISIS has some individual practices that are almost cartoonishly evil, such as saying that their followers can rape non-Muslim women and girls... but then again women detained by the Regime are quite likely to be raped too. The Regime just doesn't use it as a recruiting tactic. In that sense there is not much to choose between the two.

What makes it more complex is the idea that, even if the Regime is incredibly evil, Syrians might be better off living under them in peace than in the current war. They would then have better public services and less chance of being victims of bombing- just limited true human rights and still living in constant fear. If they were under IS it would be something like living under the Taliban- there would probably be a high level of security (brutally imposed) but more limited services and also very few human rights. Probably IS would be worse. But the activists I know say that they still can't give up or agree to peace, at least with Assad in place- the crimes he has committed are too heinous. They are shocked and saddened that he would slaughter and starve and torture so many of his own people, and really disappointed that it was not over quickly, but this only increases their resolve.

It's true that the Opposition winning outright victory is unlikely, but it is equally unlikely the Regime will win. And momentum is now more or less with the Opposition, but not decisively so. It is still more-or-less a "dynamic stalemate".

 

[JauntyAngle]

[Deleted]

 

[MilkManUK]

Fair.

She is not fair, she is black.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Gaziantep, Turkey- 30th September

• Front squat. 5 sets of 3 @90kg, 5 sets of 3 @85kg
• Overhead press. 3 sets of 8 @ 43kg (failed last rep, 3 sets of 5 @40kg
• Chins 6 sets of 8 @BW
• Clean pulls. 5 sets of 3 @75kg
• Pump. Burnout set with bench

It doesn't look like much, but it was a good session today. I was happy to get the 90kg and 85kg sets for 5x3, and they were all clean and reasonably comfortable. Overhead press was a bit ass. I think I just need to relax and accept I need to get more reps and more time under the bar though- progress will come. And I feel like doing some higher rep work for a while will be helpful. The clean pulls were pretty cool because I somehow found how to make my pull quite violent, which I usually have trouble with. The hips could still be more explosive, but it felt like a good start. But afterwards I was simply wiped out.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Dat Eye Candy

Asians! Woo-hoo!

The first one is pretty much my dream Asian Girl. I've learned that I really like the ones who seem sweet and even nerdy, but underneath are kind of wild. The girl I was seeing semi-seriously a while back was exactly like that, and I realized that I much prefer that to the overtly hot/beautiful/bombshell types, like the other four pictures. Hidden depths, etc.

Spoiler

 

[belph]

I'd lean towards mulatto.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Gaziantep- 2nd October

No gym for a few days, have been busy or otherwise unavailable.

Thursday night me a friend organized a little drinks party. Her brother spent all day cooking so we had a lot of good snacks too. It ended up being quite fun and some of us were drinking until about 3 in the morning. (For Midmo- drinks available included red wine, mohitos and "Blue Moon" beer, plus cheap lager. I myself was mainly drinking red whine, plus a mohito and one or two Blue Moons). Praise Baby Jeebers, on Friday morning the cleaners came and fixed everything- cleared up, washed, vacuum cleaned, mopped and made my apartment sparkling again.

Yesterday I didn't do much- pretty bad hangover. I did get some gorgeous new shoes though. Turkey is great for quality leather, and these were 50% discounted:

 

[JauntyAngle]

Gaziantep, Turkey: December 3

Quiet couple of days, working from home on my massive writing task. It's going pretty well. As a result of this, pretty much nothing to report.

Monday- conditioning

Ran up the stairs of my apartment building 5 times- 8 floors all in all. I didn't too many times as I suspected there might be DOMS. Calves have indeed been pretty sore. My back felt a bit uncomfortable afterwards, although that cleared up.


Wednesday- lower body

• Front squats. 8 sets of 2 @95kg.
• Clean pulls. 5 sets of 3 @75kg.
• Split squats. 5 sets of 3 @55kg (each side)

All good. Next time I need to have try triples at 95kg now, which I don't expect to be easy. But if I can get even one done then it's a straightforward route to five, and then I am done with 95kg. The rest of the session was fine- the clean pulls felt stronger, split squats were just fine.