The Useful Strong Stuff Journal Vol. 30. The Easy Conversations

My career has never really gone that right. I have been out of college for 12 years now without a lot of high points in my career. At this point there is a lot of shame and avoiding all sorts of conversational topics. People ask how is work going? Well I don’t really work. Can you come to this thing? Well maybe if I can borrow my parents’ car that night. A lot of conversations are hard for me anymore that a lot of people find easy.

As I sit here and write I am getting ready to see a friend I have not seen in a couple years. I’m happy to get to see my friend. I am also a bit mortified because I have to answer a bunch of questions. How are you doing? Well not so good, that’s how I’m always doing. Once we get past that part of talking about how my life is a total clusterfuck we’ll talk about other stuff. Some of the stuff we talk about will be hard to talk about for me, but I’ll fake it and get through it. Some of the stuff will be easy to talk about.

My writing will be easy to talk about. I am doing a lot of writing, I enjoy it, and it’s easy to talk about. I don’t have much pretense about what I’m doing. I just write for me and to try and help other people. It feels right and it feels right to talk about.

My workouts and personal training feel good to talk about. When I talk about this stuff, I am in command. I don’t feel hesitation. Even when I don’t have a clue about something, I am centered in my uncertainty. I’m just confident in what I know and don’t know. I am confident I can figure out what I need to know. This stuff just feels right in every way.

In my previous lives and jobs, I didn’t often feel centered and in command like this. Often I would feel unbalanced. I felt like I was trying not to be found out. I don’t feel like that when discussing these new things. I don’t know if I would call it a sign, but it could be a hint.

The ease of these conversations, is the kind of hint I try and follow. I try and lean into this kind of ease. It’s the kind of hint I could miss if I’m not careful. In otherwise awkward and hard conversations, what feels good to you?

These are the breadcrumbs I try and follow. The guide on the path forward can be this kind of hint, not always a loud roadmap.

Every week I spend a lot of time reading and looking for new ways to get stronger, healthier and more awesome. Here are some of the best things I have found this week.

Strength And Conditioning

A good video going through how to use the box squat. Applicable to most people since we all sit down and get up from things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4AJ03LAEQU

A good rundown of exercises that can make you brutally strong that are not seen a whole lot in the gym. https://joshstrength.com/2021/09/5-unappreciated-strength-exercises/

Mindset

More from Steven Pressfield about dealing with Resistance. https://stevenpressfield.com/2021/09/just-write-the-damn-thing/

10/22/21 Max Effort Lower

The Workout:

Pause Squat with Safety Squat Bar

315 x 1

Step Ups

8,8

Leg Press on Pin Loaded Machine – Some

DB Romanian Deadlifts

30 x 6

40 x 7

45 x 7

Hip Thrusts

15, 15, 15

Banded Hip Abductions

25, 30

Laying Leg curls – Some

Seated Calf Raises

90 x 20

Need to work more on the pause part of pause squatting.

Thoughts:

Today’s workout was nothing special. I need to get better at pausing at the bottom of pause squats. I think doing them more often will help with that, plus knowing where I’m at with my strength. I had no idea what numbers to pick for this workout, but now I have a baseline, so onwards and upwards from here. I was pleased with hitting the 315 for the pause, it gives me a good place to work from.

I am tossing in more glute type training to the workouts. The new exercises are fun to play with. Loading on hip thrusts really pisses off the hernia repair sites, so I will have to consider a loading protocol for those. I might just keep them as a movement kind of thing or do them single legged. This is a case where not everything is a powerlift.

10/20/21 I Move Like Frankenstein

This is a FrankenLifter Workout (These are weird workouts)

The Workout:

Back Raises – 2 sets

Knee Raises – 2 sets

BW Calf Raises – 10, 10

Bar Hangs – 2sets

Suitcase carries – 3 rounds, 20 lbs db.

Cossack Squats –Some, I REALLY SUCK AT THESE

It was a good day to work on odds and ends.

Thoughts:

My shoulder and tendon issues are getting a bit better so I can start doing more of these small workouts again. My goal today was to play with some Cossack Squats. I really was not good at them, and they are a simple movement I should be good at. I am working on adding in more single leg and stuff like frontal plane work. There are 3 plans of movement so I should be using all three from time to time. This workout moved me a little further away from moving like Frankenstein.

The Useful Strong Stuff Journal Vol. 28. What Do You Do?

I used to go to a lot of tech networking events and was involved in that social side of things locally. A lot of people there would tell me what they did for a living. When I would get done talking to them I still had no idea what they actually did for a job or with their time at all. Some of them were professional bullshitters. Some of them I guess I just didn’t understand what they actually did.

The bullshitters where hiding what they did with their time. The others were hiding on accident I guess. Thinking about that, I realize I don’t want to hide. I want to be open about what it is I do.

Specifically I want to be open about my workouts. At this phase in my life I mostly lift weights and help others lift weights. I want to be open about the weights I am lifting.

That is why I have put up my training log online at https://nehemiah.co/category/training-log/

I used to read the training logs of the athletes at EliteFTS so that is where I got this idea.

I feel like if I am going to run around talking about working out I need to be open about the workouts I actually do myself. A lot of fitness type people share a lot of stuff on Instagram and other social media. I don’t want to be like them, I want to show more of the total picture. They are showing the greatest hits. Well a lot of working out is boring and simple I want to be open about that and show the truth of what my workouts are.

I ask clients to do boring and methodical things sometimes. I think its important to have that training log out there to point to tell them “Yes I know it’s boring, and I’m doing the same thing you’re doing.” I want to share the truth.

The world is lacking truth. I suppose this training log is just a little way I am trying to combat that. So when you see me out there networking I’ll probably be talking about lifting weights. I might not be talking about lifting anything impressive, but it will be the truth. More truth than you’ll get from the financial advisor next to me with his blue collar shirt, khakis, and his nifty business card holder.

Every week I spend a lot of time reading and looking for new ways to get stronger, healthier and more awesome. Here are some of the best things I have found this week.

Strength and Conditioning

A couple good tests to determine if you are strong enough to begin running. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb1iIj9PKYQ

Good ideas on building balanced glutes and a rule of thirds for doing so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKNqDd_epnI

Mindset

A short article on being operational and getting going, this can apply to so many pursuits. Really like that point that no one is going to clear most of us to be operational at much of anything. https://stevenpressfield.com/2021/10/i-wasnt-even-operational/

10/19/21 Repetition Effort Lower Body

The Workout:

Safety Squat Bar Squats

265 x 5 for 5 sets

295 x 1

Sumo Deadlift

135 x 2

185 x 1 – 8 sets

Single Leg Hip Thrust

5, 5

Hip Thrust

10, 10

Laying leg curls – some.

Calves on Leg Press Machine – some.

Kettlebell Ab Pushout

40 x 10

40 x 12

I need to sleep and rest better.

Thoughts:

I plan to just keep adding weight for this squat 5×5 until the wheels come flying off. Next week I should be adding 5 more pounds. This method is seeming to be doing it’s job as I just keep growing into using heavier weights. Right now training is simple.

10/18/21 Minimum-Minimum Effective Dose

The Workout:

BB Rows

Worked up to 185 x 5.

Bench Press

Worked up to 185 x 1.

Side raises.

2 light sets.

Tendonitis through arm/shoulder/scapula/pec was feeling pretty good after this, so I just quit here. Got a little stimulus and movement without making the situation worse and got the hell out.

Thoughts:

I did this work today to just keep some strength and mobility in my upper body. I keep battling the tendonitis and inflammation issues even though they are getting better. Since a big part of healing up from this is rest, I did singles and worked up on the bench. This was to keep the workload super low but still get some stimulus.

I went with a set of five for the rows since they seem to impact the inflammation less.

I am staying patient with the healing process here. I want to bench big in 5 years more than I want to bench big in 5 weeks.

10/15/2021 The Return to Max Effort Work

The Workout

SSB Box Squat

Worked up to moderately hard single

340 x 1

SSB Good Mornings

155 x 3

These need a lot of work. Soon as I start to lean I get weak. Need to improve strength in a lot of posture angels.

Reverse Lunges

6, 6

Leg Press Machine

Did some

Laying Leg Curls

Did some.

Seated Calf raise

90 x 20
140 x 10
140 x 10

Leg raises

15, 15

This was my first workout going back to dynamic and max effort days for the lower body. Will be easing into the “max” part of this day for a few weeks. Then I guess get crazy after that.

Thoughts:

Today I switched back to doing dynamic and max effort days for my lower body. I am going to have to ease into the true nature of these days. I am still rebuilding off my big layoff and lack a lot of qualities. I can’t really strain all that well, and I can’t move all that fast. It will take time to really be able to put something into my lifts, right now I’m just going through motions.

Today was a good first step forward on the max effort front. I strained a little, but nothing too crazy. Even with that consideration I loaded up the safety squat bar within like 10 pounds of my lifetime record with that bar. These pleases me because I know when I get all the components of my workout program working well, then I’ll be able to really move some good weight.

I am taking everything really slow with the progress with my lower body lifts because I didn’t with my upper body lifts. My reward for going fast with my bench press was tendonitis and a shoulder I can’t hardly move, I should have moved slow.

Overall the return to doing some more maximal efforts looked good and now its time to start doing that weekly and having fun.

10/12/21 Squat Sessions I Wouldn’t Recommend

The Workout:

Squats with Safety Squat Bar

265 x 2 – 10 sets

Light leg curls.

I didn’t sleep much last night, so started feeling iffy about it all so cut it short.

I had thought about doing these squats as speed work, but there was nothing fast about them.

Thoughts:

The theme of my workouts the last couple weeks could be called “Doing Things I wouldn’t let clients do.” My squat workouts have been going well for a while now. The last couple weeks I have tried to go faster. Instead of following the plan I had set up of adding 5 pounds each workout, I’ve added a lot more the last couple workouts. I handled the workload, but I can feel myself getting beat down a little bit. I wouldn’t let clients do this, but I’m doing it.

I tell myself I am in tune with my body. That I have good training intuition. This is very much true. It should however not be justification to do dumb stuff. I start to think I am special and I can skirt the rules I would have for clients I am training.

When it comes to clients I preach to follow the plan. We create plans that have rules and we follow those rules. I preach to follow the plan especially if its working. My plan was working, but I called an audible for no real reason. I guess I thought I was special.

I am not special, but I am acting like I am. That’s not sustainable behavior. It will end up breaking something, and that’s lesson enough for today.

The Useful Strong Stuff Journal Vol. 28. Practicing What I Preach

This last week I started training my first client in person in the gym. The first real client, not a buddy I was showing some stuff in the gym. This personal trainer thing I want to do is now real. Instead of just tossing some ideas on training to a buddy, I am now having to think about a whole new set of things. Things like professionalism, long term client fitness programming, and being a good example. Clients are now going to look at what I do in the gym and judge my behaviors. I became a role model overnight I now need to practice what I preach, what does that even mean?

For me this means I need to sharpen up everything I am doing in the gym. I have to have a fitness goal and plan for that goal. I have to follow the plan even when I don’t want to. I have to do the warm ups and cool downs right. I should be doing these things, so I do them. It is mostly about trying to have no loose ends, and not cut any corners. I feel the responsibility as a leader to act this way.

This responsibility is something that is a part of my value system. It has always been there in my mind and nudged me the right way with all sorts of things. Being a “leader” I feel a nudge to do things in a way I wouldn’t feel if I was a “follower.” I have in my mind what a leader should be, so by taking on that role I must become that thing. This nudge has made me better at all sorts of things in my life.

I like this nudge. This nudge is just another tool I can use. It makes me want to take on even small leadership. If I take that on, I know the nudge will be there.

These leadership opportunities are available in so many of the things we are already doing. A big part of being a leader of a professional Meetup group for example is doing things like booking rooms, unlocking doors, cleaning up the trash, and greeting new attendees. These are things most of us can do. Once we are helping out with these kind of things it puts us into a leadership role. When I helped organize a tech meetup I mostly did these kind of organizational tasks, but I felt this nudge as a leader to spend my own free time learning more technology. In my mind a leader of a tech group should be on top of tech. I find this to be a rather fun motivational hack.

So as I find myself transitioning into being a “professional fitness expert” I find the nudge again. I am grateful for that nudge. I know it will get me in better shape. The last several weeks have reminded me how powerful a force this nudge can be.

I am thinking about other places I can get this nudge from.

If I am already participating in something, is there a way to position myself so that I feel this positive pressure?

Being a good example, well that is going to make me better, I promise however this newsletter won’t turn into a shirtless selfie newsletter.

Every week I spend a lot of time reading and looking for new ways to get stronger, healthier and more awesome. Here are some of the best things I have found this week.

Strength and Conditioning

A good run down on incline benching with the shoulder saver pad, and why you might want to use it instead of board pressing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYlgOLtbIcE

A good run down on some science about stretching. Takes a few minutes to get going, but this vid is full of good stuff. https://charlieweingroff.com/2021/09/should-you-stretch-after-you-workout/

A good article on glute training frequency. The thought processes shown here can be applied to any number of things, a great article for overall training knowledge. https://bretcontreras.com/your-optimal-training-frequency-for-the-glutes-part-i-exercise-type/