Well life is changing. New job further away means I won't be able to run or even cycle to work anymore. I will be sat in a cosy cage driving either way, the shame of it.
Hoping to be able to run some lunchtimes, but that will depend on the facility to clean up, without this it wouldn't be a good idea.
I know at least one former colleague reads this on occasion and any will know the people there were great. It says something that even I managed to fit in, only those who know me can tell you if that's a good thing. Last day involved cake and a brilliant card summing me up brilliantly.
If it isn't scary enough that I managed not to be too weird for the last place, the new one thinks I will fit in there too. Even the strangest freaks can find homes, we are everywhere.
Showing posts with label About me. Show all posts
Showing posts with label About me. Show all posts
21 April 2013
11 February 2013
Why do I train?
I gave details why my wife and I decided to home educate. Many consider my training a more unusual choice.
I’m middle aged man who works more than full time hours, has a family, and an unpopular list of overdue DIY projects. I don't compete or need to achieve anything for work or measurable gain. Why waste valuable time and energy on training instead of more important things?
First and foremost, I love it. The feeling I get from my training and the abilities it gives me is amazing. I state this is my main selfish pleasure and I am not kidding, the main reason I train is pure unadulterated pleasure.
Chip on my shoulder. I was the weedy nerd at school who sat at the front and had all the answers. Being small, weak, slow and uncoordinated made me useless at PE. Teachers telling me I couldn't be good at everything, along with others, made me feel I would never be fit. As an adult I have gained a real attitude about my abilities, partly due to this mistreatment.
Because I can. Much of my training has no use in the real world, but I like doing things others can't or don't think I can. I look too weedy to lift what I do and too bulky to run well. I like being underestimated and there is a strange pleasure attached in doing things of no real use which make people wonder how I do them, and undoubtedly why.
Enjoyment of life. Many wish they could still run up stairs, or touch their toes etc. as they could in their younger days. I intend to enjoy my life until I die, which will require physical ability. Wheezy at the bar who struggles getting onto a stool, walking to the car etc. will tell you how great their life of drinking and smoking is. I feel my life is more enriched by the endorphins derived from various forms of physical activity, those thinking fitness fanatics don't enjoy all of them, get real.
Role model. I’m a father and my son thinks I am insane, smart lad. He also has a role model for whom being fit is an integral part of life, who can state the benefits of this from experience, not just pamphlets. He does some training himself, obviously tamed down to very safe child levels, and enjoys being able to easily do things that should be difficult for him. This may have gone a bit far, one of his aims in life is to be really big, not sure how though as he thinks just lifting weights is weird, will be interesting.
Healthy body healthy mind. We’re not talking sanity, I never declare what I do as moderate or sensible enough to be sane. There is proof however that looking after your body helps to maintain brain function. Nutrient flow and heart health are among other key benefits for your nervous system. So us muscle heads are more likely to keep the intelligence and mental ability we have than others, of course it doesn't mean we had more to start with.
Being a tight wad. There are no cheaper, efficient ways of commuting than cycling and running. Training at home is far cheaper than a few weekly bottles of wine. The money saved doing this is spent doing things as a family and I get more pleasure here too, all round winner.
We all make our individual choices about exercise. Mine was excess, outside influences introduced limits but I push as much as I can.
I train to failure, and have hated every one, which pushes me to do more. I read an article recently declaring this cannot be maintained as you can't keep pushing harder and failing, what a load of trash. I often start a set and have to stop early, or fail to move the bar, hence the often useful safety rack. This has become part of my life, and though I hate the occasions when the second half of a squat doesn’t happen, I appreciate how much it takes for me to fail now. Sometimes the failure is only the last few not being as deep or steady as they should have been, it's still failure.
If you do enjoy your training and get grief for being a fitness fanatic, be proud. Those giving grief will be glad they aren't you when young with no effects from sedentary life, drinking etc. but in a few years you will laugh back, and have the fitness to laugh longer than they can without keeling over.
As always comments, insults or personal accounts are welcome.
I’m middle aged man who works more than full time hours, has a family, and an unpopular list of overdue DIY projects. I don't compete or need to achieve anything for work or measurable gain. Why waste valuable time and energy on training instead of more important things?
First and foremost, I love it. The feeling I get from my training and the abilities it gives me is amazing. I state this is my main selfish pleasure and I am not kidding, the main reason I train is pure unadulterated pleasure.
Because I can. Much of my training has no use in the real world, but I like doing things others can't or don't think I can. I look too weedy to lift what I do and too bulky to run well. I like being underestimated and there is a strange pleasure attached in doing things of no real use which make people wonder how I do them, and undoubtedly why.
Role model. I’m a father and my son thinks I am insane, smart lad. He also has a role model for whom being fit is an integral part of life, who can state the benefits of this from experience, not just pamphlets. He does some training himself, obviously tamed down to very safe child levels, and enjoys being able to easily do things that should be difficult for him. This may have gone a bit far, one of his aims in life is to be really big, not sure how though as he thinks just lifting weights is weird, will be interesting.
Healthy body healthy mind. We’re not talking sanity, I never declare what I do as moderate or sensible enough to be sane. There is proof however that looking after your body helps to maintain brain function. Nutrient flow and heart health are among other key benefits for your nervous system. So us muscle heads are more likely to keep the intelligence and mental ability we have than others, of course it doesn't mean we had more to start with.
Being a tight wad. There are no cheaper, efficient ways of commuting than cycling and running. Training at home is far cheaper than a few weekly bottles of wine. The money saved doing this is spent doing things as a family and I get more pleasure here too, all round winner.
We all make our individual choices about exercise. Mine was excess, outside influences introduced limits but I push as much as I can.
I train to failure, and have hated every one, which pushes me to do more. I read an article recently declaring this cannot be maintained as you can't keep pushing harder and failing, what a load of trash. I often start a set and have to stop early, or fail to move the bar, hence the often useful safety rack. This has become part of my life, and though I hate the occasions when the second half of a squat doesn’t happen, I appreciate how much it takes for me to fail now. Sometimes the failure is only the last few not being as deep or steady as they should have been, it's still failure.
If you do enjoy your training and get grief for being a fitness fanatic, be proud. Those giving grief will be glad they aren't you when young with no effects from sedentary life, drinking etc. but in a few years you will laugh back, and have the fitness to laugh longer than they can without keeling over.
As always comments, insults or personal accounts are welcome.
1 February 2013
The heaviest metal never rusts
OK the title of the blog pertains to my enjoying heavy metal and I guess it's time to make the confession absolute. I am a true headbanger, and as stated in the book How to be a complete wally, not all wallys are headbangers but all headbangers are wallys.
There is something deeply strange about anyone enjoying music that inspires you shake your brains into submission for several hours or slam into each other grinning inanely. This guy forgot to stop headbanging long enough to eat.
Metalheads are also quite a strange crew as well, either pushed out to the borders of society or going there voluntarily to escape the mainstream. The music is generally powerful and aggressive even if the lyrics are about peace and love, which confuses the heck out of anyone from outside the metal fraternity if they listen hard enough to realise.
There is a sense of humour that goes with metal too that most don't get. It's insulting to everyone and everything especially metalheads themselves, who we stereotype as sub intelligent tattooed apes wearing clothes held together by frayed edges and various piercings.
Some examples.
Why are people more offended by fur than leather? Because it's easier to pick on rich old women than motorbike gangs.
An old friend of mine told me the thing liked most about metal was the women looked like women, unfortunately so do the blokes. After some time he also shared this insight with one hairy beomoth who terrified him at first, and found him laughing along.
In contrast another friend of mine coming to the club for the first time was very excited to see 2 women being intimate on the dancefloor. Not so much however when the one with legs and butt he fancied turned out to have a goatee beard and was stable enough with his sexuality to be out in a black minidress without caring.
I am too old for the long hair anymore, going bald and even as a metal head with virtually no style I have enough to avoid the long hair at sides and back with none on top. Dress sense is not difficult in the true metal world, keep clothes forever and keep wearing them, if bits fall of your clothes you can patch them but this is optional. If you really care about how you look in the t-shirt you were wearing in school that only fits because of the rips, you don't qualify.
I like my music how I like my training, hard and heavy. Like most metalheads I love classical music if it shares the same power and passion, a quick you tube search will show you many heavy metal versions of classical music and many of the best performers practice with classical pieces to gain the skills they need to keep up with demands of metal.
Yes a lot of it is loud, obnoxious noise, and not good for background music. There is a good reason for this, metalheads do not want music to be background noise, they want to be affected and inspired by it.
There are such a variety of metal tracks covering true love, hatred of war, sex, and of course humour, which is often offensive. There are many who think metal is about encouraging violence, which would of course explain Metallica's One among many others, or satanic like Rob Zombie's Living dead girl. These will always be people who have never listened to the words and realised that living dead girl and most others like it are intended as a mick take, unfortunately some of those who do listen to a few of them haven't reached the punch line yet either.
I find training is better to heavier tunes too, the aggression in the music helps me unlock my own and lift more than I would without it. I use similar music when running or cycling and have had to learn not to mime along with all of the words, especially Faith No More gentle art of making enemies and the like, people can get offended when lip-reading, not good.
Metalheads are also quite a strange crew as well, either pushed out to the borders of society or going there voluntarily to escape the mainstream. The music is generally powerful and aggressive even if the lyrics are about peace and love, which confuses the heck out of anyone from outside the metal fraternity if they listen hard enough to realise.
There is a sense of humour that goes with metal too that most don't get. It's insulting to everyone and everything especially metalheads themselves, who we stereotype as sub intelligent tattooed apes wearing clothes held together by frayed edges and various piercings.
Some examples.
Why are people more offended by fur than leather? Because it's easier to pick on rich old women than motorbike gangs.
An old friend of mine told me the thing liked most about metal was the women looked like women, unfortunately so do the blokes. After some time he also shared this insight with one hairy beomoth who terrified him at first, and found him laughing along.
In contrast another friend of mine coming to the club for the first time was very excited to see 2 women being intimate on the dancefloor. Not so much however when the one with legs and butt he fancied turned out to have a goatee beard and was stable enough with his sexuality to be out in a black minidress without caring.
I like my music how I like my training, hard and heavy. Like most metalheads I love classical music if it shares the same power and passion, a quick you tube search will show you many heavy metal versions of classical music and many of the best performers practice with classical pieces to gain the skills they need to keep up with demands of metal.
Yes a lot of it is loud, obnoxious noise, and not good for background music. There is a good reason for this, metalheads do not want music to be background noise, they want to be affected and inspired by it.
There are such a variety of metal tracks covering true love, hatred of war, sex, and of course humour, which is often offensive. There are many who think metal is about encouraging violence, which would of course explain Metallica's One among many others, or satanic like Rob Zombie's Living dead girl. These will always be people who have never listened to the words and realised that living dead girl and most others like it are intended as a mick take, unfortunately some of those who do listen to a few of them haven't reached the punch line yet either.
I find training is better to heavier tunes too, the aggression in the music helps me unlock my own and lift more than I would without it. I use similar music when running or cycling and have had to learn not to mime along with all of the words, especially Faith No More gentle art of making enemies and the like, people can get offended when lip-reading, not good.
22 January 2013
Random stupidity from my past
Sometimes our purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others and that is nothing to be ashamed of. Some of the greatest moments in my life have come from doing something stupid or just purely for the hell of it.
Those thinking age brings wisdom, I can tell you now it doesn't. It brings experience and knowledge if you are open to both. However knowing that something is stupid and has been a bad idea in the past doesn't mean you won't do it again and it often shouldn't.
There is an expression, don't test the water with both feet, but sometimes we see no choice. I remember being in a particularly hot mountain valley beside a beautifully clear stream with a sheer drop into it. Many around me were wet from swimming leading me to assume the stream would be a good way to cool off. Seeing no way to get in steadily, I plunged in and with effort got straight back out, having felt slithers of ice brushing past me. The onlookers I thought must be insanely tough found this highly amusing and informed me this was water straight of the mountain and nearby glacier, so great for drinking but not advised for swimming in. There was a pool dug out of the rock half a mile away, filled by a stream that meandered its way down and was comfortably warm in summer, which everyone else had been using.
I like my training and have done as many stupid things in the name of trying to get fitter than most of the rest of my life combined. My belief in my own ability is ludicrously high and my desire to be better means I will push beyond the point of sanity most weeks. Meaning I fail frequently and sometimes ridiculously.
As with anyone training I always want one more rep, or disc. Most of the time this obsession yields steady results, there are of course exceptions. Plyometric exercise is all about elastic strength and one activity I decided to do was jump over a step stack then rebound jump as far as I could, making the initial jump pure prep. Last set last rep, too tired to realise I didn’t have the strength left. First jump, no half measure brushing the stack, hit it with both feet sending it tumbling and giving me an uncomfortable space to land on.
Of course this minor mishap could have gone totally un-noticed, but as I stood up there were at least 30 people looking at me either concerned, concealing laughter or not bothering to conceal. A quick bow and tidy up reassured all that I was as OK as I get and not worried about being a momentary laughing stock.
There are activities that go well together and others which don't. When you are used to being able to stop on a bicycle with feet clipped in and simply balance while waiting at lights riding home from ballet can be amusing. Ballet is an activity where your toes are most often facing to the side, so totally different to normal stance or pedalling position. Riding home, I stopped, in my mind I was perfectly placed to simply sit and balance as always, in my body however I wasn't and without as much as a wobble, simply fell over in a heap.
If you think this is the limit of my stupidity, you don't know me at all. This is to show that I believe in being able to laugh at myself as well as others, and am aware of how often I have made that possible.
There will be more of this type of thing in due course.
Those thinking age brings wisdom, I can tell you now it doesn't. It brings experience and knowledge if you are open to both. However knowing that something is stupid and has been a bad idea in the past doesn't mean you won't do it again and it often shouldn't.
There is an expression, don't test the water with both feet, but sometimes we see no choice. I remember being in a particularly hot mountain valley beside a beautifully clear stream with a sheer drop into it. Many around me were wet from swimming leading me to assume the stream would be a good way to cool off. Seeing no way to get in steadily, I plunged in and with effort got straight back out, having felt slithers of ice brushing past me. The onlookers I thought must be insanely tough found this highly amusing and informed me this was water straight of the mountain and nearby glacier, so great for drinking but not advised for swimming in. There was a pool dug out of the rock half a mile away, filled by a stream that meandered its way down and was comfortably warm in summer, which everyone else had been using.
I like my training and have done as many stupid things in the name of trying to get fitter than most of the rest of my life combined. My belief in my own ability is ludicrously high and my desire to be better means I will push beyond the point of sanity most weeks. Meaning I fail frequently and sometimes ridiculously.
As with anyone training I always want one more rep, or disc. Most of the time this obsession yields steady results, there are of course exceptions. Plyometric exercise is all about elastic strength and one activity I decided to do was jump over a step stack then rebound jump as far as I could, making the initial jump pure prep. Last set last rep, too tired to realise I didn’t have the strength left. First jump, no half measure brushing the stack, hit it with both feet sending it tumbling and giving me an uncomfortable space to land on.
Of course this minor mishap could have gone totally un-noticed, but as I stood up there were at least 30 people looking at me either concerned, concealing laughter or not bothering to conceal. A quick bow and tidy up reassured all that I was as OK as I get and not worried about being a momentary laughing stock.
There are activities that go well together and others which don't. When you are used to being able to stop on a bicycle with feet clipped in and simply balance while waiting at lights riding home from ballet can be amusing. Ballet is an activity where your toes are most often facing to the side, so totally different to normal stance or pedalling position. Riding home, I stopped, in my mind I was perfectly placed to simply sit and balance as always, in my body however I wasn't and without as much as a wobble, simply fell over in a heap.
If you think this is the limit of my stupidity, you don't know me at all. This is to show that I believe in being able to laugh at myself as well as others, and am aware of how often I have made that possible.
There will be more of this type of thing in due course.
About the Blogger (the serious stuff)
OK this is post number 1 and the first time I have ever tried a blog. Nothing strange about that unless you consider that for over a year of my working life I was administering several of them and have read hundreds for work and personal learning.
I always stuck to the idea of work in the virtual and live in reality, but the edges have become blurred and I have decided to have some of my life on line.
I am what some might call an ugly duckling. I grew up very unpopular, scrawny with the NHS issue glasses guaranteed to make you a good runner or subject to repeated beatings. I dropped out of the local scene for some time, came back more confident, wearing contacts and joined a gym. Result was popularity I wasn't used to and abused horrendously, so when I say popularity is over-rated, I am not always kidding.
I have far more now than I deserve. My wife took on someone in need of serious help and work and accepted the challenge. Now I am back to being predominantly unpopular, and far happier, my wife and son are amazing and I have limited time for others anyway.
If you are with an ugly duckling, they will cause you a lot of pain. However there is a strong chance of a decent person residing within. If you don't want the work and grief back away.
If you doubt my credentials of being a boring old man consider the following. I have been involved in 'functional' fitness for several years, so I am less pretty than people on easier training. My idea of relaxing TV is astrophysics, geology, history, evolution, medicine, genetics, various sciences and other similarly exciting stuff. I love learning and this means I am very happy to be proven wrong repeatedly then re-adjusting everything I thought I knew.
Life is about priorities and regardless of how long some periods can feel, it isn't indefinite. As such my priorities in life are in the order below.
Wife and son. Though I would say they see this less than I would like to show it.
Work, unfortunately, due to the need to provide for wife and son.
Training, and this takes many forms from running or cycling to commute to weights and a range of really stupid stuff. This is often accompanied by listening to heavy metal and is my main selfish pleasure.
Writing. I enjoy writing and have a couple of unfinished novels, not saying they are any good but I have enjoyed writing them.
Relaxing. The rarest of my pastimes and one I need more practice at.
DIY. Hate it with an all-consuming passion but it has to be done and I am often the only one to do it.
I like history but my own is something I am not largely proud of so there will be huge gaps on my blog regarding my past. There is a chance that my son could end up reading these pages and much as he knows I wasn't always the person I am now, he doesn't need detail.
I am by contrast proud of what I have become, with a lot of help and hard work. I am hard on myself and those around me making me hard to live with but also someone who has achieved beyond expectations on many occasions.
I am not a person who makes many allowances, seeing weaknesses as something to overcome or turn to a strength, a characteristic I have instilled into my son and enhanced in my wife they have becoming as hard on themselves as I am on any of us. The good side to this is we all do well at things people told us we wouldn't or can't. The negative is we upset each other on many occasions, we're working on reducing this.
I will always be a work in progress, wanting to be smarter, fitter, better in many ways. My mantra is a Henry Ford quote 'If you think you can, or if you think you can't, you're probably right.' The cost of this has been a number of injuries when younger and a great deal of intolerance for those who give up at the first hurdle. We all get told there are things we can't do, some are correct, like unaided flight, most aren't if you are willing to work hard enough.
I always stuck to the idea of work in the virtual and live in reality, but the edges have become blurred and I have decided to have some of my life on line.
I am what some might call an ugly duckling. I grew up very unpopular, scrawny with the NHS issue glasses guaranteed to make you a good runner or subject to repeated beatings. I dropped out of the local scene for some time, came back more confident, wearing contacts and joined a gym. Result was popularity I wasn't used to and abused horrendously, so when I say popularity is over-rated, I am not always kidding.
I have far more now than I deserve. My wife took on someone in need of serious help and work and accepted the challenge. Now I am back to being predominantly unpopular, and far happier, my wife and son are amazing and I have limited time for others anyway.
If you are with an ugly duckling, they will cause you a lot of pain. However there is a strong chance of a decent person residing within. If you don't want the work and grief back away.
If you doubt my credentials of being a boring old man consider the following. I have been involved in 'functional' fitness for several years, so I am less pretty than people on easier training. My idea of relaxing TV is astrophysics, geology, history, evolution, medicine, genetics, various sciences and other similarly exciting stuff. I love learning and this means I am very happy to be proven wrong repeatedly then re-adjusting everything I thought I knew.
Life is about priorities and regardless of how long some periods can feel, it isn't indefinite. As such my priorities in life are in the order below.
Wife and son. Though I would say they see this less than I would like to show it.
Work, unfortunately, due to the need to provide for wife and son.
Training, and this takes many forms from running or cycling to commute to weights and a range of really stupid stuff. This is often accompanied by listening to heavy metal and is my main selfish pleasure.
Writing. I enjoy writing and have a couple of unfinished novels, not saying they are any good but I have enjoyed writing them.
Relaxing. The rarest of my pastimes and one I need more practice at.
DIY. Hate it with an all-consuming passion but it has to be done and I am often the only one to do it.
I like history but my own is something I am not largely proud of so there will be huge gaps on my blog regarding my past. There is a chance that my son could end up reading these pages and much as he knows I wasn't always the person I am now, he doesn't need detail.
I am by contrast proud of what I have become, with a lot of help and hard work. I am hard on myself and those around me making me hard to live with but also someone who has achieved beyond expectations on many occasions.
I am not a person who makes many allowances, seeing weaknesses as something to overcome or turn to a strength, a characteristic I have instilled into my son and enhanced in my wife they have becoming as hard on themselves as I am on any of us. The good side to this is we all do well at things people told us we wouldn't or can't. The negative is we upset each other on many occasions, we're working on reducing this.
I will always be a work in progress, wanting to be smarter, fitter, better in many ways. My mantra is a Henry Ford quote 'If you think you can, or if you think you can't, you're probably right.' The cost of this has been a number of injuries when younger and a great deal of intolerance for those who give up at the first hurdle. We all get told there are things we can't do, some are correct, like unaided flight, most aren't if you are willing to work hard enough.
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