Do You Even Lift?

Every day, people make me feel as if I want to punch them in the face.  Here’s a nifty little article I came across that will lessen the chance of getting a knuckle sandwich from me, whilst pumping iron at your favorite exercising facility.

Source:

10 Habits Of Highly Offensive Gym Goers

by Cassie Smith Dec 24, 2012

The gym can be a scary place, especially if you are new to fitness and unfamiliar with gym protocol. And while you may not feel completely comfortable, don’t let intimidation stop you from reaching your goals. You just need a little gym etiquette training.

Just like any other community, the gym requires some special considerations. More often than not, general politeness works wonders, but if you’d like a more detailed approach, check out these 10 gym “don’ts.”

1 / Don’t Be A Chatty Cathy

Whether you’re lifting with a buddy or just are in the gym on your own, it’s tempting to use the gym as your social hour. Do not do this. If you’re holding a dumbbell or barbell, lift it—don’t just cradle it as you blab to your girlfriend about Timmy’s school project. Other people want to use that equipment. This also goes for people who just sit on a bench or machine while they chat. There are a gazillion other places you can chat besides the pec deck. Do the work, or step away.

Even worse are the people who insist on talking in the middle of a difficult set. Hint: if the person you’re talking to is breathing really hard, grunting, or is wearing an expression of pain mixed with mild panic, shut up. That person doesn’t want to—and probably can’t—talk to you. Sorry.

2 / Don’t Smell

There’s nothing worse than getting a deep breath of Acqua Di Gio when you’re in the middle of a heavy squat. It means instant nausea, instant headache. I can’t think of a reason why anyone would need to swim in cologne before he goes to the gym. The same can be said about ladies: Love Spell perfume does not mix well with sweat and effort.

On the other hand, excessive body odor is just as bad. Treadmilling next to a person who clearly had numerous tequila shots and cigarettes the night before is an awful experience.

3 / Don’t Leave Your Weights

Bro, I’m totally impressed that you can bench 315 pounds. But when you’re done, please don’t leave the plates on the bar. By doing this, you’re essentially telling everyone else at the gym that you’re more important than they are. That’s just plain rude.

4 / Don’t Leave A Sweat Puddle

Sweat happens. You’re in a gym, that’s what you do. But not everyone else in the gym wants to lay or sit in your puddle. It’s just not the right way to mark your territory. Blech!

5 / Don’t Coach

If you see someone who is clearly lifting improperly, don’t say anything. OK, I’ll allow this: Unless that person is in a near-death position and you are the only one who can save them, don’t say anything. It’s not your place.

Furthermore, knowing what you’re talking about and thinking you know what you’re talking about are two different things. If you learned from watching a YouTube video about proper deadlifting technique, telling Hulkmaster Huge in the corner that his feet aren’t spaced wide enough is a bad call.

6 / Don’t Be Selfish

Say it with me friends, “sharing is caring.” Gyms have limited equipment. You may need to let someone do their working sets during your rest periods. True, if you share the cable machine, you may not be able to time your circuit like a Swiss watch. But that’s not something to worry about—your biceps aren’t going to lose an inch if you have to wait an extra 30 seconds.

7 / Don’t Be Oblivious

Gyms are full of other people. No matter how awesome Eminem sounds blasting in your Dre Beats, you can’t pretend that you’re the only person there. That means you should be cognizant of how much room you’re taking up, whether you’re standing directly in front of someone, and how much noise you’re making.

8 / Don’t Ogle

Man or woman, it’s difficult not to be aware of the myriad attractive people you may find in the gym. However, staring creepily at the chick doing bent-over rows or the dude doing barbell hip thrusts is not cool. Mind your own business.

9 / Don’t Misuse Equipment

If you don’t know how something works, ask. If you aren’t sure that a machine is working properly, ask. If you think something’s wrong with your treadmill, ask.

It’s also best if you use equipment as it’s meant to be used. For instance, if you find yourself doing biceps curls in a squat rack, you’d better move. Someone might kill you.

10 / Don’t Make Fun of Overweight People

If you make fun of people who are in the gym trying to be more healthy and fit, then you are an asshat.

Exercise Is Not That Hard…

“Exercise is not that hard, it’s all how hard you push yourself that can make it hard. You can go to the gym and pick up some 5lb dumbbells and work up a little sweat and burn some calories. That wasn’t hard now was it? Now if you really want to build up some muscles and burn some major calories then up those weights, now that was a little harder, but it didn’t kill you did it? You know how you feel after the workout though? You feel great, energized, proud of yourself, accomplished, etc.”

Taken from http://beingfit4me.wordpress.com/2013/11/09/how-can-you-not-love/  Check it out!

Bumps and Bruises, Pulls and Tares

Everyone who practices BJJ is familiar with these.  Bumps and bruises happen training every day.  The pulls and tares are far less frequent (hopefully anyways).  Since I’ve been practicing BJJ I have been KOd by going head first in to a cement pillar surrounding the competition area, tore my left pectoral, dislocated my shoulder, broken my finger, broken my nose (several times), popped my knees (both, several times), received stitches, received black eyes, and now pulled my groin (not in a good way).

It’s my own fault.  I came to class with little time to spare.  As I popped in my mouth guard and stepped on the mat, we got right in to it.  I had no time to warm up.  As you get older (I’ll soon be 40), you need to prep the body for combat if you want to be injury free.  I made it through drilling ok without getting hurt, but rolling… That’s another story.

I was sparring against a big and strong kid.  His BJJ level is very low, but he’s got a lot of natural instincts for it.  He’s a former football player and did some wrestling in highschool.  He’s got a double leg that’s more like a spear.  When I go against him, I always pull guard and work my way out.  It’s great practice for me.  Well I was trying to keep him in a closed guard for a kimura sweep.  He pushed hard and tried to break guard and I squeezed my adductors as hard as I could.  It worked, but after the match, my left groin was quite sore.

I finished the rest of the rolls, but played half or butterfly guard.  Last night while in bed, every time I rolled over I would wake to a sharp pain.  Now I barely sleep as it is, so needless to say, it was a long night.  Today it is very sore as well.  I couldn’t do too much at the gym.  I spent my time on the rowing machine, skipping, and riding the bike.  Hopefully it heals quickly.  I don’t want to miss too many classes if I can help it.  I already miss enough between work and not being motivated.  The final OJA tourney of the season is coming up and if I want to compete, I’ll need all the training I can get.

October 23, 2013 Training Journal

October 23, 2013

Good BJJ training tonight at Grizzly Gym. Class started with some basic drilling. We practiced several lock flows.

Lock flow #1
I really took my time throughout the whole routine. During the double leg, I concentrated on keeping my head up and tight to avoid the guillotine choke. During the arm lock routines, I focused on keeping the arm trapped. Because of this, the techniques flowed much better.

Lock flow #5
I was helping a newbie who had never tried leg locks. It was good to explain aloud as I was performing the techniques because it forced me to keep everything nice and tight.

Lock flow #4
I really like this flow. I feel like several of the techniques play right in to my game. I worked on keeping angles during the kimura so I didn’t have to use as much muscle.

Rolling
Several good matches. I started every match by getting in to it right away. I locked up, pulled guard and immediately worked for sweeps or submissions. It worked very well. I got several good sweeps (kimura sweep, old school, scissor sweep) and several submissions (rolling guillotine, arm bar, Russian scarecrow, banana split). I almost had an arm bar on Sean and then started to transition to a omoplata but the buzzer sounded. All in all it was a good night.

ONE THING TO TAKE AWAY
Practicing the techniques slowly and being meticulous is paying off.

A Thai Beer Tycoon Wants to Build a Massive Indoor Snow Park in Bangkok

Awesome!!!  I’ll beable to take a week long vacation for both skiing and Muay Thai.  The best of both worlds!

http://qz.com/135021/a-thai-beer-tycoon-wants-to-bring-snow-to-bangkok/

By Newley Purnell — October 14, 2013

Thailand’s Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, whose brewing empire helped him build a $10.6 billion fortune, is reportedly pursuing a far more whimsical venture. The country’s third-richest man wants to build an indoor snow park in steamy Bangkok.

The 54,000-square foot “snow town” will cost around $32 million, according to Thai news outlet Khaosod. And as ambitious as it is to create a slice of Switzerland in a city where the temperature rarely drops below 70 degrees Fahrenheit, getting to the icy enclave is every bit as bold.

The facility will be accessible via a cable car spanning Bangkok’s Chao Phraya river from the Asiatique outdoor shopping mall, a development also owned by Charoen that opened last year. The proposed cable car system—modeled on one that stretches across the Thames in London— would be more than 100 feet tall, nearly a half mile long, and supported by foundations anchored in the Chao Phraya, a waterway that sees substantial boat traffic and often floods surrounding areas.

The snow park is reminiscent of Ski Dubai, the park inside an Emirati shopping mall that opened in 2005. That facility not only offers skiing, snowboarding, and sledding facilities, but also houses penguins. Should Charoen’s project come to fruition—he is currently in talks with investors—Bangkok’s alpine escape will open next year.