Blog

  • Where’s your focus?

    On the inside effort? Doing the best you can with the resources you have.

    Or the outside validation? Judging your progress based on what others might think.

    -J

  • Why Motivation Isn’t Enough

    This person knows nothing of routines. Such a clown.

    This much we’ve already established in the past: you need to find your why to get anywhere with your health and training goals. But, the why driving the motivation in itself isn’t enough to keep you going towards your goals when you get blindsided with life’s randomness.

    You know, when you get elbow checked to the head and momentarily struggle to find the east. (more…)

  • Thoughts on…XIII: January 2018

    It’s been a while since I posted one of these. And as always, it goes all over the place. Training, life, health, writing, nuclear physics, dungeons & dragons… 

    It’s all in small snippets of text, making it a relatively easy read.

    (more…)

  • Retrospect and Refocus 2018 – Edition (and “The Best Of”)

    Great neck. Great view. Great location to retrospect and refocus.

    Note: This is a long post split into two parts.
    Part I is about reflecting and refocusing.
    Part II is The Best of 2017. Books, courses, gigs, music, the usual. (more…)

  • The Case for Vigorous Movement – For Those Not Motivated by Pure Vanity

    Swirl when you’re winning.

    This is the monster article I mentioned a while back. I got inspired to write it after reading this 52 page research, Role of Inactivity in Chronic Diseases: Evolutionary Insight and Pathophysiological Mechanisms. A real page-turner. And heavily referenced in this article.

    Here’s what to expect:

    Part I is about the benefits of participating in frequent vigorous movement, beyond of the “to look good on Instagram”. Yes, for most people a part of training motivation is the vanity aspect. That’s cool. I am not above that. Honestly, it’s probably a bit weird if it’s not. Yet, if you are like me and motivated more than just owning a body you can rub in coconut oil, this is for you.

    In the end of Part I I’ll cover how much of physical activity to aim for at minimum.

    Part II dwells further into physical inactivity and how it relates to osteoporosis, cardiovascular health and mental health, among other nasty stuff. So if you want to know the specifics of why physical movement is the best thing ever, you’ll love Part II. In the same way you love Godfather Part II vs Part I. I mean, both are amazing. But in unique ways. (more…)

  • Enough of Pseudo-Hardcore Training

     “Hardcore” workouts are not the measurement for our toughness. In the end, despite how angry and serious we look or how much teeth grinding we do in the gym, it’s just training. (more…)

  • Discontent is a Poor Glue for Life

    That’s not the face you get after a lifetime of sniffing the “discontentment glue”

    Most people live in a self told narrative of discontent. We are lost and searching for meaning in our lives by embracing unhappiness and the lack of satisfaction for our current self. We are who we are, not because of what we’ve become, but because of who we are not. (more…)

  • Is Fitness Only a Band-Aid for Poor Health?

    “The health of the human body is ultimately dependent of the health and the habitat of the community” – Frank Forencich

    I am currently reading, and inspired by Frank Forencich’s The Art is Long: Big Health and the New Warrior Activist – book. Although the name could be taken as spiritual, mystic, new-age twist, it’s far from it. Or close to it, depending on how you see the world. (more…)

  • “I Train so I Can Eat”

    “I train so I can eat.”

    This is something I often hear when people state their reasons for training. Everyone’s entitled to have their reasons but I don’t like this one. It’s a doomed thought process that easily leads into train more, eat less-, or train more, eat more – mentality. (more…)

  • 80% – The Key to a Happier and Healthier Life?

    I am convinced that’s a sign for the bathrooms. Or maybe Mayhem – the band is playing a gig. In the bathrooms.

     

    Let’s rewind first what 80% rule is all about and then apply it to everything.

    We’ve already established that 80% rule works wonders for training. Something that I wrote about in here after being enlightened about it by Max Shank. It means that if you can do 12 reps on a given weight do 9, and so on. Always leave some in the tank. (more…)