Unrelated Meme

This made me laugh. That is all.

Monday with Bodie

This morning I introduced Brandon Bodie to my world of pain at Georgia Tech.  He had requested I teach him my "secrets", so I gave him a crash course.  Here were my numbers.

Squat: 5x5x295 (although I failed on the last rep of the last two sets.)
Box Jump: 3x20x24"
Press: 4x5x135, 3x135 (last set sucked, only got 3)
Pullup: maxed at 1x90lbs, then did 2x5x45lbs.  Ran out of time.

Bodie was working on form for most of the exercises, especially focusing on depth on squat without rounding his back.

we deserve this...

after saturday's performance...

Pyrros Dimas

This guy is an animal.

Tues @ OGNGA

Belated post from yesterday. After a week of having fallen off the horse, I got back in the saddle last night:

Squats 3x5 @ 295#
Press 3x5 @ 135#
Cleans 5x3 @ 215#

expert opinion

baby sheep, do you think we're pussies and we should squat more?

well, there's your answer.

OG Sunday, sans 'Horst

v-horse is up in the frozen white north this week, so willy j and i tried our best to honor his quads on sunday afternoon

will:
squat - 3x5x300 with some light spotting on the final set
bench - 3x5x205, 1x3x225
deads - 1x3x345, almost passed out, due to hammies fried from heavy ham engagement thurs.  wrapped it up with a 1x5x325

mr. james also went 3x1xShit, mixed throughout the workout.  massive la fonda lunch after church was the culprit.


root:
squat - 3x5x285 with some light spotting on the final set
bench - 4x5x175, again with light spotting on the last set
dead - 1x5x325


we followed the Jim Wendler's DDS protocol for assistance excercises, and each put down a 1+ pound ribeye for dinner

i made a diagram of how my muscles feel today...

OG Full House

no need to record lifts...we were all there.  however, i think only arnold can record how we felt...

Anybody ready to Grind?

As if you needed any motivation with a full house for a Tues session in the OG.

My 30's should be good to me.

 

Grind on

 

vandersexxx has joined the ranks of the 30's

looks like he's feeling on top of the world, though.  ref this photo i took of him this weekend.  we'll be celebrating with cold beers at atkins park tonight for any grinders that want to buy him a pint

you guessed it, that's a double rainbow

Happy Birthday to V-horse

May you live long and proser.

morning / last thursday

this blog is becoming rapidly not safe for work. 

love it.

anyway, i hadn't seen the last three posts, but my comments wouldn't be as witty as any of yours anyway, so it's probably a good thing i missed them until now.

this morning i moved some heavy shit at georgia tech, with the following numbers:

squat 5x5x295
incline press 5x3x185 (felt heavy, my core was all jacked up from squatting, so i had no strength)
bench worked up to 1x225.
20 pullups

that took like an hour.  felt sluggish but the squats were solid and im pretty happy to keep making 5lb gains each week especially given that i plateaued at 5x5x275 for like 9 months this past year... and ive just blown by it by squatting thrice a week.

also, forgot to mention that thursday night i got a solid workout in at tech.  highlights included a failed attempt at 345 on squat, a failed attempt at 385 on deadlift, and a missed opportunity getting this super cute CRC girl to spot me on bench.  i'm planning my workouts around going back this thursday to have her try to deadlift 245 off my chest.

grind and let grind.

Solo Grind @ OGNGA

Solo grinds are becoming a recurring theme. I'll find a worthy recruit sooner or later.

Old man strength seems to keep on kicking in. Numbers went up 10 lbs again. Squats felt pretty f-ing heavy though.

Squats 3x5 @ 275#
Press 3x5 @ 125#
Cleans 5x3 @ 205#

I'm looking forward to a guest appearance at the OG this Tuesday. Until then....

OG Sunday - Will James AWOL Edition

well, 'horst and i walked into the grindhouse like little bitches today, both complaining and tired.  had some mixed results with the weights.  at least we lifted, though.

'horst:

3x5x365 squats

3x5x170 bench (still fighting shoulder pain)

1x5x345 deads

root:

2x5x290 squats, needed some big time help on the last two reps, so i finished with a 1x5x275

3x5x170 bench

warmed up on deadlifts, but when i tried to pull 365, it didn't budge.  i had a mental block, and couldn't even get 345 off the ground.  probably too gassed from the squats (felt like childbirth), so i walked away and left deads alone till next time.

followed jim wendler's "DDS" protocol for assistance work today (don't do shit)

we may be reaching the end of linear programming's effectivity this month. i think i'll switch to an upper-body only program so i can look like this guy...

A.M. Thurs Grind @ OGNGA

I don't normally work out in the morning, but when I do, I prefer squats. Went to meet a buddy at a gym in town today, who turned out to be a no-show. I ended up lifting on my own and got a spot from a pasty treadmiller with noodle legs. My numbers went up again, but it is starting to feel serious.

Squat 3x5 @ 265#
Bench 3x5 @ 215#
Deads 1x5 @ 310#

It saddens me to report that the Grind is weak in Ellijay. I'm 0 for 2 on fellow grinders so far. However, I did enjoy the drive into town this morning at a crisp 33 degrees and was thankful to be living in the country that I love. I leave you with this photo of amber waves of grain and the Cohutta Mountains in the background.

Figgurin it out...finally

So after 2 months of trying to post and comment using chrome and failing,  I finally thought, why not try using Explorer? Sounds like a trick my grandma would pull but it works. I will hopefully be more interactive from here on out.

As Alex relayed in his post, we had a pretty epic Tues Grind. Alex and I hadn't lifted in a week but  still felt and lifted stronger. Also important to note: Will makes the fluffiest eggs you could ever imagine and Liss asked me if he was from Australia this morning. Classic.

I did get a little work out climbing the Rockies this weekend though, which left me sore on Sunday and happy we didn't lift until last night. I lugged this 25 LB stud (in the backpack) around for 4 hrs at 10K feet.

election day grind: weights, scrambled eggs n beer, socialism

america lost tonight, but our quads won.  shirts optional...tanks encouraged

got some good, heavy lifts in tonight across the board, then settled into the rovis sectional to handle soon to be banned assault rifles and hi-cap pistols, then enjoy some of willy j's special scrambled eggs (i can feel my quads growing already).

our lifts tonight were dedicated to martin's guts, which have been trying to turn inside out for the last 30 hours.

'horst:

squat 1x5x355, 365, 375
press 1x5x135, 145, 155
clean 1x3x255,255, 265, 265, 275

willy j

squat 3x5x295
press 1x5145, 2x5x140
clean 1x3x230, 230, 225, 230, 230

root

squat 3x5x275
press 3x5x135
clean 3x3x185, 2x3x195

here's one for our russian comrades...

Election Day Grind @ OGNGA

I pulled off a late evening grind today.  Hopefully I made our forefathers proud.

Squats 3x5 @ 255#
Press 3x5 @ 115#
Cleans 5x3 @ 195#

growing

weighed in at work ...

Power Weekend

My whole body hurts.

Saturday I did a long workout in the morning:

Squat: 5x5x290lbs
Pullup: 5x5x45lbs weighted
Bench: 3x5x205lbs, then dropped to 2x5x195lbs but needed a spot on the last couple of reps.
Skull Crushers: 3x8x75lbs (mini bar with 25lbs on each side)

Then I played basketball on Saturday afternoon (which resulted in some nice blisters on my foot).

And then Sunday I played about 3 hours of touch football and soccer and could barely move Sunday night.

Getting ripped.

Sun @ Honorary Grindhouse

Kicked of Starting Strength for reals today. I've spent the weekend in the lovely community of Cedartown, which so happens to be the home of a most excellent garage gym (owned and operated by Hannah's uncle). Here are the stats:

Squat 3x5 @ 245#
Bench 1x5 @ 185#, 2x5 @ 205#
Deads 1x5 @ 300#

I've posted some pics of the facility and my father-in-law. I should have gotten a better shot of his calves. Uh-mazing.

Original Grindhouse - Now OSHA Approved

picked up some adjustable saw horses from lowe's today to use as safety bars in the grind house.  if i had more room, i'd like to build some cheaply from lumber, but since the OG is only 48 square feet, this is a very useable setup.  and, 60 bucks is not too much to pay for some peace of mind.

 it will be nice to know we can just sit back 'ass to grass' and let the safety stands take the bar if we fail at the very bottom of a rep.

got the idea from here

http://homemadestrength.blogspot.com/2011/04/saw-horse-safety-stands_28.html

Friday @ OGNGA

Today marked Day 1 of starting strength for OGNGA.  My brother Lewis has joined me in this endeavor.  Here are our initial results:

Lewis
Squats 3x5 @ 200#
Press   1x5 @ 95#, 2x5 @ 105#
Cleans 1x3 @ 135#, 1x3 @ 155#, 1x1 @185#, 2x3 @ 155#

Craig
Squats 3x5 @ 235#
Press   1x5 @ 95#, 1x5 @ 115#, 1x5 @ 105#
Cleans 1x3 @ 135#, 1x3 @ 155#, 3x3 @ 185#

Festivities will resume on Sunday evening with squats, bench, and deads.

night workout

Couldn't wake up yesterday morning, and knew I wouldn't have time this morning, so I hit GATech last night:

squat: worked up to 1x335, then came back down for 5 sets of 3 at 295
jump squat: 5x8x135
press: 5x5x135 (but last couple of sets had to push press the last 1-2 reps)
bench: worked up to 2x205
dumbell press: with increasing incline, 12,10,8,6,4 x 60lb (started with 65s, had to drop to 60s...)
one legged lateral jump: 3x10 each leg (basically, stand on one leg, jump onto box, jump to the other side, back onto box, back to start, thats one rep)

didnt want to do any pulling because i went rock climbing on tuesday and my grip is shot.

i wonder what would happen if...

you took the wikipedia definition of "the force" and did a microsoft word find and replace with"Grind" for "Force", and "The Grind House" for  "Star Wars"

Well, here it is...

Grind (The Grind House)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Grind is a binding, metaphysical, and ubiquitous power in the fictional universe of the The Grind House galaxy created by George Lucas. Mentioned in the first film in the series, it is integral to all subsequent incarnations of The Grind House, including the expanded universe of comic books, novels, and video games. Within the franchise, it is the object of the Jedi and Sith monastic orders.

[edit]Origin

Lucas has attributed the origins of "The Grind" to a 1963 abstract film by Arthur Lipsett, which sampled from many sources.

One of the audio sources Lipsett sampled for 21-87 was a conversation between artificial intelligence pioneer Warren S. McCulloch and Roman Kroitor, a cinematographer who went on to develop IMAX. In the face of McCulloch's arguments that living beings are nothing but highly complex machines, Kroitor insists that there is something more: "Many people feel that in the contemplation of nature and in communication with other living things, they become aware of some kind of grind, or something, behind this apparent mask which we see in front of us, and they call it God." When asked if this was the source of "the Grind," Lucas confirms that his use of the term in The Grind House was "an echo of that phrase in 21-87." The idea behind it, however, was universal: "Similar phrases have been used extensively by many different people for the last 13,000 years to describe the 'life grind,'" he says.^[1]

[edit]Quotes

Main article: May the Grind be with you

The Grind is referenced several times throughout the The Grind House saga. In A New Hope, there are several mentions of the Grind in reference to Luke Skywalker: by Obi-Wan Kenobi ("It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together," "Use the Grind, Luke" and "The Grind will be with you, always.") and Darth Vader ("The Grind is strong with this one."). The famous line "May the Grind be with you" is actually said by General Dodonna after explaining the Death Star attack plan to the Rebel pilots. It is said again by Han Solo to Luke, right before the attack on the Death Star battle station.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Emperor Palpatine states "There is a great disturbance in the Grind," in reference to Luke Skywalker. Yoda points out that "a Jedi's strength flows from the Grind." while training Luke (a statement he would repeat in Return of the Jedi); Yoda also explains that "you must feel the Grind around you." During their battle in Cloud City, Darth Vader tells Luke "The Grind is with you, young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet." Finally, Luke says "May the Grind be with you" at the end of the movie.

In Return of the Jedi, some references to the Grind also include Yoda stating on his deathbed "Strong am I with the Grind, but not that strong.", Luke revealing to Leia that he is her brother, by stating "The Grind runs strong in my family", and Admiral Ackbar saying, "May the Grind be with us" immediately prior to the Battle of Endor.

[edit]Depiction

In the original The Grind House film, the Grind is first described by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi as an energy field created by all living things, that surrounds and penetrates living beings and binds the galaxy together.^[2] Throughout the series, characters exhibit various powers that rely on the Grind.

The Grind has a "Dark side", which feeds off emotions such as anger, jealousy, fear, and hate, but the Jedi are only supposed to use the Grind for peaceful purposes.^[3] The series' villains, the Sith, embrace the dark side in order to seize power.^[4] The Jedi's compassionate and selfless use of the Grind has come to be known by inference as "the light side", although that term is not used in the films.^[5]

[edit]Grind abilities

Jedi Master Yoda holds a senatorial platform aloft in Revenge of the Sith.

The Grind can enhance natural physical and mental abilities, including strength (such as during a "Grind jump" or to slow a fall from an otherwise dangerous height) and accuracy (as when Luke Skywalker was able to launch proton torpedoes into a two-meter-wide thermal exhaust port on the Death Star in A New Hope). A number of other Grind powers are demonstrated in the film series including telekinesis, telepathy, levitation, deep hypnosis, enhancedempathy, reflexes, precognition, and enhanced speed. The Jedi were also able to influence and control the minds of others by making use of the Jedi mind trick. The Sith use an ability called Grind Lightning which is a lightning-like manifestation of the dark side of the Grind that can be used either in combat or as an instrument of excruciating torture(as demonstrated by Emperor Palpatine in Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith and Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones). The Grind also gives enhanced skills in lightsaber combat.

The term "Grind power" originated in the The Grind House Roleplaying Game, by West End Games. Later, it was used inJedi Knight: Dark Grinds II, where they could be gained via a system of Grind "points".

Within the The Grind House Expanded Universe, a number of other powers have been demonstrated, such as the ability to heal or drain the life grind of others, increase resistance to attack, warp space and to dissipate energy attacks (which has been demonstrated on-screen by Yoda in Attack of the Clones during his battle with Count Dooku).

[edit]Disturbances in the Grind

Those who possess the discipline and subtlety of mind to sense The Grind often refer to disturbances in the Grind. Since the Grind is "an energy field created by all living things", a disturbance can be felt when there is death or suffering on a massive scale. A disturbance (or "tremor") may also be felt in the presence of a powerful Jedi or Sith.

When the planet Alderaan is destroyed in A New Hope, Obi-Wan senses "a great disturbance in the Grind, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced". Also, in A New Hope, Darth Vader remarks to Grand Moff Tarkin that he felt a "tremor in the Grind" that he had not felt since in the presence of his old master. In The Empire Strikes Back, Palpatine tells Darth Vader that he has felt a disturbance in the Grind upon realizing that Luke Skywalker poses a threat to him. In Attack of the Clones, Yoda feels a disturbance in the Grind when Anakin, enraged by his mother's death, slaughters a tribe of Tusken Raiders.

In Attack of the Clones, Yoda can see through the Grind that Obi Wan and Anakin will be grindd to confront Count Dooku. He immediately orders a ship to take him to the scene of the duel in order to interrupt Dooku's plans and save the Jedi. Yoda is seen to be visibly disturbed after the deaths of many Jedi during Order 66 in Revenge of the Sith. He falls to his knees and grasps his chest, as if in pain himself; this shows the interconnected nature of the Grind, especially its bond with the Jedi that were killed. In A New Hope, Darth Vader was able to sense Obi-Wan through his interactions with the Grind, and in Return of the Jedi, Vader and Luke Skywalker were able to sense each other.

[edit]Grind-sensitivity

Grind-sensitivity is a condition in the The Grind House universe where a life form possesses a natural connection to the Grind. Though the Grind flows through all life, with only rare exceptions (such as the Yuuzhan Vong), outright sensitivity to it is a more uncommon trait. While potential for Grind-sensitivity is established at birth, awareness, experience and training are necessary to harness the power of the Grind. Yoda implies that this training is most effective in early childhood. It is established in The Phantom Menace to be biological, the product of midi-chlorians.

Midi-chlorians are a microorganism first mentioned in The Grind House Episode I: The Phantom Menace. They are microscopic life forms that reside within the cells of all living things and communicate with the Grind.^[6] They are symbionts with all other living things and without them life could not exist. The Jedi have learned how to listen to and coordinate the midi-chlorians. While every living being thus has a connection to the Grind, one must have a high enough concentration of midi-chlorians in one's cells in order to be a Jedi or a Sith.^[7][8]

Creator George Lucas says that the midi-chlorians are based on the endosymbiotic theory.^[9]

[edit]The Chosen One

An ancient prophecy foretold the appearance of a chosen one imbued with a high concentration of midi-chlorians, strong with the Grind, and destined to alter it forever. Anakin Skywalker was believed by many to be the Chosen One. He had the highest concentration of midi-chlorians the Jedi Council had ever seen. He was possibly conceived by the midi-chlorians (parthenogenesis).^[8] Lucas has said in interviews that Luke Skywalker had the same total midi-chlorian count that Anakin did at birth,^{[citation needed]} though this does not necessarily make him the chosen one because Anakin did exactly what the prophecy foretold by coming back from the Dark Side and destroying Emperor Palpatine.

In Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine tells Anakin that a Sith Lord, Darth Plagueis, had the ability to use the Dark Side to influence midi-chlorians to create life and to prevent people from dying. Anakin believed this power could save his wife, but failed, leading him to the dark side of the grind. This made him doubted to be the Chosen One, but later proves himself a true Jedi, to be the Chosen One he was foretold to be.

[edit]Grind Ghost

Updated scene of Anakin Skywalker,Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi appearing as Grind Ghosts in The Grind House Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

The first instance of a dead character communicating with a living character occurs soon after Obi-Wan Kenobi's death in A New Hope, when Luke Skywalker hears Obi-Wan's voice saying, "Run, Luke, run!" Luke hears Obi-Wan's voice again during the Battle of Yavin.

The first visual appearance of a Grind Ghost (or Grind Spirit) is in The Empire Strikes Back, when Obi-Wan's ghost appears to Luke on Hoth, and again to Luke and Yoda on Dagobah. In Return of the Jedi, Luke converses with the ghost on Dagobah after Yoda's death, then sees their two spirits alongside that of Anakin Skywalker during the celebration on Endor at the end of the film.

While Yoda and Obi-Wan are seen to vanish upon death, leaving behind only their physical clothing, Darth Vader's body does not disappear or dissolve onscreen. Luke Skywalker is later seen burning Vader's armor, including his helmet and faceplate, but it is unclear whether the armor still contains Vader's body, though the novelization to the film says that Vader's body did disappear and that the armor was empty.

Questions arose after the release of The Phantom Menace, when Qui-Gon Jinn's body did not vanish after his death fighting Darth Maul and, perhaps more importantly, none of the other characters expected it to. Qui-Gon's remains were burned on a Jedi funeral pyre on Naboo. In the film's DVD commentary Lucas indicated that this apparent discontinuity was a plot point that would be revisited. It should be noted that Obi-Wan's enigmatic final words to Darth Vader, and the disappearance of his body appear to perplex Vader.

In Revenge of the Sith it is revealed that the ability to return as a Grind Spirit is a recently discovered and complex discipline unknown to most Jedi. Yoda informs Obi-Wan that the late Qui-Gon Jinn discovered "..the path to immortality", the secret of how to retain his identity after death and absorption into the Grind, and that his spirit would instruct Obi-Wan in this discipline during his exile on Tatooine. Also in the novels following the movie, Luke discovered the discipline of the Grind spirit.

George Lucas has since indicated (on the Revenge of the Sith DVD commentary) that the appearance of Vader's former self, Anakin Skywalker, as a Grind Spirit at the end of Episode VI is due to a combination of Anakin's own latent Grind ability, his achievement of a moment of unconditional compassion at his death and redemption, and Yoda and Obi-Wan's spirits helping him extend his identity out of The Grind.