GENERATIONS OF GRANDMA’S CAN’T BE WRONG… 

It’s sad that in this day of “Cold-Eeze” and “Airborne” and all these other new-fangled cold remedies, a lot of folks seem to have forgotten about the good old-fashioned, time-honored Hot Totty.

 Heat up some hot water in the kettle while you nuke about an ounce of honey and a squeeze of lemon juice in a mug for about 30 seconds.  Then add a shot or two of whiskey, and top it off with the hot water.  Drop in three or four cloves, a pinch of nutmeg and a cinamon stick, stir it for a second, and let the beverage sit for a minute or two before drinking ‘er down and hitting the hay.

This is a great remedy for a sore throat, and will, for obvious reasons, help give you some solid sleep.  Whip yourself up a Hot Totty next time you feel those early symptoms, and nip the misery in the bud!

PS - while in this author’s opinion the Hot Totty is a more effective remedy than the aformentioned commercial cold products, said store-bought solutions will likely be viewed in a more favorable light in workplace settings!

PSS - in a pinch, one can forgo the honey, lemon, cloves, and cinnamon.  And water. 

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A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-Robert A. Heinlein

Yep. ‘Nuf said.

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I had a pretty great squat workout a few days past, and had immediately posted this to my own personal blog. I thought I would share it here, because I think it touches on some of the core OpSLED concepts, as well as an idea I addressed in the last entry.

***

In a gym known for eccentricity, I might have just carved myself out a new niche.

I just had a terrific squat workout, five brutal sets of eight brutal reps each. Nothing to really write home about for around 90% of the gym, but nor was it too shabby for a guy who’s never taken squats seriously until the last year or so.

I wrapped my rosary around the horizontal support for the squat rack so that it was dangling in front of me while I pounded out the reps. The squats hurt. A lot. But then I’d find myself focusing on the crucifix rotating in front of me from the force of my exhales, and I’d think, “oh, yeah, I guess it doesn’t hurt all that bad, after all”.

Really kind of puts things into perspective.

I had a lot to think about tonight, and a lot to pray about, and a lot of fury that I felt OK taking out on the weights. I killed a few birds with one stone, I guess. And my legs. I’m seriously having some trouble with stairs right now. And am emotionally exhausted. It’s been a week, I’ll tell you what.

But, then again, perspective. Right. And strength. Right.

But yeah, a few people did double takes at my mumbling, struggling self squatting in front of a dangling rosary. And they nodded in seeming approval.

I might just become maniacal enough to fit in there after all.

***

There are several things here I’d like to expand on over time, but one thing that I hope immediately jumps out is that simply by getting in there, busting ass, trying my best to suck a little less than last time out, and frankly not giving a damn about what other people thought of me, I fit right in with a group of people who were a lot bigger, stronger, and badder than I.

There was a time not too long ago where I whould have avoided doing lifts I’m not that great at, out of fear of sticking out as a weakling. Obviously, this is a self-defeating strategy, as every time that I avoided a workout, I only put off actual progress that much longer.

But the truth of the matter is, it wasn’t the other, more capable, less-sucking people present that made me feel uncomfortable; it was me, and me alone. MY own insecurities, and nothing more. Nobody really gives a damn how much weight you’re putting up in the gym. What they notice is that you bring it all, throw yourself into every rep, and give Sucking Less Every Day the ol’ college try.

A whole other idea that I would like to address more in depth another time is that of my faith. It’s a shame how much popular culture has either demonized or emasculated men of faith in recent years. But plenty of the blame for that can also be placed squarely on the faithful themselves. Sadly, many of today’s churches do a pretty piss-poor job at representing the ideas on which they were founded. But, again, that’s a whole ‘nuther topic for a whole ‘nuther time.

Posted by Jon Sewell | 1 Comment »

In the never-quite-ending quest to suck a bit less daily, it’s important to have a vision. It doesn’t have to be too specific right away, but you need something to strive for, some kind of goal in mind, to effectively judge at the end of each day whether you just spent the last 24 hours sucking more, sucking less, or doing a bit of both (you’ll find this one to be the case most often, I assure you).

Here is a list of ten physical benchmarks I have set for myself. Some of them I’m close to hitting now, and some of them are likely a good ways off. But I feel that once I can do all of the following, I will be able to confidently declare myself pretty damn fit. Surely a bit stronger than the average bloke off the street, but hardly an extreme specimen, either. I’m sure that there are many people that would gawk at a list like this, and write me off as some kind of health-nut. I’m also sure that in near any gym across the country, there would be at least a handful of people that could handily smoke all these numbers.

And that’s OK. I’m a very average guy who happens to work out in a very hardcore lifting facility, so my perspective on strength, and my feeble place in its spectrum, is probably skewed. I am pretty confident that I have not the dedication, genetics, or even inclination to ever become a competitive bodybuilder, powerlifter, or strongman. However, I also have plenty of valid reasons related to my career to want to be bigger, stronger, and tougher than the average guy on the street.

So, don’t ever worry about what anyone else’s goals are, or where you stack up next to them. Worry only about how you stack up to yourself yesterday, and your ideal self tomorrow. Working to get further from the former and closer to latter, and helping others to do the same, is what OpSLED is all about!

So, without further ado, here are MY ten current (and admittedly arbitrary) fitness benchmarks. Now I’m eager to hear about your’s, so we can walk those very different but parallel paths together.

1. Bench Press 300 pounds.

2. Deadlift 300 pounds.

3. Squat 300 pounds.

4. Overhead Press (pushpress) 200 pounds.

5. 12 strict consecutive chinups.

6. 50 strict consecutive pushups.

7. 45 situps in 1 minute.

8. Run 10 miles.

9. Run 1 mile in under 7:30 (a gazelle, I am most surely not).

10. Close the #2 Captains of Crush hand gripper.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll catch you next time!

Posted by Jon Sewell | 1 Comment »