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 »

Do you have a passion in life? What is it? …. I’ll give you a second to think.
Post them here:
What is your passion in life?

My passion(s) - family and pets, martial arts, strength, internet.

I wonder how many of you out there actually know what your passion is and/or are actually pursuing it? I have someone close to me, who’ve I’ve asked this question to a few times. The answer is typically “I don’t know” or something very vague. It actually makes me sad to hear it and I believe frustrates the person when I ask.

One of the questions that is supposed to help find your passion is “What you would do in life if you didn’t have to worry about money and had everything you’ve ever wanted?” I think about this all the time. I would open a martial arts gym, fill it with the best training equipment, mats, etc. and train. Then after I’m training, I would geek out on the internet trying to be successful there. My wife and I would travel and I’d live on a HUGE farm with a pack of dogs, birds, and other animals. Man that just gets me excited thinking about it. The thing is, I think I can do it too.

The hard part I guess is trying to merge your passion into your “real life”. We all have to work, pay those bills, and survive the daily grind. It’s part of life. But everyday I believe you should do SOMETHING that relates to your dreams and passions. If you’ve always wanted to … play guitar. Take guitar lessons once a week. Start down that path. You don’t have to go crazy trying to achieve everything you want at once. Break it down into something small and manageable. I always wanted to be a great martial artist. I started small, I took a class and it grew from there. Same thing with the internet. I was intrigued by it and wanted to be successful at it. I started small, I learned how to open a site and it grew from there.

The hardest part is taking that first step. But BELIEVE me, once you do, it will change you. You will now be pursuing your dreams and passions. Thats huge my friend.

Suck Less At: Finding and PURSUING passion in life

Posted by Matt Bryers | 2 Comments »

This post is kind of a personal thought or experiences of Being Dumb that I had after I read an amazing blog related to Not Being Dumb by a man named Russ St. Hilaire, who also happens to be my martial arts teacher and more. His blog is called Don’t Be Dumb. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for tips, motivation, and a “real” way of thinking that applies to all aspects of your life. Give it a read.

My personal experiences fighting being dumb.
Ever since I was born, I’ve been thrown into the regiment of living my life a certain way. Go to School, Get a Job, Get Married, Buy a House, Have Kids, etc. The “American Dream” as some of you might say. In fact, my Mother used to say that exact phrase to me to a certain degree. She was TRYING to put me on the path of the cookie cutter life. They soon realized I was different and did things a different way. I didn’t go to college, I didn’t have schooling on Web Design or Marketing, yet that is one of my passions and professions. I was never interested in traditional sports or little league, nor much of an athlete when younger, yet know I consider myself a good athlete and fighter. I could go on, but the point is that I am probably more successful in “life” then I would have been if I just followed “the path”. One of my favorite sayings from my other site: Fighting Techniques, Training and Fight Videos - Fightauthority.com is “Find your Path!” - meaning that everyone should find their own path in life and / or martial arts (it is a martial arts site). A path that is their own, not one laid of out for you.

The funny thing now is that in a way, I have almost done what my Mother always wanted. I did get a job, got married, bought the house, got Dogs (they’re my kids for now). But the way I see it, it was done my way. I got the job of my dream as well as have some other great side jobs and personal business that is also blooming. I married the woman of my dreams. The girl I was in love with when I since was 16 (I’ll share that story another time). And buying a house….well we all need a place to live and I LOVE my house. Lastly my dogs, you’ll all soon find out that I am big animal lover, and my dogs are a vital part of my life. So the end result was something that my parents always wanted, but I did it my way and I am truly happy.

One thing I would like to improve on, which I realized after reading some posts on Don’t Be Dumb is that I should real consider trying to help others more. Either financially, volunteering, etc. Sometimes I almost feel selfish, others times I don’t know how I would be able to do it. But after reading some thoughts and posts there, I know that should be part of my life.

Sucking Less at: Being Dumb
Sucking at: Not helping others.

Again, Thank you Don’t Be Dumb for inspiring some interesting thoughts and life consideration. Please give this blog a read. It is FULL of amazing information.

Posted by Matt Bryers | No Comments »