Anger Can Be Power, Don't You Know That You Can Use It?

"Be aware of yourself, as you are, without judgement. See What Is. If you can do this, then you have no further problems." - Krishnamurti via Alan Watts

One of the things that drew me to Zen Buddhism are the concepts of reality and truth. These are two of the main (and only) "goals" of the practice of Zen Buddhism. You seek the truth and accept it. Sounds good but incredibly difficult in practice. @FAKEGRIMLOCK has a pretty excellent Ted Talk that addresses the subject a bit. One of my all-time favorite talks.

I define frustration as the difference between reality and what we believe reality "ought" to be. Wait But Why has a good read here on reasons why Gen Y (my generation) is generally a bit unhappy with their place in the world. I'm more interested in looking forwards than looking back, but I think it's important to understand that the major things addressed in the article are issues of perception and perception and thought processes can be refined and conditioned.

I don't have a fantastic solution or new way of thinking that's going to magically end frustration, nor would I want one. A world of "enlightenment" or "liberated beings" would probably be a bit boring and nothing would get done. On the contrary, friction will (and SHOULD) always be there and it is healthy. Friction and frustration generate anger and, as the Clash told us many years ago, anger can be power. Anger is the sort of thing that leads to real behavior changes. Behavior changes when the pain of changing hurts less than the pain of not changing. This is productive anger.

Productive anger gets you up at 5am to train before going to work. It gets you to work a little earlier during the week so you can hang with the kids on the weekend. You burn Friday night studying instead of doing keg stands. It gets you to do all that extra stuff that 90% of people don't do because you're clawing for every little advantage you can find to do whatever it is you want to do. Like Al Pacino said in Any Given Sunday, those extra inches we need are all around us. People don't see them or they choose not to reach for them, but they're out there. To use a term from Steven Pressfield in Turning Pro, those inches are the difference between being an amateur and being a professional.

Unproductive anger is snapping at someone for chewing too loudly, yelling at the dog for being a dog or snapping off at a kid for just being a kid and doing kid things. This is displaced anger due to some friction or a perceived wrong in some other aspect in life; the proverbial shit rolling downhill. This is the stuff that doesn't matter. To paraphrase Chuck Palahniuk in Fight Club: let that which does not matter truly slide.

Things that truly matter are the greatest sources of friction and need to be addressed in some way, shape or form. These are the big things that trickle down into all of the other aspects of your life. When we address the big things, we don't even notice the small things; they'll have already slid away.

The Week That Was - 4/15 - 4/21

All of the sessions from the 2013 European Weightlifting Championships via All Things Gym here.

Also at All Things Gym: Band Decompression. I show this stuff to everyone who trains. Having had one back surgery, I don't wish it on anyone. Bands can be found at Elitefts.

Alan Watts giving an excellent talk on...well damn near everything.

4/15 - Epsom salt, roller, etc

4/16
Muscle Snatch + OH Squat (1+3) 50x1x3
Floating Snatch (two pulls) 50x2x2 60x2 70x2 80x1 87x1 92x1 97x0 97x1 102x0 100x0 87x1 92x1
Pendlay Snatch Complex 80-80-85
Floating CJ - 60x2x2 85x1x2 100x1 110x1
Reverse Hypers and Neck

(Tiny R knee tweak on the 110 so I shut this down for the day. Nothing special, just keeping it safe. I also took 4/17 and 4/18 off from the blizzard here and some rough days at work.)

4/19
Pendlay Snatch warmup and some Rock n Roll drills
Snatch from Low Box (15kg plate on the floor) 60x2x3 72x2x2 82x2x2 90x1x5/80x2x5
(The reps at 90 were so perfect I wanted to do some work there plus the two days off left me stiff as hell)
Pendlay Clean Warmup
CJ from Low Box - 60xsome 85x2x2 100x1x2 110x1x2 120x1 120xFJ/100x2
Front Squat - 70x5 100x4 110x3x3
Hip Thrust - 70x10x2 110x8x2
Grappler Abs/Cal Back Extensions - Three sets each
Sled Drag - two trips to get the legs opened up a bit

4/20 - Timed Sets (1:15 between reps in the snatch and 1:30-1:45 between reps in the CJ)
Snatch - 80-80-80-80-82-82-85-85-85-85
CJ - 100-100-105-105-105-110-110-110-110-110
Abs and Rev Hypers
(No reason to take max weights when I'm feeling subpar from the two snowdays. Weights are somewhere around 80%, so nothing special; just punching the clock. Going to use these more often on Saturdays going forward.)

4/21 (NOT one of my finer days. Those timed sets really banged up my CNS. BIG FAN.)
Sots Press - 40x5x2 45x5x2
OH Squat - 50x5 70x5
Back Squat - barx5x2 60x5x2 100x4x2 130x3 150x2 160x1/130x5x5
Push Press - 50x5x2 70x5 80x5 (Popped some scar tissue or something in my left index finger so I shut this down. Discretion is the better part of valor.)
Meadows Row - 5x10
JM Press + Chins - five sets each
Four Way Neck + Cal Back Extension + Hanging Leg Raise - three sets of each
Traction

The Week That Was - 4/1 - 4/7

"The world is coming to a bunch of pants-shitting mouth breathers that don't want to do any work."

In many, if not most cases, breakfast sucks.

TenSexyLadies: the most sanitarium-worthy tumblr you'll read today.

Henry Rollins vs. Iggy Pop. Spoiler alert: IGGY WINS.

Upcoming shows in Denver, CO: Gaslight Anthem at the Ogden, Lucero at the Bluebird, Face to Face at the Gothic Theater.

4/2
Sots Press + Russian Balance 40x1x2 45x1x2
Snatch + Below Knee Snatch 50xsome 60x1x3 70x1x2 77x1 85x1 90x0 (made first) 80x1x2
Pendlay Sn Complex (snatch+abv knee snatch+OH Sqt+Snatch Balance) 70x1 75x1 80x1x2
Clean Pull + Below Knee CJ 60xsome 80x1x2 90x1 100x1 110x1 115x1 120x1
Klokov Complex 90x1 95x1 100x1 105x0 (missed push press)
Back Squat bar x5 70x5 100x4 130x5 135x5 140x5
Heavy Reverse Hypers - Three sets

4/3
OH Squat - 40x10 40x10 50x10
Sots Press - barx5x2 40x3x3 50x3
Pwr Snatch - 60x2x4 70x2x3 75x2
Pwr Clean + Pwr Jerk - 60xsome 80x2x2 90x1x2 100x1 110x1
Back Jerk 60xsome 80x3x2 90x2x2 100x2x2 110x2 120x1
Chinsx20

4/4
Muscle Snatch + OH Squat (1+3) 40x1x2 50x1x2
Box Snatch 50x3 60x3 70x2 80x2 85x1 90x1 95x1 100x0 80x2x3
Box CJ - 60x3 80x1x2 90x1x2 100x1 110x1 (got chatty and got cold, so I shut this down)
F Sqt - 60x3 90x3 110x2 120x1 130x1x2

4/6 (almost back to pre-injury levels)
Snatch - bar x bunch 50xbunch 65xbunch 75x2x2 85x1x2 92x1 80x1 85x1 90x1 95x1 100x0x2/ 110x2x2 high pull
CJ - bar x bunch 70 x bunch 90x2x2 100x1x2 110x1 117x1 122x1 127x1 132x0 120x1/130x3 140x2 high pull only
Bar work and Sots Press to cool down

4/7
AM
Muscle Snatch + OH Squat + Snatch Balance (1+2+1) 40x1 50x1x2 60x1x2 70x1
Back Squat - barx5x2 70x5 70x3 100x3 130x3 150x2 170x1 180x1 150x2 170x1 175x1
Pause Squat - 140x2x4
Front Push Press - barx5x2 50x5 70x5x2 80x5 90x5 95x5 85x5x3
Pendlay Row 5x8
GH Raise/Chins/JM Press - Three sets each
Traction

PM
600m of tempo (10x60m) with abs between runs

The Training Week That Was - 2/24 - 3/2

"I'm an entertainer. I have nothing to sell...I just want you to enjoy a point of view that I enjoy" - Alan Watts


2/24 Snowing BALLS here so got a quickie in at the Glendale YMCA
500m row @ 1:33
Abs x60/Chins x10
Military Press bar x10x2 95x5x2 115x3 135x3 145x2 155x1x12 w/ minute between reps (this is a Steve Pulcinella idea from his IronSport Method)
Chinese DB Row 85x10x5
JM Press - 7x10
Pulldown 2x20

2/25 - Acupuncture from Chiropractic of North Denver

2/26
Muscle Snatch (one full + two from high hang) 60kg 3x3
Snatch High Pull (1+2) up to 100x1x4
Floating Snatch High Pull (1+2) bunch at 80
Snatch Pull w/ Pause 100x3 120x3 140x3 150x3 140x3x3
Back Squat 135lbsx5x2 205x5 255x5 275x5 285x5x2 295x5
Pause Squat (seven second pause) 3x5 @ 195lbs
Dead Squat 10x1@245lbs, 30s between reps
Heavy Standing Abs - 3x10  Grappler Abs 2x8+8

2/27
Military Press up to 160x1x6 155x1x3 150x1x3
Chins x20
Bunch of snatch grip upright row-type things

2/28
Muscle Clean 50kgx3x3
High Hang Clean up to 115kgx1x2 then Floating Clean 70x1x2 90x1x2 (wrists getting better)
Clean Pull w/ Pause 110x3 140x3 160x3x3
Front Squat 135lbsx5x2 205x3 245x3 265x3 275x3x2
Seven Count Pause Squat 185lbsx3x3
Dead Front Squat 135lbsx1x3 185x1x5
-Had to cut the squats short because I was running late for a company dinner. This should have been 10x1 of dead squats and 5x3 of the pause squats.

3/2
Only had an hour to lift so I worked up to 120x1 in the clean and then bolted for acupuncture. My back tends to not appreciate rushed morning sessions.