Welcome to T-Town

 

Welcome to T-Town, brother! It's good to see a new face on the Nugenix Total-T! Remember to take your prayers and say your vitamins! It's high time you get off of your namby-pamby ass and see what all the fuss is about!

In T-Town we walk in the middle of the street and wave at all the couples co-washing their big-ass trucks while Doug Flutie throws missiles at any unaccompanied minors walking the sidewalks. If Big Frank comes your way, you smile and nod and make damn well sure you're taking your Nugenix Total-T, else Frank might have to make sure your ladies are satisfied. She'll like it too! She did last night, eh? And if she didn't, you call Frank, you hear?

With Nugenix Total-T, you'll stop having problems with tangled hoses and troublesome belly fat! Once again, your wife will remember that you have a penis and are semi-competent in its usages. No longer will she sigh and stare longingly out the window, hoping that Big Frank walks down the street. If she starts getting excited at Doug Flutie, then you know you're in trouble and better double, hell, triple that Total-T dosage.

Middle-age is a bitch, ain't it? It sure ain't in T-Town! In T-Town, we don't prey upon your insecurities. We fix them with Nugenix Total-T! Once again you can be that rowdy lad who participated in the burning of Woodstock 99! Turn back the clock to the time of Gears of War and beer pong and sloppy sex! Remember hangovers? Remember when they didn't feel like someone took an ice pick to your head and then shit in the big hole it carved out? Fix it all with Nugenix Total-T!

With Nugenix Total-T, one simple pill will make you grow hair on your dong again! It'll turn you into a chest-beating ape with a ranging boner and the sexual mores of a Tyrannosaurus! Never get old again with Nugenix Total-T! Ignore the irony of a Hall of Fame athlete with excellent genetics hocking an overpriced B12 supplement as a literal elixir of eternal youth.

Why the fuck was Doug Flutie in these commercials? He looks old as shit. Somebody better give him some Nugenix Total-T.

Half A Year on Juggernaut AI

 

After a year with Juggernaut AI, I'm satisfied enough with the app to continue to pay for it, which is just about the biggest endorsement I can make. I was initially disappointed after maxing out on my meet day, but after considering the circumstances and realizing that I hadn't hit numbers close to what I did in some time, I'm satisfied. So let's talk about my peaking cycle, since I've written about the hypertrophy and strength blocks before. 

The goal of the peaking cycle is to drop fatigue by cutting volume, while still hitting a heavy weight every now and then to prepare for your meet/test day. I think the app did a wonderful job at that. My lifestyle, however, got in the way of dropping fatigue. I have a demanding manual labor job that often leaves me sore and tired, as well as two small children who often do the same. My sleep has never been great, although I usually get around six to seven hours. Several stressful life events, such as my wife going on a work trip and leaving me alone with the kids, compounded to increase that fatigued feeling. By the last week, I was worn down, and no amount of volume cutting was going to save me. Rather than doing my test day on Saturday as scheduled, I moved it to Friday after I'd worked about five hours, since I didn't have any other time. My back was sore and my upper body felt weak. I benched 300, deadlifted 475, and squatted 405. None of those are PRs, yet I haven't benched 300 in two years or squatted 405 in four or five. The deadlift was the biggest disappointment, but farming is really hard on your back, so I guess I should be content with 475. I failed a 305 bench for my last attempt, as well as a 500 lbs deadlift. The squat was the real surprise, since I think I probably could've done another 15 to 20 pounds, which would've been a PR. My legs were able to recover, which makes sense, since walking around the orchard isn't too hard on your quads, whereas picking bushels and climbing in trees fatigues your upper body and back.

My 405 squat.

My 300 bench.

So Juggernaut helped me get stronger in the powerlifts than I'd been in a couple years, even if I didn't smash any PRs. Age, work requirements, and lifestyle compounded to complicate matters. My next cycle will peak in March, so I'll be in better shape as far as job demands then. Anyways, the Juggernaut app keeps improving, so I'd recommend it for anyone looking for an intelligent way to train. The hypertrophy variation, the careful changes in weight and volume, as well as the smart utilization of self-regulation all combine to form a powerful system, one that likely can nearly replace a decent coach. I know my squat feels better than it ever has, and my chronic injuries have minimized to the degree that they don't impair my training any more. I just need to manage my fatigue better and reduce stress. But don't we all?

New Music: Happy Once Again

 

Almost a Jackson Browne like number I put together a couple of days ago. Not all the instruments are playing at the same time, but it swings, baby, at least, in my mind. Rock and roll is the domain of amateurs, am I right?

The Art of Doing Nothing

 

Wu Wei? I dunno.

Wake up in the morning, get the kids ready for school. Swallow down a protein shake that tastes like a lukewarm banana smoothie. Go to the house I grew up in, swallow down more coffee, venture outside in the humidity to labor in the fields like some sort of medieval peasant. Accidentally run over a box turtle with a lawn mower and feel like shit. Pick the kids up from school, take them home and slowly accumulate a decent amount of stress inside myself from listening to the screeching. Do the bedtime routine and then get two hours of time to myself, at best before starting the cycle all over again.

I've had a couple hours to do nothing today and I don't know what to do with myself.

Is it good for your psyche to waste time on the internet? How do I remove this stress from myself permanently? 

I've tried meditation. It does seem to have a cumulative effect, yet it is often hard to find the time to do it. Maybe I should be meditating right now instead of keeping this blog alive.

Maybe I should manage my time better. Maybe those precious two hours should be used judiciously, spent on creative endeavors rather than Elden Ring. Maybe no time is truly wasted.

I dunno. I want more sleep. I want to sleep better. I love caffeine almost as much as I love beer, however, and neither improve my sleep quality.

Life seems to be full of constant trade-offs. You can have a job and a family and then forego free time and creative pursuits. You can have neither, and live in an empty house that yawns and threatens to swallow you. Somehow, you have to come to peace with your decision before you turn into a withered old man, sunburnt and hollow, all the vitality having been drained out by the years.

Pointless Venture will live again. Pointless Venture will die in ignominy.

I need to have time for someone to teach me the art of Wu Wei.