Minor setback

Today is a barbell lifting day which means squats.  I have tight shoulders so it's tough for me to get my arms into position with even high-bar (the bar resting on the traps) let alone low-bar.  I'll be damned if my lateral deltoids didn't start screaming when I tried to do just the bar (20kg).  I was able to plow through 45, 65 and 75lbs, but couldn't even unrack 95lbs.  It's frustrating because my legs and trunk are strong enough to do much, much more, but my shoulders are not flexible enough to hold the bar in position.  Fudge.

I'll check my ego and drop down to an empty bar until I strengthen my shoulders up.  It's disappointing for sure, but it is what it is.  Hopefully I can get them up to snuff within a couple of weeks.

Louis CK: Live at the Beacon Theater

I've heard Louis CK is one of the funnier dudes around, but I haven't heard his routine so I streamed it while I ate dinner.  His comedy is smart, but I didn't laugh as much as I thought I would.  I was thrown off a bit when he would laugh before a joke since I prefer more deadpan humor.  His accents are also a little ignoring.

I'll check out some of his other stuff, but I much prefer Chappelle.

The consequences of exercise

I've now completed five Stronglifts workouts and I feel pretty damn good.  I added shoulder dislocations twice a day to loosen up my shoulders so they don't bark as much during squats.  I've only been doing them for a couple of days now, but squatting was a little easier this morning.  I took a video of a squat to check bar placement and the bar's path.  I think I've got the bar in a good low-bar position, but I'm leaning a little too far forward.  I'm going to start using a tennis ball to keep my chin down which should help keep my chest up.  I will also focus on going deep, but the field of view wasn't enough for me to check depth.

I feel stronger and I'm starting to build some noticeable strength which is always appreciated.  The downside is all this testosterone has me wanting to fight and fuck.  I can take some boxing lessons to help with the first and maybe getting into better shape will help with the second.  It's hard to say.  I know there must be single women around here, but I haven't yet been able to put myself in a position to meet them.  I see some fit hotties at CrossFit when I'm at the court club, but I prefer to lift by myself on my own schedule.  I also like playing sports and can't afford two memberships.

Maybe one of these hotties will notice me watching and will come up to talk to me.  Heh.  More likely just to tell me not to be a creep, but there is usually an audience so I think I'm safe.

Body measurements

In the middle of every month, I measure various body parts to see how my exercise regime is changing my morphology.

The graph:

My main goals are to have my waist shrink along with the body fat percentage (dashed line).

Progress pictures can be found here.  I think I'm making progress because my back has more definition and my shoulders are larger.

Fuck this shit.

Fuck it all to hell.

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

I thoroughly enjoyed Butcher's third Harry Dresden novel for many of the same reasons as the first two - engaging plots, witty dialogue and background information teased out bit by bit.  I like how he refers to actions which happened before the books or between them without fully recapping them.  It feels like how you would get to know someone in real life.

This book had a couple of slow parts, but the ending fully compensated.  I highly recommend this book and the series in general.

What was I thinking?

Last weekend I ate a bunch of crap in honor of Dr. Seuss Day and because I felt like it.  I got cake, pop, cookies, lasagna, etc.  It all tasted great going down, but since then I've been farting, sharting and crapping up a storm.  The dairy and sugar have combined to give me sinus headaches and I feel depressed from all the wheat.

I had to hurry back home today from work because I felt like I was going to chunder all over my colleagues in a meeting this morning.  I took some travel medication which knocked me right the fook out.  I slept for maybe a couple of hours, but it was enough to calm my gut.

I know this story is anecdotal evidence at best, but it's definitely good reason why I shouldn't deviate from a Paleo lifestyle.