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Saturday, August 13, 2016

Brave New World

This week I re-read Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World". I still don't get why it's classified as a dystopian novel. The setting seems pretty damn utopian to me.


7 August 2016


Bench press 330 lbs. x 2, 315 lbs. 2s x 3

Should have done 330x3, but I was very tired and sore from the last press workout. Which doesn't make sense, I've had plenty of time to recover. I think I've been overtraining my upper back - right now I'm hitting it directly three times a week, plus I've been on a cable pulling kick lately and am doing hundreds of reps on my off days: pulldowns, chest pulls, up-right rows, even the odd triceps exercise. Not a good idea during the intensity phase of the program.

Paused bench press 305 lbs. x 2, 290 lbs. 2x2

Close-grip bench press 2s x 5

Pulldowns 5x5

Seated DB shoulder press 5x5

EZ bar curl 5x5


8 August 2016

Pull 445 lbs. x 2, 470 lbs. x 2, 490 lbs. x 1, 455 lbs. x 2

Pulls were on fire today, I hit the target of 470x2 like it was nothing. So of course I got greedy and went for a bonus double at 490 and failed. But the single was super easy.

Stiff-legged pull 315 lbs. 2s x 5

Bent-over row 3s x 5

Seated leg curl 3s x 8

Pullups 2s x 8, 1s x 4


10 August 2016

SlingShot bench press 390 lbs. x 2, 365 lbs. x 2s x 2, 335 lbs. x 2

390x2 was rough, but doable.

Seated cable rows 5x5

Incline bench press 5x5

EZ bar curl 4s x 8

Concentration curl 3s x 8-10


12 August 2016

Squat 450 lbs. x 3, 425 lbs. 2s x 3, 405 lbs. x 3 - all with belt and wraps.

Next week - back to beltless and wrapless mode.

Close-stance squat 315 lbs. x 5, x 3

Hack squat 2s x 20

Leg extensions 1s x 20, 1s x 15

5 comments:

Cowboyguy said...

Probably because the pills they use to escape reality lead to feelings of emptiness? I don't really know. I read the book over 15 years ago during my acid years so I don't actually remember much of it. I did find the book unsettling so maybe that's why it's considered dystopian. Have you read doors of perception? It's the reason I spent two years of my life eating LSD and mushrooms. In retrospect I was way too young to experiment with drugs like that. Now I'm too old and the thought of eating acid terrifies me. However, my wife wants to go to Costa Rica and eat ayahuasca. If she does it I will do it.

Fatman said...

I guess, but then in the book you're also shown how 'savages' live (i.e. people who choose to remain outside of pill-controlled society), and it's pretty miserable. An unsettling book for sure. I read it in high school, and didn't remember most of it, or more likely didn't really get it.

Doors of Perception is on my to-read list. Huxley was either way ahead of his time, or just really weird, or both.

Two years of acid and mushrooms sounds pretty awesome. I never got into the harder drugs when the time was right (i.e. when I was young and liked to experiment). Not sure if I could pull it off these days. But I do (sort of) want to try peyote and those sweat lodges where they use shamanic drugs. Will look into ayahuasca.

Cowboyguy said...

The thing I like about ayahuasca (theoretically) is that you can take it at a nice resort with beaches and hot girls doing yoga etc. it still could feel like a vacation, just with psychedelics. I'm not quite sure when the best time to do drugs is age wise. Most of my LSD experiences were pretty fucked up and useless. I would wake up some days and say " gee, I'll eat three tabs before school today and see what happens". I was 15 at the time. Being young helps you push past reasonable boundaries because you feel invincible, but then you don't usually have the mental or psychological awareness to put your experiences to good use. Usually after a trip I would think " that was cool. I need to do more next time". Then I'd go beat it to Internet porn and get McDonald's takeout. I can see being in your 60s as a good time to take psychedelics regularly. The only wild card is if it will cause mental degradation to occur faster than normal. Either way, I'm done with acid. Shrooms I would do again under very specific circumstances. Not sure if I am in a good place for a peyote experiment. Maybe some day though. DMT would destroy me and probably not in a good way. For now I'm happy with breathing and meditating. It's the slowest most boring way to progress but the likelihood of me shitting my pants or freaking out in public is zero, and that counts for something.

Fatman said...

"Being young helps you push past reasonable boundaries because you feel invincible, but then you don't usually have the mental or psychological awareness to put your experiences to good use."

The Catch 22 of life.

When I was younger, none of my friends were into psychedelics. Now I might be too much of a bitch to do it. Let me know if you find/have a decent meditation routine, or some books on it that you think are good.

Cowboyguy said...

I'll get back to you with more info later but nothing beats sitting with your spine straight, breathing through your nose, and focusing all your attention on your breathing. Anytime you realize you're not focusing on your breathing just refocus. There's no time limit to this mediation but five minutes at a time is probably a good place to start. I've had some pretty cool, almost transcendental experiences with simply following breath awareness. Admittedly most of the time not much happens and it can be boring or frustrating. I do think it can have long term benefits to ones health on many levels that aren't necessarily felt or understood in the moment of meditation.