Overcoming acting in anger

     Premise: Anger is a front for real emotions.

     If this is true, why can't we just say what we are really feeling instead of getting mad?  Fear....

Imagine the following:

1. Someone blatantly disregards your request about something in their actions.  If they are a friend, you feel hurt.  If they are an acquaintance, you feel disrespected.  

"Hey, you made me feel like what I say doesn't matter to you.....in the future I really need you to...."

2. Your kid doesn't call you and is out later than he is supposed to be, out of contact.  He finally gets a hold of you or comes walking in the house late.  You were afraid and worried.

"Hey, I was really worried and scared about if you were ok or not....."

     Unfortunately expressing feelings is either scary or unfamiliar for many.  Its far easier to cover with anger and get pissed.

     So why is it scary or unfamiliar?

*Did you grow up in a house where conveying real emotion wasn't practiced?
*Or were the only regular examples anger and so that seemed normal?
*Expressing "real" feelings requires vulnerability and exposure.  Are you afraid of what happens when you "put it out there"?

     Once you figure out that you are a grown up and are not bound by the past, time to make some changes.  Starting with expressing the real underlying emotions you feel instead of anger.

     The other piece of things is to look through eyes of love.  There's an idea that love casts out fear.

That's a whole nother blog post though.....

Technique I use to PR my back squat

   
      First I warm up with my 3 things I wrote about here Squat warm up.
1. Ankles 2. Knees 3. Hips

     My current max is 355, so here is a sample of what I would do.

     I keep my flat shoes (INOV8 192's) on to start my build to a heavy weight, this is essential.  It will create a mobility session in the build.  Stay away from your Olys for now.  Also do not use your belt yet either.  Using the belt will come later for the psychological edge.

     My progression is based on the philosophy of Coach Michael Rutherford.  I start with the bar for 5-6 reps.  Then I build by 50 lb jumps.  So I will do 95 for 4-5, 145 for 4-5, 195 for 3-4, 245 for 3.   These reps tend to get me really working on my balance up to the heavy stuff.  At some point along the way, I'll sit at the bottom for a second usually with the 195 or 245 to get my bottom position feeling good.

     Now that the weight is heavy, I switch to my Oly shoes.  Still no belt though.  I'll go for 295 for 1-2.  And so let's just say that I'm hunting for 360 today.  I will start to approach the weight slower instead of by the full 50 lb jumps.  So with Olys but still no belt, I'll put on 330 and hit a single.

       Next I will go just under my PR with a belt on.  I'll go for 350.  This usually feels WAY easier now that the belt is on.

     The next stop will be 360.  My coach says to stay away from the current PR on the way to the new one.  So I always sneak up on it.

     Technique:

1. I always set/brace my spine on the unracking.  I dial in my tension enough that I can still breathe and unrack.  So not totally breathe holding grrrr bracing.  I do this from the empty bar onward.

2. I place my hands as close as I can get them to my shoulders but still able to push the elbows forward under the wrists.  This does 2 things: 1. It creates tension in the upper back when the hands are closer to the shoulders.  2. Driving the elbows forward and keeping them under the wrists keeps the chest from falling.

3. I squeeze the bar hard with my hands.

4. I never walk out from the rack more than 2 steps.

5. I take a deep breath and really try to fill up the lower part of my stomach and then my ribs.

6. Then I do the lift.

Some folks advocate a heavy walk out with something like 390 on a 360 attempt and holding it for 8-10" but I have never liked this.

What I believe

         My daughter started asking me questions about God, heaven, evolution, etc....when my mother was dying last month.  What I believe now is a bit different than what I once believed.  I am going to write some of it down for me, her, and my other kids.  I hope that my kids can take what I put forth and then engage in their own journey and find what they believe.

     Let's start with this idea: I feel like I don't know anything for sure.  If you want argue with me, don't.  My favorite thing to say is, "You might be right".  I think that faith is the absence of knowing anything for sure.  If you "know" then you don't need faith.


     Is there a God?
I believe that there is a God that created all things.  The big bang may well have happened.  I go back to the question of "what was before the big bang"?  The universe arose out of nothing sounds an awful lot like a supernatural thing to me.  So if I imagine that time and space are something that God is not bound by, then he has always existed, even before the universe.

     How did the universe come to be?
God's creating all things may very well have been through an evolutionary mechanism, or it may have been through a creation mechanism, but more than likely a bit of both.  The account in the bible about creation would seem to be a bit of a simplistic explanation to a guy (Moses) who wouldn't have stood a chance at understanding the way it really happened.  I've told my daughter that God explaining to Moses the way he created things was a lot like what I used to tell her about where babies came from when she was 3.  There was no way I could tell her the actual way it happened, it would've been impossible for her to fathom.  If I stuck to my guns today on that story I told her as a 3 year old, she might think I was a nut job.  Do I think that the universe was created in 6 days?  No, probably not.  Does the fact that it is described like that in the bible bother me?  No.  Seems a reasonable way to discuss it with someone who doesn't have a clue.

     How do you know the bible is accurate and wasn't re-written?
I think that we've seen some fantastic information come out of the dead sea scrolls from the 1940's and 50's showing that things didn't change from the 2nd century BC through the version we have in the 9th century AD and now in regards to the old testament.  Then there is minimal debate on the new testaments historical preservation.  That said, there still is an issue with how to interpret what you are reading.

     What in the bible is literal, figurative, true, false, whatever?
I believe that there are some Old Testament accounts that explain things in simple terms that are metaphorical or symbolic for simplicity sake.  Things that would generally be true in principal but not necessarily in detail.

     I see the 1st 5 books of the bible as a constitution for the new Hebrew nation.  A manual on how to run a culture/nation that was issued to people who had been slaves in Egypt for generations and had no idea how to live free.  This would be a rule book for this new society to preserve them together and teach them what is in their best interests.  Is it applicable to us today?  Some yes, some no.  Honor your mother and father, sure.  Stone your disobedient children, probably not......  This would be a case of applicable then, not now.  Kept the rules in place and the society from acting up now didn't it?  But is stoning our kids for today?  No.

     New testament.  1st and foremost I have one authority here, Jesus.  What did he say, what did he do.  What he said and did is as applicable and true today as it was then.  It boils down to loving one another, period.  Measure everything else in the new testament (or entire bible for that matter) in light of the words of Jesus.

     Why the new testament?  Why Jesus?
I believe that there was a need for God's true nature to be revealed.  People were misunderstanding who he really was and what he wanted of us.  Even now a lot of folks think there is a disparity between God of the old testament and Jesus in the new.  Things just didn't come across completely accurate when the writers of the old testament put their pens down.  So measure everything in the old testament against the nature of Jesus and if it doesn't fit, something was maybe misunderstood or we might be dealing with a piece that needs to be acknowledged as not understandable or applicable at present.

     Why did Jesus get sent?  1. This is what God is really like and 2. He gave the new commandment of loving one another as a measure of if we are followers of God.

     What is sin?  What about homosexuality?
I've recently heard a good description of sin as anything that undermines love.  Is eating shrimp a sin?  Come on now, stop it!

     So how does a monogamous homosexual relationship fall into this?  I don't really know.  I know its not normal biologically.  But I also know that homosexuals can fulfill the criteria of following Jesus too.  So how can I condemn them?  How is promiscuous heterosexuality and homosexuality different?  Maybe in context homosexuality in biblical times wasn't ever conventionally monogamous like it often is now.  I don't know.  I just know that if I'm to love my neighbor...then its not my job to worry about it.

     What is heaven?  Who goes to heaven?  
I think that heaven is being in God's presence after we die.  I don't know what that's going to be like or how that works, but I think it will be great.  On the flip side, I think that if you do not go to heaven it means that you will be without God after you die.  And that will be lonely, sad and not great.

     So who goes to heaven....  I think that it is going to be a situation that comes back to what Jesus said will denote if you are his follower, your love for one another.  I also think that it is up to God alone and we would be surprised at who is and who is not going.

     The thief on the cross is a story that makes you think that if you just figure it out before you die, you're all set.  I can't help believe that it has a lot more to do with the transformation in your heart and less about your words.  And so deathbed conversions.....I just don't know.

     What about people who are other religions?
Are Christians the exclusive holders of the ability to love?  Can you deny Jesus with your words but follow him by your life?  What happens then?  Ghandi was a Hindu, a pretty loving one.  I think we also know of plenty of examples of people denying him with their life but accepting him with words.

     Ultimately I believe that Jesus truly is the only way to the father and to heaven, but I think that has little to do with where you go to church, how much you pray, and what you call yourself.  It comes back to your love for one another.

Supplement game (revised 3/30/17)

     I take supplements fairly seriously.  I take them for 2 reasons: performance and health.  However I won't allow one to conflict with the other.  Here is my program:

Work out days
Morning
pre workout
3 Extreme Endurance tabs (where I get)
1 tsp of Glutamine (amazon)
1 scoop Tier 1 (amazon)
1 tsp Inulin powder
25g dextrose powder
10g whey protein (SFH)

During workout
water
eco drink packet (for taste)-get at costco
50g dextrose powder
10g whey protein (SFH)

Post workout
Shake-12 oz coconut milk mixed with
1 scoop SFH whey protein,
1 tsp SFH fish oil.

1 VSL3 probiotic (I get at Costco),
1 500mg Vit C,
1 235mg Reacted Magnesium,
1 300mg CoQ10 (costco).

Pre bed time
1. 5000 IU Vit D,
1 Align probiotic
235mg Reacted Magnesium,
3 Extreme Endurance tabs,
1 tsp SFH fish oil,
1 tsp inulin powder
1 54mg Reacted Zinc,
1 500mg Vit C
24g casein protein

Non workout days
Morning
3 Extreme Endurance tabs (where I get)
Shake-12 oz coconut milk mixed with
1 SFH whey protein,
1 tsp inulin powder
1 tsp SFH fish oil.
1 tsp Creatine
1 tsp glutamine

1 VSL3 probiotic (I get at Costco),
1 500mg Vit C,
1 235mg Reacted Magnesium,
1 300mg CoQ10 (costco).


Pre bedtime
1 5000 IU Vit D,
1 Align probiotic
 235mg Reacted Magnesium,  2 tabs
3 Extreme Endurance tabs,
1 tsp SFH fish oil,
1 54mg Reacted Zinc,
1 tsp inulin powder
1 500mg Vit C.

I'm constantly tweaking, adding something in for a month etc....