Adarq.org

Welcome back!

Why did you change your name?

Congratulations on your second kid.

What's your body composition like now that you haven't trained for a while?

Bench-
barx12
60x6
90x3
105x3
115x1
100x4
75x12

Incline DB Bench-
12x12
20x12
26x8
30x6

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNd7rSElJ-M" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNd7rSElJ-M</a>

The library opened up again about a month ago so I've been doing a lot of reading on the train again.

Recent books I've read:


The book was similar to Freakonomics and just discussed how incentives can alter behavior. It was a good read.


This was a fairly 'dry' read. It discusses and challenges mainstream economic theory and details the weaknesses of economics as a discipline and to what that means for economic analysis.


"Offering a range of practical reforms that it deems are essential and urgent, this compilation argues against Australia’s enthusiastic adoption of free-market economics. A unique perspective from a highly qualified expert, this volume explains how the triumph of a fundamentally flawed economic orthodoxy has weakened the economy and now threatens the country’s future. Examining the economic theories that have shaped Australia over the past 30 years, this account demonstrates the strategic strength of combining the bureaucracy and the media and proposes new tactics for prosperity and opportunity in times to come".


It's crazy that I had never learnt about this guy during high school! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Leopold%27s_Ghost
"In the late nineteenth century, when the great powers in Europe were tearing Africa apart and seizing ownership of land for themselves, King Leopold of Belgium took hold of the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. In his devastatingly barbarous colonization of this area, Leopold stole its rubber and ivory, pummelled its people and set up a ruthless regime that would reduce the population by half. While he did all this, he carefully constructed an image of himself as a deeply feeling humanitarian".

The exact number of people killed in the Congo is unknown but it's estimated to be anywhere from 3-15 million people. Apart from being murdered they were forced onto expeditions and basically enslaved to build railroads and work on rubber plantations. If they weren't dying from disease and exhaustion they were having limbs and heads cut off for failing to meet rubber quotas. It wasn't until missionaries and people that couldn't be bought to silence started speaking out about what was happening in the Congo, that the international community finally started to take notice.

Chin Ups-
8,8,8

Assisted Pull Up Machine (19kg resistance)
10,10

Squats-
60x3
90x3
100x3
110x3
95x5

Chin Ups-
7,7,7

Row Machine-
40x10
60x10
80x10

Squats-
60x3
90x3
105x3
90x5

20 minutes on the treadmill for cardio.

Glad to hear your wisdom has sorted out, i had mine out in december and i wish i'd done it sooner but had just kept putting it off even though dentist was worried about it impacting.  Good not to have to worry about it anymore. The bench goal is solid but i dont know if you can train the bench as regularly as a squat, so im still not sure how you're supposed to set it up for progress, but 3x weekly, sounds reasonable?

Thanks maxent!

If I train bench 3x a week I would use 2 of the sessions as heavy sessions and another one as a speed session. I use a relatively narrow grip, which I adopted after watching a few videos from Konstantin Konstantinovs (RIP). His rationale for the narrower grip was that it placed less stress on the chest and shoulders, which allowed him to train bench more frequently.  Konstantinovs comments on his narrow grip bench technique, saying that it prevents injuries and provides continual power during the press, though strong triceps are needed.