@Kloi

Thanks. My flexibility is off the charts, so I’m good there. That’s partly due to good genetics and partly due to a coach I had during high school who was an absolute fanatic about stretching. Regarding shoulder mobility; my typical pre-workout routine includes 25 back bridge pushups.

youtu.be/zdC674S3u80?si=ADNdv6pUZ-9sXG6z

(Not bad for a guy born during the Kennedy administration). It’s weird that I can do those at all, given the angle, but for some reason they rarely give me trouble, and when they do I just reposition my hands a little.

Anyway, I don’t have any chronic pain to work through… it’s only when I apply too much pressure to the GHJs at the wrong angle that things go sideways.

In other fitness news: I set a new DL PR at 360 a couple of weeks ago (I weighed in at 148 that day, I think), and I held a 13:30 plank last Friday. I have to give some of the credit to Danny Elfman for dragging me across the finish line … it’s all about the playlist when you’re holding a plank.

Alas, it was not Just Another Day.

youtu.be/nQusU0g9H-E?si=Xy0n08Ury3K6O9ch

I have finally decided to methodically address the congenital shoulder deformity that caps my bench at around 90 pounds and my overhead press at around 60. (My “pull” lifts are fine… it’s only when I push that I risk dislocation.)

I’ve had to work around it my entire life. I’ve been fairly successful as far as functionality: I can lift what I need to lift in my day-to-day activities, but I’m not as strong as I’d like to be, and I have to consciously think about how to lift things that the rest of you would pick up without hesitation… maybe even with one hand.

My upper body lifting routine for the last few years has been pretty comprehensive: I worked strength, power, endurance, and flexibility within the constraints of my genetics, but I’ve gotten to the point where any significant further progress is unlikely. I always choose to stop before I get hurt.

So I made an appointment with one of the PTs at my gym who’s had Physical Therapy training. We’ve known each other for years and she understands my situation. She set me up with a new routine to strengthen the stabilizing muscles of my shoulder girdle, and I ran through the entire workout yesterday. It took me nearly two hours and I’m not sure we can be friends anymore. (Just kidding… she’s a total sweetheart.). I expect it to be a slow process, so I don’t anticipate noticeable improvements for weeks, nor major improvements for months, but I’m nothing if not persistent.

My goal is 135 on the bench, which is probably the most I’ll ever lift without surgery (which I have no intention to get).

Wish me luck.

@Vermillion-Rx I'm about to go to sleep, so I'll try to keep this short so I can look over some other stuff

He's partly right, concerning forgiveness.

Here's where he's wrong:

1) if someone hasn't wronged you, there's nothing for you to forgive. A known thief who has stolen from multiple people but not from you isn't really eligible for your forgiveness.

2) you can choose to overlook someone's promiscuous past, but it certainly isn't a moral obligation to do so. In fact, it's quite foolish to do so. It would be like trusting that thief from my example in #1 with a hefty sum of your money.

I predict he's going to learn the hard way in a few years, if this isn't just rage bait, engagement bait, whatever.

Tag @lurkerhasarisen @houseoftolstoy this thread gives me deja-vu; didn't I engage one or both of you in something similar a few years ago at the WAATGM subreddit?

@adam-l

You and I and @FirstLight are in agreement… I was just poking the bear about Sigma Males because that’s been a running joke here for a long time.

I think WE all agree on the basic nuances of the Greek Alphabet paradigm: but it’s hard to explain easily. We all know guys who tend to be naturally dominant. Men follow them and women want to have sex with them: often to everyone’s detriment, because people mistake “alphaness” for competence.

(Read up on Alcibiades… dude was “ALPHA AF,” and he single-handedly nearly destroyed Athens early in the Peloponnesian War because everyone blindly followed him.)

@Typo-MAGAshiv and I are both former military officers, and we’re used to inhabiting a rigid hierarchy that simply doesn’t exist to the same degree in any civilian occupation. The question of “Who gives orders and who obeys them” (the alpha/beta dynamic) is not determined by anything other than rank/position. As I’ve said before here: nobody here who saw me IRL would immediately think that I’m a “Chad” or an “Alpha,” yet I have 1) done reasonably well with women and 2) been the HMFIC on many occasions. My list of past minions includes guys who were in the Battle of Mogadishu (the incident from “Black Hawk Down”), more than a few senior NCOs who could crush my skull with one hand, rangers, SpecOps guys, military cops, civilian cops, etc. In those situations those men followed my orders. If that’s not “alpha” then the word has no meaning. So am I an “Alpha Male?”

I would insist that I’m not, because my “Alpha” status was situational. Some of those guys WERE stereotypically “Alpha” - the kind of guys with natural presence - but they still said, “Yes, Sir” when I gave them orders. I follow the maxim: when in charge; take charge. Some guys can’t, and those guys will always default to “Beta” mode.

In other contexts, I’m just another guy, and if someone has expertise and is willing to lead, I’m happy to stay in my lane (although I reserve the right to speak up if something strikes me as being wrong).