New beginnings

It has been a long time since the last post.

My shoulder pains have subsided. I am back to 225 for behind the neck presses. Both shoulders feel loose. I can now actually get up out of bed without any pain when I push myself off to sit up. Yesterday I squeezed out 315 in the bench for 10 easy reps and another 3 reps with 365 which also went up easily. It has been over 9 months since I tried anything meaningful over 335 in the bench.

I am leaving my current employer for a new opportunity. I learned a lot but times has come to move onward. I am a bit surprised at the reaction by my coworkers - some thought I was joking while one was quite upset. I wish them all well as it has been interesting to work there. Raj, Jean and a few others have placed in context through their conduct toward me over the past few days that perhaps my presence actually meant something. I'll remember working there with fondness and likely will keep in touch.

Currently I am still reading "War Made New" by Max Boot. It seems its taking too long to complete the work, but coupled with my CMA research report, case work and other work I really have not had the time to just burn through the book in a few weekend afternoons. Next on my reading list is "The Greatest Battle" - an account of the WW2 battle for Moscow, which signalled the turning point of the war.

I'll try to make an greater effort at posting at least once per week to account for the events of the week.

July 15th

It has been over 3 weeks. I have not been in the mood.
Yesterday was Kaye's birthday. It has been over 5 years. HBLS.

Summer feels like its going by very slowly. I am looking forward to Sept when we start up the SLP again.
Spending time with friends, at the gym and going to the movies. Both Die Hard and Transformers are worth seeing.

June 24th

I have been doing a lot of soul searching lately. Time off from school has given me more time to think about where I am and where I would like to be and what steps I need to take in order to get there. Being creatures of accomplishment provides us with a drive to a greater level of self actualization. Indeed sometimes the more you know often you may not necessarily be better off. Often greater levels of awareness and knowledge lead one to a greater level of dissatisfaction knowing that certain things should be a certain way. The only thing one can do is take action steps within one's means to lead in the general desired direction. Still the open sea has its own challenges, given the safety of the shore.

This weekend - gym, uncles 50's birthday party, and follow up on Sunday.

June 13

Finally finished "Partners In Command, Marshal and Eisenhower". Next on the list is "Partners In Power: Kissinger and Nixon". There appears to be a trend to write about partnerships, perhaps they are inherently more interesting and provide greater context.

Sessions at the gym have been focused and intense. Its harder to train in the heat but we try to keep a quick pace. Backing off Smith Machine behind the back shrugs has eased off the back pain. Couple with calf training has reestablished the stability in the legs, which is esp. helpful
in the squat. 315lbs for 10 reps butt to the floor is now again no problem. If I can go back to 405 for 6-8 reps, it would be as far as I would need to go.

Proctored for Dorothy Timmermans this past weekend for her prep program for the CMA Entrance Exams. Afterward gave the students a short breakdown of how I studied last year and what I did to pass. Afterward one woman began crying saying she was going into her third attempt (and final) and felt she was not fast enough as a reader to pass. While its simple enough to provide students with study tips its quite another to try and appease someone emotionally.

June 3rd

My Internet was down all weekend. Sympatico should really improves it operational effectiveness esp in the area of call centre technical support.

I am about 60% through Partners in Command. Next Chapter is on Overlord. Narrow focus and speed. Interestingly the SLP teaches the same.

Queen's MBA? Perhaps when I finish my CMA. Someone I met recently has strongly made the suggestion. Something to consider.

Sister and baby doing well. Brother-in-law was over.

Bought Forza 2 and Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Both will take time to finish. Next games will likely be Two Worlds followed by GTA 4, Assassins Creed and perhaps Dark Sector in the fall.

May 31

End of a long month. Nearly 5 full weeks this month. Lots happened. Let's recap.

Finished SLP case and year 1 of the SLP. Sister had her baby - both are fine. Decent month at work. Training has been going well. Saw Spiderman 3 and 26 Weeks Later both disappointed . Half way through "Partners in Command". Saw some friends have not seen in a while. Finally got my XBOX 360 and finished Gears of War on hardcore and Lost Planet on Normal.

Partners In Command shapes up to be another classic along the lines of The Clinton Wars and Supreme Conflict. Another highly recommended read. Now I know that Churchill insisted that the allies attack North Africa first, that the allies really feared the Germans actually invading mainland US and that actually remained a theoretical possibility and that only the US and Britain had any real say in the war. Canadian and Polish influence was inconsequential. Britain dismissed Canada in the war yet we still pay homage to the Queen. Ignorance or lack of choice?

I noticed several historical accounts of partnerships. John and Bobby Kennedy and Nixon and Kissinger. Perhaps those will be next on the read list.

Gym today was busy. Did not really push myself hard but stayed for roughly 1 hour 45 minutes. Decent session and pump.

New month is here - new goals.

May 29th Post

I actually feel more inspired to write a bit more. Quiet in the gym today. About half the usual crowd. Perhaps the warm weather draws people out into more outdoor activities. Work was quiet as well.

Began reading "Partners in Command: George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower in War and Peace" by Mark Perry. Read first chapter. Highly engaging and recommended account of the leadership styles of both men with the backdrop of history. Actually the position of the US in the early 1940's was a lot more tenuous than previously thought. Interesting that Marshall only gave general recommendations for type of action to take but also gave freedom to his officers and generals to carry out their task in manner in which he saw most fit.

Sister's baby is doing fine. Swelling has gone down. She is quiet and only cries a bit when hungry. She actually looks a lot like me at one week old.

Forza has come out for the 360 but the reviews are high but also mixed. Odds are I'll just get it as a rental. Hard to justify $69.99 when I have Burnout Revenge and NSF MW and yet to make any real inroads in either game.

May 24 post

This one is for Jean N.

It has been about a month since the last post.

Sister gave birth to her first child on May 23rd, yesterday. Sophia weighed 8 pounds and 7 ounces. She cries a lot, and did not sleep the night but then slept for 5 hours this morning. Perhaps there is an adjustment cycle. Mother is there at the hospital as sister recovers from her C section. Some bleeding today, which I am told is normal and expected. She'll come back to the house on Sat.

We finished our CMA case. We were the only group out of 5 which chose to not get into the MAS plants and sell the patent. There was a large negative NPV if the gov't funding did not go through which we did not expect given the technology only satisfied some conditions required for funding. We expect to have the marks in Aug shortly before year 2 starts. The case was the toughest part of the year. Next year the board report is 10,000 words with more detail expected. 4 months of hard work.

Training sessions have been going well. Richard has missed a few leg sessions, but I have been consistent.

Purchased the XBOX 360 three weeks ago and got through Gears of War on hardcore mode and most of Lost Planet on normal. Gears is tough with a few trouble spots such as the Pumping Station section where the Theron Guards first appear with the torque bows and then the final battle with General RAAM. Finally finished him off with the Lancer, the torque bow and all four grenades. Lost Planet has a delay in some animations which are frustrating since you need to move out of the way quickly and often you get run over before you have a chance to recover repeating the cycle. Looking forward to Grand Theft Auto 4 and Assassins Creed in the fall.

Saw Spiderman 3 and 26 Weeks Later. Spiderman 3 was disappointing while 26 Weeks Later was inconsistent and illogical.

Currently reading The Looming Tower, a history of terrorism from the 1940's.

Will post again soon.

April 29th Post

It has been over a week since last posting. I have been working on the Enercan Case most nights after the gym. It makes for a long day.

Still managed to hit the gym 5 times last week. Shoulders still very sore but I think I have isolated the cause of the recent chronic pain. Since the beginning of Feb 1st while listing a dumbbell to perform the behind the head dumbbell extensions for triceps I began lifting the dumbbell right up off my knee and pressing it upward rather than flipping it over as I have been doing all along. This unique motion pressed both shoulders forward causing pain in both the left and right shoulder. Flipping the dumbbell right up allows for a straight up motion rather than forward and then up. Today it has been 4 days since the last shoulder/tricep session. They feel comfortable and banign.

Anna is about 2 1/2 weeks away from the latest delivery date. I am going to be an uncle.

April 21

Good back session today. Lower back week feel tighter and compact. Two weeks ago I cut back on the behind the back Smith Machine shrugs. I noticed an immediate improvement in how the lower back feels. It seems the awkwardness of the movement places undue pressure on the back which compounded pressure on the region when I did squats. Immediately I noticed the ability to go back to 315 squats and rep them out for 10 easy reps - something I had not done in years with such ease. High level squats tend to promote overall growth in the entire physique due to a greater testosterone release from the overall pressure on the entire body. Optimally the goal would be to return to 405 rep squats for 8-10 reps, 455 for 3-5 and at least a single with 495 (5 plates sided). Perhaps by the end of the summer.

"The Extermination Years 1939-1945" is just too graphic and extreme. The author goes into great detail to describe some of the atrocious methods used to eliminate the Jews as well as the Poles. After 40 pages I found the graphic detail to be excessive and placed the book back. I found a recant of the Clinton years in another non-fiction work which is next on the reading list. Perhaps this work will shed additional light on the Clinton legacy after "The Clinton Wars", a highly recommended read.

We have most of the Enarcan case completed. We have decided on the strategic direction and need to put in place the operational issues. Next follows ensuring the case fits the CMA standards. I am targeting not more than a 70% as they mark the case with a high level of rigeour.

April 17th - Legs and SLP Case

Good leg workout. 315 for 10 reps in the squat and for the first time in months actually went up to 365 for reps. Lower back felt tighter. Last week I switched to another leg press. It seems the new one is easier on the back. Still its a far way from 405 for 8 reps butt to the floor squats, from way back in 1993 at the tender age of 18. Looking back it was quite a feat to squat all the weight at such as young age. Still it would be good to get back the lower back stability to pound out such weight once again. Perhaps in time once again.

The SLP Enercan case is coming along. I have the current RBC DS strategy guide for the spring. Its a decent tool for overall economic outlook. We are meeting as a group on Saturday to go over our progress.

Also began reading "The Extermination Years 1939-1945". 665 pages of text. Most of it will need to wait until mid May after we finish the case and I have more free time over the summer.

April 16th

Unimaginable tragedy at VA. Tech. 33 dead and countless other lives affected. Prayers for the families and victims. If the shooter only had access to say a baseball bat would the outcome have been the same?

Another avg session at the gym. Should felt a bit better but still held back from going all out. Switched pillows which somewhat eased the pain in the morning. Still did some upright rows but only with a quarter on each side. I'll give it another month or so to get better at which point I'll conduct an evaluation to determine whether to seek medical attention.

Spent most of weekend working on the Enercan Case. We're on track but I am not counting on anything higher than a 70%. The CMA marks these with a fine tooth comb. Still it has been a tough year. Assignments and cases are still tough within themselves. Its different when you don't have the stress of preparing for major exams but the workload is just as rigorous.

April 10th - Tuesday

Decent chest and bicep workout today. Both shoulders felt better for the first time in weeks. Finally I was able to go up to 275 in the incline press for reps as it has been 2 1/2 months since I went even one plate over in the incline. Got held up at work a bit so made it in a bit late. Wanted to finish early to do some work on the Integrative Case for the SLP. We have about 4 weeks but its a big case and needs a lot of attention. Still took my time throughout the session and suprisingly held managed to get through without much effort.

Bench - up to 275 for 10 reps, inclune 275 for 3, 225 for 8-10, dips, bicep curls - 95 for 10 and 3 sets for 8-10 reps, dumbbell curls - 40's only but tight and focused on the squeeze.

Aunt had the Easter dinner at her house on Monday. The usual crowd attended but its tough to have a common language with old world Poland folks 25 years older than you beyond a few casual exchanges. But its a light hearted crowd full jokes so at least one can sit back, enjoy dinner and listen.

In the gym its legs - squats, leg presses and hamstrings. Will want to get in a bit early and then head over to the library or Starbucks to work on the case.

Till next time.

April 7th - Happy Easter

Sister is approx 6 weeks away from giving birth. I am going to be a first time uncle. Its a confirmed girl to be named Sophia after our maternal grandmother.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through "Supreme Conflict" and so far is an interesting read. Its certainly instructive to get the behind the scenes story to what we see on television and in the headlines. While it may not be for everyone, certainly it makes for page turning reading.

Workouts were avg at best this past week. Richard stayed with me right to the end of each them. Bench 315 for reps, squats the same. Good back and shoulder/tricep workouts.

The weekend prior we had out last CMA SLP interactive session at the Delta Meadowvale. The sessions are instructive and its good to see everyone. At the same time, I find the continuity of one week rolling into another without a real day off makes one long for a day off or two to recharge physically.

I found an interesting post on the animalpak bodybuilding website under "confidence". Check it out.

Till next time

April 3rd Post

This one is for Ruby!

This past weekend we had our CMA SLP weekend interactive session. We had a replacement moderator for Andrew who is piloting a new SLP program. His replacement provided additional insight into the Board report presentation. We have a few kinks to iron out with our reports but I think that we are all on track to meet the necessary standards for the Integrative Case. Due date is May 14th.

Began reading Supreme Conflict yesterday - a non fiction account of US Supreme Court rulings, appointments and goings on over the past 30 plus years. Its interesting that Chief Justice Rehnquist rarely if ever actually lobbied any of his justices to side with him on rulings. Perhaps rightfully so in order to maintain integrity of the court.

Easter is coming up. Looking forward to family dinners and just relaxing. It has been non stop since really the beginning of the year with rarely a day off from work or school readings/assignments of some form.

March 27th Post

Shoulder still hurts. It has been 2 months. Its not getting any better so why bother to take it easy. One way or another it will heal. Nonetheless I had to get back to my 315 bench presses. The chest needs to feel the heavy weight of that magnitude on a regular basis. Legs today went fine as usual. Actually kept my breath right after.

Finished God of War 2 on the weekend. How does it compare? This time around you have more weapons and more variety but the game feels a bit overdone. The first had an element of subtlety, as if you travelled through a world which held its own element. This time the game world seemed to anticipate your arrival which is some ways removed the charm from the game. As well it seemed getting through each fight or level required finding each unique strategy. In the first game you could take each fight according to your preference. This time around you seemed forced to learn the one path. The game could have provided more freedom to the player. Nonetheless its still a classic - you get to carry over your weapons and magic to a new game and finally a challenge of titans which you could save at any point you wanted.

Thrs March 15 Session

Mario trained with me again. This time he stayed until the end but just barely. Nearly 2 hours take their toll on some. Legs on Friday but only leg press and leg curls. Squats were on Tuesday. Felt feverish and just went home after 1/2 hour. Its generally a good idea to wear a coat in the cold despite it being March. But quads sore all over nonetheless - a good sore. Gym really busy again. More so than most Thursdays.

Ran into an old Canadian pro at Loblaws who trained at the old Gold's Gym at Dixie and Dundas in Mississauga. At 46 he is still doing a show this year in Montreal. At 32 perhaps its still not too late. If at all it would have to be within the next 2-3 years, but after the SLP.

Weekend

Sunday. Two days off from the gym. Needed the rest as five days in the previous weeks take their toll. Body needs some rest and recovery. Took two afternoon naps both on Sunday and Sat but still managed to finish off an assignment which is actually due on Friday. Good to get it out of the way. Monday is chest and bi's. Regular training partner Richard is in Cuba so I'll go at it alone this week.

Vice City Stories came out for the PS2 last week but so far it has been a bitter disappointment. In terms of game play and mission structure the game is fine however the graphics look washed out. Its more difficult to make out the contrast between the roads, automobiles and buildings. In the original GTA Vice City one could play for hours simply driving or running around the city. Somehow the feeling of being a small part of a vibrant city is gone in this version. However the GTA 4 trailer hits the web at the end of March. The next Gen of hardware brings high expectations.

March 9th session

Alright. Friday night. Another long week. Good session at the gym. Felt tired going in but somehow tiredness is not often related to strength levels or actual energy when you begin to lift. Did 315 for reps in the bent over row, the grand daddy of back exercises along of course with the standard 4 sets of chin up and shrugs. Gym was not as busy for a Friday. Perhaps its the cold that gets to people still.

Hopefully within a few weeks the cold begins to subside and usher in warmer weather. I'm tired of wearing a heavy coat and getting my shoes stained with salt.

God of War 2 comes out this week for the PS2. Already have my pre-order placed. From the reviews on the web and some of the mini gameplay vids shown, it looks great. Krator returns March 13th. Can't wait.

Until next time...............

Ok, this works. First post is up. Excellent.

OK. First blog of all time. What do we discuss? Work, world events, family matters, school?

We'll start with the training schedule. Workouts have been going well lately. My right shoulder is beginning to heal from the persistent injury. Finally I again hoist 315 in the bench for reps. It still hurts like hell but at least its manageable. Given enough time it will heal on its own. Gym was quiet for Thurs but most of the
die- hards were there. Mario trained with me today. But he only lasted for shoulders and then want home exhausted. It makes me laugh. These guys can't keep up. Its tough to walk on the treadmill though. Boring to no end but it needs to be done for the ticker. OK, first blog completed.
Labels: training