Ketchup

A one Saxon Wolfsblood Dequaine is taking up a lot of my time these days and my training has been a little harried.  I wouldn't have it any other way though.  He is adjusting nicely to my house and having me as his master.  I'm just being patient with him and only giving him a few "No"'s here and there.  He's probably seen some shit in his first few years of life and it will take some time but his trust will come back.  Plus, with a face like that how could you get mad at him?

I actually think that my inability to train decently is somewhat of a good thing.  It's given me a chance to get some good recovery in that I was in need of.  I was able to get some solid training in on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Thursday was heavy squat, Friday heavy bench, and Saturday was rep squat. 

I just finished reading the book Manthropology by Peter McAllister and it was a real eye opener.  The author, a paleo anthropologist, set out to write a book on how today's man, Homo masculinus modernus, as he calls us could outperform previous generations (and species) of men.  It turns out he was wrong on epic proportions.  The first chapter-BRAWN-is the one that really stood out to me.  He details how through certain scientific measurements he could predict the force output of a Neanderthal female and compares it to the 2004 world arm wrestling champions output.  The results aren't good.  More than likely the Neanderthal girl would have won.  He then goes on the describe how we are far weaker in body than even men of a few generations ago.  The feats strength of the famous strongmen of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries have not been touched by modern men. 

McAllister postulates that this is not necessarily because of poor training techniques.  It is more of a case of easy living when we are in our prime time for physical development and adaptation.  This time is about 8 to 14 years old for males.  I couldn't agree more.  As someone who sees the products of this easy living on a daily basis I'm worried for the future.  I'm not saying we should put kids back in factories and foundries but there is absolutely no reason and able bodied youth can't cut the grass or chop some fire wood or do some other hard labor.  Doing this strengthens the bones, tendons, ligaments, and muscles.  And it also teaches them the value of hard work. 

When I was a lad I helped my dad move furniture, cut the grass, haul firewood, and we wrestled around a lot.  He even got me interested in strength training.  For my 12th or 13th birthday I asked for and received a weight bench with 100 lbs of weight.  They were the plastic weights filled with sand and I remember benching, curling, squatting, and pressing them in a fashion that showed that I obviously didn't know shit about it.  I didn't care.  I liked to do it.  It was a challenge to me to do more just as much then as it is today.

I kind of digressed from my main point but if you have young kids or might in the future don't let them be soft and weak.  Don't reward mediocrity in anything they do.  And don't, DON'T, in the name of science, let them poison the future gene pool. Get them to do some hard work.  Ship them off to a farm for a summer.  Have them read "The Iron" by Henry Rollins.  It will pay dividends in the future.  If I ever have kids they will grow up on a steady diet of hard work and discipline.  That was how I was reared and I like to think I turnd out pretty ok.  And on a side note if you are an adult and are soft and weak, shame on you.  There is a better way.  There is always a better way.

Song of the Day:

"Each morning puts a man on trial and each evening passes judgement." -Roy L. Smith