Recap
I started the week by trying to break the myth that all lifting will be perfect all of the time. There were tips for coaches and lifters on how to prepare trainees or the self for successful lifting. Tuesday I readdressed the issue of squatting to depth. I believe most of 70’s Big readers train properly, but just in case they didn’t, they know that a partial squat is not a squat. Wednesday we talked about the 70’s Big Workshop in Australia in April and I complained about lazy betties in the gym. Thursday I gave some pointers on the rack pull to ensure that trainees get the full worth of the movement.

PR Friday is a day where we talk about our training ups and downs. It’s a chance to keep other people on the site updated with your progress. The “regulars” all know who each other are and like to see how their internet friends are doing (“I met a cool guy on the internet”). Post your weekly PR’s, but also your training updates to the comments. You lurkers should jump on it too; we’re all friends here.

Weekly Reading List
[spoiler]Last night I finished reading Joe Abercrombie‘s “Best Served Cold” and really enjoyed it. It was the first stand alone book after “The First Law Trilogy”, which is amazing, and the precursor to the recently released “The Heroes”. “Best Served Cold” introduces some new characters, but also uses some side characters from the trilogy. The pacing seems different, as if this book develops more gradual. Instead of constant diabolical activity, it’s larger in scope and the characters develop and evolve throughout the book. Trust in the fact that Abercrombie won’t bore you with a repetitive plot; the second half of the book functions differently than the beginning. I found it interesting how Abercrombie interweaves grandscale plot points into the ending of the book that will resonate outside of this particular story. Since he’s signed on to do several books in this “world”, the books stand apart from one another yet you can see how he’s developing a behind the scenes plot in addition to the one on stage. Abercrombie’s books fit into the new “gritty fantasy” genre infused with medieval and colonial realism and topped with subtle viking overtones. His characters are dynamic, and, just like in George R. R. Martin’s work, the line between good and evil is blurred. “Best Served Cold” may start as a superficial revenge story, but it ends with the characters inadvertently philosophizing to validate the decisions and changes they’ve made. “Best Served Cold” is gritty, bloody, and poignantly satisfying.

Here are articles that were sent to me or that I found:
You Don’t Coach Exercises… – I don’t know much about Mike Robertson, but I agree with his observation here. The difference between us is that I got bored from coaching one-on-one much faster than he did, and “coaching people” still isn’t enough to harness my creative interest (with respect to one-on-one training). The writing style is pretty raw (particularly the constant page breaks), but I’m not a perfect writer. His message is similar to what I’ve been writing about recently regarding coaching the person in addition to the mechanics.

Art of Manliness collection of “Whole Men” – This may deserve it’s own post, but there are very good snippets of men who had brains and brawn.

The Death of Books Has Been Greatly Exaggerated – An article on how the book industry is still functioning with the advent of e-books and e-readers.

Things Happy People Do Differently (sent by Courtney)[/spoiler]

Q&A

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