Veteran’s Day is a holiday that is formerly called Armistice Day that commemorates the armistice between the Allies and Germany in World War I. It took effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. In the Commonwealth it’s known as Remembrance Day to remember those that have died in the line of duty. In the United States it honors all military veterans.



There are many different types of jobs that military servicemen can hold, but the common theme among them is sacrifice. The infantryman sacrifices for long months in the most barren areas of the world. He sacrifices years of his life in combat zones and sacrifices bodily harm — some more so than others. Some are hit by flak, some are blown up, some are shot. Some are medevaced and some are patched up and step outside the wire again because they can’t bear the thought of letting their friends down. He sacrifices his emotion as he leaves the combat and steps back into civilization. Many sacrifice their ability to un-see their friends falling apart and killed in front of them. Others wish that it were them instead and live with the guilt that they survived and others didn’t.

The medic, the corpsman, the nurse sacrifices daily to keep friends and strangers alive. They may live with the horror of losing someone in their care, whether the victim could have been saved or not. The maintainer works on aircraft, vehicles, and other pieces of equipment that others rely on. They pull extended duty to make the impossible happen whether at home or deployed. They keep the world functioning for pilots and drivers. They provide covering fire as door gunners, they ensure the safety of their cargo, whether it’s human or supplies. They sacrifice back-breaking hours and efforts to assist those in the direct action, often finding themselves in the thick of it.

The special operations units engage in dangerous missions, putting their lives at risk daily for recognition that they will never receive. The things that they accomplish are hardly televised, they will never receive thanks, and often their job isn’t known or understood by a civilian. And they wouldn’t want it any other way.

Above all, each soldier, Marine, sailor, and airman sacrifices freedom. They are held to higher standards, meticulous laws and orders. They are taken from their families and often miss their children being born or growing up. They cannot travel on a whim and are underpaid. They lose relationships, break their bodies, and struggle with their memories. They know their country will never fully pay them back for everything that they’ve sacrificed. They lose the freedoms and liberties that a civilian takes for granted, but in the end…they, above all, earn that freedom.

Some veterans still find it odd to be thanked for what they do, but they should know that the thanks is there.

It’s also PR Friday. Post training updates or PRs to comments. Weight is irrelevant — you don’t have to be strong as everyone else to post here, just work hard. What is your least favorite lift to do?
Follow the jump for the Q&A (coming in a few minutes). Continue reading →

Konstantinovs took a hiatus from posting videos on YouTube, yet he seems to be back with a couple of non deadlifting videos. I had read that he was going to go up a weight class and he certainly looks bigger. Check out this pretty simple 551 bench.



The curious thing isn’t that he’s speaking English, it’s that he’s using the slingshot. It’s curious because Konstantinovs is a raw lifter (and known for his deadlift if you’re a noob). I’ve seen Kelly Starrett talk about using the slingshot as well, and he even used it for an excellent “shoulder flexion with external rotation” mob.

Continue reading →

Just because I haven’t mentioned it in a few days doesn’t mean we aren’t busy kicking cancer in the BALLS. THIS ISN’T A GAME. The 70’s Big Movember team has 37 members and has raised $1,720 so far. That’s under $50 a member, so we’re gonna need a better effort out of our current and future members. If we all aim to get at least $100 each, then we’ll plant a much more firm kick to cancer’s balls.

70’s Big Contest
Don’t forget that I’m giving the team member that has raised the most doll hairs cash and money prizes. Currently Jacob Tspykin is dominating this contest so far, but we’re only 9 days into November. Here is the top ten thus far:


Anyone can join the 70’s Big Movember Team.
Both guys and girls can join it. And no, you don’t have to grow a mustache (although it helps). Guys are encouraged to grow facial hair or celebrate their beards, yet you don’t HAVE to. If you’re not joining the team and raising money on the account of having to grow facial hair, then it sounds like you like cancer. This is my formal invitation for all girls and guys that read this site to join the fundraising team — even if you only raise a few doll hairs, ever doll hair counts.

Steps:
Go to movember.com
Select country
Search 70’s Big
Select the real official team and not the thieving impostor team
Post a social media message that says

I’m raising money with one of my favorite lifting sites, 70’s Big. Help us kick cancer in the BALLS by donating: (post link to your profile here)

Jacob Cloud interviewed his friend Steve, a prostate cancer survivor and self proclaimed dirty old man. He explains how to prevent cancer, what to do when diagnosed, and sprinkles in profane comments throughout. Congrats to Steve for setting the example on how to kick cancer in the BALLS.
Watch until the end.



Edit: So what do you guys want to talk about in the comments?

I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Exercise Science. It’s okay I guess. I knew that I didn’t want to pursue graduate work in this area of study because I wanted to coach, but I wasn’t impressed with the field itself. It’s just so BAD. The exercise prescriptions are ineffective, nobody understands mechanics, and the research is a joke. A lot of people have mentioned how they would like to hear my thoughts on the problems in Exercise Science, and I think it starts with the research.

I’ve had to look at a lot of shitty studies in school, and I can dismantle them all. The articles in various journals, including the NSCA, are usually not very good. Rippetoe and I used to look at several articles and point out how badly they were done. However most studies shouldn’t even be done in the first place because the researchers are asking either an irrelevant question or the wrong question. The majority of studies that are published are irrelevant or easily dismissed because of crappy methodology.

Why am I not doing anything to change this? Because I don’t care. Why would I aim to change the governing boards of organizations that allow bad research on things that don’t matter? I’m busy getting people to perform better and teaching them how to do it. I mean no disrespect to researchers — especially the good ones — but most of them…don’t quite get it. Let’s look at this example.

The title of this news article is, “Squat lifts likely cause of stress fractures in young athletes, study finds”. We’ll soon find why this news article is just as bad as the study itself since this conclusion can’t be drawn. Here is the “press release study abstract” that the shitty journalist used to write the article. I will be directly referencing this piece of information in the rest of the post since the actual article is not made available (this, by the way, is another flaw in the system: let’s charge money to see the shitty research we’re doing so that nobody can debunk it unless they want to spend $30 to see our boring journals).

Abstract TL;DR — The researchers had patients (who were kids) that said that they hurt their backs while squats, so they performed a study to see if squats caused the “lumbar fractures of the pars interarticularis” that they found. The study itself observed the “pelvic incidence and tilt, sacral
slope, and lumbar lordosis while in normal standing posture and then during a front and back squat” in 20 volunteers. Here is a picture of the author, John McClellan.


Continue reading →

Monday’s are dedicated to displaying or helping female lifters and trainees. Today’s feature is a couple more regular women who are pretty damn strong. Jen Higgins of CrossFit Works sent me the e-mail but was mostly talking about how great of a lifter Liz Cameron is.

This is Liz pulling 286.5 lbs (130kg) weighing 114 (52kg weight class).


That’s pretty solid technique for a max rep, especially for a female (round backs are the norm). Jen told me how Liz is about half her age, but was a great training partner as they readied for the 100% RAW Single Lift Worlds in Las Vegas. Liz’s best competition bench is 150lbs and her best competition squat is 220 (weighing 110). Liz has won the Best Female Lifter in the two meets that she’s competed in! She also teaches salsa dancing and apparently is “frequently sighted in short dresses and high heels”. Jen conveniently didn’t send pics of this claim.

All of this is high praise from Jen Higgins as she is also pretty damn strong. Here’s a video of her pulling a really clean looking 292.1 lbs (132.5 kg) in the 123 lbs/56kg weight class.


Well done, ladies.