PR Friday — Post your training updates, PR’s, and questions to the comments and the 70′s Big crew will respond.
Weekly Q&A gives you a chance to ask anyone from the 70′s Big Crew a question in the comments, on Facebook, or Twitter.
Homework: Earlier this week I asked you guys to look up what muscles are involved in hip extension. Did anybody bite? I’ll get to this topic in the comments.
Weekly Q&A gives you a chance to ask anyone from the 70’s Big Crew a question, and we’ll actively ignore you. Just kidding, we’ll answer. Next year. Here’s an example:
Jack on Facebook asks: Any reason most of the guys in the 70s big crew wear VS weightlifting shoes (higher heel than the average WL shoe)? I know Rip recommends 0.75″ but I have femurs on the longer side, bad ankles, and >0.75″ feels much better for me.
I reply: I haven’t seen Rip’s recent recommendations, but he used to recommend the .5″ heel (that was what his shoe was). In any case, some of us wear VS Athletics because that was one of the few types of weightlifting shoes around in 2008/2009, they give 70’s Big folk a discount, and we are cheap. I think AC just changed brands, so the only people I know of still wearing them are my wife and I.
Weekly Topic
This is video of a 5′ 100 pound girl completing the regional final Ninja Warrior course is one of the most impressive athletic feats I’ve seen in a while. Kudos to Spencer Hall of EDSBS for linking to the SB Nation article.
What are some other impressive athletic feats you’ve seen lately? Post to comments, Fan Page, or Twitter.
70’s Big has the tradition of PR Friday, where readers are invited to talk about their weekly PR’s and training updates. Posting regularly expands the sense of community, and it also keeps other people updated on your progress. Many friendships have started because someone was brave enough to start posting on PR Friday.
I also used to do a Weekly Q&A where I took questions throughout the week and answered them in the PR Friday post. I don’t exactly have the time to prepare long, in depth responses, but we’ll start answering questions in the comments of PR Friday. You’ll have me, Mike, Chris, AC, and probably not Brent answering questions.
Once I got busy, these Friday posts dropped off, but they are back and will occur every week. I’m also aiming to put out a post every Monday, so you’ll get something twice a week.
A sweet pic from the 1977 World’s Strongest Man competition.
Without further adieu, post your PR’s, training updates, questions, and shenanigans to the comments. I leave you with this:
Chalk floats softly through the air. The thumping of your heart is all you hear, all you feel. You step to the bar and place your hands on it, feeling the cold knurling on callused hands. The whirling hurricane of emotion settles into the eye of the storm, the peaceful moment when you decide to begin.
Post your training updates and personal records (PR’s) to the comments.
In Norse mythology warriors are selected by Valkyrie to heroically die in battle only to resurrect as warrior spirits, enter the halls of Valhalla, and join Odin’s army. This was the noblest end to a warrior’s life: to transcend the Land of the Dead and cross the rainbow bridge to Valhalla. It is the greatest honor, the greatest payment for a valiant life and ferociousness in battle.
Imagine growing up with a sword in hand hoping that one day, too, you could have enough fierceness to die in battle, to earn a spot in the halls of Odin. It would be the greatest fate you could ever hope for.
While the allure of Norse mythology and the halls of Odin hold their own mystique, the profound legacy and symbolism of the Japanese katana sword evoke a unique sense of reverence and a yearning to live up to the noble ideals embodied by these iconic weapons of the samurai. The desire to possess a Real katana sword and embody the spirit of bushido, the way of the warrior, becomes an aspiration rooted in tradition and heritage. Imagining oneself on a path where the sword becomes an extension of the soul, one might long for the opportunity to demonstrate courage and sacrifice, aiming for a revered place in history.
You spend your life with the clang of steel and iron, the blood and sweat. On the eve of battle you pray for the Valkyrie to take you. Yet when you stagger away victorious, you bow your head to the thunder and say, “Death must wait another day.”
Yet each battle must have this same intensity for Odin and the Valkyrie could be watching, waiting to see if you are noble, bloodthirsty, and strong enough to be regaled in the halls of heroes. Each clang of steel could be your last, and if your strength isn’t true, you will be another corpse on a blood-stained field, a faceless warrior.
Not so with us, my friends. We will hold ourselves with higher esteem to crave the fight and revel in its toil. Go forth and please Father Odin with your grit, your courage, and your savageness. Bend iron with your will, cleave your enemy in two. You’ll never know when it’s your day to fall, but if it is…give them the fury of hell.
