Random Post: Friday 14 August 2009

2009 August 14

By Matt

So it’s Friday and I’m sitting here with not a lot to talk about, but I haven’t updated in awhile so I figured I might as well put something up. I’m usually not one on for the quick-update bullet-point type posts, but maybe they’re a good filler in the absence of anything long and boring to talk about.

Firstly, it’s been a little over a month since I put Maximum Muscle up on the P2P nets and let the whole world have at it. Say what you want about my motives; anybody that wants a copy can get one, and that was my number one goal.

Strangely, I’ve gotten very little feedback on it. I expected at least a few trolls to tell me it was wrong/stupid/whatever, but there’s not been any of that. There are a few errors in it which have been pointed out to me, so I’m putting together a list of changes I need to make. Fortunately nothing’s been glaringly wrong so far.

I don’t know if people just aren’t reading it or what. Maybe it’s one of those things people pull off the torrents and just never read. Maybe I should have charged $80 for it like everybody else does with their e-books just to get people to read it. Who can say, really?

To all of you that have donated, it is very much appreciated. Don’t hesitate to share it, recommend it, review it, rubbish it, whatever you want. It’s there for the taking, and no, there is no catch to it.

What’s been happening this week

Had a few laughs over on the Monkey Island. Turns out some guy on Mike Boyle’s pay-to-post forum was making e-threats and otherwise shooting off at the mouth.The best part? He claimed to have a PhD exercise physiology, yet made this statement:

Thermodynamics is a flawed THEORY (as that is all it is – not a fact)

Here’s the thing about this. Regardless of the actual argument, if you’re claiming a post-grad degree in a scientific discipline, there is just no way you could actually make a statement like this. None.

At least, I’d really hope not. If you went through an advanced science curriculum, and at some point along the way that whole scientific method thing wasn’t mentioned (which includes the difference between a formalized theory and a hypothesis), then I’d really, really want to suggest you find another program, cause that one is bad.

There were a few more laughs with general guru nonsense, such as a claim that cancer beats thermodynamics, and then the same guru claiming body composition is all about energy balance. Later in the week. The same week.

You can’t write comedy like this, folks. I really think some of these guys are just saying things just to see how contradictory and/or stupid they can get it before their marks customers wise up.

JC wrote up a nice little criticism of UNAPOLOGETIC MUSCLE MARKETING over on his blog, which is worth a look as well. I couldn’t agree more with his conclusions, really. It’s ironic that this HARDCORE company actually began back in the late 90s as a rejection of the shameless supplement-hustling of MM2K. Oh how the might have fallen (into hypocrisy).

You could raise criticisms on their forum, I suppose, but they will actively censor anything that isn’t party rhetoric, so good luck with that.

I wrote up the first draft of a piece for Alan Aragon’s Research Review, which will either be in this month’s issue or next month’s, depending on whether I get the draft finalized before the deadline (which I should).

(And no, this isn’t just a shameless plug. I genuinely think the AARR is great for people that lack exposure to research methods and critical analysis – which seems to be a lot of people these days. And I don’t even get an affiliate kickback for dropping the link.)

Out in the IRL World

Yeah, believe it or not I do things that don’t involve playing internets.

My training’s still been going fairly well, given the gimp shoulders which I’m managing as best I can. I’ll be heading into my sixth straight week of dieting, which I think is a new record for me. Alternating between pure PSMF quasi-fasting and an Intermittent Fasting strategy (which is basically the same, only with more frequent carb-refeeding that actually lets me lift more often) has paid off pretty well, since I’ve dropped over 5.5kg in the last five weeks (which is a hair over 12 lbs for the Americans).

I’m still considering doing a powerlifting meet at the end of November, but I actually don’t want to stop the diet either as it’s working really well. Considering that even at my best, most fattest I won’t be lighting up any records (or anywhere close even) I’m thinking my best bet is to “just do it” – keep up with the diet and fit training in as long as I can. I’m still not anywhere near lean enough to actually need to make the choice between the two. When/if I get to a point that leanness and dieting are compromising strength, then I’ll re-evaluate.

I’m half-considering getting into a little strongman training, but with my injury list I’m still not quite ready to risk that yet. Not that PLing is any safer really, but it is at least a more controlled environment.