Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

Fixing a puncture

As a car enthusiast, it’s always satisfying to work on your own car. You know for sure that the job will be done correctly, and any mistake made you have nobody to blame but yourself. It sure beats making an appointment at a car shop, only to wait the entire day (if not more) to get your car back. (How long does it take to perform an oil change, honestly?) Never mind the fact shop labor rates have inflated just like everything else.

DIY whenever you can to save some money.

I drew an unlucky straw recently and got a puncture on the passenger front tire. No big deal, I’ve all the tools to plug a tire, provided it’s right on the tread surface (it was). On the BMW M2 it was my first time removing a wheel fastened on by lug bolts (instead of the lug nuts). The bolts came out easy enough, but the wheel was sort of seized onto the hub. Apparently this is a thing with BMW wheels. I’m fortunate to live in a mild climate, so a few hard wiggle of the wheel did the trick to loosen it.

The problem with lug bolts is when it comes time to put the wheel back on. On a car with wheel studs it’s super easy to align the bolt pattern. With no protruding studs of any kind on the M2, I have to masterfully cradle wheel whilst in a squat position, then carefully turn it to align the bolt holes. I should have done some Googling before this job, because apparently they sell an alignment pin to make this as effortless as wheel studs. Hopefully it goes on sale for Black Friday…

Those of us who lift weights consistently do so for the aesthetic appeal. Anybody that tells you otherwise is probably lying. Another aim for my resistance training is to be functionally strong. I insist on doing overhead pressing because holding a heavy weight above your head is a primary movement in everyday life. I squat so that I can be in a squat position comfortably for over an hour while fixing a tire puncture. I deadlift, so that I can hand-hold an over 40 pound wheel and tire for multiple minutes.

There’s really no downsides to weight lifting, other than the time commitment. And the soreness afterwards.

Goes forever on

I think it’s kind of messed up that once you start weightlifting, you cannot stop. There’s really no goal to reach; you have to put in the work continuously, even if all you want is to maintain what you’ve already achieved. Building muscles and strength is one of those if-you-don’t-use-it-you-lost-it type of deals. Wouldn’t it be lovely if once you reach a 300 pound squat (for example), then you can stay there without doing anything else further?

It’s very much like learning a second language. If you want to maintain a decent modicum of proficiency, you have to study/practice almost everyday. I’ve lost all my one year of Japanese skills because I’ve not practiced meaningfully since high school. This is why when I started self-taught Korean back in 2016, I still practice to this day. It can never stop if I want to keep this skill.

I recently put a pause on my piano learning because I simply do not have the time to dedicate to it. I already have too many hobbies that require daily maintenance. To learn this new skill properly I’d have to give one of those hobbies up. Perhaps that may happen in the future, but as of right now, exercise and the Korean language is more important to me.

It can get dark rather quickly when you rail against change. Ever be in the moment of something great and wonderful, and all you can think about is how to best preserve that forever? I certainly have. I can’t even enjoy that fantastic moment because I’m too caught up with making it last as long as possible, which in itself is not possible. Change is a constant in life, and accepting it as a companion instead of an enemy is the way to live with it.

Otherwise is how you see a type of car collector that puts a car in a giant sealed bubble. What is the point? Even if that car can last centuries, you the human will most certainly not.

Save the elbows

I recently added a barbell back squat to my weightlifting routine, and I couldn’t figure out why the inside of my elbows were sore afterwards. Kind of doesn’t make sense for parts of the arm to sore for what is a lower body exercise, right?

At first the soreness only occurred after a session, so I figured it was simply delayed onset muscle soreness. Those typically go away with enough squatting sessions in the log book. Well, wrong. During today’s workout, the inner elbows started to hurt during my warmup set. The general rule of thumb is: if something hurts during the exercise, then it needs to be addressed immediately.

Intuitively, I moved my grip on the bar further outwards. Because if the elbows are hurting during the squat movement, then it’s got to be the position that I am putting them in. And what do you know: it absolutely worked. Zero elbow pain on my working sets simply by widening my grip. I guess how well(?) our limbs can contort is highly individualized.

I’m just glad I don’t have to give up the barbell squat movement entirely. Like I had to do for the upright row, because it was hurting my shoulder. Once you get past a certain weight point, it’s difficult to progressively overload the lower body using dumbbells. Holding a 100 pounder to perform a goblet squat is not feasible, because my grip would give out way before my leg muscles do.

Do you even lift, bro?

The only thing I bought from last week’s Amazon Big Deal days is a scale. Not for food, but to check my body weight. I’ve been lifting weights consistently for about a year now, and I was curious to see if I’d gotten any heavier. Muscle weights more than fat, I’ve been told.

And drum roll please, since last October I’ve gained a grand total of two pounds. I’ve certainly gotten stronger compared to last year, but I guess I am not eating at an enough surplus to gain lots of weight. The laws of thermodynamics cannot be violated: burn more calories than you take in, you lose weight. Intake more calories than you burn, you gain weight. It seems I’m barely above maintenance.

Sugary foods doesn’t necessarily make one fat. If I give you only one sugar cube to eat everyday - and nothing else - you’re going to be skin on bones in a few weeks’ time. The problem with sugar is that it tends to be part of calorically dense foods. Think ice cream, or a can of non-diet soda. Therefore it’s super easy to overeat. Halloween is coming up soon. Parents ought to look up just how much calorie those tiny pieces of candy contain.

If I want to built muscle mass quickly, I have simply must eat more. But, I am okay with this two pound per year pace, honestly. Besides, the point of strength training for me isn’t hypertrophy: it’s for longevity. I want to be mobile and able as late into my twilight years as possible. There’s also correlation between small body mass and lifespan. Think of the people in Okinawa.

Getting too big is also cumbersome for flying. I’m always envious of tiny Asian women, where economy seating might as well be business class for them.

My exercise goal is to be as strong as possible for my current leanness.

Protect the gains

it is an utter disease for those of us who weight-train consistently. The disease of thinking you will get fat in an instant the one time we have to skip a work out. Go on a two weeks vacation? Better book a hotel with a passable gym facility, or hope the local gym offers a one day pass.

It’s the same disease that makes me think eating one singular donut will make my visible abs disappear. Poof.

Obviously, that’s not how it works. Getting into shape involves hard training over a long period of time; what makes you think getting out of shape would happen just like that? (Snap of the finger.) Even if the goal is to get fat (coming from skinny): it’ll take at least few months of stuffing your mouth like food is going to run out to see significant change.

Word on the street is that it is actually beneficial to take some time away from the weights. Especially when a particular exercise has not improved in the past few weeks. If you’re stuck at 10 pull-ups, taking a week break may get you past that plateau. Because what’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and expecting different results.

The last time I took a break from working out was back in June. It wasn’t by choice, as in, I didn’t choose specifically to take a break. I couldn’t exercise because I was in Thailand for my friend’s wedding. I am probably due for another week off, but it’s tough mentality to force myself to pause. I feel like I would be leaving gains (got to protect the gains) if I were to slob it up for a week or two. It doesn’t make logical sense, but tell that to the guy who is addicted to heroin.

The parable is: if you don’t take a break, your body will force you into one eventually (read: injury). Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that for me!

Light weight, baby!

Pro tip for those into the habit of weightlifting: rent from your friend whose garage has a squat rack. Not for actually squatting, but for the ability to do pull-ups. The pull-up is such an essential exercise (for back and lat muscles) that I would have bought one of those power towers on Amazon for my (small) studio if there weren’t a squat rack already. The movement is that crucial, well worth the sacrifice in room space. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do that.

Recently, I have graduated to actually using the squat rack for (barbell back) squats. For the past year I’ve done goblet squats, clasping onto a single dumbbell with both hands to my chest. I seem to have reached critical mass with that, because my arms are tiring of holding onto 60 pounds well before my legs are giving up. Make sense: our leg muscles measurably bigger and stronger than the arms. The need to graduate to proper squats with a barbell is obvious.

What I did not realize is that having a huge metal rod putting pressure on my trap muscles kind of hurts! And my first attempt wasn’t even heavy: it was just the 45 pounds of the barbell itself! I guess (and hope) it is merely something to get used to. Surely it will feel more comfortable as I do more sets.

I am extremely lucky to have access to this setup right at home. While a set of adjustable dumbbells can take the upper body pretty far, leg day is a bit compromised as you advance in poundage. There comes an inflection point where It’s difficult to hold in your hands enough weight to stimulate the legs muscles properly (without doing a crazy amount of reps). The hands will get tired before the legs do. A barbell with weight plates solve that problem so easily.