10.30.2016

Workout:

Fall League

Reading:

None

Notes:

I meant to start doing about 5 minutes of planks every day - this hasn't happened yet.

10.29.2016

No workout or reading

10.28.2016

Workout:

I did not workout

Reasing:

Chapter 8 of Midas Paradox

10.27.2016

Workout:

• Yoga
• Glute Bridges
• Resistance Band
• Ladder into 30 yard sprint
• 2 in 1 out x4
• 1 in 2 out x4
• lateral 2 in 2 out x8
• muhammad ali x8
• reverse 2 in 1 out x4
• reverse 1 in 2 out x4

Reading:

Midas Paradox Chapter 7: A discussion on how Roosevelt's plan to depreciate the dollar was a good thing.

10.26.2016

Workout:

• Yoga
• Glute Bridges
• Resistance Band
• Plyos
• 1-legged 4 star drill 3x10
• 1 legged ankle bounce 3v75
• Tuck jumps 3x10
• low box side to side 3x10
• Broad Jumps 3x5
• 1-2-3 jumps 3x5
• Stationary Squat jumps 3x15

Reading:

Chapter 6 of The Midas Paradox

Notes how the National Industrial Recovery Act and the National Recovery Act increased wages and forced prices higher than equilibrium extending the life of the Great Depression.

10.25.2016

Workout:

• Yoga
• Glute Bridges
• Resistance Band
• 45 lb Kettlebell
• Goblet Squats 3x15
• Reverse Lunge 6x10
• SLDL 6x10
• Swings 5x10

Brutal workout today.  I am not sure why, but I had very little "hustle horse" mojo today.  Below are some reasons why:

• improvement is not linear
• performance is subject to a normal variance
• I did not workout yesterday
• I sat around a lot today
• I am tired - this is a bad reason I sleep a ton I'm just always tired.
• I had bad form on early exercises taxing me down the line in the workout

Reading:

I read this week's The Economist.

Notes:

I am grinding through an audiobook called "Throwing Rock's at the Google Bus, I find myself emotionally arguing with the author in some chapters and emphatically applauding him in others.

10.24.2016

I did not workout or read today.

Notes:

I took my fourth CPA exam today.  I am waiting on results for two of the exams, this is the first time I haven't had something to be studying for since December 1 of 2015.

I went to basketball today, there was a book fair covering the courts so we went home.  I have to do conditioning sometime later this week.

10.23.2016

I did not workout or read today.

10.22.2016

Workout:

• Quick yoga

• Glute Bridges
• Resistance Band
• Plyos
• 1 legged 4 star drill 2x10
• 1 legged ankle bounce 2x75
• Tuck jumps 2x15
• low box side bounce 2x10
• broad jumps 2x5
• 1-2-3 jumps 2x5

5/10, I am ready for next week when the volume goes through the roof.

Reading:

I did not read.

Notes:

I walked almost ten hours around the city showing my friends what was what.

10.21.2016

Workout:

• 5 mile jog

Not a hard jog, but sometimes a jog is all I need to chill out a bit.

Reading:

• Midas Paradox Chapter 5

Notes:

I listened to Freakanomics self-improvement month.  "10,000 hours of deliberate practice is the way to be great at something."

10.20.2016

Workout:

• WarmUp
• Footwork into 30 yard sprint
• 2 in 1 out x6
• 1 in 2 out x6
• lateral 2 in 2 out x6
• muhammad ali x6
• backward 2 in 1 out x6

7/10

Reading:

Midas Paradox Chapter 4

10.19.2016

Workout:

• Quick yoga
• Glute Bridges
• Resistance Band
• Plyos
• 1 legged 4 star drill 2x10
• 1 legged ankle bounce 2x75
• Tuck jumps 2x15
• low box side bounce 2x10
• broad jumps 2x5
• 1-2-3 jumps 2x5

Reading:

Midas Paradox Chapter 3: How the German economic climate played a role in the Great Depression.

10.18.2016

Workout:

• Quick Yoga
• Glute Bridge
• Resistance Band
• 15 reps every 90 seconds
• Goblet Squats x2
• SLDL x2
• Reverse Lunge x2
• Deadlift x2
• Swings x2
• Step Ups x2
• Snatch x2
• 40 s planks x3

Brutal today, 9/10, I couldn't have done more if I wanted.  I need to find a way to get the "work" portion of my workout down to 20 minutes.  In order to hit 300 I have to get to 15 reps every minute.

Reading:

Midas Paradox - Chapter 2.  I hope Rabuck is following the threads of this book because I might need a reread in order to trace it end to end.

10.17.2016

Workout:

• Quick Yoga
• Glute bridges
• Resistance band
• Shuffling
• 90 minutes of basketball
• 120-yard shuttles x6 every minute on the minute

I think I am getting into better shape, next time I will do 8 120 yard shuttles.  6/10

I've been balling with Rose's cousins, two of them know how to play and three of them don't.  In the early days, those of who knew how to play could just set up a high-post pick-and-roll and totally crush it because the defense had no idea how to switch or close the gaps.  After a couple of weeks, they started getting smart on us and now they are capable of defending it very well.  

Their improvement pushed me to switch from playing a high-post to a low-post.  I am the only one of the six of us who likes (can?) play the low post so it does set me up to utilize my strengths.  My goal is to set a strong side triangle, but I never shared the plan with the guys so sometimes the off-ball wing will randomly run to the weak side and blow the whole operation.  To fix this I started setting up on the wing, no one else will set up on the low post so by doing this we are invariably starting three wide.  From the wing I'll make a cut to the basket then I stop and set the post on the strong side thus dictating how I want the formation to set up.  I am liking this strategy a lot, during the cut it is easy to get on the defenders back and once at the basket it is shockingly easy to slip in front of them to set a post.  If I want I can cut back and get either a weak side face-up or better yet an in-rhythm three.  If my opposite wing decides to do something weird, I'll just continue the cut through the basket and finish either at the opposite corner, wing, or up top for a ball screen.

One of them did figure out that I was always cutting to the basket so he just stood at the basket waiting for me, a few threes forced him to abandon this strat.

Reading:

• Midas Paradox Chapter 1

Rabuck and I are launching a "book club" about econ books, anyone want to be a guest?

Notes:

I have decided what I want my money maker to be.  I want to be a "hustle horse".  Am I naturally inclined to be a hustle horse?  Am I exploiting my full potential pursuing this route?  No.  So why hustle horse? Sports are way more fun when you feel like you can haul it.

10.16.2016

Workout:

Fall League.  

Does Fall league count?  It feels like it shouldn't. 1/10

Reading:

I did not read today.

Notes:

Over the weekend I ate some cake.  I am doing well with less sugar, but it is still a total battle.  

At church there were some donut holes staring me down, I walked over to eat one about 5 separate times and each time pulled away at nearly the last second.  

At the grocery store all the cakes, cupcakes, cookies are decorated orange for halloween, I love cakes and I love orange and I almost filled the cart up with garbage, alas I had Rose to save me from myself.

10.15.2016

Workout:

None

Reading:

Book VI: Chapter 8: The Grey Havens

I am now finished with Lord of the Rings - rereading a good book is never a waste of time.

10.14.2016

Workout:

Quick Yoga
Glute Bridges x30
Resistance Band

• Ankle Jumps 3x75
• 4 Star Drill 3x10
• Alternating Lunges 3x20
• Jump Squats 3x20
• Slalom 3x50
• Lunge Jumps 3x10
• Low squat ankle jumps 3x30

Reading:

Book VI: Chapter 8 The Scouring of the Shire

Notes:

I ate a McFlurry today.

10.13.2016

Workout:

• Quick Yoga
• Resistance Band
• Footwork into 30-yard sprint
• The last step of the footwork drill is the first step of a 30-yard sprint
• Straight 30 x4
• 2 in 1 out x4
• lateral shuffle x8
• backward 2 in 1 out x4
• 5 jump squats x4
• Straight 30 x4

4/10 - I felt like I could have hammered out about 6 150s after this, maybe I should have.

Reading:

Book VI: Chapters 5 and 6

Notes:

Today I voted.  I voted for Hillary.

Some quick thoughts on voting.  First, your vote doesn't matter because there are 320 million people in the US.  Second, your vote does matter because it signals to politicians what you care about and can therefore potentially create a shift in their policies.  (See Hillary's shift left to appeal to Bernie supporters.)  

Choosing to not vote is a choice.  A choice that a thoughtful politician, like Barack Obama, will read as evidence that American's lack faith in politics.  Unfortunately most politicians are not this thoughtful and may misinterpret the message you are trying the send by not voting.

In the case of this election going third-party is essentially a nonvote.  Personally for me to "throw away" a vote by casting for a third-party candidate their ideology must align perfectly with mine (admittedly a higher standard is held for these candidates than for a candidate with a chance of winning).  Alas Gary Johnson doesn't think the US has a role to play in foreign politics and Jill Stein thinks vaccines give children down syndrome.

*Remember in America we have "freedom of choice", not "freedom from criticism".

10.12.2016

Workout:

WarmUp - I pretty much always do the same WarmUp:

• Quick Yoga
• I do this every day even if I don't workout, I like to do it as part of my morning routine, I'll outline it here and moving forward just refer to it as "quick yoga"
• Toe Touch
• Crawl into cobra
• Lift into down dog
• Left leg up into 3-leg Chaturanga
• Swing Left leg through and raise up into a lunge
• Step up into left leg balance
• Maintaining left leg balance - Right legged swinging knee drives - about five
• Still balancing on left leg - Right knee up and hold
• Flow into warrior three
• Right knee swing through into one legged jump and stick with left leg
• Reverse lunge and return to downward dog
• Right leg up into 3 leg Chaturanga
• repeat above series to establish symmetry
• Resistance Band
• I like to stand in "athletic position" and move my knees together and apart about 10 times
• Lateral steps down 10 and back
• Drop step 10 times
• Glute Bridges
• 30times

Work:

• Ankle Jumps 3x75
• 4 Star Drill 3x10
• Alternating Lunges 3x20
• Jump Squats 3x20
• Slalom 3x50
• Lunge Jumps 3x10
• Low squat ankle jumps 3x30

Reading:

• Book VI: Chapter 3 and Chapter 4

The ring is destroyed and Sauron has collapsed.  

10.11.2016

Workout:

1. Glute Bridges x15
2. Resistance band
3. Broad Jumps x5
1. 45 lb deadlift x5
4. Star Jump x5
1. 95 lb deadlift x5
5. Squat Jump x5
1. 135 lb deadlift x5
6. Over and back bar jumps x5
1. 135 lb deadlift x5
7. Broad Jump x5
1. 135 lb deadlift x5
8. Bosu ball balancing series

I almost wrote "No Workout" today because I am embarrassed about this workout, alas this is what I did today. 2/10.

I went to snap fitness.  Snap fitness' are a real hit or miss.  Not all gyms are created equal, some will throw your entire day off.

Reading:

Book VI: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2

Samwise has saved Frodo and the pair has arrived at the foot of Mount Doom.

Notes:

Today I registered to vote, I am hoping to "vote early" by end of the week.

I have taken three CPA exams, I have passed two and am waiting for my results on the third which I should have November 14th.  My fourth and final exam is October 24th - I am hoping that after my first go through I will have passed at least 3 and then will only have to study for one next spring.

10.10.2016

Workout:

• Every minute on the minute 10 reps of:
• Goblet Squats x3
• Deadlifts x3
• Reverse Lunge x3
• Step ups x3
• Swings x3
• Lateral Squats x3
• Snatch x3
• 240 movements in 24 minutes

This was tough, definitely a 7/10 - I feel more than ever that the goal of 300 is possible.

Reading:

I did not read.

Notes:

One of the obstacles to improvement that a "bad" team faces is that the players don't think they belong on a "bad team".

To flesh this out consider a mid-region team of 20 individuals.  12 of them think they can make one of the nationals teams nearby, 3 of them actually can.  The 9 "delusional" players blame their teammates for the mediocrity of their program, they think to themselves "I am too good for this garbage", and they hemorrhage opportunities to grow both as players and as individuals.  The r-squared relationship between the improvement of these 9 players and the improvement of their team is something like .95.

(Think they can make a Nationals Team) - (Can make a Nationals Team) = (Ego v. Ability Discrepancy)

The larger a teams Ego v. Ability Discrepancy the worse that team will function as a team.  The way to minimize this discrepancy is to attack it at both ends: first, check people's egos and make them own the reality that they aren't as good as they think they are, second, put in the work so that a larger piece of the squad actually can make a Nationals Team.

10.9.2016

Workout:

4 games to 13 points.

6/10

Reading:

I did not read.

Notes:

Although I did not read this weekend I did listen to all of Nudge on audiobook during my trip from MPLS to MKE.

Nudge, Misbehaving, Blink, and Thinking Fast and Slow are all basically the same story told in marginally different ways.  The emphasis Nudge tries to make is that since humans suffer from a "status quo bias" we can nudge them into "preferred behavior" through good "choice architecture".  Basically, we set preferred behaviors as the default.

Example:  If a company wants to encourage their employees to save 15% (or whatever) in their 401(k), then make that the default and give them the freedom to change it by filling out paperwork.

This is commonly referred to as Liberal Paternalism, it is paternalistic in that we nudge you into saving for retirement (an objectively good thing) but it is liberal in that you have the freedom to make whatever choice you want (if you are convinced that saving is not subjectively good for your situation).

Strong recommend on all four of these books, I think ideally one would read one a year over the course of four years so that the ideas are reinforced over a long timescale and hopefully stick throughout life.

10.8.2016

Workout:

6 - 45 minutes games of ultimate

3/10

Reading:

I did not read.

10.7.2016

Workout:

• Ankle Jump x50x3
• 4 Star Drill x10x2
• Alternating Lunge x20x3
• Jump Squats x20x3
• Slalom Jumps x50x3
• Lunge Jumps x10x3
• Low Squat Ankle Jump x30x3

I thought about not working out today because of the No Wisco this weekend, but then I thought No Wisco is a step to take not a line to cross.

7/10 - these things are not easy.

Reading:

Book V: Chapter 9: The Black Gate Opens

Pippin killed a Troll.

The story, as most people care about it, is pretty much over.  It takes 3 chapters of Book VI to wrap up Frodo's storyline.  

Notes:

In the state of Minnesota, a landlord is not obligated to turn the heat on until October 15th.  #8days

10.6.2016

Workout:

• Resistance Band Warm-Up
• Speed Ladder
• 1 in x8
• 2 in 1 out x8
• 1-2-3-4-1 x8
• EMOM
• See layout below

. 

• Speed ladder into 25-yard sprint
• 2 in 1 out x10

I am not sure if I am getting into better shape or if I am a major slacker: 4/10

Reading:

Book V: Chapter 8: The House of Healing and Chapter 9: The Last Debate

There is nothing left to do other than march upon the Black Gate.

Notes:

When I think about or am aware of my "reading form" (moving my eyes over the words) I am a slower and worse reader than when I am unaware of my "reading form".

10.5.2016

Workout:

45 pound KB

1. Goblet Squats 3x10
2. Reverse Lunges 3x10
3. SLDL 3x10
4. Step ups 3x10
5. Swings 3x10
6. Deadlifts 3x10
7. Lateral Squat 3x10
8. Snatch 1x10

220 - The QuitBeast is a formidable foe.  I'll hit this with a 7/10 I think i could have run a few shuttles afterward, but certainly could not have picked up a heavy object.

Reading:

Book V: Chapters 5 The Ride of the Rohirrim Chapter 6: The Battle of the Pelennor Fields

1. Why isn't Ghan-Buri-Ghan in the films?  I have no recollection of this character, I must have stared blankly at these pages when I was younger.
2. "No man can kill me"
1. "I am no man"

10.4.2016

Workout:

1. Warm up jog
2. Resistance band
3. Shuffling pattern
1. Did the below pattern 8 times
2. Shuffle from 1-2-3-4-1
3. Distance from 1-2 about 10 yards
4. Distance from 1-3 about 10 yards

4. 80 minutes of 3v3 basketball
5. 120 yards shuttles x6 1:2 

Reading:

Return of the King Book V: Chapter 3: The Muster of Rohan and Chapter 4: The Siege of Gondor

This may be the only part where the movie is better than the book, but the movie was still great.  The movie really sets the image that the men of Gondor are getting rocked, this is true but strongly understates how many orcs they take out before retreating.

9.30.2016-10.3.2016

Friday - Sunday

No workout.  No Reading.

Monday

Workout:

Ankle Jump x50x3

4 Star Drill x10x2

Alternating Lunge x20x3

Jump Squats x20x3

Slalom Jumps x50x3

Lunge Jumps x10x3

Low Squat Ankle Jump x30x3

4 Star Drill 10 times is rough, I was dragging myself through the rest of this workout.

Reading:

Book V: Chapter 1: Minas Tirith.

We've done it, we've made it to the last great stronghold of men!

Notes:

I spent the weekend at Club Nationals.  It didn't feel like Nationals, it felt like Rockford.