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hisvanity · 5 years

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POKÉMON TRAINING: THE WORLD’S GREATEST LIE

i’ve headcanoned a lot of things about social justice in the pokémon world and so far, i’ve made it a pretty bleak place. a place where poc coordinators are routinely discriminated against, where team aqua is actually an indigenous people’s only recourse for a dignified independence, and where one power-hungry royal family controls the entire global media. but there’s one thing i haven’t touched. one thing you probably thought was safe. one thing that makes the pokémon world what it is, without which none of my other social justice ramblings would even be possible.

after all these months (or years? i forgot when i had it) of holding this hc in…it is time.

buckle up, kids. i’m going to ruin all your childhoods.

So What’s Up With Training?

several things, actually.

one, given that all of the trainers are seen constantly traveling on the road and camping out, we can easily deduce that the vast majority of trainers are homeless.

two, since the only ingame source of income that a trainer has is winning matches against other trainers, we can assume that money is hard to come by.

and three, because we hardly see any trainers go to school, we can also assume that unless we see them in a trainer’s school geared specifically toward training, these kids aren’t in school.

there are some things that can be expanded upon with this.

one, if we look at the mere fact that most trainers are homeless, we can clearly see that they’re not coming from a lot of money. if training was a sport favored by the wealthy or even the middle class, we’d see much less journeying on foot and many more taxis going from place to place, much less camping out and much more staying overnight in hotels. there are obviously exceptions to this rule, as we’ve seen some really posh/elite trainer schools in canon (think the first few dozen episodes of the kanto series, or the dojo that ash went to in johto). but i think it’s canonical that the vast majority of trainers are just out on the street with no transportation and not even a temporary home.

two, if you start off training while poor, it can be very hard to work your way up the socioeconomic ladder. if your main source of income is winning battles, and you lose money every time you lose a battle, every day is literally a gamble in which you could either get the necessary cash for your next three meals or lose everything you have and go hungry. sure, there are headcanoned ways to earn other money, such as entering tournaments and winning prize cash, or performing unskilled labor at a poké mart or pokémon center (because what else can a kid really do?) but even with these headcanons, most methods of earning money are either 1) contingent upon you winning battles or 2) not very rewarding at all.

three, it can always be assumed that trainers are attempting to get a decent education on the road. there could be online classes, there could be free classes offered by training schools. however, if trainers are both homeless and strapped for cash, concentrating in class and while doing schoolwork can be exceedingly difficult--and work or battle is usually a better use of time than study, because it ensures that you’re going to eat the next day.

from these things we can conclude that training, from a realistic standpoint, is a low-income sport that is commonly pursued by low-income individuals during which obtaining a proper education is difficult if not impossible, and attempting upward mobility presents a similar challenge.

in the real world, you bet your ass people would try to take advantage of that.

Why Trainers Should Give Up on Their Dreams

let’s be honest. training is like sports is like having a career in the arts. it is devilishly hard to succeed in any of these fields--hard to the point that most artists have to work a second job just to stay afloat. only the top 0.001% of trainers will ever see six figures, with the rest forever plugging away at the grindstone, hoping that one day they’ll get that shiny carrot of success that’s been dangled in front of them from the moment they chose their profession.

this is the life of artists.

this is the life of sportspeople.

there is no reason to believe that it will not be the life of a trainer as well.

this fact about training will never be fixed, and that is because there’s a benefit to the upper class if this is the case. if poor people are distracted by training from doing anything truly productive…they stay focused on their pokémon instead of societal injustice. and they stay out of school, which means they’re less likely to threaten the incumbent upper class with potential upward mobility.

if you’re thinking three steps ahead, you’re absolutely right!

Modern training is a global capitalist conspiracy to keep poor people uneducated, and to keep them from questioning their rich oppressors.

let me tell you how this works.

training has always been a part of human civilization. but the modern version of training (challenging gym leaders, earning badges, then challenging leagues and national conferences) first started becoming popular in the 1950′s after WWII. ever since then, i think it’s safe to assume that in the pokémon world, training is the #1 worldwide hobby/occupation for people ages 10 - 18. this did NOT happen on accident. league champions in conjunction with governments and pokémon-centered merchandising companies such as poké mart, inc. billed it to parents as a fun and rewarding activity where you could learn how to be independent, intelligent and quick-thinking--not to mention earn some cash for yourself and your family on the side. they ran countless advertising campaigns depicting happy trainers with their pokémon, urging kids to start their journeys with tantalizing images of victory in grand arenas. governments in america and western europe even billed training as a patriotic symbol of independence from communist rule, because communist-ruled countries (except for china) did not establish proper leagues until after the soviet union fell. due to a cultural shift encouraged by the Powers That Be, pokémon training became the most prevalent sport worldwide.

it wasn’t until the early 1970′s that world corporations figured out that there could be something to be gained from all this. with rising prosperity across the globe, they needed a way to make sure that they could maintain a solid “underclass” to do all the dirty work that nobody else wanted to do--while also making sure that pokémon-related companies turned a profit. they realized that in training lay their answer. the system that resulted from their collaboration with world governments creates a vicious cycle that goes as follows.

kids from poor families are told to quit school and train at age ten. they are thrust into a life of constant fight and constant struggle, just to earn a few more scraps of cash to send home. anxious families are promised that their children can still continue their educations via trainer schools, and that they can still have a path to college if that’s what they so desire--the most commonly found and most expensive scholarships in the world are reserved exclusively for trainers. however, given the rigors of training, 90% of trainers are unable to maintain consistent schooling of ANY LEVEL while they pursue a training career. of the 10% that can maintain consistent schooling, a further 90% of trainer school-educated children are unprepared for college, and roughly that amount of trainer school-educated students drop out of college once they attempt it. without a college degree, they are locked out of higher-paying jobs and forced to continue in unskilled labor, perhaps continue as trainers in the hopes that one day they can afford school. instead of getting angry at the system, however, many people are so focused on the day-to-day concern of trying to better their lives (and of potentially trying to achieve their training dreams) than trying to take down what holds them in chains. and so the cycle of poverty perpetuates.

They Use Training For A Reason

and that reason is fairly simple.

nobody has childhood dreams about working one’s way up from fry cook to manager at mcdonald’s. nobody has childhood dreams of becoming the world’s fastest-cleaning janitor, or becoming employee of the month five times in a row as a cashier. everybody, however, has childhood dreams about “being the very best, like no one ever was.” pokémon training has an emotional appeal due to its glorious veneer, an appeal that can motivate even the most stubborn people to drop out of school even when there’s no pragmatic reason to drop out of school in the first place. you just don’t get that out of cleaning toilets. you never will.

now, one can argue that the people at the top could have just relied on the natural tendency of capitalism to keep the poor at the bottom while the rich get richer. but they didn’t trust that it could stay that way on its own, and so this system was born as a guarantor of their greed.

So What About Rich and Middle-Class Trainers?

the richer your family is, the more likely you are to “make it big” as a trainer, and obtain the dreams that are promised to impoverished children all over the world. rich families have the advantage of giving their children tutors to improve their battling craft, enrolling them in expensive elite trainer schools, getting them interviews with media outlets in order to increase their visibility. the children of rich and even some middle-class families don’t have to worry about where their next meal is going to come from, or even where their next pokémon is going to come from--many well-off trainers have never caught a pokémon in their lives, instead buying them from expensive breeders. society also tends to look at the rich trainers and use them as examples of people who “made it,” and shame poor trainers without those advantages for not being able to do the same.

hold on, one might say. won’t well-off children have the same difficulty as their lower-income peers in staying in school? won’t they drop out of school to train, just like said peers? well, the powers that be have already thought that through. in all private schools, there are training and coordinating teams that meet after school for 2-2.5 hours a day mondays through fridays, similar to teams of other sports. also like teams of other sports, they hold practice sessions and compete regionally + nationally--each individual student has a ranking in the competition, but all students’ individual performances contribute to the overall ranking of their school. such programs also exist in public schools in low-income neighborhoods, but their quality is far below the programs found in private schools; also, full-time training is usually a financially more realistic option for low-income students than joining a school team because most school tournaments don’t give money to winners. moreover, going to school with a full stomach and a guaranteed roof over your head is very different from going to school with economic anxieties on your shoulders. a key difference between the two is that in the former, one battles for pleasure, not for cash, and if one loses cash, one can easily replace it; in the latter, one’s win-loss ratio can make a big difference in one’s day-to-day life. in addition, those of the lower middle class usually find themselves facing the same pressures as poor people during training--which means that the system used to keep poor people poor is also used to widen the gap between the poor and the rich.

government bigwigs and corporate fat cats know these truths. in fact, they bank on them. they run cartoons where children are told to “be the very best, like no one ever was.” they constantly uplift the rare cases of the people who made it from rags to riches, dangling the everlasting promise that you, too, could be like them. they drop propaganda leaflets into suffering neighborhoods telling them that you can have a better life if only you take up your poké ball and take up the fight. they do this with the full knowledge that training is not a sustainable solution for these children, but that it would benefit them to keep these children in training. and then they turn around and victim-blame the poor trainers who inevitably fail to reach the goals they were promised--calling them “lazy” and “unmotivated” when really, they are victims of a system that was rigged against them from the beginning.

you will not be the very best.

you will only ever be a pawn in somebody else’s long game.

Dishonorable Mention: Unovamerica

because it’s not a true worldbuilding post from me without a little shitting on the country that we liberals love to hate.

the united states is known for its dislike of free healthcare, but there is one brand of free healthcare that it has mysteriously never disliked: that provided to trainers. human healthcare from pokémon centers is completely free, but only if you are a registered trainer--many children become trainers purely because they can’t afford healthcare any other way. this practice has been adopted in many other parts of the world, but america started it first. pokémon centers in the u.s. are particularly notorious for enforcing the “free healthcare for trainers only” rule: they have been known to turn away the seriously ill, seriously injured and even the dying because they couldn’t present a valid trainer ID. in addition, to ensure that registered trainers are actually training and not just “mooching off the system,” the u.s. and countries adopting its system have a “fight per month” rule: if you don’t get a new badge or participate in a new tournament at least once every month, your access to free healthcare in pokémon centers is revoked.

many american states and non-american countries offer free and comprehensive healthcare for the families of traveling trainers as well--training is the ONLY low-income job where you can get this sort of treatment. most notably, trainer healthcare disregards preexisting conditions, which prevents many people from receiving the care they need via insurance. the government does this on purpose to funnel people into training, which not only achieves their goal of keeping kids uneducated and complacent but also makes sure that poké mart, inc. can always turn a profit--poké mart, inc., an american company, is actually a main player in the global conspiracy because the more trainers there are, the more money it makes off its monopoly on trainer goods. and so far, it’s been working. up in washington, the poké mart lobbyists have really been doing their job, and the healthcare system of an entire nation is suffering because of it.

there is no challenge to this system anywhere in the united states. conservatives use trainer’s healthcare to pander to undecided voters and demonstrate that they do have a “good” healthcare plan that “works.” liberal politicians also support trainer’s healthcare unquestioningly, believing falsely that this mechanism to funnel people into a profession with a lack of education is an innocent step in the right direction to universal healthcare for all. for reasons of political pragmatism, both sides are complicit in the rotten healthcare system that pins a basic human right to your willingness to enter a certain field.

the vigilante justice involved in some trainer journeys also actively upholds america’s system of police brutality and mass incarceration. propaganda encouraging trainers to fight crime often depicts black and brown people as the criminals. trainers’ victims in the u.s. usually end up in jail, subject to the very system that most trainers claim to be working outside or against. many vigilante trainers also use the same techniques of police brutality against unarmed black & brown victims that police often do themselves. lastly, in the u.s., fighting a racist cop is one of the fastest ways to get yourself deplatformed as a trainer: no matter how justified you are, if you do so your career is done.

oh, and do you want to know which country’s elected leaders had the idea for this entire system to actually become a thing?

if you’re reading this post, you’re probably sitting in it.

I Haven’t Even Told You The Worst Part

nowadays trainers are told that they can make a difference by being trainers. that they can use their strength to do justice in the world. commercial after commercial shows young kids beating up on criminals, encouraging youth to become vigilantes in a similar vein--to get out there and start changing the world in front of them. what those kids don’t know is that this promise of being able to enforce justice is also, in some sense, a lie.

training can deal with certain types of crime. training beats up team grunts and kills pedophiles. hell, sometimes training even takes down entire evil teams. but training will never be able to fix ITSELF--no amount of battling can ever undo the insidious system that has made itself as much a part of a trainer’s existence as potions and poké balls. training will also never solve modern slavery, the climate crisis, income inequality, police brutality and mass incarceration. the people at the top know this. they know that with everybody’s eyes fixed on pokémon training, nobody will focus on the greater issues plaguing the world today, and that this is exactly how they want things to be.

essentially, trainers are told that they are the arbiters of justice as part of a mechanism to prevent them from solving some of the greatest injustices in the world.

vigilante justice, the thing most dear to many trainers, the very thing that makes modern training what it is--has been transformed into yet another tool for world governments and corporations to keep trainers under control.

So Where Do Leagues Fit In All This?

i pose this question because i hc them as the ultimate vigilantes. the people who are supposed to keep this sort of shit under control. people who, collectively, have the strength to take down an unjust government. theoretically, they should have been able to solve this problem with training a long time ago by unseating those in power and finding real solutions for the kids involved.

however.

you can’t solve a problem if you don’t know that it’s a problem in the first place.

that’s right. this entire system of keeping poor kids (and tbh kids in general) under government and corporate control is so insidious and well-hidden that the very people who are sworn not to let this kind of thing happen are sometimes the ones most responsible for holding it up. leagues are just as guilty as the governments they are supposed to oppose of encouraging kids to take up training, using the same rhetoric and techniques that the higher-ups also use. some leagues are even straight-up complicit with governments (see: the american, prussian and chinese leagues) in attempting to funnel kids into the training system. even wallace, social justice advocate that he is, was not aware of the system he unwittingly perpetuated until recently--and even then, he is not only exploitatively held up as one of the examples of somebody who “made it,” he thinks the training system is just a byproduct of capitalism rather than something that has been encouraged on purpose. granted, leagues around the world have also created programs to help struggling trainers with food, shelter, tutoring. but honestly, the people on top let it happen because these programs are ultimately just a band-aid on a gash that cuts down to the bone.

IN CONCLUSION

if you care about your education, you shouldn’t be a trainer.

if you wish to pursue a dream that you can actually fulfill, you shouldn’t be a trainer.

if you don’t want to sell your soul to capitalism, you shouldn’t be a trainer.

in the pokémon world, a world built on pokémon training, you shouldn’t be a trainer.

#don't give me that pain. || WORLDBUILDING #politics*#race*#|| ok to reblog

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livehealthynewsusa · 3 years

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30-Day Kettlebell Challenge – Best Kettlebell Workouts for Men

Regardless of whether you are planning to train to build muscle, Burn fat, improve your athleticism and exercise, or all of that, all you really need is one tool: a kettlebell. When some fitness equipment is so specialized as to serve a single purpose, versatility is an invaluable trait for those looking for the best bang for their buck. This is one of the reasons kettlebells were among the most sought-after fitness machines when gyms closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. You can do a lot with just one tool.

The kettlebell has evolved from a post-Soviet curiosity and cult fitness item in the late 1990s to the strength and conditioning staple it is today because of its wide range of uses – and because you can make your workout a free-flowing proposition as one fixed treatment of standard lifts. Swings, cleans, snatches and more are easily available with little technique thanks to the kettlebell’s unique design and placement of the handle and weight.

We don’t think you should give up your barbells, dumbbells, and machines for good in order to replace them with kettlebells, but if you want to add a little more fun and versatility to your training plan, try the Men’s Health 30-Day Kettlebell Challenge. The unique features of the device make it the perfect candidate for a particularly focused program, and whether you’re a kettlebell master or just picking up a bell for the first time, you will find it worth it.

Click here to join for more exclusive health and fitness content.

Men health

When you have a single kettlebell, that’s all you need to build all of that body strength and core strength, and add muscle where you want it. The key to all of this is learning the correct movements. You will spend this month learning and mastering a handful of exercises that can easily be combined into full body workouts, and you will be doing it in minutes each day.

Attach these movements to the end of your workout each day – or even use them as a standalone routine – for 30 days to explore movement patterns and build strength, strength, and more mobility than you think. Do you need a kettlebell? Check out our picks for the best here.

Half knee exercises

▼ One-armed swing

▼ Clean

▼ Snap

▼ windmill

▼ Snap to the windmill

▼ Swing to snap

Lower body focus

▼ Kettlebell swing

▼ Staggered standing swing

▼ Step change swing

▼ Crouch down

▼ Swing to crouch to take turns doing reverse lunges

Core focus

▼ 3-step structure

▼ 3-step stand up to float

▼ Floating windmill

▼ Hover over the windmill to double-tap

▼ windmill

▼ Snap to the windmill

The program / weekly structure

WEEK 1:

Master the kettlebell swing to build lower body strength and core strength. Start with the swing and move on to swing and squat combinations.

Day 1: Kettlebell Swing:

3 sets of 10 repetitions, rest 40 seconds in between. For hip power.

Day 2: Staggered standing swing:

4 sets of 10 repetitions, breaks of 40 seconds each. Hip / glute power from a more athletic position.

Day 3: Staggered standing swing:

4 sets of 10 repetitions, breaks of 40 seconds each. Hip / glute power from a more athletic position.

Day 4: step change swing:

3 40-second sentences. Rest 40 seconds between each. Introduce more coordination.

Day 5: Step change swing:

3 40-second sentences. Rest 40 seconds between each. Repeat the process to further master the pattern.

Day 6: Swing to Squat:

3 sets of 8 for the entire process. Rest 40 seconds between each. Mixing squat and hinge patterns.

Day 7: Swing to Squat:

3 sets of 10 for the entire process. Rest 40 seconds between each. Continue with the groove pattern.

WEEK 2:

Build upper body strength (and core strength as well) with these half-kneeling movements. And yes – your glutes will still work.

Day 1: Half-kneeling single-arm swing:

3 sets of 10 per page. Rest 30 seconds between each set.

Day 2: Half-kneeling cleaning:

3 sets of 10 per page. Rest 30 seconds between each set.

Day 3: Half-kneeling cleaning:

3 sets of 10 per page. Rest 30 seconds at a time.

Day 4: Half-kneeling tear:

3 sets of 8 per page. Rest 30 seconds at a time.

Day 5: Half-kneeling tear:

3 sets of 8 per side, each with a 30-second break.

Day 6: Swing to Snatch:

3 sets of 6 per side, each with a 30-second break.

Day 7: Swing to Snatch:

3 sets of 6 per side, each with a 30-second break.

WEEK 3:

Discover core kettlebell movements that challenge your abs, shoulders, and really your entire body. After two weeks of power, this week is about body control and tension.

Day 1: 3-stage structure:

3 sets of 8 repetitions per side. Rest as needed between sets.

Day 2: Windmill:

3 sets of 8 repetitions per side. Rest as needed between sets.

Day 3: Windmill:

3 sets of 8 repetitions per side. Rest as needed between sets.

Day 4: floating windmill:

3 sets of 6 repetitions per side. Rest as needed between sets.

Day 5: floating windmill:

3 sets of 6 repetitions per side. Rest as needed between sets.

Day 6: 3-step stand up to float:

3 sets of 6 repetitions per side. Rest as needed between sets

Day 7: Grab yourself to the windmill:

3 sets of 6 repetitions per side. Rest as needed between sets.

WEEK 4:

Combination flows. Take the kettlebell moves you’ve practiced over the past three weeks to the next level with these flows.

Day 1: Swing to Squat:

3 sets of 40 seconds on, 40 off

Day 2: Swing to Squat to Reverse Lunge:

3 sets of 40 seconds on, 40 off

Day 3: Swing to Squat to Reverse Lunge:

3 sets of 40 seconds on, 40 off

Day 4: Grab To The Windmill:

3 sets of 40 seconds on, 40 off per side

Day 5: Grab Windmill:

3 sets of 40 seconds on, 40 off per side

Day 6: Hover over the windmill to double-tap:

3 sets of 40 seconds on, 40 off per side

Day 7: floating windmill for double tapping:

3 sets of 40 seconds on, 40 off per side

WEEK 5:

Challenge flows. In the last two days we will combine several flows from the last few weeks to create full-body flows that challenge muscle building, stamina and coordination.

Day 1: Staggered Stance Swing to Swing to Squat:

3 sets of 30 seconds on, 30 off per side

Day 2: Half-kneeling swing for the Snatch to Hover Windmill Double-Tap:

3 sets of 3 repetitions per side. Rest as needed

This content is created and maintained by a third party and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may find more information on this and similar content at piano.io

source https://livehealthynews.com/30-day-kettlebell-challenge-best-kettlebell-workouts-for-men/

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illyria-and-her-pet · 7 years

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Gymnasts from the same era who don’t try to stop bills that protect gymnasts from sexual abuse and have medals from competitions that weren’t boycotted

youtube

Olga Mostepanova performing one of the best beam routines of all time at the 1984 Alternate Games where she became the only gymnast to ever have a perfect 40 all around competition. At the Alternate Games, she won team, all around, vault, beam, and floor gold. She would have made that other gymnast irrelevant if the boycott didn’t happen. She has 5 world medals (3 gold, 2 silver).

youtube

While most gym fans acknowledge that Mostepanova and the Soviets would have swept the floor with that other gymnast, Hana Ricna gets very little recognition. She came in 2nd to Mostepanova at the 1984 Alternate Games and was the first to do the stalder tkatchev on uneven bars, which is still a very popular skill today. She had one of the most difficult uneven bars sets at the time because she did 3 major releases: her eponymous skill, “the Ricna” (E), the Deltchev (D), and the Comaneci (E). She has 2 world medals (1 silver, 1 bronze).

youtube

Ma Yanhong’s 1984 uneven bars gold is the only title from 1984 that I‘m 100% sure would have still happened even if there was no boycott. My favorite routine from her is that one she did at 1981 Worlds. She did a jump full turn to the low bar mount, clear hip 1/1, hecht 1/2, and her famous F rated dismount. Sadly, she was robbed here and only given a 9.9, so she came in 2nd to Maxi Gnauck who was given a perfect 10 despite having a less difficult routine and a hop on the dismount. She has 3 world medals (1 gold, 2 silver).

youtube

Maxi Gnauck is known for her uneven bar work, but she was also a great all arounder and floor worker. In 1979 and 1980, she was able to do a tucked full in and triple twist on the floor with no springs. At the 1984 Alternate Games, she came third in the all around and won bars and floor. Springs were added to the floor by then and she did the best piked full in and triple twist in that era. She has 9 world medals (5 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze). She also has 4 medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze) from the 1980 Olympics, which were also boycotted, but the countries that boycotted wouldn’t have really made a difference in any of the results in that games except for maybe on uneven bars.

youtube

Natalia Yurchenko’s vault entry is probably the most innovative skill to ever happen in gymnastics. For decades now, almost every top gymnast has done a yurchenko style vault. She won the team and all around gold at the 1983 World Championships, but suffered an injury in vault finals that took her out of the rest of the championships. She came back from the injury to win the team and vault gold, as well as the uneven bars silver at the 1984 Alternate Games. She also made the 1985 Soviet team that won gold at Worlds. Other notable skills she did were her tkatchev + deltchev combination on uneven bars and loso mount and yurchenko loop on beam.

Tumblr only allows you to embed 5 videos, but special shout outs to baby Elena Shushunova who won the all around bronze at the 1984 Alternate Games and then went on to have one of the greatest careers ever in 1985-1988 and Julianne Mcnamara, the American gymnast that actually has a medal from a non boycotted competition with her 1981 uneven bars bronze.

And of course shout out to Ecaterina Szabo who won 4 gold medals and actually beat that other gymnast in the all around final in 1984. Sadly, there was no new life and she fell on uneven bars in the team optionals, so the score carried over and she lost by 0.05. She has 10 world medals (2 gold, 6 silver, 2 bronze).

#olga mostepanova #hana ricna #maxi gnauck #natalia yurchenko #ma yanhong #gymnastics #gymternet

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deepstheeskimo · 4 years

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What’s a ‘gym’?

What a day.

Went back to the gym for the first time since Locky-D and even got a lie in because its not 24 hour any more. Deeps and his bucket full of underlying health conditions seems to have just about navigated the pandemic so far without ending up on a respirator or a hospital floor like those videos from Spain, one of which would have probably been the case due to my shadow of an immune system.

Trying to take on COVID would be its version of when Moe dresses up all smart but ends up marching across the whole stage into the ‘rejects’ section.

Anyway, mask and antibac at the ready I turned up at opening time (to see less people and to ensure at least semi-clean equipment), joining the 15 or so others in the queue. Can only describe it as being like Chinese seaweed - a strange and unexpected success.

Obvious changes have been made but I didn’t foresee the banning of spotting, that, ahem, ‘PTs’ would constantly clean equipment or that there would be ample antibac and disinfectant. Sadly there were security tags attached to these bottles at which I’m going to stoically let out a long slow sigh rather than react to by showing a middle finger to everyone I meet. What kind of horrible little mob of people (no way we deserve the word ‘society’) have we become that this would be necessary? Shame.

The decision to close whole walls of lockers instead of binning off multiple spaced columns of these to provide a social distance also seemed questionable but whatever. I trust the science all right, just got no faith in how its enacted as policy. The way that this most recent lockdown has been handled within hours of Eid al-Adha shows that yet again. Ah shocker, Plato right again and I’ve ended up back discussing how blinkered and unthinking this country has become. Must stop that.

Other news: no bugger else used the showers post-workout but I was more than happy to make the place reek like refresher shower gel. Used one of my microfibre towels for the first time since March and I’m happy to report it seemed to not have put on any lockdown lard. Hope it hasn’t been doing favours for Joe Wicks on the side...

Also saw some of the old characters: lil duracell bunny girl running on the same treadmill as ever, wide eyed guy who always looks like you’ve just caught him up to something he shouldn’t be and of course, the guy that looks like he’s out a video game. This guy is amazing. About 6′3, stupid stacked and more ripped than a yellow pages on an episode of Guinness World Records. Always fully colour coordinated clothing with brilliant skin, amazing trim (shaved apart from the top - dyed blonde), great teeth and covered in tattoos. No wonder he strips to his tiny white Y-fronts in the changing rooms to look at himself in the mirror for a good twenty minutes after each session. He also hairdryers his entire body but never showers. Perhaps taking more performance enhancing drugs than a Soviet deadlifter impacts more than your muscle definition.

I wonder what they and the new guy (I’m calling him ‘very serious fella wearing a shirt that reads KOREA ARMY’) all thought of ‘wheezy kid that only ever wears Adidas’ today as I took on my cable machine? I don’t care really because I loved it. Every second. Such a buzz to be back because as much as I’ve exercised every day, kept up the running and made the best of it, I frankly don’t have a cable machine or a squat rack in this one bedroom flat. My mental health took many an elbow to the temple during the heavier lockdown period and losing the gym hit me. It’s been the way I begin my daily routine every single weekday for about three years*. Who cares about some Citroen Saxo lad’s fortnightly Nando’s in comparison to that?

It’s also meant less ability to release the pent up frustrations of days of Zoom, electronic head-pecking and mindless spreadsheets that are finished off by a nice dose of Krishnan on Da News showing the latest inatalment of What A Selfish, Backward Bunch Of Bucktoothed Yokels We Are.

Argh, ok that’s the third time I’ve discussed it. Enough.

*and I’ve gone for years longer than that too, but I’m not properly counting them because I used to finish those sessions off with a stroll to get a Costa Creamy Cooler or 4 pack of Greggs sausage rolls. Oof.

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bondsmagii · 7 years

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here’s the rest of those questions because I can’t resist a challenge

1: Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora?

I don’t actually use any of them... used to use Spotify until it betrayed me by capping me at 10hrs of music a month. like bitch I listen to 10hrs in a day lmao. at the time I couldn’t even afford the small monthly charge so I stopped using it and now my petty ass won’t give them a penny.

2: is your room messy or clean?

clean but cluttered. there’s nothing gross like trash or used plates, but there’s a lot of random stacks of paper, books, notes, etc. it’s alright at the moment seems there’s been a recent tidy, but usually it’s very cluttered.

3: what color are your eyes?

green! I also have heterochromia, so there’s a thin ring of brown around both irises, and a small slice of brown in one eye.

5: what is your relationship status?

dating @karlacton and have been since 2015!

7: what color hair do you have?

it’s black, which is pretty cool. emo me loved it.

8: what kind of car do you drive? color?

I drive a renault and it’s silver!

9: where do you shop?

like.. for what? groceries? clothes? books? because aside from “tesco” I couldn’t tell you, it’s usually all online. if I’m splashing out on books I’ll go to Waterstone’s.

11: favorite social media account

I hate them all. release me.

12: what size bed do you have?

a queen, I think? or a double? I don’t even know if there’s a difference.

13: any siblings?

one older brother, deceased.

15: favorite snapchat filter?

I don’t have snapchat.

16: favourite makeup brand(s)

I don’t know shit about makeup.

17: how many times a week do you shower?

it sounds bad because it averages out to three or four times a week, but when you remember that my days are frequently 36-48hrs long, it averages out to about every other day.

18: favorite tv show?

I don’t own a TV or keep up with much shows, but I do binge-watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

19: shoe size?

uk size 7.

21: sandals or sneakers?

sneakers. fuck sandals.

22: do you go to the gym?

lmao

23: describe your dream date

good food, scary movies, urbexing, driving around to good music, more good food. an equal balance of opportunity to talk and opportunity to see if the silence is comfortable.

24: how much money do you have in your wallet at the moment?

I don’t carry cash. or a wallet, for that matter.

25: what color socks are you wearing?

black.

27: do you have a job? what do you do?

I do, but I can’t go into specific details. it’s to do with computers and security.

28: how many friends do you have?

I got no fucking clue my dude. depending on the definition of friend, anywhere between 2 to 15 or so.

29: what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?

you’d probably have to ask somebody else if I’m honest, I don’t have a good grasp of what’s actually bad or not lol. there’s stuff I might consider bad for a while, but then I get over it and stop seeing it as such a big deal. there’s some stuff that might count from a legal standpoint, in terms of like I don’t know, how seriously it would be taken, but I’m not sure of the statute of limitations on it so fuck if I’m mentioning it.

32: 3 favorite girl names?

saoirse, vesper, oksana

35: who is your celebrity crush?

bitch colin firth

37: do you read a lot? what’s your favorite book?

I read a hell of a lot, usually between 2-4 books at the same time. as for favourites I have way too many, so if you wan recs keep an eye on my reading list and see what I’m screaming about.

38: money or brains?

brains. if you play your cards right, brains can get money.

39: do you have a nickname? what is it?

people who know me in other places call me Rat, either because I like the animal or because of the hacker from The Core; people who know me from the SCP Foundation call me Konny or Kon, after the character.

41: top 10 favorite songs

right now:

Space Oddity by David Bowie

Never Quite Free by The Mountain Goats

We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel

The Longest Time by Billy Joel

Brothers on a Hotel Bed by Death Cab For Cutie

Blame by Bastille

Tomorrow Will Be Kinder by The Secret Sisters

Nothing to Remember by Neko Case

All Alright by fun.

The Spine Song by Cake Bake Betty

this changes like, daily, by the way.

42: do you take any medications daily?

nope.

43: what is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc)

normal? bit dry in some places at the moment though, but it always is at this time of the year -- the cold air coming down from the mountains will blast freeze anyone’s skin.

44: what is your biggest fear?

the current rise in fascism erupting into another world war or holocaust.

45: how many kids do you want?

ideally I would have wanted two or three, but life circumstances have made it so it’s best I don’t have children, unfortunately.

47: what type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc)

the place in scotland is a three-bedroom flat which is quite large. the place in london is a two-bedroom flat which is slightly smaller but still big for that area of london.

48: who is your role model?

writing-wise, john le carré and stephen king. life-wise, kim philby for the scamming and productivity, and lord byron for the scandal.

49: what was the last compliment you received?

I can’t even remember. probably something to do with my writing, as I’ve been sharing that with some people recently.

51: how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real?

santa is real my good bitch

52: what is your dream car?

literally no idea.

53: opinion on smoking?

I smoke occasionally and don’t care if people choose to or not, however I support the smoking ban in public areas and I will be an asshole and cough loudly if you blow it directly in my face.

54: do you go to college?

graduated.

55: what is your dream job?

anything fast-paced, high-risk, and that requires me to constantly keep learning and improving myself to keep up.

58: do you have freckles?

some in the summer, across my nose and cheeks.

60: how many pictures do you have on your phone?

a couple of hundred.

61: have you ever peed in the woods?

absolutely. it’s a necessity when homeless/on road trips.

62: do you still watch cartoons?

nope.

63: do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds?

never been to Wendy’s so McDonalds by default. love me some McNuggets.

65: what do you wear to bed?

sweatpants, an old t-shirt, and a hoodie. it’s the mountains, I need to wrap up.

66: have you ever won a spelling bee?

nah, we don’t have them here but I did come top of my class during spelling tests all through primary school.

67: what are your hobbies?

reading, writing, photography, urban exploring, paranormal research, soviet history, researching espionage, meteorology, a whole load of things.

70: what was the last concert you saw?

florence and the machine probably.

71: tea or coffee?

both depending on my mood, though I go through stages of drinking one more than the other. right now I drink more coffee than tea.

72: Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts?

never been to Dunkin Donuts, so Starbucks.

73: do you want to get married?

one day, hopefully.

74: what is your crush’s first and last initial?

CF, take a wild guess lmao

75: are you going to change your last name when you get married?

acton and I have discussed if we ever get married, finding a cool name we both like to change our last names to. so maybe.

76: what color looks best on you?

green.

77: do you miss anyone right now?

not really, to be honest. I don’t miss people often. I might have moments of oh, I wish they were still in my life, but it’s never a constant thing, thankfully. it sounds like it would be a drag.

78: do you sleep with your door open or closed?

closed right now, we need all the heat conservation we can get.

79: do you believe in ghosts?

hell yeah I do. had lots of experiences too!

81: last person you called

my boss?

82: favorite ice cream flavor?

mint choc chip.

83: regular oreos or golden oreos?

regular.

84: chocolate or rainbow sprinkles?

both.

86: what is your phone background?

lmao it’s a picture of julian assange because I live to annoy him.

87: are you outgoing or shy?

I’m very outgoing. a lot of people think I’m shy but actually I just go through stages of being really anti-social.

89: do you like your neighbors?

I have no major issues with them but they’re a weird bunch. the downstairs neighbour I’m pretty sure is a ghost, and the neighbours across the way are so strange. they do DIY in the dead of night and several of them just sit in their cars at 3am with the lights on, staring at nothing. odd.

90: do you wash your face? at night? in the morning?

when I shower, or if I have something on it. I don’t have a routine.

91: have you ever been high?

yes.

92: have you ever been drunk?

way too many times.

95: summer or winter?

aesthetically? winter. in terms of not feeling suicidal all the time? summer.

96: day or night?

night. I’m a night hoe.

99: what is your zodiac sign

aquarius, watch out.

100: who was the last person you cried in front of?

no one bitch... I don’t cry

#about me

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samsylviasmoustache · 7 years

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Meet the Wilders

A fic for @asthedarkinvadestheday! Ruth struggles to convince her visiting parents that GLOW is a legitimate gig.

Ruth lands badly, elbow striking the mat hard, the breath knocked from her body. “Oof,” she manages, wincing. She raises a hand. “Give me… a minute.”

“Are you okay?” Carmen asks, worried.

“Just a bad landing.”

“No, I know that. It’s just…” Carmen drops her voice so the others, engaged in their own training around the room, can’t hear. “You can normally do these moves in your sleep. You just seem a little off today.”

Ruth closes her eyes, frustrated. “Yeah, I guess I am a little distracted.” She accepts her friend’s hand, pulling her back onto her feet, and decides to be honest. “My parents are coming to town.”

Carmen grimaces. “They don’t approve of wrestling?”

“No, no.” Ruth considers this. “Well, they don’t really know that’s what I’m doing right now.”

Carmen raises a sceptical eyebrow. “They didn’t watch the pilot?”

“Ah, no.” Ruth swallows. “I didn’t actually… didn’t actually tell them about it.”

“So… you’re ashamed of wrestling?”

“No. No! I love what we do here. Love it.”

“Right. You just don’t want people you care about to know you love it?”

Ruth sighs, and stops digging. “I don’t know. I just, I don’t get the feeling they’re going to exactly be thrilled about all this.” She indicates the bare brick and concrete of their surrounds, the wrestling ring stained with unknowable fluids.

Carmen smiles. Despite herself Ruth finds herself smiling back, the grin infectious. “I guess they might have a point. But look, if my Dad can come around to it, I’m sure they will too.”

Ruth nods, trying to convince herself. “You’re right.” She rubs her elbow, the pain fading to a dull ache. “I’m sure you’re right. You ready to throw me again?”

Carmen’s smile grows even broader. “Machu Picchu is.”

“Then let’s do this.”

Bring-bring. The room ‘phone trills as Ruth is dressing from the shower, hair still wrapped in a towel.

“Hello?”

“You have customer,” says Gregory.

“What?”

“Customer. At ze desk.”

“What?” But Gregory has hung up. She swears softly under her breath, throwing off the towel and slipping on her trainers. She enters the office seconds later at a run. “Gregory, I’ve told you before—"

“Ruth!”

“Darling!”

And there are her parents, visitors from another planet crashing into the world she has built here. Matter out of place, somehow smaller, stranger than she is used to seeing them.

“Mom! Dad!”

She lets them envelope her in a hug. Dad is thinner than she remembers, tan. The bicycle he bought as part of his retirement seems to be agreeing with him. Her mom seems a little more crisp and formal than usual; she’s dressed to impress.

“Oh, honey, you’re too thin,” she says, their standard greeting.

“Nonsense! She looks great. You do sweetheart, really good.”

“You too Dad. Um, shall we go and get some coffee?”

“I figured you’d need some,” smiles her Mom. “Actresses, eh? Late to rise..!”

“Well,” says Ruth, trying to keep herself from sounding accusatory, “you are two hours earlier than I was expecting…”

“Coffee would be great, Ruth,” says Dad, ever the peacemaker.

The local greasy spoon is a short walk away in the morning sun. It’s pleasant, quiet, walking alongside them. “So, what’s the deal with the motel?”

“Well, our director thought it would be good for the team if we lived together, Mom. Kind of like…” She gropes for a comparison that isn’t rehab. “Like Olympic Village.”

“That sounds unusual,” says Dad.

“It is, I guess,” she concedes. “But it’s worked really well—”

“Uh-huh? Is it just you guys in the motel then?”

“Uh, mostly, yes…” She has a feeling she knows where this line of questioning is going to go.

“Only the man on the front desk seemed to think that some of the guests were… you know…” Her mother draws breath, somehow managing to make her whisper even louder than her normal voice. “Prostitutes.”

“Yeah. I know. He’s a little… different. Gregory. We’re not… we’re not doing that, Mom. I swear.”

“Sweetie,” demurs her Mom. “I never for a second thought—”

“No, no, it’s ok,” says Ruth. “You know, it happens sometimes. But I’m not… That’s not something I would ever—”

“Ah-hem,” coughs her Dad, crimson coloured. “Is this the place?”

Never has she been more grateful to see the fizzing neon over the diner door. “This is it,” she says brightly. “Shall we go get that coffee?”

“So,” she says, pushing open the gym door, “this is, uh, this is where we train…”

They step forward into the space that is starting to feel more and more like home. The musty smell of sweat and wood polish; light streaming in through the mullioned windows. Her mother looks doubtful, but Ruth’s heart is light for once.

“Every day?”

“Every day,” she affirms. “Come on over to the ring.”

They do as she asks, hesitant and scuttling; reluctant pilgrims in her cathedral. “Gosh, I thought it would be softer,” says her mother, touching the canvas.

“Yeah, it’s mostly wood and steel,” agrees Ruth.

“And you land on that?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“Wow. Honey, that’s… that’s impressive.”

“And dangerous. Do you get hurt?”

“No, Mom. It’s all… it’s very safe. We’re professionals. I can show you, if you’d like?”

“Don’t you need a partner?”

Ruth merely grins in response.

She jumps into the ring and for a fraction of a second there is a sense of leaving herself behind. Beyond the ropes Ruth is folded away; Zoya unfurls in her place.

“In the ring,” she says, half to herself as much as her parents, “I am noble Soviet Bear.” She strikes her pose. “Zoya, the Destroyer. Scourge of American Barbie girl - Liberty Belle.” She pours as much venom as she can into that name. “I start with the hammer and sickle, like this!” Bang, crash. “Then, I go into hammerlock!” Smack. She scrabbles across the canvas, into the routine now—

“What the fuck?”

Sam’s voice cuts through even her commitment to the bit. She snaps back into her own skin as he emerges from his office. It’s been a rough night by the looks of things; hair standing on end, glasses askew, and a rumpled shirt he’s clearly slept in. “It’s eight in the morning,” he continues, “even for you this is—”

“Sam, these are my parents,” she says as brightly and loudly as she can.

He blinks, taking in the strangers through bleary eyes. “Oh.” There is a moment of silence, the kind where everyone has to adjust their expression. “Hi.”

“Hey, Ruth,” says Debbie carefully, descending from on high. “Sam wants to see you in his office.”

“Okay,” she replies tightly.

Debbie hesitates, watching her former best friend box a punch-bag. She knows, of course, that something is bothering Ruth. Can read it in the pitch of her voice, the stiff line of her shoulders. The world holds its breath, as Debbie does, making her decision…

Debbie swallows the question on the tip of her tongue, are you okay drifting away into the ether. She nods instead, and moves away to finish some blocking with Rhonda. They’re not there yet. Maybe they never will be.

Ruth hits the bag a harder, as if that can fix this whole fucked up situation.

“Are you mad at me?”

She jumps at his voice, finally stops punching. “I didn’t hear you,” she says, surprised to find she is sweating, out of breath with the sustained effort.

“Not surprised,” he says. “Were you imagining that was my face?”

“No.”

“Can I talk to you now?” He says it sarcastically, but she could still take it as a question, flounce away.

She sighs. That’s never going to be who she is. “Sure.” She follows him upstairs, takes a seat on the sofa. “Why were you sleeping here, anyway?”

He fixes her with what he probably thinks is a stern, intimidating look. “I was working late.”

“On what?”

“On this.” He indicates the mess of paper on his desk. On closer inspection, it turns out of be a set design and new storyboards.

“Yeah,” she says, taking in the redesigned ring and rows of folding bench seats, “um, it looks good.” She scratches her wrist distractedly.

“Good?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“What, you actually want criticism now? I thought I was just a benign sounding board?”

He rolls his eyes, making her wait for him to finish fumbling a cigarette from the packet before he answers. “Okay, okay. I get that you’re mad at me. I’m just not sure why.”

She sighs, pressing fingers to her forehead. “I’m not… actually mad at you,” she tries to explain. “I just… I wanted my parents to think that this was, you know. Legitimate.”

He puffs up, entirely predictably. “We’re commissioned for a series. What’s not legitimate about GLOW?”

“I know, I know. But, come on Sam! You weren’t exactly sold on this in the beginning either. And the gym is… kind of nasty. Oh, plus I live in a motel where the owner thinks I’m a prostitute.”

A deep drag of his cigarette, as he considers the problem. “Well, who gives a fuck if they don’t like it? You’re a grown woman. I’m paying you. You don’t have to worry about rent. Screw ‘em.”

“Yeah, I,” is all she manages, frustrated; unable to find the right words.

“What, you don’t want that? You actually want a functional relationship with them? Huh.”

“Yeah, I’m weird for wanting that, right? A functional relationship with anybody.” She worries her thumbnail with her teeth, ignoring the weight of his gaze on her. She hates this way he has, sometimes, of being so emotionally shrewd.

“Alright,” he says slowly, “so let’s work it out.”

“No, no, we don’t need to do this. I will—”

“Clearly we do, if I’m going to get you to be productive again any time soon,” he snaps back. “So, what makes something legitimate? Y’know. In their eyes?”

“I don’t know,” she sighs. “I guess… if it’s art.” She counts the list on her fingers. “If it’s skilled. If there’s longevity to it. If it’s respectable.”

They think about it, the sounds of unarmed combat floating up from the gym below.

“Fuck,” says Sam.

“Oh, this is nice,” says Mom, stopping to address a wrought iron table set. “Good price too.”

“So, this is their sponsor?” Dad checks, subtly trying to move his wife away from the potential patio furniture purchase. Unseen by the Wilder parents, Sam smiles to himself.

“That’s what Ruth said.” Mom is remarkably resistant to Dad’s attempt to move them on. “They run demonstrations in return.”

“Huh.”

Sam lights his cigarette, and the movement causes Wilder Senior to finally look up from her patio table analysis. “Oh, hello,” she says.

“Hi. Sam Sylvia.”

“Yes. I remember.” A tad frosty. “You’re the director, right?”

“That’s me.” He attempts a friendly grin, but something in the slight stiffening of Dad’s posture suggests he has missed the mark.

“Roger Wilder,” says Dad, holding out a hand. Sam’s prepared for a bone-crushing handshake when it comes, and just about manages not to wince. “And this is my wife Gaynor.”

“My pleasure. So, do you come out to LA often?”

“No, no,” confesses Roger. “It’s a long way.”

“And Ruth’s very independent,” adds Gaynor.

“Right.” There’s probably more small talk he should make to fill the gap here, but fundamentally, who gives a fuck? He finishes his cigarette in the awkward silence instead.

Up on stage, Debbie has the microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she says, as Liberty Belle, “may I take this chance to welcome you all here, to the grand opening of Patiotown Sun Valley!”

There is a whoop and a cheer in response to this, he suspects because a beautiful woman in a leotard is saying it. The majority of the crowd are polite but passive. Gaynor’s eyes have drifted back over to the wrought iron table.

“Patiotown has a range of products to suit every pocket,” Liberty Belle continues, “and if you can’t find what you’re looking for, just ask one of the friendly staff—”

“I have question!” calls out Zoya from across the yard. Forty heads turn to look at her in unison.

“Not today, Zoya,” replies Liberty. “These fine people don’t want any trouble.”

“Trouble?” Zoya sneers, walking up to the stage. “They don’t want trouble?” She laughs. “In Soviet Russia, my dear, trouble finds you!” There is a gasp from the crowd, as on these words Ruth leaps onto the stage.

“Oh my goodness!” squeaks Gaynor, as the wrestlers begin their carefully choreographed routine. “I had no idea it was so realistic!”

The crowd ooh and ahh as Ruth and Debbie spar back and forth, locking and flipping. “She’s really good at this, isn’t she?” says Roger, to himself more than anyone else.

“Yeah,” replies Sam, “she really is.”

Roger starts, having clearly forgotten he is there. “We’re desperately proud of her.”

“Yeah. I can see.”

“She works so hard,” adds Gaynor, wincing as Ruth hits the floor. “But it just… it never seems to go anywhere.”

“We only want her to be happy.”

Sam shakes his head. “She’s a perfectionist. Hard to be happy when you’re chasing that,” he offers.

Roger gives him an appraising look. “I get the feeling you’re someone with some experience of that,”

Sam shrugs. “I do okay. She will too.” There is a crashing thump, as Zoya drops Liberty Belle to the canvas with a cry of “vodka for breakfast!” Several people shriek amongst the spectators. “Yeah,” says Sam. “She’s going to be great.”

“Hey,” says Ruth, knock-knocking on the door lintel at the end of training. “Can I come in?”

“Sure Ruth,” he says, shuffling papers on his desk as if they are important documents rather than his own cartoon scribblings. “Are you feeling better today?”

She ignores his sarcastic tone, taking the question as real. “Yeah. Mom and Dad left this morning and… it was good. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Convincing Debbie to do the demo with me. And whatever you said to them at Sun Valley yesterday. They seemed… uh, calmer. About everything.”

“Well, that’s great.”

She sighs, irritated by his irritability. Counter-mad, one could say. “Are you okay? You seem grumpy.”

“You don’t have to fuss over me. I’m fine.”

She puts her head on one side. “I’d believe that better if you hadn’t disappeared on a three-day bender last time you told me you were fine.”

He huffs. “Look, you don’t need to worry about whether your parents think something is legitimate or not, okay? They love you regardless.”

Her feet seem to have suddenly become very interesting, pink rising into her cheeks. She bites her lip before risking eye contact with him again. “I-I know that…” She blinks. “Is that why you’re mad?”

“No,” he lies, pointlessly. He can tell from the softening of her shrewd expression she sees right through him.

She takes a step forward. “You have people that care about you too, Sam.”

“Oh really? Who?”

She swallows. “Well, we-we all do.”

“Uh-huh? You think if I dropped down dead tomorrow and Bash found some other idiot to run this circus anyone would really give a fuck?”

“Yeah,” she says softly.

It’s his turn to break eye contact. “Sorry,” he mumbles. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why—”

“You don’t have to explain,” she says, holding out her hands, placatory. A small smile. “I think… I think I get it.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, smiling back up at her, in spite of himself. Fuck it. “You wanna go get a coffee? Tell me what you really think of the new storyboards?”

“Yeah,” she says. “I’d like that.”

#sam sylvia #ruth wilder #netflix glow #fanfiction #prompt fic

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romeodeltabravo · 5 years

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I really needed to decompress after Stranger Things 3, which really hit the feel buttons hard. Every single cast member has grown so much within their roles, and facing some very 80s threats this time (upping the horror/thriller ante with Soviets and Cronenberg monstrosities, and a bodysnatcher element thrown in) this is the best season to date. The introduction of Maya Hawke as Robin was the best new character drop of all, and I’m not going to spoil things, but Hopper’s heart to heart letter speech really drives home how much David Harbour deserves some awards season love. The soundtrack is brilliant as ever, with both the contemporary tracks and the original score by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein really setting the tone, especially the creepy minimalist synth from the latter pair in the more tense moments. Season 3 available on Netflix now, soundtrack available on iTunes and Spotify. Good arm/back/core work again today, shifted the routine to focus a little more on core and I’m really feeling it now. #gym #health #fitness #fit #beard #ink #tattoos #thursday #armday #backday #coreday #comewithmeifyouwanttolift #irontherapy #soundtrack #strangerthings #dufferbrothers #2019 #strangerthings3 #80s #horror #thriller #conspiracy #kyledixonandmichaelstein #synth #keepthedooropen3inches #davidharbour #mayahawke #outofthecave #itunes #spotify https://www.instagram.com/p/B1K5Cbdgnjq/?igshid=gsyo2g25n5et

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freifraufischer · 9 months

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youtube

Elena Mukhina (URS), BB, 1978 World Championships

#gymnastics #soviet gym best routines #elena mukhina #Youtube

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russianglitter · 7 years

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With all the Russian gym drama lately, I figured Tumblr might be interested in a post about this.

To start, I’ll briefly describe the U.S. system, since I’ll be comparing it to Russia’s a lot.

In the U.S., there are ten “Junior Olympic” levels. Gymnasts can compete whatever level they're capable of, as long as they meet the minimum age requirement and have scored out of the previous level. You can learn more about the levels here and by searching “level __ meet” on youtube. This program ends at level 10; it does not lead to elite.

If a young American gymnast shows elite potential, they’re usually filtered through the TOPS and Hopes programs, get invited to camps, and eventually qualify elite. For example, the current crop of US juniors attended developmental camps at the Ranch starting at about age 10. But even “late bloomers” can qualify elite; they just need to meet the minimum scores for their age group. You can sometimes tell who took the “elite path” (they tend to be more polished), but the US has Olympic champions from both backgrounds.

ANYWAY, enough about ‘Murrica.

Russia's system is much different. While they do have categories (3 junior ones, 3 senior ones, candidate master of sport, and master of sport), they're based more on age than skill level. I’ll do my best to explain them here. Skip ahead to the “what Russia lacks” section if you DGAF.

The categories are a remnant of the USSR sports classification system, and are used for most Russian sports.

Though I believe rhythmic and figure skating have a separate “elite” category/qualification score? FS also lets older kids compete in lower levels, which gets more kids involved, which helps popularize the sport, which increases the talent pool and is part of why Russian figure skating is so dominant GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER WAG

If you’re wondering why the levels aren’t just 6-5-4-3-2-1, it’s because they started out with 3-2-1-CMS-MS, then realized it was important to have lower levels as well. Actually idk why they didn’t just add 6-5-4... blame the Soviets. MOVING ON.

Each region decides what skills to include in the junior categories, so they vary a lot. In general, though, I'd describe them as follows:

Level 3 (tiny kids, like 5 year olds) - very basic; forward rolls and cartwheels, pullover on bars, walking across the beam

Level 2 - back walkovers, split jumps, forward rolls on beam, back hip circles

Level 1 - ro+bhs or just a roundoff, fwo+carthweel+bwo, sometimes kips and beam cartwheels

Additionally, most of the top schools require their gymnasts to be proficient at a set of physical abilities (similar to TOPS skills) before they can advance. The requirements are not strict, but it definitely makes a difference.

I have no issues with this system. I think it’s great for kids to focus on the basics, gain strength, develop each event at their own pace, etc. It’s all well and good until they start using the FIG code.

The senior levels have both compulsory and optional routines.

Level 3 (8/9 years) - Not every region has compulsories for this level, but for those that do, they’re basically the same as the girls’ optional routines. You mostly see US level 5-6 skills here. [example]

Levels 2 & 1 compete in national meets, so the compulsory routines are standard across the country

Level 2 (9/10 years) - Compulsories are about US level 7 difficulty; optionals range from US level 5 to US junior elite. They start using a modified FIG code, so skill chucking becomes rampant. [videos: compulsories / optionals 1 / optionals 2]

Level 1 (11/12 years) - These compulsories are more complex than they are difficult, if that makes sense? The skills/combos are about US level 8 (except bars), but the routines are really hard. Optionals, again, vary a lot. Most of the girls making national finals will have level 10 skills, minimum. 11-12 is usually when the young phenoms are added to the national team, so that group tends to break away as they benefit from camps at Round Lake. [videos: compulsories, vault is just a handspring / optionals]

Candidate Master of Sport / Master of Sport

no compulsories, just regular FIG code

CMS is 13/14 year olds, similar to “espoir” in other countries

MS is 14/15 for juniors, and then 16+ is obviously senior

There is a qualification score, but I’m not sure what it is in the current code. Girls can compete in the categories without getting the title though.

Regarding the titles, if I remember correctly...

Being awarded Master of Sport is a huge achievement; it can get gymnasts admitted to good universities and makes them desirable coaches

“MS, international class” = medaled at Euros or Worlds

Honored Master of Sport” = World/European champion or Olympian

Those two titles^^ don’t affect the category they compete in, it’s just a nice accomplishment.

Important note: As you’ve probably guessed by now, Russia has no separate elite stream or division. So in the “senior” categories, there is a wide range of ability. Gymnasts who cannot safely do the compulsory skills are competing against gymnasts with elite skills. The regional meet scores can be really depressing... You’ll have a few nationals-bound girls scoring 50+ AA, but many can’t put up a single score in the double digits. (here’s a recent example... check out those bars scores! 0.3!)

[rant incoming]

I imagine this is pretty demoralizing, and results in many girls quitting the sport altogether, particularly once they reach the CMS and MS categories. They’re older, gymnastics is harder and more painful, and they’re in over their heads with the FIG code. There’s no Level 9 Easterns, JO Nationals, or NCAA scholarship to dream of, so why endure all that? Especially when you’ll never meet the strict requirements to become a Master of Sport & enjoy the benefits that come with that.

These girls have no shot at making their region’s team for nationals (usually 6 people), and even if they could - they’re essentially JO gymnasts, and would be competing against European, World, and Olympic champions (Aliya I miss you please come back) - it would be like pitting this random girl from Michigan’s state meet against Ragan Smith. And that girl from Michigan isn’t a bad gymnast! She’s certainly better than I could ever be, and I’m glad she’s able to compete what she’s capable of and be successful. IMO, Russian gymnasts of her ability should have similar opportunities. Leave the sport having had a positive experience, and pass it onto the next generation. Instead, they either quit or attempt too-hard routines that make me cringe. Alexander Alexandrov actually discussed this topic in his Rewriting Russian Gymnastics interview. I definitely recommend reading that interview in its entirety if you haven’t yet.

[/rant]

What Russia Lacks

An organized way to develop elite athletes

Some regions do hold camps, well-known Olympians travel around teaching “master classes,” and the top kids from Russian Hopes get invited to Round Lake each year. I’ll give them that.

But there’s no developmental camp system, like in the US or GB. Russian WAG is lacking numbers at the lower levels compared to other countries. They need to ID talent early on and nurture it, not occasionally send scouts to meets and hope for the best.

An example: Lilia Akhaimova trained in Vladivostok for her entire junior career. That girl has SO MUCH natural talent, and I’m glad her coaches in St. Petersburg have brought it out. But can you imagine how amazing she could have been with better coaching? Surely she would have been noticed in a TOPS-like program. How many Akhaimovas are out there?

I think a dedicated “elite stream,” starting at age 10 or so, could really benefit them, at least temporarily. Just take the kids who show decent strength and have level 7/8 skills and let them compete against each other. Hold regional camps to develop their technique and teach code-appropriate skills. IMO it would benefit both “elite” and “regular” gymnasts. But whatever, I’m not RGF.

The facilities to train high-level gymnastics

Russian gyms are TINY, and many of them are in horrible condition, with ancient apparatus and those Soviet-era mats that resemble floral couch cushions.

There are girls on the national team whose home gyms do not even have a spring floor.

“Why are the gymnasts are Round Lake so much?! They should train at home more.” ^ That’s why.

(Of course they travel to train at the next best gym, but... a gym without a spring floor.)

That’s not to say it’s all bad. The big three gyms in Moscow (CSKA, Dinamo, Sambo 70) are very nice, as are the facilities in St. Petersburg

The Voronezh gym that produced Komova and Melnikova is also looking good, but that’s only because Komova won some shit and got them funding. When she was growing up, the gym had little heating and they had to train in winter clothes. I just wish Youth Olympic titles weren’t required to earn a decent training space.

I guess this is a typical Russian gym. Tiny and with old/limited equipment, but no real safety concerns. Junior national champion Ksenia Klimenko is from here.

I realize that run-down buildings are common in Russia, but I think it’s important to show the gyms these girls train in. When you realize Russia’s gymnasts aren’t being developed in state-of-the-art gyms, like in the US, their ingrained form and technique issues become more understandable. Not excusable, but understandable.

The ability to keep girls at a high level

So many Russian gymnasts just... disappear.

I get that elite isn’t for everyone. Injuries happen, shoddy technique doesn’t carry through growth spurts, bone diseases or the plague will get you, and so on.

Anyway, bottom line, something is wrong with the system and I can’t pinpoint what it is. This has always been an issue, even before the Rods decided conditioning was of the devil. IDK.

Encouraging 9-year-olds to compete double backs and such prob has something to do with it though.

Last-minute edit!! Keeping girls at a high level is not worth them getting hip replacements at 16!! Just let them go!! Y’all fucked up big time.

General info/stuff people frequently ask about

Most NT gymnasts train at Round Lake for three weeks, then go home for one week. Juniors are there a little less often. Obviously, this schedule is adjusted for competitions.

Their personal coaches travel with them.

It’s encouraged for gymnasts to stick with the same coach their whole career, which I think is an issue. Voronezh has many gymnasts who could be great under Komova’s coach, but are just “meh” with their childhood coaches.

I think this is better than handing them over to the national staff, though, like you see in Romania and China. I’m glad the Russian gymnasts have a lifelong, trusted adult looking out for them.

The NT gymnasts get a monthly stipend. According to Grishina, she earned 100,000 rubles (about 1700 USD) per month, but her coaches claim it wasn’t that much. Regardless, they are getting paid.

Moscow is still the dominant WAG city, having placed Mustafina, Paseka, Sosnitskaya, Spiridonova, and Tutkhalyan on major teams last quad.

There really is no close second... Melka is from Voronezh, Eremina from St. Petersburg, Kapitonova from Penza, Ilyankova from Leninsk-Kuznetsky. It’s nice to see some variety.

What else.

Let’s talk about the vault issue!

Russian juniors start yurchenkos late

They rarely compete yurchenko tucks/pikes/layouts, preferring to just start with the full.

This is likely due to the open ended code being used for 10-year-olds. Tsukaharas and front handsprings are faster to learn than yurchenkos, so they do them for the D score.

(Yurchenkos are harder initially, but once a gymnast has sound technique, she can usually generate more power than with a tsuk/FHS.)

This results in shitty yurchenko fulls, tsuk layouts, and handspring pikes that will never be upgraded. :)

I guess that’s it. If you have any questions/comments/concerns, feel free to inbox me! I’ll do my best to answer or direct you to someone who can.

#gymternet #russian gymnastics #only 2.5 weeks later than promised!!

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charles195 · 7 years

Text

This Body Is Yours Ch. 2

Fandom: Yuuri!!! On Ice

Summary: Destiny? Fate? Soulmates? Reincarnation Without the Death? Otabek mostly thought it was troublesome. They were individuals that had their own aspirations and goals to achieve, and having their souls intertwined by some unexplored metaphysical bond was taking a toll on the both of them.

Pairing: Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky

Characters: Otabek Altin, Mila Babichieva, Yakov Feltsman, Victor Nikiforov, Yuri Plisetsky, Georgi Popovich, (Later) Unimportant OCs

Warnings: Body-swap, Body Insecurities

Words: 7k+

Chapter 1

Yuri was having that wonderful dream, again. It was the one where his windows had curtains instead of noisy blinds that clattered at the slightest breeze and he woke up when the sun wasn’t dawdling in the horizon instead of when his phone alarm shattered his fantasies. He stayed in bed for much longer than the ten blissful minutes that came before his next alarm told him to get ready for the day. Naturally being tugged out of sleep by the gentle rays of light was calming. It would waste what little time he had with this dream if he stayed in bed forever, though, so he got out of bed.

He felt heavy. His perspective, too, was a lot higher than it usually was. The room, too, was clean like it was when he last woke up. He curiously checked the dressers and they were organized in the same fashion, but with different clothes. He figured that he might as well set things to its natural order since it was his dream, so he flung the clothes in the general direction of where he remembered they last were. Once the drawers were empty, he searched for his practice outfit.

He kicked a pair of boxers. Everything was the wrong size. Or perhaps it wasn’t. Once, when he and Victor went shopping together, he was frustrated about the men’s sizes being too big for him. Victor said that in Soviet Russia, the sizes weren’t wrong. Rather, the body was wrong for not fitting into the sizes. He wasn’t joking. Their discussion at the time was about the media’s different manifestations of discrimination. It was intellectually stimulating, actually.

“Maybe I’m self-aware enough to lucid dream?” Yuri wondered aloud. He cleared his throat. His voice was never that deep. “Would I be able to--wait, if this is my voice and these are my clothes…” He scanned the room for his cellphone, because if this was his dream then he had to have his phone somewhere in his immediate vicinity, which was on the nightstand. Thank goodness it was still an iPhone. He opened up the camera and flipped the view so he could see himself.

Yuri wasn’t too surprised that he was in the body of a tall, masculine guy with an undercut. It seemed ideal enough for a utopian concoction in his own dream subconscious. It was just so detailed. He could even feel the bulges of muscle when he flexed his arms. Maybe he was suppressing his issues about his real body too much. All he wanted was for this fantasy to not distort into something that resembled a Charles Dickens-Ray Bradbury-Stephen King-Rod Serling nightmare.

He went into what he assumed was his bathroom--nope, that’s a closet. A tiny one, at that. He went into the actual bathroom to study his face in the mirror more closely. He mentally patted his brain on its metaphorical back for the undercut. It was a nice touch. The sharp jawline, too, was incredibly handsome. “I had this dream last time, too, didn’t I?”

His next actions were obvious. He left to practice at the ice rink as soon as he was ready.

He expected St. Petersburg when he stepped out of the apartment, or at least some part of Russia he was already familiar with. He honestly had no idea where he was, anymore, or what any of the signs around him said. Unfortunately, it seemed that his lucid dreaming skills weren’t strong enough to magically skip to the part where he was at the ice rink. “What the hell is this bullshit?”

According to Google Maps, he was in… a place that used some Turkic language because he couldn’t read shit. He changed the language settings. Much better. According to Google Maps, he was in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The surrounding mountains were nice and all, but Yuri didn’t sign up to be a different country along with his different body and life. Russia was already so big; it really wasn’t necessary to live in Kazakhstan in this very inconvenient dream. At least the ice rink was close.

Yuri had no idea what the friendly old man was saying to him, but apparently he was supposed to go by Otabek. Silently nodding was enough to get that man (his coach?) off his back. He had no idea where the dance studios were, if there were any at all at this particular ice rink, so he just stretched in the locker room.

He nearly pulled a muscle just from attempting to get into his usual position for the butterfly stretch. His thighs hurt like he had never stretched them at all, before. He was usually able to lay forward on his chest during the butterfly stretch, but now he couldn’t even bring his feet in any less than six inches without cursing. He was smart enough to take the stretch slowly after the initial shock, hoping that it would get a lot more easier as he warmed up, but it was hopeless. All of the years of stretching he worked on in his original body was useless here. (But in the first place, he shouldn’t have been able to feel such searing pain without waking up.)

He grunted stubbornly as he tried to push his knees down. “This body is terrible!” Lesson learned: Yuri can’t be a handsome, masculine skater that is also flexible and graceful like a ballerina. This was the part where he woke up, called Victor at 3 a.m., and suffered the I told you so lecture from the senior skater. Yes, he should cherish what he had instead of focusing on his insecurities. If he ever found a genie lamp, he would definitely not wish that he complied with gender roles or submitted to toxic masculinity. He’d buy a pink tutu as soon as he woke up to emphasize just how learned this valuable lesson was.

But just like real life, there was no waking up. He pinched himself and bit his tongue, yet he was still stuck. “I’m a really deep sleeper, aren’t I? Well, if this really is the ‘reality’ of my desires, then I’ll just make myself flexible again. It’s not like that was never an option.”

It was frustrating to have his muscles scream at the simplest positions, like touching his toes, but it wasn’t that bad. It only made sense that a body with longer limbs and fuller muscles was severely less flexible than his original body, especially given that “Otabek” didn’t seem to do ballet for off-ice training. Rather, starting all over again from the beginning was refreshing. He was on a new adventure to regain everything he lost, but with a new background and new environment. His old restrictions were gone, replaced by new obstacles that he knew exactly how to overcome.

Yuri’s body may change, but his mindset won’t.

Yuri checked his (Otabek’s) phone while he straightened his back in the straddle stretch. Truly, the best way to get to know someone was to look at their browsing history. There were a lot of videos of his past performances there, as in, Yuri Plisetsky’s previous programs, all from various years and competitions. That didn’t help answer the question of who Otabek Altin was, except maybe that he happened to be one of Yuri’s Angels.

He wasn’t sure what to make of that, so he kept scrolling down: motorcycle chain lube reviews, weather in Almaty, Beethoven Violin Concerto, damdy-nan recipe, define insanity, out of body experience, Freaky Friday, how to start a fire with water… He felt like he knew Otabek a little better, but it wasn’t enough. He kept digging through the apps (no games, no social media, three graphing calculators?) until he found a diary. He thanked Apple for automatically translating all the entries to Russian.

He leaned over to his left leg and reached for his foot with one hand. He hated how far it was. Once he managed to hold onto his foot, he kept breathing deeply and focused on the diary to distract himself from how much he wanted to stop. The stretch one avoided the most was the one that one needed the most. Otabek was avoiding all the stretches and that was a crime Yuri had to atone for if he was going to occupy Otabek’s body in his dreams.

Tuesday’s entry was boring. “3 mile run. 100 jumping jacks. 50 pushups. 50 sit-ups. 75 crunches. 1 minute plank. Two hours at gym. Triple axel is cleaner, so is quadruple toe loop, but quadruple Salchow is still a struggle,” he read aloud. Yuri rolled his eyes. He thought diaries were supposed to be more scandalous than recording a workout routine. He scanned through the rest of that day’s entry because he understood already, Otabek works out and stunning bodies don’t bloom overnight. The very bottom caught his eye. “Even though I kept myself busy all day, the uneasiness from yesterday will not subside. I can only hope that such a phenomenon is not recurring.”

He swung over to his right leg, passing through the middle, and rested his cheek on his right knee despite how much his legs protested. It was something he did out of habit and it would pay off later as long as Yuri didn’t pull anything.

There was no entry for Monday. How conveniently vague. Yuri supposed Otabek was smart to write in such a manner, in case someone (Yuri) happened to read the diary. If he cared so much about privacy, he should’ve had a password on his phone.

At least they both agreed that something strange happened on Monday that neither of them could describe.

Yuri still had no clue what Otabek’s coach was saying and judging from the coach’s tone and body language, a simple nod wasn’t going to cut it forever. He had just finished stretching and the coach started saying words to him. There were so many words. “Can you speak Russian?” he finally asked. Yuri had a plan, kind of. He knew that Russian was a co-official language in Kazakhstan and he was just going to wing it from there.

“Of course, why?”

The clouds opened up and a choir of angels sang a heavenly chord.

“Speak only Russian to me, from now on. I want to practice that language.”

The coach was impressed by that. “Of course. As I was saying, your jumps are strong, but you still lack the proper grace to make your choreography flow well…”

Yuri was also impressed by himself. He couldn’t believe he managed to pull that off. “I will be more graceful, from now on.”

“That will be the focus of today’s session. I understand that you’re not a typical figure skater. You started late, you lack the ballet fundamentals that every skater practices every day, and you struggle every day… Otabek, you are severely disadvantaged, but I ask you, what is a hero without weakness?”

Yuri withheld a smirk. The thought of him, an addict of winning, being disadvantaged in the skating world was too laughable. He wanted to look around and ask who the hell was being described because Yuri Plisetsky did not struggle, had no disadvantages, and wasn’t in the mood for lame rhetorical questions. “A hero without weakness? That’s the goal.” He walked away and glided onto the ice.

The coach watched from the side. “Show me the most natural skating you know, and we’ll go from there.”

Yuri stared at the coach blankly. They were speaking the same language now, but he still couldn’t understand what the hell the coach meant by his “most natural” skating. Maybe everyone was vague in Kazakh. No wonder Otabek struggled so much. He turned to face the coach with his hands on his hips, skating backwards. “Is my current skating unnatural?”

“When you perform, you have less than ten minutes to leave an impression on the judges. They’re eager to see you. Your natural skating is more than what your choreography wants you to do. It is the movements you resort to when you need something expressed.”

Very profound. Also, very extraneous. Even the melodramatic Victor could have said the same thing without the speech. Skate for me, Victor would have pleaded as he trailed his feather-light fingers along Yuri’s jaw before tilting his chin up so he could see the same three words reflected in those eyes of Victor, which were as clear of a blue as the swatches of sky that peeked behind the cloudy skies of St. Petersburg in winter and gazed down at him like--

Yuri chose to skate Georgi’s 2015 short program as an inside joke. Georgi’s theme that year was “Said, But Not Spoken.” His inner monologue while he skated that program was probably about not being able to express his love for his girlfriend Anya properly, or something equally repulsive. In Yuri’s case, he would be thinking about how little sense there was in the new world he woke up in.

He forgot the song Georgi skated to. Yuri only paid attention to the story Georgi unfolded when he practiced his program. Georgi had a way of skating his love for Anya so blatantly that it made him uncomfortable. There was no other interpretation to read other than the one Georgi performed for the audience. Yuri could hear the exact thoughts running through his rinkmate’s mind with every sharp movement and intense facial expression. He felt like he was at a theater whenever Georgi skated. He always told Georgi that it wasn’t a good idea to base his themes around his girlfriend or he might retire when they broke up because his muse would be gone. Unfortunately, Georgi was a fool that believed in Happily Forever After.

Triple axel. Yuri was surprised he was able to nail the landing in an unfamiliar body. The body must know how to perform triple axels, too.

The coach clapped furiously. Yuri stopped skating. In less than two minutes, Yuri’s grace was proven. He was hoping that their session was done now so he could see test what good Otabek’s muscles really were on the ice.

“I am impressed…”

That was a relief. Yuri didn’t want to explain that he only knew the chunks of the program that he liked the most and wouldn’t have been able to skate an entire cohesive performance. Yakov wouldn’t have even let him past the entrance into the opening pose. Georgi would have tackled him and stolen the show to show Yuri how it was “really” done.

“Now, show me your most natural skating, and we’ll go from there, Otabek.” There was a slight emphasis in the name that hinted, perhaps, this wasn’t a silly dream about a silly life. “That kind of grace does not belong to you. It’s what may seep into your bones after years of experience and sustains the image I saw like lifeblood. You may be afflicted with it right now, like a curse, but it is not yours.”

Yuri tried to tuck hair behind his ear that wasn’t there. He didn’t like this coach at all. Good was good, no matter who skated it or how, and there was no way his gracefulness could have been logically misinterpreted as a mere fluke. If that was the way this coach wanted to play, then so be it. “What is my natural skating? I have forgotten it to pursue grace.”

The coach’s expression did not betray disappointment. Yuri had no reason to feel a pang in his heart for asking. He didn’t care about sticking to a certain style like it was set in stone. Versatility was essential in the skating world. Identity was just a name and a reputation.

“It is valiance when you’re the only one fighting.”

Yuri wondered how close he could get to imitating that on the ice; he wasn’t sure what a hero without weaknesses was supposed to be, anymore.

Otabek had no idea how he was supposed to get anything done with so little time, but he wasn’t really Otabek anymore because he was in Yuri’s body trying to follow Yuri’s schedules and trying so hard to live up to Yuri’s expectations. He was familiar with the old adage about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. It was why he looked at whoever addressed him in the eyes and politely responded back. Life was hard. The whips and scorns of time turned a blind eye to no one. The only new thing he was learning was that Yuri Plisetsky’s life was especially hard.

Cleaning Yuri’s room helped a lot, even if it was a little bit messier than when he left it. Being able to see with both eyes was also a great advantage. Yuri’s hair (Otabek’s, for now) was up in a tiny ponytail while he, Otabek in Yuri’s body trying to do things the way Yuri would have done them, rushed out of the house.

He bumped into four-time gold medalist of the World Championships and Grand Prix Finals Victor Nikiforov on his front step. Otabek was in a dream, he swore, but the arms squeezing his tiny body were too real to deny. They (Yuri and Victor, certainly not Otabek and Victor) followed each other on every social media they had, had nicknames for each other, and were even on a regular hugging basis. He awkwardly let himself be squeezed by the man he envied deeply.

“Dobroye utro, kotyonok!” Victor greeted.

That meant “Good morning, kitten” in Russian. Otabek felt accomplished for knowing that much. His Russian was rusty. “Dobroye utro, Vict--Vitya.” He buried his blush in Victor’s chest. He wasn’t used to being called a kitten and definitely not used to addressing the older man in such a cutesy manner.

Victor actually squealed. “Toooo cute!” He released Otabek from the hug and pinched Yuri’s cheeks.

Otabek agreed. Yuri is absolutely adorable. He tried hard not to imagine what Yuri’s voice would sound like if he said “Qayırlı tañ, Beka” like his little sister did. He didn’t even have to, since he could easily say it to himself when he was alone, but he was a good person that didn’t take advantage of other people’s bodies for self-indulgent purposes. Walking a mile in someone else’s shoes didn’t entail kissing the heels and wishing to be stepped on with those shoes.

“Hey, why don’t I teach you how to drive?”

Otabek blinked. He really did not want to squeeze that into Yuri’s schedule. “When?”

“No better time than the present!”

Otabek had no clue how in the world Yuri handled Victor. “You mean, right now? We have to go to the ice rink right now, don’t we?”

“Yeah! You can drive! It’ll kill two stones with one bird.”

“Wait a second, isn’t it…” That imagery was horrifying. He was glad he already knew how to drive because Victor was the last person that should be teaching it. Victor would have been killing two skaters with one bad lesson.

Getting into Victor’s car was a mistake. Otabek only realized that as soon as it was too late to get out; he needed to start the car as soon as possible or they would be late to practice. Victor wasted too much time insisting that it was only logical that the phrase was killing two stones with one bird because killing birds was bad and difficult to do with one stone. Otabek didn’t know why he bothered arguing that animal abuse was the theme either way and that stones were impossible to kill because they weren’t sentient in the first place. The clock was ticking.

Otabek had to scoot the seat very far forward for comfort and bring the rearview mirror way farther down than it was originally. He buckled in his seatbelt. Victor’s phone camera was audibly snapping pictures of him as he adjusted the side mirrors.

“So, you start the car by pushing the key in and turning it--”

Clockwise, yeah. Otabek would have put more effort in his act of a naive teenager that knew squat about cars, but they had twenty minutes, the ice rink was fifteen minutes away if there was no traffic, and he was going to pretend that Yuri’s prodigal skills also extended to driving. “Seatbelt, Vitya.” He was starting to miss his motorcycle, which never had annoyingly clingy passengers.

Victor laughed. “No, I trust you, Yura! I’ll just give directions.”

Otabek was going to beg Yuri’s grandfather to give Yuri driving lessons instead of Victor. There was no way Yuri was going to be taught how to drive by such an irresponsible man.

“The speed limit is just a suggestion, by the way. Speed up 25 more kilometers per hour.”

“Vitya…” He chose his words carefully. “I’m too scared to go 100 kilometers per hour in a residential area.”

“I suppose I drove at the same speed as you when I first got behind the wheel, too…”

Dear God.

Otabek was barely on time. He had three minutes to get to the ballet class. His parking was crooked, but that was a detail that wouldn’t matter tomorrow, so he didn’t care enough to fix--okay, fine, he did care enough to fix it. It was counterproductive to not sympathize with the poor person that had to park next to him while was busy pitying Yuri and his exhausting life. He had two minutes to get to the ballet class. He could make it.

It was instinct to hold open the door for Victor, even if that meant shaving off more valuable seconds. Victor must have seen him shiver at the initial gust of air from inside the rink because he put his arm around his shoulder. Being so openly affectionate with a living legend was easily the most surreal part of the experience. He kept his eyes down and tried to casually walk past Yuri’s coach, Yakov. Even though it has been five years since he attended Yakov’s ballet camp, he was still intimidated by the coach.

Victor’s hand drifted down to his lower back. “Yuri.”

Otabek had no idea what that tone meant or what he was doing wrong. Maybe Victor just liked saying Yuri’s name. “Um…”

Yakov was more direct. “Yuri! Why is your posture so terrible today?”

Oh. That’s what Victor meant. “Sorry…” He squared his shoulders and straightened his back. Victor assisted by tilting his chin up so that he was no longer staring at the ground.

Yakov gave a stern nod of approval. He wasn’t quite impressed, but Otabek had passed for now. Otabek forgot how strictly disciplined Russian figure skaters were. He never thought about posture too much until his coach pointed it out. It added to the air of a person. Posture correction in itself was intimidating enough. A straight back could easily set you apart from the others. Yet, Otabek also had to wonder why Victor hadn’t gotten called out for his posture. The older skater was casually slouching all of his weight onto Yuri’s small body, which subtly pushed Otabek away from the dance studios and towards the ominously dark staircase.

Victor waved happily at Yakov and Mila. “Dobroye utro, Yakov. I’m going to work with Yuri for off-ice training again.”

Again? Otabek didn’t realize there was variation in Yuri’s schedule that contradicted the exact words Yuri inputted into his phone. 6 A.M. to 7 A.M. was supposed to be off-ice training at Yakov’s ice rink with the female junior skaters’ ballet class in Dance Studio A. All of the events in Yuri’s schedule had precise wording like that, which Otabek assumed was set in stone. It made Otabek’s life in Yuri’s body a lot more convenient. Yuri’s phone was his map and compass. Really, it was only Victor that steered Otabek off-course.

Yakov didn’t let Victor’s casual greeting slip by. “Oy, who’s the coach here? You should be asking for permission, not informing me like you already have it.”

Victor laughed nervously. He was caught. “May I?”

Yakov gave Victor the evil eye.

Now that Otabek thought about it, just because Victor liked being affectionate with Yuri didn’t mean that was a normal occurrence. Victor did as he pleased. Then, that meant Otabek had been relinquishing control to Victor that he normally didn’t have this entire time… “Shouldn’t you be asking my permission?”

Yakov nodded.

Now that was a dream-wakening lesson. Too bad Otabek was just living in a very strange reality, where profound moments were like standalone stories that contributed to no bigger series. This was another isolated event that didn’t have to matter. Otabek wanted it to matter, though.

Victor rephrased himself. “Yuri, I’m going to--”

Yakov shook his head.

“We’re going to--”

Yakov cleared his throat.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” Victor swore. “Nobody can control Yuri’s body except for Yuri, of course!”

Victor could have stabbed Otabek in the chest with a skating blade and it would’ve hurt less than that seemingly obvious statement. This body wasn’t Otabek’s.

“So, Yuri, do you want to train with me this morning?”

Otabek sunk into himself. This entire conversation was pointless because he actually did want to learn from Victor Nikiforov himself and the real Yuri had no say in this. Otabek had to resort to consequentialism for this moral fork in the road since Yuri wasn’t the one who had to experience this and it wouldn’t hurt Yuri either way. “... Yes.”

Victor laughed. “You were supposed to say no.”

Yakov looked ready to explode. “Stop deciding these things, Vitya! Dah isn’t dah without a dah!”

Otabek found the lightswitch at the bottom of the staircase leading up to the second floor of the rink. Before he could even get to the first step, Victor raced to the top and turned off the lights with the switch on top. Otabek tried turning them on again, only for Victor to submerge them in darkness again. He had a feeling this was some kind of riddle, so he switched the lights on, then off again quickly, expecting Victor to instinctively follow by flicking his switch, which would end up turning the lights back on. Victor didn’t. After Otabek accepted defeat and just relied on the railings to get up the stairs safely, the lights were back on.

“Why is it that I was able to anticipate every move you made, yet I’m still surprised?” Victor asked.

Otabek wanted to ask why Victor had to make everything so difficult. He didn’t. He just walked up the stairs like a normal person who wanted to transition between floors in peace.

Georgi looked him up and down. “Yuri, your posture looks terrible.”

Otabek didn’t get it. His back was straight, his shoulders were squared, his chin was parallel to the ground, and yet he was subjected to criticism as soon as he entered the dance studio.

He had met Georgi before… kind of. This was his first year being in the same division, since he had barely gotten out of the junior division, but he saw Georgi at some banquets he was forced to attend. He watched Georgi’s free skate for a couple of minutes at the previous Grand Prix Finals. They were probably in the same hotel at least--well, the point is that Otabek was surprised that Georgi thought his best posture was wretched. Every time they secretly acknowledged each other’s passing presence, Georgi was thinking that his posture was terrible. That is, if Otabek even stood out from the background enough to be noticed.

Russians are relentless.

“He doesn’t mean that,” the redhead female skater assured. “It’s just that the posture looks terrible on you.”

Shoot… What’s her name? Being the antisocial hermit Otabek was, he didn’t bother to learn the names of anyone that he wasn’t going to perform immediately after. Yakov’s coaching at the summer ballet camp he attended years ago was scary enough to leave its own imprint. Victor Nikiforov was, well, the Victor Nikiforov. So, he didn’t know the redhead’s name, but Yuri’s contact name for her on his phone was “Old Hag”, so sarcasm should be the appropriate response.

“Of course,” Otabek said. He mentally kicked himself. His response came out more like he had low standards for himself, not in the dry yet teasing manner that he was hoping for. It was hard to be rude on purpose to an older female skater. Respect for women was basically embedded into his DNA.

Georgi frowned. “Don’t take it so harshly,” he said apologetically.

Don’t say it so harshly, then.

“I’m just used to you being more…” Georgi trailed off. The word was on the tip of his tongue, but on the bottom of his mind.

“Pretty?” Victor provided.

“Feisty!” Mila suggested, with an added hiss and claw-swiping gesture for effect.

“No, no--rude, maybe?” Georgi guessed.

Victor clapped his hands together. “Oh, yes! Like a total bitch!”

Otabek’s face fell. He knew why he was standing out so much despite trying his best to hide, now. He was trying to survive when Yuri always wanted to thrive. It was so obvious that Yuri’s friends could see the difference at a glance. He clenched his fists, then put a hand on his hip and leaned his weight to one side. Throw yourself away, Otabek. You’re Yuri Plisetsky right now. “W… What the hell does that mean?” He glared up at Victor and bared his teeth a little. I’m sorry, Vitya, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…

Victor was happy to be spoken at so crudely. Otabek wondered if this was what it was like to have friends.

“You’re certainly not this stupid on a daily basis to not know what a ‘total bitch’ entails,” Victor snapped back with a calm smile. “I’ll volunteer to be your tutor in Russian, too, if that means I can help you understand exactly how much of a bitch you are.”

At this point, Otabek would have usually put on a cool mask and walked out without any further conflict. He imagined that Yuri would’ve said something like… “You don’t have to be superfluous just because I know exactly who’s below me.”

Georgi snapped his fingers. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice!”

A bead of sweat rolled down Yuri’s neck.

“Your hair is tied back! It looks nice.”

Otabek let out the breath he was holding.

Victor nodded in agreement. “Right? I like it better when I can see Yuri’s face.”

“Whatever,” Otabek spat out. “Just let me stretch in peace.”

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m really really sorry!

Otabek would stretch for hours every day if he had Yuri’s body. (He does, actually, but that’s not the point.) Victor was watching him do a handstand while he slowly widened his legs into a left splits. Ironically, Otabek would have to stretch for hours every day if he wanted to be as flexible as Yuri. Perhaps he could pencil that into his schedule. If Yuri could when he barely had time to eat a full meal, then it would be a breeze for Otabek.

Yuri must be enjoying Otabek’s schedule. Otabek was glad that he didn’t have as many obligations as Yuri. No ballet classes, bi-weekly private lessons instead of every day, no piano lessons, no intensive homeschooling sessions, no Victor Nikiforov bothering him every second of the day, no rinkmates to criticize his every movement… Why, the only thing that could possibly give Yuri any trouble was the job as a waiter he recently took up at a Russian restaurant for extra money. His shift was only at 10 a.m. sharp…

Every day.

Victor’s quick reflexes caught Otabek when he lost balance and almost snapped his neck in half. “Careful, Yuri,” he chided softly.

Otabek scrambled out of Victor’s arms towards his bag. It was still barely past 7. He could call his phone (his actual phone) and tell Yuri that Otabek had to go to his job. He might also have to spill the beans that Yuri wasn’t dreaming and they really were switching bodies for what seemed like every other day, but there was no way Otabek could miss his entire shift at the four and a half star restaurant he barely got. The pay was amazing. He only had two sponsors, which were both his parents, and he desperately needed that job to afford another season in competition.

He would buy a plane ticket to Almaty right now if that meant keeping his job. As soon as he found his phone, he dialed his number and ran out into the hallway. He practiced what he was going to say.

“Yuri, this voice sounds familiar because it’s… No. Yuri, do you remember me? No, too lengthy. Yuri, I love your body--ah, that’s too suggestive.”

The phone rang only three times before it went to voicemail. Otabek glared at the phone screen. “You seriously declined a call from yourself?”

He didn’t realize that Russia was three hours behind Kazakh.

Yuri hated Otabek’s job. He was barely on time, only thanks to him snooping around in Otabek’s diary. The Medved Tavern and Restaurant was an overpriced poshfest where the waiters were quizzed on their knowledge of the menu every time they took an order and the wine experts turned their nose if you poured the unnecessarily expensive grape juice at an angle they weren’t pleased with. He cringed every time someone mispronounced a menu item and passive aggressively pointed out that it was also acceptable to simply state the number of the item because that’s exactly what those numbers were intended for.

Yuri was smart, though. He asked a coworker how to use a corkscrew before he was pushed out of the kitchen, and after that, he was out serving tables like the rent was overdue. He declined a call without even looking at the caller ID because as troublesome as having a shift during the freakin’ lunch rush was, the prices on the menu guaranteed that Otabek was paid decently. Yuri never could turn away an opportunity for making money, even it wasn’t his.

“Otabek!” a chef yelled at him. Yuri turned on his heel. Strangely, he was already used to being called by a different name. “Tezirek jıljıtıñız!”

Yuri put his hand on his hip and tucked a silver platter under his arm. “Speak Russian, mu’dak. You’ll make this place drop a star if you can’t make the atmosphere authentic.”

He barely blocked the knife thrown at him with the platter. The chef yelled at him in Russian, this time. “Mouth off one more time and you’ll be dead! Now move faster!”

Yuri picked up the knife and stabbed it into a cutting board on the counter. “Why don’t you--”

A coworker slapped a hand over his mouth, replaced the platter with a stack of menus, and pushed Yuri out into the kitchen before any more knives were thrown. Yuri was already handing out menus to another table of impatient pigs and taking orders before he could protest. Such was the norm when one’s shift was right at the lunch rush.

A woman way too old for Yuri, but maybe barely too old for Otabek was trying to undress him with her eyes while he mechanically described the dish of the day that the restaurant was desperately trying to promote. She batted her eyelashes at him and spoke in Russian. “Wow, your Russian is so good. Did you grow up there?” Her hand wrapped around his while he pointed to the item on her menu.

Yuri gingerly removed her hand. Lay off, old lady. This hot body is mine. “I’ll give you time to decide your order.” He walked away with a strong urge to wash his hands. Man, that was a weird thought. This body isn’t really mine, but since I have it right now…

Dress-up was Yuri’s favorite game as a child, to the disappointment of his parents. He never understood what they wanted from him. They were pleased with money, but not his career as a figure skater. They wanted a normal son, but sold his body to ballet and sent him to live with his grandpa. They expected him to grow up like a normal man, but trained him like a daughter. Yuri supposed what they wanted was Otabek.

He unbuttoned his crisp white shirt and let it fall off of him. His fingers trailed down defined muscles, chiseled in the gym and refined in the rink. He admired Otabek’s body. It was one that Yuri could train to be the perfect danseur, with enough time. It could follow his dreams and live up to his parent’s expectations. Yuri’s own body was stuck in its own path to success, long and treacherous and far from everyone else. He could scream without shame, glory, or response. It was his reward and consequence for taking the road less traveled by.

Otabek lived alone in an apartment that he worked hard at a four and a half star Russian-themed restaurant for to keep because it was near the ice rink. Yuri could get used to that. He collapsed in Otabek’s bed and hugged himself.

“So this is what it’s like to embrace a man’s body.”

Yuri had a lot of issues he had to deal with, but Otabek also had a lot of clothes to try on. He was certain that the waiter uniform wasn’t the only outfit Otabek looked good in.

Landing a quadruple Salchow was so much easier in Yuri’s body that his own. Otabek couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. He approached it the way he usually did. After he caught his breath, he went for a quadruple axel. Again, it was better than any attempt he made in his own body.

Victor whistled. “That’s the best I’ve ever seen from you.”

Green eyes widened. “Is it really?” He couldn’t brush it off as muscle memory, although that would’ve been an interesting concept to explore.

Victor nodded. “Yeah, although the height seems to be lacking.”

“Actually, it’s easier to not have too big of a step up so that the skater can pull into the rotation position more quickly… When the x and y velocity components are calculated independently, you can see that it’s more efficient--”

Victor ignored him and did a quadruple axel to see for himself. He used more height than Otabek’s calculations would have recommended. Of course, the landing was perfect because it was Victor who did it. “I don’t get it. More height is more beautiful, no?”

Otabek was suddenly homesick for his rink in Almaty, where he could focus on himself and not be shown up by figure skating legend Victor Nikiforov himself. Adding more height looked more pleasing, but wasn’t necessarily more efficient. Even the execution of jumps was something Victor did the opposite in what was expected. Otabek gasped. “I see! The height characterizes the style of your jumps!” He used to think that jumps were something anyone could do with the right amount of training, that as long as certain qualifications lined up, the jump would go well. He didn’t consider that the math of the jumps could be adjusted for aesthetic. He was focused more on efficiency and technique, while Victor was charming the world with extra difficulty. Victor really did make everything harder than it had to be. “But does your body make your technique possible or is your technique body-independent?” he wondered aloud.

Victor skated circles around him. “I am very independent.” He suddenly skidded to a stop and purposely sent slushy ice in Otabek’s face.

Otabek’s eyes were drawn to the golden blades. He forgot to account for different models of skates. It could be Yuri’s skates that made it easier to land quads. Or, Otabek could be used to expending more effort to perform quads because his body was bulkier and expending that same amount of effort in Yuri’s body, which was much lighter, could be making the quads easier. Meaning, Yuri’s body was ideal for the technique Otabek used.

This was too strange. Basically, Otabek was using muscle memory with entirely different muscles. He wished he could borrow Victor’s body, too, for more experiments.

Victor laughed at his serious expression. “Skate with me, Yuri.” He took off, dragging Otabek along with him. “Watch and follow.”

He raised one leg behind him and extended a hand in front of him while still holding onto Otabek’s hand. Otabek mirrored the same pose. He followed suit as Victor lowered his leg. Victor led them through a curve, leaning in towards Otabek, and twirled Otabek around before grabbing his hips and briefly lifting him into the air.

It was a simple and easy move, but Otabek wasn’t expecting it, so he clung to Victor as soon as he was safely on the ice. “V-V-Vitya! That was…” He couldn’t find a more mature way to phrase it in Russian. “... scary.”

Victor smiled. “Are you afraid of trying new things?”

“I’m scared of finding new ways to die.” Otabek was getting better at bluntly saying the first thing that came to mind, especially when it came to Victor’s antics.

Victor held Otabek, but continued to skate around the rink with him. “Would you like it if I was just ‘horny’?”

Yuri’s face was set ablaze. “W-Wh-Wha…”

Victor just smiled at him and gave no context whatsoever. “I’m sorry, Yuri. I know you want me to be more than that, when it comes to you.”

Otabek didn’t know how to interpret this, anymore. He wasn’t used to having rinkmates, much less one with an ambiguous relationship that could either be strictly platonic, strictly romantic, strictly sexual, or some secretive combination of those choices. “Um.” He hoped that hugging Victor was the right answer. Or, maybe he was accidentally leading Victor on.

If only he could just straight-up reject Victor on the spot.

If only Yuri’s body truly was his.

#this body is yours #chapter 2 #yoi #yuri!!! on ice #otayuri #otabek altin #yuri plisetsky #still need a beta #i was gonna post this yesterday but i got distracted #comment or dm me if you're interested in helping me edit lol

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martialartsdevelopmentblog · 4 years

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Martial Arts Development: Providing Martial Arts Training to Kids and Adults

Including a daily workout routine is important to fight the stress and release some steam off our hectic schedules. But most people struggle to continue with traditional gym workout routines because it gets boring and people lose motivation. If you are someone who has been struggling to follow a regular gym workout routine, then this post is for you. Let us tell you that to keep your body fit and healthy, you don’t always have to rely on work out routines such as weight training, high-intensity training work out and rather there are other ways too. One of the ways that can help you make fitness a priority is by attending combat sambo classes Australia. To explain in brief, sambo is a type of martial arts that was developed in Soviet-era Russia that includes ground fighting and grappling. Sambo also involves standing fighting techniques such as elbow strikes, knee strikes, punching, and kicking. Sambo is an excellent way to work up your body to lose some calories and build self-defence at the same time. Sambo will also help you manage your mental well-being and help reduce stress. And you don’t have to go any further to find classes because Martial Arts Development is offering outstanding combat sambo classes. The training centre is amongst the leading martial arts Parramatta training centres in the region known to provide the best in class sambo training to adults. This martial arts training centre provides a team of the most professional and certified trainers for each class. These trainers take the utmost care while teaching various forms of martial arts. The training centre maintains the utmost safety in classes to prevent any incidence of injury. Martial Arts Development is recognized as the best martial arts training centre in Sydney, Australia. Martial Arts Development offers martial arts training for children and adults at flexible timings spread across the week. You can check out the latest schedule on their website. Apart from sambo, the training centre also offers Brazilian jiu jitsu classes, female kickboxing, mixed martial arts, boxing, and submission wrestling. Martial Arts Development is the finest training centre in the region. The professional team at the centre will always keep you motivated to learn and attend classes for a fit and healthy lifestyle. So, don’t wait up! Get in touch with Martial Arts Development now to know more about these classes in detail and start getting fit! For more information, visit https://www.martialartsdevelopment.com/

Original Reference: https://bit.ly/3jPbu7x

#Brazilian jiu jitsu classes

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certainbreadgladiator · 4 years

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About the importance of load periodization

Every person who is engaged in sports, at a certain point, there is a so-called plateau. At this point, beginners and inexperienced athletes either give up training, thinking that they are useless, or further increase the number of training sessions performed, thereby loading their already tired body. And only a more experienced sports fan knows that the periodization of loads will help to move from the dead point. This technique was invented so that the body, adapted to the usual loads, began to respond to training again and continued to grow muscle mass. The history of periodization

The origin of periodization of loads is noted in 1956. It is gaining popularity after the Olympics, where Soviet athletes showed excellent results. In view of the fact that the Soviet leadership's love for long-term planning appeared in sports, the first task of the coach, who had to prepare an athlete for the games, was to draw up a training plan for four years, based on the previous results of successful athletes and based on the scientific works of Hans Selye on the General adaptation syndrome. This method has worked tirelessly and been told that the Western coaches. Hans Selye on adaptation syndrome

To study the General adaptation syndrome, a deep study of the protective mechanisms that the human body has developed during evolution was conducted. These mechanisms have helped humans adapt to changing environmental conditions and survive.

girl on the simulator

The scientist identified successive stages:

alarm-serves as a signal for the mobilization of all protective systems, at this stage, the endocrine system is actively involved in the work, it produces an increasing activation of the three axes, the decisive action is produced by the adrenocortical structure; resistance — at this stage, the body shows the highest degree of resistance to adverse circumstances. In sports, it is not easy to notice an adaptive syndrome at this stage, since the body connects all the resources to maintain a normal state and cope with loads; depletion — when the body has exhausted its protective resources, its ability to survive decreases. In sports, this is called overtraining, which for beginners often serves as a reason to be disappointed and abandon classes.

The transition from one stage to another occurs naturally, naturally, that the body can not constantly be under the yoke of anxiety. The second stage brings resistance, resource consumption is optimized, and the body functions without much deviation from the norm. But all resources sooner or later run out, if the negative factor, in this case — physical activity, is not optimized, there will be exhaustion.

Deep stress can manifest in different ways, but in any case it involves both the body and the mind, so the symptoms it causes are psychosomatic. Unpleasant symptoms can occur from any of the systems, from the digestive system to the cardiovascular system. Prolonged stress makes the weakest organs and systems vulnerable, and increases the risk of common infectious diseases, as the immune system becomes lower. It is obvious that not only sporting success is under threat.

The most common sign of severe stress is shortness of breath, which is caused by too much oxygen getting into the blood. If the state of anxiety lasts for a long time, the mucous membranes in the nasopharynx will become dry, this causes discomfort and is another factor for increasing the risk of infectious diseases. Further, the adaptive syndrome will manifest itself in the form of pain in the chest, spasms of the respiratory system. Another unavoidable manifestation is an increase in the concentration of glucose in the blood and the resulting increased production of insulin. First, glucose accumulates in the liver and muscles, then it is partially processed into fat deposits. SIMILAR MATERIALS How are adaptation and muscle gain related? How are adaptation and muscle gain related? Weight loss training for men: principles and features of weight loss training For men: principles and features What is periodization and what is it for?

These are metered loads during the training process, which are divided into small stages to achieve the final goal. Also, periodization can be called Cycling, which consists of microcycles that are included in mesocycles, which in turn make up macrocycles.

Microcycles are considered to be short periods of training, approximately one week, during which the weights, number of approaches, intensity, and other indicators may change.

A mesocycle is a combination of several microcycles aimed at developing a single quality (increasing strength, gaining muscle mass, achieving relief). The duration of this period varies from 2 to 3 months.

A macrocycle is a finishing line aimed at the final result. This is the longest period, its duration is from six months to a year of training.

How often to change your training program depends on your ultimate goal. If you dream of a pumped-up and raised body, then you can not do without periodization. Since for the growth of muscle mass, it is necessary to increase the power load, and for a beautiful relief, it is necessary to dry the body. These are completely different stages, with significant differences in nutrition and sports. And as noted above, consisting of three cycles. Types of Cycling Linear Cycling

How often do I need to change my training program? At the beginning of stagnation, in order to break through your ceiling, you need to go back a little, reduce your working weight by 30% and increase it in each microcycle until you reach the working weight that was during the onset of the plateau. If done correctly, this weight will no longer be insurmountable for you, and next week you will be able to increase it, and you will reach your new maximum. An important point is that only the weight can be changed during linear Cycling. In any case, do not experiment with the number of approaches and repetitions, as this will prevent your body from resting, only further Deplete it. Nonlinear Cycling

In contrast to the previous Cycling, in the non-linear there is an alternation of training in different directions. For example, in a weekly microcycle of four training sessions, the first two take place with a serious load on each muscle group (heavy basic exercises with a small number of repetitions), and the other two — with an average (lower weights, with a large number of repetitions). They also alternate with each other so that the body does not accumulate fatigue. Wave Cycling

This type of Cycling is for advanced users, since it requires loading the muscles much more often than in the previous ones. It can be used in two ways. In the first case, within a single microcycle, the weight of weights changes with each training session (heavy, light, medium), but the number of repetitions remains the same.

The second variation of this cycle is as follows: first exercise – heavy weight, low reps, the second workout – the weight of a small number of repetitions is high, the third as the weight and number of reps average. The differences in periodization

Although there is a General understanding of periodization, there are still some differences depending on the desired result.

For periodization of loads in bodybuilding, a linear type of Cycling is suitable, but there are some differences. For example, during a single microcycle, training sessions with different weights are performed.

girl in the gym

In periodization of loads for strength training, there are four periods: the first stage of endurance lasts from 6 to 20 weeks, and then the step increase in power from 6 to 12 weeks, the third phase improves coordination and increases the speed of the movements, it lasts 6 to 10 weeks and the fourth stage is the macrocycle, which is the output of the peak maximum strength, its duration is from 8 to 10 weeks.

If you wonder how often to change workout program on the ground, for example, one year it will look like this: 3 months power mode replaced 3 months masonboro training, and in the second half twice repeated first 1.5 months of drying, then 2 months of training in mnogopotochnoy mode working with small weights. How often do I need to periodize loads

So, let's list the obvious indicators that you need periodization:

the body stopped "responding" to loads; the usual training has ceased to bring pleasure; the final goal has changed; the routine of life has changed.

How often should I change my training program without waiting for a clear stagnation in performance? To achieve the best possible result, this period varies from 1.5 to 6 months. In conclusion, we note that the periodization of loads, clearly, gives good results, but do not get too involved in it, everything should be in moderation.

#sport #health #workout #fitness #trainings

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lorenzoziyy592-blog · 5 years

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laxogenin powder: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Laxogenin FAQ

What is Laxogenin?

Also known as five alpha hydroxy Laxogenin or 5a hydroxy Laxogenin, Laxogenin is actually a plant compound and the very best recognized member of a bunch of compounds collectively often called brassinosteroids, which also involves mustard to call only one.

image02

Laxogenin is actually a plant steroid that is comparable in construction to the better recognized plant extract ecdysterone. Investigation has demonstrated that it exhibits comparable anabolic Attributes to anabolic steroids which include Anavar, one among the preferred oral anabolic steroids of all time.

Does this mean it’s a prohormone?

The shorter reply isn't any. Prohormones operate by delivering the human body which has a compound which is closely relevant to testosterone. Any time you have a prohormone, your body senses an increase in androgen stages (the collective term for prohormones and testosterone) and shuts down its have creation of testosterone to compensate.

Contrary to prohormones, Laxogenin will not interfere with Your system's endocrine program. Quite simply, it neither raises nor decreases hormones for instance testosterone and estrogen.

How does Laxogenin do the job then?

The analyze of Laxogenin has mainly been carried out in the previous Soviet Union. While its mechanism of result has still to generally be fully elucidated, specified its position to be a brassinosteroid, the prevailing see is it right raises protein synthesis although reducing protein breakdown.

protein breakdown

This seems to get a consistent topic across the full class of brassinosteroids or at the least Individuals that were researched in almost any detail. Laxogenin is usually believed to boost muscle mass Restoration and development by inhibiting the pressure hormone cortisol. Abnormal cortisol amounts may make it almost impossible to get muscle mass, not to mention energy.

Who can use Laxogenin?

Given The point that Laxogenin is not really a prohormone and doesn't have an impact on your HPTA (hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis), it can be used by practically anyone like Women of all ages.

Girl education from the gym

Mainly because Laxogenin improves muscle mass and Restoration by expanding protein synthesis and cutting down protein breakdown, it is highly useful for anybody who would like to make improvements to their physique.

How much time can Laxogenin be utilized for?

As it received’t affect your hormone ranges, there is not any serious require to restrict Laxogenin use to a short time frame. It's not at all like testosterone boosters, to which your body finally adapts by cutting down its personal all-natural exam degrees in response.

We frequently see folks applying laxogenin nutritional supplements for three-4 months at a time and suffering from superb progress all over that interval, regardless of whether their intention is to develop muscle mass, boost efficiency or lower overall body Unwanted fat.

Laxogenin utilization

Dosage

Serving dimensions: 25mg

Tips on how to use it: Just take three-6 doses a day for a complete everyday consumption of 75mg-150mg

When to consider it: Preferably Laxogenin need to be taken with food stuff to maximise absorption

Added benefits

Helpful option to prohormones. Look at the sorts of muscle building nutritional supplement. If you disregard people who influence hormone stages such as prohormones, SARMS, testosterone boosters and estrogen blockers, the list of substances that will help users improve functionality and Recuperate speedier turn out to be somewhat limited. Laxogenin is a single such component.

Complements the usage of protein supplements. If You furthermore may disregard All those health supplements that are dependent all over protein or protein breakdown merchandise like BCAAs, the list becomes shorter nevertheless. Laxogenin sits On this camp together with other elements we is going to be reviewing On this series, for instance epicatechin, arachidonic acid and creatine.

Fast-performing. With Laxogenin supplements tending to kick in very quickly, they are ideal for any person seeking to Construct muscle and strength swiftly.

Male instruction biceps while in the gymnasium

May be stacked with prohormones. Laxogenin is often stacked with other health supplements for example testosterone boosters and estrogen blockers to amplify muscle creating and recovery throughout two distinct pathways. This makes a lot more perception than the greater typical solution of stacking 2 or three distinctive testosterone boosters that each one focus on the very same pathway.

May be used for PCT (submit cycle therapy). This also would make Laxogenin merchandise a sensible selection following a prohormone cycle as they assist advertise anabolism via a unique pathway into the likes of testosterone boosters.

Noted effects

Accelerated Restoration

Reduction in article exercise routine muscle soreness

Speedier gains in toughness

Improved resistance to physical and mental fatigue

Brand names and opinions

There are various all-natural muscle constructing dietary supplements in the marketplace that count Laxogenin among their list of components and A few supplements that comprise Laxogenin as the principle ingredient. At Predator Nourishment, some of our hottest Laxogenin products contain Progenadrex from Fusion Health supplements, Adamantine from Hydrapharm, Massacr3 from Olympus Labs and Anogenin from Blackstone Labs.

Fusion Supplements Progenadrex

Fusion Complement Progenadrex

Progenadrex is really a non-hormonal muscle builder formulated to encourage muscle mass expansion In a natural way by leveraging the benefits of foods. By optimising the absorption of glycogen, amino acids, water and also other Electricity compounds in the muscle, it boosts the human body's normal testosterone stages, accelerating lean overall body mass gains and increasing Restoration.

Evaluation from Killahertz, considered one of our customers:

“Laxogenin is a little bit of an in-detail in the mean time, nonetheless it's truly been around for quite some time. Carried out proper it's a pretty potent organic anabolic, and Progenadrex is Laxogenin finished appropriate.

Progenadrex is very well further than straightforward Laxogenin thanks to Rob (the formulator), who's got the understanding of normal anabolics to leverage probably the most from them. Both equally in terms of precise formulation but in addition the standard of raw elements that go into them.

In use Progenadrex kicks in inside of a working day or two, by using a general sense of psychological wellbeing and a marked increase in pump aspect and vascularity. Given that the cycle settles, Vitality availability and mental drive significantly strengthen. However the get noticed enhancement for me was Restoration, which was off-the-charts good. four-6lb acquire, and retained post cycle. Power availability and push are Keeping way too, which indicates a attainable regenerative result outside of simple Restoration. In any event, This can be potent organic item, and a person I will be managing yet again extremely soon.”

View our Progenadrex solution web page For additional reviews together with one particular from Rob Regish, creator of your really acclaimed Mass Pro Synthagen.

Hydrapharm Adamantine

Adamantine is yet another normal testosterone booster which contains a stack of revolutionary elements - Laxogenin, epicatechin, creatine nitrate and vitamin D3 - that function with each other to bring laxogenin about anabolism by way of many pathways, enhancing power, size, Restoration, performance and endurance.

Overview from Craig, considered one of our customers:

“I had been a little doubtful that Adamantine could live up to the assessments but if something It truly is basically a lot better than I imagined. I am not Ordinarily a person who leaves critiques but soon after these am practical experience I felt I had to. Gains in just a few months to date of use:

Added 10kg on bench going from 120kg for 6 to 130kg for six. Which is fairly awesome presented i had been stuck for months and practically nothing else changed.

Squat - Enhanced by 10kg and included two reps to my finest hard work.

Pull-ups - Included weight and reps heading from 40kg for four sets of 4 to forty two.5kg for six,six, 5, and 5 reps.

Other factors worthy of mentioning: Excellent recovery, rise in sex drive, appear to have significantly less joint aches, experience superior concerning mood

In general, for anyone who is within the fence with this one particular inquire on your own if if you have a protein shake, intra workout, test booster and so on. if you will get the type of results I've gotten. If the answer is no, get this and also at the cost The actual fact it is a thirty day source so you don't need to take just about anything with it IME implies Adamantine might be lots cheaper than most health supplement stacks and unlike them it essentially is effective.”

Take a look at the Adamantine item website page for a complete compose up plus much more opinions from genuine users.

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