Desiderata Errata

I'm terrible at catchy names. Who is this for? Anyone with some experience lifting weights that wants a bus bench (do this!) program with a self-limiting progression based on actual performance, built around the squat, hinge, and press movements. It's also based around 2 week cycles, so feedback is fast and it's good for those with program ADHD like myself (squirrel!). I consider this a beginner to intermediate program, not a program for chasing an 800 lb. deadlift. It was inspired in part by Jim Wendler's excellent 5/3/1 program along with other programs I've used in the past. Program Structure Lift weights 3 days per week. For example, Monday-Wednesday-Friday or Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday. Allow at least one day between lifting sessions for recovery. Each lifting session consists of a warmup, the primary and secondary lifts for that session, and a cooldown. Each session should be around 30-45 minutes, unless you're doing something like a long walk afterwards. L...

It's an avoidable fact of Minnesota weather that walking for exercise is best done on an indoor treadmill. It's certainly possible to walk outside between December and April, but ice on the ground discourages walking fast, snow covered walkways and sidewalks limit where you can walk, and the cold temperatures discourage being outside for long periods. Unfortunately, walking on a treadmill can quickly become boring with its lack of variety. Here are some strategies and ideas for making treadmill exercise more interesting.  Playing with the incline and speed Nature is not perfectly flat, and we are not robots that walk at a perfectly consistent pace. The easiest thing to do, for anyone using a treadmill, is to slightly vary the speed and incline. Let's say you're at a typical 3 mph/4.8 kmph pace, with a 0% incline. Every few minutes, randomly bump the incline up or down a % point. Go crazy and jump from 0% to the max for a little while, drop it down to 2%, back up to 5%, ...

 My home gym equipment is cheap and second-hand, but it works for me, except for a minor issue with the barbell. It is a cheap hex bolt barbell that I picked up at a garage sale, and although it's straight it wasn't stored properly and there was some rust in between the shaft and the sleeve at the very end. The red area in the diagram below shows where it would stick and keep from rotating properly. I tried disassembling it and cleaning it, which helped a bit but didn't fix the issue. So, with a flash of inspiration I searched and purchased a cheap pair of roller thrust bearings. They were 4 mm thick, with the right inner and outer diameter to fit around the problem area and separate the shaft and sleeve.  They work perfectly, and now the sleeves and weights rotate smoothly.