271 = 300, great news!, more health care hooey
Today at the gym I did a workout that was along the lines of the venerable 300 but a bit different. In total I did 271 reps that were broken down like this (totals)
41 pull ups
60 body weight dips
60 box jumps
60 diamond push ups
50 clean & press with 35 pound dumbbell
Now when I was in my 300 hey day I wasn’t very open to criticism about the form I used to complete the reps. Jeremy in particular used to dog me about it. I never was very willing to listen to his thoughts on form since he only dabbles in strenuous exercise a few times a year.
However once I started participating in the Bar-barian forums I saw more emphasis on form versus numbers so it started to sink in. These were guys that actually walked the talk.
If you compared the form in today’s 271 versus a typical 300 three years ago there would be a big difference. The 41 pull ups today were full range of motion starting with my arms fully extended and ending when my chin was at bar height. They used to be about half as long where I did more of a hanging bounce and less of a pull.
The push ups also used to be short on range where I bounced rapidly in the lower half of the motion but didn’t lock out the reps. The diamond push ups today were full ROM and are much more difficult than conventional push ups.
Even my clean and presses and box jumps were sloppy before. The C&P’s didn’t have full extension at the top (they did today) and my box jumps used to not include straightening my legs on top of the box. Not only was every rep today with full extension I did it with 11 steps per side instead of the 8 I used during my 300 work outs.
It felt good to be able to do a work out with some high intensity while maintaining solid form. I am hoping it is the start to a period of three months where my fitness level slowly ramps up until it is fully utilized for the Pull Up Challenge at the end of January.
I just read that by 2050 if nothing changes 1-3 Americans could be diabetics. Hell I am surprised they are projecting it could take that long. Just walk down any street in America and you see diabetes candidates left and right. With as fat as America is, it’s odd that there would be opposition to a better national health care plan, we certainly are going to need it.
The health care plan we utilize at work is the way I think all health care should be. There are three levels of coverage. If you are a lazy lard ass and don’t put any effort or take any responsibility for your personal well being you get thrown on the basic coverage plan. You pay the most for your coverage and also have the highest deductible.
The middle plan requires you to at least get a blood test so you are aware of potential problems. You are also required to fill out a health questionnaire. By doing this you get lower deductibles and pay less than the person that does nothing.
If you want the lowest cost, lowest deductible coverage you have a few more hoops to jump through. You must undergo regular physicals and if your numbers show you are diabetic or pre-diabetic or if you smoke, you must attend classes that are designed both make you aware of the dangers of your issues and help you address them.
Hell this year they went a step further. If your spouse is on the plan they have to jump through those same hoops to qualify for the same coverage. Sure, it is an inconvenience to a degree but I don’t have a problem with it when I consider what it does in the big picture. It rewards those that work at maintaining their health and penalizes those that don’t. More things should be like modeled this way including a national health care plan.
Speaking of that plan I saw more political attack ads running that mentioned the health care plan. One of the negatives was the atrocity of being REQUIRED to have health insurance. How outrageous, right? How is this any different than states that REQUIRE people to have automobile insurance? The logic is the same.
If somebody hits you and they don’t have insurance this can negatively impact you because the may not have the money to cover damage/injuries to you. If somebody doesn’t have health insurance and incurs massive medical expenses, all of that money gets absorbed by the people that DO have insurance, resulting in higher premiums for the rest. If everyone has insurance, everyone pays their fair share.
It’s the same principal, duh.