The Golden One

Sunday Summary. Strongman, Sun and Shreds.

Posted on June 14, 2015

The picture above is from yesterday’s strongman session (video of that will be up later in the week!). I learned a new technique, courtesy of the incredibly wise Abelian Bull, speaking of which, the name refers to Nils Abel, a Norwegian mathematician.
Either way the technique is to take to two steps in order to get in under the tire instead of just taking one step, which will not get you as far in under the tire, getting far under the tire makes it easier to flip!
Since the weather in Sweden has been very hot the last few days I got a good taste of what it is like to perform when it is hot outside and I can really understand that strongman- and crossfit events taking place during the Summer is harder than the ones during a time when the weather is a bit cooler.

Above is a form picture. As you might see I am a bit red, courtesy of the Sun, I usually get very dark during the Summer, however, the first encounters with the Sun always turns me red. With that said I have become a bit leaner and another week of a slight deficit and additional sun will definitely lead to visual changes. Speaking of skin colour, the darker you are the leaner you look, which is why bodybuilders utilise dark spray-tan in competitions.
Lastly regarding tanning, as I have said in the past, one of my favourite things to do is to read a good book in the Sun (currently reading the third and last books on Arthur by M.K Hume, which I can highly recommend). The first two of those are below. 
Furthermore I have been blessed with a highly glorious hoodie to train in, it is probably the coolest hoodie I have ever seen. At a first glance you might not be so concerned with what kind of clothes you train in, however, when you need to perform even when not feeling your best, symbols and aesthetics etc can really help you get that extra fire to push through. When I have this on I get the sensation of a kinship with the ancestors which obviously brings some extra strength and motivation. The same can be said about my belt, which has a custom text on the back of it saying “Eternal Glory”, this reminds me of the good old saying that pain is temporary but glory is forever. Pain in this case is more of discomfort, I would not continue to push my body when there is something wrong with it. However, I know the difference between when a weight is just plain heavy and intimidating and when it is a case of joints etc starts to protest. The text above “Attack is the best form of defence” might be provocative to some sensitive estrogen filled souls in Sweden, however with recent developments in our once fair land I think it is appropriate to show where you stand.

There is a lot of work to be done and an interesting Summer meets us. I wish thee all the best with your endeavours in the coming week!

Sunday Summary. Plans to Get 240 kg 1RM Squat. Gaming is Important

Posted on June 7, 2015

The picture above is the current form, 3 weeks away from a photoshoot, 3 weeks is about enough time to get into a bit better shape. I will continue to ease into it without any sudden changes.
Below is a picture of the main component of today’s training session, the 440 kg Tire of Gains, which felt oddly heavy for some reason, I only did singles with it and then rounded the session off with some lateral pulldowns, so a bit of a  special session to end the week. In other news regarding the training I had up until recently not squatted heavy, this was due to the minor injury that I had earlier this year (and late last year). When I got well there I focused more on deadlifts (as you might have seen from my videos from March/April), so the squats took the backseat.
After that I managed to hurt my right knee as well whilst doing paused squats a month ago. In a moment of clarity and despair I then noticed that my legs didn’t look all too powerful. And since I know that nature does not care about my excuses I came up a the simple solution to get around the problem: I acquired a pair of knee warmers (SBD), and to asses my strength I tried a single on 220 kg squat two days ago and it felt rather easy despite (or perhaps thanks to) my prolonged absence from heavy squatting. Either way I realised how much I have missed it. It is truly a special sensation to squat really heavy and to get stronger legs. So I decided to aim for 240 kg until the end of Summer, and then when I start bulking again I will aim for 250 kg which would be incredibly glorious to get. I will try to go forward slowly so that I do not hurt myself again.
Getting stronger in the bench whilst trying to retain a photoshoot ready shape is very hard and I will not attempt to get a clean 180 kg (with pause) until the Autumn when the bulk begins. With that said I will still ensure that I do not lose any strength (as that is a sign of lost muscles). 

The picture above is from my latest gym video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xKkPVtbVoY). In the video I show what I basically do right after a Smolov Jr cycle or a max attempt: I do something else than the bench or train a bit lighter on the bench for a week or two to not overtax my shoulders (which can happen if you are training near your max for an extended period of time). Lastly I started a campaign in Total War: Attila today and above is the thumbnail to the video. What I did in photoshop was that I changed the colour balance in favour of blue, which ties into the Ostrogothic faction colour of blue. To the text I also utilised the same tone of blue as the faction symbol to the left.

I will continue with my Baktrian campaign in Rome II and also make a good few episodes of this Ostrogothic campaign, gauging the popularity after 5 episodes and if it seems liked I will make 10 and if it does not seem liked I will start another campaign! And also yet again, these video do not in any way take away time from my other videos. I want to expand my YouTube as much as possible, if I can get more subscribers from my Total War videos all the better. The biggest channels with Total War as the primary focus have over 100 000 subscribers. And since I do enjoy the games so much as it is it would be stupid to not translate it to YouTube. Furthermore, if you are a true friend and supporter of what I do, you should also support these videos. The gaming audience is in general in great need of my teachings (yes that sounds narcissistic as hell but it is true), many of them do not translate the energy of the gaming into other endeavours, such as training hard in the gym or exploring nature or getting to know more about their nation’s unique history. So if I can via my gaming videos portray gaming in a context where the gym and self-improvement is an integral part much can be won (in that we are taking otherwise perhaps quite feminized men and turn them into confident masculine men).

With those words I wish you all a glorious and productive coming week!