Originally posted at elnyka.wordpress.com:

It's been 17 months since Rocio's death, and the time since then has basically been a rollercoaster for my family and myself. Finally, on April, 22nd we got a call from the D.A. informing us that the person held responsible for the car accident was about to accept the plea bargain. I will refer to this person by "him" (or "his" when denoting his possessive) since posting his real name would serve no purpose.

For all this time we wanted him to take the plea. Him refusing so would cause us to go to trial, and most unsavory of all, to have my mother testify and recount the events. Her being a survivor from the accident and having witnessed Rocio's death was more than enough for us and the D.A. to avoid it if possible.

In essense the plea bargain involved "him" pleading guilty from leaving the scene of an accident that caused a fatality and driving with a suspended license. He would complete a few more months in jail (given that he's been behind bars during all this time), 2 years house incarceration (he has to wear a bracelet), 10 years probation and him being registered as a convict.

Up to the time for us to go court, April, 23rd, there was always the though in our minds: are we doing the right thing? Are we actually seeking justice? After all, accidents do happen.

Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on how you see it) we ended up overhearing "his" family and his lawyer debating on this. Up to the very last moment, it seemed they were still squabbling on not pleading guilty, and alas, to contemplate running away from the US and back to their home country to escape punishment.

Keep in mind I'm quoting verbatin what they were saying, unaware they were being heard.

As we took the stand to give our testimony on the lost we suffered, it was for the very first time that we could let it all out and explain to the world the magnitude of our loss. How much suffering and deprivations we had to endure in Nicaragua and Honduras, how much work we had to do to finally have a decent life in the US. After many years of hard work and school we finally had a moment of peace, of finally settling down. And on the eve of Rocio's weeding, she dies and the culprit of this tragedy runs away, leaving her without an afterthought, without lending a helping hand to the rest of my mother and sister as they scrambled out of the car, trying in vain to lift it and rescue Rocio who died on impact.

She was left by the culprit, abandoned like roadkill. That was the greatest injustice of all.

And as him took the stand to, supposedly, apologize, he still didn't. In vain he tried to say that accidents happened. Yes, sometimes they happen by mere misfortune. Sometimes, however, they happen when we drive carelessly without regards of those passing next to us. Moreover, it was not the accident per say, but the evasive demeanor thereafter that added to the injustice of it.

It took the judge to cut him coldly, telling him that his wasn't an apology. At that point, he said "I'm sorry." Apologies like that do not count.

After hearing his family's suggestions to escape abroad rather than accepting the plea like a man would, and after hearing his supposed apology, it became clear that, indeed, we were doing the right thing in pursuing this.

This was a guilty man, a man that to the very end refused to accept his culpability.

There is no satisfaction in the verdict. After all, the punishment is just a fraction of what should have been. But in a court of law, we have to settle with what we can prove beyond reasonable doubt. These aren't medieval times, and my family believes in our justice system. Thus, this is the best we can get and so be it. God is the Ultimate Judge and only He knows what is right or wrong.

There is no anger, or hate. Just apathy towards this person and a sense of emptiness that will never go away.

There is no contentment in this. It will never bring Rocio back to life. So, it is not a victory either. It was simply a thing that needed to be done, to give Rocio a modicum of justice, and to close this one chapter.

All that is left now is just to move forward in the most positive and just way possible.

Originally posted at elnyka.wordpress.com.

In the name of ${DEITY:=Salma Hayek}, training sucks more than a vacuum cleaner.

I’ve been training jits for two weeks already at a local SBGi gym (finally after almost a year-long hiatus). The staph crap is completely gone, and my neck is good to go. Been squatting and deadlifting heavy shit and doing my due diligence in the metabolic pathway department, crossfit’ting my way to increase my internal gas tank.

But no matter how hard you go by yourself, it is never the same when you are being pushed. This is specially true when doing combat conditioning in a group directed by a guy who can run loops around you with ease.

Shit, each class is one hour long (which by itself includes about 15 minutes of sparring). And is followed by 30 minutes of open mat. All that is fine and dandy, except that the class is preceded by a 30-minute long class called ’Combat Conditioning’.

By the balls of Odin, holy crap on a plate, that shit sucks balls. It drains you dry. Burpees, more burpees, side runs, squats, lunges, jumping squats, more burpees, each exercise done with 10-second active recovery followed by going balls out for 20-30 seconds. And each exercise is done back to back without break for 9 minutes with 1-minute break. Three of those to make 30 minutes.

You see God as you try not to puke. By the end of the 2nd round, I’m having a hard time hanging up with the rest of the class. And by the 3rd, my effort is in not stop moving even though I can’t perform the reps as fast as I can (which is the main idea). The only thing that gets me going is that I know I will eventually adapt, physically, to these imposed demands, and that this is a fundamental part of the freaking game.

You really need to want this shit badly to keep going. That very same thought keeps popping on my mind whenever the inevitable thought comes as I’m holding my gag reflexes - "Oh God, this sucks, I don’t need this shit". Either that thought or if you stop, you are a pussy. Whichever works at the heat of the moment, I’ll take it.

The 2nd hardest part of all is scheduling recovery time. You know you need the rest, you know your CNS and your gas tank need the rest, and that the free time can be used for stretching, active recovery, going over your class notes. And still, it feels like wasted time.

A retarded mental dichotomy this is - training vs recovery. It is a falsehood, a fallacy, one which I must keep in mind at all times if I’m not to burn out again.

Tomorrow I’m seeing my chiro, for the first time in almost two months. And Saturday will be my next grappling and conditioning class. Until then, get some active rest, do additional strenght training, go over your notes and sleep cuz Saturday is going to suck.

And as much as it sucks, it makes me happy. Finally, after so many setbacks, I feel I’m finally back on track in my life. I’ve said the same statement several times in the last year. So long as Murphy doesn’t decide to fuck things up, that’s how it will be. As much as this training sucks the living life out of me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Originally published at elnyka.wordpress.com:

Alright meat-heads.

Following my last post on the subject, this is the third installment of this crap I've been doing for the last couple of weeks. The fact of the matter is that my g/f and I have already signed and mailed our cancellation forms to LA Fitness. Screw them.  The only thing we'll miss from it is the squat stations. And since that's something I'm not comfortable with, we may end up buying one of these puppies from the New York Barbell Company:

New York Barbell Sumo Rack C92565W

In the meantime, my hammer keeps landing and the drills keep drilling.  I haven't built a WhiteShark Push-Up yet, and I don't think I will for the time being. Too busy. However, I have a particular update from the original creator of this contraption. He found a very effective way to increase the grip workout in this thing… by using pool noodles.

Be advised that this is a beast completely different from the commercial "Perfect Push Up" - you must work your grip with this beast. If you have girly hands, don't. Work on your wrist strength first, and then plow ahead with this thing.

So… where was I? Oh yes.

Home Made Rings.

I finally got the time to install the rings I made (previously discussed here).

Holy crap. I don't know what the fuck is in the wood beam (adamantium maybe), but it took forever to screw those things - killer shoulder workout. And this was after drilling a 9/36? hole for the screws to go in.

Anyway, this contraption seems rock solid. The rings are about waist level. A tad low, but that's good for my g/f to do assisted pull ups. Doing dips in these things is hard. Last time I did weighted dips on a station, I did like 10 reps with 95lbs on a dip belt. With these rings, it's a challenge to get 10 reps body weight.

This requires a lot of stabilization, meaning, it == teh cool.

I did several tests last night and this thing is rock solid. I'm happy with it.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpzFmOTtnic

The Lifting Platform

And while I was working on the rings and other stuff, I was trying to build a lifting platform for quite sometime. The hardest part was to get someone to cut the bloody lumber in Home Depot. If I had a truck, I would have hauled the stuff home and cut it myself. Oh well.

Anyways, I don't recall exactly where I got the idea for this at this time. If I remember later, I will come back here and give the due credit.

It is not one platform, but pair of stackable lifting platforms made out of a 2?x12?x8-- and a 2?x4?x8--. Each piece is basically a 2-foot long piece of wood, 12? width with one 1-ft long 2?x4? at each end. There are four of those.

You can stack them all four and make a deep thing for step ups. It's not good for jumping but that's ok. The top 2 have 1×1 pieces on their ends to stop the barbell from rolling.

I wasn't designing them that way, but they ended up being perfect for me for floor push ups and rack pulls 2/3 up of my shins. Taylor made by accident. I drop stuff on them and so far seem capable of taking a beating.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLlwMLBymaM

I'm going to build four more and figure out how to slide a "core", a pipe or something through them to stabilize them further. You can put them in, take them out, and stack them in a small corner without taking a lot of space.

The only caveat for anyone who wants to build them. Make sure you use a drill bit thick enough to go through them and use a clamp to inmobilize the thing. I couldn't find my clamp, so I used my feet to hold them. Lo and behold, I moved a bit thus breaking one of my bits (crap!)

One more note. 2×12's are usually curved through their lenght, just a bit, but never perfectly flat. Use that to your advantage by placing the concave facing up. This acts as a cup to hold the blates IN the platform.

The only question I still have about this thing is whether to use an additional rubber mat under them to protect the floor during deadlifts.

There are times all of us complain and whine about how difficult things are. Life is hard, we are slaves to the grind and such. And if we are not placing our asses on the couch singing our lamentations while munching the last bucket of  Häagen-Dazs, we get bogged down by others who do.

It is at times like those when we forget that no matter how shitty we feel, there are others who are in worse situations. Moreover, it is at times like those when we feel compelled to blame our failures to the inextricable bad karma that keeps shitting on our necks.

It is a time like this when we have to see individuals like Amanda Victoria who not only survived non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but have the fortitude to get in the best shape possible after such ordeal.

http://forums.musculardevelopment.com/showthread.php?p=457295

It's ok to whine, to complain and cry. Just never forget that there is always someone in a worse situation than yours, and that there are people who come back strong from situations worse than yours.

Suffering is part of being human, but no human ever has monopoly over it.

… or boredom. Whichever it is, I think it momentarily sparkled my artistic creativity…

 …. weeeeeee, I'm a fucking kite, man!!!!

Originally posted at : http://elnyka.wordpress.com/2008/01/11/a-moment-of-self-contemplating-amusement/

Following the trail of thought started here, we explore how to turn a lowly, humble and disposed tire into a fine piece of physical training equipment. I shit you not, it is possible… and no, I'm not running a spell-checker on this thing!!!

The Humble Tire

Originally I though I needed a piece of lumber with a bar inside the tire to turn it into a loadable sled.  I was wrong. You don't need a piece of wood or a platform to put load on it. Just put the dumbbells and crap inside the tire and voila!

I don't know why I didn't think of this before. Having said that, one would have to use small dumbbells or plates, but that's ok. I have almost 200lbs in dumbbells, small plates, chains and crap I can throw inside the tire. Another nice thing about the tire is that I can use it to carry stuff. To keep the tire from throwing dirt on my car or inside the house, I just throw a canvas on it (he, tire wearing a burka).

I don't have a harness (yet), so I used my old belt instead to strap the PVC/chains rings I previously constructed (which are secured in the tire with another chain which itself weights about 13lbs).

I have to say it was fun doing a lot of shit with this contraption - presses, flies, pull-through, etc. Time went quickly, and in about an hour I was drained. I over-trained a bit however, and the right back of my lower back is bitching a little bit. I don't get that (usually) from squatting. No biggie, but it's something to consider. This thing wears you down before you realize it.

So there, you can make your own sled with a tire and some chains. You can drag it, push it with your hands, with your legs, run with it tied to your waist, whatever, and this is the promotional video:

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYz6ToIbDuo

The only caveat is that it's easy to over-train your lower back with it. I did this last Thursday, and my back wasn't fully recovered yet on Sunday (thus messing up with my squat/dead-lift day.) Oh well, live and learn.

Moderation is the key to anything, including working out with a tire and stuff.

 The WhiteShark Push Up

Moving to a different home-made contraption is what I call the WhiteShark Push Up. I call it so since the dude who originally came with the idea is a Shidokan/MT fighter that goes by the handle of "WhiteShark" on bullshido.net.

Anyways, here is what he has to say (I think it's a pretty good idea, and I can't wait to build me one):

I've got a good one! Here are some pushup handles I made. I was inspired by the perfect pushup on TV but I wanted more stabilizer recruitment. These pivot and the handles spin and the whole thing can turn like the perfect pushup. If you make them be EXTREMELY careful on hard surfaces. I am doing it on carpet because it provides some friction. I can only do it on my knees on hardwood.

EDIT: I guess I should explain how these are made.
2 x 6? PVC Pipe endcaps
1 x 8-- 1? pvc tubing
2 x 8? lag bolt 5/8? diamater
2 x 5/8? wingnuts
1 roll friction tape

Drill holes for the lag nuts in the side of the PVC endcaps. I put mine right in the middle of the side because I originally planned on putting one hole above and one hole below for different lever points. Cut the PVC tubing to a little more than 6? wrap it to the desired thickness with tape. If you can't figure out the assembly kill yourself.

     

 

I think this a pretty good alternative, perhaps even a better one, than the "perfect push up". We are considering building a new version of it with thicker handles in the near future (in addition to a home-made harness that, if I calculate correctly, can handle over 1,000lbs of resistance.)

I hope I don't kill myself in the process.