Nicely dunks it…

Well, after about 6 months of training with almost a four week gap at one point due to sickness, I’m finally dunking pretty consistently. It actually felt pretty easy at sjömansskola this evening. My deadlift record is now 4 sets of 8x95kg and my squat record is 4 sets of 6x85kg (reduced the reps a little to up the weight). Slow but steady progress that is clearly paying off!

Here’s a little video of me dunking.

Dunk Quest 80kg Squats

I’m playing basketball two-three times a week at the moment and trying to keep up the weight training too. Think I might have been over doing it a little. From what I’ve read, if you train too much or don’t rest properly, you actually end up going backwards. A couple of weeks ago, I was dunking with ease and even managed a two-handed dunk at sjömansskolan. But on Wednesday all the power was gone and I missed an in-game dunk by a fair bit ending up flat on my back under the basket.

There’s no doubt the weight training has made a difference though. Here’s my latest max 8 rep squat. It’s back up to what it was before Christmas and I feel I could do more. Will post again when I get a dunk on video or when I manage an 8 rep 90kg squat.

Get Stronger

Had my last session at the gym yesterday before we head off to England for Christmas. Two sets of squats at 8 x 80kg plus one set at 75kg. Given my rapid progress thus far, no doubt due to how weak I was when I started, my goal for this summer, before Åland Street Basket, is 8 x 105kg. That’s a little under 1.5 times my body weight.

Here’s someone who jumps so high he not only dunks the ball, half his arm disappears too. The technical term for it is a “honey dip”. I wonder what he squats…

Worth more than it was!

My blog is worth $1,129.08.
How much is your blog worth?

My fate according to Dante?

The Dante’s Inferno Test has banished you to the Sixth Level of Hell – The City of Dis!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 – Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	High
Level 2 (Lustful)	Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Low
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 – The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very High
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 – Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante’s Inferno Test

How much is your blog worth?

This is what you get for not posting regularly. Will have to get back in the habit. Can’t have Fredrik outdoing me.

My blog is worth $564.54.
How much is your blog worth?

Election sickness

Well, we lost. In the aftermath of the election I have been throwing up and I now have a fever, so I’ll get back to you with more details later.

Solidarity? Loser

Hanna found a CD the other day with music from the “disco” after our wedding. We haven’t heard it since the wedding (perhaps not even then, though that’s another story). Anyway, there many excellent tracks, but my favourite is by Beck, Loser. The chorus refrain is “I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me?” It captures quite perfectly the attitude held in a society where solidarity is lacking. Everyone wants to be a winner. Winners are rich. The poor are losers. We all get more or less what we deserve. If you’re poor, it’s your own fault. It’s an ignorant and arrogant attitude that makes me feel physically sick. Thank God, it’s almost totally absent here.