The Thoughts of a Big Brown Bear....: December 2011

While lying on my sofa this morning, i looked outside the window up at a patchy bright blue sky smoothered by off white dense fluffy clouds. A thought occured to me that has been squeezing and fighting for room in my mind. This thought has got me thinking if we could actually be a consciousness of someones dreams.

I think the question has materialised from a general interest in what it is to be us, to be human, to be you, be me and watching films like the Matrix, Donnie Darko and Inception. There are other good films, which need space in a well nourished mind before watching. But these three come to mind and i have thought deeply about. These films ask you to question the true nature of reality and the roles we play in a war against those that controller us. But this is going off topic. What i wanted to say was - what if we were the consciousness of someone elses dream and we didnt exist in reality but in someone elses slumber.

Could the person who is dreaming us be controlling our lives? Could the dreamer have manisfested us as part of a larger more detailed and complex dream? Are we just a single drop of water in a never ending ocean of a recurring dream?

We could be because do you remember been born? No! well nobody does, i know this is a weak argument but this is just something i have thought about and no doubt will come back to when the mood takes me. But lets just say we were not born in reality but someone, we know, like one of our parents, sisters, brothers, friends or even someone who said hello to us in passing. Now wouldnt that be mind boggling, if we were a creation in a dream of someone who we didnt know.

You could say well this person has had to of know us before he dreamt us up, but as its a dream then its their dream so they can dream us up the way they want us to. And by apprearing in the dream with us or be part of the dream that we are in could have implications of a deeper complex multilayer dream. If you do not remember been born then how do you know you were born? In fact how do i know what chocolate tastes like? Is the chocolate that im eating right now what a chocolate should taste like or is it what my dreamer thinks chocolate tastes like. If we can doubt this simple thing then we can question everything else we come across in our dream designed life.

Its just a thought but if our lives were just a consciousness of someone elses dream then everything we do is not our doing, everything we like is not what we like and everything we think of, every thought, is not ours! Then if we do somthing that we should not of done, then are we responsible for it? But the thought isnt about any morals or any actions but the thought is plainly about if we were just a figment in someone elses imagination. If you think about this then think about all the complex things we do, our emotions, out thoughts, right down to walking and talking even reading....wouldnt the dreamer be a complex and highly mentally rich being?

You see the more you think about this thought and what it could mean the more complex it will get. This may sound like the silly ramblings of a big brown bear with time on his hands during the hibernation season but if thoughts like Inception and Matrix can exist then why not this thought that we are indeed a consciousness of someone elses dream. The very thought of been a consciousness of someone elses dream is the dreamer dreaming the question and if the dreamer is questioning the reality of his reality then are they just the consciousness of someone elses dream?....maybe....but, then where does it end?

Milo of Kroton was a legendary athlete in the ancient world. He won the victor's crown at the Olympia six times. He also won eight years later five consecutive wrestling titles. Milo enjoyed showing off his unrivaled strength and he hold a pomegranate in his hand and let others try to take it away from him. Even though he was holding it so tightly that no one could remove it, he never damaged the fruit. Sometimes, he would stand on a greased iron disk and challenge others to push him off of it. Another of his favorite exhibitions was tying a cord around his forehead, holding his breath, and breaking the cord with his bulging forehead veins. Other times, the wrestler would stand with his right arm at his side, his elbow against him, and hold out his hand with thumb pointed upwards and fingers spread. No one could successfully bend even his little finger. Milo even excelled in warfare and fought in a lions skin while wearing his Olympic crown. He even saved a friend by supporting the central pillar until the people could get away safely.

Milo died by when he found an old tree trunk with wedges inserted into it. In an attempt to test his strength, Milo placed his hands and, perhaps his feet, into the cleft of the trunk and tried to split apart the wood. He succeeded in loosening the wedges, which fell out, but the trunk closed on his hands, trapping him. There, according to the tale, he fell prey to wild beasts.

Milos strength came from a carrying a calf when it was born everyday untill it was a fully grown cow. I figure after abit of reseach that he started off with a calf that weighed around 100lbs, (45 kilos) and by the time it was fully grown it must of weighed around 600lbs plus, (300 kilos).

What Milo had achieved was to build his functional strength. This type of strength is what i like to call real world strength. Functional strength is what helps you to carry a fridge, sofa etc. You can see functional strength in play everyday. You can see it when you see road workers digging, builders moving heavy loads and even an old lady carrying her shopping home.

In sport functional strength can be seen clearly in Strongman contests. They move logs, barrels, trucks cars and other odd objects.

Now how can you build functional strength? Easy! by using sandbags. Sandbags are hevay, bulky and because the sand is compact and even moves around alor when its moved it forces the body to develop its functional and core muscle strength. By understanding this little fact it is possible to become big and strong or just strong. If you want to become stron but not big just eat enough to maintain your weight and add maybe 500 calories extra on your training days to help with the training. IF you want to become big and strong then just eat, eat, eat and eat again.

Right to the Milo experiment - if you take a sandbag, which you can lift with say one hand or two (with alittle effort nothing to major) and add 1lb sandbags to it everyday. You will be kind of duplicating the growing calf. Now by adding just 1lb of sand to your sandbag will allow your body to adjust to the weight slowly like Milo's body did with the ever growing calf.

Do this every day, just add 1lb to the bag and carry it for a set distance. we dont know how far Milo carried his calf around for but the stroy says that his father would ask Milo how much has his calf grown by and Milo would run out and pick up his calf and bring it to his father. So if you pick up the sandbag and just carry it for say around your garden maybe taking 3-6 minutes. I think this should be enough to be honset.

Another quick word on the weight to use. You should use a weight that feels light maybe 20lbs, (10 kilos) because you have to add 1lb of sand to the sandbag everyday and if you do this for the first month that is going to be say roughly an extra 30lbs, (15 kilos) of extra weight. Now if you add that to say 20lbs that you statred with you will quickly end up with 50lbs, (25 kilos). Now thats alot of sand but if you keep this up just adding and carrying every day you will end up with hopefully 385lbs, (175 kilos) thats like 27 stones! But if you start with a weight thats too heavy you will not make the 1lb increases and because sandbag training is tough and rugged you will be sore and burn out quickly.

Small increases in weight everyday will help the body to become custom to it as your body can handle that and recover from that. But as the weight gets heavier, who knows what the effect will be. As i cannot find or know of anyone that has tried this experiment, i could be the first but as to what the results are going to be.....i cant wait to find out.....!!!!

Dec 23rd-Jan 17th

I reached 100lbs during this period. Its starting to get tough now and my back is holding out well. I started with a combernation of sandbag exercises in a natural lifting order with one set each. These were -

Twist 1x10 > Getup 1x1 > row 1x1 > Sumo deadlift 1x1 > Clean & press > Overhead walk 20 steps > Behind the neck Walk 20 steps > Squat 1x1 > Press behind neck 1x1 > Bear hug Walk 20 steps > Front Squat 1x1 > Curl 1x1 > Standing Twist 1x10 > Curl 1x1 > Atlas Load 1x1 > Throw 1x1.

As the sandbag got heavier i have dropped twists and use 20kg plates for the same reps, Dropped Curls, Standing twists and Atlas load and the throw. I dropped the Atlas load because im lifting the bag from the floor so the motion is just been duplicated. The throw was dropped as the bag is to light yet to be any sort of benfit but i will introduce it back when i reach a heavier load. I have added the Floor press to help with the Bench Press. The reason why i only do 20 steps in the walking movements is because i dont have the distance in my garden so i just walk up and down, however i may start walking around2 or 3 times, this may help. And the only reason why i do single reps is because im working upto a goal weight, then i will use rep to soildfiy that weight. I havent quite decided on the reps range yet but when i reach the next goal weight ill decided then. So they are now as follows -

Floor press 1x1 > Getup 1x1 > Row 1x1 > Sumo deadlift 1x1 > Clean & press > Overhead walk 20 steps > Behind the neck Walk 20 steps > Squat 1x1 > Press behind neck 1x1 > Bear hug Walk 20 steps > Front Squat 1x1.

If i break the combernation or even if i forget or my mind says no its no big deal, i just do it next time around. It does not take long, maybe 5 minutes, to do the movements but after im blowing quite hard and feel quite worked. After normal training sessions i only do the Clean & press as i have little energy left in my muscles but i have come to realise that that is ok as the next day there is no weakness maybe just alittle abit more grit is need.

Im using a large militray kit bag where i put in 2lbs of sand in plastic carrier bags. Also i put the 2lb sandbags into old pillow cases to stop the sand from escaping as the plastic carrier bags start to split after awhile. This makes the overall sandbag very diffuclt to lift as the movement is more unstable. With a barbell or solid weight there is no movement just the weight fighting against gravity. But this way you are fighting against gravity, the weight and the more unstable movement of the sand inits different pillow cases.

The next goal is 200lbs, which im hoping to achieve in around 10 weeks. I weighed the sand before i put it into the carrier bags but read the bathroom scales wrong and found that i was lifting 2lbs instead of 1lb at a time. So i have decided to stick with that progerssion. the experiment has been done nearly everyday but if i feel tired, forget, cant because im busy or just dont want to then i give it a miss. Howvwer i dont add any extra weight and just use the same weight as before and then add weight the next day. I do feel more stable and i have a feeling strength througth out my body. But my back is starting to protest when im bear hug walking so im going to try holding the sandbag at different heights, such as higher on the chest or lower chest level, I dont want to drop this moevemnt as its brutal and has many benfits to body strength, stamina and builds incredible mental strength.

Jan 17th - Mar 5th

Pushed 120lbs today, well i hit it a few days ago, but i wanted to get use to the weight and try and do reps with it as part of a strongman events day. It has got heavy now, maybe i need to be more explosive tearing it off the floor but im alittle cautious about the pain in my lower back. Its still sore today and is sore all the time. So i just may keep on pulling slowly and grind it up. I have actually run out of bags to put the sand in so need to find some quick. Looks like its a shopping trip and a carrier bag jacking!!

Mar 5th - Mar 26th

I hit 140lbs today! I have actually been busy so not lifted everyday but the goal was 140 and i got it so happy with that. The only movement i am doing now is the clean and press. This is because im getting quickly overtrained if i do the Milo movements everyday and then also do my other lifting as well. But the clean and press is still a struggle and works me quite well.

Im going to reduce the weight increments to only 1lb. And just add the sand in loose rather than tied up in a bag. I want to see if this has any bearing on the balance of the sandbag. I have come to notice my bag is heavier to one side and this is due to the small 2lb bags ending up in one side of the bag. Loose sand would be more evenly and flow more freely. So i may have to undone all the bags. Not a job im looking forward to. But it will help lifting overhead the weight so both shoulders are working more evenly.

I got to thinking about how Milo would of lifted his calf. Now i have seen articles that try to determine this but what i have found is that they give you a workout program. I doubt Milo did a workout with his calf and in all honsety the bear basic idea is to pick up weight on a regular basis and add weight. In Milos case it was everyday, thats if the calf put weight on everyday.

So how did Milo pick his calf up? Well i think when it was small and a baby he would just pick it up, maybe with one hand. As it got bigger his lifting style would of changed. As it got heavier he would of have to squat down and then bear hug it and front squat it up. Maybe then he moved it around his shoulders to place it across his neck from behind or he may of shouldered it and then walked with it. Now as the calf become a cow and the cow getting use to Milo, i think the cow would of mounted itself onto one shoulder of Milo as he bent down in a front squat position. Then As Milos stood up the cow would of wrestled its way across his shoulders.

So my thinking was Milo would of done a front squat or a back squat starting from the bottom position then he would of squatted up with the cow on his shoulder or shoulders and then walked. I doubt he would of deadlifted the cow from the bottom position as it looks far to much like a front squat as the cow would not be a dead weight that was that close to the floor, im talking shin height. In fact maybe the cow, which can stand 5'9, was at a hieght just below or at the height of a bottom position front and back squat.

So i think i may now just do bottom position front squat and back squat then walk with the sandbag. But there is nothing wrong with picking the bag off the floor, upto your chest and then doing a front squat and walking with it. But i have noticed that if you are in the bottom position of the squat and have the sandbag on your shoulders, standing up is the most difficult part but after you have got up, it is possible to walk for a long time. You can walk with a weight on your shoulders longer than when its held in a bear hug fashion in front of you. So it gets me thinking again, may that how Milo manged to walk so far with his calf and it was weight + front squatting/back squatting + duration of his walk that equalled his strength gains. Its something to ponder when the mood takes me.

But i have found a pic of a strongman by the name of H.E.Mann and by the looks of it he did manage to lift a cow so its not impossible.

and i dont know who this strongman is but he's in a suit and thats an elephant!!!

Strongmen back in the day had such a simple idea of lifting back then. See it, lift it end of story!

March 22nd - May 21st

I reached 220lbs, (100kgs). But i hurt my achillies tendon from walking as part of a dropping fat and leaning up for summer. So i didnt walk with the sandbag but lifted it off a bench, which was about knee height. So im going to stick with this weight for awhile untill i heal up and am able to walk with the weight again.

Walking ith a weight does make you stronger and is well worth the effort. Milo must of be able to shoulder the weight and move it around and walk with it on his shoulders rather than holding it in front of him. So i think the cow or bull would see Milo coming and naturally climb onto his shoulders. So i would have to find a height thats about the same height as a standing cow/bull. And then i should be able to shoulder it easily which will allow me to carry the weight much more easily. Or i could go back to lifting it off the floor and trying to press it up onto the shoulders. Either way this experiment is going well.

There has been times when i have missed workouts because i have been over trained but i think if you did just what Milo did then you would quite easily grow and be able to maintain a 2lb increase everyday. As you can see i reached 220lbs and have increased the weight by more than 2lb a day. well thats because i hit 200lbs last Wednesday before i hurt my tendons so i just threw in the extra 20lbs of sand today because i thought i would use the time to lift the weight and get use to the load and when i can walk it will be less stressful.

11th Augst 2012

The experiment has come to an end. Not by choice but because of life and emotional stress. But i did mange to reach 100kg (220lb) sandbag Clean & Press. So i know this works. But there are some things that i would do differently and which need thinking about, such as the at which height the sandbag is to be lifted from. As Milo wouldnt of lifted the cow off the floor as it would of been more of a bottom poistion squat. So maybe using bottom postion squats is the answer but walking would be a major problem, so maybe a strongman yoke would be ideal.

But anyways im going to start again in a few months after things settle down in my life.