Alright, little freaks, it’s Friday and it’s time to get motivated to crush the weekend. It’s been a big week re: finding new content to share so brace yourself for a fairly long list. The weather in east Tennessee is rainy and windy with the temperatures getting down to the lowest they’ve been in nearly two months. The good news is Sunday is clear which I’ll take as the gods telling me to go ahead and smoke that pork belly and get those trees cut up outside. I’m really hoping to share a homemade bacon post with you next week. Fingers: Crossed.

Anyway, on with the reads.

The Benefits of Being (Slightly) Crazy from Mark Manson
I’ve recently added one of Mark’s books to my to-read list and have frequented his blog for several weeks now. I’d suggest you do the same. While this post has very little, if anything, to do with fitness, it has everything to do with crushing personal goals, no matter what they are. Often people mistake your determination as craziness when in reality you’re just focused. A little bit of obsession can be a good thing — it’s even necessary for crushing your goals.

Is a Calorie Really Just a Calorie? from Eric Cressey
So many people get too caught up in calories. They go from being conscious of them to being extra sensitive to them to being fully afraid of them. Ultimately, I think this sabotages your success but that’s a different post for a different day. There are others I know that accurately track their calories but the calories they track could use a lot of help. What I mean is, if you’re tracking 2,000 calories per day in order to give yourself a certain deficit by the end of the week for weight loss, that’s awesome! Now, where are those calories coming from? If you’re tracking your calories by eating “lighter” fare at Wendy’s, McDonald’s and other fast food choices, will you lose weight? Sure. But what are you doing to your body? Garbage In = Garbage Out they say and that’s true of your body during your weight loss journey. Keep this in mind next time you check MyFitnessPal while you’re in line at Wendy’s.

3 Lessons Every Intermediate Lifter Should Learn from Bodybuilding.com
While my focus is primarily on those that are new to fitness, I’m still there for my meatheads and intermediate fitness freaks. This article addresses the latter and focuses on some topics that should be “no shit” but unfortunately aren’t always. Being comfortable with changing things up as needed and actively learning ways to do so is imperative for progressing. So do it.

Protein Cookies by MuscleTech
Not an article to read, just a product I really want to try. I’m running low on pre-workout and will be making an order soon — these may get accidentally added to my cart.

The 21-Day Kettlebell Challenge by Breaking Muscle (Lauren Brooks)
Kettlebells are something I’ve only recently accepted. I’ve been using them with some of my clients and love how versatile they are. This 21-day program utilizes your choice of snatches or swings to tack on to your existing workout and I’m going to start this next week.

The Kimchi Pork Burger with Spicy Mayo from Son OF a Southern Chef
This burger is out of control. A ground pork burger glazed in honey, rolled in sesame seeds and then topped with kimchi, pickled cucumbers, a sunny-side egg and sriracha mayo? I don’t have “cheat days” but if I did, this would be on the menu.

Genetics Suck by Nia Shanks
There isn’t a lot that gets on my nerves quite like people that use their genetics as an excuse for sucking ass. Our genetics give us the hookup on a lot of awesome stuff but they also bring us down in many ways. Is that where it ends? Fuck no. Nia quotes another author (that I link to below) as saying Strengthen your strengths — Neutralize your weaknesses and I think that’s RAD. We can be crybabies and search for the nearest pity party for our lameness, or we can accept that NO ONE GIVES A SHIT, suck it up and get better, genetics be damned. Yeah — I like the sound of that.

F*** Exercise. Try This Instead. from Stumptuous
I just discovered this site today and there’s a treasure trove of goodness to be uncovered. Krista seems to have a firm grasp on what people hate about fitness and has a genius method for dealing with it. If the word exercise gives you the creeps, give this a read and make a few notes. Warning: the decision to better yourself is still up to you. Your decisions are yours and so are the benefits you reap from them. Just by reading this you’ve gotten off to a good start.

Music to Lift Heavy To

Two jams coming in today for heavy lifting. Both bands are new to me. The Furor are from Australia and their most recent effort Cavalries of the Occult was released last week and I’ve been jamming it all week. A “fun” mix of black, death and thrash.

Next, I listened to this jam from HATE. Polish blackened death metal. Everything about that makes you want to load a bar and pick it up. When you’re done picking up the heavy bar, put it down and then go pick up HATE’s most-recent effort (released today) Tremendum.