Pistols, Advertising, and the Rodeo

Check out this week's Paleo Rodeo for a ton of Thanksgiving related posts.  Apparently holidays are a problem for everybody - which makes me wonder.

Look over to the right and you'll see a banner for Pro MMA Radio.  You 'll be able to click on it and listen to the most recent show while reading this blog, once we get the code fixed.  It's the best source for MMA analysis, interviews, and discussions that I've come across, and I'm not just saying this now.  I've listened to every episode, I linked to it with the first podcasts I put on this site, and I'm pretty sure I've written this before on this blog.

I get no money from Pro MMA Radio, though I'll apparently end up with my site listed on a page of Broadcast Members on their site, which might direct some traffic my way.  Just so you know I haven't sold out yet (though I'm totally willing to, given the opportunity!)

I'm thinking about setting up Google Adsense and putting up some affiliate type links.  I imagine I could make almost no money by doing so, but maybe it will amount to a non-trivial amount over time (I'm hoping to fund some book or DVD buying or light equipment purchase, not quit my day job).  If anyone has an objection to me enabling ads please let me know, it's more important that I not alienate readers than make a couple of bucks. 

I've been working on pistols and one arm pushups for a while now, on and off, for vanity reasons, and I finally did a sort of unassisted pistol the other day.  I've done various different assisted versions - usually limiting depth by sitting back to a step or short box, then more recently holding onto a doorframe.  There's one tip I'd read about but forgotten for a while, which is to do pistols while holding some kind of weight in your hands out in front of you.  It sounds a little bit crazy, as the more weight you hold the harder it will be for that supporting leg to lift you out of the bottom position, but if your problem is keeping balance in the bottom, meaning you tend to fall backwards at the bottom, then the counterbalance might be enough to enable the pistol.  I tried this with just two five pound dumbells and... voila... pistols accomplished (my butt touched my ankle at the bottom, which as far as I'm concerned is a full range pistol).

Is this a true pistol?  I guess not.  Here's where we get back to the vanity thing, though.  Am I doing pistols to be cool at parties or to improve my leg and hip drive for kicks and such?  If vanity, then all I've done is found another progression to use to work toward "real" pistols.  But I'm not sure that learning to balance in the bottom position has anything to do with improving my strength for kicks.  I might just work on using more weight instead of building up to a naked pistol and see where that takes me.

I got my first spam comment, which for reasons of hubris I don't want to delete (I'll delete spam when the problem gets more serious).  It was a link to the most ridiculous looking ab building device I've ever seen.  Check it out iff you're looking for a good laugh (iff is philosophy-class short for if and only if - I suddenly can't remember if that's common knowledge or not).  I can't even begin to figure out how anyone thinks that rocking around in that thing will build up your abs - where's the resistance coming from?  What's the point?  The nicest thing I can think to say is that while it doesn't seem like it would do anything at all it doesn't seem particularly dangerous either - though I could be wrong about that.

I'm planning a few posts.  I want to talk about rank, contrast bands and dumbells, and discuss some dietary supplements in a little more detail.  If there's anything specific you, the reader, are curious about, let me know by e-mail or comments and I'll see if I can help. 

Osu.