Sunday Sendoff #51: Rest

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Brickwall's Sunday Sendoff

I’ll be honest, I’m not naturally good at resting.

My default setting is action.

Train. Work. Write. Run. Build. Push.

If there’s something to do, I generally want to be doing it.

Lately, I’ve had my foot on the accelerator pretty hard.

And while there’s certainly a time for that, I’ve been reminded of something important:

Rest is necessary.

Not optional.

Necessary.

The funny thing about rest is that you can choose it willingly, or eventually your body, mind, or circumstances will choose it for you.

You can take a day off.

Or exhaustion will take one for you.

You can slow down for a weekend.

Or burnout will slow you down for much longer.

That’s why rest isn’t laziness.

It’s maintenance. It’s recovery. It’s preparation for the next push.

So if you’ve been grinding lately, give yourself permission to ease off the gas for a moment.

Take a day. Take a couple days.

Read a book. Take a nap. Go for a walk. Sit on the patio.

Tag in your inner Zen Slacker.

The work will still be there when you get back.

And when the tank is full again? When your energy returns? When the fire starts burning hot?

Push that accelerator down.

Build. Create. Train. Work. Go after it.

Just remember that even the hardest workers need a pit stop once in a while.

Guiding Principle

Take your rest, or it’ll take you.

Something to Ponder

When was the last time you truly rested? And what hobbies, interests, or simple pleasures have you been neglecting while you’ve been busy pushing?

See You In the Arena

This week is just about over. Next week is just about here. Let’s keep building.

Brick by brick.

Open, Hyphenated, and Closed

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I find the written word fascinating.

One aspect I’ve always found oddly interesting is compound nouns—specifically, whether they should be written open, hyphenated, or closed.

For example:

Kettlebell

Should it be:

  • Kettle bell
  • Kettle-bell
  • Kettlebell

Definitely kettlebell.

“Kettle bell” sounds like a bell that belongs to your kettle. “Kettle-bell” could work, but it just doesn’t look right to me.

Kettlebell wins.

And thankfully, the dictionary agrees.

It’s the same with words like:

  • Barbell
  • Dumbbell
  • Longboard
  • Skateboard

They’ve become such specific objects that separating the words almost weakens their meaning.

Another example:

Pull-up

Should it be:

  • Pull up
  • Pull-up
  • Pullup

I vote for pull-up.

“Pull up” feels too broad. It could mean pulling up a chair, pulling up weeds, pulling up a webpage, or pulling up to a stoplight.

A pull-up, however, is a very specific exercise.

The closed version, “pullup,” isn’t completely unreasonable, but it looks strange to me. Like it belongs in a completely different category of words.

So once again:

Pull-up wins.

The dictionary backs me up on this one, too.

The same goes for:

  • Push-up
  • Chin-up
  • Sit-up

Now let’s go the other direction.

Consider:

Peanut butter

Should it be:

  • Peanut butter
  • Peanut-butter
  • Peanutbutter

Only peanut butter looks right.

Even though it’s a specific thing, the open form somehow remains the most readable and natural.

The same applies to:

  • Coffee mug
  • Ice cream
  • Jumping jack
  • Swimming pool

And that’s where things get interesting.

There doesn’t seem to be a perfectly logical system that explains every compound noun.

Some become closed. Some stay hyphenated. Some remain open forever.

Language seems to decide collectively over time.

My theory?

The best version is usually the one that conveys meaning clearly, is easy to read, and simply looks right on the page.

Not a very scientific conclusion, I know.

But when it comes to compound nouns, sometimes aesthetics matter.

At the end of the day, I think you just have to take them on a word-by-word basis.

How to Learn to Love Leg Day…and Build T-Rex Legs

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How to Learn to Love Leg Day…and Build T-Rex Legs

I’ll admit it: in the past, legs were not always my favorite thing to train.

And I’ll admit something even worse…

There was a distant era where I may have even skipped leg day entirely. 🤣

Like most guys, I loved upper body training—especially arms. Honestly? I still prefer upper body work.

But over time, I completely changed my mindset about training legs.

Great Legs Look Incredible

This is the first thing I realized.

A muscular upper body matters, of course. Most guys want broad shoulders, a strong chest, thick arms, and a powerful back.

But muscular legs add another dimension to your physique.

They give you the look of a serious athlete. You notice a guy with great legs. You know he trains hard.

And when you combine strong legs with a solid core and upper body? That’s the complete package.

Whether you’re in the gym, at the beach, out hiking, or out with your lady—your legs add to your overall presence.

Beyond Aesthetics

Strong legs also help you in everyday life.

You can move better. Run faster. Carry heavy things easier. Be more athletic. And building stronger legs can help support and protect your knees and hips over time.

Strong legs make you more capable.

The Key? Find Movements You Actually Like

Something that helped me enjoy leg training more was finding movements that actually worked well for me.

I like:

  • Leg extensions
  • Leg curls
  • Hip thrusts
  • Split squats
  • Stiff-leg deadlifts
  • Kettlebell swings
  • Heel raises

Not every exercise works for every person. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach.

But when you find movements you enjoy and can progress on consistently, training becomes much more satisfying.

Example Leg Day

Full Gym:

  • Leg extension — 80 lbs x 12 x 4
  • Leg curl — 70 lbs x 12 x 4

Pro tip: Your strength in the leg curl should be relatively close to your strength in the leg extension. A massive imbalance between the quads and hamstrings can increase injury risk.

  • Barbell hip thrust — 95 lbs x 12 x 4
  • Goblet side lunge — 35 lbs x 12 (each side) x 4
  • Machine heel raise — 100 lbs x 12 x 4

Power finisher:

  • Kettlebell swings — 20 kg (44 lbs) x 10 x 4

Home:

  • Heel-elevated “sissy” squat (heel elevated on weight plate or block of wood) — 60 lbs x 12 x 4
  • Stiff-leg deadlift — 100 lbs x 12 x 4
  • Dumbbell hip thrust (bench, chair, or floor) — 50 lbs x 12 x 4
  • Goblet side lunge — 35 lbs x 12 (each side) x 4
  • Dumbbell heel raise (using a stair, plate, or block) — 100 lbs x 12 x 4

Power finisher:

  • Kettlebell or dumbbell swings — 20 kg (44 lbs) x 10 x 4

How Often Should You Train Legs?

Once a week is perfectly fine if you’re already highly active through running, cycling, hiking, sports, or physical work.

If you really want to bring your legs up? Hammer them twice a week.

Just be careful of overtraining.

Heavy leg training combined with lots of cardio and a physical job can beat your body down fast if recovery isn’t on point.

Believe in the Wheels

Become a believer in leg training, gentlemen.

They’re not just for the ladies. 😆

Give them the attention they deserve, and your physique—and athleticism—will go to another level.

Sunday Sendoff #50: Be Grateful, But Not Complacent

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Brickwall's Sunday Sendoff

You may have a lot.

You may not have much.

Either way, you need to be thankful for what you have.

Because it’s easy to focus on what you don’t have.

To scroll through other people’s lives. To compare. To feel behind. To think life handed somebody else a better deck.

That mindset leads nowhere good.

It breeds resentment. Bitterness. Misery.

But on the flip side, gratitude doesn’t mean complacency.

It doesn’t mean settling. It doesn’t mean shutting off ambition and pretending you don’t want more out of life.

There’s a balance to strike.

You should be able to look around and say:

“Yeah, I’m doing pretty good.”

While also saying:

“But I can still do better.”

That’s healthy. That’s growth.

That’s the way we live life.

Be grateful for where you are—while still building toward where you want to go.

Guiding Principle

Be grateful for what you have. But don’t get complacent.

Something to Ponder

What do you already have in your life that you’ve started taking for granted?

See You In the Arena

This week is just about over. Next week is just about here. Let’s keep building.

Brick by brick.

Sonny the Alien: The Tick

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Sonny the Alien

Earth Log Entry #22: Parasite Battle

Sonny, Vanessa, and Chad piled into Sonny’s Tacoma after a tough hike through the woods.

Chad took a swig from his water bottle. “I think I lost part of my soul on that hill.”

Vanessa looked back at him. “It was barely a hill.”

Sonny started the truck. “It was a 10% grade.”

Chad leaned his head back against the seat. “I need electrolytes. And like…three burritos.”

Vanessa laughed. “You say that after every hike.”

Sonny pulled onto the road. “Your body appears physically incapable of moderation.”

Chad scratched his arm absentmindedly. Then froze. “…guys.”

Vanessa looked over. “What?”

Chad pointed slowly at his sleeve. A tiny tick crawled across the fabric.

Vanessa recoiled instantly. “OH MY GOD.”

Sonny glanced at Chad in the back seat. “…what is that?”

Chad looked horrified. “It’s a tick.”

Sonny blinked. “A tiny bloodsucking parasite?”

Vanessa climbed halfway onto the dash. “THROW IT OUT THE WINDOW.”

Chad panicked and flicked it.

Silence.

Vanessa threw up her hands. “DUDE!…now where is it?”

Chad looked around frantically. “I DON’T KNOW.”

Sonny didn’t look away from the road. “We have lost visual confirmation of the parasite.”

Vanessa twisted around in her seat. “CHECK THE FLOOR.”

Chad studied the floor of the truck. “I AM CHECKING THE FLOOR.”

Vanessa handed him a flashlight. “CHECK BETTER.”

Sonny slowed the truck. “This situation has escalated.”

Vanessa looked over wildly. “It’s escalated, alright!”

Chad lifted his feet off the floor. “Bro, if that thing gets on me again I’m jumping out of the truck.”

Sonny pulled into a quiet suburban neighborhood and parked along the curb.

Vanessa looked around nervously. “Why are we stopping?”

Sonny unbuckled his seatbelt. “The parasite must be neutralized.”

He carefully searched around the center console.

Then—

“…ah.” Sonny grabbed a nearby empty sandwich baggie and let the tick crawl onto it.

Chad recoiled. “OH MY GOD.”

Vanessa unbuckled her seatbelt and covered her mouth. “Don’t let it touch me.”

Sonny studied it calmly on the street. “…remarkable.”

Vanessa pointed at him. “Do not call that thing remarkable.”

Sonny rotated the baggie slightly. “It is extremely small. Yet humans fear it immensely.”

Chad looked closer. “Because it literally drinks your blood!”

Sonny nodded slowly. “Blood is evidently a highly effective nutrient source.”

Vanessa looked disgusted. “JUST KILL IT.”

Sonny continued examining it.

Then—

The tick fell off the baggie.

Silence.

Sonny looked down.

Vanessa’s eyes widened. “…Sonny.”

Chad looked to the ground. “WHERE IS IT?”

Sonny scanned the street carefully. “…it has escaped.”

Vanessa put her hand to her forehead. “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”

Chad went back to his seat and buckled his seatbelt. “I’M OUT. I’M DONE.”

Sonny slowly surveyed the neighborhood.

Children rode bikes peacefully down the street. A man watered his lawn. Birds chirped softly.

Sonny folded his arms. “…the blood parasite is now loose within this suburban sector.”

Vanessa stared at him. “You make everything sound worse.”

Chad checked his legs frantically. “I can literally feel them crawling on me.”

Vanessa looked down at herself and brushed her arms. “UGHHH.”

Sonny nodded. “Yes. Psychological destabilization appears highly contagious.”

Chad pointed at him. “You lost the tick!”

Sonny looked genuinely disappointed. “…correct.”

Chad sighed. “…Whatever. Let’s get out of here. I need to shower and scrub my skin off.”

Vanessa put her seatbelt back on and nodded. “Yeah.”

Sonny took out his Earth Log device and began typing.

Today I encountered a small parasite known as a “tick.” The organism feeds on blood and spreads disease. Chad and Vanessa responded with immediate psychological destabilization. The parasite escaped containment and now appears to be operating somewhere within a residential neighborhood. The residents should be prepared for battle.

Bloodywood’s Cover of “Shape of You” Is Absolutely Epic

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There are some songs that feel so locked into their original form that you can’t imagine them becoming anything else.

Then a band grabs them by the throat and turns them into a battlefield soundtrack.

Bloodywood’s cover of Shape of You shouldn’t work.

On paper, it sounds ridiculous.

A massively popular pop song by Ed Sheeran transformed into a crushing blend of metal, Indian folk instrumentation, aggressive vocals, and enough energy to make you want to deadlift a house.

But somehow…it works better than it has any right to.

The original version of “Shape of You” is smooth, catchy, and calculated. It’s built for clubs, radios, playlists, and background music. It’s a great song to sing in the car with your lady.

But Bloodywood’s version takes it somewhere else entirely.

The drums crush. The riffs sound enormous. The vocals erupt. The groove feels heavier—as if the song found the gym.

And that’s what makes great covers interesting.

The best covers don’t imitate.

They transform.

They reveal something hidden inside the original song that nobody else noticed.

That’s exactly what Bloodywood did here.

They took a sleek pop track and exposed the raw rhythmic power buried underneath it.

Honestly, it’s kind of a perfect example of the mindset we need to have.

Take something soft. Forge it under pressure. Keep the core identity intact. But make it bigger. Stronger. More alive.

Not destruction. Evolution.

And somehow, against all odds, “Shape of You” became hardcore gym music. 🤣

The song used to be on Spotify, but now I can only find it on YouTube. Let’s petition to get it EVERYWHERE. 💪

For more metal-pop epic badassery, also check out:

  • XO Tour Llif3 by Fame on Fire
  • I Knew You Were Trouble by We Came as Romans
  • Without Me by Wind Walkers
  • Stay by Belmont
  • Over My Head (Cable Car) by A Day to Remember
  • Call Me Maybe by Upon This Dawning

Remember Why We Do It

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Remember Why We Do It

Photo: Murph, 2023.

Tomorrow, thousands of people will do the workout “Murph”.

Some will do it for fitness. Some for the challenge. Some because their gym programmed it. Some for all three.

But the workout was never really about running, squats, push-ups, and pull-ups.

Memorial Day isn’t about a long weekend, burgers, or sales banners hanging in storefront windows.

It’s about remembering people who gave up every future version of themselves so others could keep living theirs.

That’s hard to comprehend when you really sit with it.

And no, a workout doesn’t compare to war. It shouldn’t. That’s not the point.

The point is that voluntary hardship reminds us to be grateful for the comfort we have.

Running when you’re tired. Picking yourself up for another rep. Finishing something difficult when your body wants to stop.

There’s value in that.

Not because suffering makes you special.

But because discipline builds perspective.

You’re building to carry weight:

For your family.

For your responsibilities.

For your mission.

For the people around you.

The way men like Alan P. Mead built.

So today, remember why we do hard things.

Remember the fallen.

Remember why we build.

And keep building.

Sunday Sendoff #49: Love It (Or Learn to Love It)

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Brickwall's Sunday Sendoff

Lately, I’ve been reading up on Cristiano Ronaldo. The guy has an incredible story, and I love stories like his.

(Seriously. Give him a Google. He came from almost nothing and became one of the greatest soccer players to ever do it—not to mention wealthy and famous beyond belief.)

If you don’t know, Ronaldo is known for his intense training regimen and ripped physique. I like finding inspiration from places you wouldn’t normally expect.

One thing that really struck me was something Lionel Messi said. It was something along the lines of:

Ronaldo trains because he loves it. Messi trains because he has to.

That hit me hard because I realized:

I’m absolutely a Ronaldo in this area of life.

I don’t just love the end result. I love the process.

I love being in the gym banging out sets. I love the feeling of my muscles working. I love seeing what I’m building over time.

I love the lifestyle itself.

I train six—and sometimes seven—days a week. I have home gym equipment and a gym membership. You could say I love training.

I eat plenty of whole foods, protein, and fiber. Do I indulge? For sure. But it’s not an every meal thing.

I prioritize sleep, and do my best to sleep well every night (life sometimes has other plans, but I do the best I can).

You could also say I’m a little crazy. And maybe I am.

But I also believe that’s why I’ve been so successful at this part of my life.

Now, do you have to love it this much to get results?

Not exactly.

I take it further because it’s naturally part of who I am.

But you can also be like Messi. You can train because you have to. You can train for the end result.

And honestly? Sometimes the end result is enough.

It’s not that hard to get results, either.

Almost anyone can find five hours a week for the gym.

Get off social media. Turn off the TV. Cut down the bar nights. Make training convenient.

Almost anyone can make better food choices.

Eat a few more whole foods. Get a little more protein. Eat more fiber. Cut back on some junk.

Almost anyone can improve their sleep.

Go to bed an hour earlier. Shut electronics off before bed. Cut caffeine earlier in the day.

It helps to love it.

But it’s not required.

Here’s the truth:

Some people are obsessive craftsmen. They genuinely love the process. They could train for hours, talk about it endlessly, and happily structure their entire lifestyle around it.

Others are disciplined pragmatists. They may not love every workout, every meal prep session, or every early bedtime—but they love what training gives them.

Both approaches can work.

The end result is ultimately why you do it.

So if you love it? Great.

If you don’t?

That doesn’t mean you stop training.

You just use a different strategy.

Guiding Principle

Whether you’re an obsessive craftsman or a disciplined pragmatist, the work needs to get done.

Something to Ponder

The areas where you’re an obsessive craftsman are probably your strengths. But where are your weaknesses? How could those weak areas improve if you decide to become a disciplined pragmatist in them?

See You In the Arena

This week is just about over. Next week is just about here. Let’s keep building.

Brick by brick.