novicemeathead

[novicemeathead]

Accents 101

So if you’re a dm like me, you probably want to be relatively skilled in some typical fantasy accents for your game to make things feel that much more real. So i’ve decided to throw together a little master post of “how to” videos on some various accents. This is mostly for my own reference, but if you’d like to save this for yourself too, go right ahead. Feel free to add on to this, as well!

General Accent Tips

How To Learn Any Accent (1)

How To Learn Any Accent (2)

How To Do 12 Different Accents

US/UK/Aussie English Vocabulary Differences

One Woman, 17 British Accents

How To Lose Your Native Accent

How To Learn A Different Accent

Fun Tour of American Accents

Scottish

Scottish In Under 2 Minutes

How to Speak With A Scottish Accent

HOW TO DO A SCOTTISH ACCENT

Speaking Scottish 101

Scottish Slang

Gerard Butler Teaches You Scottish Slang

Scottish Insults

English or “British”

How To Do A British Accent

3 Ways to Sound More British

HOW TO DO A BRITISH ACCENT CONVINCINGLY (1)

HOW TO DO A BRITISH ACCENT CONVINCINGLY (2)

HOW TO DO A BRITISH ACCENT CONVINCINGLY (3)

Henry Cavill and Simon Pegg Teach You English Slang 

French

How To Speak With A French Accent 

How To Do A French Accent In UNDER TWO MINUTES

Tips on how to do a French Accent

French Accent Tip

Irish

How to do an Irish Accent

How To Do An Irish Accent

How To Do An Irish Accent

Guide to Irish Accents

How To Do An Irish Accent In UNDER TWO MINUTES

Russian

How To Speak With A Russian Accent 

How to Do a Russian Accent | Accent Training

How to speak with a Russian Accent

How Russians Speak English

How To Do A Russian Accent 

German

How To Have A German Accent 

How to do a GERMAN ACCENT?

Get the Perfect German ACCENT

Me speaking in 12 GERMAN DIALECTS!

How To Do A German Accent

5 Steps to a perfect German Accent

Canadian

How To Do A Canadian Accent

All aboot Canadian accents

How To Speak Canadian, Without Knowing How!!

Is There A Canadian Accent?

The Canadian English Accent

[novicemeathead]

Just saw this on Twitter. An awesome idea for players who are stuck and for DMs to foster more involvement from your party in the world. @probablynpcrpgideas

[novicemeathead]

Saving for later.

How to Draw Female Face by Loish

[novicemeathead]

Things went well. I keep having to remove my ego from the situation. The goal isn't to lift heavy weight right now. The goal is to build up work capacity and maintains a base while I slowly drop weight. That way when it's time for heavy weights, I'll be ready for it.

[novicemeathead]

It's been a while since I've been really consistent with my training. This was a good workout. I'm definitely out of shape, but I'm looking at this as a fresh start. Here's hoping this is the start of me getting back to where I was and beyond.

[novicemeathead]

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A post shared by Dennis Guinn (@izzyguinn)

This is a single at 365. Not a true max. I would guess this is about 90% of what I could do right now. I did these after squats, so I didn't want to push too hard. Just wanted to get a feel for the weight. #deadlift #powerlifting #strength #hookgrip

[novicemeathead]

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A post shared by Dennis Guinn (@izzyguinn)

This the last two reps of 315x3. I could have gone 10-15 lbs heavier, but this was my target tonight, so I stopped here. #squats #powerlifting #strength

[novicemeathead]

The aftermath of supersetting leg extensions and hamstring curls. But not just leg extensions and hamstring curls. A superset that I ended with four drop sets each... And then did partial reps to failure... And did I mention these were #occlusion sets? After lying on the floor for several minutes waiting to regain control of my legs, I was able to get pic of the ridiculous #pump. #strength #hypertrophy #legday #swole (at Bodies-N-Motion Fitness Center)

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A post shared by Dennis Guinn (@izzyguinn)

This is the first three reps of my fifth set of five with 245. I could have used a little more weight, but I wanted to start off light to leave me room to grow. #powerlifting #5x5 #squat #strength (at Bodies-N-Motion Fitness Center)

[novicemeathead]

Tired from work? Don't feel like heading to the gym? Muscle Pharm has the answer. #preworkout #assault #strength

[novicemeathead]

Speed Squats

I got up this morning for a workout that I really didn't want to do. Then I took my pre-workout. Problem=solved. Speed Squats: 45x2x8, 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 225x8x2. These were just done with straight weight. This is about 65% of my last meet max. I decided to use straight weight because my form has been off for a while, and I wanted to be able to drill my technique without the bands changing the feel of the lift. I felt like I was all over the place for the first several sets, but things started feeling better by the end. Front Squat: 185x4x3. These felt alright. Next time I do these I'm going to up the weight a little. I think. Maybe. Leg Press: 365x4x10, 315x5, 225x8, 135x10. The last four sets were done as a drop set. Legs were fried after this. Normally I would do some back work and some abs, but I started feeling a little sick and shaky after this. I attribute it to not eating very well yesterday. It's alright, though. I still got some good work in. Tomorrow is a volume bench day. Stay tuned.

[novicemeathead]

Volume Lower and ME Bench

Monday I did a big leg and back day. I forgot to log it as I went, so this is what I did to the best of my recollection. Romanian Deadlift: 45x2x10, 135x10, 225x10, 245x3x10. Barbell Rows: 135x5, 185x5, 205x5x5. Meadows Rows: 90x3x10. Got a great pump from these. Wide Grip Cable Rows: 130x3x12 Pull-throughs: 150x3x12 Standing Abs: 140x3x10 Great workout. I was totally spent afterwards. Today I at 5:30, I went in for a ME bench session. Close Grip Bench: 45x2x10, 95x8, 135x3, 155x2, 185x1, 195x1, 200x1. The last two were touch and go, but that's still a PR. Swiss Bar Overhead Press: 85x5, 95x4x5. Wide Grip Pull-ups: 8,8,5. I sis these without thinking about it. I was supposed to do these tomorrow. Oh well. Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 45x3x8, 45x5,2. That last set was rest pause. Incline Cable Crossover: 25x12, 30x2x12 Cable Rear Delt Raise: 20x3x15 I was done after this. It was a great workout, overall. Feeling swole. Now it's time to get home and get ready for work.

[novicemeathead]

Up before the sun, just putting in the work. #earlybird #strength #powerlifting (at Bodies-N-Motion Fitness Center)

[novicemeathead]

ME Squats and DE Bench

I forgot to post my logs from my last two training sessions, and since I have another scheduled for tonight, I thought I'd get this done before I got too far behind.

ME Squat 6/11/14

Squat:  45x2x8, 135x5, 225x3, 275x1, 315x1, 335x2x1.  This was done with a belt and knee sleeves.  It felt heavier than I would like, but I haven't squatted at all since the last meet, so I guess that's to be expected.

Front Squat:  135x5, 185x4x3.  I was going to do sets of 5, but I didn't have it in me after the heavy squats.

Leg Press:  315x10, 365x3x10.  I focused on contracting my quads.  

Lying Hamstring Curls s/s Leg Extensions:  110x3x12, 90x8, 70x8 / 100x3x12, 80x6, 60x4.  These were superset, with the last set of each being a drop set.

Wide-grip Pull-ups:  8, 6, 5.  I'll do these earlier in the workout next time so I'm not as fatigued.

Lat Pulldown:  100x3x10.

X Cable Lat Flys:  20x12, 30x12, 40x12.  I just made that name up because I'm not sure what these are called.  I set the cable handles at the top position, grabbed the left cable with my right hand, the right cable with my left hand and got down on both knees so the cables crossed over my head.  Then, with my arms straight, I pulled my arms from straight up over my head to down at an angle by my sides, making sure to contract my lats.  I don't know that I'm going to keep this movement in rotation right now.  I like it, but I think there are probably better choices I could make.  

DE Bench 6/13/14

Bench Press:  45x2x8, (added monster-mini band stretched under bench) 50x8, 70x5, 100x3, 120x9x3.  The weight listed does not include band tension.  I used narrow, medium, and wide grips for this.  Everything felt fine.  Maybe a little heavy, but it all moved well.

4-Board Press:  185x5x5.  These felt a little easy.  I'll  probably up the weight next time.

IPL Incline Press:  110x8, 130x8,8,6.  

Dumbbell Side Lateral:  20x3x12

Cable Crossover:  40x12, 45x12,11

Shoulder Destroyer:  This is heavy lateral swings in the bottom end of the RoM (40x30), light lateral raises in the top end (10x10), and partial shoulder presses (10x10) done as one giant set. I did two sets of this.

Rope Triceps Extensions:  90x15, 95x2x15. 

I did more shoulder volume than I planned on for this day.  My shoulders are my biggest weakness, though, so I thought some extra work wouldn't hurt.  

And that was it for last week.  Today I'll be doing volume work for my lower body and back.  Should be fun.

[novicemeathead]

Who has two thumbs and a crazy shoulder pump? This guy. #strength #powerlifting #hypertrophy #operationbouldershoulders (at Bodies-N-Motion Fitness Center)

[novicemeathead]

Rep Effort Upper 6/9/14

Yesterday started week two of my current program.  It was a volume chest/shoulder day.  Here's how it went.

Incline Bench Press:  45x10, 95x8, 135x8, 155x4x5.  I played around with the grip some on these.  I ended up doing most of them with a competition grip.  I also realize sets of five isn't really high volume for a lot of people, but it is for me.  I'm used to just doing singles on my main lift, so sets of five is killer.  I'm also using enough volume on my accessory work that I don't feel the need to do multiple sets of 10 on my main movement.

Swiss Bar Overhead Press:  35x8, 85x5x5.  Again, I played with my grip on these.  I started with the middle handle, but ended up using the wide handles.  That was the grip that was easiest on my shoulder.

IPL Incline Press:  110x3x10

IPL Side Chest Press: 25x2x12.  I would normally have done another set of these, but Kathryne had called and was wanting me to come home.  I opted to skip some of the chest work in favor of more shoulder work.

Dumbbell Lateral Raises:  25x10, 20x2x10.  I tried something new with these.  According to Stevey P. of Iron Sport fame, letting your wrist hang while you do laterals will lead to greater recruitment of the deltoid.  It's hard to say for sure, but I think I could feel a difference.

Cable Lateral Raise:  20x3x12.  These were also done with the limp wrist technique.  I also hung onto the cable station and leaned my body out away from the weight stack to increase the RoM of the movement.  

After this, I was done.  I was planning on another chest exercise, and another shoulder exercise, but life happens.  I actually had a little pump in my shoulders, which is hard for me to achieve.  We'll see if I get sore.  I never manage to make my shoulders sore.  I've got my fingers crossed.

[novicemeathead]

Giant Post Incoming

Well, it's been two or three months since I last posted a training log.  Not sure why.  I just never got around to it.  So first things first; here's a quick overview of what I've been up to.

I competed on May 17 in the NASA Tennessee State Championships.  It did not go well.  I went 4 for 9, and not a PR was set that day.  Not by me at least.  Several other lifters had a great day, and there were some big numbers going up.  

I only had about 8 weeks to train for that meet, and I experimented with more of a linear progression type program.  I just used the squat, bench, and deadlift as my main lifts, and tried to increase the intensity each week.  I felt like the training went alright, even though the result at the meet wasn't fantastic.  There were a few problems that cropped up, though.

I got bored.  I missed the variety that Westside training offers.  

It was probably no coincidence that I developed a bad habit of my hips coming up too fast in the squat and having to good morning the weight up during this cycle.  I never used to do that when I was rotating in box squats and SSB squats.  

I feel like the lack of speed work hurt me.  All my lifts started feeling sluggish.  

I'm just lacking muscle.  That's not necessarily a problem with the program I used, but it is a problem.  I won't say that I'm small, because at 200lbs I'm not really a little guy anymore, but too much of that weight is fat.  I need to try to change my body composition so that I'm still near 200lbs, but with a lot more lean mass to show for it.  You can't flex fat.

All that brings me to my current training.  There's talk of another NASA meet in the fall, so I need to be ready to redeem myself when that comes around.  I would go back to westside, but I'm playing coed softball this summer, and I don't feel that I would be able to adequately recover form training four days a week plus softball.  So I've come up with a hybrid program that should address all of my current issues.

It's loosely based on the concept of the Cube Method.  I say loosely because I've never actually read the Cube Method manual, so I don't know the specifics of the program.  I do know, however, that the basis is that you rotate your lifts through the Max Effort, Dynamic Effort, and Repetition Effort methods throughout the week, and you have an extra "bodybuilding day" for building some extra muscle and working on your weaknesses.

Here's my variation of that.  It's built around an 8-day week.  Monday is Repetition Effort, Wednesday is Max Effort, and Friday is Dynamic Effort.  The bodybuilding day is gone.  Most of my accessory work will focus on hypertrophy principles to increase muscle mass.  The reason it's an 8-day week is that I'll have four workouts: Bench/Chest/Triceps, Squat/Legs (quad emphasis)/Back, Bench/Chest/Shoulders, Deadlift/Back/Legs (hamstring/glute emphasis).  The whole system works around a four week cycle.  Here's an example.

Week 1

Monday - Volume - Squat/Legs (quad emphasis)/Back

Wednesday - Max Effort - Bench/Chest/Triceps

Friday - Dynamic Effort - Deadlift/Back/Legs (hamstring/glute emphasis)

Week 2

Monday - Volume - Bench/Chest/Shoulders

Wednesday - Max Effort - Squat/Legs (quad emphasis)/Back

Friday - Dynamic Effort - Bench/Chest/Triceps

Week 3

Monday - Volume - Deadlift/Back/Legs (hamstrings/glute emphasis)

Wednesday - Max Effort- Bench/Chest/Shoulders

Friday - Dynamic Effort - Squat/Legs (quad emphasis)/Back

Week 4

Monday - Volume - Bench/Chest/Tris

Wednesday - Max Effort - Deadlift/Back/Legs (hamstring/glute emphasis)

Friday - Dynamic Effort - Bench/Chest/ Shoulders

My main movements will change depending on the day.  For example, I'll use Front Squats on Monday for volume, and SSB Squats on Wednesday for Max Effort Work.  Supplemental lifts will stay the same regardless of the day, and will be used for the full four weeks before being rotated out, eg. if I choose close grip 4-board press on bench days to hit build my triceps, I'll do that as my supplemental work regardless of the whether it was a volume day, heavy day, or speed day.  Accessory movements will stay in rotation for as long as I feel they are working (up to about 8 weeks) or until I get bored with them.  

I only lift heavy once a week.  I only bench heavy every other week.  I  only squat and deadlift heavy once every four weeks.  Of course when I say heavy I'm talking true max effort stuff.  I'll still be going relatively heavy on volume days.  Somewhere in the 80% range for sets of 5-8.  Theoretically this program has all the parts required to build strength, add muscle, and increase my speed while allowing me ample time to recover.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it works.

Now that all that's out of the way, here's my training for the week, following the template above.

Monday - 6/2/14 Volume Squat/Legs/Back

Front Squat:  45x2x8, 95x8, 135x5, 185x8,5,5,4.  I should have just stuck with sets of five on this.  Next time I'll know better.

Leg Press:  225x10, 315x10, 365x2x10.  Not sure how I felt about these.  I may switch them out for something else.  

Lying Hamstring Curls s/s Leg Extensions: 110x12,12,12,9,6 / 100x12,12,9,7,4.  The last set of each was a drop set.

Lat Pulldown: 100x12, 120x2x12.  I may trade these out for pull-ups.

Straight Arm Pulldown: 55x15, 45x2x15.  Started out a little too heavy.  

Wednesday 6/4/14 Max Effort Bench/Chest/Triceps

Close-Grip Bench:  45x2x10, 95x8, 135x3, 155x2, 185x1, 195x1, 205x0.  I had Kathryne there spotting me on 205.  I was sure I would get it, but I couldn't lock it out.  

Close-Grip Board Press:  3-board 225x1, 4-board 185x5, 195x5,5,5,4.  These things lit my triceps up.  It took me a few sets to find the right weight, but I got it.

Isolateral Plate Loaded Incline Press:  50x10, 90x10, 140x7, 110x8.  Again, I'm having to play around with these movements to find the right weight.  (Also, form this point on, anything that starts with Isolateral Plate Loaded will be abbreviated as IPL.)

IPL Incline Side Chest Press:  25x3x12

Cable Crossover:  30x15, 40x2x15

Rolling Triceps Extensions:  30x3x12

Rope Triceps Extensions:  90x3x15

I had a huge pump in my chest and shoulders after all this.

Saturday 6/7/14 Dynamic Effort Deadlift/Back/Legs

Deadlift: 45x8, 135x5, (added short mini bands; about 50lbs of tensions) 135x3, 185x3, 225x8x2.  These all moved well.  It was about 275 at the top, which is 68% of my max.

Barbell Row:  135x8, 185x5, 205x4x5. Used straps for this.

Romanian Deadlift:  225x3x8.  Used straps for this as well.  Kept each rep slow and controlled.  I focused on getting a good stretch and then contracting my hamstrings and glutes to stand up.

Meadows Rows s/s Standing Abs:  90x2x10 / 140x2x10.  

That was it for this session.  I was going to do some high rep inverted rows, but I just didn't have the energy.  It's fine though.  As I type this, my hamstrings and upper back are sore, so I think I got plenty of work in.  

And that's it.  My first week into this program.  I'll try to keep this log up again.  Mainly for my benefit.  If this works, I want to be able to look back and see exactly what I did.