RANT: R.I.P. Tyrbolift

[Dominik]

Yeah I went for a jog today. Almost 2 km and walked back through another neighborhood.

As early as I get up I'm looking forward to running in the dark. Maybe even start cracking eggs by the glass.

I've been trying to get in as many workouts as possible before they start closing gyms around here.

[GeneralSerpant]

So there was 9 reported cases in my county, and it seems that the last report from 7 to 9 they immediately put a plan into action for the shelter order. Looking into it I read some doctor said he believes that there's way more at the moment, which can mean a couple things, but yeah I'd imagine like 10-15 fold maybe. Really though it's weird wondering how many people actually have it and if the county will reduce it or have to drag it out or something.

[BluntD]

My gym officially closed and I can't even score a packet of chicken from the grocery store. About to be the star of my own personal Falling Down.

[GeneralSerpant]

Good movie. Remember the Burger King scene? Classic.

[Dominik]

My gym officially closed and I can't even score a packet of chicken from the grocery store. About to be the star of my own personal Falling Down.

Stay strong Blunto.

Panic buyers are selfish scum. The crazy thing is everything they're stockpiling is made in this country so it's not like they're going to stop making it. It's now a struggle to buy fresh bread. These fkkers are probably stashing it all in a massive deep freezer as they nervously count down to the end of civilization.

Walked into a store tonight and this was the view. Meat section completely wiped out.

[BluntD]

Stay strong Blunto.

Panic buyers are selfish scum. The crazy thing is everything they're stockpiling is made in this country so it's not like they're going to stop making it. It's now a struggle to buy fresh bread. These fkkers are probably stashing it all in a massive deep freezer as they nervously count down to the end of civilization.

Walked into a store tonight and this was the view. Meat section completely wiped out.

F'ing aholes. That's ridiculous. I finally managed to score some chicken yesterday; of course all the vegetables I needed were completely sold out, go figure. I'm over this.

This is the very definition of #firstworldproblems, considering what some of my friends are going through with their small businesses right now (not to mention those who are sick and, ya know, actually dying)... but man I am depressed about the gym closing. I was on a great roll with training lately; been running the Ortmayer deadlift routine since the beginning of the year, and was two weeks away from wrapping up and testing for a new max. After all my injuries the past few years it's the first time I've really been feeling like my old strong self again, where I legitimately felt on the verge of setting an actual new PR again finally. Now who knows when we'll even get back in there. ARGH

[Orlando1234977]

[Orlando1234977]

My gym officially closed and I can't even score a packet of chicken from the grocery store. About to be the star of my own personal Falling Down.

Say, is taab still alive?

[Orlando1234977]

Panic buyers are selfish scum. The crazy thing is everything they're stockpiling is made in this country so it's not like they're going to stop making it. It's now a struggle to buy fresh bread. These fkkers are probably stashing it all in a massive deep freezer as they nervously count down to the end of civilization.

inb4farley

[Dominik]

inb4farley

I won't lie I laughed but stockpiling in happy times when no one cared is a completely different ballgame to what's going on right now.

This is the very definition of #firstworldproblems, considering what some of my friends are going through with their small businesses right now (not to mention those who are sick and, ya know, actually dying)... but man I am depressed about the gym closing. I was on a great roll with training lately; been running the Ortmayer deadlift routine since the beginning of the year, and was two weeks away from wrapping up and testing for a new max. After all my injuries the past few years it's the first time I've really been feeling like my old strong self again, where I legitimately felt on the verge of setting an actual new PR again finally. Now who knows when we'll even get back in there. ARGH

That's fcked and people will start going crazy in lockdown with nothing to do. I've been going to the gym almost every day doing 2hr plus workouts because I know the doors will be locked soon. Never trained this hard in my life. Already done deadlifts twice this week.

I'm sure I'll be in the same boat shortly and as soon as someone in the gym tests positive they'll pull the pin. My plan is to get a sled and some farmers walk handles so at least I can keep the lower body going and there are quite a few parks around here with dip bars. Anything like that near you?

[VoxExMachina]

I wouldn't sweat the lifting gains too much, boyos. This is an unprecedented event in our lifetime and you just gotta roll with it and adapt. Having to take a break isn't going to set anyone back too far. Yea, maybe miss a PR and have to re-track a bit when things get better, but in the big scheme of things no big deal.

As far as the world situation, it's honestly a wake up call for a lot of people. I've been telling people for years things like supermarkets are only 3 days from running out of stuff if sh!t ever hits the fan, and back in early Feb. was telling them this was going to be different. All I ever get is the "can't happen here" mentality. A month ago they could have sold some stock and bought an extra package of TP, but now they are all running around full potato with their hair on fire.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯



I posted this on Feb. 1st:

The thing is, eventually a black swan event will happen. When it does, the majority of the people will not realize it until well past the point they could have. They always talk about things like grocery stores only having a 3 day stock of food, etc. How are people in Wuhan getting their supplies right now? Or the other urban centers that get shut down? It's not necessarily about the flu itself being the zombie virus, it's about being prepared for things like the government reactions, public panic, etc.

I'm not sure this will ever amount to more than SARS did, for example, but I don't remember so many airlines all stopping service to a major industrialized nation before. Or countries issuing blanket bans on travelers from abroad. The reactions we are seeing seem pretty extreme, which does make you wonder. Again, regardless of the lethality of the virus itself, it is smart to be prepared for how the public will react to the perception of the virus' severity, or what measures the Government might impose.

Cliffs: a little extra rice and toilet paper never hurt anyone.

[GeneralSerpant]

Scott Herman Recommended overtraining leading up to the closures. His video came out after my gym shut down, but yeah I was about ready for a deload.

My plan is to get good at pushups and squats, maybe become more proficient at pistol squats and one-arm pushups.

I have one set of dumbbells and I thought that it's interesting to think of the different ranges of shoulder developments you might achieve if you were stuck with any from a light set to one that's too big for most isolations.

[Dominik]

As far as the world situation, it's honestly a wake up call for a lot of people. I've been telling people for years things like supermarkets are only 3 days from running out of stuff if sh!t ever hits the fan, and back in early Feb. was telling them this was going to be different. All I ever get is the "can't happen here" mentality. A month ago they could have sold some stock and bought an extra package of TP, but now they are all running around full potato with their hair on fire.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Apparently a day's worth of meat in supermarkets here is selling out in two hours. Given that it's all sourced locally what is possessing these morons to buy it like they'll never see it again? The worst part is they're traveling to rural locations to fleece those stores as well so locals get screwed. Horrible behavior. It's a wake up call alright — society has lost the plot.

I did see a positive story yesterday. An ex athlete who owns a gin distillery halted production to produce hand sanitizer in bulk for the local hospitals and sell it to them at cost. That's what we want to see right now. Not people overcome with greed with no consideration for anyone else.

[VoxExMachina]

Apparently a day's worth of meat in supermarkets here is selling out in two hours. Given that it's all sourced locally what is possessing these morons to buy it like they'll never see it again? The worst part is they're traveling to rural locations to fleece those stores as well so locals get screwed. Horrible behavior. It's a wake up call alright — society has lost the plot.

I did see a positive story yesterday. An ex athlete who owns a gin distillery halted production to produce hand sanitizer in bulk for the local hospitals and sell it to them at cost. That's what we want to see right now. Not people overcome with greed with no consideration for anyone else.

The hoarding behavior has been seen time and time again through history. Scarcity breeds fear which breeds hoarding, greed, and price gouging. It's unfortunate behavior, but not unexpected. You have to accept that it's going to happen and be ahead of the curve. Not by hoarding yourself, but by at least stocking up on what you need to a reasonable degree.

The TP thing is funny because it's not like this causes people to crap at anything other than the normal rate (Wall Street brokers excepted). I think what happened is that TP is a bulky item so there are not that many packages on the shelf. So only takes a few gone to make it seem empty then people panic and rush to find some, creating scarcity. Tail wagging the dog.

Then that carries over to other things because people just want to buy stuff to make them feel like something is in their control. As for other stuff like meat or whatever...yeah, it's Soviet Russia out there. Everyone standing in line for a few eggs or a gallon of milk.

[BluntD]

Say, is taab still alive?

We lost touch after he had the little gremlins. Hope he's doing alright.

I'm sure I'll be in the same boat shortly and as soon as someone in the gym tests positive they'll pull the pin. My plan is to get a sled and some farmers walk handles so at least I can keep the lower body going and there are quite a few parks around here with dip bars. Anything like that near you?

Have an "iron gym" at home (the combo pullup\pushup contraption), so that along with some BW squats and Bulgarian split squats using the couch I've been doing some fast-paced, Cross-fit style workouts. Better than nothing I guess. Also doing sprints up and down my stairs which is actually pretty brutal.

I'm just kicking myself because I have a gift-card that I was going use for a cheap barbell set, so I would have something for home use on those days I couldn't make it to the gym...and my lazy ass never got around to getting it.

I wouldn't sweat the lifting gains too much, boyos. This is an unprecedented event in our lifetime and you just gotta roll with it and adapt. Having to take a break isn't going to set anyone back too far. Yea, maybe miss a PR and have to re-track a bit when things get better, but in the big scheme of things no big deal.

Well if there's a positive in all this, it's bringing some of us back to post for a minute again. Good to see you around still, buddy.

[Dominik]

I wouldn't sweat the lifting gains too much, boyos.

Nah fuk it. I took 4 years off so no time to rest these days. Now that I've built up the capacity to train 5 days a week 2 hours plus I'm going to start periodizing my training so I have a few weeks of crazy volume before going back to normal then tapering for some heavy PRs.

This situation just drives home how important it is to have a decent home gym. And make no mistake this has set a precedent and we're going to see more panic in reaction to every new disease that jumps from a wet market in Asia and spreads like wildfire through a connected world. Be prepared for more of this and plan for that #lockdownlife.

Have an "iron gym" at home (the combo pullup\pushup contraption), so that along with some BW squats and Bulgarian split squats using the couch I've been doing some fast-paced, Cross-fit style workouts. Better than nothing I guess. Also doing sprints up and down my stairs which is actually pretty brutal.

Larry Wheels is finding ways to hit PRs outside the gym.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B96yNFbJSSF/

[Dominik]

Just to clarify something in case I sound like some reckless prick talking about the gym when they're closing across the world, I've been training late in an empty gym. The only person I've seen is the cleaner and the odd person on a treadmill 30ft away. I wipe down the equipment with hospital grade disinfectant when I'm done with it and I wash my hands as I always have. I'd consider grocery shopping and lining up at a checkout much higher risk.

For the past 3 weeks I've had no close contact with anyone outside my immediate family. Zero socializing. I pick up meals paid for online and pull over somewhere quiet and eat.

Of course I completely understand why they should be closed right now especially with group classes and training in a crowded area — I'm surprised they're still open. Personally I couldn't take more than 3 weeks off at this stage so if that happens I'll be ordering a barbell and plates and it will be business as usual. I can do deadlifts, rows, and overhead press without a rack. There are parks with dip bars. I've got some adjustable 2" thick Ironmind DB handles and an incline bench. Life will go on.

[Dominik]

Nice setup. I think I'll get one of those Rogue bars. The real money is in those plates.

You're prepared. I never anticipated a situation where all gyms would close. UK just pulled the pin on gyms there. I feel for the smaller gyms that might not reopen if too many members cancel.

[VoxExMachina]

I have a full gym in my basement with squat rack with pulldown and row stack, leg press, calf press, iron master DBs, imcl-decl benches, various bars, attachments, the whole deal.

Ironically, I've been selling some of it off since I'll be moving soon and don't feel like carting it all half way around the country.

[Dominik]

I wouldn't sweat the lifting gains too much, boyos.

I have a full gym in my basement with squat rack with pulldown and row stack, leg press, calf press, iron master DBs, imcl-decl benches, various bars, attachments, the whole deal.

Well there you go. Certainly no cause for panic at Vox HQ.

I've decided to order a Rogue bar, 12 plates, and a couple of fancy collars. I can live without a rack. Adjustable DBs and incline bench will take care of the rest. I'll miss using cables for certain exercises but might consider using resistance bands.

Looking at other countries it's not a question of if but when lockdown will be enforced. Once the new cases stat starts creeping up and hits some magic number that triggers the next level of restrictions the government will act. I don't want to be stuck in a toilet paper situation when it comes to buying training gear.

[im2manly]

I am definitely going to invest in a home gym. Never thought it'd be necessary

[GeneralSerpant]

I am definitely going to invest in a home gym. Never thought it'd be necessary

Cage?

[Dominik]

I am definitely going to invest in a home gym. Never thought it'd be necessary

This thing is going in dry on the economy. The scope of it is difficult to put into words and there's no end in sight. Whether you click on our news site or USA Today it looks the same. The same headlines.

re: buying training equipment when I went to order a Rogue barbell they were all sold out. Right at that moment the PM announced everything "non essential" would close, including gyms, effective midday today and most likely in effect for 6 months, so I had to act fast since every meathead and his dog was buying up bars and plates. Ended up getting a 2" fat bar not many would want which will work my grip harder anyway. Also ordered a stack of plates so at least I can do some heavy RDLs.

I went and did one final workout visiting a couple of gyms and they were empty. I can see on social media members are panicking they'll be charged while gyms are closed showing little regard that these franchises are owned by everyday people who will be in a deep hole if everyone cancels tomorrow.

Anyway my attitude has changed a lot in the past couple of weeks. Extreme isolation measures are necessary to knock this thing on the head and mitigate further economic damage and casualties. The problem right now is shopping for groceries so maybe the stockpilers got it right since they can hide out and live off frozen food. Given there are strict limits of how much you can buy like only two meat products, etc. it means you've got to visit more often which increases the risk of exposure to this and spreading it.

The big fella here sums it up

[GeneralSerpant]

Businesses are allowed to operate with essential staff I thought (operative staff/ maintenance / processing). Supply has a bunch of shocks but I thought commerce was to be generally operative.

Of course it depends on relative area. I'm not even sure if California's general order is consistent with my county's.

[Dominik]

This was Bondi beach in Sydney yesterday. So much for social distancing. Forced the government to act.

[Orlando1234977]

I am definitely going to invest in a home gym. Never thought it'd be necessary

Are you also 100% work from home?

According to my models and simulations (no march madness to tinker with) we are very close to where china was 15 days after the 500th case. Their active cases peaked at day 27 (after the 500th). Since it was unseen to them and they're several times more population dense, there's no reason we can't follow suit at the minimum. Like Mr. Silver told Daniel, extreme situations require extreme measures.

[Dominik]

God this is depressing, isn't it?

Very much so. Life here is probably quite similar to Canada so I'm always interested in how things are being handled over there. Have they closed schools in your area? They're currently leaving them open here which not everyone is pleased with. Taiwan left schools open and got on top of it.

According to my models and simulations (no march madness to tinker with) we are very close to where china was 15 days after the 500th case. Their active cases peaked at day 27 (after the 500th). Since it was unseen to them and they're several times more population dense, there's no reason we can't follow suit at the minimum. Like Mr. Silver told Daniel, extreme situations require extreme measures.

I don't think Americans would be comfortable with the measures China put in place. You're also talking about a communist country which has much greater control over its people and what is being reported. Are you looking at the same numbers I am? New cases reported have surged in the last 15 hours.

[Orlando1234977]

Very much so. Life here is probably quite similar to Canada so I'm always interested in how things are being handled over there. Have they closed schools in your area? They're currently leaving them open here which not everyone is pleased with. Taiwan left schools open and got on top of it.

I don't think Americans would be comfortable with the measures China put in place. You're also talking about a communist country which has much greater control over its people and what is being reported. Are you looking at the same numbers I am? New cases reported have surged in the last 15 hours.

Active cases in china were at 28,985 15~ days after the 500th case. I'm not sure what you're missing.

[Dominik]

Active cases in china were at 28,985 15~ days after the 500th case. I'm not sure what you're missing.

I'm not sure why you'd use how a communist country who can hardly be trusted to accurately report anything as a benchmark for the US. Anyway now is not the time to be arguing anything so disregard my comments. It's not looking good for Spain right now. Almost 400 deaths in the last 15 hours, behind Italy.

Everywhere you look people are hurting whether it's financially or health wise. And by health I don't just mean the virus. This is going to exact a massive psychological toll. The last thing people who suffer from depression need is more social distance. This thing has its tentacles in everything. Give it time and it will impact the crime rate as people become more desperate. Flex summed it up — it's depressing.

[Orlando1234977]

I'm not sure why you'd use how a communist country who can hardly be trusted to accurately report anything as a benchmark for the US. Anyway now is not the time to be arguing anything so disregard my comments. It's not looking good for Spain right now. Almost 400 deaths in the last 15 hours, behind Italy.

Everywhere you look people are hurting whether it's financially or health wise. And by health I don't just mean the virus. This is going to exact a massive psychological toll. The last thing people who suffer from depression need is more social distance. This thing has its tentacles in everything. Give it time and it will impact the crime rate as people become more desperate. Flex summed it up — it's depressing.

As far as the reporting, I thought about that too, especially when seeing such a steep decline curve in active cases after their peek. But I think officials from the world health organization would be all over it if it were grossly misstated.
I'm the last person to boast about communist state, but from a science perspective I think it's helpful to recognize. Especially if we don't get a grip on it anytime soon.