Sunday, September 21, 2025

 

POEM: HIDE ME MAYARI

BY DONOVAN BALDWIN


MAYARI
Hide me in your heart, dear,

From those two cruel, and, 

Endlessly encroaching beasts,

The brothers, age and time.


Protect me in your warm arms,

Hold me tightly to your breast,

So, when time comes and I leave,

Some part of me may stay with you.


Lock my memory deep within,

Some secret place which only,

May be visited by you, and,

A god who loves lost poets.


Sing my songs, sweet Mayari,

Charming goddess of the Moon,

And write my name forever,

With silver lines upon the sea.


O, you wondrous one,

Who came into my life so late,

Know you turned back time,

With your gift of youth to age.


-----


Mayri is a goddess, or demigoddess, associated with the moon in Phillippine mythology.


If you liked this poem by Donovan Baldwin, you might enjoy his poem Rain Beats Rhythms On Your skin



Saturday, September 20, 2025

 

ESSAY - WE PUT OUR PANTS ON ONE LEG AT A TIME

BY DONOVAN BALDWIN

Strange, some of the revelations we encounter in life, especially in our youth.

Years ago, a new accountant, I was a fiscal consultant for a regional office of the Florida State Department of Education. One of our duties was, as a team, to regularly visit the school districts in our region, reviewing existing programs, evaluating them, and offering guidance based on our reviews.

The teams included administrative experts, educational experts, program experts, and fiscal experts. On many occasions the regional director himself would be part of the team.

One of the first visits I went on was headed by a new regional director, a very powerful and experienced man, who knew, and was known by, many high-level people in Florida AND in the United States government.

I, being a young accountant, was a bit in awe after all I had heard about him, and after having seen first hand his take charge attitude and ability to cut through the... er... fog.

Our visit was going to last a couple of days and we were put up in a local motel. The director told us to meet in his room for a briefing after dinner.

I was a bit shocked when I entered his room to find the normally immaculately dressed and coiffed leader, sitting in t-shirt and boxer shorts, sipping Jack Daniels. However, despite appearances, and the shock to my naive system, he was still the man in charge, thinking fast and offering clear and distinct guidance and leading the discussion.

"We all put our pants on one leg at a time," never meant as much to me, as that image of the powerful man, being human and exercising his expertise full tilt, in his underwear in a tiny motel room, as he sipped Jack Daniels.

------
Like this essay? You might want to read Chesterton On Getting Out Of Savagery

Labels: , , ,


Thursday, September 18, 2025

 

ESSAY - CHESTERTON ON GETTING OUT OF SAVAGERY

BY DONOVAN BALDWIN

Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Gilbert K. Chesterton points out in one of his essays, "A Meditation In A New York Hotel", that getting OUT of savagery is not the same as getting INTO civilization. My metaphor being that leaving New York is NOT getting into California, no matter how fast the plane, or how short the route taken.


It often takes time to get from point A to point B in a lot of things.

One problem I often see in the world is that many people expect something equivalent to the Star Trek transporter when making choices and, especially, when introducing change.

An introduced change in choices and actions often only produces subsequent marginal, or incremental changes, often nearly invisible, in results or outcomes.

However, often these marginal or incremental steps are also cumulative, and, over time, produce something much larger and more lasting than can initially be seen.

In fact, many of these outcomes, at first, can only be imagined, and, the purpose of motivation is to keep us seeing that ultimate, visible outcome. Simply glancing off in the distance once and saying, "Yep, going there...", is usually not enough. We have to keep respotting the goal and reminding ourselves of the purpose of the effort.

Yes, what we do today, even if savages, genuinely or metaphorically, may not move us far from savagery, but, it can move us closer to civilization, or salvation, or, at least... something better than we are now.

So, perhaps, as some say, it IS NOT the destination that's as important as the journey.

We have to travel together. Let's travel as friends.

-----

Like this essay by Donovan Baldwin? You might also enjoy In The Agony Of My Ecstasy.

Labels: , ,


Monday, September 15, 2025

 

ARTICLE: IS IT BETTER TO DO ISOMETRIC EXERCISES BEFORE OR AFTER RESISTANCE OR STRENGTH TRAINING?

The decision of whether to perform isometric exercises before or after resistance training depends on your specific goals. There are benefits to both approaches.

Doing Isometrics Before Resistance Training

Using isometric holds as part of your warm-up can be beneficial for:

  • Muscle Activation: Isometric exercises can "wake up" the nervous system and prime your muscles for the dynamic movements to come.1 This can improve the mind-muscle connection and lead to better performance during your main lifts.

  • Strengthening Sticking Points: If you have a specific point in a lift where you consistently fail (a "sticking point"), performing an isometric hold at that joint angle before your working sets can help you build strength and stability precisely where you need it most.

  • Injury Prevention: By focusing on stability and control without movement, you can warm up the muscles that help stabilize your joints, potentially reducing the risk of injury.2 This is particularly useful for people with existing joint issues or those recovering from an injury.3

Doing Isometrics After Resistance Training

Incorporating isometric holds at the end of your workout can be effective for:

  • Increasing Time Under Tension: Holding a static position after your dynamic reps can push the muscle to fatigue, promoting muscle growth (hypertrophy).4 This is a great way to add intensity to your workout without increasing the weight.

  • Pre-Exhausting Muscles: You can use an isometric hold to pre-fatigue a muscle group before a dynamic exercise.5 For example, doing a wall sit before a set of squats can force your legs to work harder during the squats, leading to greater muscle activation.

  • Improving Muscular Endurance: Holding a position for an extended period, such as a plank or wall sit, trains your muscles to sustain force over time, which directly improves muscular endurance.6

  • Joint and Tendon Health: Isometric contractions can be beneficial for strengthening tendons and improving joint health without the impact and stress of dynamic movements.7 This can be a smart way to work on a specific area without causing further irritation.

Summary

There is no single "right" answer. The ideal time to perform isometric exercises is highly dependent on your goals for that specific workout.

  • For strength and performance: Consider using high-intensity, short-duration isometrics before your main lifts to improve neuromuscular activation and overcome sticking points.

  • For muscle growth (hypertrophy) and endurance: Use longer-duration isometric holds at the end of your workout to increase time under tension and exhaust the muscles.

You can also integrate them within your resistance training sets, for example, by adding a pause at a key point in a squat or bench press.8 This can provide the benefits of both worlds.

-----

Was this article interesting? Click here for more information about strength training.

Labels: , , , , , ,


This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?