mekka okereke 

It's #NFLCombine time so it's time for me to flex on em again.

For those wise enough to ignore football: The #NFL combine is the annual strength, speed, and skill competition that players hoping to be drafted into the NFL compete in.

To test a player's strength, they put 225 lbs on a bar and see how many times they can bench press it.

Here's me doing it 37 times:
https://youtu.be/jmWo3zkISFo

And here's the NFL draft current leaderboard.
https://www.nfl.com/combine/tracker/live-results/bench-press/all-positions/all-colleges/

So far I'm still in 1st place! šŸ†šŸ„‡

Bench press 225 lbs x 37 reps.

YouTube
Mar 4, 2023 at 12:56amWeb
Show threadmekka okereke Mar 4, 2023

The highest paid government employee in almost every state, is the head football coach of a State University.šŸ¤”

The second or third highest paid government employee in almost every state, is a State University football team's strength and conditioning coach.šŸ¤”

Given how much football strength coaches are paid, and how little they know about improving human performance, or even keeping their athletes safe while training, they may be the most overpaid people in the world.

Show threadmekka okereke Mar 4, 2023

These strength and conditioning coaches get paid millions to be bad at making people either stronger or faster, and to hurt kids and pump them full of drugs.

https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/109625703034169419

Football is a silly sport. What's inside your cranium is too valuable to play "big horn ram" with another large person.šŸ

And if you have near death experiences while training? I promise you that you're doing it wrong. You're not getting stronger, and you're not getting faster. You're just being abused.

mekka okereke :verified: (@[email protected])

The issue isn't just that football is a violent sport. Many sports are violent. The issue isn't just that there was an on-field cardiac arrest. Happens. More and more since Covid. People confuse "Omicron doesn't attack the lungs as much" with "Omicron is mild" The issue is the callous indifference that the mostly Black players are handled with The most dangerous form of football in terms of fatalities is college spring football. So called "strength and conditioning" coaches work kids to death

Hachyderm.io
Show threadThe Animal and the MachineMar 4, 2023
Please listen to
@mekkaokereke
ā€œNo pain no gainā€ is a fallacy. Listen to your animal. If it hurts, itā€™s bad for you. This feedback has literally 3.7bn years worth of trial and error development. Donā€™t make the error and especially look after your head!
Show threadPƤr BjƶrklundMar 4, 2023

@taatm @mekkaokereke not entirely afaik? Lactic acid hurts but you can push through it and endurance folks do it.

I'm neither a sports person or a medical professional so I'm open to being extremely wrong on this šŸ˜€

Show threadThe Animal and the MachineMar 4, 2023
@Paxxi @mekkaokereke
I am open to nuance, new science, professional correction and just being wrong. However I heard from a sports professional that for almost everyone, ā€œpain for gainā€ is 1980ā€™s toxic masculinity/macho BS and just plain wrong. Anyone who knows better, so please correct me.
Show threadmekka okereke Mar 4, 2023

@taatm @Paxxi

Define "pain"šŸ™‚

The exercise I did in the video (max reps on bench at a weight where max is ~40) will produce a bunch of lactic acid. My body will eventually process that lactic acid and flush it away. The more I do this type of training, the better my body gets at processing lactic acid. The better my nutrition, and the more hydrated I am, the better I get at flushing this lactic acid.

Coming back into the gym to do this again when I am still very sore, doesn't maximize results

Show threadThe Animal and the MachineMar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke @Paxxi
A proper OUCH!
But I defer to your expertise!
Especially with those reps!
Show threadDarrel PlantMar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke
Interesting if the whole ā€œirreversible damageā€ of the anti-trans panic was applied to high school sports.
Show threadMichael WymanMar 4, 2023

@mekkaokereke 20 years ago I ended up on a flight next to a former Dallas Cowboys lineman, and we got to talking. He said not a day went by where he wasnā€™t in pain and full of regret for all the abuse he put his body through, and that the sport had only gotten worse since he played (heā€™d been out for something like 15 years at that point).

I canā€™t watch football. I donā€™t want to feed the money machine that tries to entice men to that abuse for further profits to owners.

Show threadā°FisherTX14Mar 4, 2023
@mwyman @mekkaokereke
Earl Campbell one of many. I don't watch anymore either.
Show threadChris BoeseMar 4, 2023
@mwyman @mekkaokereke Movie North Dallas Forty came out many moons ago
Show threadklausfiend has movedMar 4, 2023
@mwyman @mekkaokereke ironically, the fact that these folks have short, punishing careers is one of the reasons I'm not fussed by the salaries they get, because they've all got incredibly limited shelf life ... as opposed to C-suite ilk who get paid wayyyyyyy too much money for the entirety of their 30-40 year careers.
Show threadmekka okereke Mar 4, 2023

@klausfiend @mwyman

But they don't even get paid that much.

The 5-year median earnings for a silicon valley software engineer, is more than the 5-year median earnings for an NFL player. šŸ˜¢

Show threadklausfiend has movedMar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke @mwyman also true :-(
Show threadAswath RaoMar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke
A young person trying to become that engineer has almost 100 percent chance, whereas one trying to become that player has almost no chance. As a Game theorist, I will never aspire to become an NFL player.
@klausfiend @mwyman
Show threadcaseyjonesedMar 4, 2023
@mwyman @mekkaokereke I used to watch until one game years ago when Luke Kuechley, Panthers linebacker got hit by a runner whoā€™s helmet hit him square on the chest. Luke went down and couldnā€™t breathe. When he sat up his eyes were filled with fear. I have not watched a game since.
Show threadLeisureguyMar 4, 2023

@mwyman @mekkaokereke

It is increasingly obvious that professional sports like the NFL are today's equivalent of Rome's gladiatorial events, circuses to distract the public from how they are treated and exploited.

Show threadPƤr BjƶrklundMar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke this makes me think of all the movies where the coaching is basically just telling and showing the students how much they suck. Most recent example being top gun 2
Show threadJiÅ™Ć­ Fiala Total LandscapingMar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke They are managers of commercial enterprises, nothing else.
Show threadJohn McCarrickMar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke I wonder how much money in this country goes to football and how it compares to how much goes to social services...
Show threadbouriquetMar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke Our priorities are in the wrong place.
And so is our money.
Show threadGarrett WollmanMar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke There are a lot of CEOs with negative value to their companies who are paid more.
Show threadCellyBlueMar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke Iā€™m in Alabama. Nick Saban. Here football is god. Roll Tide
Show threadmekka okereke Mar 4, 2023
@celset2 Yep. Saban is the highest paid government employee in the entire nation.šŸ¤”
Show threadLukas GrossarMar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke @celset2 $ 11 million a year? This is an insane amount of money!
Show threadmekka okereke Mar 4, 2023

@tongpu @celset2

But it's not that bad because Alabama is one of the richest states in the nation I think?šŸ¤”

*Checks notes*

Oh, my bad! I mean poorest. It's one of the poorest states in the nation. Median income, $27K. 4% of Wilcox county has no running water, indoor plumbing, or sewage service.

Sounds bad when you say it like that?

The UN Human Rights Council investigated Alabama:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ytd06hadrsM

But this is Alabama football's facilities. Nicer than Barca!
https://youtu.be/uzq5Aoq2yz8

The story of American poverty, as told by one Alabama county

YouTube
Show threadJĆ¼rgen HubertMar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke ... American higher education is really messed up, isn't it.
Show threadchiasmMar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke dear gawdamighty... that's just not right... ::awestruck::
Show threadJake Hildreth (acorn) Mar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke
Show threadrecursive šŸ³ļøā€šŸŒˆMar 4, 2023

@mekkaokereke nice bench endurance!

I'm not a football fan, but that certainly seems like the least useful of all the physical tests in the NFL combine (had to pull up wikipedia because the only one I really knew is 40 yard dash). I might be rather tech-brained, but I would have imagined such a thing would be more optimized as to its predictive value. But maybe the marketing/entertainment is more the purpose?

Show threadmekka okereke Mar 4, 2023

@recursive

Yeah, it's super silly. Bench press is not even that useful in football. šŸ¤·šŸæā€ā™‚ļø Having a strong back, legs, and core are way more important.

The 40 is useful.

Show threadWes MorganMar 4, 2023
@mekkaokereke Haha love this. Went in thinking you were going to take them down with your brain but you did it with your arms. šŸ’ŖšŸæ
Show threadGen X-WingMar 4, 2023

@mekkaokereke I donā€™t football but I do impress. Damn that is impressive.

I got nothing clever to say. Iā€™m just impressed:) That and sports should be regulated with a focus on athlete safety (as they are being taken advantage of) and all money should be taken out of college sports and put into free higher education.