I’ve taken Professor Schulte for Ethics and Logic classes and both were run practically the same. The only difference is that since Logic is a class to fulfill an English requirement at the California State Universities, you have to write a research paper. When I took Logic in 2003 there was no such requirement.

DIFFICULTY

Professor Schulte has got to be by far one of the easiest professors out there. He gives you the direct answers and questions that will be on the test during lectures.  What more could you ask for. Even when he assigns a term paper he will only take points off for lack of structure. I lost about 10% for being a page short, but that was all. His test questions are worded just like the passages he asks you to highlight in the notes.

LECTURES

His lectures are boring when he is just going through the exam questions, but once he is done with that he delves into some deep philosophical conversation that makes the class interesting.

ATTENDANCE

His attendance policy has to be one of the least strict in the school. All you do is sign your name on the roll sheet. He wont mark you for being tardy or if you leave early.

FINAL GRADE

B+ I would have given him an ‘A’, but his research paper topic was unclear and he blamed the class for turning in such poor reports. In a logic class you would think that he would be more specific with what he wants. He wanted us to explain something. Then, he told us how bad our reports are because they didn’t seem like arguments. He never told us to argue the point out, just to explain a theory. There isn’t much you can argue with that type of assignment. Other than that, he is funny and a cool guy to talk to. I would recommend his class.

DIFFICULTY

Her class was not difficult to me at all. It was labor intensive and if you did not do the reading, you could not pass the exams.  Also, the research paper needed intense research to be done correctly. I received a 98 out of 100 on mine. Also, she offers extra credit.

LECTURES

Kate’s lectures were always fun. She does speak fast, but in my experience that is a trait of people from the east coast. Also, you need to be careful and take notes on what she lectures on because they often end up on the exam and sometimes may not be found on the book. I did find that the class (98% of the time humans with 2 X Chromosomes) would steer her off course of the lecture, but I suppose that could keep you entertained so it wasn’t bad either way.

ATTENDANCE

She is strict on attendance and you will lose points for tardiness and absences.

FINAL GRADE

A+    Approachable, went out of her way to stay in contact with me in email and on her blog. I would recommend this teacher to anyone looking to seriously study the subject without worrying about someone who is unfair. She will follow the rules, but as long as you follow the rules you will be fine.

As a college student I deal with many temptations daily. One of the biggest ones that I deal with on a constant basis is the temptation to cheat on exams and when I’m writing term papers. This week I found out that a person cheated in class on his term paper and he actually received a higher grade than I did (I was marked off for being short in length while he found a shady way to extend his paper that was unnoticeable to most teachers). However, I learned through bodybuilding that this would hurt an individual long-term much more than it would help. Allow me to illustrate.

One of the reasons why I love the iron at the gym is because unlike human beings it never lies to me. If I am weak, it tells me so through failure. If I am doing things wrong, it hurts me through pain. One of the most helpful things it has ever done was teach me that cheaters never prosper. When one lifts weights, they must use proper form. If they do not they will get injured. For some exercises there may be easier forms of cheating than others. For example, when doing a barbell curl one can swing with extra momentum to curl heavier weight. Many lift using their backs bench-pressing to lift heavier. Perhaps this may work short term, but eventually a person will lift so much that when they cheat in this manner, they will get hurt. They cannot keep it up forever, because their muscles never become accustomed to lifting the lighter loads that make a small amount of cheating possible in the first place. The assisting muscles assume that they can handle the load and assist with minimal effort. However, they find out that they are doing more than their fair share and injury results.

The same is in the classroom. If one cheats on a term paper or in any class and receives a certain grade, it is assumed that person can handle more difficult loads of assignments. However, what one needs to learn in the previous class in order to keep up in the next class has not been learned and we find that this person now has to exert more effort to cheat in order to make it in the next class. Eventually they will either get caught or their cheating methods will backfire and have disastrous results. Using the example from my class, let us say that the guy in the example goes on to another writing course. In our course we needed to write a 5 to 7 page paper. The next level teacher assumes that everyone in his or her classroom has written this paper. Therefore, they will challenge the students with a 10 to 15-page paper. If this guy finds a way to stretch 6 pages to 10, he will be in for a major surprise when he turns it in. Why? Because it is obvious how many paragraphs one needs to even make 10 pages. If for some odd reason he does pass undetected, when a company hires him it will be assumed that he can write lengthy reports. Will he cheat then? In the real world, if his produced package is like his college package he may be fired, as his company will lose money as a result of his actions. This is especially true if one is in a technical field and they do not know how to do equations properly. If the person does take the time to learn, the company will lose money from this person not knowing in the first place. If they do not, the results will not be what they’re expected to be and a replacement is being hired for sure.

The bottom-line here is that while controlled cheating in bodybuilding is beneficial, passing it off as the real thing will eventually get you hurt and the same applies to all areas of life (including school). You will eventually get caught and the consequences will follow. That is not to say that controlled cheating is bad. Using the school analogy using notes or asking the professor for the correct answer may help a person to better understand the material much like controlled cheat curls can be beneficial in working past failure. But to go to heavier weights despite not being able to get the max amount of curls before one should increase weight, will definitely lead to injury for sure. So no matter what the endeavor is, just don’t do it. It isn’t worth the cost.

Two weeks ago I sustained a minor wrist injury that kept me out of the gym for a week. While this does not sound too debilitating let me tell you that there are many injuries (including a neck) where I had to stay out for several months and found it very hard to survive. So today let’s go over some tips to getting through that painful injury successfully, so you can be back in the gym, work, and life in general.

Most people suffer injuries throughout their lives, but a person who goes to the gym religiously may have a more difficult time than others in “working through” it. I myself was out of the gym for over two years and nearly gave up because of an injury. I will now relay some of the lessons that I learned and show you how to avoid such long layoffs and more importantly stay motivated.

The first thing you need to have is HEALTH INSURANCE! Let me repeat this, HEALTH INSURANCE!!! In this day and age in the U.S. if you do not have HEALTH INSURANCE, you are living life on the edge. When I hurt my neck, I had just left a job where I had insurance and never even USED IT!! I should have, but I digress. The reason you need insurance is because uninsured medical expenses are just not affordable. If you get injured, you wont have enough money to go to the doctor or get the necessary exams that you need so the problem can be identified as soon as possible. I wouldn’t go to the doctor for a month because a visit to his office was about $80-100 per visit. If I had insurance it would have been between $20-45 (depending on coverage, contracts, etc). When I finally did go, the doctor told me that I needed an MRI. It costs about $2000 ($100 with insurance), much of which I didn’t have. As you can see, costs can add up quickly and that premium money that you thought you were saving can come back to haunt you. As a result of this experience I have a new motto in life, “Either way, you pay” and it is true more than you know now.  Because of my lack of insurance, it took quite a long time to heal (I’m still not fully done yet) and it would have been a lot faster, less hassle and much easier if I had HEALTH INSURANCE!!! So get some HEALTH INSURANCE before this happens to you.

There are places that give you discounts for cash and doctors who charge less without insurance, but generally it’s harder finding them and you have to have the money cash in hand.

When you do get hurt, STOP IMMEDIATELY and go home. Rest the injured area for a few days (3 to a week should do). If the area still hurts, or becomes aggravated when you lift again then GO TO THE DOCTOR ASAP!! This should be obvious, but some men including myself do not follow this advice as often as we should. The above rest advice should be taken if the pain experienced is below a 5 on a 1 to 10 scale. Anything higher and a doctor should be consulted with as soon as possible.  I am not a doctor, nor is this medical advice, but it has worked for me as a general rule.  When you go to the doctor do EXACTLY AS HE SAYS. Whether it is a chiropractor or an M.D. the doctor’s job is to heal you as quickly as possible. Ignoring or only doing some, not all of the recommendations given to you can impair healing results and as a bodybuilder, HOW CAN YOU WANT THAT??? So go to the doc when you feel necessary and don’t delay, as some injuries can be permanent.

If you have to take a break from lifting make sure you take a break from eating. What I mean is that since you are obviously not burning as many calories per day due to lack of exercise, you should probably cut back on total food consumed. If you keep track of this already, it shouldn’t be hard to figure out how to do this. If not, then you have some homework to do. If you do not cut back, I GUARANTEE that you will add unwanted body fat (I speak from experience) and thereby compounding the problem of injury with increase in body fat (because you have done two things that are detrimental to your health).  So cut back on food and enjoy the extra free time.

One problem that can result from injury is a loss of motivation. Particularly when the injury lasts a long time. One thing that may help and hurt is to stay in the game by reading articles or books about bodybuilding or nutrition. It helps by keeping you somewhat in the realm, even if you are not longer in the gym or dieting as seriously as before. It may hurt, because it may become depressing that you have to wait for time to pass you by as you wait and heal up. It happens and I wish there was more I could say to help, but the reality is that you have to wait your turn and do the best you can. Read books or contemplate your current workout routine. See if there may be something that you can do better. Personally, I like reading about nutrition and it has kept me away from gaining too much fat during injury. Also, do NOT let people talk you out of dieting just because you no longer workout. This attitude will lead you to fatsville fast (I gained 40 pounds). Listen to motivational speakers on mp.3 if you have to, but DO NOT stop living like a healthy person. The added fat could make things worse as it did for me by creating unnecessary pressure on my neck. So whatever you have to do, STAY MOTIVATED.

Finally, when you do get the medical or other type of clearance to return to regular exercise, just do it, seems to apply here. One of the many problems I faced getting back into the swing of things was the dread of waking up early to workout. It sucks to a degree to have to do this, but I knew why I was doing it and should have known better. One of the techniques I used to get myself out the door was to repeat a phrase that my high school football coach used to say to us before we would split off into our position groups for training. That phrase was, “let’s go to work”. The gym has become an office for me and when I go, I am there to work, but you wouldn’t believe how saying that short phrase actually made it easier for me to go to the gym AND WORK! So take any steps necessary to get back into prime motivation level when it is time for you to return to the gym.

Injuries can and will happen. Nobody is invincible, but you don’t have to be out for as long as some people claim it takes to fully heal. If you take my advice above (especially buying HEALTH INSURANCE!!!), I ensure you that you will return much faster and in better shape than someone who does not. So remember to stay motivated, cut back on your food, and do what the doctor says. You’ll be glad you did. If you need any motivational tips send me an email (mrcontroversy@therealpetermidnight.com) and I’ll work with you. I lost 34 pounds as a result of the steps above while injured (fat) and you can too (hopefully if you follow the above you wont have to).

It’s Time for another protein powder review folks. I know you are waiting for something new, but I think you will enjoy these and will see their effectiveness in delivering to you the goods. Not to mention, unlike places like Amazon or sites that try to sell you things, this review is by one person who works out and you know is against supplementation in general. Therefore, you can expect the utmost honest (sometimes hilarious) review of a product right here at www.therealpetermidnight.com. So without further ado let the review begin.

WHAT I LIKED

First of all, the scoop was not buried at the bottom of the container. This is a pet peeve of mine and I’m glad I did not have to go treasure hunting or say shiver me timbers looking for the almighty scoop. Also, the non-aspartame feature was nice.

TASTE

I loved the taste. It tastes GREAT!! I opted for the chocolate flavor and I was not disappointed. No bad after taste, and no me shaking my face wondering why I paid for this crap like so many powders have led me to do before. Also, you can mix this in cold or warm water and have an outstanding shake!

MIXING

This drink mixes very easily and only requires a shaker for mixing.

PRICE

The cost is between 2-3 cents per gram of protein. That is much cheaper than my store bought chicken, but less natural of course. Also, this price only applies to the product when bought from bodybuilding.com, so you may want to be aware of that.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

There were two things that I did not like about this product and that was the sweeteners that were added and the advertising to sell the product on the container.

SWEETENERS

I do not like the use of artificial sweeteners for any of my protein shakes or foods period, but I will try it out just so I can tell people my honest opinion of the product. We do not know the long-term effects of certain sweeteners, so I do not generally recommend any of these types of products. I will say that the makers did not use Aspartame in this product, but a sweetener is a sweetener so I wish I had four hands so I could give this part of the review FOUR THUMBS DOWN!!!

BUZZ WORDS AND PHRASES

This product makes some pretty ridiculous claims such as improving weight control, muscularity and increased recovery!! What makes these claims so upsetting is the fact that I doubt ANYONE of them can be proven as a direct result of the product. For example, is it possibly true that someone who takes protein powder more likely to be someone who controls his or her weight? I would answer yes. So why make it appear as if this product (or any product for that matter) will improve my weight control?? The truth is that it will not. The fact that I am seeking a powder is likely the cause of my improved weight control, not the powder itself, but I digress.

FINAL GRADE

C

This is an average protein powder with some kinks that need to be worked out in order to be given an excellent rating. The taste is fine, the mixing is superb, but honesty in advertising and less sweetener use would be a step in the right direction. Something I did not touch on was the large amount of carbs per serving. Even with the use of artificial sweeteners this powder contains an unusually high amount of carbs for a protein powder. What’s up with that?? Either use enough sweeteners to lessen this effect or give us no sweetener at all! Oh well, you can try it out for yourself. If you don’t mind things like sucrose and aspartame then this protein powder might be for you.