PrezCock

That movie is Lost in Translation.

If you ever come up on a pic or a gif that you want to know what it's from or who it is you can right click on it, click "copy image address", go to google.com. On the far right of the search bar, just right of the microphone icon, is the "search by image" icon. Click that, then put in the address of the pic/gif.

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And let's not pretend the North overwhelmingly freed their slaves, most were sold to the plantations in the South hence "being sold down the river"

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Lot's of people end up giving the credit to Lincoln for freeing the slaves. Truth of the matter is, he didn't free a single one. His "Emancipation Proclamation" kept slavery in place on the border states, but "Freed" slaves in the South. Problem is, Lincoln had no control over the Southern States at the time. The whole "Emancipation Proclamation" was a farce.

Even the 13th Amendment was ratified by the states. You can argue that Lincoln helped craft it, but it wasn't even legislation he signed into law.

Lincoln ran roughshod over the Constitution. He imprisoned his political opponents, journalists, and dissenters.

Slavery was dying it's natural death in the Western World. Given another decade or so, it would have died it's natural death in the US as well. Instead we got a civil war. These United States of America turned into The United States of America and into the giant federal monstrosity it is today. Lincoln should shoulder some of the blame for the problems our country faces today, not all, but some.

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building strength

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There's multiple ways to build strength. When first beginning strength training, pretty much any type of sets and rep ranges will work because those strength gains will be mostly due to nervous system adaptations as opposed to actual gains in muscular strength.

If you are already conditioned, then I would default to conjugate system practices and alternate between dynamic effort days and maximum effort days. Dynamic effort days (speed days) is all about acceleration. How fast you can move a submaximal load. Usually something like that would look like 10 sets of 3 reps at 45% of your 1RM for that lift. With 60 seconds or so between sets. Moving the weight as fast as you possibly can.

You can always refer to physics equation for Force. F=ma. With Force roughly being strength, mass being weight, and acceleration as speed. Of course mass isn't weight and acceleration isn't speed in this instance, but that is all semantics and it will work all the same.

The other way to build strength would be to manipulate the m in that equation. You will increase the weight on the bar. It's pretty accepted that the rep ranges to increase strength fall somewhere between 1-6 reps.

Conjugate system will alternate between those Dynamic and Maximum Effort days. I usually give myself a good 72 hours between my Dynamic Day and Maximum Effort Day to let my nervous system recover in order to get as good as a lift as possible on my max effort lift.

TLDR;
F=(mass)(acceleration)
Increase acceleration by decreasing weight and increasing speed to improve strength. See above for % and rep range example
Increase mass by increasing weight and decreasing speed to improve strength. See above for % and rep range example.

Hope this helps.

Have you tried Aftershokz? I've got a pair that I use. Not the exact pair I'm linking, but very similar. Aftershokz are only water resistant, the product I'm linking is safe for swimming.

amazon link

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Need to find a supplement, topical lotion, etc. to heal joint pain

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Whenever I used to feel my joints were starting to hurt I would add Fish Oil to my daily regimen. It works very well. Nowadays, I take fish oil every day and it does a good job keeping the joint pain at bay. If my joints start aching I up my dose of fish oil for a couple of weeks.

With that being said, my joints were aching because of something. Could be form, could be too much volume. Find out what that is for you and fix that.

I've got sleep apnea, but it is worst when I drink alcohol. One of the things that I do that helps is take a Zyrtec if I know I'm going to be drinking. This helps with that stuffy nose/sinus inflammation that I get. Sounds like you may be getting the same thing. Hope that helps.

Think of it like this. The US government needs money. The Federal Reserve (FED) is there to loan them the money they need. Much like a credit card, there is interest on those loans. The FED is more than happy to keep handing out the loans because all that means is that the interest payments will be that much higher. Here's the kicker. The FED prints the money out of thin air, meaning it costs them nothing. Poof, those dollars just appear. But those interest payments the government pays them. Well, those come from the taxes you pay the government every year. So, in essence, the FED is creating money out of nothing and is being paid back in interest off the sweat of your hard work. But wait, there's more. Since the FED isn't a governmental entity, it isn't regulated as such. So, say the FED creates $500 Billion for the US Gov. There is nothing stopping them from adding another $500 Billion to give to whomever they want.

The funny part is, the FED doesn't care, nor does it even ever think that the US will pay back those loans. The loans are inconsequential fiat currency. It's the blood, sweat, and tears of the American Worker that gives value to the interest payments it receives.

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Not exactly. You are putting your shoulders in a compromised position because you are using your shoulders to push when your elbows flare.

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Don't take any offense to my post, but you are wrong here.

If you look at the Pectoralis Major muscle it has 2 distinct groups of muscle fibers. The Clavicular and Sternal fiber portions. The Clavicular portion's main movement is Horizontal Abduction (think about slapping a person in the face). The Sternal fibers also do abduction, but the movement would start much higher (think of having your arms up in a Y position then bringing them down to the opposite hip).

The Bench Press is not a good movement for Pectoralis Major activation. As I said earlier, it is a tertiary muscle and if you are looking for better activation then you should choose a different exercise.

Flaring of the arms would increase Pectoralis Major activation in a bench press, but as I said, it puts your shoulders in a compromised position. Not because "you are using your shoulders to push when your elbows flare". But because it can cause impingement. If you look at the bony projections in your shoulder, mainly the acromion and greater/lesser tuberosities of the humerus there is decreased joint space with the elbows flared through the movement. This is why scaption is a good movement to teach people when you are training them, especially for OH movements.

ETA:

If anyone is seriously looking to get good at bench I would start with Dave Tate's "So You Think You Can Bench" series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umOz8tCNaEc

Every 6 weeks I take a de-load week. I dramatically ramp down volume for a single week. I'll end up doing 1 set of 10 or so per exercise at around 65% of my 1RM.

De-loads are important in recovering from neuromuscular fatigue.

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am curious why you would refrain from what I’m doing?

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Nothing wrong with myofascial release. I personally find it extremely effective. Rolling with a steel tube for an hour on each calf may lead to tissue damage (muscle, tendon, artery/vein, and nerves). Think of bruising. If you are rolling your calves that bruising occurs, then you are effectively destroying capillaries. So instead of using myofascial release to improve blood flow into the area, which aids in recovery, you are hindering it. I'm using that as an example and I have no clue if you get bruises after doing it.

Flat soled shoes should actually lead to better ankle ROM which will lead to a more normal calf muscle length.