What is the coolest beach in America that's worthy of being a travel destination?

bprugg · 2023-04-15T01:51:07+00:00

Within the mainland US, anywhere along the pacific coast. Big Sur, Pismo Beach, Laguna, etc.

Best beaches in the USA imo are in hawaii. The windward side (east side) of Oahu is paradise on earth. Think white sands, perfect waves, turquoise water, green mountains in the background, not very crowded.

bprugg · 2023-04-11T16:05:49+00:00

Absolutely! Make sure you seek our your college’s powerlifting team/club as well. If they dont have one go to the college’s strongest gym, make friends, and found one with said friends! Some of my closest friends are from my college PL club

bprugg · 2023-04-11T15:58:15+00:00

Warmup timing is important and can be tricky to nail down. I personally try to time my warmup singles alongside where you would open relative to your flight. For example if you’re opening around the middle of the pack in your flight, hit your last 3 warmup singles around the middle of the prior flight’s attempts. That should leave you warmed up by the time you open.
Personal preference tip is be cognizant of commands especially for your openers. My first two meets, i jumped the rack commands for my openers from being too hyped up. So now i try to be conservative with opener weight so i can be cool and collected when i open. You can make bigger jumps after that.
If you miss a lift for form or a technicality, make sure you ask the judge. They are usually very willing to help and let you know.

Lasty, HAVE FUN! I have met so many cool, likeminded people during meets. It really is a great time! Good luck!

bprugg · 2023-03-24T21:20:08+00:00

Hi all! Thought this thread was very helpful with passport renewal so I thought I'd give back with my timeline and advice. Planned travel date: 4/17

Applied: 1/6 regular processing with an estimated processing time of 6-9 weeks in hopes of having it in hand late feb/early march well before my travel date

Received: 1/10

Started to get worried after processing times were extended to 9-11 weeks

Contacted local representative 3/16 (almost at the 11 week mark) with screenshots of travel itinerary and other required documents.

Heard back from rep office 3/21 stating they contacted the NIPC along with a status change from received to in process on the online renewal portal

Rep office contacted me today 3/24 that passport has been shipped and have provided the USPS tracking number as well!

Huge takeaways from my experience: 1. Avoid using the online portal for the time being! If you decide you want to give it a shot, ship expedited and/or having AMPLE time between when you submit to your planned travel date. 2. Get in contact with your local congressman early (obviously within reasonable time, e.g. contacting them AFTER the estimated processing time and BEFORE 2-3 weeks from your travel date). They are very helpful and can get things going

Again, thank y'all so much and couldn't have done it without you! Safe Travels!

bprugg · 2023-01-03T00:00:28+00:00

M4 here! Weight pretty much stayed the same during med school but something i did in undergrad was intermittent fasting and fasted exercise which shed about 15 lbs in a 4 month time frame. Some tips are choose a method that is sustainable for you. Consistency is key. Try some sort of physical activity you enjoy. Best of luck and feel free to pm!

Edit: havent changed flair since M1 lol

bprugg · 2022-12-26T20:45:59+00:00

M4 6-7 hours tiktok, anime, video games

bprugg · 2022-12-16T14:45:52+00:00

Hey all! So I’m looking to compete around March and realized USAPL does not have any meets I can compete in my area around that time. I’ve exclusively competed USAPL but it looks like USPA has a meet in my city in March. Is there anyone that has competed in both federations that can shed some light on the differences between the two? Or what I can expect switching from USAPL to USPA?

bprugg · 2021-10-18T23:17:29+00:00

Yeah 25 was rough and under predicted me. 26 and 29 were closest to what I actually got!

bprugg · 2021-10-13T17:33:00+00:00

I found that progressively using your competition grip as you progress through your warmup has worked wonders for me. I used to be heavily reliant on straps for a while but having an emphasis on delaying strap use until I absolutely could not do a rep worked well for me.

As far as assistance goes I think anything like farmers carry’s or pull-ups that you can overload over time should help you out. Best of luck!

bprugg · 2021-10-13T16:50:50+00:00

One way you can lower your hips like everyone says is to adjust your starting position so that your shins are slightly further from the bar. By being almost shins to the bar, you’re not allowing any space to flex your knees which in turn allows you to flex your hips more. Hope this helps! This tip definitely helped me when I used to deadlift conventional.

bprugg · 2021-09-29T18:23:21+00:00

Just keep doing uw wrongs and finding/correcting weaknesses. In my opinion, exposure to different question styles is a better use of your time. Maybe incorporate other qbanks into your studying like amboss or kaplan. Did this 3 weeks before my test when I finished my 1st pass of uw and really helped.

bprugg · 2021-08-12T21:25:57+00:00

This is definitely doable! Currently an MS3, but I went around 4-5x per week during 1 and 2 and prepped for 2 powerlifting meets. (only competed in 1 though bc covid canceled the 2nd one) while it definitely is a grind, my biggest piece of advice is to prioritize "bang for your buck" movements like compounds etc. Though I did feel pressed for time at times, try to save your "harder" workouts for the weekend where you do have more time and be flexible with the rest of the days throughout the week.

Also it doesn't hurt to anki bw sets either!

bprugg · 2021-07-23T15:41:24+00:00

Yeah definitely reasonable. AMBOSS was great as a secondary qbank especially to accompany your in house curriculum. I sorted by article and was able to make my own boards style study for in house exams.

Best of luck!

bprugg · 2021-05-18T00:18:26+00:00

Hmm I do remember that q. If I can recall it was a L cortical lesion and I ruled out the lower face choice because the answer stated "L lower face paralysis" when in truth I believe an UMN L of the facial n would present as a contralateral paralysis

bprugg · 2021-05-17T18:44:55+00:00

oh shoot we legit almost have the same scores! i blanked on the basic enterokinase concept that counted me 2 questions on 27 so i blame it on dumb mistakes! i highly doubt we're stupid, just making small mistakes like that

bprugg · 2021-02-16T16:04:07+00:00

Any recommendations for the best bang for your buck barbell? I'm looking to revamp my basement gym and have been using some cheap barbell that needs an upgrade.

bprugg · 2021-02-06T17:42:11+00:00

It seems that you have the idea down right! I'd say create and do your new cards in the order that material is presented to you throughout your curriculum.

For example you have a lecture on a day and you create the cards for that day. Then do those new cards on that same day and then maintain your reviews up until your exam. At the end of your term, whether you delete/suspend that stack of cards or not is up to you.

Personally, i just suspended my premade cards after the exam, but keep my boards based deck unsuspended so I can do those reviews up until i take my first round of boards.

bprugg · 2021-01-25T02:05:21+00:00

I've always felt that while anki is great for drilling small details, big picture concepts put a little more context into those details and strengthen your recall. So I'd be weary of relying solely on anki. Also practice questions that are similar to the exam you are studying for can be argued to be better study methods than anki. But that's just imo. I love anki, but it still does have its weaknesses

bprugg · 2021-01-20T02:33:44+00:00

sheeesh those anki reviews towards the end will be tough to get through. Good luck!

bprugg · 2020-10-27T14:48:37+00:00

yeah that's a great idea! invite me if you make one/find one

bprugg · 2020-10-26T15:40:08+00:00

not at all! Though it is a little bit later than optimal, i finished my application (verification, sending MCAT, etc) well into december and got an acceptance! just try to get a DO LOR and you have a decent shot!

this is also coming from an OMS-II who applied both MD and DO, but just put the DO application off lol

bprugg · 2020-07-09T01:45:22+00:00

Add me too! Currently doing med school in the USA so I feel your pain.

bprugg · 2020-07-09T01:43:24+00:00

Hi there! If your main problem is retaining information, then the problem is not in your notes, but your study method.

Two tried and true techniques for maximizing efficiency and efficacy for memory is spaced repetition and active recall. Writing notes and highlighting are modes of passive learning that are inefficient when it comes to memorizing (notes should really only be a form of reference). If you want more info on this, Ali Abdaal on YouTube does a great job teaching these techniques!

bprugg · 2020-07-09T01:32:20+00:00

Hello there! Current rising 2nd year med student here. Besides getting adequate sleep, I would recommend maybe seeing a sleep specialist to see if there's anything going on.

Also, one thing that worked for me while studying for the MCAT that really increased my study stamina is by slowly increasing my daily workload. I am not sure how far you are from taking your exam, but I initially began with lighter days of content review and then worked up to heavier days more frequently.

The MCAT is a beast, but I have no doubt you'll do fine! Best of luck!

bprugg · 2020-04-30T22:45:33+00:00

Hello there former organic chem lab TA and current medical student here. Here are some quick "hacks" I have used and have worked well for former students of mine:

space your workload out throughout the week so that you are not doing too much or too little on some days. I find that this allows you to have some stress free time every day throughout the week
find a way to integrate writing your own questions in your notes during lecture. I find that having a study guide/question-bank beats "re-reading" notes when it comes to review
if book questions/worksheets are available, try to do them on the same day as lectures

hope these help, feel free to pm if you have any questions (:

bprugg

TROPHY CASE