Blog | davidsmith208

Sunday morning exercise

David, with your pattern lately — strong Friday racquet play (you’ve been winning a lot of games), then Saturday swim + sauna — Sunday morning should restore power and elasticity, not grind you down. Friday was: Lots of pickleball (agility + forearms + shoulders) Core (deadbug, Pallof, crunches) Pull work (chin/pull-ups) Squat pattern + glutes Saturday: Swim (great for mobility + recovery) Sauna (circulation, relaxation) So Sunday should emphasize: Light explosive work Hip mo

davidsmith208

3 hours ago2 min read

Jahan Khatun

Jahan Malek Khatun (often called Jahān Khātūn) was a 14th-century Persian princess and poet from Shiraz. She lived during the Inju and early Muzaffarid periods and was connected to the same cultural world that produced Hafez. She is remarkable for several reasons: She was a royal woman writing at a very high literary level in a male-dominated tradition. Her Divān reportedly contains around 2,000 ghazals, which would indeed make it several times larger than Hafez’s collected g

davidsmith208

6 hours ago2 min read

Heart rate tracking

Perfect — your Apple Watch is actually one of the best tools for tracking recovery. Here’s how to set it up properly so it helps your tennis/pickleball performance and fat-loss plan. 1️⃣ Turn On Heart Rate Tracking (Basic Setup) On your iPhone: Open the Watch app Tap Privacy Make sure Heart Rate is ON Make sure Fitness Tracking is ON On the Watch: Go to Settings → Heart Rate Ensure: Heart Rate = ON Irregular rhythm notifications (optional) That’s it for baseline tracking. 2️⃣

davidsmith208

16 hours ago2 min read

Fitness planning

First — excellent sign. Muscle mass up 2 lbs (likely glycogen + water + some real adaptation), strong tennis (16 games), no arm collapse, and cake + OWYN is completely fine. The protein blunted the sugar spike. That’s how you do it. Now let’s be smart. You have: Thu: Hard tennis Fri: Pickleball Sat: Swim + sauna Goal: Lose belly fat, preserve muscle, protect arm So Friday cannot be a heavy CNS day. It must support performance, core strength, and recovery. Friday Plan (Pickleb

davidsmith208

16 hours ago2 min read

Friday plan if no tennis

David, your recovery pattern this week actually looks very good: Mon: Intense tennis Tue: Full rest Wed: Long sleep (10 hrs), muscles firm not stiff Thu AM: Pickleball + core/activation Thu PM: 3 sets tennis That tells me your nervous system is handling the load well. The “firm but not stiff” feeling is usually a good sign — glycogen restored, low inflammation. Now Friday becomes strategic. Since: You may be a BYE at 11am You’ve had 2 court days back-to-back (Thu AM + Thu PM)

davidsmith208

1 day ago2 min read

Turkmen’s steps

You’re referring to the opening eighteen verses of the Masnavi of Jalal al-Din Rumi — the famous Ney-nāmeh (“Song of the Reed”). The page you shared summarizes the interpretation of Erkan Turkmen, who argued that the first eighteen verses outline a structured spiritual path. Let’s examine two things: What steps can reasonably be extracted from the first 18 verses? Is Türkmen’s theory structurally justified in light of the whole Masnavi? 1️⃣ The First 18 Verses — What Is Actua

davidsmith208

1 day ago3 min read

Post tennis game

Nice result — 12 of 18 games after Monday night play and Tuesday rest means your recovery window worked well. No energy drop = glycogen stores were adequate, nervous system recovered, and protein timing helped. Let’s break this down strategically since you’re trying to lose belly fat while maintaining performance. 🔎 What You Did Right Post-tennis: 32g OWYN protein → excellent for muscle repair Peanuts → added fat + a little extra protein (slows digestion, good for recovery)

davidsmith208

2 days ago2 min read

Tennis scheduling

This is the right question, because the answer is not a single number of hours. It depends on what systems were stressed and how well you recovered, not just the clock. You played hard tennis Monday night until 9pm, took Tuesday as a rest day, and now have a match Wednesday at 11am. That gives you ~38 hours. Let’s break it down physiologically, then I’ll give you clear decision rules. 1️⃣ What tennis actually taxes Tennis stresses four systems, each with a different recovery

davidsmith208

2 days ago3 min read

Playing the Ney in front of a buffalo

This is a wonderful example of Indo-Persian metaphor crossing into Urdu satire, and you’re remembering it essentially correctly. 👤 Who was Akbar Allahabadi ? Akbar Allahabadi (1846–1921), born Syed Akbar Husain in Allahabad (now Prayagraj), was: One of the greatest satirical poets in Urdu A sharp critic of: blind Westernization hollow modern education social pretension religious hypocrisy Deeply rooted in Persian–Urdu literary culture, but not a Sufi poet in the strict sense

davidsmith208

2 days ago2 min read

The Cat and the Mouse

This is a good, careful question, because Paul Smith is not wrong — but his claim needs context and qualification. Let me lay this out in three layers: Who Obeyd Zakani really was Whether his mystical ghazals & rubaʿis exist — and in what sense they are “profound” Where we actually find (capture) those poems today 1️⃣ Who was Obeyd Zakani (1300–1371)? Obeyd Zakani is best known for: biting satire social criticism obscene parody intellectual irony Especially: Mush‑o‑Gorbeh (Th

davidsmith208

2 days ago3 min read

Notes of the Ney (Perde) tear off the curtain (perdes)

Thanks — that page you shared is discussing Rumi’s use of the ney (reed-flute) and the Persian word perde (پرده) which literally means curtain/veil but is also used for the musical register or “note” on an instrument. Your question actually has two parts: Can we analyze the historical linguistic use of perde and ney in Persian mystic poetry, including quantitative patterns? How do the metaphors — especially “a sound tearing off veils” — function poetically/spiritually? I’ll

davidsmith208

3 days ago4 min read

Ab Finisher

Perfect — this gives us enough data to be precise and still realistic for how hard you train. You’re 206.6 lb at 5’10”, vegetarian, high activity, and your legs/arms already get a ton of indirect work from racquet sports. So yes — focused abdominal work + diet discipline is the right lever for belly fat now. Let’s break this into nutrition today, then how to train abs intelligently so they show as fat comes off. 🥣 Today’s Nutrition (Rest Day, Fat-Loss Focused) Lunch: Lentil

davidsmith208

3 days ago2 min read

How to talk to AI

davidsmith208

3 days ago2 min read

Rest Day

Good — this is a smart moment. You stacked: Strength 2 hours pickleball Tiebreak tennis to 9pm 32g OWYN Ice + sleep And the arm survived. That’s a win. Now today (true rest day), the goal shifts: 🔥 Preserve muscle 🧠 Recover tendons 📉 Create small caloric deficit ⚖️ Keep insulin stable Not “eat as little as possible.” 🍳 Breakfast (Wife’s Vegan Eggs + Mushrooms) Excellent start. To optimize for fat loss + recovery: Add: ½ avocado or Small handful walnuts Black coffee or gre

davidsmith208

3 days ago2 min read

The library in Tashkent

Yes — there is a long-reported manuscript in Tashkent that ties Amir Khusrau and Hafiz together, and it very well could be the one Paul Smith is referring to in his book about Persian poetic styles. 📜 What the scholarly sources say Several academic references note a manuscript (dated 756 AH / 1355 CE) now in a library in Tashkent that contains poems by Amir Khusrau copied out by someone identified as Muhammad nicknamed Shams al-Hafiz al-Shirazi — i.e., Hafiz himself. This ma

davidsmith208

3 days ago2 min read

Pickleball drills

I like where this is going. You’re already putting in serious volume (strength + 2 hours pickleball + tennis), so now it’s about precision and repeatability, not just reps. To reach advanced/top-tier pickleball, especially in dinking and lobs, the shift is: From “can I make this shot?” to “can I place this shot intentionally under pressure 9/10 times?” Below is a progressive development plan structured in levels. Phase 1 – Elite Dink Foundation (Weeks 1–3) 🎯 Goal: 50+ contro

davidsmith208

4 days ago2 min read

Pickleball then tennis

David, this is a serious workload day — especially adding 2 hours of pickleball before 3 sets of tennis. You’re basically stacking endurance + stability + posterior chain + racquet sport volume. Given your recent comments about feeling strong after swimming and protein timing, fueling properly now will determine how well you perform tonight. You need three things before 6pm: Glycogen refill (carbs) Moderate protein Low fat / low fiber so digestion is easy ⏱ Timing Strategy If

davidsmith208

4 days ago2 min read

The value of swimming

That feedback is very clear — and it’s a green light, not a warning sign. What you’re describing (firm muscles, more joint mobility, no stiffness) is a classic response to well-timed swimming acting as active recovery, not fatigue accumulation. So let’s lock in what’s working and refine around it. 1️⃣ Why Saturday Swim + Sauna Is Working So Well Swimming gives you: Zero impact on joints Full-range shoulder motion without load Thoracic spine decompression Parasympathetic activ

davidsmith208

5 days ago2 min read

Body Optimization

David — this is excellent detail. Now we can really analyze instead of guessing. You had a very high volume Sunday: Full machine circuit at Planet Fitness 30 min wall hitting 2 hours pickleball at the YMCA 15 min rowing Plus walking That is a lot of cumulative joint stress layered onto a tennis-heavy week. Let’s break this down objectively. 1️⃣ Load Analysis 🔴 Upper body volume was excessive for your tennis goal You did: Triceps press 30 reps Assisted dips 20 Assisted chins

davidsmith208

5 days ago2 min read

Listen to the Reed Song

You’re asking about one of the most distinctive sonic features of the Masnavī, and you’re right that hearing it in Persian is essential. 1. What meter is the Masnavī in? The Masnavī-ye Maʿnavī of Jalal al-Din Rumi is written almost entirely in the Arabic–Persian quantitative meter: Ramal-e musaddas-e maḥdhūf رَمَلِ مُسَدَّسِ مَحْذوف Its formal pattern In classical prosody (ʿarūḍ): فَاعِلاتُن / فَاعِلاتُن / فَاعِلُن fāʿilātun / fāʿilātun / fāʿilun Your intuitive rhythm is very

davidsmith208

5 days ago2 min read