Hard Coded

I did not plan on training today. Apparently, molding an Atlas Stone is equivalent to a DE Lower/cardio training session. 1.5 hours of stirring 200lbs of concrete, dragging the container around, and filling the mold... holy freaking crap. I feel the need to track this for posterity.

Also I went to the ER for possible cement burn on my left hand. Irony would be the stone setting and me having second to third degree burns on my hand. We'll find out in the next 48 hours.

Pics!

Before:

Man, I don't know why but my heart just hasn't been into training lately. I'm hoping the new Atlas Stone I am molding tomorrow will snap me out of it (there will be an entertaining making-of picture sequence I am sure). But for now, Deadlifts. With Video! Vino makes an appearance, sort of, as a coach!



A1. Hip/Shoulders Mobility/Prehab

B1. Deadlift

8 x 45#
2 x 8 x 135#
5 x 225#
2 x 275#
1 x 315#
2 x 335#
2 x 360#
2 x 390#
1.5 x 415#

That 415# was supposed to be a double but it was glued to the floor. It's the first rep I missed during the entire program, but with the volume I've been doing with deadlifts, I consider it a victory to have even made it this far. Next session is the deload session, and I'll move on to squats!

C1. SSB 12" Box Squat

8 x 85#
5 x 175#
6 x 2 x 265#

Aggravated my IT Band tendinitis during the last double. Booo. Ice and the foam roller are my friend.

C2. 2" Grip BB Row

8 x 45#
5 x 95#
4 x 6 x 135#

D1. Farmer Holds

2 x 15s x 225#/hand
2 x 20s x 225#/hand

Camera battery died after the first set. These were hard, but felt good.


Overall a decent session. Jessica is a beast and tried deadlifting with a 2nd degree burn on her hand. She got to 335# before needing to stop. She crazy.

Every rep, every set. Great way to close out the cycle and kick off my trip. Something about eating before training, i'm not 100% on that but whatever. Now comes that nebulous time of about 2 weeks where i'm a bit unsure of what my training and eating schedules are going to be like so i have to be completely paranoid and unfocused because i'm worried about getting fat and weak (which is totally going to happen). Man, sometimes i wish i were a bear. Then i could eat fish for months then hibernate, rinse repeat. Yeah, mother fuckin bears!


I'm not sure if i'm more excited to start Juggernaut, keep going on 5/3/1, or figure out a cutting program. This is my eternal dilemna, i bitch about being fat until i go and throw a good set, then all of a sudden it's like "Fuck yeah, man i love being strong! (even though i'm not really yet)" Ah well. Guess i have two weeks to think about it!

• Deadlift: 245/275/300x8
• A1. Good Morning: 5x5225
• A2. Chinup: 5x5
• B1. GHR: 4x8
• B2. Seated Row: 4x8 150
• Uni Shldr: 3x12 40
• DB Row: 3x12 75
• BB Inc: 3x12 115
• CG Bench: 3x12 135

Hopefully next time i can super set the shoulder press and row, i think that'd be an interesting combination. Otherwise, some strength gains overall, the bench sets at the end felt way more solid. Not sure if i'm ready to move up yet, but yeah...everything worked pretty well tonight.

Mmm...gonna go play more Dragon Nest. Skippy. One of these days i'd like to get inside the mind of a hardcore WoW player and figure out what it is that makes them say "yeah you know, i was ok with the walrus people, but fucking pandas? No Fuckin Way, Not In MY AZEROTH!!" Ah well.

Ok so i'll totally admit that this upper body split is complete and utter...



Altho i suppose i should be happy that i somewhat recovered from last week's fairly pathetic bench attempt. I'm actually glad i didn't deadlift today, i feel like i can save that for tomorrow and get in some good pulls. Going to hit 300 at the top end, here's hoping for 6 or more reps. I'm fairly confident i can hit 6, just need to make sure i eat decently tonight and get in some good sleep. This can happen i think.

Man, i feel like a total boner, but i should freak out in meetings before workouts more often. Or at least find something that gets my heart rate up a bit, that definitely helped push me through my bench, but you know, that's neither my preferred warmup technique or managerial style. Ah well. Maybe i'll just take to tasing myself or swallowing some hot sauce before lifting in the future. My left arm is so tight from curls right now that it's hard to type. Bad sign:

• Bench: 185/205/230x6
• A1. DB Bench: 5x5 85
• A2. Bent Lateral: 5x5 60
• Neutral Pull: 2x8x140/2x8x150
• B1. Cable Curl: 3x12 140
• B2. RopeX: 3x12 150
• C1. Pushdown: 3x12 150
• C2. Cable Hammer: 3x12 100

I'm so totally torn. I don't really want to spend 60 bucks on a watered down sp campaign, but goddammit i wanna look at BF3s sweet sweet lighting candy:( You know it always gets me when game websites write editorials about why sp campaigns are going away, then pan a game's sp but give it a 9.0 anyway because it has good multiplayer and good graphics. Whatev.

I'm currently tracking my workouts on my own site, as well as playing with fitocracy and runkeeper. Instead of spamming everyone here with daily short nonsense, I thought I might start posting a weekly summary that is an aggregation of the week's activities. That will also encourage me to contribute regularly. So here's my first shot at that schedule. The week in review...

OCT 19 2011 :MORE BJJ

Today I was working all day. I managed to make the advanced gi BJJ class at night though. There were only 4 of us and Matt Arroyo teaching. Since we were so few, Matt did a QA for the first half hour and we drilled from that. He showed us a nice control using the double-wrist lock grip (or kimura grip). After that we rolled for half an hour. I was the only white belt, but felt pretty good. I was able to work on my control and passing. Got some good tips on head pressure from Troy R(one of our purple belts). Not a bad night. Got caught by Peyton twice in the same ^%&^% triangle. That means that I’m over-reaching. I need to work on that.

OCT 21 2011 :FIRST SUB-8-MINUTE 4 MILER

Good run tonight. Cool. Ran from gym down Bayshore along the water. 4 miles in 31:22. Getting there slowly. Focused on breathing and moving forward consciously with each stride. Bad cotton mouth. Could have used some water.

OCT 23 2011 : BACK TO LIFTING AND A RUN

Still a bit tender from restarting BJJ this week. After a couple days off, back at it today and added in a quick weight workout. The gym was only open for about 45 minutes, so I took two basic exercises that worked most the big muscle groups and then went for a run with Erica.

• Squats
• 135×8
• 155×8
• 175×4
• 175×4
• Clean and Press
• 4x(135×4)

Was really feeling some odd torque in my right knee tonight. Didn't want to push it. Ended the workout with a 3 mile run with Erica. Ran with her until the last quarter mile and worked with her on managing her breath and tension while pushing her pace a bit. Goal was 9 minute pace for her. She came in just over that. The last quarter mile I ran harder to make up the slow time and came in at 27:08.

OCT 24 2011 : MORNING BOXING

Coach changed things up this week a bit. We’re doing mornings instead of evenings for at least the beginning of the week. This morning we had boxing at 7:00 am. That was followed up by MMA striking at 8:00. In boxing we de-briefed post this weekend’s fights and did bag drills. In MMA, we worked on the flow, low-kick, and shooting drills in continuous flowing fashion. Good morning workout.

Came back at night to run 2.5 miles with team.

OCT 25 2011 : HALF A PRIVATE

Was feeling pretty rough this morning. Had my private lesson at 9. Coach suggested that we do half an hour hard today and the other half later in the week. Worked out well. Felt like I could go hard as I could till my legs started giving out.

OCT 26 2011 : THE OTHER HALF AND SOME PACE INTERVALS

This afternoon I did the other half hour of my private with Coach. Worked on my combinations, counter punching, set-ups, etc. Time to start utilizing my range. Afterwards, went for a run with Erica. We were doing 1/4 mile intervals with one minute rests. The goal was to run at a reasonable near target 5k pace. Not bad. Not great, but I already see improvement sent I started training running consciously. The modified Hal Higdon workout and my Garmin ForeRunner 305 have helped a lot. So has logging. I’m logging here now, as well as on RunKeeperand Fitocracy. It’s definitely helping with consistency and performance drive.

OCT 27 2011 : FIRST DAY OF BODYWEIGHT ROUTINE

I’ve been wanting to start one of those 100 Pushups type routines. I even downloaded an app for my phone, until I realized that all of them are ok and none make me happy. Basically, what I wanted is the algorithm for getting my current max to my target max in X time. That was not forthcoming easily (and may not even exist in some of those apps). So I ran across a guy talking about his method which I liked a lot. I can’t even remember where I found it (or I’d give that fellow deserved credit).

Basically, the approach is, choose your target rep max. Then break that up into a manageable number of reps that you can accomplish per minute for enough minutes to reach that max number. For instance, I want to do 100 push-ups, so I did 10 push-ups per minute for 10 minutes. The blurb I read by this guy simply stated to shorten your rests. I refined that a bit for my algorithm. Sometimes it takes 2 sets in one minute to complete. For instance, on my pull-ups tonight, around set 6 I had to start doing 3 reps, resting for 15-20 seconds, then knock out the other 2. The key was to complete the target number (5 per minute in this case) for the alloted time (10 minutes in this case). What I’m doing is repeating the workout 3 times a week and shortening it by a prescribed number of seconds each week.

So, this the current algorithm:

1. Choose your exercise
• I’m doing Pull-Ups, Bodyweight Squats, and Push-Ups
2. Choose your target max number of reps for this cycle
• For me, that is:
• 100 Push-Ups
• 100 Squats
• 50 Pull-Ups
3. Choose a number of reps that you can complete in one minute for as long as it takes to reach the target max number
• For 100 rep max, that could be 20 per minute for 5 minutes, or 10 per minute for 10 minutes, or 5 per minute for 20 minutes (for instance)
• I’m starting with:
• 5 Pull-Ups per minute for 10 minutes
• 10 Push-Ups per minute for 10 minutes
• 10 Squats per minute for 10 minutes
4. Do this routine 3 times for the week
5. For the next week, subtract 10 seconds and do same routine. So the same number of reps, but per 50 seconds instead of per minute.
6. Do this each week until you are doing your target max as one continuous set (due to the time mashing the sets together as the rests become shorter)
7. Set new goals
8. Repeat

I did my first night tonight. This will be done 3x/week regardless of what else is on the training schedule. I also created a Google Spreadsheet to track the workouts. It is drive by a form that looks like this. I made it public so anyone can copy it to their own Google Docs and use it and edit as needed (if it seems useful to others).

Man, this whole autumn in socal thing i gotta say is bummin me out just a little bit. All of a sudden I'm back in Seattle with the gray and the nasty and the kinda cold and stuff:( The funny thing too is it changed like in a day, how bizarre, how bizarre! Maybe i can blame my recent stiffness on the change in the weather? Nah i'm going to instead blame it on my lack of stretching and prehab/mobility work. I figure i'd be getting more of that from martial arts classes but it's looking like i need to get a bit more serious about working it into everyday training. That means i'm going to have to start getting up even earlier, sweet jeebus.

I was thinking about deloads again the other day and i the concept of rest days vs rest periods and all taht, i didn't actually come up with anything other than that life makes you take deloads and rest periods anyway, i think. I'm still wondering what the gym situation is going to be like in china, i suppose maybe i'll be doing dumbbell and machine work for a week? If i'm lucky?

I think my body is trying to kill me. I felt really shitty when i woke up, felt great by the time i got to the gym, felt crushed into the floor by the time i left. Like a pancake. With syrup.



I can see 405 from here. It's funny, i remember when i was a young lad i used to be scared of numbers, altho that may have had to do more with my hate of math (at the time, i don't really hate math anymore) than my fear of not being able to move a certain weight. Case in point, i'm deadlifting 300 this week, but you know, i don't really even consider that a big number (cuz it's not), a milestone, or anything, it's just another stop along the way. That's probably a good sign:

• Squat: 235/265/295x7
• Front Squat: 5x5 195
• RDL: 5x5 205
• BB Split: 4x8 105
• Back Raise: 4x8 65
• Wide Curl: 3x12 65
• Reverse Curl: 3x12 45
• Hi Cable Curl: 3x12 50
• DB Floor: 3x12 55

Gah those squats were a pain, you know, overall this is a really fun lower body split in general. If you can get through the first 5 stations, you're pretty much gold, but man...getting through those first 5 stations some mornings is like walking through molasses (or syrup i guess) in winter. You know when you have to tell your self "It's cool, this is the hardest thing you're doing today" after EVERY station, you're probably in trouble :D

PC Developers...once again, WINDOWED MODE! DO IT. Sheesh.

In the words of the WoW community, "Ding!"

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I did a TON of these, and shot my back to hell. After this week is my light week though, so I'm just going to try to push through the discomfort. I will be a machine when all my ligaments heal.

ME deadlift day! It was supposed to be yesterday but I was stuck in Arkham City all day, so I never made it to the gym. :)

A1. Hip/Shoulders Mobility/Prehab

B1. Deadlift

8 x 45#
2 x 8 x 135#
5 x 225#
2 x 275#
1 x 315#
5 x 335#
4 x 365#
2 x 400#
1 x 400#

The 400# was supposed to be a triple, but rep #3 was glued to the floor. So I rested a minute and knocked out the last rep. Video!





C1. Front Squat w/Chains

12 x 45#
5 x 95#
3 x 2 x 175# (w/2 chains)
2 x 3 x 175# (w/2 chains)

I was still working on my wrist flexibility for this, using the clean grip. I managed to get up to 3 reps on a few sets. Woot. Maybe by year's end I'll be up to 8 reps with normal weight! Video for depth and wrist flex comparison week over week. Put wraps on for the last set just to see if they'd help. They did not- felt like they were dislocating my wrists. F-that.





C2. 1-Arm Rows

5 x 6 x 110#

D1. Front Squat Holds

3 x 30s x 275#

E1. Crucifix Holds

3 x 30s x 25#/arm

I was gonna do a Clean & Press for reps as an event, but I was wiped at this pont, and the session was going on 2 hours, so I cut it short. Good thing, too, since I had to take Jess to the ER for a burn on her hand from cooking... She's fine, if not a bit of a klutz :)

So i've been watching Rescue Me for the last couple days and i gotta wonder why i haven't watched this show sooner. Probably the thing i appreciate most is that the dudes in that show have no problem throwing each other beatings if one of em fucks up. You know, i'm not going to turn this into another rant about all the things i think would improve the software industry, the west coast, and american society in general, but yeah...

Joe Rogan said it best in one of his recent interviews, something to the effect of we are conditioned (or we were before we became these soft doughy cow-eyed things we are now) to strike and be struck. Seriously, what's wrong with a friendly beating every so often when someone's being stupid. It doesn't have to be a serious wail-on session, but you know, maybe a third to half-speed gutshot or something like that. Even stay away from the face right, just body shots. God knows that sorta thing would certainly keep people honest.

It's funny...i'll add on to that the idea that people need some modicum of physical contact, but everyone assumes that's the affectionate sort, you know hand holding, hugs, blah blah blah. Whatever, i'll take a good set of body and leg shots over that bullshit anyday. Why? Because when someone hits you, they're being honest. And No, i'm not condoning spouse/child/whatever abuse, jeez, if that's what you think, wipe the fucking politcal correctness off your goddamn smug face, go back, and really read what i just wrote. Fuck.


I think i'm starting to reach that tipping point again where, yeah, i appreciate the strength levels (well, not really, i'm still ridiculously weak), but dear christ i'm getting tired of convincing myself that i don't mind that i look like shit. I need to figure out how i'm going to deal with this though rather than just freaking out and going on another crash liquid diet. Yeah, they work great, but i need to place this one carefully. I need to also figure out how to work complexes, kb work, and other higher metabolic intensity work into my schedule. Not changing my physical appearance is not an option:

• A1. CG EZ Curl: 4x10 75
• A2. Hi Hammer: 4x10 20
• Kneeling NG: 3x30 205
• B1. Stiff Push: 4x10 150
• B2. OHX: 4x10 100
• Kneeling Chindown: 3x30 205

So, finally started playing Dragon Nest, yeah, it's cool! I mean it follows the same sort of paradigm as Vindictus, DFO, etc, but i dig it. The one thing it definitely does that Vindictus does well is janky mouse control. These games really need to take some lessons from FPSs about mousefeel, because for all intents and purposes, you're still aiming with the mouse, and it needs to be responsive. I'll probably play some more this weekend, just to see how immersive it is.

See, this is the sort of thing that makes me think i'll not buy an xbox720/ps4/whatev. 4-600 for the console, 80-100 a pop for games i'm thinking, UNLESS MS and Sony wise up and realize that small, cheaper priced, downloadable experiences can be just as effective as big buck titles. If i knew i was going to pay 10-20 for a downloadable game that had the production values of today's AAA titles, or even some F2P, yeah, i'd be all over that shit. But that means Sony and MS would actually have to think forward and evolve a bit. Har, har, yeah i know i know, that'll never happen.

It's funny, there are days i know the amount of volume i'm going to do is straight up stupid but i do it anyway. Case in point, today. Honestly, I'm not even sure there was actually a benefit to the PM workout other than i can sorta say i'm on track? Yeah, whatever, it's cool. Was nice to just get back into the gym, i notice this is a pattern, i'm out for a few days, first day back i do crazy shit because i feel like i've missed out and yeah. I'm going to take tomorrow light, then another day off.

These next couple of months are going to be interesting, i should really just pinch it off and plan my holiday travel so i know when/how/where i'm going to train between now and January. Actually i'm just being dramatic, once i get through the next two weeks i'll be back to normal for a bit...ok you know what, now i'm just boring the shit out of myself too. Any other day this might be interesting rambling, but honestly i'm tired as fuck right now. It's weird, this post looks so short...


One of these days i'm going to grow up and stop doing this. Either that or my left arm is going to fall off. The whole adapt or die thing I don't feel like is working, but then it could just be because i never take recovery time...oh right, that shit never works:

AM

• Press: 105/120/135x6
• Clean: 5x5 135
• A1. Pullup: 5x5
• A2. DB Neutral Press: 5x5 55
• B1. T-Bar Row: 4x8 135
• B2. DB Incline: 4x8 75
• C1. EZ Curl: 3x12 85
• C2. EZ French: 3x12 65

PM

• A1. DB Bench: 5x5 80
• A2. Pendlay Bent Lat: 5x5 60
• Neutral Pulldown: 4x8 140
• B1. Cable Curl: 3x12 140
• B2. RopeX: 3x12 150
• C1. Cable Hammer: 3x12 90
• C2. Pushdown: 3x12 150
• D1. X Hammer: 3x12 30/25/25
• D2. Cable Uni TriX: 3x12 60

Nothing really interesting to say beyond that, i mean seriously i'm sure i could come up with something but man...I'm seriously cooked. Finishing these docs is out of the question. Food however, is the only question.

Went home to train at lunch today to temper my crazy schedule lately. It was a great session, but it's reminding me of why I don't train and then sit at a desk for 8 hours afterwards...


Videos!





A1. Hip/Shoulders Mobility/Prehab

B1. Push Press

2 x 8 x 45#
8 x 95#
5 x 95#
3 x 135#
1 x 165#
2 x 180#
2 x 193#
2 x 207#
2 x 218#

I didn't quite get the 218# locked out and my head through, which sucks because I am feeling that last rep even now.

C1. BB Row

3 x 8 x 185#

D1. Crucifix Hold

4 x 30s x 22.5# chain per arm

Man, I look uglier than usual in this part of the video. In this whole video, really... I gotta lose me some of that gut.

D2. Plate Swings

4 x 10 x 45#

Trying to simulate a keg toss motion, as I have no kegs to toss nor a place to toss them.


Forgot to record the first 2 of each of these. Was in a rush to get done...


Other good news is that my stone mold shipped today! I'm hoping it gets here by Friday so I can attempt to make a stone over the weekend! Woot!

You may rule in this fake place surrounded by the trappings of our poorly conceived and inaptly named "civilization, but down here in the real, i own you. You may be king, but I am Vesuvius, and no mere mortal man can stand against a force of nature.

After 4 days off it was good to get back under the bar, and boy, i realized how little i ate over the last 4 days. Seriously, the majority of my caloric intake came from beer over the last four days, but you know it was good beer at least and a great time was (hopefully) had by all, I know I enjoyed it.

Returning to Sarasota and going to Ringling was, for reasons I'm not going to go into here, quite a perilous thought for me, but at the end I feel like it turned out to be a great sort of full circle experience that really clarified a few things for me. This is the kind of thing I realize i'll never be able to really talk to anyone about because without basically being me and having been through it in the mental and emotional state i was in means no one will have the proper frame of reference, which I'll get used to. Those demons will never die, but I feel like things like this will help keep them at least dreaming for a good long time.



I'm still really trying to figure out my numbers, i just don't feel like i'm going heavy enough at all. And again, i know i'm not going "heavy" but if anything, i know it's super hard to figure out where you should be. At this point, I'm still using Wendler's formula for estimating 1 RM and averaging out my 3 weeks vs adding a few pounds a cycle, but man i still feel like I'm super light. It could just be because my sleep and food are getting dialed a bit more. Funny, i wasn't supposed to squat today, but i figured squatting tomorrow and then getting my legs beat up at Krav was probably not a great combo, even tho I guess i should suck it and be HARDCORE!!! No, no i shouldn't:

• Squat: 215/245/275x11
• Jump Squat: 5x5 275
• Front Squat: 5x5 195
• RDL: 5x5 205
• BB Split Squat: 4x8 105
• Back Raise: 4x8 60
• Wide EZ Curl: 3x12 65
• False EZ Rev Curl: 3x12 45

Haven't played too many games recently, but man, i saw some at the Ringling GAD critiques that I'd LOVE to play when they get done. Nice work, guys and gals.

No more games, I'ma change what you call rage
Tear this motherfucking roof off like 2 dogs caged
I was playing in the beginning, the mood all changed
I've been chewed up and spit out and booed off stage
But I kept rhyming and stepped right into the next cypher
Best believe somebody's paying the pied piper
All the pain inside amplified by the fact
That I can't get by with my 9 to 5
And I can't provide the right type of life for my family
Cause man, these goddam food stamps don't buy diapers
And it's no movie, there's no Mekhi Phifer, this is my life
And these times are so hard, and it's getting even harder
Trying to feed and water my seed, plus
Teeter totter caught up between being a father and a prima donna
Baby mama drama's screaming on and
Too much for me to wanna
Stay in one spot, another day of monotony
Has gotten me to the point, I'm like a snail
I've got to formulate a plot or I end up in jail or shot
Success is my only motherfucking option, failure's not
Mom, I love you, but this trailer's got to go
I cannot grow old in Salem's lot
So here I go it's my shot.
Feet fail me not, this may be the only opportunity that I got

You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo

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What a week... I made too many excuses not to train, which i am not proud of. Had to go into work today, too, but dammit if that was gonna stop me from deadlifting.

A1. Mobility/Prehab

B1. Deadlift

2 x 8 x 135#
5 x 225#
1 x 315#
2 x 335# (no video, forgot to set up camera for this one)
2 x 260#
2 x 385#
1.5 x 410#
0 x 410#

The 410# was supposed to be a double. If you look at the video, I set up too far over the bar on the second one. I would have had it, I think, if not for that. I rested a few minutes and tried again and failed. Meh. Videos!




Music selection compliments of Jessica's iPod. I swears.

C1. Front Squat

8 x 155#
6 x 2 x 135#

After the first set, Jess suggested I switch to a clean grip to develop my wrist/elbow flexibility for the Oly lifts. I couldn't do more than doubles with these... I need to keep working on that I guess.


Called it quits after this- I was just fried. I'll do some DE Upper and event work tomorrow after going to see Tom Colicchio at some thing in town.

This is my (third?) attempt at week 1 p90x... but now that I'm back from vacation, I'm pretty set on it sticking. Finally crossed that barrier where exercising feels fantastic, and I'm excited to get back to it everyday. I think that's the best part of having a goal that is less finite than "finish this exercise program" "get skinny" wtf ever motivates people. If you miss a few days, so what, it doesn't change anything. Pick yourself up and try again. This is not a 3 month program, its a lifetime pursuit.

I spent a good amount of time after I shot this training a new drop move, but I had to stop when my shin started bleeding. Ah well, it'll be really cool once I do get it. I love taking these videos, because it really highlights what you're doing well, and what you need to work on. On an obvious note, my left shoulder gave out when I tried to do a sideways lift, so I should focus on weightlifting that muscle group, but on a more subtle note, keeping the toes pointed, and accentuating motions. I'm finally starting to feel a little difference from the weight training... just a little bit more in control of everything and less dependent on centrifugal force... it can only get better from here.

This song, (maroon 5, wake up call) always made me think about gender differences. Most of the "I got cheated on" songs written by men are the "I'm going to end you / your partner", and most womens' "poor me, I'm such a victim". I'm not really a fan of either extreme, but I prefer the attitude of taking control of your life.

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Haha I said "Swole."


I missed yesterday due to needing to work a bit later than I had thought, so I pushed ME Upper to today and added in an event (that I would have done tonight anyways) so that I can get ME Oly done quicker tomorrow night.

A1. Hip/Shoulders Mobility/Prehab

B1. Push Press

8 x 45#
8 x 95#
3 x 135#
2 x 165#
4 x 185#
3 x 195#
2 x 210#

Man this was HARD. Some of those heavier ones would not fly at a competition- I didn't quite get my head through, esp. on the last rep at 210#. Still, I got the weight up and locked out in most cases. Videooooos:



C1. 1-Armed Rows

4 x 6 x 115#

D1. Front Squat Holds

4 x 30s x 225#

E1. EVENT: Farmer Hold

17s x 220# per hand
15s x 220# per hand
17s x 220# per hand
15s x 220# per hand

These were supposed to be all 20 second holds, but my grip just didn't want to agree with me tonight. Battery on the camera got flaky here and the 3rd one didn't record. On the 4th one, I think I blacked out a little, hence the right handle weights sliding off. Whoops!






Not a bad session considering I was exhausted after work today. Glad I pushed myself to do it.

Reading Cooksey's post from yesterday really got me thinking alot about the concept of intensity, and not in the technical sense as applied to lifting schemes/protocols, but i guess more in terms of focus while you're training? I think another way of putting it is presence, the idea of "being there" during your workout. And you know, it's so hard to judge people's intensity just by looking around the gym, but i tried to anyway just for fun. And by judge, i mean assess, not...well you get where I'm going with that. Searching for my image, it's funny how things like this become punchlines for internet jokes, but i guess that makes sense because...ok, ok, not going to turn this into a rant against the internet "community" and...yeah.


I kinda want to take a day to go into the gym at different times and just people watch to gauge intensity, you know, because that wouldn't be creepy. I tried doing it today during my rest periods (yeah, i do actually take rest periods), but at some point i lose focus and just go back to staring at the bar/dumbbell/whatever tool i'm about to use to hurt myself. I'm trying to be less judgemental about people in the gym for no good reason, and I'm realizing it's really hard to judge someone's level of intensity because you know, I'm not really in their heads. For all i know, they're completely focused on what they're doing, whether it looks like a severe case of fuckarounditis or not, and maybe just because it looks like they're wandering aimlessly from station, they may actually have a better plan than I do. And for all i know, they're checking their workout program on their phone. Yeah, i'm not sure why i've gotten all politically correct and soft recently either, weird.

I'm a little worried about being out of the gym for the whole back half of this week. I probably should have done some homework up front and figured out where the 24 was or something like that. Hotel gyms are shit, sorry, i'm not going to try and piece together some halfass dumbbell workout, yeah yeah i know, you can do crazy shit with dumbbells, i just don't want to think about it that much. Another reason I'm taking the months after GDC off from presenting/speaking/whatever, i just want to fucking train and not have to worry about schedule interruptions for a bit. And yes, yes, i know, life happens whatever, but i can definitely influence it. Good deadlifts today, altho i think that's probably where everything went:

• Deadlift: 225/255/285x8
• Push Press: 5x5 135
• A1. Good Morning: 5x5 225
• A2. Chinup: 5x5 12.5
• B1. GHR: 4x8
• B2. Seated Row: 4x8 160
• C1. Uni Shoulder Press: 3x16L/12R 40
• C2. DB Row: 1x12 75

Not much gamey stuff to talk about, i haven't really been playing too much crazy shit, definitely didn't do much this weekend. Lots of C++ writing, but yeah. I'll get back to gaming after this week I'm sure.

There's this fundamental truth i keep forgetting when i make a slight tweak to my training sessions, that being "Consider exercises in context". Meaning it's ok that my clean slipped back down to 155 because a) I did them right after maxing out on presses and b) i haven't cleaned in over a month. I like resets, i'm of the mind now that a reset will allow similar progress that a deload might allow, but with less overall downtime and downeffort. I just made that word up. Also, i have no smooth way to incorporate this image, but it alludes to what i'm going to talk about today:



On my way back from Seattle a little while ago, i watched part of the movie Limitless. The thing that struck me most about it was how slowly your self-improvement can start. The first thing Bradley Cooper did after taking the pill was not some grandiose, sweeping act that set him on the path to changing the world, no...he cleaned his apartment. And it's kinda that simple right? You start slow, you take a step at a time, you do the little things but keep an eye on the big picture. That's probably the thing Limitless was missing, focus on that big picture. Too often i think we all do that, in our careers, we try and rush to the top of the heap as quickly as possible to get that bigger check, taking the easiest path we can, but what happens when we get to a roadblock and have to dive back into the mainstream, where we're competing against the rest of the world? Same with training, we can take the easy paths that give us immediate gratification (the pump syndrome), but what happens when we have to try and figure out a long term strategy? Now, i'm not saying anything you haven't already read, i mean, we all KNOW this is true. I bring it up mainly because I discovered Jim Wendler's blog yesterday and i notice he continually re-iterates (is that some sort of redundancy) that it doesn't take 30 days or 12 weeks, it takes YEARS.

The problem with alot of people i talk to now is that those years, coupled with the abundance of information available on the internets, leads to severe paralysis by analysis. Is that the true end result of all this information overload? We're afraid to trust that we can take all this information and filter it down to something that works just for us? Now granted, we're not all special, and sure, "individualization" is a tiny bit of bullshit, but at the end of the day, i think what's going to keep us all on the path is figuring out the intersection of things we like to do, thing we need to do, and things that produce results. You are allowed to trust your own judgement, and yes, Horseman, sometimes you MUST break the "Sacred Law".



For me, i think this means learning to focus on what's important, that being getting strong and getting my numbers in my big lifts up and understanding that fat will go away, i just need to keep on keepin on:

• Press: 100/115/130x6
• Hang Clean: 5x5 155
• A1. Pullup: 5x5 12.5
• A2. DB Neutral Press: 5x5 55
• B1. TBar Row: 4x8 130
• B2. DB Inc: 4x8 70
• C1. EZ Bar Curl: 3x12 90
• C2. EZ French Press: 3x12 55

Already i think i have learned all the skills in Glitch that i can learn without playing the game. That's a weird statement to make, but it's working, because now i'm going to pop back into Glitch, complete some quests, and learn more skills. I think the one thing i wish they'd fixed from beta now is the DELUGE of quests you end up getting. At some points, you're just sitting there clicking ok as the learning stone vomits quests at you. Had an interesting dream last night where I had just given one of my GDC talks for next yaer and was getting interviewed about the future of games and free to play. Yeah i have to admit, i'm a pretty bad supporter of the industry overall, as it takes a pretty epic outing to convince me to drop 60 bucks for a game, in fact nowadays i only buy games my buds worked on, but whatev. Maybe also it has something to do with working for an F2P developer and realizing that yeah...there is some truth to F2P.

This week begins a focus change. For the past few months, I've been focused on leaning out and developing my striking game (for both boxing and MMA). I've dropped weight and some of that hard abdominal fat that we males tend to acquire over time. This is partially due to my wife's spectacular management of my combined desires to eat well and eat healthy. Her food blog, Stuff I Make My Husband documents some of this. In addition, my trainer and coach Daniel Hurtado de Mendoza has been another major part. His conditioning workouts are...well, hellish. In the early days, it was not uncommon to throw-up a couple times in mid workout. These days, I'm much better, I now just collapse in gelatinous muscle failure and a pool of my own sweat before he yells at me to get back on the burpees. Somehow, he motivates me to do so, even when the body tells me that there is nothing left (and hasn't been for a long time). Add to that regular 5k leisurely runs and two-a-day striking classes, and you get the gist of the last three months.

I'm not saying that I'm where I want to be, but that I am where I need to be to begin the next phase of training. For me right now, that means more Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling, a 10k progression aimed at performance over longer distances, and back on the weights. I'm teaching again, so my schedule isn't as open as it was over the summer, but that just means managing time better and getting up earlier to fit in runs before MMA striking and BJJ in the mornings. I dropped down to 175 for my recent boxing fight. I am now ok with gaining a bit of muscle weight. I want to stay within striking distance of that 175 (in case a good fight opportunity arises), but I'd like to be the strongest most explosive 170 pounder that I can be in the coming months. My thinking is 185 is a good lean waling around weight. I can drop as I approach any possible contests, and finish off down near 170 if/when I decide to take my first amateur MMA fight.

So the training looks like, MMA striking two mornings a week followed by a BJJ or wrestling class. Sparring with the MMA guys twice a week in the evenings before training with the boxers (2-3 times weekly). A private striking session once a week. A night wrestling or BJJ class once or twice a week. That pretty much wraps up Monday through Thursday. On Fridays, Erica and I have a repeating indoor climbing date. Basically, from 8 or 9-midnight we tackle bouldering problems at an indoor gym with a live DJ. Sundays are for coach's conditioning class. That leaves Saturday as a rest day (meaning I only run). Somehow, I need to squeeze in 2 days a week of deadlifts, squats, push-presses, pull-ups etc. Looking for that space in the calendar now. I'll probably make one heavy and the other explosive. Monday-Thursday and Saturday, get up early and do Hal Higdon's intermediate 10k progression. I change up the weekend and take off running on Friday and do the longer Sunday runs on Saturday. I assume that the suffering pit of despair that is Coach Danny's Sunday class satisfies the Saturday cross-training component.

I know that it looks like there is little room for recovery, and you'd be right. This phase is all about push harder than I think is possible, feed my body enough to deal with it, and sleep the sleep of the dead. During my boxing fight, I realized that I was hitting my oxygen utilization ceiling. That being said, I also realized that I could keep punching the whole time. The main reason that I was feeling the gas was the strangeness of my first fight. I determined after that fight that I wanted to go harder, more explosively than any opponent and to be able to do it longer than made sense. After watching Anthony Pettis fight Clay Guida, I was inspired that it could be done much better than most of us want to admit. A lot of it is mental. But no matter physical or mental or both, it takes work to build it. And I want to build it. Plus, I want that explosiveness that is a game changer in the late minutes. Thusly, this new training scenario.

Wish me luck...

I like to deadlift! YAAAAY.

A1. Hip/Shoulders Mobility/Prehab

B1. Deadlift

8 x 45#
2 x 8 x 135#
5 x 225#
1 x 315#
4 x 335#
2 x 365#
2 x 395#

Heh, the double of 365# was supposed to be a triple according to the program I am doing. Whoops... Still these felt pretty good even after the heavy work a few nights ago. Video!





C1. Front Squat

12 x 45#
5 x 95#
4 x 10 x 155#

I realized I need to get better at getting low on front squats so I can get lower on the Oly lifts. So these are back in the program!

D1. Crucifix Hold

4 x 30s x 22.5# chain per arm

Event 1. Man, I am weak at these.

E1. Backwards Sled Drag

2 x 120ft x 210#

This was supposed to be 4, but I had some major pinched nerve action on my left side going down my leg, so I called it at 2. Plus it was getting dark and we saw a coyote wandering around the neighborhood today, and I didn't want to be dinner.

Evolution/personal growth is a topic that's come up alot recently in alot of conversations i've had with one or two different people, and it's gotten me thinking a bit about how mine is going/has gone. It's funny, because i haven't actually taken any time to sit and quantify it to myself, well, i think maybe ever? Or at least not honestly. I know there's an argument you can make that evolution should just happen and you should just follow or some such, but i dunno, i'm a big believer in directing your own growth and evolution, or at least putting yourself in positions to influence that. To me, it's just another take on the idea of having and seeing your goal, then getting there. What you want to be is the ultimate goal (or should be).

Devil May Cry 4 is my favorite of the series, mainly because of how Dante is presented. It's sad that you don't get to play him that much and that i'm not enough of a gamer to go back through the game and unlock him. I've alluded to this a bit before, but it seems that by DMC4, he's definitely lightened up a bit and is just enjoying being an ass-kicking half-demon.


The parallel here is what Steve "Crazy Eyes" Pulcinella talks about in this great article from Elitefts:

EliteFTS: Intimidating Iron Looms In Pennsylvania

It's funny, you sort of look back at your younger days and you think...man why was i acting so angry or "hardcore" or whatever? It just wasn't...fun. So to tie a few concepts from other blog posts together, I train to be awesome, but mainly because being awesome is just FUN! Seriously, i love being able to go into a capoeira roda and play a good game, REALLY looking forward to getting in some good sparring sessions at Krav Maga, and ultimately, just being able to toss around a good heavy weight on whatever lift is also just fun. Life is fun, or at least it gets that way. Maybe that's just part of growing up (and getting old, haha you knew i was gonna say it), maybe we're just angry because when we're younger we have less answers. Don't get me wrong, god knows i still know dick, but i feel like with enough thought i could actually answer questions. Not so much in my youth. Fun is good:

• A1. CG EZ Curl: 3x8 75/85/85
• A2. Hi Hammer: 3x8 35
• Kneeling Chindown: 25/30/30 205
• B1. Stiff Pushdown: 3x8 150
• B2. Overhead X: 3x8 110
• Kneeling Neutral: 30/30/35 205

I'm blocking out some SERIOUS time this weekend to play games. Rage is calling me solidly, also I miss Space Marine. What a fun game that's been so far. More on that this weekend. Looking forward to taking Saturday OFF too. No lifting, nothing, hell i may not even eat.

You may or may not understand the significance of this image, it's a bit of an inside joke, even though that's a...ferret? weasel? stoat? instead of a cat. A well, i thought it was appropriate.



Cycle 3 week 1 complete, yeah this is getting into legitimately "heavy" territory, at least for me. REALLY need to dial in the sleep, going to shave off another half hour this week and see if i can be down by 11. I have a bit of dilemna in that i don't want to go to bed dehydrated but...yeah...anyway.

As much as i'd like to partake of free-ish alcohol Friday night and party munchies, this will not happen. I like discipline, it's a good thing, and I'm actually feeling like it's manageable. I won't like, i'm sorta dreading Turkey-to-Tree this year but I'm realizing it needs to happen, i'm really not losing fat at all. I'm not gaining any, and i'm getting a ton stronger, but man i still look like shit. Just going to have to get ok with the fact that leanness takes a tiny bit more effort on my part, but whatever, so it goes:

• Deadlift: 205/240/270x8
• A1. Chinup: 5x5 12.5
• A2. Good Morning: 5x5 225
• B1. GHR: 4x8
• B2. Seated Row: 4x8 150
• C1. Uni Shoulder Press: 3x16L/12R 40
• C2. DB Row: 3x12 75
• D1. Incline Bench: 3x12 115
• D2. CG Bench: 12/11/9 135

Glitch...motherfucking Glitch. Seriously, wake up, start learning a skill, watch my inbox like an addict to find out when i can start learning another one, repeat. Ugh.

Today's TrainingTune: Necropolis (PreEmptive Strike 0.1 Remix) - Siva Six

Cleaning up, get it? I did power cleans tonight. GUFFAW.


Also I creak. I feel old, esp. after the Squat event I did at the end... ugh.

A1. Hip/Shoulders Mobility/Prehab

B1. Clean

2 x 8 x 45#
2 x 5 x 85#
3 x 105#
1 x 135#
1 x 165#
1 x 185#

That 185# was U-G-L-Y. Dirty, if you will (hah!) The video proves as much:



C1. 2" Band Pressdown

3 x 8 x band

C2. Pullups

4 x 6 x bw + medium band

EVENT: Squat (8 singles in a row)

8 x 45#
8 x 135#
5 x 185#
3 x 225#
1 x 245#
1 x 255#
1 x 265#
1 x 275#
1 x 285#
1 x 295#
1 x 305#

I didn't even try the 8th one, I was toast. The idea was to have a progressively loaded squat, 10# at a time, but I had to re-rack and restart each one because I was doing it alone. If you have 3.5 minutes watch as I look more and more defeated and flip off Pandora at some point!



Yeah, I didn't hit depth on the last few. Oh well. I'm tired.

I've alluded to the fact that when i go into the gym, I sorta disappear into my own little world, like i imagine most people do, though i think i take it to a tiny bit of an extreme. I read a ton of articles now about training where the basic premise is something to the effect of "C'mon guys, let's just be honest and admit to ourselves that we all train to look good naked". You know, I'll say that was true of me for a very brief period, probably due to the fact that at that time training and die (or the results of, at least) WERE in fact getting me attention from the opposite sex. But overall truth be told, the reason i started lifting seriously on my own was to get better at capoeira, and even more than that well...hehe.

I've always been a fan of superheroes and fantasy characters that were able to perform crazy physical feats (and not in the DBZ sense, that's just stupid, yeah i said it, fuck you, internet), and you know, I look around and see people that do crazy shit like that all the time. Amazing capoeiristas and other martial artists that can fly and fight, that sorta thing. At the end of the day, this is always going to be the reason I train, and if i never get to that point, oh well, and yes, it's a laughable stupid goal, but it's mine, so fuck off. And now here's one such image I use for inspiration (SO stoked for this game, and even moreso to see the treatments of the other Horsemen):


There's a mental switch i still need to flip, getting better with the idea that morning are always going to suck balls, and the fact that it was raining this morning and reminding me of gray shitty seattle mornings didn't help, coupled with a sudden onset of paranoia brought about by a little thing last night that feels like a really old pattern that i'd love to not repeat is being set in motion, well...whatever it's wednesday, i'll get through this week:

• Bench: 160/180/205x9
• A1. DB Bench: 5x5 80
• A2. Pendlay Bent Lateral: 5x5 60
• B1. Dip: 4x8
• B2. NG Pulldown: 4x8 140
• C1. Cable Curl: 3x12 140
• C2. Rope Extension: 3x12 150
• BB Split Squat: 4x8 105
• D1. Cable Hammer: 3x12 100
• D2. Pushdown: 3x12 150

GDC work begins today, looks like at least two of my submissions got accepted, so I'll be incredibly busy over the next 152 days. Must keep playing games though! Even if it's just remembering to keep training skills in glitch, which i'm serious, is TOTALLY CRACK! I don't know why, i mean this is the sorta stupid personality quirk i have i guess, i'm very much an out of sight out of mind kinda person, but if i have a reason to keep something in mind, well...there it is. Dipped my toes into the world of Rage, too early to tell if it's what i want it to be, but DEAR FUCKING CHRIST it's gorgeous. Really, i just want it to be Borderlands with a little bit more care given to the story progression and less feeling like a co-op game with single play shoe horned in. More on that this weekend after i've spent more time with it.

A little water in the morning does go a long way. I'm not a fan of carrying my water bottle around the gym with me, so it kinda irks me if the gym doesn't have a water fountain readily accessible (look, i'm not a total douche, i mean i'm not gonna go interrupt the spin class to get a drink), but hey, i can rawdog it, as long as the tap is clean i'll use my hands. Today's quest: Bed Bath and Beyond to retrieve a Britta, since god does knows i don't trust the tap in that dump i call an apartment.

I've come to the conclusion that i just wake up bad. There's this period between when i open my eyes and am actually AWAKE. And i gotta tell you, it fucking sucks. Like, hard. I mean it's great when i actually am awake, especially if it was like last night wherein i actually went to be at a reasonable hour. That made me happy. So, i dunno. Maybe i just need to get onto a regular sleep pattern (duh). Dear christ i bitch about sleep alot.

This happened while i was squatting today, i got some funny looks in the gym:



...and sadly, another pair of pants falls to my life in the gym:( I'm actually about 3 pairs in the hole now, need to make an athletic store run next paycheck and re-stock me thinks:

• Squat:200/230/260x9
• Front Squat:5x5 185
• Romanian:5x5 185
• DB Back Raise:4x8 55
• A1. Widegrip EZ Curl:3x12 55
• A2. EZ Reverse Curl:3x12 45
• B1. Hi Cable Curl:3x12R/16L 35
• B2. DB Floor Press:3x12 50

So Rage...it's sitting on my hard drive right now and i'm probably not going to get to play it till FRIDAY. Goddammit, see this is really why i make a shitty game developer, because i'd rather train than play games. Ah well, i guess that'll make my weekend pretty sweet? Oh mother fuck, i have a Dominion launch party Friday, which means i won't be playing it till SATURDAY!!! Yeah my life sucks. I did spend a considerable amount of time with Glitch last night, and I gotta say i dig it. I can see how it wouldn't appeal to everyone, and i'm not sure what the long-term is going to be, but I'll definitely stick around and see how it goes. I don't think i've seen another game that's improved so much since beta. Good shit.

ME Upper day. I decided to incorporate the same training as my dead lift, for my push press. I gotta say, I didn't think it would go well, but I am happy to report I was wrong. I wound up setting a PR for a double on my push press.

A1. Hip/Shoulders Mobility/Prehab

B1. Push Press

8 x 45#
8 x 95#
3 x 135#
1 x 155#
2 x 185#
2 x 197#
2 x 210#

The 185# felt horrible- didn't use my legs enough to get the initial drive, so the next 2 sets I made sure to drive more and they felt way better. The double at 210# was a PR (1 rep PR is 225#). Huzzah.

C1. 1-Armed Rows

4 x 8 x 110#

After deadlifting and farmer walks on Saturday, I had no grip, so these were challenging. But I did them, Time to go up.

D1. Front Squat Holds

3 x 30s x 225#

Thought about going up on the last one, glad I didn't- I barely made it to 30 seconds. Still, will probably go up next week...

E1. Pushups

4 x 20 x bw

Pushups are hard. That is all.


Until tomorrow...

Today got a bit away from me i'll admit so i'm a tiny bit late logging this. Weird morning, but you know, i wonder how many times i'm going to have to assert to myself through doing that going to bed at midnight is a BAD thing? Baby steps, reverse brain hack. Shave a half hour off of midnight for a few days and i'll be going to bed by 10 by the end of next week.

This made me think someone needs to generate more powerlifter memes, also that I really want to take a trip to PA just to hit up this gym:



Altho i will admit (and i totally lose my real gym card for this sure) it was nice to be able to shave at the gym the other day. A little post-lift comfort, not a bad thing right? We could just call it "convenience", yeah that's it.

Blah, honestly i'm tempted to just sleep tonight as soon as my laundry is done, looking at my squat numbers, i need to make sure I'm charged up. First carbnite didn't go well at all, i went to bed fairly dehydrated saturday night and didn't really feel like eating at all sunday, which sorta sucked. This week I'm going to reign my calories in even more and make sure I'm good about getting all my walks in, hence another reason for sleeping tonight. Post-lifting morning walks seem to be the best, and i do love watching the promenade come to life, such a good time. Cycle 3 begins today:

• Press: 95/105/120x8
• A1. Pullup: 5x5 12.5
• A2. DB NG Shoulder: 5x5 50
• B1. TBar: 4x8 125
• B2. DB Inc: 4x8 65
• C1. EZ Curl: 3x12 90
• C2. EZ French: 3x12 45
• D1. X-Hammer: 3x12R/16L 25
• D2. Uni Cable Tri: 3x12R/16L 60

Had to pop a few pills afterwards, but I'm going to attribute that a little more to fatique from lack of sleep vs overwork. I haven't had a ton of issues with the extra arm work, and since it's only for the next 6 weeks, I think i'll be fine. Ok you know, my head is just spacing, so I'm gonna cut it off here.

First a little bit of disgust. This little gem popped up in my inbox this morning, usually I would think nothing of this sort of thing, except that it came from a gym where i used to train whilst living in the bay.


Really? How about this, what if i told you could lose 10 pounds of fat in 30 days for free, but the guarantee had to come from you? That you would stay consistent and do what you were supposed to do, no matter how hard it might seem or how much people might look at you weird? Yeah it sucks when you have to be accountable to and by yourself, but honestly, you're going to make the greatest gains and reap the greatest rewards when you cross into that territory. You stop blaming all the failed programs, books, websites, supplements, and realize that yeah, this is actually one of those things you yourself can control. Seeing a gym prey on its customer base like this makes me well...kinda sick. I'd expect this from a 24 Hour or some such, but not from a small one-off gym. Ah well, i guess in these lean times, everyone's a target.

Gonna be interesting to see how this carbing thing works out tonight, about to go buy food and settle in for some hardcore refueling action. I'm seeing alot of the symptoms i'm reading about, main one being i'm not actually getting much leaner, even though my calories are pretty well in-line and my carb intake has been minimal. Definitely strength, but yeah, not much fat loss, so thinking I'm primed for this sort of thing. Going to try an experiment for this first time out, that being keeping fat to a minimal since i've been taking in a bit of fat over the week, fish oil and all that madness.

Totally addicted to fitocracy now, not even going to lie. The challenges are pretty much my cocaine:

AM

• Deadlift: 215/245/275x10
• Chinup: 5x5 12.5
• Good Morning: 5x5 225
• Glute Ham Raise: 4x8
• Seated Row: 4x8 150
• Uni Shoulder: 3x12R/3x16L 40
• DB Row: 3x12 75
• Incline Press: 12/12/10 115
• Close Grip Bench: 12/11/10 135

PM

• Close Grip EZ Curl: 3x8 85
• Hi Hammer: 3x8 35
• Kneeling Chindown: 3x25 200
• Stiff Pushdown: 3x8 150
• Overhead Extension: 3x8 100
• Kneeling Neutral: 3x25 200

Ok so after spending some real time in Glitch, live is MUCH better than beta already, as it should be. The thing i like most, to be honest, is some of the tweaks they've made to the control scheme. I really enjoy being able to play with both hands on the keyboard (which i guess you could always do, it just didn't come up in the beta tuts). It also does look like the maps have been re-jiggered a bit so as to give a bit more of an idea of a progression path, which is also cool. Combined with the offline skillups, I may have another game on the pile for a bit.

WMS 2011 was just a few weeks ago, today's training tune was inspired by this little pre-competition clip featuring one of my favorite strongmen, Iceland's Stefan Solvi Petursson. I love the part at ~1:55 where the dude off camera shouts "Let's Get Better". Fuck yeah! Let's Get Better!:

[フレーム]

Today's TrainingTune: Sacred Lie - Disturbed (yeah, weren't expecting that were ya?)

[フレーム]

ME lower day. I inserted this training in for my deadlift (and may do the same for my push press):


http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/a_6week_squat_bench_or_deadlift_program


A1. Hip/Shoulders Mobility/Prehab


B1. Deadlift


8 x 45#
2 x 8 x 135#
5 x 225#
1 x 315#
2 x 335#
2 x 360#
2 x 385#


The 385# was tough but I got both reps. Still, it was harder than I had hoped it would be. Hopefully this new training will bump up my deadlift nicely.


C1. Snatch Grip High Pull


12 x 45#
8 x 85#
5 x 6 x 135#


I tried to get under the bar more during these to get used to the motion for a real snatch. That sounds dirty.


D1. Farmer Walk


4 x 80ft x 160#/hand


These had a turn at 40 feet. The last one was more like 70 feet- my grip gave out.


D2. Tire Flip


4 x 15 x 300# tire


Flippy made an appearance this week! I think we need a bigger tire, though, maybe 500# so I can get heavier work in for these.


Overall, it was a great training session. I may get arrested for murdering my posterior chain. Now to relax on the couch, eat some pulled pork sammiches that Jessica made, and watch the Yankees.

Annie sent me this yesterday, thought i'd share.



Funny and true, although i have to admit i still don't look quite as good as the dude on the bottom. He looks big and somewhat lean-ish. By lean i don't mean shredded, i just mean probably doesn't have too much extra fat, something more like a Derek Poundstone vs a Marius Pudzianowski sorta thing tho. Me i'm still working off a a bit of a spare, here's hoping carbnite and working my walks back into training help with that.

Thinking ahead to how i'm going to manage everything when i start doing capoeira and krav on a regular basis next week, here's hoping that Brainhack will help mitigate a bit. I'm thinking that if i can lift "heavy" on 6-ish hours of not great sleep, maybe if i can work up to 8 hours of decent sleep I'll be able to keep everything in line. I will admit that getting a solid 10 hours last night was awesome, made this morning's training session freakin amazing. Today was all about just going into the gym and playing, seriously, i felt like a kid at the playground. That to me is how you know you're doing it right, when it's just fun and you're happy to be training. And trust me, i know, i've been through periods where going to the gym felt like a chore and i was doing it because "i had to" in pursuit of some far off goal that was so out of touch with any sort of reality it was just pointless. Silly mistake to make, but that's what you do when you're young and horny i suppose. Anyway:

• Bench: 175/195/215x8
• DB Bench: 5x5 75
• Pendlay Bent Lateral: 5x5 55
• Dip: 4x8
• Neutral Pulldown: 4x8 130x2/140x2
• Cable Curl: 3x12 140
• Rope Extension: 3x12 150
• Cable Hammer: 3x12 80x2/90
• Pushdown: 3x12 150

Glitch is out of beta, which means i should probably start playing again. It's definitely interesting, tho i will admit the trailers make it look much cooler than my experience with it, but then i didn't really actually play it that much. i didn't actually find the world that compelling to spend time in, and it's not that i'm against 2d MMOs, i mean i played the hell out of Maple Story, i think it was just not knowing how to really progress? I didn't feel like the quests really drove you to new areas, and it wasn't ever indicated whether or not that was essential to progression, so it was hard to tell. The one thing i think Glitch gets REALLY right is the ability to skill up offline. Seriously, if other MMOs did that, it'd be Crack2.0. Dunno, i'll give it a spin tonight and see what happens, maybe i was just thinking about it wrong last time i played.