Hard Coded

I'm realizing alot of truths recently, today's truth realization is that of bodypart splits and why Leg Day is awesome. First of all, Leg Day sucks, and today was light!! Heavy Leg Days are going to kill me, but the truth is, I only have to do it one day a week, and I really felt it just in my lower body. For as hard as this split is going to be when I add real weight, my upper body is ready to go for the next 3 sessions. Maybe them bodybuilders is onto sumfin...hrmmm...

I will be brief today because I'm tired, need to go eat, and internet manz is coming to hook me up soon, which will also be awesome. Another truth I'm realizing, over 45 minute sessions is not a bad thing. This session topped out at about 80 minutes including warmup, but some of that came from rest. I'm keeping my rest periods to between 60 and 75 seconds, which is at most about 30 seconds longer than I've been resting. Those 30 seconds go away REAL fast by the end of the session. Overall, lovin it, like this guy and his salmon:


I sorta want to add sled drags or farmer's walks to Leg Day just to be total masochistic psycho, but sadly, that seems to be one of the limiters of Active vs Super Sport, the lack of warehouselike floor space...altho...the weight room IS still pretty big. This might bear some experimentation...

• Squat: 225x5/245x5/275x5/275x5/185x8
• Romanian: 185 4x6
• Toes-to-Bar: 4x5
• Front Squat: 135 4x8
• Donkey Calf Raise: 80 4x12
• Dragon Flag: 4x12
• Hack Squat: 135 4x8
• Standing Calf Raise: 80 4x12
• Hanging Leg Raise: 4x12

Honestly, i can't wait to start adding weight to this. For some reason, the idea of having to drag myself home after leg day sounds like too much fun...

I have half a mind to just start whining about a laundry list of fucked up shit, most of it having to do with the fact that I'm still struggling a bit to figure out what my next few steps professionally should be, but I'm not sure I really feel like unburdening myself here, now. I think i have resolution on that issue at a high level, i just need a plan now, so I guess it'd be less bitching and more thinking out loud, but I'm not sure that my thinking out loud is compelling reading. Besides, I don't think i'd be saying anything new beyond what i've been talking about in that arena for the last couple of weeks, at least publicly. The real plan needs to simmer a bit more before i start discussing that, methinks. That and I'm sitting in a really nice coffee shop in San Jose on a fairly lovely Thursday early-afternoon and it just doesn't seem like the right thing to do, so brief moment of self-pity over, move along, nothing to see here. Still hibernating, and spring is a long way off from here.


I've been reading alot recently, as I've alluded to on a few occasions, I just finished The Education of A Bodybuilder, by the man himself, Arnie. Now, there are a million reasons you should read this book, but I'm going to let you figure those out yourself by reading. The one thing I will mention is that it's interesting to read the disconnect between what you see on the newsstands as the "workouts that made arnold great" and what the man himself says. As most of you educated lifters know, it's pretty much what you expect, start with the basics. Whatever your goal is, you'll never go wrong with squats, deadlifts, presses, and the like.

That said, taking a cue from this excellent article by Dave Tate (as opposed to all the non-excellent articles by Dave Tate? Yeah, no such thing), I'm going to incorporate some thoughts from Education of A Bodybuilder and Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding into my program. The thing I realize is that, as often as it seems like I "change" programs, really all I'm doing at this point is tweaking. I can hear the gasps from all the P90Xers and Crossfitters out there, i know, i'm not making sweeping changes and confusing my muscles, etc etc, trust me, it works. Your muscles really aren't that smart, they get confused VERY easily. Dumbbell presses just aren't sexy or marketable, oh yeah, and you might get "bulky". Fuck off.

I like the idea of what Arnold calls "Freehand" exercises, which are basically just a bunch of bodyweight sets. I'm going to start my weeks with a split similar to what he mentions using when he started out training in Austria. I did this split today, and I definitely realize the truth of it. It's not only a great way to start a training week, it feels like it'll be a good deload set, as well as a goalkeeper, the idea of going from 5x20 to 2x50 to 1x100 to nx100, that sort of thing. Definitely something to think about.

• Pushup: 5x20
• Dip: 10x5
• Inverted Row: 15,15,20
• Situp: 5x20
• Flat Knee to Chest: 2x25
• Bodyweight Squat: 2x25
• Bodyweight Donkey Calf: 2x25

There are some sets I still need to toss into this split, namely Bent Broomstick Twists and Chinups, but those will come. Recent stressors, most notably the move, have me on an odd sleeping pattern, so I'm doing what I can, but we'll figure it out. All in all...is good.

I have a love hate with landmines. I hate that alot of gyms don't have landmines, but I love seeing the divots in the mats where people have set up for em anyway. T-Bar rows are such a great exercise, it's a shame not to do them. Nothing really special today, just getting back to lifting after a somewhat stressful but not terrible two weeks off, mainly due to the move. Haven't been eating great, but we'll get back to that tomorrow too. I finally have a working kitchen again (or i will by the end of the week), so no more having to get creative with microwaves. Stir fry madness incoming!! Coconut oil...mmmmmm.

Must say I am a fan of this concept of the 24 Hour Fitness SuperSport Club. These things are freakin warehouses, just with nicer gear. Having space to do loaded carries is awesome. I wonder if I'll be able to get some of those in by appropriating the climbing wall space at the pacific shores gym. Guess there's only one way to find out...

Life is doing weird things right now. I think this image says it all...a little hibernation will do me some good I think. That's what 2012 is going to be for me...hibernation.


And yes, there will be deadlifting.

• Deadlift: 225 3x5, 275 3x3, 185 3x8
• DB Incline: 60 2x12, 50x10, 50x8
• TBar Row: 105 4x8
• A1. DB Bench: 50 4x12
• A2. Bent Lateral: 40 4x8
• B1. Pushdown: 140 4x12
• B2. DB Curl: 25 4x8
• Farmer's Walk: 45 4x70yds

Training might take a bit of a turn, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to fight capoeira into my schedule for the first time in a while, which troubles me a bit. Maybe I can squeeze it in on weekends, but man, for some reason everyone in the southbay seems to be super averse to Tuesday and Thursday classes. Oh well. Definitely excited about doing BJJ again though.

Took a couple of weeks off from training. Not to deload or anything, though. I just wasn't feeling it. I think the season change, shorter days and weather have just knocked me off my game. Today I got back to it, though, and remembered why I love training so much.

A1. Hip/Shoulders Mobility/Prehab

This is an anti-lifting post... and by anti, I mean that there was none to be had, I have been that busy.

This last week and a half has been filled with activity centered around interviewing down in San Francisco, and accepting one of the jobs... and everything involving that.

One of those "necessaries" was taking general grievous (my car) into the shop to get worked on before making a long road trip. While I was in there, the guy was asking me questions about where I was driving, ect. I've been avoiding saying strait out where I work, because I've noticed that people just get snippy, and it's rather uncomfortable. So when he asked, I diverted the question by talking about the craziness... the social unrest, and everything else I saw brewing while I was down. He ended by saying, "and here you are swooping in there taking someone else's job." I told him that I do very specialized work that took years of study and preparation, and that not anyone one the street could walk up and do it, to which he replied sarcastically, "not like YOU, eh?"

I know what it's like to be in his shoes. I worked at grease monkey. I've worked places 10x worse. I can tell you from personal experience that being a caricature artist at elich gardens is way more degrading than being a cocktail waitress for a bunch of drunks and ending the night being expected to warm the laps of some local mafia members. I can also tell you that the job he has is a lot better than some of the shit I've seen. He wants to come and tell me that I'm taking SOMEONE ELSE'S job? You want to start telling me about being unemployed? It wasn't that long ago that I was dumpstering, starving, and scrapping.

You want to take my job? Come on, I'll fight every person who stands up and thinks they can. Pry it out my cold dead hands. Fuck you.

It makes me so mad, the level of expectation people have, like a bunch of birds with open cawing mouths. I've worked 3 jobs at once, two unpaid for experience, one a degrading waitress shift with 3 hours a day of bus commutes, and I've had to watch, smell and hear people eating next to me while I slowly starved. That memory is as clear in my mind as if it happened yesterday. I've never begged.

The worst part is that I have this sense of social obligation and associated guilt, as if I SHOULD be helping because I'm FINALLY in a position where I can. It makes me wonder why I even bother when I hear people like this. And the shitty thing is is that our society really does need some sort of shifting change, there are people out there who are NOT selfish who legitimately DO need help. It IS wrong to turn a blind eye... but you have to wade through mountains of expectant jackasses to get there. It's so disheartening.

Anyways, I know that lifting blogs aren't exactly the place to talk about these things, but I just needed to rant, and I have no other venue.

>:|

Haven't posted for the past week, so I'll recap while my computer is turning a 2 week task into a 30 minute one. My time at the gym has been cut short most of the time, which is a little frustrating. I finish my two core movements and I want to do some metcon/cardio/something additional, but then I look at the clock and realize I *really* need to get back to work. c'est la vie, I suppose. I'd go after work, but that's after the gym closes. Anyway, here are my past three rather short sessions:

12/2 Friday

A. Warmup

1.5 mi stationary bike

B. Mobility/stretching

10 min

C. Deadlift

5 x 135#
5 x 185#
5 x 225#
5 x 275#
7 x 295#
3 x 305#

D. DB Bench

8 x 35#
8 x 35#
8 x 40#
8 x 50#
8 x 55#
8 x 60#
8 x 60#
8 x 60#

Even though you never suspect it, you know it's true, it's always going to be one of the little assistance exercises that you get sloppy and lazy on and fuck yourself up. Case in point, bent laterals! And of course it was the very last rep of the very last set that did it. Thankfully I did some stretching in between and some rolling afterwards, now I'm at home happily doping myself up so I can function tomorrow at my interview.

It's funny how much you can one-rep when you don't really think about it. I imagine i'll be able to start out at a fairly good clip on deadlifts when I hit up juggernaut, sadly, I feel like my other lifts might suffer a bit, but I've never had an issue bringing squats up at least, so I'm not going to worry about it. Just going to keep doing what I'm doing for now and continue to enjoy this rather unique training situation I find myself in. Anyone wanna setup a GDC Fight Club next year, maybe after the Tech Art meetup?


It's funny, I'm at that point in the cutting where I get cold alot and it being winter i'm never sure if it's just me or the weather. Pretty sure it's me at this point, which is a good sign. Now...here's the real question: Am I so set on training that I'm going to try and squeeze in a workout in the three hours before my interview tomorrow? I probably will, let's see what time I end up leaving the airport and get to Redwood City.

• Deadlift: 355x1/305x3/255x5/205x8/135x12 Stripset, no rest
• Push Press: 4x6 145
• A1. DB Floor Press: 4x8 60
• A2. Bent Lateral: 4x8 50
• B1. Hammer Curl: 2x8 25
• B2. Overhead Extension: 2x8 110

Had to take a serious break before trying to get in those last two stations. Strict hammer curls are actually really hard to do when your lower back is spasming a tiny bit, but I figure i can put that down as unstable training? Haha, man that's gonna be my claim to fame, Injured Assistance Training! Ok that's a horrible idea.