crack in the egg

Living proof my grip in my right hand sucks, that being the shooting pain in my right ring finger as it was probably taking way more weight than it should have been. Thankfully i've done deadlifts and db rows this week already. Didn't do DB Snatches today, but I'll try and make up for em at some point. Got chinups in too, so I'm happy. I hit almost everything that mattered. Fuck, and i was eight reps into the last set of shrugs too. Ah well...onward and upward:

• Press: 90/100/115x9
• A1. Chinup: 5x5
• A2. DB NG Shoulder: 5x5 55
• A3. Front Raise: 5x5 35
• B1. Floor Press 4x10 60
• B2. Power Shrug: 3x10/1x8 205
• C1. EZ Curl: 4x10 80
• C2. EZ French: 4x10 50

Really diggin the compound sets, banged through 8 stations in about 40 minutes, that's pretty awesome. Part of me says i should do more complimentary exercises, part of me says, eh, fuck it and just have fun with it. Read a great interview with Steve Pulcinella of Iron Sports the other day, i like his philosophy. In my old age, the gym isn't war anymore, it's a party...a party with big fuckin weights! Workout track o'the morn: Paradox - Solitary Experiments.

your life has been spared

I'm pretty baked right now, it was a good workout, but i may end up rambling about random shit, so yeah. I think i'm going to switch the direction my bed is facing, maybe that'll help me sleep a bit better. It's funny because i was sleeping ok until i got back to SM and sure enough, no more sleeping. Painkillers i don't mind, i'm actually not really even taking them anymore, but sleeping pills I absolutely don't want to take. Worst case scenario, i don't sleep but i'm totally drugged out at work or some shit. Is that chemical narcolepsy? Yeah that doesn't sound, what's the word, Fun, yes...Fun. Oh yeah i just got done lifting things:

• Deadlift: 175/200/225x11
• A1. Pullup: 5x5
• A2. Good Morning: 5x5 205
• GHR: 5x5
• Uni Push: 4x10 55
• DB Row: 1x20 85
• Clean: 5x5 165

Argh, those were supposed to be chinups, but whatever, i'll toss em into whenever i end up doing presses. I'm going to take bodyweight slow and only add reps at the beginning of a brand new cycle. Keep that up and i'll be doing sets of 8 by november, which i think is really good progress. Enjoying eating food. Workout track o'the PM: Taste The Blood -Tetsuya Shibata feat. Shootie HG.

nothing

Back in LA, back into the gym. Take a few days to get back on schedule and get all this vacation water off and i'll be good. You know i've hit this point now where i think i'm slightly less paranoid about a week's worth of laxity, or maybe it's just a side effect of being consistent over the last few months and getting myself conditioned to the point where i can handle it that sorta thing. As long as i don't do it for extended periods of time, eh? I don't see this happening this time, seeing as how I'm really just craving chicken and rice right now, so let's do that:

• Bench Press: 125/140/160x13
• Lat Raise: 5x5 35
• DB Incline: 5x5 65
• DB Neutral Decline: 4x10 50
• A1. Kneeling Neutral Grip: 4x20 200
• A2. Cable Curl: 4x10 120
• A3. Rope Extension: 4x10 130

Attention equipment manufacturers: Assisted chinup and dip machines should ALWAYS have a way to disable the training platform, sheesh...IT IS NOT OPTIONAL. I am not doing bench dips again. Workout track o'the PM: Plasticity - Front Line Assembly (the inside synth riff at ~5:01 is the aural equivalent of seizure causing strobes).

082511

So... one of the major reasons I've started P90X again is so that I can improve my pole dancing. I've gotten to the point where I have a good variety of moves under my belt, but my form is sloppy. This is mainly due to lack of physical muscle and flexibility, so I hope to post 1-2 videos a week in conjunction with P90x over the next three months... and hopefully there'll be some improvement.

On a side note, I managed both goals. I can now walk upside down on the ceiling, and go from a monkey grip to martini drop, if sloppily. Need to tighten those up, and see if I can condense the distance lost so I can combine them. :)

crawling on the floor

Just a little tweak on the right side, no big deal. Need to be careful, benching tomorrow, which given the way things went today could go well or could go horribly wrong. Going to think positive and go into it solid. I'd hate to hit the floor Friday and be all gimped out, would be hard to shake hands with a bum arm. Even worse, would suck to not be able to keep doing pullups and the like. Ah well, after tomorrow, two days off, take some time, harden up, life'll be good..er:

• Squat: 150/170/195x10
• RDL: 5x5 185
• Front Squat: 5x5 155
• BB Split: 4x10 135
• Back Raise: 4x10 25
• Wukong: 4x5
• Jump Squat: 5x5 225

Jump squats are fun, i gotta say i'm having a lot of fun playing around with the order of lifts so's to cook out certain body parts best. Also, i think high rep split squats are my new favorite exercise, even at these lower weights. So much brutality!! Workout track o'the EPM: Fire - Scooter (A Classic!!).

2011 USAPL Raw Nationals

Man, I don't even know where to start.

2011. USAPL Raw Nationals. Scranton, PA.

The meet hotel was the Hilton. The front desk and restaurant workers were AWESOME, especially considering our dietary needs pre-competition. Scranton itself left a lot to be desired. I'd love to say that the meet brought some money to the town's economy, but there was just about NOTHING to spend money on! Everything was either closed, didn't exist anymore, or was in a remote enough location that we didn't venture there. I think the Hilton, Radisson, and a local pub got all the money, which is too bad considering the town looked like it needed to be spread around a bit more.

The meet, in my opinion, was run well in some aspects and not so well in others. Most notably, my session on Saturday was 7 hours long, my wife's session on Sunday as 2.5 hours long. It's one thing for there to be a 2 hour swing, but a 4.5 hour difference is a bit much. On a positive note, it seemed the meet went off with few hitches, and the warmup rooms, while not broken down each night, were spacious enough to accommodate all lifters.

Putting all of that aside, here's how it went for us.

We got in Thursday night, around 11. Being on PST, I didn't fall asleep till about 4:30am. I woke up in the AM at about 203.9, which was 5.7 pounds overweight. Somehow I allowed myself to care about this and decided to drop weight to hit 198 for Saturday AM. This sucked, and probably was a bad idea.

Saturday I weighed in at 90kg (198.2 lb) on the nose. It was a 2 hour weigh-in, so I ate some chicken and fries, drank some gatorade, rested for a bit and headed down to warmup.

They announced the order during warmup. the 198 and 220 men, plus the 181 women, were going during the afternoon session. 106 lifters (1/3 of the total lifter count) were going in 1 of 6 sessions. I give credit to how the meet was run, but this many lifters at once was a bit insane.

Then a big surprise- my parents drove in from NY to watch us lift!  That was awesome and gave me a bit of a boost.

Lifting started about a half hour late (at 2:30). I was in Flight A (of 3), which had 17 lifters. From here on out is my play by play.

Squat:

Attempt 1 at 336 went up fine.

Attempt 2 at 363 I went high. It got in my head- I should have hit depth.

Underpants-Gate. I was approached after Attempt 2 that my boxer-briefs were illegal. They passed equipment check., but I was told by 2 refs to change. I had no tighty whities. Jess found scissors and chopped them up before Attempt 3, but I'd be lying if I didnt say this got in my head too.

Attempt 3: I died in the middle at 363 and the spotters bailed me out.

So much for 1100. My goal was 1100 and was based on getting all second attempts. I was being very, very ambitious, but I think if I had not cared about weight the day before, I'd have gotten this...

Rested here, and ate more food. Yes, we had enough time for me to eat a meal between squat and bench to eat a whole meal. I guess I need to get used to awkward rest periods.

Bench

Attempt 1: 253 went up fine

Attempt 2: 281- I brought it down too high and got stuck.

Attempt 3: 281 got stuck at the bottom.

Not too thrilled. I should have gone for 275ish to at least MATCH a meet PR.

More rest. I started falling alseep, seriously, during this time off. I had caffeine and Power Drive and it barely worked. I had to walk around and jump around to get blood flowing.

Deadlift

Once the session started, they decided to tell Flight B (I was in Flight A) that they were going to start waaaay earlier than expected- after a flight on another platform was done, probably 5-10 minutes after my flight started (to this point, our flights were taking 45 minutes). Flight C was then going to go after my flight on the same platform. I cant imagine how this made flights B and C feel. Maybe relief that it would end sooner? Who knows. I think it was obvious at this point that maybe the sessions should have changed after 1/3 of the lifters were going to be lifting in 1 of 6 sessions.

Attempt 1: 417 went up fine

Since I wasn't getting 1100, I lowered my second attempt to be less of a meet PR than it would have been

Attempt 2: I got it up 3/4 of the way and couldn't lock it out. I could FEEL the fatigue in my glutes and back

Attempt 3: glued to the floor

I think the length of the session killed me. If other big meets are like this, then I need to learn how to manage my nutrition and rest during these.

The rest of the weekend was good. Jessica finished second in her division, getting a 308lb squat along the way during her ridiculously short 2.5 hour session (something else we'll need to train for). It was great seeing my parents and seeing them learn about the sport that we love. Entertainingly enough, we tried to have a fancy date night on Sunday but everything in Scranton was closed! We ate at the hotel, had some wine, and got to bed.

We grabbed lunched with Jess' brother on Monday (he was in town to ump a AAA game), got to the airport and flew home. Got in at 11pm, had pizza, and went to bed.

Overall, it was a good weekend, I learned a lot (out of necessity and out of frustration), and hope to keep gaining in strength so I can qualify for next year (if they start requiring a qualifying total).

ready for the siege

So this was almost what i was looking for, I think i want to replace the weighted stuff with bands so it's ALL band and TRX. Otherwise, it was perfect, on or about 30 minutes or less (i think less) and hits what i want my midweek supplemental to hit. We'll do some experimenting this week when I'm over at Experience. Interested to see what kind of stuff i can do with bands...training stuff you pervs:

• A1. Pushdown: 4x10
• A2. Bent Lateral: 4x10
• B1. TRX Chest Row: 4x10
• B2. TRX Curl: 4x10
• C1. TRX External Rotation: 4x10
• C2. Kneeling NG TC: 4x10

Yeah, see, the weighted stuff just feels out of place here. I think i want to half and half it TRX/bands. Not that it really makes a HUGE difference, it's more of an organizational thing, i think. Workout track o'the PM: Sacrifice (X-Fusion Remix) - Reaxion Guerilla.

Sikertelenség

Today was ab ripper, back up to 40 on the mason twist, and kenpo. My back kick is lamentable, need to work on that, but the rest are alright. Strangely enough, its easier to do a solid 4 kick combo than it is to do 1 proper back kick. ? meh? I know it's just an exercise video, but form is important, damnit! What if I got mugged and I got the chance to actually hit someone for real! It would suck if I had trained my muscles to do wussy back kicks...

Doing salsa tonight, that'll be fun. My biggest issue in partner dancing is that I have a bad habit of trying to lead if my partner isn't ... enough. Enough what? Forceful, present... in charge? Who knows. Maybe I should sign up to do the guy part next time.

2 inches from being able to do full splits. >_< Torturous.

Work out music was venetian snares.

like molten rock i turn to stone

If i have any neuroses at all, I would say that being off if i miss a scheduled workout is the biggest. Seriously, all this morning I was not right, altho i think it might have been more that I wasn't sure when i was going to get my workout in today vs just missing the workout in general. Ah well, situation rectified, now i just need to make sure i get my walk in and life will be good. Now just gotta get through tomorrow's travel and i'll be able to keep to some semblance of a training schedule. Travel's not a big deal, it's always just the little jitters of is my airport transportation going to get here, is my hotel going to remember my reservation, is my car going to be there, etc. It's funny because esp going from LA to Seattle it's such a little slice of time, but SO FRUSTRATING! Anyway:

• Deadlift: 165/190/215x9
• A1. Good Morning: 5x5 185
• A2. Chinup: 5x5
• A3. GHR: 5x5
• Uni Push: 4x10 50
• DB Row: 1x20 80
• Clean: 5x5 155

I am determined to only drink good beer at PAX so i can continue to train. Completely non-coincidentally, I organized my current training schedule so i have Friday and Saturday off...you like what i did there? Workout track o'the midmorn: N.M.E - Rosewater.

P90X

The other day I felt like vomiting all day; when I finally did, all that came up was blood. I wasn't sick or anything, but it was definitely uncomfortable enough to distract me from work. Out of irritated boredom I ended up exercising for an hour, and it went away. That was enough to convince me, it's time to start up again, or die!!!

I'm on day 2 of P90x.

Was managing an average of 20 pushups per set in the first half hour, and 15 in the second.
Doing strait legged pole overheads instead of pullups... haven't managed one yet, but I got halfway up about 10 times per set.

Today was plyometrics, and I kept up just fine. Seems I didn't lose as much strength/endurance as I was afraid I had in the few months I've been off. Sweet.

Starting a stretching regiment for the splits as well... I'm inches away from side to side, and still pretty far off on front back. I woke up lincoln today and asked if he's just push me down the rest of the way, but he told me that you shouldn't do that when you're as close as I am. Damn.... no easy way out.

2 goals for poledancing are:
- walk upside down on ceiling
-monkey grip to martini drop

can you see

5/3/1: The Simplest and Most Effective Training System for Raw Strength

Yep, 5/3/1 is everything i remember it being, fun, brutal, adaptable, basically best training program ever. I'm trying to work a little bit of everything into my supplemental work, so bodyweight, low rep, high rep, upper body, etc and combo-setting as much as possible. Seriously, i'm surprised more people don't do at least supersets, more work-less time! Oh right, that=HARD to alot of people. Ah well, being able to keep stuff moving and my workouts short makes the work worth it. I think i'm rolling off 2-a-days at about the right time given how i'm going to be scheduling my 5/3/1 cycles. Should give me a solid 4 cycles on the program before i do my turkey-to-tree:

• Press: 85/95/110x8
• Pullup: 5x5
• A1. DB NG Shoulder: 5x5 50
• A2. Front Raise: 5x5 30
• B1. Floor Press: 4x10 50
• B2. Power Shrug: 4x10 185
• C1. EZ Curl: 4x10 70
• C2. EZ French: 4x10 50
• DB Snatch: 5x5 70

Good kickoff, methinks, this should be a fun quarter. Workout track o'the morn: Fleisch - Phosgore.

a new form

I like being able to walk out of the gym and just feel like it was a great training session. Having tons of good new training music makes it even better. Sadly no one's uploaded Sew My Eyes to youtube yet, so you'll have to go to Vampire Freaks and download the compilation for yourself, it being free and all. Seriously, Sew My Eyes - Terrorkode. Pump that shit into year head next time you lift and tell me you don't pull a PR. I meant to try and get two good lifts in today, but you know, hangin out with the crew last night was a totally worth it trade off and gave me an excuse to do some serious supersetting. Felt my right arm pop a little funny, admittedly my elbow's been bugging me for a while now. Been trying to ignore it or at least mitigate by tightening up my form, mainly on tricep stuff, but moving back to pure strength a month early i think'll give me a good chance to tighten up and give my poor upper body a rest, at least of sorts:

• A1. Bench Press: 5x5 165
• A2. Pullup: 5x5
• B1. DB Incline: 3x8 60
• B2. TBar Row: 3x8 135
• C1. DB Neutral Inc: 3x8 60
• C2. Bent Lateral: 3x8 55
• DB Decline: 3x8 55
• DB Row: 1x15 80
• D1. TRX Back Row: 4x20
• D2. TRX Chest Press: 4x20

Gah, i totally could've hit the full 20 on the DB Rows if i hadn't pussed out when my elbow started popping. I'm really looking forward to when i get old enough to stop thinking that potentially crippling myself for reps is an acceptable choice. Haha i'm totally exaggerating, it hurt, but not debilitating, i really feel like i could've hit those last 5. Just didn't. This explains so many things. Workout track o'the PM: Adrenaline - Terrolokaust. CAST OFF THE PERSON YOU'VE BECOME.

Golazo

Finished final Push Circuit 2, Goal 2 of three down. Goes down in personal history as one of the most challenging workouts. This workout stared me in the face and said, Sup, bitch, bring it. It knocked me on my ass of course so I had to elevate my legs 3/4 of the way through to get some blood back in my brain. The crux, single leg tap lunges followed by arduous breakdowns on each leg. I defiantly came back was never really down for the count just didn't wanna waste time getting through it.

3rd and final one tomorrow. Month recap:

• Standard Overhead Press 40
  
• Single-Leg Lunge 40
  
• Standing Reverse Fly 25
  
• Standing Arnold Press 35
  
• breakdown 3 reps
  
• Single-Leg Dead Lift 35
  
• breakdown 3 reps
  
• Bent Over Lat Raise 30
  
• breakdown 3 reps
• Frontal Shoulder Press 25
  
• breakdown 3 reps
• Single Leg Tap Lunges 35
  
• breakdown 3 reps
• Lateral Delt Raise 20
  
• breakdown 3 reps

The Google Doc.

Yesterday's track was a little mellow but intense.
This should amp you up.

After accused of being soft the workout track of the day:

of forbidden knowledge

Ummm...yeah it's friday and i'm going out soon so i'm about to rush off and get pretty so i can go hang with co-workers...and hopefully ladies. Fast tracking workout sucks, i imagine tomorrow is going to be a special kind of pain:

• Kneeling Chin: 5x20 200
• TRX Curl: 4x15
• High Hammer: 4x15 25
• Band Curl: 4x20
• Cable Curl: 140x10x3, 9x20x1

I seriously can't wait to get back on 5/3/1. Sunday, sunday, sunday! Workout track o'the PM: Bloodgame - Xperiment.

Give these people air!

After a week of surf, it's back to Circuit Training and finally capped a month of grueling Push Circuit 1 with a weight increase in the majority of exercises, not without paying the price! (Ahhnold) Give these people air! I was almost flat on my ass after methodically and systematically knocking out all sets, moving from one to the next with very little rest time. I had to walk around the block to get oxygen flowing to my head again, and yes I breathe a lot during the workout.

The breakdowns, I must add, which are 3 insanely slow reps after a ten second break, will get you to muscle failure or you're fucking doing it wrong! Through half way the workout I am pretty fresh still, but the latter half practically lays me flat out especially after bumping up 5-10 lbs on a few of the exercises. I actually need to buy quite a bit more weight for the legs but using dumbbells for the entire thing actually gives me quite a pumped sensation in my forearms! They have developed quite a lot over the past month, which is an added boost.

The Push Circuit 1 month in review:

• Bicep Curl 30 30 30 35
• Squat 30 30 30+ 40
• Single Arm Bent Over Tri Extension 20 20 20 25!
• V-Press Bicep Curl 25 25 25 25 <------Best/Worst/Best exercise of the month
  
• breakdown
  
• Single Leg Squat 30 30 35 40
• breakdown
  
• Overhead Tricep Extension 30+ 35 35+ 40
• breakdown
  
• Hammer Curls 30 30 30 30
• breakdown
  
• Heel Squat 35 35 40 40
• breakdown
  
• Push Ups 8 11 12 12
• breakdown
  

After all the breakdowns I'm having a physical breakdown not to mention MENTAL breakdown! On to completing Circuit 2 for the month and capitulating with with the 3rd and final circuit, and after that finally moving on to Push Circuit.

The Google spreadsheet.

Workout soundtrack:

tear the heart

Finally to the point where i think the body has said, yeah ok enough of this high-rep pseudo-isolation bullshit. It's not that it's getting harder or i'm not making progress...i dunno, it's just something you feel you know? Body says, hey i need to do lots of heavy squats and deadlifts and we ain't doin that right now. And you know what body? I agree, we need to do lots of heavy squats and deadlifts. So i'm going to put myself through hell weekend today and tomorrow, then kick off 5/3/1 a bit earlier than planned, starting Sunday. Swoit:

• EZ French: 5x10 55
• NG Floor Press: 4x10 60
• Rope X: 4x10 140
• A1. OHX 4x10 70
• A2. TRX Tri: 4x10
• OH Band Tri: 4x10

It's weird, looking in the mirror just after this last week, i feel like all my progress has disappeared. Oh well, so much for whatever the fuck i've been trying to do over the last 2.5 months. Back to being bull strong and looking like a barrell i guess. Workout track o'the morn: Positive Energy - MFG.

set our world apart

Yeah it's time for food now. Just a little spike day before the weekend, you know since my performance tonight was totally in the toilet. But man, i found a new exercise i need to do, one arm dumbbell over head presses unsupported! That's some beefy shit, here's hoping i don't drop a dumbbell on myself next time, that fucking hurt. Almost shouldn't post this, tiny bit embarrassing, but whatever, here you go, piper:

• Press: 5x5 115
• DB Push Press: 5x5 65
• A1. Lat Raise: 5x10 25
• A2. Front Raise: 5x10 25
• DB Uni Push Press: 1x5 70
• Clean: 5x5 135

I'm not accounting for the fact that i'm loading differently, i.e., used to be when i did DB Shoulder work, it wasn't after a bunch of other shoulder work so i wasn't quite as smoked. Seriously, i couldn't even press the bell for the second set of DB Unis. But i like the movement, going to tighten up the numbers and work it into my routine. Workout track o'the PM: No Way Back - Alien Vampires.

You May Be Blue

Now for a not so typical hard coded post. What? What makes this guy so mellow! Don't worry, I'll have you back to the regularly scheduled mayhem asap.

This past week was epic surf. Returning from a long weekend of Malibu surf and Santa Barbara mountain biking has got me pumped! I made a little vignette of the spot I went to.



Staircases is a secluded spot. The location info is pretty out there for anyone to see but it's not terribly easy to find when you're driving down the road. It's gotta be my favorite place to hit up if things look crowded everywhere else.

On this day surf was really good here with 3+ foot waves and crappy everywhere else. Weather was great with a slight breeze and overcast which is nice because the sun isn't beating down and making it hot with the wetsuit on. I was in seventh heaven especially when I knew everyone else at other spots were just sitting in a lineup while I go wave after wave on my Tyler noserider.

I was really on my game and commanded my own swath of beach and pushed the short boarders to the side. That's a first ever! Great week in personal surfing history that's for sure.

Street View

over my head

I'm seriously thinking about turning to drugs...no i'm just kidding, i'll probably just start taking CLA and some fish oil, see what that does. I haven't been on fish oil for a while, who knows? And honestly the last time i think i was on anything like CLA was when i was taking flameout years ago, so who knows? Yeah yeah, whole food, don't need supplements blah blah go the fuck away before i skullfuck you with a jackhammer. Oh yeah, it's that kind of morning:

• Trap Hold: 4x30s 155
• False EZ Rev: 4x10 55
• Supro: 4x10 25
• EZ Rev: 4x10 35
• DB Spider: 4x20 8
• Plate Flex: 4x10 10

Woke up...heh "woke up"...this morning feeling and looking a little soft, not sure what the deal is, other than i've been shirking my eating this week. Can't believe it's already thursday, need to rope it back in methinks. Workout track o'the morn: The Sea and The Silence, Part 1.

doesn't hurt me

Yeah the 2 hours of sleep thing is interesting, i think that may be my next bit of physiology geekery. Destroying sleep dogma (for myself, everything is for myself, i don't recommend anyone do the things i'm doing unless you want to just try them for the hell of it, in which case, good results/bad results, it's all on you, i make no claim or disclaim). I don't feel near as tired as i should, it's weird, i go through most of the night awake, then about 4 i think, man i'm awake, i can do this. Tthat all changes by about 6:30, wherein i drop off till about 8:30, then somehow awake refreshed (enough to go workout in the morning). We'll keep that pattern going until sleep i guess:

• Box Squat: 5x5 245
• Front Squat: 5x5 135
• BB Split: 4x8 115
• DB Curl Squat: 4x8 45
• GHR: 4x8

Feel decent, look decent, time for good food, fine wine, and sleeping with beautiful women, and/or fighting with them. Workout track o'the morn: Merciless Vain Reign - Amduscia.

in my pocket was sand

The couple extra hours of sleep this morning really helped, i'm not sure if that's what got me through this session, but whatev. I swear to god i'm going to wreck CorpoGym with TBar Rows one of these days, but fuck man...gotta do em, Gotta Do Em!! Pullups make me feel like i'm actually not a fat slob anymore. I must do more of these things:

• Pullup: 5x5
• TRX High Pull: 4x20
• Seated Row: 4x8 170
• Kneeling TC: 5x20 200
• Bent Lateral: 4x8 55
• DB Row: 1x20 75
• TBar Row: 5x5 150
• High Pull: 5x5 135

Dropped the weight on high pulls again to screw in the technique a bit more, i'm trying to figure those out still. I need to figure out how to keep my right side from undercompensating, it's weird, my left shoulder is the one that's all wrecked and yet i feel like i've got better RoM on that side. Eh well. Workout track o'the EPM: Fearbomb - Mangadrive.

Boob Opener

Ehhh yeah, really quick, I worked to my bench opener today, a couple of days late.

A1. Shoulder/Hip Prehab/Mobility

B1. Bench

8 x 45#
8 x 95#
5 x 135#
3 x 185#
1 x 225#
1 x 245#

No more work aside from prehab/mobility this week. Woot.

i hate you i love you

Well today was certainly an interesting day, funny how time totally got away from me. Kinda cool though, didn't really have a ton of downtime, just train, eat, eat some more, oops time to train again. That's cool though, must say the 80 pounds of food in my gut pre-empted pullups pretty solidly, but i'll toss those in at the beginning of tomorrow's split. No seriously, i will, i'm not kidding, we're doing this, i swear! No weird gym conversations today though, that made me slightly sad. Already i'm losing my gym sex appeal, ah well (insert can't lose what you didn't have approximation here):

• Incline Bench: 5x5 135
• TRX Inverted Row: 4x8
• DB Incline: 4x8 60
• DB Flye: 4x8 25
• DB Decline: 4x8 60

TRX Inverted Row, it's as much fun to say as it is to do. I do have really "great" memories of my feet sliding out from under me and totally eating shit onto my back in the middle of a set, but hey, it could be worse, right? Fair, fair, anyway. Workout track o'the PM: Ghosts - Colony 5.

before you see the lights

Ok so Coach Dan John said it best, "Just Show Up". Seriously we can all sit here and blame the environment, available food choices, all that other fucking bullshit we like to pass off as excuses for being obese, out of shape, blah blah blah, no, Wake The Fuck Up, America. The reason you're out of shape is because you don't fucking show up. Here's the deal, if you don't want to train, you're not going to. All the support and admonition from your training partner isn't going to make a damn bit of difference if it's not in you to just show up.

I dunno, training and nutrition are very similar in that it's a little work to find something you like and works for you, but there are so many programs, websites, articles, etc out there now, find something you like AND works for you. Yeah it's a bit of work to figure out what works for you, but even beginner programs, find one you like that you know you'll stick to. That's the thing right, sure, there's alot of bullshit out there, but it's not hard to get opinions on things, the curse of the internet, right? Hell, go do P90X or Crossfit with some friends or something, and let that be your stepping stone. I dunno man, i don't get paid for this shit, so i don't know what to tell people:

• Deadlift: 5x5 245
• Good Morning: 5x5 185
• Wukong: 5x5
• Bentover: 4x8 165
• Seated Row: 4x20 LaF 50
• Kneeling Neutral: 4x0 LaF 87.5

Meant to only do kneelings, but i couldn't get the attachment so I worked in seated rows (only so i could steal the attachment when we were done, hehe). Ah well it worked. Now to continue eating copious amounts of food, it being sunday and all. Workout track o'the morn: Architecture Of Aggression - Megadeth.

turned the third eye blind

I'm a bit really tired and probably a bit more relaxed than i want to be (not alcohol induced, how i wish), so i think i'm just going to ramble for a bit. Was going to talk a bit about a revelation i had about chicks today, but that's for my livejournal (no no i kid, i don't have an LJ anymore). So let's start with another weird gym conversation that yes, actually happened, and does little to dissuade the fact that i think i'm more attractive to dudes than chicks...which is...cool? But not immediately beneficial.

Gym Guy: Hey so, i've been watching you the last couple months...

Me (Mentally): Wow, ok, that's really uncomfortable, thanks...

GG: ...and i gotta ask...well...and i won't tell anyone...

Me (Out loud): Uh, yeah man? What's up?

GG (Looks around): so..like...what are you on?

Me (Mentally): What program? What protein powder? Ohhh......

Me (Out loud): Food...Protein Powder...

GG: no seriously man...

Me (OL): Food...Protein Powder...Creatine?

GG: no man i mean...you know...juice man...

Me (OL): Food...Protein Powder...Creatine...Sleep...Postworkout Mix?

GG: Dude, i WON'T tell anyone...seriously

Me (OL): Ohh, look at the time, man i gotta go for my walk, great talking tho!

GG: yeah sure, whatever dude.

Ok so yeah, ive gotten bigger since June, but not like...oh my god you must be juicing bigger. But then, was at CorpoGym, so who knows? Maybe working for eHarmony does weird things to your perception of...humans? Nah i dunno, for all i know this dude might work for Yahoo or something. No, he doesn't work for Riot, i know all the Rioters that go to the gym. Call it my competitive nature:

• Kneeling Supinated Pull: 5x20 200
• EZ Curl: 4x8 75
• High Hammer: 4x8 35
• Band Curl: 4x20
• Cable Curl: 4x10 140
• A1: TRX Curl: 5x15
• A2: High Hammer: 5x15 20

Redid the light high hammers at the end because the heavy ones felt a little weird. Having slept, this workout felt way better than last time i did it, so it felt like a good bookend. I'm doing some experimenting with grouping training sessions over the next week, so this should be interesting. Workout track o'the PM: Tao Of The Machine - BT feat The Roots

we can tear this world apart

Man, nothing like a good brodown bicep curl workout, if i had a collared shirt i'd pop that bitch like CORN yo! Alright alright come back, in all honesty it was actually a good workout. I tend to stay away from super strict isolation work when i do arms, not that there's anything wrong with it, just a case of it's a tiny bit outside my goals is all. After this session, i feel like i'll be able to make some good gains on it, definitely filing it away for next year's GDC runup. How sad is that, most people train up for weddings, reunions, etc, i train up for industry events. Sheesh:

• Kneeling Supinated Pull: 4x20 200
• EZ Curl: 4x8 75
• High Hammer: 4x8 35
• Band Curl: 4x20
• Cable Curl: 4x10 140
• TRX Curl: 4x15

And now DOMs. Well, not...NOW, i mean...ok you get how that works. Workout track o'the morn: Rewind - Uberbyte.

they

Alright then so yeah probably overextended just a tiny bit tonight, that is, i inadvertently trained to failure on way more sets than i meant to! Ah well, whatever. Overall it felt good and I feel way better about eating food tonight and taking two days off. D-Day is coming, time to be honest with myself. I didn't get to where i want to be, but i made some progress. Not sure what i was really thinking, but it's been a good experiment:

• Band Pushup: 4x15
• EZ French: 5x5 75
• Floor Press: 4x8 75
• Rope X: 4x8 140
• OHX: 4x20 70
• TRX Tri: 4x15

Soon it's back to capoeira and full on strength training. Should be cool. Workout track o'the pm: Darkhall - Mindless Faith.

destroy all you can

Proper workout back on schedule, got my lifts in, got my cardios in, and i kinda feel like i slept last night, although i wouldn't hold me to that thought. I do remember popping awake for a spell and then unpopping awake for a slightly longer spell, so...stuff. We'll see if/how this continues to work out. It's funny, i keep telling myself to just keep doing what I'm doing and just listen. I think i'll be doing that from now on, maintain for the most part, eat and rest more if and when I'm really feeling the need. Conventional wisdom i'm sure says i'll burn out or some such nonsense, but whatever. Onto November:

• High Pull: 5x5 155
• TBar Row: 5x5 145
• Seated Row: 4x8 160
• Kneeling TC: 4x20 200
• Bent Lateral: 4x8 50
• DB Row: 1x20 70

High rep DB Rows are fun, but it's not a Kroc Row until it's high weight too. I'd like to hit 100 by the end of the year on this, which i think i can do. We see, must be very careful to make sure i'm getting calories and protein in so i can stay on top of it. Anabolism, it's a good thing. Workout track o'the morn: Living Dead - C-Lekktor.

Whoops!

I forgot to post this yesterday. nothing special, more deload and work to my squat opener:

A1. Hip/Shoulder Prehab/Mobility

B1. Squat

8 x 45#
8 x 135#
5 x 185#
3 x 225#
2 x 275#
1 x 335#

Goal is 370# for attempt #2.

impromptu

Didn't really have much time to think about this one, really it was a spur of the moment workout. Rebelling against the whole deload thing as i was ranting about yesterday. Yeah deloads have never worked for me, seriously, i hear all these stories about how people go on deloads then come back and pull PRs, yeah that's great if that fairy tale holds true for you, but it's bullshit for me. Everytime i've deloaded, i come back weaker, with less muscle, and more fat. So fuck deloads, i'm never doing that shit again:

• Overhead Press: 5x5 125
• Dumbbell Row: 1x20 65
• A1. Cable Curl: 4x10 140
• A2. TRX Tricep: 4x15
• B1. TRX Chest Row: 4x10
• B2. TRX Curl: 4x10
• Clean: 5x5 155

Just a light fun workout, nothing crazy but a good way to get back into it. Back to two-a-days tomorrow, walking, lifting, everything. Crushcrushcrush!

far and beyond

Actual gym conversation:

Gymguy: "Wow, you're pretty jacked, do you eat Paleo?"

Me: "Thanks man, no actually i...just eat food."

Gymguy: "Hmm...how exactly does that work?"

So, when i train, even when it's a little deload like today, i tend to zone out a bit, so i wasn't really paying attention. At this point, i had to look up at the dude and assess a bit, to see if he was joking or not. Nope, he was standing there, eagerly awaiting my response. Anyway, the moment passed and i described my current eating schedule to him. He seemed a little confused that you could lose fat, gain muscle and strength, and still eat some shit every now and then. Ah well, moral of the story is don't be a dick all the time, sometimes people really are curious:

• Box Squat: 3x5 145
• Press: 4x10 75
• TBar Row: 4x8 45

Two days in and still not sleeping great. Going to stay on the deload tho, it does feel pretty nice. Still not convinced i'm going to come off of it and pull PRs or even be where i was a week ago, but we'll see. After reading The Vault i'm beginning to be more and more convinced i may not need deloads, not that i'm some awesome program designer or anything, but just maybe i've figured out what works for me.

Welcome To Your Doom

Last week's wrap up:

Day 1 - Runyon Canyon Hike

Day 2 - Push Circuit 1

Day 3 - Morning Surf Sesh'

Day 4 - Push Circuit 2

Day 5 - Push Circuit 3

2 Days Rest!

I wish there was more to report on the surfing side but it is definitely an off week. Weak wind swell from the South is not making any fun waves. Doesn't really matter right now anyway because I have to stick close to home for the job search right now, and let me tell you that is a full time job in itself right now.

Well, looks like I spoke too soon. Haven't checked in a few days and instantly we have waves. My buddy just hit me up and looks like tomorrow morn' dawn patrol - well maybe not that early. Hopefully, I'll have some pics to share. Looks like a no workout week ahead. Yeeew!

It was Push Circuit week and I definitely put up increased numbers and breakdown reps. I need to buy heavier weights seriously! Feels good! I started correcting dates and putting in the breakdown sets so people can get a better idea of what the workout is like. I've seen changes happen in a few short days and my wife is doing it too and it's making such an impact on both of our self-esteem it's unbelievable! Get more about what this circuit training is from looking at my previous post, also more to come.

Push Circuit - Google Doc

I made sure to get some LoL time in with some fellow dev artists and vfx dudes so that was awesome too! We need to start a guild or something soon so we can start raking in the experience and crushing noobs! --Nowthat I can confidently say i'm not a noob anymore. Nothing like trial by fire.

Can't wait to throw down on some more surf, circuit, Runyon, LoL madness this week! Let's get this party started!

Featured post-workout beverage: Zero Carb Isopure



random workout track: Ozzy Osbourne – Paranoid - Live with Randy Rhoads

hush

...So, i've decided to take my work underground. Or at least deload for a week to catch up on some sleep and see if I make any gains at all while i'm in a recovery week. I'm always nervous about this sort of thing because usually i don't make any gains and at the end of the week I'm not pulling PRs when i get back into the gym or anything, i just feel sluggish, weak, lazy, and not very re-energized at all. But hey, like i said, i've learned some interesting things, maybe just maybe i've hit it hard enough to actually benefit from some downtime. If nothing else, here's hoping i get some damn sleep:

• Box Squat: 3x5 145
• DB Row: 1x20 50
• Bench: 4x8 125

Oh yeah, it was a proper deload for sure. Now to eat food, sleep, and just do stuff. Workout track o'the PM: Home - Lost Witness.

one for the road

Alright i'll just say it, deadlifts this morning sucked balls...but the rest of the session DID NOT. I'll admit it took me a few sets to really start moving and get into the overall flow, seriously it was like a train engine starting up, but once i hit it, it felt pretty cool.

I was reading from The Vault (and if you havent signed up for it at EliteFTS, i recommend you do, it's an amazing piece of reading), and I agree wholeheartedly with the part where Dave Tate says that there's a point where everyone needs to be accountable for their own results. Now, this is a bit more complicated than just "shut the hell up, do work, get in the gym, etc", it means you have to start experimenting a bit with your workouts, diet, training in general to get optimal results FOR YOU. I've been doing this for the last year or so and I have to say it's pretty interesting. Part of it is finding out exactly how far you can push yourself, which i think everyone needs to do. Step outside of the whole 6 meal, n training sessions a week/day, volume vs intensity dogma bullshit and think for yourself. And if the answer you come to bucks the trends, embrace it and smash through to your goals.

I'm still learning, and that's the best part. I'll always be learning, and i hope that's the point everyone gets to in their training experiment:

• Deadlifts: 5x4 245 (see? these sucked)
• Seated Row: 5x5 LaF 80
• DB Neutral Incline: 5x5 65
• A1. EZ Curl: 5x5 100
• A2. EZ French: 5x5 70
• BB Split Squat: 5x5 95
• B1. Wukong: 5x5
• B2. Hang Clean: 5x5 135

Starting my deload tonight, yeah yeah i know, training twice a day isn't really a "deload" perse, but I wanted to stay on schedule and i was supposed to train with someone who didn't show up this morning. Ah well. Workout track o'the morn: Light And Dark - mind.in.a.box.

Deloading For Nationals

2 weeks till I lift at USAPL Raw Nationals. I'm competing against 49 other 198ers, and 34 of us are Open. The qualifying totals are intimidating, so I'm taking a different approach for this meet:


That approach is: "Fuck it, I want 1100."


I'm going to finish at the bottom, I already know that, so I've stopped thinking that I don't deserve to be at the meet. I'm going to arrange my attempts so that I total 1100 pounds on second attempts.


Today was the first deload day- I just worked up to my deadlift opener, and did some mobility/prehab.

A1. Prehab/Mobility              

B1. Deadlift

8 x 45#
8 x 135#
5 x 225#
3 x 275#
2 x 315#
1 x 365#
1 x 405#

This felt a bit sluggish, but it was good to get the work in. Knee didn't hurt at all, thankfully. 2 more sessions and then I rest till the meet. 

you just have to find it

Blah ok close enough that I'm gonna call it. Didn't get full clean and presses and had to drop it by 10 pounds, but whatever. I ain't gonna press, well not literally...well ok i mean well not after cleaning. At least not this time. Gotta say those cleans felt really fuckin good tho, even on the tight hip. Stay off em for a week, then we'll do em again. Not sure cleans are a good deload exercise:

• DB Clean and Press: 5x5 40
• DB Lunge: 5x5 35
• Good Morning: 5x5 185
• TRX Pistol: 5x5
• Hang Clean: 5x5 145

Mmmmm...no i think i'm good for now, Workout track o'the PM: Endzeit - Heaven Shall Burn.

conscious living entity

So based on a few different incidents over my lifting career, i think i have an idea of what CNS burnout actually is, at least for me. Usually, i'm not tired, sore, fatigued, hell usually i'm not even breathing hard. It's just i'll go in for a rep, and my brain won't do it, like my brain won't send the signals to my body. It's hard to explain, like it's not just me saying, Nah, i don't wanna do this rep, in fact, quite the opposite, the signals just never get sent. Yeah, hard to explain:

• Deadlift: 6x4 275/255x5
• DB Incline: 5x6 65
• DB Row: 5x6 80

Yep, and that's as far as i got. Workout track o'the morn: Tryptomine Dream - Astral Projection.

stay close to me while the sky is falling

I promised myself i'd get at least one of my sets in today and I did. Sure i sorta pussed out and made it the upper body set and I could totally feel that the intensity was down, a little more rest than i would have liked, less speed on the reps, but hey. Tomorrow i'll come in, make up deadlifts and fucking catch up the two lingering sets, promise:

• DB Neutral Incline: 5x5 65
• TBar: 5x5 135
• DB Alter Press: 5x5 60
• Bent Fly: 5x5 40
• A1. High Hammer: 5x10 25
• A2. DB Supported Tri: 5x10 10
• B1. EZ Reverse Wrist: 5x10 30
• B2. Plate Flex: 5x10 10

I need to go home and hopefully sleep. Weekdays are just fucking stressful, shit. Workout track of the evening: Fallen (Gabriel & Dresden's Anti-Gravity Mix) - Sarah McLachlan. yeah yeah, it was a weird fucken day, screw off.

easy

Trending downward a bit, not in numbers, but this is the second day in a row i've had to push stations. Friday's going to be beefy. I'm going to blame not hitting my calorie goals. Been missing on some days by as much as 1000, and definitely feeling it. Tonight was not a total loss though, even though i'm pretty stapled on my bench i think. I probably need to take a cycle and JUST bench. ugh:

• Bench Press: 6x4 185
• Bent Lateral: 5x5 55
• DB Decline: 5x6 60
• Seated Row: 5x6 160
• DB Back Raise: 5x6 40

Here's hoping i sleep. I think i will take a very cold shower tonight too. Not because i haven't gotten laid in a while and won't be but because my skin is on fire. Workout track of the evening: Infinity In Your Hands - DJ Darkzone.

without day or night

Epic battle with a twisted TRX drew out this morning's training session, that said I'm still pretty cooked out. I gotta say i love that TRX, TRX Curls are i think the best arm exercise I've ever done. Do some 20 reps on that mofo and tell me you don't get a sick a pump...Oh shit, yeah i said it, gettin a PUMP! Going to move some of the presses back to volume, getting to the point where it's more work to get the DBs up than do the actual set:

• DB Neutral Dec: 5x5 70
• BB Shrug: 5x5 225
• DB Floor Press: 5x5 70
• Cable Mid w/Hold: 5x5 160
• A1. TRX Curl: 5x20
• A2. TRX Tri: 5x20
• B1. Trap Hold: 5x24s 155
• B2. False EZ Reverse: 5x10 40

Skipped the bent laterals, but i'll toss them onto tonight. Tonght's going to fucking suck, i REALLY need to hit 205 on my bench. Yeah i know, excited about hitting 205, how fucking weak is that? Workout track o'the morn: UX - Dominion.

On Busted Knee

So my left knee. It's all sorts of messed up right now. I can't stand up by putting weight on it. i can't push a rolling chair back while seated with it. And I have a competition in 3 weeks. So I did what anyone would do- I asked my wife to write me a training session that didn't involve my legs, at all.


Also I made a doctor appointment for Thursday, Here's to hoping I'm just hurt, and not injured.

A1. Prehab/Mobility

B1. BB Floor Press

8 x 45#
8 x 95#
5 x 135#
3 x 185#
1 x 225#
1 x 245#
2 x 1 x 275#

The floor press was done with my legs flat on the ground- no leg drive at all so as to not put any stress on my left knee. These felt pretty good, and reminded me of how much leg drive helps on my bench press.

C1. Pullups

4 x 6 x bw

D1. Z Press

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

This is basically a seated-on-the-floor OH Shoulder Press. Lots of lower back and abtrunkcore stabilization was in effect here, no legs at all. Owie.

D2. Seated Pallof Press

3 x 30s

Again, seated on the floor, no leg use at all.         

Doctor visit on Thursday morning. It better be OK, because Jessica was flipping the tire during my session and I was getting jealous...           

i'm standing in the dark

Mother fuck me, i was totally ready to miss all over the place on squats...nope sorry, didn't happen. Sall good tho, i missed on everything else. Skipped out on bent laterals and push presses, but i may make them up tomorrow just for the hell of it. Aaaaactually...check it, i'll toss push presses onto thursday morning and bent laterals onto thursday night. Sick. Alright then i'm somewhat delirious for no good reason so...suck it down:

• Goblet Squat: 5x6 80
• Squat: 6x4 245
• Uni DB SP: 5x6 60
• Glute Ham Raise: 5x6

Eh yeah that's all i got, here's some music, i may have posted this already, dunno, i need food, suck it down...again. Oh yeah, it's Rituals -Godmodule:

stop running

I'm noticing that i tend to wake up slower nowadays, but by the time i do wake up i'm fairly ready to go. Workout numbers up again, i'm liking this. The real test will be if my squat numbers can go up tonight, I'm fairly certain that can happen. At some point I do need to go back and work on my powerlifting stance squats, i feel like I'm losing a bit of strength on those. Let's get through the next 4 months first and then we'll focus on that come January. 5/3/1 seems like a good time to work in box squats and the like:

• A1. Lat Raise: 5x5 35
• A2. Front Raise: 5x5 40
• B1. Cable Curl: 5x5 150
• B2. Stiff Pushdown: 5x5 150
• C1. OH Band Curl: 5x20
• C2. OH Band Tri XPull: 5x20
• D1. DB Supros: 5x10 20
• D2. DB Spiders: 5x10 8

Band work FUCKING HURTS. Woweewowow...I mean yeah you get a decent pump, i think even better than on some of the DB work, but sweet jeebus. Yeah i need to do way more band work. Thinking i might buy my own set of chains too. We'll see how long i can get away with using those at CorpoGym...Workout track o' the morn: Armageddon - Level 2.0.

Fresh Meat on the Block

Yeah I am the new kid, name's Jonas. I'm a technical artist, rigger, gamedev, vfx whatchamacallit. I love games and working on them lately has been a hell of a lot of fun and challenging. Also, along with coding and creating and all things cyber, I had started sculpting and redefining my corporeal existence before the summer hit and now things are in full swing again.

Muscle and endurance had started fading and with it crept up complications I knew were just going to get worse if I let it go any longer. Mainly I was feeling back pain as a result of my abs and lower back getting weak, a general lack of energy, getting sick more often, not to mention I was getting fatter by the minute, or so it seemed! That stuff trickles down into every part of my being making it difficult to focus on my work and all kinds of other side effects.

Fast forward to today and the dent I have made in those fatty deposits is quite recognizable, at least to me. Progress pictures will have to be taken, ugh. I've gone back to surfing after taking a year long hiatus also, but more on that later. So I lift, surf, and get out on hikes whenever I can. I like full body workouts with little rest in between sets and breakdown sets to push the muscles beyond the point of fatigue.

Here's my regimen to get ya all caught up to speed the latest being the 3rd set of Push Circuit 1:

Google Doc

The dates are all wrong, but I wasn't planning on sharing with other people--till now! I may or may not fix that soon. You can see the general idea. There are different circuits for each month 1-3 and I am on month 2, dragging it out a little because there's good surfing weeks interspersed among lifting weeks when there's down time in the ocean swell.

This is circuit training which is awesome because it targets the muscle groups while at the same time getting a total body workout and what's called the cardio effect when working lower body especially and because you have little breaks in between sets. The breakdown sets (not shown) are where it gets super challenging but if you dig in and flex the weight throughout the whole rep extremely slow then results are unbelievably fast. The other good thing about this kind of training is you don't need a lot of equipment. More on what the workout actually entails in future posts.

Thanks to Seth for inviting me to post. I have lots to offer in how to have a happy balance between work and working out. Stay tuned! I will offer pics and more to spice things up.

Depeche Mode "Dream On" - Today's workout tune.