antagonistic to the natural state

Okay, maybe those aren't actually his ears, maybe Argus just has really awesome hair.  Or maybe he has a sever ear hair problem, he is pretty old after all.  Whatever, i think he's still slightly higher in esteem than Asura, nobility is cool and all, but man...have some fucking fun.


The more higher-rep "heavy" sets i do, the more the idea of how full-body lifts provide a "cardio-ish" element gets driven home.  Sure, 265 isn't really that impressive of a squat number, but for me here and now it was fairly solid.  Front squats were a bit weird, i sorta feel like i need to hit more weight on those, ditto Romanian Deadlifts.  Now that my right hand grip is getting better I feel like i can probably hold quite a bit more, so i should probably do this.  

I'm not having weird food dreams yet/again, nor am i having incredibly vivid sex dreams, so I imagine i'm keeping my calories at a fairly normal-ish level.  It is funny how much of a different effect on my sleep walking has vs martial arts.  More incentive to make sure I get up at the right time.  There are other reasons, i won't lie, i think it's maybe my old age again, but you know...the timeslice encompassing the two-ish hours in the morning where i train, go for a walk, then take a shower is my favorite thing in the world right now.  Simplicity, it's awesome:

• Squat: 205/235/265x10
• Front Squat: 5x5 165
• Romanian: 5x5 165
• Barbell Split: 4x8 95
• DB Back Raise: 4x8 50
• Wide Grip EZ Curl: 3x12 45
• EZ Reverse Curl: 3x12 35

I really want to rant about game "journalism" right now, but you know, it's Friday, I'm going to bunker tonight, i'm going to eat good cheese for lunch, and we just made an offer to an awesome Sr Technical Artist.  I'm happy right now.

Today's TrainingTune: Stigmata - C-Lekktor.

i had a dream filled with machines

Almost fell back into a routine today, i need a big poster over my bed of one of the awesome VR scenes from Johnny Mnemonic (go 3ds max!) that says "HACK YOUR OWN BRAIN!" so i remember to get out of bed and go lift regardless, something like this:




See because he's hacking his brain and...ok if you saw the movie (which i hope you did), you know where i'm going with this.  Cycle 2 of 5/3/1 is almost over and man i gotta saw things have happened!  I'm gettin all strong again and have some size back, which is cool.  Really curious as to how this carb nite thing is going to work out becase it seems like a culmination of all the eating strategies i've tried over the last few years, or at least a culmination of all the eating strategies that WORKED (important qualifier).  So yeah we'll see, it's kinda interesting doing all this reading on conditions caused by depletion, esp when it's more from people who actually train since they can actually give you a relevant frame of reference.  Thankfully i'm not a hypochondriac so it's easy to call things out without panicking.  All in stride, i suppose you just have to accept that some things are part of the process and go on:

• Press: 105/115/135x4
• A1. Pullup: 5x5 12.5
• A2. DB Shoulder: 5x5 45
• B1. TBar Row: 4x8 115
• B2. DB Incline: 4x8 60
• C1. EZ Bar Curl: 3x12 75
• C2. EZ French: 3x12 35

Not much on the gaming front specifically, altho i had some really interesting thoughts about...i'm not sure if it's entitlement, well yeah it is.  I was reading an article on this whole uproar over DC's new sexified characters (which i personally think is awesome) and i some of the comments provoked some interesting thoughts.  The whole topic of "internet white knights" is something i could touch on for days, but i won't, though i will say it's probably unfair to assign this condition to just to internet, i mean let's be honest, get into any group of mixed sexes and i'm sure you'll see all the dudes put on their faux coat of arms declaring their allegiance to the army of the enlightened...which is probably why i tend not to talk too much in mixed company, honestly it's not worth being pegged as the uncouth boorish neanderthal who actually likes all the things men aren't supposed to like in public.  Whatever.

No the topic i was more thinking of was this idea that "just don't buy the product" somehow doesn't seem to be a valid argument.  I gotta say, if the media and corporations have gotten us all to the point where we need our fixes so badly that voting with our dollar isn't a viable option anymore, they've already won.  Get used to the current state of things and prepare for a tidal wave of sexified comic book characters.  I must say it always blows my mind to see a company like EA, Activision, or Blizzard backpedal on some announcement they make.  I'd love to see someone stick by their guns for once and run some metrics on how insignifcant the conversion from internet rage to actual revenue lost is.  I'd imagine it's pretty tiny.  Fuck PR.

Today's TrainingTune: initial reaction - pneumatic detach.

rooted

Day two of brain hacking is going surprisingly well, now i think i just need to focus on the physical.  I think there's something to be said for actively directing your body to do things, you know, you start by telling yourself, yes i'm going to do this, then ok now you HAVE to do this, then internalizing it.  I think it might be akin to feeling the muscles as some bodybuilders call it, but yeah, i think it's just the idea of actively putting your mind/mental self into your body/muscles, as weird as that sounds, but you know, i get the distinct impression people dont' do it.

I came to a realization this morning that there is a difference between pushing through actual physical distress and...let's just call it overall discomfort?  For example, i woke up this morning feeling kinda like shit, but not really in pain, just a little tired, a little sick at the stomach from bad sleep and work, and overall eating pattern changeup, but you know, i think that's just the sorta thing you don't even think about pushing through, you just do it.  Now if i had woken up puking organs up, that's different but extremes are...well you know.  Seriously, why do i even have to qualify shit like that anymore:

• Deadlift: 205/235/265x9
• GHR: 5x6
• Chinup: 5x5 10 
• Seated Row: 4x10 140
• Uni Shldr Press: 4x10/4x12 40
• DB Row: 4x10 70

Nagrand i think is my favorite WoW zone of pretty much all time, granted i haven't been to Northrend yet, so who knows?  I like big open nature spaces like that, virtual or otherwise.  It takes me back to my childhood, growing up hiking the Ozarks and the like.  I really miss getting into the outdoors, i haven't been camping in way too long.  It's funny, sometimes when i'm playing WoW, i'll setup a camp fire and just go hunting, etc.  It's stupid i know, and really i should just get out more.  Working on it...working on it.

Today's TrainingTune: 1200 - Mushroomhead.

sinner

So i'm going to start trying this mental hacking thing just for the hell of it.  I was reading an article about SEAL training and they make some interesting points.  Yeah, yeah, i know, i'm NOT a SEAL, but that doesn't mean there aren't things we can't learn and incorporate on some level.  For one, the idea of hell week.  Four hours of sleep at random intervals intersperced with days of INSANE amounts of physical activity.  Given that, why can't i condition myself to be able to train in the morning on less than optimal amounts of sleep?  I say thee yea, this can be done.  So let's see what happens.  Take a little page from Coach Dan Jon and just start by showing up, right?  Did that this morning and hey, got my bench back on track and even went an extra rep with heavier weight.  Good sign?  I think so.

I dunno you know, even tho i'm totally living in this weird fantasyland that's going to come crashing horribly down around me like it always does...well...i doubt it's going to be that horrible, i'm a bit older and better conditioned now, i suppose on some level i'll deal with it better, i mean hell, not even the waiting is killing me...but i digress..It's kinda nice to have some sort of placeholder for your goal that actually makes it real-ish, you know?  And when the sun burns out, none of it mattered and we center on a new star (or some other such poetic bullshit, i was never good at that sorta thing):

• Bench Press: 165/185/205x10
• A1. DB Incline: 5x5 70
• A2. Lat Raise: 5x5 35
• B1. DB Neutral: 4x10 70/65/65/65
• B2. Kneeling TC: 4x30 200
• C1. Cable Curl: 4x10 150/140/140/140
• C2. Rope Extension: 4x10 150

Haven't gamed a whole bunch between yesterday and today, nor really thought about.  Umm...Oh yeah, League Of Legends: Dominion is OUT!  Go PwnFace!!

Today's TrainingTune: When Death Embrace Me - Panzer AG.

burned on the ground

Always goes back to the little things, doesn't it?  A trip to your favorite coffee shop after a morning lift, but even that's not safe from change.  Why would you stop serving 20 oz Americanos?  I mean, it's not THAT much more water than a 16...is it?  Ahh who knows, the subtle science of resource management constantly eludes me, which is probably why i love RTSs but am really not any good at them.  Anywayz...

The adage about being able to trace pain up or down the chain continues to hold true, i have traced my elbow pain while benching to EXTREMELY tight wrists.  The minor swelling in my left wrist i can probably attribute to some of it as well.  Really hoping its not the onset of tendonitis, though if it is i suppose i can thank god i'm not a drummer anymore.  

Yeah still baffled by how a gym on a college campus doesn't have a decent bench station.  The "bench station" they have is just...not built for benching, and sadly even the squat rack is spaced odd for someone with short hobbit arms like me.  Almost lost the bar unracking for the 195s, that would have been fun.  Probably could have handled it if i had stretched a bit better, as it was, grinding out the 195s was setting my wrists and elbows on fire, had to squeeze the bar pretty hard to stave it off for the set:

• Bench Press: 155/175/195x9
• A1. DB Incline: 5x5 65
• A2. Lat Raise: 5x5 35
• B1. DB Neutral Decline: 4x10 65
• B2. Kneeling TC: 4x30 200
• C1. Cable Curl: 4x10 140
• C2. Rope Extension: 4x10 150

Spent some serious time with Horde mode in Gears 3...Holy God that shit's fun.  That may seriously be my new brainless timekiller game of the year.  I didn't realize there was actually some serious depth and progression to the fortification element, i just thought it was this cool twist on the norm.  Man, Firefight 3.0 better come with it, glove has seriously been tossed.  Kinda anxious to dive into Campaign too, you know, i gotta say, i've always been a fan of 3rd-person shooters in general, even moreso than FPSs, and Gears is really the pinnacle...well, if you don't count Earth Defense Force.  Altho...vertical split screen?  Let's see some proper horizontal split screen for EDF 3, eh?

Today's TrainingTune: Accelerant - Die Sektor.

under the guise

An odd morning of sorts, but it's funny how little effort a properly designed arm split can be. Admittedly, no really big numbers here either, like nothing extremely taxing, other than the close grip curls, which I sorta feel were only really hard because the technique is new.  I really did like this split overall, I've been looking for a good, fun, arm split i can do once a week just to keep things flowing.  One of the things I liked about the lower weights on some of these too was really being able to hit the range of motion.  Getting a REALLY good stretch at the top of the overhead extensions was a new feeling, which I'll keep.  It really makes you think alot about shoulder and overall joint health.  Something i'll have to keep in mind when designing arm splits going forward.

• Close Grip EZ Curl: 3x8 75
• High Hammer Curl: 3x8 30
• Kneeling Chindown: 3x20 200
• Stiff Arm Pushdown: 3x8 140
• Overhead Extension: 3x8 80
• Kneeling Neutral Grip: 3x25 200

Hard Reset on Easy is just pure brainless fun.  It reminds of how badly we need another Serious Sam game, but one closer to the original.  Don't get me wrong, SS2 was a fun game and did look really good, in fact, even played decently, but I came to miss those wide open arenas of massive gun carnage.  I'm not really sure what the trend towards levels that are incredibly complicated to traverse are nowadays, especially in FPSs.  I always had the thought that a good FPS level is one you could play running backwards.  I say this because this is the sort of thing that usually highlights the discrepancy between combat design and level design.  Your combat is designed such that i have to backpedal to not die, but your level is laid out in such a fashion that I back up into something immediately.  That's not called challenge, it's called bad, unfun design.  Sorta like how WoW likes to use grouping as a crutch and make it ok because you can only get the cool gear by leaning on the crutch and limping through the badly designed content that takes advantage of the fact that you're handicapped...

Snatch Is Not A Dirty Word

Today, I learned how to power snatch! The internet taught me (many videos), and Jessica, having dabbled in Oly lifting before, watched and corrected my form as I progressed. I gotta say, it was fun. Maybe I'll become an Oly lifter.... nah :)

A1. Hip/Shoulders Mobility/Prehab

B1. OH Squat (light warmup)

3 x 8 x 45#                  

C1. Snatch

8 x 45#
6 x 65#
4 x 85#
2 x 105#
1 x 125#
2 x 1 x 135#

These got hard around 125#- not so much the weight, but trusting myself to get under the bar and catch it at the end. Still, I liked how these all felt and am looking forward to the explosive strength they help me develop!

D1. JM Press

3 x 8 x 55#

D2. Pullups

4 x 6 x bw + medium band

E1.   Deadlift for Reps in 30 Seconds

8 x 315#
5 x 315#          

I got an endurance event in with the deadlifts at the end. it was supposed to be 3 sets of 30 seconds, but my hands laughed/screamed at me when I tried to grip the bar on the last one and I couldn't do a thing with it.


Overall, a good session!