Category Archives: Me
2013-05-20 training log
So I learned a few things.
Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 20, week 1
- Work Set – Squat (working max: 305#)
- 2x5x45 (warmup)
- 1x5x125
- 1x5x155
- 1x3x185
- 1x5x200 (work)
- 1x5x230
- 1x5x265
- Assistance – Pause Squat
- 3 x 5 x 200
- Assistance – Pulldown Abs (kneeling)
- 4 x 25 x 110
Since I’m doing the same weights as last cycle, the intent is to get rep PR’s this cycle. On paper, I’m not off to a good start because I got 6 @ 265 last cycle. But this was an intentional choice. Yesterday I attended a workshop that had us outside in 90º+ heat, windy, and lots of physical activity. And it wasn’t just moving around, but a lot of hitting each other with fists, shoulders, and training implements. So my right side, especially my quads and adductors, are bruised and beaten. Plus, I’m just a little drained from yesterday. I actually didn’t want to go to the gym, and just wasn’t feeling it, so I told myself to get prescribed reps and call it good. When I got under the bar for the last work set, I actually was very fired up and wanted to keep going but I reminded myself to stick with the plan. It’s more important I build up to get that rep PR on the 5/3/1 week, not this week. Let myself recover.
And I must admit, I wanted to save a little for the pause squats, since I didn’t know what that would hold for me. I’m following Paul Carter’s suggestions, which essentially takes the first work-set weight and does it for 5 reps on 5 week, 5 on 3 week, and 3 on 5/3/1 week. How long did I pause? About 2-3 seconds. I didn’t really measure, but I made sure I got down and it was very evident there was a pause. And it’s here I learned a few things.
I’ve been focusing a lot on upper back tightness. It was evident I was NOT tight because I’d keep cuing myself and tightening back up –which shows how tight I was not! I worked on this throughout the squats, but something hit me during paused squats because there it was holding the tightness throughout the movement and really driving the head back into the bar when coming out of the hole.
It was about arm spacing.
I’ve tried to bring my hands in closer, but my elbows don’t like it. So I’m a little further out, it’s comfortable, but I realized that in fact is what’s keeping me from getting tight. No, I don’t think tightness should come from squishing your hands as close to your ears as possible, because that’s not necessarily tight; that’s just squished. Instead, I realized that when I get my lats tight, my traps tight, and everything tight, there’s just a natural place my hands fall. It’s about… oh… 1-2 fingers inside the rings (for me). Something about there. And when my hands are in that position, yes it bugs my elbows a bit, but boy I can sure keep everything tight. Pushing my hands wider, I just cannot be tight due to the mechanics of things.
I didn’t realize this until the last couple sets of the pause squats, but yeah… light bulb. 
Ab work… standing pulldown abs kills my elbows even more. So I went back to kneeling, but it just doesn’t stress my abs as much as the standing ones. I think I’ll just alternate depending how my elbows feel. Who knows, might even combine it some time to get the most for my abs and the least for my elbows.
2013-05-17 training log
Huzzah… deload week is done.
Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 19, week 4
- Work Set – Press (working max: ??#)
- 2x5x45 (warmup)
- 2x5x65
- 2x5x80
- 2x5x95
- Assistance – Press
- 5 x 10 x 80
- 100 rep work – Lat Pulldowns, Front plate raise, Rope Triceps Pressdowns, Hammer Curls
All I can say is, deload week is done. Next cycle is going to be interesting because yeah… sticking with the same weights, need to get rep PR’s… else, a reset is in the cards.
Sleep more. Eat more. Lift more.
More than you think you are
Wife is “white”, at least visually.
I am “not-white”, at least visually.
There are those who look upon Wife differently because she chose to marry a “not-white”. Some look down on her because she married “outside her race”. Some look up to her because she married “outside her race”. Regardless of which way they look at her, they look at her differently because of her choice… or rather, their perception of her choice, because they see her skin color/ethnicity/race vs. mine, see our colors don’t quite match, and thus different regard.
Either way, it’s discriminatory behavior.
It’s curious I don’t receive the same regard. I mean, I did the same thing: married someone “outside my race”. I’ve had people publicly praise Wife for her action, and when I point out I did the same thing, I watch their brain lock up and reboot because they never considered the reciprocal. Is it because I’m male? Is it because she’s “white”? Is it because racial issues (supposedly) only flow in one direction?
That’s more discriminatory behavior.
Even more curious is when people look at me, they only see the half of me that’s Asian. They don’t see that white girl married a white boy, they see white girl married “something else”. Note you can only consider me “something else” if you look at me. My name is rather “white”. My voice is rather “white”. My attitudes tend to be rather “white”. For most people, the only indication I’m “not-white” is the slight squint in my eyes, the slightly darker skin tone, and some other physical features. And somehow in the eyes of some, it’s those few features that wind up defining me — not my mind, my heart, but my squinty eyes. It’s those features that, to some, define at least part of the relationship between Wife and myself.
Why do some people only see part of me? Why did they choose to see that part, and not the other part? Or that they choose to only see part of me, and not all of me?
Again, discriminatory behavior.
I grant, ultimately this is human behavior. We’re all guilty of it. I’ve come to accept it, and in fact sometimes I like that I look different be it due to ethnic background, my long hair, or my choice of clothing — especially because my looks don’t jive with who I am versus the stereotypes and preconceived notions some people have about folks that look like I do. It offers me a chance to see how a person really is. Do they look inward at the person? Do they stop at the shell? Are they blind to race and color? Or do they view the world and everything in it through a constant filter of racism, injecting race into every matter and issue and problem in the world?
If you want people to stop caring about race, you need to stop caring about race — period. The first step is to admit your own prejudices and faults, because you probably aren’t as progressive as you think you are.
2013-05-15 training log
There’s a funny story here….
Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 19, week 4
- Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 385#)
- 2x5x155
- 2x5x195
- 2x5x235
- Assistance – Hyperextensions
- 3 x 12 x BW
- Assistance – Side Bends
- 2 x 25 x 40
- Foam Rolling
It’s deload week. Didn’t do much.
Funny story tho.
Household laundry is behind. I went looking for workout clothing… found no clean, had to dig something out of the dirty clothes hamper, which wound up being damp due to being under wet towels. *sigh* Also, found no socks, so I wore dress socks.
I was annoyed, but tried to not get too mad about it.
As I walked to the gym in my damp clothing… the sky suddenly opened up. Rain came pouring down. My clothing became a lot more damp!
Someone’s trying to remind me to keep perspective on things.
And the long dress socks were alright. Covered my shins a lot more; good for deadlifting.
AAR – KR Training – Basic Pistol 1 – 2013-05-11
This past Basic Pistol 1 @ KR Training was different, for me at least.
It was my first time as lead instructor. I’ve been an assistant instructor at KR Training for a number of years, and I’m happy in that capacity. But now I get to step up and do a little more. While the past some whiles I’ve done segments of the BP1 class, this was doing the whole thing and well… it didn’t go as smoothly as I wanted it. Others thought I did fine, and I know my critique is just me looking at myself and what I can do improve my own presentation and flow. Always looking for things I can do better.
That said, the class itself went really well.
First, the weather was perfect. It always seems the case: weather reports for rain, there’s rain Thursday or Friday, people get nervous… but then, it always clears up and is gorgeous. Rare is the Saturday class actually rained out, and often is the weather agreeable. This was a great day to be outside and on the range.
I always like reporting on demographics. This class was over two-thirds female. Had a couple mother-daughter. Had people from all walks of life, social background, ethnicity/race. I’m sorry, but the stereotype of “old white redneck guy” just isn’t the case.
This group of students was very engaged, asking a lot of questions going beyond the BP1 material. I hope to see everyone back for future classes!
I think the only bummer of the day was the fire ants. With all the recent rain, they were driven out of the dirt — mounds everywhere. Just had to tread carefully, and thankfully not too many mounds on the range.
Thank you all for coming out and entrusting us with your first steps on this journey.
2013-05-13 training log
Pause squats will be interesting.
Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 19, week 4
- Work Set – Squat (working max: 305#)
- 2x5x45 (warmup)
- 2x5x120
- 2x5x155
- 2x5x185
- 1x5x185 (paused)
- Work Set – Bench Press (working max: 240#)
- 2x5x45 (warmup)
- 2x5x95
- 2x5x120
- 2x5x145
- Assistance – DB Rows
- 2 x 25 x 45
- Assistance – Pulldown Abs (standing)
- 3 x 15 x 60
- 100 rep work – JM Presses, Face Pulls
It’s deload week, so nothing much to say. Just get in, do a little work, get blood flowing, don’t put anything too hard, and go home.
I did want to try out pause squats tho, since I’ll be adding them in next cycle. My question has been: how much to do? What’s the right weight? What’s right number of sets/reps? People have been down this road, so why not learn from their wisdom and experience, right?
Found this post (well, comment) from Paul Carter:
(“Tiny David” asked):
Quick Question. How would you incorporate pause squatting into a 5-3-1 template?
I’ll run “boring but big” for a few more cycles so I was thinking-
Squat 5-3-1
Squat 5×10
Pause squats (light, but not sure reps and sets?)Or Do some pause squats on my deadlift day?
Thoughts?
(Paul’s reply):
I wouldn’t do pause squats for 10. Ever. 5 at the most. They really zap you and you have to hold your breathe in the bottom.
If you’re already doing the BBB template, I wouldn’t add more squatting to that. I’d run 531 and do pause squats after with what you used on your first set.
So on the 5 week use 65%x 5
On the 3 week use 70% x 5
On the 531 week use 75% x 3
that’s how I would do it.
So there we go. I saw a lot of Cube Method folks would do a similar thing, but maybe 3 sets of 10. One thing Paul’s reply doesn’t make clear is the number of sets, but from a subsequent comment he made, I get the feeling that 5 sets is where to go. But I could be wrong. My approach will be to strive for at least 3 sets, ideally go for 5, but if I have to work up to 5 then I do because I’d rather do 3 strong sets than 5 half-assed ones, y’know?
Thus today after my last normal set, I left the 185 on the bar and did 1 pause set of 5. My pause? Seems that’s another variable people will manipulate, but if the main point of pause squats is to lose momentum and the stretch reflex out of the hole, then I figured well… go down until I settle in, lose momentum, stay for a “still” moment, then come back up. So that was what? 2-3 seconds? That’s fine. I’m not going to count, just ensure I have come full stop, wait a sec, then back up. And I can tell with the 185 that this is going to be fun.
2013-05-10 training log
PR fail… because a tie isn’t quite a win. 
Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 19, week 3
- Work Set – Press (working max: 160#)
- 2x5x45 (warmup)
- 1x5x65
- 1x5x80
- 1x3x95
- 1x5x120 (work)
- 1x3x140
- 1x3x155 (PR-tie)
- Assistance – Press
- 5 x 10 x 80
- Assistance – Lat pulldowns (pronated grip)
- 1 x 100/25 x 50/60
- 100 rep work – Front plate raise, Rope Triceps Pressdowns, Hammer Curls
Changing my setup for deadlift is helping. But Press still alludes me because I continue to have the “get light-headed” issue. *sigh* That’s what played in here. I unracked, forced to take a breath, got out of sync with my breathing, paused too much at the bottoms, and well, things didn’t play out right. I tried to go for 4, tried to even push-press it out, but no go. So I tied my existing PR for Press, which is better than regressing, but still disappointing.
I ripped the assistance pressing hard, and then opted to go for 100 reps on everything else. Started too light on the lat pulldowns and 100 didn’t feel all that much… did 25 more with 60#. Still didn’t feel like much… but about 30 seconds after I stopped oh, I felt it. Not against pullups, but no way I’ll get 100 reps doing pullups. Just felt like trying 100 pulldowns today.
Anyways… the upshot of this cycle? Again, every 5/3/1 session was a PR attempt, which is a situation I haven’t experienced in a long time. I did set (or here tie) PR’s, but the only one I felt good about was the deadlift (which I’ve always been pretty good at). I thought about what I should do next cycle…. is this a hint to reset? I’m not sure yet. I think it’s worthwhile for me to forge ahead. In part yes, it’s some ego and goal “blindness” because I’m really gunning for some particular milestones before the end of 2013 and I may well not hit them if I reset. But I also wonder… could it just have been a bad day? No question the bench press fail was a “bad day” and not fully indicative of things. Plus if I do reset, I have determined I won’t just do something simple like drop 20# or “fall back 3 cycles” or something like that. I will take whatever my last 5/3/1 success was, consider that my “true max” (because if it’s less than 5 reps, it probably is indicative enough… or at worst it makes me go lighter than I need to, and that’s not a bad thing), and fully recalucate based upon that. Point is, we figure out the max, then it’s up by 5 or 10# each cycle, which may not strictly follow the math. So then like today I only got 3 @ 155… but note that all the original numbers were calculated on a 5RM. No, I’d calc it based on the true numbers… which yes, will drop me lower, and while that’s probably good for me in general, it doesn’t help my goals.
So my plan for now? Keep weights the same on Press, Squat, and Bench Press, go for rep PR’s. If they are satisfactory, forge ahead. If they are not, then I’ll consider a reset.
2013-05-08 training log
That’s more like it.
Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 19, week 3
- Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 385#)
- 1x5x155 (warmup)
- 1x5x195
- 1x3x235
- 1x5x290 (work)
- 1x3x330
- 1x4x370 (PR)
- Assistance – Hyperextensions
- 4 x 12/12/12/10 x WT
- Assistance – Side Bends
- 2 x 25 x 40
- Foam Rolling… a lot of it
This is more like it. Solid PR of 370 for 4. The pull felt very good. I worked on a different setup. Instead of worrying about keeping my head clear of “not lifting” during the whole time, I just let my mind go where it did, tho I never let it get too deep into something that might take me down some rabbit hole. But then when it was time to lift, I set up, and just took a moment to really focus. That thing I see a lot of deadlifters do, with the arms straight out in front, then into the lift? Yeah, I tried it… I don’t know why they do it and really it doesn’t matter to me because the act of doing it helped me put my head where it needed to be. So instead of all this constant energy on a clear head, it was just intense energy on “the clear moment, right now” for the lift.
Made a big difference.
But the 4 took enough out of me, so I opted to do hypers instead, then the side bends. But I tell you, after all the hypers then 2 sets of side bends? my lower back was crying. That was all it was going to be. But that’s fine. 50 reps (per side) I can live with today.
And then yes… tons of foam rolling.
2013-05-06 training log
I may have PR’d, but it was less than satisfying.
Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 19, week 3
- Work Set – Bench Press (working max: 240#)
- 2x5x45 (warmup)
- 1x5x95
- 1x5x120
- 1x3x145
- 1x5x180 (work)
- 1x3x210
- 1x1x230 (PR)
- Assistance – Bench Press
- 5 x 10/10/10/10/10-5-4 x 135
- Assistance – DB Rows
- 4 x 25 x 40
- 100 rep work – JM Presses, Face Pulls
- Foam Rolling
Sure, technically it’s a PR, but I’m not happy with it. I missed what I wanted. I wanted at least 3.
Why didn’t it happen? 2 things, both with my head: 1 mental, 1 physical.
Mental – I’ve got some heavy shit weighing on my mind. It’s dominated my thoughts the past some days and has me very unhappy and stressed. Try as I might to clear my head of it, it’s just so dominating that I couldn’t be fully in the moment of the lift.
Physical – I have this problem from time to time where I get under the bar, I inhale and tense up to lift off, and my head swims. That happened. I felt it coming so I didn’t lift off, waited a few, breathed a bit more, then tried again, but even then my head was too far gone. As soon as the bar descended, I could tell things were not good. It was … uh… not so much a physical struggle in terms of say arm and chest muscles to get it up there, and not a mental struggle in terms of mind… but a “physical head” struggle because my head was physically swimming. After I got the 1 rep, my body felt like it could do more, easily. But my head said no way, that if I tried another rep it’d be dangerous. So I racked it and relegated myself to staying at this weight for the next cycle and going for a rep PR. Oh well.
I’m not happy with it, but it’s how it goes. It does show the power of the head and mind in lifting.
Rangemaster May 2013 Newsletter
I’m famous now.
The Rangemaster May 2013 newsletter has been published, and they reprinted my AAR for the Rangemaster Instructor course from a couple months ago (with permission, natch). Thank you, Tom.
But what I want to know is… who wrote that song?
