Month: October 2011

If you’re free this weekend….

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

… you live in Texas (within reasonable drive to the Austin-Bryan area), and you want some top-notch defensive pistol instruction, then I’ve got something for you.

There are apparently 2 slots open for the Combative Pistol 1 class taught by Tom Givens of Rangemaster and hosted at the KR Training facilities. My guess is 2 last-minute cancellations, since I know the class was sold out long ago.

If you want to sign up, contact Karl Rehn of KR Training immediately. Call him.

Opportunities to train with Tom Givens should not be missed. If you carry a gun for personal defense, you owe it to yourself to get training, and training from Tom is some of the best.

2011-10-14 workout

/ hsoi

Starting cycle 3 on the Wendler 5/3/1 program.

“Week 1” 5 reps

  • 5 reps – Press (working max: 130#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x50
    • 1x5x65
    • 1x3x75
    • 1x5x80 (work)
    • 1x5x95
    • 1x9x110
  • Asst. #1 – Press
    • 5 x 10 x 60
  • Asst. #2 – Supinated Grip Pulldowns
    • 5 x 10 x 115
  • Metcon – jump rope
    • 1 Tabata set – all single hop

Normally one is to bump press by 5# per cycle, but I opted to go up 10# because when I looked at my performance numbers I think 10# will push me a little bit harder and get me to a place where I’m doing more strenuous work. I think it’ll be alright, because last time I did 110 I managed to crank out 7 reps (and 1x7x115 was my PR from last cycle). Today I did 9 reps with 110 and couldn’t get the lock out on 10th rep, so 9 it is. So yeah, I’m stronger and I think this will push me. It technically puts my “PR set” in “week 3” at 1x?x125, so that’s a good 10# over what I did last “PR set”… may not crank out 10 reps with it, but it should still be a good push for me. I’ll go with it.

The assistance presses, yeah… 60 is a good level. It works me hard and I almost didn’t lock out the last rep. My desire is to stick with 60 but get the form tightened up and get the 5×10 across without the last reps of the last sets being so difficult.

Pulldowns, the 115 was a good bump, as last reps of last sets couldn’t quite get the bar to my chest. I’m really focusing on the squeeze of the shoulders, ensuring they work through their full range of motion. So I’ll stay here a while.

On rope, I want to bump the intensity up, so yes I need to dedicate myself before every session to trying the “run in place” style until I get the coordination down. I started out with no rope, just moving my body through the motion and I could do it: knees went straight up and feet straight back down. But throw in the rope, and suddenly my legs change to a “schoolyard skipping” where I pull my knee up but then as the rope passes my leg sweeps back (still bent) and of course I get all caught up in the rope. Ugh. I’ll have to work to overcome that. 🙂 Another thing is I couldn’t do it for very long because my left ankle was not liking all the impact of my full bodyweight. I’m hoping to just keep at it tho, and strengthen my ankle — that would be better for me in the long run. I just hope that I can strengthen it before I beat it up too much. 🙂 But, after I did that for a bit, I just did the 1 set of “double leg” but picked up the tempo to be closer to what you need to do the run in place style.

A good workout. I felt very worked by it, very pushed.

Lessons from Tiger Valley’s latest Bug Out Drill

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

I’ve wanted to take training classes at Tiger Valley for some time now. The only reason I haven’t is due to scheduling, but someday that will change.

Meantime, I subscribe to their newsletter, and their October 2011 issue had a recap of their recent “bug out drill”. Unfortunately that issue doesn’t appear to be online. However, because I’ve been recently concerned with the notion of “bug out”, creating bags, and so on, I thought the list of observations from the Tiger Valley drill were useful and applicable:

  • Don’t throw your $1000 rifle over an 8 foot wall. Yes, some rifles survived it, but if your rifle didn’t it could cost you your life in a real situation. Your weapon is your life.
  • If it didn’t work for you the first time, repeating the event is likely only to have the same outcome. Try something different. What else do I have in my pack that I might accomplish the same goal with?
  • I can save money in lots of places but shoes aren’t one of them.
  • Weight can kill your ability to perform. Evaluate and condense.
  • Technique is as valuable as brute strength. If you have proper technique you don’t have to muscle your way over and obstacle. Muscles give out, techniques don’t.
  • Have a medical kit that is complete.
  • In years past we have asked competitors to show that they can purify water. We would typically see coffee filters or at best iodine tablets. This year we made up some phony pond water and told them they had to drink the water they purified. Some had the tablets but nothing to purify the water in. It’s not a good idea to contaminate your hydration system with dirty pond water. Some had systems that required four hours for the tablets to take effect. That’s just what I want when I’m dehydrated.
  • Get a zero and know where it is at all distances you will shoot. We had some good groups but some were out of the “A” zone.
  • Train for the uncomfortable event. Practicing what you do well won’t help you in a real situation that doesn’t come easy. Practice what you don’t do well.

Some of these things may not apply to your concept of bug-out, but there’s still wisdom to be taken here.

That was NOT an accident

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

It’s pure negligence… and probably some stupidity (and perhaps even alcohol?) thrown in.

According to an incident report, 24-year-old Naomi Ensell told her boyfriend to put the gun away about 2 a.m. Thursday. But he told her it was safe and put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The gun did not fire.

Deputies say he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger again. This time, it went off.

No, it’s never safe to do that. Rules violations everywhere.

Your head is not a safe direction.

All guns are ALWAYS loaded.

Never let the muzzle cover anything you’re not willing to destroy. In my book, my head is something I’m not willing to destroy.

Lessons from a gas station robbery video

/ hsoi / 11 Comments

Karl passed this to me. Some good CC footage of a convenience store robbery.

Some things to note:

  • Look how quickly it unfolded. Once second you’re helping a customer paying for their stuff, the next second you’ve got a gun in your face.
  • As well, look how quickly it ended. This isn’t a sporting event with 3 5-minute rounds. The sooner you can end it, the better.
  • The clerk had a gun, but it was on a shelf under the counter. He’s lucky he was able to retrieve the gun, but only barely. Better choice is to have the gun on you in a holster, that way wherever you are, there it is at hand.
  • Concealment isn’t cover. It’s better than standing out in the open, and making yourself small and difficult to hit is good (better to not get shot than it is to shoot). But also remember, not only can they shoot through cover, so can you. Consider that to your advantage.
  • When the fur flies and the adrenaline is pumping, tunnel vision will set in hard. This is one reason why in Defensive Pistol Skills 1 we emphasize the need to SCAN SCAN SCAN!

Another thing to consider. If you were the man in the cowboy hat, what would you have done? There’s no right or wrong answer, it’s a matter of considering yourself in that situation and figuring out what you would do. Better to have a plan before things happen than to come up with one while things are unfolding.

2011-10-12 workout

/ hsoi

“Week 4” deload

  • Deload – Squat (working max: 230#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 2x5x95
    • 2x5x115
    • 2x5x140
  • Asst. #1 – Squat
    • 5 x 10 x 95
  • Asst. #2 – Leg Curls
    • 5 x 10 x 55
  • Metcon – jump rope
    • Didn’t get far, due to foot issue

And we bring deload week to a close. Brief comments:

I noticed how the past few deload workouts, while the work weight is nowhere near what I can lift, it felt like I was lifting a mountain… just very heavy for some reason. Not sure what to make of that.

Assistance squatting… gym owner noticed and complemented me that I’ve really improved my form. Good to hear. I’ve been working hard on it, the key cue being not just to keep my whole body tight but the #1 cue is “chest up”… sure there’s hip drive, but not at the expense of losing back angle. It’s not lifting with the chest, just ensuring that as the hips drive the chest doesn’t fall. Has made a big difference, and I feel the bar going in more of a perfect vertical path, no rocking forward. I’ll stick with 95 tho because I want to continue to work on form ensuring my knees are not buckling in, that they go outward on the descend, and so on.

Leg curls… jump to 60.

And I didn’t get far on jump rope today. Some years ago I blew out my left ankle and there’s a tendon on the top inside that sometimes gets “out of place” and makes it painful to extend the foot… which happens when you jump! I just couldn’t get through 2 “reps” of the rope jumping. Sucks, but oh well, it happens.

In related news, I did all my medical stuff for the life insurance yesterday, so I’m back on supplements that I gave up (creatine, Jack3d). We’ll see how it all goes. I’m still not sold on the Jack3d, but I’m giving it more time before I make the call one way or the other.

Oh, I should also note this ends “cycle 2” on the Wendler 5/3/1. It’s a slow program, but it’s steady and doesn’t seem to be beating up my body. So I’m OK with it. I’ll start cycle 3 on Friday, going up “prescribed” intervals: 5# on press and bench, 10# on deadlift and squat. I’ll still stay on this modified “Boring But Big” template, changing the deadlift assistance from hyperextensions to Good Mornings, going up on weight/reps on other stuff. Just keep chugging along with minor changes. I do see progress in terms of my strength going up, my weight is up, muscle mass is increasing no question. I’m pretty sure my conditioning is up, tho I haven’t tried to really tax is to see. I donated blood this past weekend and in doing so it generates some health data for me: my blood pressure is excellent, resting heart rate is nice and low, total cholesterol is well below normal (despite all the whole eggs, meat, fats, and “excessive” food intake I have); I’ll have a more interesting bit of results after the life insurance blood/pee tests come back. I’m good with things. 🙂

Need .45 ACP Ammo?

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

UPDATED: It’s been sold (didn’t take long… not surprised at those prices).

Live in the Austin area and need .45 ACP ammo?

Buddy, blog reader, and KR Training student Shawn has given up his 1911 for an M&P in 9mm. So he’s got a bunch of .45 ACP ammo that he doesn’t need any more.

From his arfcom posting:

I have 1,700 rounds of 45 ammo that I’d like to sell FTF in Austin, TX. Here is what I have:

600 rounds of Winchester white box 230 gr. FMJ
550 rounds of Federal American Eagle 230 gr. FMJ
400 rounds of Speer Lawmn 230 gr. TMJ
150 rounds of Winchester Ranger Bonded 230 gr. JHP

Asking price is $15 per 50 rounds of the training ammo and $25 per 50 rounds of the Ranger. Or buy the whole lot for $500.

I’ll consider trades, specifically similar quality 9mm ammo or perhaps a Walther PPS in 9mm.

Feel free to contact me with any questions. Thanks for looking!

Looking at ammoengine, that’s quite a deal.

Shawn gave me permission to repost this here, and if you’re interested, contact him via email.

2011-10-10 workout

/ hsoi

“Week 4” deload

  • Deload – Bench Press (working max: 195#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 2x5x80
    • 2x5x100
    • 2x5x120
  • Asst. #1 – Bench Press
    • 5 x 10 x 105
  • Asst. #2 – 1 Arm Dumbbell Rows
    • 5 x 10 x 45
  • Metcon – jump rope
    • 1 Tabata set – all single hop

It’s deload time, so nothing too thrilling to note.

I did try a slightly wider grip. On the bar there’s a “hash mark” and usually I put my ring finger on that hash. I did this back when I started because Rippetoe was working to try to get the maximum range of motion and from what I could see, that was doing it. However, I’m thinking that may be starting to wear on my shoulder, and so I’m following a bit more of the Dave Tate “So You Think You Can Bench” and trying to get it so my elbows come to about the same level as the bench pad. Not 100% sure if I’m there, I’ll check next time, but for now I wanted to at least try a wider grip and see how it felt. So today I put my index fingers on the hash. Felt like my elbows didn’t go as deep, but it also felt strange, and that’s to be expected.

Assistance bench of 105… felt… really light. But could be merely because it’s deload week. Still, I’m thinking I may go 110 next workout.

Rows. I was doing 40# and didn’t plan to go to 45 until next workout, but someone else was using the 40’s today so why not… I went ahead. This was good. The last few reps of the last few sets were difficult. I don’t want to sacrifice moving the shoulder and fully working the shoulder muscle, so all is good. I’ll stick with 45, and not be so reluctant to jump to 50 if I think it’ll be good.

Anyways, things just chug along.