Month: December 2011

2011-12-07 workout

/ hsoi

I’m glad I’m repeating the cycle.

“Week 2”

  • 3 reps – Squat (working max: 240#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x120
  • 1x3x145
  • 1x3x170 (work)
  • 1x3x195
  • 1x5x220
  • Asst. #1 – Squats
    • 5 x 10 x 100
  • Asst. #2 – Leg Curls
    • 5 x 10 x 65
  • GPP – Sprints
    • Tabata style (20 sec. sprint, 10 sec. walk)
    • 2 “laps” walking (warmup)
    • 5 “reps” (8 reps is one Tabata set)
    • 2 “laps” walking (cooldown)
  • DeFranco Agile 8

    • I am glad I opted to fall back on squats and repeat my weights/numbers from the previous cycle. What with the sprinting, I think I need it. I repeated my performance from last cycle, doing 5 reps with 220. This actually felt better tho. I’m working on the “light headed” feeling by getting under the bar without much fanfare and extra breathing. Big breath in, tighten up, lift the bar, and keep myself tight as I back out BUT allow myself to exhale while I back out. The struggle here is letting the air out while maintaining tightness. Get into position, allow myself a couple breaths, then go. And that seems to be helping. Good deal.

    Sprints actually felt good this morning. Note that it’s below freezing outside. I still walked to the gym and then ran (all hail good warm Under Armour sweats!). Even after all the leg work, I managed to do alright with sprints. I think that I’m finding a good groove where I don’t need to kill myself but I’m still pushing myself. I may stick with 5 “reps” during next week, we’ll just see how I feel. No need to kill myself, this is a marathon (to mix metaphors).

    I’m also feeling better with the DeFranco Agile 8. Seems to be helping… at least my adductors don’t feel as tight.

    Looking forward to the week ahead. PR time!

    Start Too Light, Progress Slowly

    / hsoi

    Many concepts in life are universal. We might learn them in one context, and when we remove the specifics of that context, we’ll find the concept applies to almost anything in life. While writing the last observations post, although it was about guns and shooting, some words from powerlifter Jim Wendler came to mind.

    I wrote of how I felt some students would be well-served to step back to a beginners/fundamentals class before progressing further. I mentioned how that sort of thing is hard, because it’s a blow to the ego. Jim writes about “starting too light”:

    My coaches emphasized this to me when I was in high school, but unfortunately, I didn’t listen. Hopefully you will. Starting too light allows for more time for you to progress forward. It’s easy for anyone – beginner or advanced – to want to get ahead of themselves. Your lifts will go up for a few months, but then they’ll stall – and stall, and stall some more. Lifters get frustrated and don’t understand that the way around this is to prolong the time it takes to get to the goal. You have to keep inching forward. This is a very hard pill to swallow for most lifters. They want to start heavy, and they want to start now. This is nothing more than ego, and nothing will destroy a lifter faster, or for longer, than ego.

    Forget that he’s talking about weightlifting. He’s talking about keeping your ego in check. Start lower than you think, start lighter than you think. Maybe you think you’re the best shooter around, but you’d still be served well to take the school’s intro class — even if it’s well below your perception of your skills, there’s something to be learned. If you try to jump in at too high a level, that’s just ego and will ultimately destroy you.

    I wrote:

    Sometimes improvement requires taking a step back and regressing down the ladder a bit, but only so you can make your foundation more solid. To expand upon that metaphor, if you realized your ladder was planted in sand, how high do you think you could climb? But if you started up the ladder, realized things were getting shaky, then climbed back down, poured some concrete around the legs, then climbed back up, how much higher do you think you could now climb? Don’t be afraid to back down and pour concrete.

    To bring it over to lifting, a hallmark of a good program is progressive/incremental resistance: the program always strives to add more weight, more reps. If you look at the Wendler 5/3/1 program, it’s divided into 4 week cycles. When the next cycle starts, you increase your weights by a certain amount (e.g. 5# on bench press) and continue along. While a 5# jump on your bench press every 4 weeks doesn’t sound like much, over the course of a year that can mean a 60# increase, which is significant!

    The reality of lifting, however, is that the linear progression will not always happen — you will stall. What’s the solution? Back down. There are numerous ways to calculate this. One thing Jim writes:

    You’ll eventually come to a point where you can’t make any more progress on a lift. You won’t be able to hit the sets and reps you’re supposed to hit, and the weights will start to get too heavy. When this happens, I simply take 90% of my max (either a 1RM or a rep max) and start all over again.

    […]

    If you’re really starting out with 10% less than your actual maxes, you can expect to go through 5-7 cycles at a minimum before you stall out. I’ve gone through 8 before having to back off.

    You see, it’s actually expected that you’ll stall, that you’ll have to back off. You don’t have to back off far, just “90%” of what you were doing, but paring yourself back just that slight bit helps you make longer term progress. If you allow your ego to remain in control, you’ll only try to forge ahead, will eventually hit a wall, you’ll never get over the wall, and ultimately you’ll fail to achieve your goals. If however you back off, if you go “beneath your skills” and maybe take a beginner class (again), you’ll come out of it stronger and able to progress further.

    And so, the same with shooting. Back down. If you get to an intermediate-level class and find yourself struggling, take the class again, or maybe take the previous class in the curriculum progression and reestablish some fundamentals. Ultimately this will allow you to progress longer and ultimately reach higher goals and loftier heights. If you continue to be ego-driven, you won’t achieve your goals. Taking 2 steps back so you can take 5 steps forward only helps you in the long run.

    It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about shooting, or weightlifting, or anything else in life. The principles are universal. Keep your ego in check, be honest with yourself. Never be afraid to take a few steps back if that means over the long term you’ll progress further.

    Morning Excitement

    / hsoi / 2 Comments

    Some excitement this early morning in South Austin:

    Following two stolen cars, two house burglaries and shots fired from police, a suspect is now barricaded inside a home on Brodie Lane — to which SWAT teams are responding.

    Full Story, with last update at 9:38 AM this morning. I’m sure more information will be coming as the morning progresses.

    Looks like someone broke into a house, stole a car. Police responded, found the car. Suspect bailed, went into another house, stole their car, attempted to ram police, shots fired, suspect bailed, presently holed up in a house. SWAT responding.

    This is going down about a mile from my house.

    Some take homes:

    • Bad things can happen any time. It started around 5:30 AM, and is currently in progress (as of my writing this).
    • All of the neighborhoods where the various break-ins and thefts occurred? They’re all “good neighborhoods”, generally well-off people. Crime can happen anywhere, not just in “bad areas”. Sure statistics might say one thing, but statistics are of little comfort when you’re the anomaly.
    • Are you prepared for such events? You’re probably just waking up around that time, walking around the house in your PJ’s and robe. If someone came bursting through your door, would you be able to handle it? It’ll all go down in a matter of seconds, and you’ll likely spend a good portion of those first few seconds overcoming surprise and trying to process what’s happening, which means you’re really behind the curve. Can you make up for lost time? It’s one reason why I carry always — even at home — because shit happens in an instant, and the faster I can respond the better. Taking 3-5 seconds to run to find my pistol/rifle/shotgun is potentially too much time spent/wasted.
    • Consider other lines of defense. A home alarm may not have been of much use in this situation because it sounds like the suspect was in a rush and just burst into the nearest house — alarm wouldn’t deter, police were already alert and on-scene, but it would notify you if say you were in another part of the house. A good and useful defensive dog (not just a yippy dog) might be more useful here, if it’s in the dog’s nature to actively guard, chase, and otherwise “dive in” to drive the offender away.
    • I wonder how, under his time pressures, the suspect was able to break into the latter two houses. I wonder about the state of the homes. Were doors unlocked? Were the homes occupied? Where was entry made? Could something have been done to make it more difficult? No way to know at this point, but I wonder.

    2012-12-05 workout

    / hsoi

    Today was alright.

    “Week 2”

    • 3 Reps – Bench Press (working max: 210#)
      • 2x5x45 (warmup)
      • 1x5x85
      • 1x5x105
      • 1x3x130
      • 1x3x150 (work)
      • 1x3x170
      • 1x7x190
    • Asst. #1 – Bench Press
      • 5 x 10 x 120
    • Asst. #2 – 1 Arm DB Rows
      • 5 x 10 x 50
    • Grip
      • 3x10xS, 2 sec. hold between reps
    • DeFranco Agile 8

    Nothing really to report. A good workout in general. I tried wearing my belt during benching but it’s the same thing with presses: I tighten my midsection instead of pressing out. I just have to take the time to adjust and get used to it… to make the mental shift. Tho I’m probably not going to focus on it too much more since “week 3” heavy week is almost upon me. Just do what I do and during deload and into the next cycle I can continue to work on it.

    I didn’t sprint today due to lack of time, heavy rain, and icy cold wind. Plus I drove to/from the gym. Wuss, I know. I also find the DeFranco Agile 8 can wind me some…. is that right? Or is my aerobic capacity just that crappy? *sigh* It makes me think that I might want to change up my cycle a bit and see about focusing on weight loss for a time… but, the reality is if I stay steady on the sprints and keep my diet in check, that should help me shed the flab. So, I just need to give it more time before I change things up too much.

    Nothing much to report. Just another day at the gym.

    Another class, more observations

    / hsoi

    This past Saturday marked the end of the 2011 season @ KR Training, with a Basic Pistol 2 and Defensive Pistol Skills 1 set of classes.

    For some reason the class enrollment rolled up and down — maybe because of the predicted bad weather? It was predicted to be very cold, a polar wind, and a lot of rain. Granted, not ideal circumstances to be out in, but one can argue that if you’re out to learn about defensive skills, you should sometimes shoot in less than ideal circumstances because it’s not like bad things only happen in good weather. Nevertheless, while it was raining in Austin, it was dry out at the A-Zone range; in fact, it was an amazingly pleasant and nice day out there. Y’all missed out. 🙂

    We had a few extra hands helping out, so between that and people bailing, the teacher-student ratio was very beneficial to the students with a lot of personal attention.

    Basic Pistol 2 went pretty well, and the students shot above average for a BP2 class. Remember: we train you to a higher standard, and you should always strive to train to a higher standard. That B-27 target is huge. When you go to the range to practice or when you dry practice at home, use a 6″ paper plate as your target. Aim small, miss small. Then when the pressure is on, such as when you take your CHL test, you’ll perform better.

    Defensive Pistol Skills 1 I don’t think went as well. A couple of things stood out to me.

    First, I’d say a fair portion of the class lacked solid shooting fundamentals: grip, stance, trigger control. DPS1 is not a class where we can fix such things. Yes, we try to point out and remedy such things where we can, but there just isn’t time nor focus for those topics. You can’t expect to build a house on a poor foundation. If you can’t take a reliable and repeatable grip that you can maintain throughout a string of shots, if you don’t know how to best work the trigger (not slapping/yanking; resetting the trigger between shots), you may be able to manage but it’s going to be difficult for you to excel. Remember, when the flag flies you’re going to do about 70% of your worse day at the range — if your performance will be that bad when it matters most, it means you need your average performance during practice needs to be very very high. The right way to achieve high performance is to start building upon a solid foundation of proper fundamentals.

    This may be difficult for some folks to hear because I know — it’s a direct blow to the ego. We all think our gun handling is great… but hopefully some of you realized during class that no, your gun handling isn’t that great. By no means is this any attempt to embarrass or degrade or make anyone feel bad about things. Far from it! What we want is for you to have an honest assessment and awareness of your skills. The fact you chose to come to class means you accept you have something to learn, so that’s great — you are open to improvement. Sometimes improvement requires taking a step back and regressing down the ladder a bit, but only so you can make your foundation more solid. To expand upon that metaphor, if you realized your ladder was planted in sand, how high do you think you could climb? But if you started up the ladder, realized things were getting shaky, then climbed back down, poured some concrete around the legs, then climbed back up, how much higher do you think you could now climb? Don’t be afraid to back down and pour concrete.

    So to that end, if you realize your fundamentals aren’t where they should be, please come back and see us for a class like Basic Pistol 2. That’s a class where we have the time and focus on fundamentals, to help you “pour some concrete” and establish a better foundation.

    Second, mindset. Defensive Pistol Skills 1 is really “Gunfighting 101”. This is a class that’s introducing you to the concept of using a gun to help you stay alive in a violent confrontation: a mugging, assault, etc.. You have to take the class with that in mind. When we yell “GUN” and expect you to take a big step to your right before you draw, we want you to move as if there’s a fire under your butt… because there is! You shouldn’t be casually sauntering to your right and mellowly pulling out your gun, getting your hits just after the par-timer beeps to say the string is over. Yes this is still a square range, yes that cardboard target isn’t actually attacking you. I know it’s hard to make the mental leap — but you have to try. When it’s time to perform, you’ll perform like you practiced. Practice like your life is on the line, and you’ll perform like your life is on the line.

    Granted, this is a “101” class and thus an introduction. I don’t actually expect people to perform to that standard because they don’t know yet to perform to that standard. Well, now you’re on notice. 🙂

    Some things to help:

    • Dry fire practice. Whichever class you took, practice those skills dry at home. That will do more to reinforce the concepts than anything else. Some of the DPS1 skills you may not be able to do at your local practice range, but most all of it can do live at home.
    • Speaking of what you can’t do at the range, if your local range doesn’t allow you to draw from a holster, you should still be able to practice the “press out”.
    • Slow down. Yes we want you to go fast, yes we want you to understand time pressures (because even in a gun fight there’s a time limit and the Grim Reaper is holding the stopwatch). But at this level it’s more important for you to be correct in your skills and learn to do it right. As you learn the skill, you’ll start to get smoother with the skill. As you get smoother, you can get faster. Here’s some tips on getting faster and more accurate.
    • Shoot the “3 Seconds or Less” drill. Practice it dry. Practice it live. Practice it. Key to succeeding? MOVE! As soon as you hear the starting beep from your timer, work to get your hand on the gun, get it out of the holster, and get to business. Don’t dawdle, because every tenth of a second counts and adds up.
    • Think about what matters to you. Why are you choosing to carry a gun? OK, “it’s dangerous out there” but so what? What it is that you have to live for? True Love? Figure out what it is that you feel that strong need to live for. Fight for that. Keep that in mind as you shoot. Make your training matter.
    • Start to think beyond the gun. When it comes to defensive skills, hard skills like marksmanship are important, but more so are “soft” skills like awareness. Start to read, study, and take classes in other skills that strive to keep you out of trouble in the first place.

     

    Lack of civility

    / hsoi

     “People were getting pushed, and they had to keep stopping on air telling people to stop pushing, and then there was fighting, and then we had to end it early,” said WJLB intern Chevelle Potts.

    There were hundreds of people inside the mall to see several singers like Diggy Simmons and Bow Wow who were set to perform for the fundraiser, but the fighting broke out before they even took the stage.  “It was a lack of security, and we had to bring in the Southfield police,” said Potts.

    Full Story.

    I think Fark.com commenter “feckingmorons” said it best:

    It wasn’t a lack of security, it was a lack of civility. Civil people don’t fight over free coats.

    It speaks of the mindset. Individuals were not held responsible for their behavior. No, it was someone else’s fault: it was the mall’s fault or the radio station’s fault or the promoter’s fault for not providing enough security.

    *headdesk*

     

    Sunday Metal – Rob Zombie… and Lionel Richie?

    / hsoi / 4 Comments

    Rob Zombie and Lionel Richie…. duet on The Commodores’ classic, “Brick House”

    I know… not strictly metal, but it’s just too cool to pass up. 🙂

    2011-12-02 workout

    / hsoi

    Today was a good, but abbreviated, day.

    “Week 2”

    • 3 reps – Deadlift (working max: 295#)
      • 1x5x120 (warmup)
      • 1x5x150
      • 1x3x180
      • 1x5x210 – oops (work)
      • 1x3x240
      • 1x10x270 (PR-ish)
    • Asst. #1 – Good Mornings
      • 5 x 10 x 65
    • Asst. #2 – Hanging Knee Curl/Raises
      • 5 x 6 x BW
    • DeFranco Agile 8
    • Grip
      • 2x10xS, 2 sec. hold between reps
      • 3x5xT, 2 sec. hold between reps
      • 1 10 sec hold, No. 1

    I had to cut today short. I had an early appointment to tend to, so time was critical this morning. I drove to/from the gym, I supersetted the assistance work, I didn’t sprint. Not what I wanted to do, but it shaved off 30 minutes and that was important time. Just how it goes sometimes.

    But I think it may have played well into mental outlook on the workout. First, I wasn’t distracted with the workout. The mindset wasn’t wondering about the workout, it was “just get in there, lift, leave”. As well, I figure since I didn’t feel a need to worry about having energy for other things, I put everything into it. Hitting 10 reps @ 270# isn’t a pure PR, but the last true PR was 1x8x275; 10 reps with 270 isn’t something I’ve done before, and when you “mathematically compare” those two amounts of work (for whatever equations are worth), today was more than the true PR. I don’t really care about being a true PR or not, just that I know I’m getting stronger and better. I attribute this to better mindset, improvements on my sleep issues which contributes to better recovery, and just a desire to break that 300# work weight barrier. 🙂

    Frankly the only reason I stopped at 10 reps is because well… that’s still a LOT for what should be a “>3 rep” set, and I just got to a point where my head said “enough” because all that breath holding was getting me a little light headed. Needed a break. 🙂

    Supersetting the GM’s and curls is probably something I should stop doing. It seems my right shoulder isn’t happy with that, because it goes from this extreme position of flexion in the “squat” position to being at an extreme extension/hang/stretch with the curls. It’s just a lot of extreme stress on the shoulder and it told me so. Before the 5th set I took about 30 seconds of rest between the two and my shoulder was much happier. So, that’s how it goes. Still, I feel good about the curls, really getting my full body into it and getting my knees way up there and really curling my body into a fetal position… not just raising my legs up and stopping with thighs parallel. Feels good! In fact, today was so good that for a moment I thought “gee, so that’s how the gymnasts do it”. Not that I feel I’m anywhere near things, but for a fleeting moment I didn’t feel like such a wuss.

    Alas, no sprints or anything else today. I did manage to do the grip work since that’s not too difficult to do while I do some other things around the house (instead of on my walk home, since I didn’t have one today). Just how it goes sometimes. I’ll resume on Monday.

    There’s another way, y’know….

    / hsoi

    California (that kinda says it all right there) starts to enforce a sales tax on guns purchased out of state. (h/t NRANews)

    Granted, it’s a law that’s been on the books since 1935, but that’s not the gripe. It’s the logic behind the tax:

    Buying a gun online is usually a cheaper option and until now, those buyers did not have to pay a tax. But,the state says that tax actually helps local retailers by evening the playing field, saying

    “The use tax is intended to protect California sellers who otherwise would be at a competitive disadvantage when out-of-state sellers make sales of goods to California customers without charging tax.”

    It’s all about evening the playing field.

    So, tax everyone.

    You know, removing the tax would even the playing field too. Funny how that option is never considered (by the folks that couldn’t survive without taxes).