I opted to do a regular arm day today because I felt good, arm day isn’t all that intensive (relatively speaking), and come on brah… we can skip squatting, but we never skip curls. š
If anything, I did skip techniques like drop sets, rest-pause, partials, etc.
Things just continue to go up, so I’m happy. It’s really interesting to watch my weight stay the same, the results in the mirror improve, the results in the gym go up… yet I’m hungry. So much fun. Just a few more weeks….
The cable curls I think are a solid addition. They still feel weird to me because the load is different, but the way they provide tension for sure is good. I’m digging it.
I’m exhausted and burned out. It’s a lot of things in life, from work to sleep issues, and it’s all adding up. And with a few things on the horizon, I’m trying to pace things a bit. I opted to NOT have my leg/squat session on Tuesday and instead just sleep. I also slept yesterday. Felt good. Then today (and tomorrow) it’s, I guess for lack of better phrasing, a bit of deload. I want to get some work in, but not dig my recovery hole too deep.
So I thought what would be fun? Pull-ups! š Today was all about that. I’ve done this before and enjoy it. Up to the bar, as many strict pull-ups as possible (truly going to failure), rest 1 minute, repeat. Once I can’t get any more pull-ups, switch to chin-ups and do the same. Then I figured once I was done, I’d just do something else for some reps. I opted to do a pyramid up and down of cable rows, then 1 set of shrugs just to have a bit of reps.
It wasn’t overly taxing — I think the only reason I broke a sweat was because the gym was warm and humid. But I got some work in, and feel good. Huzzah.
I also started thinking again about “where to go next” because that’s coming up. I realized one reason I’m flip-flopping between LRB and 5/3/1 approaches is simple: I’m exhausted. 5/3/1 is effective, but it really taxes me and given the state I’m in I am not sure it would be good for me. LRB stuff seems to be just as effective but doesn’t tax the crap out of me. Yet, I feel like I want the workload of 5/3/1, that LRB alone may not be enough. So I don’t know. But I did think that one must-have is only 3x/week, and the other 4 days I just sleep in as much and as hard as possible. And it may be that I do this for 4-6 weeks to get myself some recoup, then afterwards I forge ahead. For example, a simple LRB-style/Strong-15-style approach (e.g. like the “man-maker” template from the SRL eBook) for 4-6 weeks, maybe then a Strong-15 short-cycle, and if I’m feeling awesome after that, then switch to 5/3/1 SST. Basically, I gotta get my body back on track first, above all.
Karl had to be out of town, so class was headed by Tom Hogel, with myself, Ed Vinyard, and a special 4th assistant. Our scheduled 4th blew out her knee a few days prior thus was unable to join us, so my son, “Oldest”, joined us to be our gopher and safetyĀ officer.Ā He was a tremendous help, and the day wouldn’t have been successful without him. Thanx, son. š
We had threats of rain all day, and a few sprinkles here and there, but for the most part the day ran smooth and good. But it was a rather interesting class.Ā About 1/2 of the students were there for both classes, but regardless of the makeup, we had an interestingĀ variety of equipment. A lot of SIGs, a lot of DA/SA guns, and a lot of tiny guns. And anĀ interesting observation? Not a single student had a Glock (a number of M&Ps tho).Ā I point thisĀ out because it plays into some of the take-homes.
When most people go gun shopping or get advice from gun salespeople or gun owner friends, typically their ‘search criteria’ list looks something like this:
size (small is good), weight (light is good), cost (cheap is good), caliber (bigger is better), magazine capacity (bigger is better), night sights (good), laser (cool), color (blued, stainless, green?)
A lot of those assumptions areĀ wrong. As it turns out, what really matters when you try to hit a target with it is this:
gun fit (can you reach the trigger), trigger pull weight, trigger pull distance, barrel length, sight radius, sight quality, gun weight proportional to caliber.
Let’s put this in perspective. The whole point of shooting is to hit your intended target quickly. If you miss or you are too slow, the consequences could run from just wasting ammo to giving up a game animal, a prize at a shooting match, or your life. There’s no award for ‘had a big caliber’, ‘carried the lightest gun on the market’, or ‘had plenty of ammo in the gun’. You either hit or you don’t. Choosing the right equipment will get you to a higher level of skill in less time, and whether you only shoot 50 rounds every 4 years because the state requires it for your carry permit, or you shoot multiple days a week with dreams of winning the Nationals, equipment will make a difference for you.
Emphasis added.
And let me restate it:
The whole point of shooting is to hit your intended target quickly.
Certainly skill matters, but gear matters too.Ā If your gear gets in the way you will be unable to put your skill into play and won’t be able to hit your intended target quickly.
And so we had a number of people with very tiny guns, like SIGĀ P938‘s, other sub-compact and ultra-compact type guns. They just could not run them well:
Couldn’t work the safety (properly)
Couldn’t get both hands on the gun and get a good grip
Couldn’t get a good sight picture
Hands too big and/or gun too small, so couldn’t press the trigger smoothly to the rear
etc.
What is our solution? We got them to shoot larger guns. As soon as they did that, they were drilling the centers out of the targets. They had the skill, but their gear was in the way.
Hopefully people are going shopping this week. š
Yes, small guns have their place. But theĀ reality is small guns are much harder to shoot. For lack of a better way to put it? Small guns are expert guns. When you are at this stage, when you are working to acquire fundamental skills, you need to focus on skill building (not gear). So get yourself something like a Glock 17 or Glock 19, S&W M&P9 (full-/service-size), and focus on your skills. This gear will run well, will be a lot more fun and productive to shoot, and now you can focus on skills and not frustration caused by gear.
In addition to the small guns, we had a number of DA/SA guns. That long, heavy first DA trigger press is just a lot to overcome. Can you do it? Sure. Can you train around it? Sure. But there’s a lot of dedication and work required. Or, could you get a Glock or M&P and have a consistent good trigger and just move on?
As well, guns like this often get more complicated: decockers, external safety levers, magazine disconnects, etc.. I know people hate working all those gizmos, but if you’re going to have a gun with all of them you MUST work the gizmos; you must runĀ every drill string from that decocked and long-heavy undesirable DA trigger press. If you hate running all the gizmos, get a simpler gun.
Then there’s other stuff like holsters. Saw a number of students with the hybrid holsters (a backing made of leather or something soft/flimsey, then a kydex shell on the other “half”). While I’ve not been as down on hybrids as some other instructors, I gotta say the hybrid situation in class was pretty bad — people just had a hard time reholstering because the backer wasĀ collapsing due to “body shapes”. As well, some of these holsters were riding so low that folks couldn’t get a solid grip on the gun during the drawstroke. Yeah that holster might be inexpensive or “comfortable”, but you get what you pay for.
At the end of DPS1 IĀ spoke further to this point.
As an engineer, I want my machines to be as simple as possible (but no simpler). When you start adding things on, it just provides more points of breakage, failure, etc.. A Glock and a SIG ultimately accomplish the same task, but the SIG takes a more complicated route to get there. So if you are going to add all of this extra stuff into the mix, you need to have an articulable reason as to what advantage that extra stuff gives you. USPSA Production shooters that really work to game it areĀ now shooting CZ’s and Tanfoglio’s because, while they have that DA/SA trigger, the weight of that gun provides improvement in recoil management so it’s worthĀ the tradeoff. Plus people going that route are heavily dedicated to competition shooting and so they are willing and able to put in the time and effort to make the system work. Thus, an articulable reason for the more complex choice. Point being, make sure you can articulate the reasons behind your choices and that they are sound for accomplishing your goal in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Ā If the gizmo isn’t helping, get rid of it.
There’s a lengthy video lecture from Boyd himself:
That’s just part 1. Look at the playlist/sidebar for the further parts.
I’d also recommend you give Claude Werner’s further examination of the “OODA Loop” some investigation. Claude’s one of the most analytical minds in the shooting world, and has spent a good deal of time trying to get people to correctly understand what OODA is about.
And if you wanted to watch that Paul Gomez drawstroke video again:
Thank you
It was a good day out to be out on the range. Thank you to all the students that were willing to spend their time and money to come out, learn, and grow. Thank you as well for choosing and entrusting us at KR Training toĀ help you in your journey. We hope to see you back out on the range.
Meantime, if you have questions about anything ā including gear, because we’re happy to save you some heartache and money before you go buying ā just drop us a line. We’re happy to help.
Rain rain go away, but I still went to the gym today.
Massive thunderstorms hitting Texas today, so I had to drive to the gym. At least the lights stayed on. No big deal if they went out: it’s just benches, steel, and iron and you can keep going.
Things just keep feeling better. Reps go up, technique getting better. In fact, the slow eccentrics actually felt normal, like what I’m supposed to do. I had to stop myself from doing it during the heavier movements like the incline presses. I think that’s pretty telling that I’m getting used to it and actually enjoying it a bit.
I have 2 guns: a S&W M&P Shield 9, and an NAA Guardian .32 ACP. The Shield was manifesting accuracy issues, the Guardian was a pawn-shop-find that needed some love. Both were sent back to their respective factories to be worked on. Both came back a couple weeks ago. I was finally able to take them to the range to see how things went.
Alas, I’m not happy with how things went.
Protocol
I figured this was mostly about function checking, including accuracy checking. I’d want to run about 200-250 rounds through each gun, mostly target ammo but some self-defense ammo as well.
I was going to start with Claude Werner’s drill (2 mags with 5 rounds each; 1 round, 2 rounds, 3 rounds (including a reload), then 4 rounds; repeat at 3, 5, 7, 10, and 15 yards). This would be good as there’s no timer, no pressure, done from ready position, and all about accuracy. So I could check out accuracy as well as basic function. If all went well, I’d shoot the Texas CHL test, which would do much of the same but adding in par times so a little more pressured use of the gun. That’d be 100 rounds of practice ammo. Then I’d use 20 rounds of self-defense ammo and do the “3 Seconds or Less” drill. Finally, I’d shoot another 50-100 rounds of just whatever I felt like doing, probably running the steel targets, including the 4″ flapper plate @ 25 yards.
I’d do this with each gun, and see how it went.
Alas, it didn’t.
Shield
Started with the Shield. Remember, it’s problem was accuracy. I couldn’t get it to group well, Karl couldn’t, Hank (gunsmith) couldn’t. Sent it back to S&W, supposedly all they did was “adjust the sights” (grr), but supposedly they did something because Hank’s testing upon its return and it was shooting better. Hank even showed me the target he produced at 10 yards.
So I started shooting. 3 yards was fine. 5 yards fine — but if there’s failure at this point that’s really bad. I did notice it was shooting high and a little to the left (e.g. 11 o’clock position). Hrm. I got to 15 and it was all over the place. Could it be me? I know I don’t suck THAT bad. But it was becoming difficult to tell. I tried more shooting of steel targets, flapper, etc.. I could get some hits, some not. It was getting difficult to tell if it was me or the gun, but for sure something is off with the gun — could just be sights. But for sure, something else seems amiss.
I ran some different ammo through, similar results.
So I bagged the gun, didn’t run through everything. Why waste ammo at this point? I’m going to have a couple other known good-shooters shoot it, see what happens. Depending how it goes with them, I’ll leave it for Karl to look at, and we’ll see from there. Something still doesn’t seem right.
Guardian
Started with the same Werner drill. Even at 3 yards I noticed a slight right-bias to the hits. My feeling was, because of the gun’s miniscule size, I was pulling the gun right. This only magnified as I went further back, and things just got stupid at 10 yards. But what was interesting was the holes in the target didn’t always cut nice ragged holes — keyholing? Not sure.
I could go back to 25 yards and hit the flapper — if I worked at it. The sights are terrible and I had a VERY hard time seeing them. I’d also have to do a lot of work to prep the trigger — a straight pull-through was almost impossible, but if I could stage it right and ensure I had good sights, I could hit.
But even after target ammo and then some Buffalo Bore (the Barnes flavor), my hand was just hurting too much. Not so much from the recoil, but from being cramped and all the weird rubbing of the gun in the hand. It’s just awkward.
Functionally, I think the gun is in good shape compared to when I got it. NAA seems to have replaced almost everything in it, so I should expect it’d working well now. I just cannot be 100% sure of the accuracy part tho — between being hard to see the sights, then my hand just being raw, I bagged it. I only got about 150 rounds through the gun, but it at least ran.
So I feel that the gun is OK, it will just need some red paint on the front sight to help visibility, then some more trials for accuracy to ensure it’s good and any issues are just me.
So…
At this point, I’m not pleased.
The Guardian I think is probably ok, but I just need more time to determine and have confidence that it’s as good as it’s going to get. That said, if I was pressed into needing it right now, I wouldn’t feel bad about it — just don’t ask me for shots beyond about 7 yards. š
The Shield, I’m miffed. S&W gave no indication as to what was done, it seems like little was done, and it seems like the problem persists. And now it’s going to cost me more time and money to have to deal with this all over again.
I think that’s important. I’ve got so much crap going on, I need something to give me some fun and not be a source of more “consuming” energy. For sure this just gives back to me. More on this at the end.
Still happy that all things are going up. But some things aren’t going up in simple weight or reps, but on technique. For once in my life I’m really finding myself enjoying hypertrophy techniques, such as the slow eccentrics, squeezing at the peak, and so on. I’m finding I’m getting a lot more out of it — all hail this cycle’s goal of “just chase the pump”. It’s been quite fun, and quite eye-opening. So for instance some of the isolation movements here technically went down from last week, but they went up in terms of how slow I was going, how much focus I was putting into isolating that muscle and that whole “mind-muscle connection” thing. It felt more quality.
So hey, this is fun.
And because of that, perhaps that’s why I’m feeling like putting off the 5/3/1 switch for a bit. I’m actually really enjoying this hypertrophy work, and still getting stronger too. Paul Carter’s protocols I think may serve me well if I want to keep chasing this. And I keep coming back to some light past experience where Paul’s stuff did just as much as 5/3/1 in the same amount of time yet I didn’t feel so beat up. So I guess I am feeling like it might be good to give it a serious go, since I’ll finally be off the “cutting” rollercoaster.
As for specifics here:
Happy to see my close-grip going up.
The cable curls may be the ticket. They do feel weird because the bar just balances and pulls different than a free-weight BB, but they are giving me the constant tension. I’ll stick with them for a bit.
8… 8… 8 pullups… ah ah ah ah ah ah! (Yes, I learned to count with The Count on Sesame Street).
Seriously, I find that to be perhaps a cooler achievement than when I first deadlifted 405# or squatted 315# or whatever. Never done 8 strict pull-ups in my life, and damnit if it’s not an awesome thing to do. š Looking forward to 10, then doing 10’s across the sets. The first time it becomes worthwhile to add weight (probably once I can do like 5×10 or 20 in a row or something), that’ll be a cool milestone too.
Anyways, overall today was just a good session. I am liking back work more and more because I am finding a good groove with it that actually seems productive, not just moving weights through the air in a manner that is typically considered “back exercises”. And everything across the board continues to go up, so what’s not to like?
That all said, I have been talking with Nick @ RP about my weight progress. I started this cut around 210 with a goal of 190 after about 12-16 weeks — very doable given past performance. But for the past some weeks I’ve been hovering in the 202-206 range depending on the day. My weight just is not going down. Thing is, I look in the mirror and I can tell my body is transforming. It’s frustrating on the one hand to not see the scale move, but on the other, I have to remember that the scale is but one metric — the mirror is another, and likely the more important one. That my body continues to transform (and even the Mrs. has noticed, so it’s not just me), that my strength is actually going up instead of the typical decline around this time of a cut cycle… well, I gotta just put my faith into things and press on.
That said, I realize I’m only a few more weeks left in this (Memorial Day weekend and I stop the cut, period). So I am picking back up on my “ok, what next?” thinking. I started to fall back to 5/3/1 and probably the Simplest Strength Template (or thereabouts) because gee if 5/3/1 doesn’t get results. But recently I started to rethink, and I wonder if I I might stick with Paul Carter’s programming philosophies. I’ve been following them for a while and they do seem to jive with me, but the problem has been that I can’t fully tell because I’ve been mostly following them while I’ve been doing all this weight-loss. I’ve long said I wanted to give them a more fair shake, and perhaps I should do that instead. As well, when I have done his stuff on a non-cut, I found I made similar progress to 5/3/1 and didn’t feel as beat-up.
So… I don’t know. š
Just rethinking. Have a few weeks to make a decision.
āSomebody was tragically murdered, and I donāt think this tragedy warrants this conversation and pushing this agenda right now,ā said Andrea Brauer, executive director of Texas Gun Sense.
I continue to work on my form with front squats. I’m finding a better groove. Interesting thing I noticed today was where my body wanted to bail out — it’s much sooner than with other exercises. I think it’s because there’s less tolerance for error: a little lean and the bar will dump, whereas with a regular squat you can lean a bunch and no problems. As well, it’s just uncomfortable: the bar puts pressure on your throat and clavicles, so the body wants to stop this quickly. I found myself pushing much further past the point of discomfort. The goal was 3 sets of 7 today, and I perhaps could have done 8’s, but I’m pacing myself a bit on these: I don’t want to take these to true failure, just push myself. So, insightful morning.
RDL’s were another technique point. I don’t feel like I’m still “getting” the movement, so I kept the weight light and really worked on things. It’s when I come out: I feel like I’m extending the back, not the hips. So I worked on keeping the bar close to the body, really letting it get low to get a good stretch, then raising up by pushing the hips through — or at least thinking that way, vs. thinking about lifting/extending the back. Still don’t quite have it, but I’ll keep at it.
Leg Press was funny. Sure, who cares how much you can leg press. Still, I’ve never put 405 (4 plates a side) on the sled. I’m always doing high-rep sets, so I just don’t get up there. But I wanted to do it today, just because. I mean, if I’m going to squat 405, I better leg press it first. So it was fun to work up to a higher, heavier weight. And I crushed it pretty well too — really had the mindset to just kill it and it went up easier than the 365 set did. I didn’t expect to get 10 reps, but I was happy that I did. Just fun.
After that, I did my extensions and curls superset in a 350-method style.
I’ll say that the work level of this session was pretty good — I felt a little queasy afterwards. Not that it’s a measure of anything, but at least I know I got some work in.
Stuff From Hsoi 