Author: hsoi

2013-03-04 training log

/ hsoi

I’m not.

It is deload week of cycle 17, and give my shoulder issues I was going to take things VERY easy this week and go twice. Something like on Monday do 5×10 squats with 50% weight, 5×10 bench with 50% weight, then maybe finish with 5×10 pendlay rows with lighter weight. And that’d be all. Then Thursday the same with 5×10 deads, 5×10 press, and 5xwhatever pullups. Or maybe I’d go Tuesday and Friday. I was going to wing it.

And wing it I shall…

Last night we were over at a neighbor’s house for dinner. They recently installed a zip line in their backyard for their kids, but it’s strong enough to hold an adult… so I gave it a run.

One run.

All I needed. 🙂

I don’t know exactly what happened… or maybe it started on the drive home from my in-laws earlier that day, sleeping in the car, and my head/neck being in a weird position, then the zip line just broke the camel’s back. I don’t know… but there’s some wicked pain when I try to move my head and neck in a certain way. Lifting isn’t going to happen.

But on the same token, I was stretching my head/neck/shoulder area in the car during the drive and finally got my neck to pop and turn in a way I’ve been needing for a while! I’ve just had some poor posture issues for a while, everything tightened up, and I’m slowly working my way back to being normal. I’m sure that is playing a part.

Anyways, I think today is going to be nothing but some stretching and rolling.

WE must UNITE on issues, not DIVIDE on labels.

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

I think we need to reframe things.

We’re stuck in this “Democrat vs. Republican” or “Liberal vs. Conservative”, “Occupy” vs “Tea Party” mentality. Both in terms of how we look at things, and how we debate the issues.

It’s making us blind.

It’s dividing and making us weak.

We need to leave that behind.

It’s no longer about that, and cannot be.

Case in point.

There’s a pirate radio station here in Austin, Texas Liberty Radio. For ages I’ve seen the sign on Mo-Pac (a major highway running North-South through Austin) advertising it, and finally I tuned in to give me something different to listen to on my daily commute. The lady was talking about the dangers of the stuff in our food, specifically pointing out aspartame.

At the same time, I saw one of my “liberal” friends post about “Big Dairy’s” current move to put aspartame in milk. And the conversation goes on about the dangers of the stuff in our food, specifically pointing out aspartame.

These are two groups who, according to the old labels, are polar opposites and should never agree: the Libtards and the Teabaggers. But here they are, speaking out against the same thing. There are some minor differences, with the former talking about it more in terms of food supply and how it can mess with your body, and how the government is involved in a bad way. The latter is talking about it more in terms of how bad it is for your health, and the evils of big corporate lobbies having more influence over the government (than the people supposedly governed).

They are far more united than they are different. They both agree about the dangers of aspartame. They both agree that it’s bad for you. They both agree it’s bad to add it to food. They both agree that the government is playing a dangerous game here. They both agree the government cares more about money and power than about people.

Yes there are some differences, but that will always be the case so long as people are involved. But the more I listen to people on “both sides”, the more I see that we’re actually upset at the same thing: the consolidation of power in the hands of a few. These few tend to be involved in government, at the top of particular large corporations, and are more interested in growing their own wealth and power than caring for the people they are supposedly serving — because whether they are elected public servants (*cough cough*) or are CEO’s, they are supposed to be serving citizens or shareholders. Either way, they are to be servants, not greedy, lustful, power-hungry, self-serving.

We may differ on the specifics, but most all of us are in the same boat.

So instead of continuing to be divided along labels, why aren’t we being united by our issues? by our causes?

Are you willing to move beyond the division of labels, and unite in our causes?

2013-03-01 training log

/ hsoi

Time to start being nice to my shoulders

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 17, week 3

  • Work Set – Press (working max: 150#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x60
    • 1x5x75
    • 1x3x90
    • 1x5x115 (work)
    • 1x3x130
    • 1x5x145
  • Assistance – Pull-ups (band assisted)
    • 3 x 10/10/5 x BW
  • Other stuff (see below)

Despite my shoulder aches and pains, I still Pressed. Getting 5 reps with 145 is acceptable, given I got 5 with 140 last cycle. Looking back over past history, it’s certainly not the best I’ve done, but it’s in line and is progress back to where I started.

Certainly my technique is getting better. “Tight” is the cue I live by here… everything needs to be tight: grip, wrists, torso, glutes, lats, quads, hams… you name it, everything. Helps tremendously.

But that all said, I didn’t do much else today. I did some pull-ups, then a couple very-high-rep sets of pressdowns and hammer curls.

The interesting part? I finished off with a couple high-rep sets with very light weight of lateral raises. Why? Well, again it’s a shoulder thing. I want a little more delt work. I adore upright rows; they’ve always been a favorite, since I was a teenager, because they produce so much in the medial delts and traps (and some biceps and grip too, what’s not to like, right?). But there’s no question that it eventually causes me some shoulder pains. So I’m going to have to give them up, again. And while lat raises haven’t always been friendly to me either, well… I have some greater posture issues that I need to improve upon. If I am standing in a solid and proper posture, the lat raises work out ok. If they start to be weird, it’s a reminder to correct my posture. I think I may well keep lat raises in for a while… just VERY light and VERY high rep.

Next week is deload. Again, I think I’m going to do a heavy-duty deloading. I really want to give my body a rest. I may go only twice, and do like a squat/bench and dead/press thing with maybe like 5×10 with a 50% weight or something… and that’s all…. if even that. Maybe 3×10 or 5×5. Just something for the blood flow and warmth, and keeping the groove. But otherwise, Ir eally want to rest up.

Diet wise too… I’ll be keeping carbs fairly low until the Sunday evening prior to starting cycle 18. I’ll have a little carb after any workout, and I’ll have “normal carbs” with supper. But no splurging or anything and doing “heavy backloads” or the like.

Should ignorant people be allowed to make laws and policy?

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

I have a serious question.

Should ignorant people be allowed to make laws and policy?

I’m sure to some it seems like a stupid question to ask. But I have to ask it, because I see so many people permitting the ignorant to make laws and policy, and I don’t understand why.

Noted firearms specialist and personal-safety expert “Shotgun Joe” Biden continues to dole out firearms and personal safety advice:

I said, “Well, you know, my shotgun will do better for you than your AR-15, because you want to keep someone away from your house, just fire the shotgun through the door.”

Full story (h/t TexasCHL). Emphasis added.

There’s more to the transcript, but I want to focus on the last part of Mr. Biden’s statement.

I’d like to hope one doesn’t need to understand the fundamental rules of firearm safety to understand how dangerous, reckless, careless, and potentially tragic Mr. Biden’s suggestion could be. If you have no idea what’s on the other side of that door, you have no business shooting through it.

Right now we have a terrible shooting story in the news, of Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius being accused of killing his girlfriend. Apparently he shot through a closed door without knowing who was behind it.

*sigh*

There’s tons of other things wrong with Mr. Biden’s comments, both the current ones and ones he’s made in the recent past. I’m at a point where I just don’t know if Biden is that ignorant of firearms and personal safety, or if he’s that smart and is trolling.

Either way, is this a person that should be in charge of making policy? That should be in charge of writing laws? Even if he is that smart and is trolling, is that how a politician should behave?

There are those who claim men cannot speak about abortion because, as men, they cannot understand women’s health issues. There are those who would find it ludicrous for climate-change deniers to set our environmental policy. Or that fundamentalist Christians should have any say over public school science curriculum. If such demonstrable and obvious ignorance on a topic is so unacceptable, why is it acceptable here?

If we seek true experts, people truly knowledgable in the field, when it comes to solving problems… why aren’t we doing that here? I don’t think Mr. Obama nor Mr. Biden has called Massad Ayoob or Tom Givens. Why would that be? Why wouldn’t actual public safety experts be consulted here?

Just because the end may wind up meeting your agenda, I cannot see how you can condone the means for getting there. For if you set the precedent that it’s OK for the ignorant to mandate policy when the policy serves you, just remember… karma’s a bitch.

2013-02-28 training log

/ hsoi

Enter. PR. Exit.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 17, week 3

  • Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 365#)
    • 1x5x150 (warmup)
    • 1x5x185
    • 1x3x225
    • 1x5x275 (work)
    • 1x3x315
    • 1x5x350 (PR)

I have an early meeting this morning. So I did jack shit.

That’s a nice PR. Last cycle was 5 reps at 340#, so to get 5 reps and 10# increase? Hell yes I’ll take it. Plus, I’m really beat up. My left shoulder has been bugging me as it is, and I think when I dumped/rolled the bar off my shoulders/neck on Monday’s squat session, I must have aggrevated something because my body has been unhappy with me in the shoulder/neck region ever since. It’s better, but constantly aches and is tough to even lift my arm. Won’t keep me from deadlifting. 🙂 But tomorrow’s Pressing? We’ll see how that goes.

Given that, next week is deload week and I think I’m going to do a serious deload. I might hit the gym only twice, and do like a Monday squat/bench very light and minimal, Thursday deadlift/press light and minimal. Else rest rest rest and basic recovery work, like rolling, stretching, etc..

Oh… my new belt from BestBelts came in, and I used it this morning. It’s the Athlete belt, single prong, royal blue, 36″. Of course it’s a little stiff, but today was a good way to start the break-in. 🙂

Hooray for Government – keeping the homeless fed and safe

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

Louisiana’s State Health Department forced a homeless shelter to destroy $8,000 worth of deer meat because it was donated from a hunter organization.

[…]

“We didn’t find anything wrong with it,” Rev. Henry Martin told KTBS. “It was processed correctly, it was packaged correctly.”

[…]

“They threw it in the dumpster and poured Clorox on it,” Martin told KTBS. “Not only are we losing out and it’s costing us money, the people that are hungry aren’t going to get as quality of food, the hunter that’s given his meat in good faith is losing out.”

[…]

“While we applaud the good intentions of the hunters who donated this meat, we must protect the people who eat at Rescue Mission, and we cannot allow a potentially serious health threat to endanger the public,” the Health Department stated.

 Full story

1600# of venison.

Accounts vary, but it seems a “serving of meat” is considered to be 3oz. So that’s 8533 servings that were destroyed.

Let that sink in for a moment.

More than 8000 servings of food.

If you divided that by 3 meals a day, that’s 2844 days.

Can you see how many people who meat could have fed?

Meat is expensive. And hell, venison is lean and high quality protein. We complain about the poor food choices that people make, the poor food choices available to people. And when it comes to charity food donations, people aren’t always going to be donating organic canned goods from Whole Foods, y’know? But here you’re getting high-quality, free-range protein… and you’re destroying it.

Under the guise of “protecting people”?

What about the hunters or other folk that would have otherwise eaten the meat? Why aren’t they being protected? Why is their consumption of the meat OK? If the meat is unsafe to eat, it’s unsafe to eat — period; thus no one should be eating it. But that doesn’t seem to be the case, does it?

None of this makes sense.

You’re not helping.

2013-02-26 training log

/ hsoi

I felt like I was in a Tex Avery cartoon. *sigh*

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 17, week 3

  • Work Set – Bench Press (working max: 230#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x95
    • 1x5x115
    • 1x3x140
    • 1x5x175 (work)
    • 1x3x200
    • 1x5x220
  • Assistance – Bench Press
    • 5 x 10 x 135
  • Assistance – Pendlay Rows
    • 5 x 10 x 115

You ever watch those Tex Avery cartoons where you see the line of army men marching in precision? Then the camera pans down to their legs and it looks like a drunken octopus orgy? Yeah, that’s what I felt like today. 🙂

I just didn’t have my legs under me today, figuratively and literally. I thought I had figured out my leg position, but alas not. I did find myself pushing into the pad differently, mostly because I’m trying to have a good arch without lifting my butt, shoulders locked in, etc.. I thought this was foot position? Do a set… no, that wasn’t right. Tweak feet. Set. No. Tweak. Etc.. Finally on my last set, it felt like that Tex Avery cartoon with my legs not giving me anything: no stability, no drive, just flailing around on their own looking stupid.

WTF?

Back to the drawing board.

I will say I felt one thing. I have a little more external hip rotation than normal. Thus, I want to “point in” a little more to help leverages naturally negate that. Well, I think I took too narrow a stance, and in trying to point my toes forward to get better drive, I lost that natural negating and thus a bunch of stability. I may need to actually pigeon-toe myself slightly. Will have to play with this and see.

I’m not unhappy with 5 reps @ 220, but I had problems. Must do better.

2013-02-25 training log

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

A PR, a miss, and I think I learned more from missing than PR’ing.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 17, week 3

  • Work Set – Squat (working max: 295#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x120
    • 1x5x150
    • 1x3x180
    • 1x5x225 (work)
    • 1x3x255
    • 1x2x285 (PR)
    • Hold 315 for 10 seconds
  • Assistance – Squat
    • 5 x 10/10/8/8/8 x 150
  • Assistance – Leg Curls
    • 4 x 12 x 60
  • Foam Rolling

I PR’d. I hit 285#, for 2 reps. Never done that weight (or reps) in my life. How cool! 300# is within reach, and 315# before the end of the year looks do-able.

But I only got 2 reps.

255 felt heavy. I think it started there… in my head. Seeds of doubt sown. *sigh*

I told myself all I need is 1 rep with 285.

I put the bar on my back, deep breath, tighten everything, lift out of the rack…. shit, that’s heavy — another seed.

I go down, and stand up. It was tough, but it was there. Yes! Set a PR. Everything else is gravy.

Go again… but this was much harder to get up. It was a struggle. But I got up. Stood there, got my wind. Fuck it… let’s try for 3, what’s the worst that can happen? I don’t come up.

And sure enough, I go down, and I didn’t come up. I tried, instant-fail. Couldn’t get out of the hole.

The only thing that caught me? How to get this off my back? Roll down my back or over my head? Well, gravity and the physics of my position dictated over my head. So I dropped down as much as I could, curled myself into a ball and let the bar roll over my head onto the rails.

And I didn’t care.

In fact, one thing I’m starting to do, at least at the end of my 5/3/1 work sets, is to put a larger weight on the bar and then just hold it. Just put it on my shoulders, unrack, walk out, hold it for like 10 seconds, then rack it. Just feel that weight, and realize that the weight you just did was lighter, and the weight you’ll do next is also lighter.

And I made sure I still did this. Still get up. Still get back under the bar. Keep moving forward.

It’s interesting to me because squats have been my least favorite movement. I still can’t say I love them, but I cannot deny I’ve spent the past few days looking forward to today’s effort. There’s been a lot of baggage to overcome, fears, stupid shit in my head… of getting hurt, of failure, of whatever. But some months ago I started to realize it didn’t matter because the worst thing is that you miss… and so what? And that’s exactly how it happened today. I missed, so what. It was truly no big deal. I didn’t quit, I didn’t give up, the bar was just too heavy, it didn’t happen.

Oh sure, I think I wasn’t quite in the mental groove, but even then I’m sure I would have only gotten 3, maybe 4 if I really was on fire. And that mental is something that will take nothing but time under the bar to improve upon.

But today’s miss was my first squat miss — ever. I never allowed myself to miss in the past, for whatever reason…. fear of failure, fear of injury, fear of pushing myself that hard, fear of the opinions of others, whatever reason. But today? I missed, and it didn’t matter. All it means is for cycle 18 I’ll stay at this work weight and work towards rep PR’s. No big deal.

OK… there is one big deal. My ribs hurt, from when I got bent over so much and my belt dug into me. It might be a 2-Advil kind of day. 🙂 and yes, I really would love it if the gym would buy a proper power rack and not what it has… could have set the catch-pins at a proper height (for me). Oh well, I won’t complain too much.

Otherwise, just continuing my “regression” back to a pure BBB template and enjoying that.

Already starting to plan out cycle 18.