Author: hsoi

CSAT Standards

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Paul Howe has a set of Pistol Instructor Standards.

PISTOL INSTRUCTOR STANDARDS SEPT 2010

The drills below drills are designed with three purposes in mind:

  1. A measurable standard to maintain.
  2. An efficient stair-stepped workout program that covers all the bases.
  3. To test the individual shooter at various times to show areas needing improvement.

Only score shots in the center box and head of the CSAT target. If an enemy turns sideways, that will be all the shooter has to engage, resulting in a worse case scenario.

1. Ready 1 shot 1 target 7 yards 1 SEC
2. Holster 1 shot 1 target 7 yards 1.7 SEC
3. Ready 2 shots 1 target 7 yards 1.5 SEC
4. Ready 5/1 shots 1 target 7 yards 3 SEC
5. Ready 4 shots 2x target 7 yards 3 SEC
6. Ready 4 shots 2x weak/2x strong (1 target) 5 SEC
7. Ready 1 shot Malfunction drill (1 target) 3 SEC
8. Ready 4 shots 2 Reload 2 (1 target) 5 SEC
9. Rifle up 1 shot Dry fire/transition 3.25 SEC
10. Holster 1 shot Kneeling (1 target) 25 yards 3.25 SEC

Total: 25 Rounds

INSTRUCTORS MUST PASS 8-10 STANDARDS IN ONE COURSE OF FIRE.

-All stations shot at 7 yards except #10.

It’s a reasonable standards course. However, the description of the course leaves out some important details. If you’ve taken Paul’s classes, I’m sure all is known, but for those of us that haven’t (yet) studied with Paul, we’re left scratching our heads a bit.

With reader Shawn’s help, because Shawn attended Paul’s Pistol Operator course, I’ve gained some clarification. So here’s a rewrite of Paul’s standards with hopefully a bit more explanatory detail. Thanx for the help, Shawn!

Setup

Shot on a CSAT target. Note, this target is IPSC-like, but CSAT is 23″ wide and IPSC is 18″, which is going to affect scale; plus the IPSC has a smaller head A-Zone. I’m sure you could use an IDPA target in a pinch, but that’s not quite the same either. I reckon if you don’t have the CSAT target, shoot on the IPSC target and only count A-Zone hits… it’ll be more difficult.

You need 2 targets. No specification of how they are set up, but given what Shawn told me (you just shot the target of the guy next to you), I reckon setting them at the same height about a yard apart is reasonable.

Shoot with your normal gear, whatever that is. So if you’re just a private citizen carrying concealed, shoot with that setup. If a LEO, shoot with your duty gear, etc.. Shawn mentioned there was an adjustment for retention holsters but couldn’t remember the specifics. You will need 2 magazines, due to the reload string.

Scoring is a simple “hit or miss” manner. Either you did the string under time and hit the proper zone, or you didn’t. Pass/fail on each string, and an instructor-level shooter must pass at least 8 of the 10.

25 rounds total.

“Ready” means from the “high compressed ready” (position 3 of the draw). However, Shawn notes Howe isn’t super-picky about this because gear (e.g. armor, chest rig) may have different requirements.

All strings start from the standing position, except #10.

All strings are shot at a distance of 7 yards, except #10.

All strings are shot from the ready position, unless otherwise noted.

All strings are fired onto a single target, except for #5.

String 1
1 shot (body)
1.0 seconds

String 2
From holster
1 shot (body)
1.7 seconds

String 3
2 shots (body)
1.5 seconds

String 4
5 shots body, 1 head (6 shots total)
3.0 seconds

String 5
2 shots (body) on target #1, then 2 shots (body) on target #2 (4 shots total)
3.0 seconds

String 6
2 shots weak-hand-only, transition gun to other hand, 2 shots strong-hand-only (4 shots total)
5.0 seconds

String 7
Start with an empty chamber, and a full magazine inserted
Press out, press trigger (click!), tap/rack, 1 shot (body)
3.0 seconds

String 8
Start with 1 in the chamber, 1 in the magazine; full reload in mag pouch.
2 shots (body), speed reload from slide-lock, 2 shots (body)
5.0 seconds

String 9
Start with rifle shouldered/ready
1 dry shot from rifle, transition to pistol, 1 shot (body)
3.25 seconds

String 10
25 yards
From holster
Start standing
Kneel and fire 1 shot (body)
3.25 seconds

And that’s how it seems the standards are to be, from my read on Paul’s site plus some help from Shawn.

If I have it wrong, I do want to be corrected.

I wrote this up because I think it’s a good set of standards, just not presented 100% clearly. When I first read it I wasn’t 100% sure of all the details, and when Karl, Tom, and I shot it this past weekend we weren’t 100% sure on a couple parts either. I had a similar experience with the Rangemaster Level V Handgun Qualification Course, and I think it’s worthwhile for good standards/courses to be presented clearly, correctly, and in a manner that ensures everyone can and does shoot it the same… else it’s not really a standard, is it?

13 Self-Defense Myths Busted… well, sorta

/ hsoi

Adam at Low Tech Combat wrote an article busting 13 self-defense myths. As with everything LTC produces, it’s good stuff.

But I do disagree with a few of his points.

1. Never walk around with your hands in your pockets

I do agree this is one to bust, because there can be times when having your hands in your pocket is a good thing. For example, if I’m carrying a snub revolver in my front pants pocket, putting my hands in my pocket allows me to get a proper grip on the snub to facilitate drawing… else pocket draw is really slow. So, there’s one to bust “never” walking with your hands in your pockets. 🙂

But how likely is it really that you will be attacked suddenly when out shopping at the local mall in the middle of the day?

I don’t know how likely it will be. If you have the ability to make such predictions, and do so accurately, then perhaps armed with that knowledge you should do your best to be elsewhere!

Saying that you should never have your hands in your pockets at any time is being extremely paranoid. That is being hyper alert. You simply cannot maintain such a level of alertness for too long without visiting the local psychologist.

So being prepared is paranoid? This could be a fun “where do you draw the line” debate. 🙂  He’s right tho… it’s hard to be in “code yellow” all the time; it’s impractical. But we have to accept, hands in the pocket could put you at a disadvantage.

Can we do something about it?

Well, just learn to live life without your hands in your pocket. Eventually it will be normal to be out of pocket. As well, you could have pockets that aren’t restrictive or permit a greater freedom of movement.

So… I’ll bust this, but I’ll also say it’s “plausible” yet something you can work around, if you’re willing to work.

2. Never walk around with your earphones in

I’ll disagree with this, because life isn’t always about being attacked.

What about cars zooming by?

What about just being able to hear people around you, like someone maybe just saying “Excuse me” because they wish to move around you.

There’s no question that having earphones on and music blaring will shut out the sounds of everything else around you. Yes it has self-defense implications, but it also just has greater implications about life and that tuning out what’s going on around you could have all sorts of other negative repercussions.

Same goes for things like texting…. and you’ve seen the YouTube videos of people walking while texting and falling into fountains or knocking themselves out as they walk into a lamp post. You get too engrossed in something, and it tunes out the world around you. And then, you open yourself up to bad things happening to you.

And the Rest

Everything else I’m in pretty strong agreement with. And even on the above two points, I don’t fully disagree with Adam, but I just don’t see it quite the same way he does. Still, good article, well worth your time to read.

 

No 300 BLK from Savage Arms

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I just saw this posted to Savage Arms’ Facebook page

300 AAC Blackout Chambering Cancelled:

Some time ago, Savage announced it would be chambering the Model 10 Precision Carbine in 300 AAC Blackout. Since that time, we have tested many variants of this cartridge in various barrel lengths and rates of twist. This exhaustive testing left us quite unsatisfied with the accuracy we were able to get from the subsonic loads in this chambering. Accuracy with the lighter, faster loads in this caliber was actually quite good. But we believe the real value in this cartridge lies in the use of subsonic loads for suppressed rifles. Therefore we have decided to scrap the project.

It is our understanding that pushing these heavy, slow bullets presents challenges not found in typical loadings and that our experience is not unique. Subsequently, many in the industry have simply adopted a lower standard for accuracy for these subsonic loads. While this does seem reasonable and we don’t criticize any in our industry that have taken this approach, it just won’t work for Savage.

Our brand was built on accuracy and we are too protective of our reputation for building the most accurate factory rifles available. We would rather walk away from this opportunity than sell a product that requires an explanation.

Very interesting.

Now that it’s no longer prohibited in Texas to hunt game animals with suppressed firearms, that gave me more reason to consider buying a suppressor and a rifle to go with it. So naturally I was looking at 300 BLK. It’d be great if I could use subsonic ammo and a can and have a very quiet hunting experience. This is not only nice for deer hunting, but how about hunting hogs at night so you don’t bother sleeping neighbors?

But before any of this matters… what about terminal ballistics? Will it be effective enough?

Bill Wilson wrote this:

300BLK subsonic is useless on hogs, the only subsonic cartridge/load I have found to work is the Ruger 77/44 .44 Mag with a 300gr XTP

And I know that’s what Gerald and Randy at Night Hogs use (the Ruger). But then, more Google searching turns up people hunting with the 300 BLK and having success. So I don’t know. And of course, hogs and whitetail are different… a deer is tough, but not as tough as a hog, so maybe if it doesn’t work for hogs that’s fine if it can still work for deer or other thin-skinned game.

But gee… I’d really love to hear more specifics about what they were seeing for accuracy issues in the subsonic loads, because all that quiet doesn’t mean much if you can’t hit what you need to hit.

All I can say at this point is, this gives me pause.

 

2012-04-02 workout – Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 7, press/deadlift 4

/ hsoi

Deload week.

“Week 4” – BBB 3 Month Challenge

  • Deload – Deadlift (working max: 325#)
    • 2x5x135
    • 2x5x165
  • Deload – Press (working max: 155#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x65
    • 1x5x80
    • 1x5x95
  • Asst. #1A – Bench Press
    • 3 x 10 x 115
  • Asst. #1B – Chinups (supersetted with Bench Press)
    • 3 x 3 x BW
  • Asst. #2 – Face Pulls
    • 3 x 12 x 60
  • Asst. #3 – DB Hammer Curls
    • 2 x 10 x 30
  • Foam Rolling

Deload week. Nothing much to write about. It is the first time doing deload on the “BBB 3 Month Challenge”, so I was trying to figure what to do and what not to do. In the end, I figured to make it a “press day”, add in deadlift, and drop the sets and/or weights down… tho oddly I did the opposite on face pulls, and I’m not sure why.

Anyways, just trying to keep things moving, but light.

My lower back really appreciated the foam rolling.

AAR – DPS2 @ KR Training 31 March 2012

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Saturday March 31, 2012 @ KR Training. Defensive Pistol Skills 2. Just the one class (which left time for a little fun… more later).

Class was small. This class was added due to a large wait list from the prior DPS2, so instead of having those people wait a long time for another DPS2 to be scheduled, Karl scheduled one and we got all those people in.

Weather was great, tho a little warm for this time of year. And I was stupid and forgot to put on sunscreen. Yes, I am paying for it. 🙂

In general, the students did well. Folks were attentive and willing to listen and learn. It’s always hard for folks with years or decades of habit to overcome those habits and learn better ways to do things, because gun handling and pistolcraft have evolved a lot over the years. But it’s great to see old dogs willing to learn new tricks, especially because it always adds a second level of stuff to focus on in class — more info overload.

My comments:

  • Everything is a repetition, so always do everything right. For example, if you have to pick your gun up off the table, always pick it up like we taught you (the “scoop”), even if it’s just a casual action. It’s a chance to practice, it’s a chance to further ingrain the muscle memory. Whatever you do, that’s what you’ll ingrain. Do it wrong? you ingrain wrong. Do it multiple ways at multiple times, and who knows what gets ingrained and if Hick’s Law might come into play. You’re trying to build new habit, so build that new habit by always doing things right.
  • Your equipment matters. There’s no reason to have a crappy gun. There’s no reason to have a broken gun. If you know you shoot this gun better than that gun, why are you carrying the gun that’s harder to shoot? it won’t magically become easier to shoot when the pressure just went through the roof. And if situation dictates you have to carry that difficult to shoot gun, then you best practice with it a lot and master it.
  • Fundamentals matter. All this cool tactical stuff is good, but the bottom line is being able to hit what you need to hit. Do not get unacceptable hits. Work to get acceptable hits. If you must slow down, slow down. Dry practice a lot, and then dry practice some more. Work to master the trigger press, making it slow and smooth — no slapping and yanking.
  • Shoot groups. Yes, slow fire stuff. Shoot them at 15 yards. Shoot them at 25 yards. Shoot them one-handed, both strong and weak hand. This will help your marksmanship. It may not be fun, but keep shooting groups until it becomes fun. When will this happen? It may take a while, but yes eventually it will become fun… and you’ll become better.
    • Aside: I used to hate shooting weak-hand-only. Why? Because I sucked at it. But I kept working on it. Now I can nail that hostage plate target at 25 yards weak-hand-only without any problem. I still miss a couple when going through a 16-round magazine, I am still working to run through a full mag without dropping any. I will get there. And I enjoy shooting weak-hand-only now because I’m better at it.
  • Always pay attention to your gun handling — especially muzzle direction. The way you handle a gun in the non-shooting ways speaks far more about you than how well you can shoot.

After the class, Tom, Karl, and I spent a little time shooting drills ourselves, just for fun. We didn’t have a lot of time, but we shot Paul Howe’s pistol instructor standards and Karl’s 3 Seconds or Less drill. On Paul’s drill, we weren’t 100% sure how to interpret his standards, like on #5 “Ready 4 shots 2x target 7 yards”… is that 4 shots on 2 targets… each? 8 shots total? or 2 on one target, 2 on another? or… what? Well, we only had 1 target each so we just dumped 8 rounds in 3 seconds, and all 3 of us finished in like two and a half seconds or something. 🙂 (and yes, all good A-zone hits). Heh. That’s just fun.

The one thing I saw from it, and continues to be a weak point for me is weak-hand-only under stress. When I shoot the weak-hand-only at 25 yards, it’s under no time pressure. But I drop too many shots when I do WHO under time pressure, like in the “3 seconds or less” drill. That’s something I need more work on.

Anyways, a great day. I really needed it after the funk I’ve been in the past couple weeks. It was great to get my mind on other things and just have a lot of fun. Teaching is very rewarding to me, and I’m thankful for the opportunity. Thankful to Karl for letting me work with him. Thankful to Tom for the encouragement to get my certifications and start teaching here. Thankful to the students that come, willing to learn. Thankful to Wife and Kiddos for letting me run off every other Saturday to go do this. Thankful in so many ways.

Has it been a year already?

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

I can’t believe it’s been a year since I first set foot in a gym.

OK, it hasn’t strictly been a year, but it’s just a few days shy and close enough for a retrospective.

First “Program”

So about a year ago I opted to give lifting another try. I checked out a local gym, found it to my liking, and signed up. I started doing full-body “bodybuilder” type workouts. This is because the lifting knowledge I had up to this point was mainly what I gained in high school, worshiping Joe Weider. So I’m out to work “muscles”, how good do I look in the mirror, etc.. So I’d squat, then barbell rows, then bench press, then a dumbbell press, then calf raises, and end with some curls. You know… work to hit each muscle group with a basic exercise, 3 sets, 8-12 reps, etc..  I started light and easy because I was going from sedentary to work, and I knew I had to ease into it.

I did that for about a month and a half a couple of times a week. Then I came down with something that laid me up for 2-3 weeks. I hated it. But during that time I read all that I could. I learned about the Wendler 5/3/1 program via a caption on a video on the beastskills.com website. Reading on that eventually lead me to Mark Rippetoe and Starting Strength. I learned about some other programs too, but the more I read about 5/3/1 and SS, the more I realized those were the way to go.

Rippetoe and Wendler Come Along

Why those programs? What do I want? To be strong. To have some muscle mass. To lose fat. To look good. To have practical and useful strength, because strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and generally more useful (Rippetoe). But I realized that I don’t just want to have big puffy muscles that are useless. I want foremost to have strength and usefulness. If I have useful muscles, they’ll be big enough and look good enough. And so, programs like SS and 5/3/1 are the way to get there. Heck, SS is the way to start no matter what you want to do (get big, get strong, etc.), because it focuses on all the basics, so no matter what your goal, if it involves lifting weights, SS is the place to start.

And so I did, tho I actually did a variant, the Practical Programming Novice Program, because I couldn’t do cleans in my gym (I could now, but that’ll have to come later after I finish my current run). But it only worked for about 2 months for me because it’s just brutal. I don’t have the ability to dedicate to the recovery necessary because I’m not 18 and because I have other things in life to do than just train. Still, it helped me build a good foundation and I’m thankful for that. I still refer back to Rip’s books and videos.

Then I opted to switch to Wendler 5/3/1. Sure there’s stuff like Bill Starr’s stuff, StrongLifts 5×5, Texas Method, and countless other programs. But what appealed to me about Wendler was that it was a logical progression, it focused on making long-term gains, it was simple and straightforward, no bullshit, and there was focus on slow and steady while allowing for recovery. Sounds like what the old man needs. 😉

As I publish this, I’m finishing my 7th cycle on 5/3/1. I hit the gym 3 days a week, mostly having done the “boring but big” template, but then I changed things around trying to see how it would go, but in the end I’m back on BBB because it’s solid and simple, and until you really know what you’re weak at or if you have a particular goal, there’s little reason to do any other template, IMHO.

Progress/Results (the numbers stuff)

Well, it’s hard to compare strength changes because of how things started. So, I’ll just give some markers.

My initial “full body, bodybuilding-esque program”, I was squatting 95# for 3×12, tho my records show on the last set I only got 10. And I’m sure my form sucked and I wasn’t getting deep enough. I benched 65# for 3×12. I did a seated dumbbell press of 40# (I’m sure that is 2 20# dumbbells) for 2×12 and 1×8. That was literally from the first day I went into the gym a year ago. Oh, and I didn’t deadlift.

Practical Programming Novice program started with the first workout working up my squat to 105# for 3×5. My bench press worked up to 115# for 3×5. I couldn’t do a single chinup. My press came in at 65# 3×5. And my deadlift started at 1x5x135. When I stopped the PPNP program just shy of 2 months later, I was squatting 220# for 3×5, press 107.5# for 3×5, bench press 170# for 3×5, and deadlifted 240 for 5 reps. So you can see, SS/PPNP, due to the fast and constant linear progression every workout, really leads to fast gains. It’s a great thing for a novice to do.

But my form was sucking… in fact, that squat number wasn’t my last nor my highest during the cycle. 230# was the highest squat I achieved, but my form was terrible. I did reset the squat during the cycle, but things just weren’t working. I think in part because I didn’t get enough time under the bar to squat (odd I know, given how much you’re supposed to squat) and the weights went up quickly, and my form went to crap. It was just beating me up too much.

Wendler switch. I based the “working max” numbers upon what I had been doing on SS/PPNP and adjusted for the continued progression and any other little tweaks I felt I needed. So I started with working maxes of: press 110#, deadlift 265#, bench 180#, and squat 220#. The PR’s I set in my first cycle were: press 105# for 8, deadlift 255# for 5, bench 175# for 10, and squat 210# for 5.

Now 7 cycles later, my working maxes are: press 155#, deadlift 325#, bench press 225#, and squat 270#. In terms of what I’ve actually lifted, it was all this past cycle during the 5/3/1 week and I set new PR’s in every movement: press 150# for 3, deadlift 315# for 3, bench press 215# for 3, and squat 260# for 3. Limited to 3 reps because I’m on the “BBB 3 month challenge”, which really would have me only doing a single, but I want to do at least a triple. 🙂

How much progress did I make? From the perspective of working max values (since it gets hard to compare reps), I went up 45# on my press and bench press, and 60# on my deadlift, and 50# on squat. Not bad for 7 cycles on the 5/3/1 program. Now if we compare just the plain weight PR’s today vs. my first day a year ago? My squat went from 95# to 260#. My bench press from 65# to 215#. Deadlift from 135# to 315#. Hard to compare “overhead pressing” since I started doing 2 20# dumbbells seated to 150# barbell standing, but it’s evident there was massive progress. Plus, whereas before I couldn’t do a chin-up to save my life, now I’m doing 5 sets of 3 reps of bodyweight chins; I still feel like a wuss, but it’s a step along the road to non-wuss-dom.

It’s cool to look back and see the weights that were once PR’s are now initial warm-up weights. 🙂

Other

Yes I feel a little beat up. I feel a little worn. But overall I feel great and I’m looking better. The fat loss is hard because to get big you have to eat big, and I’m still working on sticking to the diet and ONLY the diet. 🙂  But I can tell there’s muscle growth, and I have lost overall weight, I can see some flab has been shed, and I know muscle is growing. So, all is good. The dietary stuff is the hardest part, the most difficult transformation to make.

I don’t take much for supplements. In the morning I’ll take: 2 NOW Adam softgel multivitamin, 3g of fish oil, 2g vitamin C. With my lunch I’ll have 3g of fish oil, 2g vitamin C, and 3 Citrical tablets. Before bed I’ll take ZMA; still experimenting with this, not sure if it makes any huge difference but I do feel like I get more rested and I really enjoy the weird dreams it gives me. I will consume some whey during the day because it’s quick and easy, but if I have time I’ll try to eat down a 10-12oz can of chicken instead. I’d prefer to use whole foods over whey, but sometimes the convenience factor matters. I am weighing my food to ensure I get what I should: not more, not less. I strive for 200-250g of protein a day; strive for 250 but if I get 225 I am not killing myself over it. I don’t monitor fat much, but I try to keep it lean-ish and don’t drink down a tall glass of lard every day. I eat fruit and veggies as much as I can handle. I do my best to cut out grains, but I realized this isn’t totally working for me, that I do need some carb source. This is what I’m playing around with most right now. It’s a matter of finding the right amount I need to take in. I’m getting there.

During the past year I tried a bunch of other “fancy” supplements. Mostly because I could. As a kid I always wanted to try the fancy shit, and now that I can I realize it’s just that: shit. Waste of money. Was good to try, got the curiosity out of my system. Moving on. Frankly the most “magical” supplement has been upping my fish oil intake. I read about how it helps reduce joint inflammation and once I started upping my dose from the massive underdosing on the label? I certainly felt the difference. I then dropped down/off, then back on, played with it to try to confirm it was in fact working, and as far as I can tell it sure is.

Looking Back. Looking Ahead.

I’m very happy with things, and so long as I can keep doing interesting things like the Wendler program, moving iron isn’t so boring any more. I guess it was all “mindless” to me before because there was no challenge; it was just moving iron through the air. But now I think about form, I think about technique, I have to involve my brain a lot because of the mental game. Plus, seeing the constant progression, the proof, the setting of PR’s… that’s so rewarding and keeps motivation high.

I realize I started out with a nebulous “goal”, to exercise, to keep my body from going to pot. That was a nice thought, but there was no real goal… I had no real way to set milestones and measure progress other than feeling good. But when I got to the Rippetoe and Wendler stuff, I was able to have a more focused goal (get strong(er)) and then ways to track and measure that progress, to have milestones, and to stay motivated with it. I think that’s in part why it’s been working well for me.

It’s also a mindset change. I’m no longer working “chest and abs” today. It’s not about working some muscle. It’s about working a movement and working to improve that movement. Focus on the big 4: press, bench press, deadlift, squat. Anything else done is to help make those better. And that there isn’t much else done! It’s not a zillion exercises per workout, it’s just a lot of sets of a few exercises, the stuff that works. It’s about keeping focus, that the work sets matter, and the bicep curls really don’t. It’s about breaking through mental barriers, like my life-long hangup with squatting. I still don’t love squatting, but I’m hating it a little less now. Like Henry Rollins said, “200 pounds is always 200 pounds“.

Of course, there’s a physical payoff in here too. No denying that. I can see some flab has been shed, tho I still have more to go before I’m satisfied. I don’t care to be a ripped bodybuilder or a douchebag showing off my abs, but consider this picture of Jim Wendler; that’d be good, with less tattoos and more hair. 🙂  I do see muscle mass growth, perhaps not as much as I want, but this program is more about strength than size, but size is coming and that’s alright. I always liked John Stone Fitness, not just because of how the guy transformed his body, but because he keeps a good record of his progress and you can see how much growth you can have in a year, in 2 years, and how it takes a number of years before you can have that body like you see in all the sexy commercials. That’s all fine. I’m happy with the progress. I’m happy that my health is good, that I feel better than I have in a long time, and that I’m getting stronger.

What’s ahead? I’ll be staying the course on the Wendler program for the foreseeable future; I see no reason to change to something else, tho I’m sure I’ll change up the specifics slightly (e.g. I’ll finish the “BBB 3 month challenge” then go back to regular BBB). It’s possible by the end of this calendar year I could hit the 1000# club, but I am expecting to have to reset sooner or later and that may throw things off. If I’m over that milestone by this time next year? That’s fine. Or even if I’m not, that’s OK too because, as far as I can see it now, it’s only a question of when I pass the milestone, not if. If I can progress as I am, certainly within a year I’ll get there; only reason I won’t is because something big gets in the way (e.g. injury). And is it that big a deal to hit 1000#? I’d be lying if I said “no it isn’t”, but I’d be stupid to think that’s anything more than another marker along a longer road.

I’ve even had thoughts about competition. Certainly I don’t expect to win anything, but it’s not about winning. It’s about doing. About having the experience. About seeing how far I can push myself, and how disciplined I can make myself to prepare for it. How far can I go? What can I do? And what’s it all like. I am not certain of this, no hard and serious thoughts… but it runs through my head. I don’t think I should bother tho until I can put up some more reasonable numbers and get my form more locked in. I kinda feel like I should be in the 1000# club first. And of course, I’ll need to prep properly for it, probably switching to the “5/3/1 for powerlifting” version. And what sort of competition would I do? A formal federation-sponsored event? A local event (e.g. the Hyde Park Gym’s annual push/pull)? A full event? push-pull? single event?  I don’t know… no promises nor guarantees, but it has crossed my mind a number of times.

It’s been a good year, and I look forward to the year ahead.