Author: hsoi

2012-01-04 workout – Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 5, Press 2

/ hsoi

Improvement, and more experiments.

“Week 2”

  • “3 reps” – Press (working max: 145#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x60
    • 1x5x75
    • 1x3x90
    • 1x3x105 (work)
    • 1x3x115
    • 1x7x130
  • Asst. #1 – Press
    • 4 x 10 x 70
    • 1 x 10/7/5 x 70 (rest-pause set)
    • Performed 1 chin-up after sets 1 and 2, with a slow negative. Set 3’s chin didn’t clear the bar, but still got a negative. Sets 4 and 5 just got a negative.
  • Asst. #2 – Supinated Close-grip Pulldowns
    • 4 x 10 x 130
    • 1 x 10/5/4 x 130 (rest-pause set)
  • GPP – Elliptical
    • Tabata style (20 sec. sprint, 10 sec. walk)
    • 2 minutes “walking”, around 100 strides per minute (warmup)
    • 5 “Tabata reps”, about 200-220 strides per minute

Much to go over.

Pressing. I generally feel strong with this movement and today was no exception. I cranked out 7 reps, which is more than I’ve done before at this weight. Not a pure PR, but most acceptable.

Assistance pressing felt much stronger too, as you can see with the rest-pause set, doing more reps this time around and with less rest. I believe last time I did 15 breaths during the pauses, only did 10 today. I’ll take that.

As I stated before, after each assistance press set I’ll do a chin-up with a nice slow negative. I wasn’t able to hit all sets with a chin, but I did get some. Huzzah! As long as I make progress, I’m happy. Another guy at the gym saw me doing this and mentioned there was a band to assist with chins. He found it for me, but I’m not sure I can use it. The band requires the use of the foot, and I’m too tall to get a full extension (I have to curl my legs behind me in order to do a full dead hang from the bar). I’ll probably play with it some and see if I can make it work. May not try this tho until next cycle.

I didn’t know how much the chins would affect the lat pulldowns, and it didn’t affect much, but towards the end I was hurting a bit more. 🙂 If I keep this routine up, I may try to make larger jumps per cycle (e.g. 10#) and allow my reps to go down to say the 5-8 range to again focus on building up the strength. I really want to be able to do chins with enough sets/reps (e.g. 5×5, then 5×10). I’ll get there. Just have to admit my wussiness and strive to grow stronger (and shed some flab, which is happening too).

As for GPP….

Sprints were killing my knees from the impact. Stationary bike? Just can’t get the resistance. But they recently got some new ellipticals. They’re heavy-duty and they can adjust the incline. Hrm. Could that simulate hill sprints? It was worth a shot. I got on the machine, fiddled with the settings and just picked “12” for an incline and “5” for resistance. I set out on a Tabata set and didn’t get far. My lower thighs and calves were killing me after about rep 5, but I wasn’t that winded. Hrm. Not sure. Plus it felt weird being on the machine. There is zero impact, which isn’t like normal walking around. Plus I felt like I was floating because there just wasn’t the same resistance you feel when you say walk up a hill or stairs. I’m going to keep trying it tho because there’s potential here towards a GPP solution that won’t kill my knees but could still give me a reasonable workout. I am going to first play with the resistance level, then the incline, and also my pace. We’ll see how it goes, I’ll keep fiddling with it.

Didn’t do the Agile 8 today. Had to scoot.

Quick note on diet.

I’m trying to work on simplifying. I’ve toyed around, up and down, this and that, and observed what it’s done to my body. My present approach? 200-250 grams of protein a day. About 100g will come from 2 whey drinks during the day (one as soon as I wake up, the other typically mid-afternoon). The other 100-150g will come via 3 regular meals with the family, about 35-50g per meal. That’ll be about a 6-8oz portion of meat, which isn’t as much as I think it is. I have to retrain my brain to say “no, you don’t need a mountain of meat, just enough”. Fats? I don’t worry about it. I’m not drinking a vat of lard, but I need some fats to work right and I’m just not sweating it much… we’re fairly low fat around here, but if I want to have that 3rd slice of thick-cut bacon I will because overall it doesn’t add up to much in my diet (due to Wife’s cooking). Carbs… fruit, veggies, grains. Strive to have at least 1 serving of fruit a day, whole fruit, not juice. All the cruciferous veggies I can handle; that CSA box from Johnson’s Backyard Garden does wonders here to fill this bill. Grains? breads, rices, beans, etc… In general I’m cutting them out of my diet, but because they are used to feed the rest of the family, and because I still enjoy a good Wife-made cookie, I can have some, just very small portion. Take my one hand, cup it, and it has to fit in that.

And I wonder if it’s already working. I generally float between 235-240# depending on the time of day, less in the morning, more in the evening. The past few weeks I’ve hovered more towards the 240 end of things. Last night I got on the scale before bed and was at 235#. That’s odd. This morning I checked again, and was about 233 or so. Not enough data points, but I still raised an eye brow.

FWIW, supplements are running as follows: the whey (referenced above); 2 NOW Adam men’s multivitamin, the softgel versions; 6g vitamin C, spread over the day; 6g fish oil, spread over the day; 3 Citrical at lunch (for some extra calcium and D3). Any other supps I’m pretty much giving up on because it’s all a waste of money.

Want to win something?

/ hsoi

Want to win a Leupold Tactical Patrol 3-9×40 illuminated TMR reticle scope?

Trust me, it’s a sweet scope. I have it’s brother, the VX-R 3-9×50, and it’s a fantastic scope.

You can win it. Easily.

How?

Submit reviews in the TacticalGunReview.com submission contest!

You’ve got guns, you’ve got gear. You’ve used stuff. You’ve probably had some things that sucked and you wish to tell everyone to avoid. Good or bad, it’s all good and useful information for people. Heck, you probably go and research things on the Internet before you buy, don’t you? Why not contribute to the pool of information out there!

Join in and submit some info. Every submission is a chance to win that scope.

Elephant Repellaphant

/ hsoi

In her usual style, Tam’s commentary nails it:

[The TSA] come out and admit that they haven’t foiled any terrorist plots of which they’re aware, but they “argue that the random nature of the searches and the presence of armed officers serve as a deterrent and bolster public confidence.”

In other words, you don’t see any elephants around here, do you? So the elephant repellant must be working! Also left unexplained is how the public’s confidence is supposed to be bolstered by getting their crotch randomly sniffed by that noted Fourth Amendment legal expert, Fluffy the Uberhund.

The kicker? There are a fair number of people who believe security theater actually works and is doing good at keeping this country and its citizens safe.

The sad part is, those people keep getting elected.

The sadder part is, there are people who keep electing the first group of people.

 

Imagine a world without guns

/ hsoi

Can you imagine what the world would be like if we didn’t have guns?

Utopia, eh?

Some people decided to take a logical look at what would happen if we actually did eliminate guns from the world. Click and give it a read. (h/t CSSA_CILA)

I’m sure there are many that won’t like the conclusion:

To imagine a world with no guns is to imagine a world in which the strong rule the weak, in which women are dominated by men, and in which minorities are easily abused or mass-murdered by majorities. Practically speaking, a firearm is the only weapon that allows a weaker person to defend himself from a larger, stronger group of attackers, and to do so at a distance. As George Orwell observed, a weapon like a rifle “gives claws to the weak.”

The failure of imagination among people who yearn for a gun-free world is their naive assumption that getting rid of claws will get rid of the desire to dominate and kill. They fail to acknowledge the undeniable fact that when the weak are deprived of claws (or firearms), the strong will have access to other weapons, including sheer muscle power. A gun-free world would be much more dangerous for women, and much safer for brutes and tyrants.

Indeed. Removing inanimate objects from the world doesn’t cause the world to get better (or to get worse). We have to remember that all the “evils” in this world are backed by people. As well, all the “good” in this world is also backed by people. When solving a problem, it’s generally not productive to address symptoms, but to instead go after the root cause. So, we should be looking at people.

Instead of imagining a world without a particular technology, what about imagining a world in which the human heart grows gentler, and people treat each other decently? This is part of the vision of many of the world’s great religions. Although we have a long way to go, there is no denying that hundreds of millions of lives have changed for the better because people came to believe what these religions teach.

If a truly peaceful world is attainable — or, even if unattainable, worth striving for — there is nothing to be gained from the futile attempt to eliminate all guns. A more worthwhile result can flow from the changing of human hearts, one soul at a time.

8 tips to improve your bench press

/ hsoi

A great article over at T-Nation on how to improve your bench press.

  • He gets his entire body super tight to create a stable platform.
  • He uses his lats to pull the bar out of the rack to make sure his shoulders are in good position.
  • He pushes his belly up and drives his shoulders into the bench and imagines that he’s moving his body to the bar.
  • As he tucks his elbows and lowers the weight, he tries to bend the bar and pull it apart.
  • He keeps a tight arch and his back tight the entire set.
  • His triceps are thick and strong, allowing for a strong, smooth, lockout.
  • His upper back and lats are thick, allowing for a more stable press.
  • He uses leg drive to start the lift after the press call and keeps his glutes tight throughout the set.

Go read the article for full details as well as useful videos to help explain the concepts.

2012-01-02 workout – Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 5, Squat 1

/ hsoi

I like the new squat routine, but it will need some adjustment

“Week 1”

  • “5 reps” – Squat (working max: 250#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x100
    • 1x5x125
    • 1x3x150
    • 1x5x165 (work)
    • 1x5x190
    • 1x6x215
  • Asst. #1 – Leg Press
    • 5 x 10 x 225
  • Asst. #2 – Leg Curls
    • 5 x 10 x 70
  • GPP – Stationary Bike
    • Tabata style – 20 sec. fast (85-ish RPM), 10 sec. slow (60-ish RPM)
    • 2 minutes slow (warmup)
    • 8 “reps” (8 reps is one Tabata set)
    • 2 minutes slow (cooldown)
  • DeFranco Agile 8

I’m seriously wanting to improve my squat. So the change up is to try leg press as an assistance exercise. This layout is right out of Wendler’s “triumvirate” template. We’ll see if it helps boost my squat — I hope so. If not, I’ll reassess the weak points and go from there.

Squat itself was good. Mentally I was nowhere, which was good. No focusing on success or possible failure, just a clear head and moving the weight. Last cycle I did 5 reps so I figured if today I got at least 6 I’d be happy. I got 6 and 7 seemed like it would have been a struggle so I left it in the tank. I wish I did get 7 or 8, but I’ll take what I can in my progress.

On leg press, I think the last time I leg pressed was in high school. I had no idea how much weight I could move, but I knew it wouldn’t be like the guys I see that put a zillion plates on the thing and move it just a few inches. I’m doing this to help my squat, so I want to mimic that as much as I can. Foot position and angle is the same, get as full range of motion as possible going to “parallel” with my thighs and so on. I do think my feet were a little low on the platform, heels almost at the bottom edge of the platform; there’s a big circle in the middle of the platform mat for a logo and next time I’ll try putting the back edge of my heels inline with the bottom edge of that circle. Push it all the way through. 225 seemed like a reasonable place to start, and my thighs were sure asking me “what the hell are you doing?” afterwards. I think next time I’ll go to 275 and see how that goes.

Curls are fine, tho I may also bump that to 75 since I’m not getting as much hamstring work with assistance 1 now being leg press instead of more squats.

As for the GPP. Today I started at “resistance 7” and while doing the warmup just jacked it up to 10 (no, this one doesn’t go to 11). In the original Tabata study they worked at a rate of 85 RPM (don’t know what the “resting” rate was) so I thought to try that: full resistance that the machine can do, 85-ish during the work part, and 60-ish during the rest/warmup/cooldown part. It didn’t feel like much of anything, even after all that leg work I did. Hrm. Part of me thinks I should do then at least 2 Tabata sets, but that seems counterproductive. So I’m not sure what I’m going to do. One thought is to try another model of bike at the gym in case that can do more resistance. However, the gym owner just bought some new treadmills and elliptical machines. The elliptical’s intrigue me because they are high-end models, they can simulate some rather steep inclines. Makes me wonder if I could simulate hill sprints! So I may give that a whirl and see how it goes.

Need a New Year Resolution? Do more dry fire!

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

‘Tis the season for making commitments to do things better than we did last year.

How much did you dry fire? Probably not as much as you should have. I know I didn’t do it as much as I should have.

We all prefer to do live fire, but live fire only takes you so far. Plus, live fire is costly in both time, resources (e.g. ammo), and money (range costs, gas to get there). Dry fire costs you little more than a few minutes of your time. And yes, it really doesn’t have to take long. The key is to not dry fire for lengthy sessions but for frequent sessions. It’s better to dry fire 10 minutes every day than it is to dry fire for 1 hour once a week. Your skills will be fresher in your mind and body.

The trouble can be, what to practice? Or, how to keep practice interesting.

ToddG has a nice dry practice routine, from both a basic routine to something more comprehensive over the course of a month.

Rangemaster has some fun dry fire targets running in Flash that can add a little variety.

Rangemaster’s October 2009 newsletter (on page 3) also has a good dry routine more oriented towards defensive pistol skills. I have that printed out and is one of the routines I frequently run.

Software solutions, such as the DR Performance Practice Deck for iOS (which I wrote) can be another useful tool for helping you with ideas about what to practice today.

The key factor is to look at what you need work on and focus on it. Don’t just practice what you like, practice what you need to improve on. And by keeping the sessions short but frequent, it can help stave off boredom.

Don’t forget to practice other things too. Do you sometimes have to carry in an alternative method? Has the weather changed and now with more or less clothing on affected how you have to draw? Do you use different guns at different times? do you have a backup gun? Don’t forget these things.

I’m not sure how successful I’ll be, but I’d like to dry practice 6-7 days a week (I’ll allow myself 1 day off because I’ll either want the break or may just miss due to life circumstances). I’d want the majority of that practice to be with my carry gun. But at least 1-2 days should be sure to practice other things. For instance, with my snub and transitioning to it from my primary; with the home defense shotgun; with the home defense AR. Keep it short, keep it sweet and to the point. But just be sure to do it.

 

2011-12-30 workout – Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 5, Bench Press 1

/ hsoi

The experimentation continues, and I need to make some changes.

“Week 1”

  • 5 reps – Bench Press (working max: 215#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x85
    • 1x5x110
    • 1x3x130
    • 1x5x140 (work)
    • 1x5x165
    • 1x10x185
  • Asst. #1 – Bench Press
    • 5 x 10 x 125
  • Asst. #2 – 1-Arm Dumbbell Rows
    • 5 x 10 x 55
  • Grip/Forearms – Reverse EZ Bar Curls
    • 2 x 5 x 40
    • 1 x 12/7/6 x 50 (rest-pause)
  • GPP – Stationary Bike
    • Tabata style – 20 sec. fast (100-120 RPM), 10 sec. slow (60-80 RPM)
    • 2 minutes, slow (warmup)
    • 1 Tabata “set”
    • 2 minutes, slow (cooldown)
  • DeFranco Agile 8

Bench went alright. I looked at past performance, figured 10 reps with 185 would make me happy. Cranked out 10. Happy.

I’m still having some stability issues with my legs and heavier weights (you just don’t notice it when the weight is light). But during the 165 set I hit a sweet spot. The legs were rock solid, pushing, I was up on my traps, good back arch — it seemed to be everything that I was supposed to do! I need to find that sweet spot again. Next bench session I may focus on trying to find the spot and be systematic about it. Plus, I may even do things like unrack the bar, if it feels wrong, re-rack it and reposition and try again. I need to find that sweet spot again.

On the curls. The bar is apparently 18#, so I’ll use 20 for easy of math. I had no idea how many I could do so I just put a dime on each side and went with it. One key factor here is that I’m not trying to move weight, I’m trying to focus on the brachioradialis. I’m trying to only move the weight through flexing the brachioradialis, nothing else. I do think I can go to 45 total next time, and/or do 3×10 with the last rest-pause. But on the same token, I just didn’t feel like today was the right day to do it. The day I get the most forearm work is deadlift day, between deadlifts, the hanging hip-leg raise, and then I add in the grippers. So I think I’m going to move these to that day as well. It may wind up being too much work, but this is all part of the experimentation. At least, I think I’ll get more benefit if I do it then than trying to do it today.

I gave the bike another shot too. This time I put the resistance on “5” (settings 1-10, 10 the hardest; did 3 last time). I think that will be a good setting to stick with for a little while, until my body adapts. When I got to “rep 4” I started to think that I wouldn’t want to finish. Rep 6 and I had to convince myself to finish. Rep 7 and I knew I’d hate myself if I stopped now with only 1 more to go. After 8 and then the cooldown? Geez… had a hard time getting off the bike. I think this is a good place for me to start. I didn’t want to puke afterwards, but I sure felt worked. But I know I’ve got a long way to go to really make the intensity what it needs to be. Still, this is a good start, and my knees are happier.