Author: hsoi

2017-05-12 training log

/ hsoi

Ending deload week. So far, so good.

I mean, it’s deload, so there’s nothing really to note. My arm pain still lingers, but I do think the week off was worth it because it does feel better, just not totally gone. It’s just managing it at this point.

I have been thinking about how to make the next (and future) cycles go. It’s a combination of managing the arm pain, influences of the new “5/3/1 Forever” book, and just what’s best and right for me to achieve my goals. I think I’ll be generally staying the course, but I suspect I’ll adjust a few things before Monday.

  • Press
    • bar x whatever
    • 75 x 5
    • 75 x 5
    • 90 x 5
    • 90 x 5
    • 110 x 5
    • 110 x 5
  • Lat Pulldowns (pronated grip, to chest)
    • 115 x 12
    • 125 x 12
    • 135 x 12
  • Front Plate Raises (all the way above head)
    • 25 x 15
    • 25 x 15
  • Skullcrushers
    • 70 x 12
    • 70 x 12
  • Hammer Curl
    • 45e x 10
    • 45e x 10

Unarmed does not equal Harmless

/ hsoi

Next time someone starts to equate “unarmed” with “not dangerous”, tell them about Louis Campos.

[Louie] Campos and his younger brother were in line for the Vanguard, a bar on Fremont Street [in Las Vegas], when they were approached by two men around 1:34 a.m.

“One of them said, ‘What are you looking at?’ or ‘Do you have a problem?’ I can’t remember what his exact wording was, and then he struck my brother,” Drake Garibay said.

[…]
The punch was so severe it knocked Campos out and caused brain bleeding. Paramedics rushed him to the hospital, but he never regained consciousness and died Thursday.

“He got robbed of his life, murdered. And the whole thing is we need to get this out there to find him so justice can be served,” mother Joyce Garibay said.

Full story (h/t Marty Hayes)

People have this mistaken belief that just because someone is “unarmed” it equates to “not dangerous” or “unable to inflict harm”.

There are countless incidents that tell otherwise. Louie Campos is unfortunately the latest.

Unarmed ≠ Harmless

2017-05-09 training log

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Today was a worthwhile experiment.

With my arm pain, I’m looking for a way to manage and reduce/eliminate the pain, but still keep lifting (if possible). For sure, flat benching is the worst as it directly causes pain to increase, but interestingly (overhead) pressing doesn’t have a problem. So going with that, I wondered how incline pressing might work for me. I can train it with the same progression and work as flat benching. It’s not quite the same, but there is fair carryover to flat benching. If a few cycles of incline pressing can help me continue work but also improve my pain issues, great. Let’s try it.

While this week is a deload, it’s also a fair opportunity to try to figure out a training max for incline pressing, so that’s what I did. A light warm-up, then just singles on the way up. Nothing big. I got to 225 and I could feel things starting to break down. I know I could have gone 235, and more (like 240-245) was a maybe; but there’s no real need because “starting too light” is the way to go and using 225 to calc the training levels is just fine (I’ll use a TM of 200).

In terms of pain, it wasn’t pain-free, but it wasn’t bad. I’ve been having a dull ache on and off every day, and while I felt a slight increase towards the last 2 sets, it was no where near as bad as it was last week flat benching.

So will inclines work for me? I don’t know. Best I can say was today gave me enough information to continue exploration because it’s possible it will work. It’s not a flat out “no” (I’ve had times when an experiment ended quickly because it was immediately obvious; this was far from that), but I need more information to know for sure. So, I’ll go ahead and program inclines for the upcoming cycle and I’ll see how it goes. It may work, it may not. If it does, great. If it doesn’t, I’ll have some additional data and will find something else.

As for programming it, I’ll likely stick with the Carter 5/4/3/2/1/1 style workup. As for additional work, I’ll likely either do the pyramid down sets OR I might just take a FSL with like 1 AMRAP then 1 50% set. I don’t know for sure; will see how the sessions go.

One thing about inclines is they don’t really work the sternal head of the pectoralis. So to manage that, I am thinking after inclines to add in something like flies. A little work there. But I don’t know. I may throw in pushups or dips instead. Again, it’ll come down to how things feel.

As for the rest of the session today, it’s deload. Nothing really to say. Only thing is swapping in Seated French Press. I want to try that for triceps work, so I tried it today just to see if my arms and shoulders wouldn’t complain. All feels good here, just will start light and work up.

  • Incline Bench Press
    • bar x whatever
    • 95 x 5
    • 135 x 5
    • 155 x 3
    • 175 x 1
    • 195 x 1
    • 225 x 1
  • Cable Rows
    • 105 x 12
    • 115 x 12
    • 125 x 12
  • DB Upright Row
    • 35e x 12
    • 35e x 12
  • Seated French Press
    • 45 x 12
    • 55 x 12
  • Reverse EZ Bar Curl
    • 55 x 12
    • 55 x 12

2017-05-08 training log

/ hsoi

Taking a deload week, not because I want to but because I need it. Trying to manage my arm pain issues.

The funny part is tomorrow when I bench, I’m actually going to try incline benching to see how the pain comes out there. Since pressing (i.e. vertical pressing, vs. the horizontal pressing of flat bench) doesn’t seem to cause me issues, I figure it’s worth exploring to see what inclines might do for me. Could it be a way to keep pressing, still have flat-bench carryover, yet not make my problems worse?

TBD

  • Squats
    • bar x whatever
    • 140 x 5
    • 140 x 5
    • 175 x 5
    • 175 x 5
    • 210 x 5
    • 210 x 5
  • Pause Squat
    • 230 x 3
    • 230 x 3
  • Split Squats
    • BW x 10e
    • BW x 10e
  • Leg Extensions
    • 55 x 10
    • 55 x 10
  • Twisting Crunches
    • BW x 10
    • BW x 10

Finally found a solution for carrying a tourniquet!

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

It’s difficult to argue against carrying a tourniquet with you every day. But for sure, to carry one isn’t the easiest thing as good tourniquets (read: SOFTT-W or C-A-T) are bulky; the windlass is inescapable and forces particular constraints and realities.

Over the years I’ve tried numerous solutions and they just have not worked FOR ME. I want to stress the FOR ME part. There are solutions out there that work for TQ EDC, like my buddy Caleb Causey of Lone Star Medics uses an ankle wrap. But in the summer I like shorts and sandals, and in the winter I like boots – none of these are conducive to an ankle wrap. So solutions here are very much a “for me” situation.

About a year ago I picked up a PHLstr Flatpack Tourniquet Carrier as it looked to have potential as a solution. You can click through to read my impressions at the time, but the bottom line was simple: nice solution, but didn’t work FOR ME. The quest continued.

But some months ago it dawned on me: I don’t need a carrier, I already have one in my cargo pants pockets. I had tried it in the past but the bulk factor was a problem. The game changer? Flat-packing.

Here’s a video explaining how to flat-pack a SOFTT-W:

Genius.

I started by NOT using any sort of carrier/restraint at all, just sticking it into my pocket. The cargos I tend to wear have some inner pockets and the TQ fit perfectly. Huzzah! I’ve been able to carry a TQ on my person everywhere I go, without much problem nor notice.

Of course, an unrestrained TQ was a bit a problem because it would come unfolded. I was using a rubber-band, but Caleb cured me of that (good luck trying to apply that one-handed). So how to solve this? The problem has been with me.

The PHLster Flatpack Carrier. 🙂

I removed the belt loops from the carrier. It’s now just the backing and the shock-cord. Since the backing is cut to precisely the same size as the flatpacked TQ, no real footprint issues. It still fits in my cargo pockets like a charm. It’s bound so it doesn’t become a mess, and it’s able to be deployed quickly.

Finally.

2017-05-05 training log

/ hsoi

I’ll chalk up today as a good day. 3-rep PR at 175#.

The arms haven’t been feeling 100% so I did modify today: just press, no superset; do the lat work after; don’t bother with supplemental work. It helped a bit, but for sure I’m going to take next week as a deload to get some rest. I do want to work some, but just proper light deloading.

Pressing went well overall. Worked up to 175×3 which is a 3-rep PR. Things felt strong and good.

Pulldowns were then modified to be faster; basically only 1-minute rest between sets, so I didn’t have to do as much nor go as heavy.

Dumped the pushups and shrugs, just to reduce the load. I’ve actually been wondering about this, that I might up the “after top set work” (e.g. do FSL for 5×5 instead) and just leave it at that for the additional supplemental work. We’ll see, as I have some time to think about how I need to adjust stuff to help manage my arms.

Then everything else just was assistance work, no big deal.

So, things are progressing generally well. This is technically the end of the 5th cycle, and while progress is slowly as expected, it’s still moving along decently enough that I reckon I should get at least 2 more cycles out before a need to reset, and hopefully more.

  • Press
    • bar x whatever
    • 75 x 5
    • 90 x 5
    • 110 x 3
    • 140 x 5
    • 155 x 3
    • 175 x 3 (3 rep PR)
    • 155 x 6
    • 140 x 9
  • Lat Pulldowns (pronated grip, to chest)
    • 115 x 12
    • 125 x 12
    • 135 x 12
    • 135 x 12
    • 135 x 10
  • Front Plate Raises (all the way above head)
    • 25 x 35
    • 25 x 20
    • 25 x 12
  • Skullcrushers
    • 70 x 12
    • 70 x 12
    • 70 x 12
  • Hammer Curl
    • 45e x 10
    • 45e x 10
    • 45e x 7

2017-05-04

/ hsoi

I’ll chalk up today as a +10% day.

Last night I looked over things and set a goal of 3-4 reps. I hit 5 reps at 410#, which is a great rep PR; in fact, I felt like I could do at least 1 more (and still have some in the tank). However, I shut things down because arms.

All in all, it was a good day. The legs felt a little stiff at the start, but things got better as work went along. And the top set felt really solid. I hit my goal and felt so good I kept going.

The only thing that didn’t feel good was my arms. Normally deadlifting isn’t a problem, but things are irritated enough and I guess from gripping, the obvious tension in the arms, and then the impact when the weights hit the floor (the vibration up the arms) and yeah, it wasn’t too happy. Not horrible, but irritated nonetheless.

I’m starting to think about taking next week as an active deload. We’ll see how pressing goes tomorrow.

  • Deadlift
    • 170 x 5
    • 215 x 5
    • 260 x 3
    • 325 x 5
    • 365 x 3
    • 410 x 5 (5 rep PR)
    • 365 x 5
    • 325 x 8
  • Hyperextensions
    • BW x 15
    • BW x 15
    • BW x 15
    • BW x 15
  • Leg Curls
    • 45 x 12
    • 45 x 12
    • 45 x 12
  • Crunches
    • BW x 20
    • BW x 12

ProArms Podcast – Episode 099 – John Daub

/ hsoi

In early April 2017, Massad Ayoob came to KR Training to teach his MAG-40 class.

Mas had asked me if I would be willing to speak to the class about my January 2015 incident. Gail Peppin asked me if I would be willing to be interviewed for The ProArms Podcast. Of course I was happy to do both. In the end, we settled on Gail recording my talk to the class, as the podcast content.

Episode 099 of The ProArms Podcast contains my talk to the class.

photo credit: Gail Peppin

I want to reiterate why I share this story.

First, in a way it helps me cope and deal with the incident. It’s a part of my life history, I will never escape it, so I own it. Sometimes when I talk about the incident, because of listener reactions or questions I find something new or different to think about. It helps me deepen my perspective on the event, on myself.

Second, and more importantly, I share it because I want something good to come from this incident. It is a tragic incident, and I hope through sharing my experience somehow good can come from it. Since the day of the incident, I’ve maintained this stance, and will always proceed with this goal. When I made my first public comment about the story I said:

I never wanted such a thing to happen, but it did and I can’t undo it – my actions, the actions of the others involved that lead up to and enabled this situation to happen. The best I can do is try to find something positive from it. To try to find some way to make the world better from it. One hope is that it brought the problems with the group home into the public eye; perhaps the lives of others will be improved because of this event, if it means bringing better protections, better oversight, better living conditions. Time will tell. But I will not sit by and just let time pass; I fully intend to be active in making good come from this event.

Sharing my story is part of my effort to make good come from this event.

And if this is your first time hearing this story then I ask you – and if this is not the first time, I ask you again – please pray for the repose of the soul of Jared James, and please pray for his family, that they will be able to find peace.

Thank you.

2017-05-02 training log

/ hsoi

Yeah, I’m going to have to find some alternative to bench pressing.

Because of my continuing battle with my arm pain, I’ve been making modifications to my benching sessions. So far I’ve been using the 5/3/1 progression, but a Paul Carter-inspired 5/4/3/2/1/1+ rep scheme. The intention is to still get in some work, still work up to that top set, and still try for a rep PR, but keeping volume and stress on my arms low. The other change today was NOT supersetting in the back work. But I’m not sure that matters much.

Rowing and such doesn’t really bother things, but for sure it adds something if I superset. So I do think it was a reasonable thing. Despite that, the arm pain was stupid today. Mild ache as I warmed up. After the 225 set, things were hurting, and after the 250 I started to pack up to go home. The pain was bad. From last go-round, posture was a problem and contributed to shoulder and upper back issues, and while I didn’t feel any direct issues there, my understanding is such issues can radiate down the arm and manifest itself in biceps pain. So when I had that body work done it helped a lot, but since that time I have backslid on posture while I work. I have to get better about that, and am back on the wagon. I’m also working to make daily use of my Spud Inc Bowtie to see what it can do to help me out. I’ll also be rolling a lacrosse ball on my arms during meetings and such.

That said, 250×4 is a 4 rep PR, and all things considered I’m really happy with it. I actually felt like I could do 1-2 more, but given the arm issues I just racked it. I focused on crush-grip of the bar, and how that helped my whole body get tight — really makes a huge difference. Also wore wrist wraps, which I think helps but of course if I’m having problems it can’t stop the problems.

So, nice PR, but I’m going to have to make more changes. But first, rest of session.

I was feeling so bad I started to pack up. But after a few minutes the pain subsided enough that I opted to try to see what else I could do. I didn’t do any more benching (no down sets, no DB bench). And I didn’t want to do too much either. So I just tried some DB rows (Kroc-style) to see and that felt ok, so I kept going. Then I did the rest of what I normally would do, just reduced sets and reps. Get SOME work, just not much and nothing too stressful.

As for how to change up, I don’t know. My first thought? Move to incline benching. Thing is, it seems only flat benching is causing this problem. I press and I don’t notice issues. So, could incline benching work out ok? I don’t know. My feeling? this next cycle go ahead and find out. Work up to some sort of a max, which doesn’t necessarily have to be a 1RM; I could do a 3RM or 5RM and use formulas to estimate 1RM. From there, just progress as normal. I might also change my supplemental lift from DB bench; it just depends. I want to see how incline might go, because if that works out great, sticking with 3×10 of flat DB bench could be just fine.

Anyways, I have to get this under control.

  • Bench Press
    • bar x whatever
    • 105 x 5
    • 130 x 4
    • 160 x 3
    • 200 x 2
    • 225 x 1
    • 250 x 4 (4 rep PR)
  • Kroc Row
    • 50 x 10e
    • 50 x 10e
    • 50 x 20e
  • DB Upright Row
    • 35e x 12
    • 35e x 12
  • Pressdowns
    • 60 x 12
    • 60 x 12
  • Reverse EZ Bar Curl
    • 55 x 12
    • 55 x 12