Author: hsoi

The Will to Survive

/ hsoi

Greg Ellifritz writes up what he took from a lecture:

… by retired police Lieutenant Brian Murphy. Lt. Murphy [who] was the first officer on the scene of the Sikh temple active killer massacre in Wisconsin back in 2012. Lt. Murphy was shot FIFTEEN TIMES in the incident. He survived and created a lecture to share the lessons he learned during the challenging event.

While this comes from the context of law enforcement, this lecture contains vital lessons FOR EVERYONE. If you’re in law enforcement, certainly there are important lessons to take home and put into practice. If you are a private citizen, carry a gun, understand and take responsibility for your life and the lives of others (e.g. your family), there are important lessons here. And if you are a private citizen that hasn’t thought much about their own safety, other than perhaps that the police will save you, there are important lessons here as well.

For law enforcement, I’ll let Greg’s words stand for themselves. He’s a cop, I’m not. He can speak better to this end.

For private citizens that take responsibility for their own safety, especially if they carry a gun. I’ll just list a few points:

  • Even if you’re highly trained, you’re still human and shit still goes wrong.
  • There are no promises nor guarantees, and your fight is unlikely to proceed like your fantasies.
  • Knowing the two above points, you can and should plan, educate, and train accordingly. As well, be humble.
  • Greg’s point #7 – What’s important now – is a vital concept to adopt.
  • Greg’s point #8 — Survivors manage pain well. I think about the pain I was in at the gym this morning. I knew there’d be even more pain to proceed squatting 300# with the same crush-grip, but I did it anyways and pushed through. This isn’t to boast or show how manly I am, but for sure enduring hard times, pain, and agony in other areas of my life have helped me deal with pain in other areas of my life. Being strong (in all senses of the word) is useful.

And for those who haven’t thought much about their own personal safety and perhaps only count on the police and luck to keep them safe, a few points:

  • “In total, it took an extremely competent officer 33 seconds to deploy and fire his rifle. During that entire time period, the killer was firing more bullets into Murphy.” Thirty-three seconds is a very long time, and it’s a miracle Lt. Murphy survived.
  • “The killer in this incident shot two people outside the church and then went inside to shoot several more. While he was shooting people inside the church, several victims called 911. Lt. Murphy was closest to the location and arrived first. He saw two lifeless bodies on the front sidewalk, but he did not see the shooter” Lt. Murphy was the closest officer and fastest to arrive, yet many people still died – because it takes time for the problem to start, for people to recognize it, for people to gain the wherewithal to call 911, to relay the message, for the dispatcher to put out the call, for officers to respond and start to travel, then to arrive, then to be able to assess the scene and determine what to do, then start to do something about it. This all takes time. Precious time.
  • “For what it’s worth, the officers responding to this incident were better trained and equipped than 99% of police officers in the USA. They still made some very serious errors. Lt. Murphy was nearly killed. That happened to the best of the best. If you are working in a department that has no training and poor equipment, why do you think you would perform better?” While Greg’s comment is towards fellow LEO, think about that for a moment people – people have this (mis)conception that police are highly trained, elite fighting squads. The horrible reality is, they aren’t. Even if they are, there’s no guarantee the event will resolve like a Hollywood hero.

But for me, the biggest thing from this?

Lt. Murphy survived.

He didn’t give up.

He fought.

He lived.

2016-10-24 training log

/ hsoi

300 – a very painful 300!

Today was cool, but hurt a lot.

Squatting 300 itself wasn’t painful; in fact, I’m really stoked about it. Again, I lost a lot of strength during my massive weight loss, especially in my squat. So to finally get back to 300 means a lot to me. No it’s not a lot of weight in the grand scheme (I don’t think I’ll really be happy until I’m squatting at least 2x bodyweight, so I have to get into the 400’s…), but it’s a good milestone towards regaining what I had lost. Plus, with my lifetime PR at 325, I’m only 25# away.

What was also nice was hitting it for 4 reps. I knew last week that I’d have no problem hitting 300, and I wanted at least 2 hopefully 3. When I came up after 3 I knew there wasn’t a lot left but I felt good about hitting a 4th and went for it. I could have gotten a 5th if not for the massive pain… so I did good enough and opted to rack it. I’m still very happy with 4 reps at 300. Things are well on track, and I’m happy.

What was painful?

My elbows.

This is not the first time this has happened to me. It’s pretty simple. I crush-grip the bar because that does help me with tightness throughout my body. But when I do that, it starts to put my arms and elbows in particular positions. One thing is that my hands are perpendicular to the bar, but then my wrists have to cant in an odd way because my forearms are not perpendicular to the bar, nor can they be. I’d love my hands to be way out touching the collars, but the way the rack at the gym is, I just can’t so I am forced into a somewhat narrower grip (but as wide as I can make it). And so eventually all this stress goes onto my arms.

It’s precisely what Paul Carter talks about in this video:

I referenced the video after the 235 set to refresh my memory (again, this isn’t new to me). On the 270 set I did an “eagle claw” grip (pinky under the bar). That helped because it puts my hands/wrists/arms at a more natural angle, plus I can’t crush-grip the bar – so it helps with everything Paul discusses. But I just could not do it for the 300 set because you don’t go making big changes like that when you’re about to do something big. I knew the pain in my arms would be horrible, and it was. I mean, I could not “curl” my arms (well, I could, but the pain was intense). Even sitting there afterwards, doing nothing in particular, the pain was excruciating. There was no way I could deadlift – couldn’t grab the bar. Yes, that bad. I did my other assistance work and called it.

Why is this happening again? Not 100% sure, but bottom line is I suspect I will have to exclusively go with eagle-claw type grips from now on. I really don’t like it, which is why I haven’t stuck with it in the past, but I don’t think I have a choice now. This level of pressure, inflammation, etc. I just don’t need.

I’m glad next week is a deload – I’ll have some time to work on it.

And don’t worry. This isn’t horrible – yet. 🙂 I know some friends will read this and express concern, and I do appreciate it. But know that I’ll manage it just fine. Nothing to see a doctor about yet. I’ll rest, change technique, and go from there.

Anyways, so despite the pain, it was a good day. I’m very happy about hitting 300. I am confident of my ability to set a new all-time PR by the end of the year.

My own massing template, based upon 5/3/1 SST and some Paul Carter principles

  • Squats
    • bar x whatever
    • 125 x 5
    • 160 x 5
    • 190 x 3
    • 235 x 5
    • 270 x 3
    • 300 x 4 (4RM PR)
  • Leg Curls
    • 40 x 12
    • 40 x 12
    • 40 x 12
    • 40 x 12
  • Hyperextensions
    • BW x 15
    • BW x 15
    • BW x 13
    • BW x 12
  • Crunches
    • BW x 15
    • BW x 15
    • BW x 14
    • BW x 10
  • Standing Calf Raises
    • 65 x 12
    • 65 x 12
    • 65 x 12
    • 65 x 12

Do you want to improve?

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

A few weeks ago there was some hoopla around the use of timers. Two of the articles involved in the mix were Tom Givens’ article on “Metrics vs. Mediocrity” and Grant Cunningham’s on “Meaningless Increments of precision – and why you should avoid them”. There were other statements, especially in comment threads. People took sides, lots of defense of “my chosen doctrine” ensued, and in the end I’m not sure anything useful was accomplished.

From where I sit, I think there’s validity in all raised points.

Progress?

The first premise we must agree upon is a desire to progress, to improve, to get better. If you don’t care about making progress, then there’s no further discussion. But if you do want to get better, the next thing you have to do is answer the question: what is “better”?

In determining “what is better?”, we must have some scale by which to determime if something is better or worse than something else. This scale depends upon the context. For example, I could determine if I’m getting better at my job because I’m getting promotions, I’m earning more money, I can perform the tasks of my job in less time. I can determine if I’m losing weight because I step on the scale and see a decrease in my weight. I can tell I’m getting stronger because there’s more weight on the bar when I bench press.

In the context of shooting, how can I determine if I’m better than before? First we must identify the qualities of “better shooter”. I think most can agree upon two qualities: speed and accuracy. If you can shoot faster and more accurate, that’s better.

How can we measure accuracy? The use of a good target. Are you “hitting the bullseye”? Are you keeping all your shots within a 6″ circle? a 4″ circle? 3″? A B-27 is not a good target, but it is better than just plinking into a pond. Even a 6″ paper plate can make for a reasonable target. It often comes down to context (more on that below).

How can we measure speed? You could do it by feel, but I’m not sure that’s very accurate or quantifiable. You could “race” against someone else, and while a little better than guessing, it’s still not a stable metric. So what are we left with? A stopwatch or shot timer. Sorry, but there’s no escaping that measuring the amount of time involved matters, because whether you’re playing a game (IPSC, IDPA) or in the context of self-defense, time matters – and getting things done faster helps you win.

But I think there’s more to it than simple targets and timers.

You need some sort of standard of measurement. This is simply a way to ensure you make apples-to-apples comparisons over time. In this context, it would be something like settling on a course of fire such as the “3 Seconds or Less” test or maybe the Rangemaster Core Skills or El Presidente – something that is well-established in terms of the course of fire and thus repeatable, and that measures both speed and accuracy. Then when you track your progress over time, you can see if you are making progress or not. Are you achieving a higher score? Better times?

But how to choose a standard of measurement? And how to know if your progress is meaningful? You need a goal.

This goal could be a specific one (shooting 2″ groups at 15 yards, or a 2 second Bill Drill), or it could be just a general guiding principle. By this I mean, maybe you are trying to get better for competition, or maybe you’re trying to get better for self-defense. It is important to have some sort of guide to help you know what road to go down, and how to value and utilize your metrics. It’s good to collect data, but you need something through which to interpret that data to make it meaningful.

For example, let’s say you have a 1.7 second concealment draw (full carry gear, IWB holster, normal clothing, etc.). In the grand scheme, 1.7 seconds is pretty good. However, many would agree that 1.5 seconds is a better number. Should you chase this 0.2 second improvement? I would say it depends upon your goal. Let’s say you also have a 4.0 second reload; that’s pretty slow. Knowing this, and given you have a finite amount of time and energy to devote to skill improvement, where should you spend your time? One could argue if you were working on improving your shooting in the context of IDPA, getting your reload to 3.0 or even 2.5 seconds would do more to improve your IDPA performance (score) than trying to get that 0.2 seconds on your draw, given the way the game is played and scored. However, if your context was self-defense – a context where reloads almost never happen, but a fast and accurate draw-to-first-shot is critical – it could be argued getting that 1.5 second (or maybe even a 1.25 second) concealment draw could be a much better use of your time.

Metrics Matter

I cannot abide with the “no timer” crowd, nor do I think metrics are meaningless. However, what we must do is use our metrics to guide our focus. If you’ve got a 1.5 second concealment draw, 0.2 second splits, 1.7 second reload, and other such “good” performance, I see nothing wrong with trying to get a 1.3 second, 0.15 second, and 1.4 seconds on those same skills – when has “being faster” and “being more accurate” been a bad thing? And we can only know if we’re getting better in these things through measuring them.

However, we could also take a step back and realize that perhaps we are “good enough” in these areas and it may be time to focus our energies in other areas. The data may show that we should focus on a particular skill (e.g. weak-handed shooting, reloads). Or maybe the general gun skills are good enough, so instead of spending more money on ammo and gun classes, spending that same time and money taking a force-on-force class, or a tactics class. How are your empty-hand skills? Or how about a medical class or a defensive driving class! If you’re a gamer, a class on stage planning and match performance.

But the only way to know for sure is to measure, and to measure with goals to provide guidance. And no, we can’t measure everything via methods as cut-and-dry as a target and timer, but we do need to be honest and as objective as possible in our self-assessments to ensure we actually are getting better (things like timers and targets just force us to be honest and have no delusions).

We have to look at the complete picture. Metrics are good, but they are just a means to the end. We need our goals to guide us. This is how we improve.

2016-10-21 training log

/ hsoi

Didn’t start out great, but ended better than expected.

Again, because of being sick earlier this week, I’m making up for it by doing deadlift & press today – just the main movements (and pulldowns superset with the pressing sets). Get the work in, and set myself set up for next week’s “1+ week”. Today wasn’t about killing myself, but rather ensuring I’m on track to kick ass next week.

Deadlifting went ok. Once again I used hook grip on all sets so I could continue to adapt to it. It wasn’t novel this time, and my thumbs didn’t feel as bad. However on my last set the irony was I lost my grip and had to stop at 6 reps. I’m not totally sure why, but it doesn’t feel like I actually get a good grip on the bar — no “squeeze”, just the hook hang. Hrm. Something to continue working on. I had more reps in me, but hey, today was about getting 3+ and not killing myself so, good enough. Not what I wanted, but acceptable.

But Pressing went awesome. Continuing with my new setup ritual, and that continues to prove itself out. On the last set, everything just felt so good. Tight tight tight, and the reps went up pretty easily, exceeding how I thought I’d do, which is awesome. I have high confidence that next week I’ll not just set a new lifetime PR but blow it away.

Next week will return to the normal flow of things, with 2 milestones on the docket: squatting 300 (finally, back into the 300’s!) and pressing 165 (lifetime best is 165 for 2). I’m most excited.

My own massing template, based upon 5/3/1 SST and some Paul Carter principles

  • Deadlift
    • 150 x 5
    • 185 x 5
    • 220 x 3
    • 260 x 3
    • 295 x 3
    • 335 x 6
  • Press
    • bar x whatever
    • 70 x 5 (warmup sets superset with pulldowns)
    • 85 x 5
    • 105 x 3
    • 120 x 3 (work sets superset with pulldowns)
    • 140 x 3
    • 155 x 7

2016-10-20 training log

/ hsoi

Back in the gym!

I got hit with something – cold? allergies? I don’t know exactly but it knocked me out end of last week and into the start of this week. The gym was not happening. But I’m about over it now, so back I go.

It’s 3’s week, and I only missed half of it, so what I decided to do was squat and bench today, deadlift and press tomorrow. And that’s all: just do the main movement, don’t push too hard on the last set, and leave it at that. I might do a little more tomorrow since I’ll have the weekedn to recover, but since I’m going to squat and bench today then deadlift and press tomorrow, I didn’t want to push too hard today and take away from my ability to handle tomorrow. As well, since I’m maybe 90-95%, I don’t need to dig the recovery hole too deep. Just stimulate (don’t annihilate), keep things on track, etc..

I really don’t want to derail since with next week’s 1+ week I’m going to be doing some fun stuff, like once again getting my squat to 300, and I could set a new all-time Press PR. So I want to be smart about things.

That said then, today went surprisingly well.

The squat work-up went well, and the 285 felt really good. Tight tight tight. I certainly left a few in the tank.

Bench work-up went well too. Again, left a few in the tank here too. I went in to today telling myself to just focus on getting the required reps and only do more if I felt good, and sure I did.

So yeah, it wasn’t the most killer of sessions, but this is about getting back on track after the time off due to illness. The important stuff is next week. 🙂

My own massing template, based upon 5/3/1 SST and some Paul Carter principles

  • Squats
    • bar x whatever
    • 125 x 5
    • 160 x 5
    • 190 x 3
    • 220 x 3
    • 250 x 3
    • 285 x 5
  • Bench Press
    • bar x whatever
    • 100 x 5 (warmup sets superset with neutral-grip pulldowns)
    • 125 x 5
    • 155 x 3
    • 180 x 3 (work sets superset with neutral-grip pulldowns)
    • 205 x 3
    • 230 x 7

Sunday NOT Metal – Blackberry Smoke

/ hsoi

This is not metal – not even a little bit.

But Blackberry Smoke is one kick-ass rock-and-roll band. I love these guys.

Their new album “Like An Arrow” just came out a couple days ago, and here’s the first cut: “Waiting for the Thunder”

Next week, back to metal.

2016-10-14 training log

/ hsoi

Ah Press… you are so difficult to progress upon.

Not a bad day, really. But for sure I’m starting to plateau. No need to reset or anything yet as I’m still exceeding reps on the last set. Just the level of reps and weight is curbing. But, it could be due to some other reasons: my poor sleep as of late, that I’m feeling a little under the weather (not sure if cold or all the allergens in the air), or just flat out getting to that reset point. But whatever it is, just keep chugging along.

A few notes.

My prior experimentations with “tensing up” and letting the light-headed/dizzy stuff happen BEFORE I approach the bar, I did that again today. I think it’s working well because for sure I don’t feel as bad when I do unrack and hit that first rep. But, I’m still a little unstable when I do so, especially as the weight gets heavier. So I think I shall keep this, and just have to work on the unrack into the first rep now using this new setup.

With that, it makes me think about changing up my routine. It’s the same as I had yesterday: doing something like first-set-last with the 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps, or even a Boring But Big 5×10 approach — with Press. Basically, doing more Press to help grind in the technique. Thinking about it.

Otherwise, a fair day.

To comment on the above, I am working on my sleep issues. Trying to catch a nap (even if it’s just 10 minutes) during the day. Working on going to bed even earlier – as soon as my body starts to say “OK dude, I’m fading” just hit the sack. Last night was pretty darn good. Gotta make as much effort and discipline here as with everything else – if not more.

My own massing template, based upon 5/3/1 SST and some Paul Carter principles

  • Press
    • bar x whatever
    • 70 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
    • 85 x 5
    • 105 x 3
    • 115 x 5 (work sets superset with pulldowns)
    • 130 x 5
    • 150 x 7
  • Close-Grip Bench Press
    • 155 x 10 (sets superset with pulldowns)
    • 155 x 10
    • 155 x 10
    • 155 x 8
    • 155 x 7
  • Face Pulls
    • 85 x 15
    • 85 x 15
    • 85 x 15
    • 85 x 15
  • Lateral Raises
    • 20e x 12
    • 20e x 12
    • 20e x 10
    • 20e x 9
  • Lying Triceps Extensions (superset with curls)
    • 65 x 12
    • 65 x 12
    • 65 x 10
    • 65 x 8
  • Close-grip EZ-bar Curls
    • 65 x 12
    • 65 x 10
    • 65 x 10
    • 65 x 8

2016-10-13 training log

/ hsoi

HOOK GRIP! That’s pretty cool.

Of course I’ve known about hook grip for some time, but I never tried it for one reason or another. Last night while browsing some YouTube videos I came across one from Alan Thrall on hook grip. I knew I was going to be deadlifting, and it was “5/light” week – what with everyone saying hook grip is painful, especially at first – I figured “light” week would be a good time to give it a shot. However, ever since the Rangemaster Advanced Instructor class some weeks ago, I’ve had a pain in the proximal interphalangeal joint of my right thumb — I did something in class. The pain is still there but slowly improving, so I didn’t think inflicting abuse on my thumbs would be good.

But, when I got to the gym this morning things were feeling OK so I went for it. I figured I could start on my lightest set, see how it went, and go from there. And yes, try hook grip on every rep of every set – not something you’d normally do, but as I’m starting to learn the technique it’s a good thing.

The hardest part was adjusting how I approached gripping the bar, so I could get the bar positioned such that when the bar hung from my hands under tension, there would be minimal to zero skin pinching and folding – because I don’t need my skin or callouses to get torn under load. It didn’t take me long to figure out a good approach, especially since in between sets I spent time at a bar just figuring out a good grip approach.

I chugged along, and things went pretty good. I was really impressed with how my arms and hands felt almost like they were no longer involved. Sure they were, but well… sometimes you feel like you have to pull a bit with the arms, even not directly, but a little bend happens. It’s of course worse with a mixed grip, and often a reason why people tear the biceps during deadlifting. But here it just felt like my arms and hands were two straps/hooks, just some way to attach the bar to my body so the body could lift. I really dug that. And I really dug the lack of mixed grip – not having the twist and unbalanced feeling was great!

The pain? It wasn’t too bad – certainly not as bad as people make it out to be. Of course, I was only lifting 315 today – I expect with 400, 500, 600+ pounds that it will hurt more. 🙂 But for sure, it’s not comfortable. Towards the end of the 315 set my thumbs were not very happy.

I also called an audible and opted to do some “first set last” (the 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps version), as a way of getting more work in with the technique. While it wasn’t heavy, the wear and tear on my thumbs was getting to me. Even now, a few hours after the session is over, my thumbs still ache — a sort of quasi-numb/tingle feeling, like novocaine partially wearing off. I wonder how long that sensation will last.

Nevertheless, I really dug hook grip. It wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be, and it has a lot of advantages that were made easily evident in this single session. For sure I’ll keep it up. I expect at least until I’m more comfortable with the technique that I’ll use hook grip for all sets and reps. Once I am comfortable with it, I’ll probably go back to normal overhand for warm-up sets, then hook for my work sets. If I continue to do things like first-set-last, I’ll probably go back to overhand as well — not so much to avoid the wear and tear on my thumbs, but to allow my grip strength to develop instead of always gaining the mechanican avantage of hook grip.

Then just finished up with a little accessory work.

I dug it.

My own massing template, based upon 5/3/1 SST and some Paul Carter principles

  • Deadlift
    • 150 x 5
    • 185 x 5
    • 220 x 3
    • 240 x 5
    • 275 x 5
    • 315 x 10
    • 240 x 8
    • 240 x 8
    • 240 x 8
  • Seated Calf Raises
    • 50 x 12
    • 50 x 12
    • 50 x 12
    • 50 x 12
  • Twisting Crunches
    • BW x 20
    • BW x 16
    • BW x 16
    • BW x 16

2016-10-11 training log

/ hsoi

Just a good 80% day.

One thing that always bums me out with percentage-based programs is when the cycle changes but the numbers don’t because math. 🙂 Started this new cycle, upped the weight, calculated the numbers to use, and things barely changed. The reason is simple: rounding. Everything did actually go up, but because of rounding the majority of my weights are the same as last cycle. I hate those. 🙂 But, it’s just part of slow, steady, progression, and so long as the reps go up, it’s progress.

Today, it was up to 10 reps, which is my cutoff threshold on 5-week. 10 was the same as last time, so I figure if accessory work goes up, all is good. It did, so, all is good.

All in all, things are good. Upped some weights, but one I lowered was shrugs. I’m trying to do more with less. It’s such a small range of motion that it can be really easy to cut things short and not notice. It may be “just shrugs” but they can still be worked well, full range of motion (even that last 1/2″). So I’m trying to do more with less with them — squeeze out every bit before I progress along.

But overall, a good consistent day.

My own massing template, based upon 5/3/1 SST and some Paul Carter principles

  • Bench Press
    • bar x whatever
    • 100 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
    • 125 x 5
    • 155 x 3
    • 165 x 5 (work sets superset with neutral-grip pulldowns)
    • 190 x 5
    • 215 x 10
  • Incline Press
    • 135 x 10 (sets superset with neutral-grip pulldowns)
    • 135 x 10
    • 135 x 10
    • 135 x 10
    • 135 x 8
  • Cable Rows
    • 120 x 12
    • 120 x 12
    • 120 x 12
    • 120 x 10
  • Shrugs
    • 195 x 12
    • 195 x 12
    • 195 x 12
    • 195 x 12
  • Rope-handle pressdowns (superset with curls)
    • 60 x 12
    • 60 x 12
    • 60 x 12
    • 60 x 12
  • Hammer Curls (alternate, across body)
    • 35e x 12
    • 35e x 12
    • 35e x 9
    • 35e x 8