Author: hsoi

2016-08-04 range log

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

On the road to USPSA “B” class.

I’m pretty sure I’m solidly there.

In dry work I’ve been focusing on two main things:

  1. draws at 10 yards
  2. reloads

Again, I’m trying to focus on dry fire as the time where I put in the work, and live fire where I evaluate how the work is going and where work need to go next.

So live time today showed that in fact my 10 yard draw work is panning out. I’m still not as fast or consistent as I’d like to be. I smoked one in 1.2 seconds — one — but found myself more in the 1.7-1.8 range on a consistent basis. That’s still a strong improvement, but certainly a ways to go (I’d like to be CONSISTENTLY around 1.5).

Reloads were better as well. Whereas I’d be hitting in the mid-3’s, I was hitting in the low-2’s, and that’d be at 7-10 yard distances. I did some “4 Aces” work at 3 yards and was hitting 1.7-ish reloads there. So all in all my reloads have improved strongly, but still a WAYS to go. I can tell for sure this is about smooth mechanics because I’d be trying to move quickly and be “jittery”, and just not being smooth with it all — a little bump trying to get it into the mag well, a little hesitation getting back on the gun, a little pause to reacquire the sights and ensure a settled in shot, etc.. Smoothing things out and being reliable and consistent here should take me where I want to be.

And while I wasn’t working on it, split times were getting better too at closer distances. For example, on the “4 Aces” runs I’d hit .15 splits. At around 5-7 yards .25-ish. But back at 10+ yards, because I’d be more worried about accuracy, I’d be maybe 0.4-ish. So again, improvement, but a ways to go still.

One cool thing was a drill I ran at 10 yards really became all about “calling your shots”. Having that front sight crystal sharp, tracking it, and based on what I saw THERE knowing what happened (or what I need to do) and knowing from that where to go. It was a bit of a magical moment. As I let myself go and trusted my sight picture more, things really improved. I still suck in the grand scheme, but today was some pretty cool improvement.

As for what to work on next, I think it’s the same: keep working on my 10 yard draws and my reload mechanics. Work on my eyes being properly focused where they need to be, so even in dry work I’m calling my shots more.

That said, I’ve also got some classes coming up soon, so I’m probably going to shift gears a little bit in both dry and live work to prep for class. Get out of the competition mindset and more into the defensive mindset.

Good stuff. Good stuff.

Red Dots for Carry?

/ hsoi

Massad Ayoob writing about red dot optics on carry guns.

Includes a summary of my boss-man, Karl Rehn’s study on carry optics. The study isn’t published yet, but you can get an idea of the findings in Mas’ article.

Resistance is NOT futile

/ hsoi

Police said the victim resisted and yelled while the suspect remained on his feet and hovered over her. At some point, a man walking a dog entered the area and the attacker ran.

Another assault in Circle C Park here in South Austin. Full story.

While there’s not much information in the story (it does include a description), what there is presents a few things we can learn. Granted, I can only base this off what’s in the story, there’s a lot of context missing, so take this for what it’s worth.

According to police, the victim ran from Escarpment Boulevard onto the jogging trail of the park at around 7:30 p.m. As the victim made her way to the basketball courts on the northwest end and toward a street that runs through the park, she saw a man hiding behind a bush. When she ran past the man, he pushed her down and proceeded to physically assault her.

While the time was in the evening, it was still “broad daylight”. Bad things can happen at any time of the day, not just in the dark of night.

She saw a man hiding behind a bush. Later in the article it described the man as “wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with black pants and a black baseball hat”. I can’t say if she saw what the man was wearing in detail enough to have anything register but… it’s like 100Âş+ and 110% humidity in Austin right now. Someone in long-sleeves, full pants, hat — and all black — is VERY out of place (not even Austin goths are dressed like that). Throw in “hiding behind a bush” and your alarm bells should be screaming. None of this appears normal; it’s all out of place. This is not someone I would want to continue past – I would do whatever I could to put as much distance between myself and that person as soon and rapidly as possible.

The attacker ran off when someone else came into the area. There is safety in numbers. Having a useful dog has benefits as well.

Most of all? She resisted. She yelled. She fought back. She refused to be a victim.

There’s the biggest lesson.

2016-08-05 training log

/ hsoi

Good day for the most part…. especially how I came home, ate breakfast, then napped for an hour. 🙂

That’s the biggest thing I’m having trouble with right now is getting enough rest. Things are getting better, I’m sleeping better, but it’s just going to take time to get back on track. Day by day.

Anyways, Pressing went well… tho I had a weird groove on the top set and almost lost the bar coming down from rep 1. It’s still with my setup. I thought I had things going in a good direction, but all day today things felt off. Press is the hardest lift for me to make progress on, but I’ll keep working at it.

Pull-ups are certainly happier on my joints than chin-ups. I’m still not going to 100% extension AND I’m letting my feet touch a little right at the bottom to relieve a little weight/stress. It’s not ideal pull-ups, but if it’s better for my joints and longevity, I’ll take the slight modification.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

  • Press
    • bar x whatever
    • 65 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
    • 80 x 5
    • 95 x 3
    • 100 x 5 (work sets superset with pull-ups)
    • 120 x 5
    • 135 x 10
  • Close-Grip Bench Press
    • 110 x 10 (sets superset with pull-ups)
    • 130 x 10
    • 150 x 10
  • V-Bar Pulldowns
    • 110 x 20
    • 110 x 18
    • 110 x 13
  • Face Pulls
    • 100 x 20
    • 100 x 20
    • 100 x 14
  • Lying Triceps Extensions (superset with curls)
    • 60 x 20
    • 60 x 15
    • 60 x 10
  • Close-grip EZ-bar Curls
    • 55 x 20
    • 55 x 13
    • 55 x 10

Ballistic Radio – Episode 172 – Lone Star Medics (and a little KR Training love)

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

The Ballistic Radio Season 4 Episode 172 from July 31, 2016 is yet another good one.

The guest is our friend, Caleb Causey of Lone Star Medics. Goodness abounds.

And included in that goodness, Caleb drops a knowledge bomb from boss-man, Karl Rehn of KR Training.

Yeah – go listen.

2016-08-04 training log

/ hsoi

I had to be somewhere early today, so it was a “jack shit” day. I actually wanted to front squat as well, but time ran out.

That’s all there is to say….

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

  • Deadlift
    • 135 x 5
    • 170 x 5
    • 205 x 3
    • 220 x 5
    • 255 x 5
    • 285 x 10

Two arguments

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Whenever a violent tragedy occurs, two arguments emerge – one side says that everyone should be made equally harmless, while the other side says that everyone should have the choice to become equally capable.

Guess which argument I prefer…

– Phil Wong

2016-08-02 training log

/ hsoi

Melatonin. What fun.

My sleep has been really bad the past some weeks. Life stress, primarily. I started taking melatonin a few days ago to see if it might help. First few days, nothing, but last night I actually slept pretty well — not sure if it’s the melatonin or other factors (had a good day), but for sure I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning. But to the gym you go.

Pressing went fine. As has been the norm, everything continues to go up, so I have zero complaints.

Well, maybe a couple.

First, I am debating what to do about pull-ups. They are putting some stresses on my body that aren’t doing well, which really annoys me. I think the hard part is that it’s just right into lifting my bodyweight — no real way to ramp up and warm up to it, so those first sets really kill me. I’m thinking I may do something like let the first 3 sets be some medium-weight pulldowns, then 3 sets of full-body pull-ups. I dunno, just thinking about what to do.

Second, I did switch up triceps work. Instead of the overhead extensions, I am going to use the v-bar and do pushdowns. I want to see how well this still gives me work yet takes some stress off my elbows.

So in general, keeping with the program, just fine-tuning so it’s all gain and no (bad) pain. 🙂

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

  • Bench Press
    • bar x whatever
    • 95 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
    • 120 x 5
    • 145 x 3
    • 155 x 5 (work sets superset with neutral-grip pull-ups)
    • 180 x 5
    • 205 x 10
  • Incline Press
    • 110 x 10 (sets superset with neutral-grip pull-ups)
    • 130 x 10
    • 150 x 10
  • Cable Rows
    • 100 x 20
    • 100 x 20
    • 100 x 18
  • Shrugs
    • 205 x 20
    • 205 x 20
    • 205 x 15
  • V-bar pressdowns (superset with curls)
    • 45 x 20
    • 45 x 20
    • 45 x 12
  • Hammer Curls (alternate, across body)
    • 25e x 20
    • 25e x 14
    • 25e x 10

Campus carry in Texas starts today

/ hsoi

Today (August 1, 2016), law-abiding citizens licensed to carry a handgun are able to do so in a concealed manner on certain Texas college/university campuses.

Text of the law.

Please – everyone – keep the dumbassery to a minimum.

This goes for folks carrying handguns, and also for folks carrying dildos.

There’s no reason to get hysterical.

There’s no reason to start strutting around demonstrating what a (ignorant and irresponsible) jackass you can be.

Keep it in your pants (be it a Glock or a cock).

Smile.

Be polite.

Be friendly.

Be empathic.

2016-08-01 training log

/ hsoi

And the next cycle starts off pretty well.

Today was pretty cool. A little stiff to start out. I had a lot of weird chest pain over the weekend — it’s from posture problems (been slouching too much). Spent a bunch of the weekend stretching, foam rolling, and other things to help out. So I was a little stiff this morning but everything settled in really well by the time the work sets came up. And again, don’t think of it as 1 set of reps, but rather multiple sets of 1 rep. When I do that it makes such a positive difference — just keep going until you can’t, and every rep is focused instead of blending into the next.

Again, hit the 10-rep threshold and shut it down. Progress is good. Frankly, I find myself getting a little nervous about every session. I’ve been nailing the threshold almost every session, almost every everything, and I know it can’t last forever to be like this. I’m just waiting for it to end, and it plays with my head a bit. Gotta let it go and just let be what will be. I’m not getting weaker, I’m just settling in.

But even better was feeling really dialed in on the squats. Things just felt in the right groove and moved well. Technique is improving, which is always good.

I did really do a number on my lower back, glutes, and hams today. The straight-legs I did with less rest between sets. On leg curls, instead of propping up on my elbows I laid my chest flat on the bench — so no chance of hip extension or anything. It really brought up the stress on things back there, tho in a good way.

All in all, a good day. Happy to be back to the cycle, tho the deload was certainly good for me.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

  • Squats
    • bar x whatever
    • 115 x 5
    • 140 x 5
    • 170 x 3
    • 185 x 5
    • 215 x 5
    • 240 x 10
  • Straight-leg Deadlift
    • 155 x 10
    • 185 x 10
    • 215 x 10
  • Leg Curls
    • 30 x 20
    • 30 x 12
    • 30 x 10
  • Hyperextensions (superset with crunches)
    • BW x 12
    • BW x 12
    • BW x 12
  • Crunches
    • BW x 20
    • bw x 13
    • BW x 10
  • Standing Calf Raises
    • 50 x 17
    • 50 x 15
    • 50 x 12