Me

2017-02-07 training log

/ hsoi

Pretty good day. Again, everything feels heavy — I want more carbs! But progress is generally still good.

I actually wonder about taking next week as a deload because I am feeling really good. But I know I should for my pacing.

I accidentally skipped ab work today. I was kinda gung ho to get on the elliptical — wow, I never thought I’d be itching for cardio — but I do believe I need to be more consistent with cardio if I’m going to hit my fat-loss goal.

Based upon 5/3/1 for Powerlifting, off-season for mass

  • Deadlift
    • 160 x 5
    • 200 x 5
    • 240 x 3
    • 300 x 5
    • 340 x 3
    • 380 x 2
  • RDL
    • 185 x 10
    • 185 x 10
    • 185 x 10
    • 185 x 10
  • Bent Over Rows
    • 140 x 10
    • 140 x 10
    • 140 x 10
    • 140 x 10
  • Leg Curls
    • 30 x 12
    • 30 x 12
    • 30 x 12
    • 30 x 10

2017-02-26 training log

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Good solid day.

While I’m only supposed to do prescribed reps and no rep PRs (on the main work), another reason I like going for 2 on the 1+ week is because it gives me assurance that I am still progressing and not regressing. If 1 rep is a struggle, it’s time to reset — but was it really 1 struggling rep? Or did I just have an off-day? 1 isn’t always enough data. Still, I want to go for more, I want to hit rep PRs, but that’s not for now.

That said, today went overall well and I am enjoying the rest-pause drop set at the end as that does give me something more.

Next week will be a deload, and the week after I’ll adjust the cycle a little more. Still keeping the basic template, but the drop set changes to a pyramid AMRAP. I’ll also add some intensity techniques like after the last set of raises and curls, some burns.

Anyways, good day.

Based upon 5/3/1 for Powerlifting, off-season for mass

  • Press (superset with pulldowns)
    • bar x whatever
    • 70 x 5
    • 85 x 5
    • 100 x 3
    • 130 x 5
    • 145 x 3
    • 160 x 2
    • 130 x 12,3,1 (drop set, rest-pause)
  • Behind-the-neck lat pulldowns
    • 85 x 15
    • 95 x 15
    • 105 x 15
    • 115 x 15
    • 115 x 15
    • 115 x 15
    • 115 x 15
  • DB Shoulder Press
    • 55 x 10
    • 55 x 10
    • 55 x 10
    • 55 x 10
    • 55 x 10
  • BB Curls
    • 60 x 10
    • 60 x 10
    • 60 x 10
    • 60 x 8
    • 60 x 7
  • DB Rear Raises (superset with lat raises)
    • 15e x 12
    • 15e x 12
    • 15e x 12
  • DB Lateral Raises
    • 20e x 10
    • 20e x 10
    • 20e x 8

2017-02-03 training log

/ hsoi

The weights keep messing with my head, despite the fact they aren’t a problem. Maybe it’s because so much just flirts around the 300 range and once I get into working in the 300’s regularly it won’t be such a mental game. And that should be soon since next week (1+ week) works up to 305, and it’ll only go up from there.

That all said, today went well. 20-rep squats are a bitch, and the odd thing is the more I do them the more I — well, I don’t want to say I love them, but I come to appreciate them. I was thinking in the coming weeks how I’m going to be adjusting what I do at the end of the work sets (e.g. pressing will change from rest-pause to pyramiding down) and I was wondering what to do with squats. But I think I’m going to keep the 20-rep squats in, especially since the weight is going to go up relatively quickly and it’s just going to get tougher.

Still kept the ab work light. Things felt a little funny today, so maybe the strain isn’t fully healed despite all this time? Basically it’s just a signal to me to continue working my way back slowly here.

Based upon 5/3/1 for Powerlifting, off-season for mass

  • Squats
    • bar x whatever
    • 135 x 5
    • 160 x 5
    • 190 x 3
    • 225 x 3
    • 255 x 3
    • 290 x 3
    • 190 x 20 (20-Rep set)
  • Leg Press
    • 275 x 10
    • 315 x 10
    • 365 x 10
    • 365 x 10
  • Hyperextensions
    • 25 x 10
    • 25 x 10
    • 25 x 10
    • 25 x 10
  • Twisting Crunches
    • BW x 10
    • BW x 10
    • BW x 10
    • BW x 10

2017-02-02 training log

/ hsoi

Woke up. Saw my shadow — 6 more weeks of dieting and lifting. 😉

Session went well. I’m happy with the slow, incremental increases in approach. It’s the same basic philosophy of “start light”. Follow the template to the “T” first cycle. This cycle only change is for the last set to be not just a drop-set but rest-pause. Next cycle I’ll make more small additions and adjustments. That way I have somewhere to go, and what I do now adds stress, gives the body something new to have to adapt to, and by the time it does, then another small adjustment. It is hard to do this because I really want to just plow forward and do all-the-things. But I’m glad I’m giving this “restraint” in programming a go, because so far it seems good. Still early, but so far so good.

Of course, the rest-pause benching took a bunch away from the DB benching, but that’s fine.

One thing I did find I reminded myself of is that in my tempo I’m so focused on slowing the eccentric that I’m forgetting to explode on the concentric! So I found mysel refocusing to ensure the concentric was fast and explosive, but still ensuring the muscles did the work (not a whole body momentum thing or anything like that). Still working on getting used to this approach in lifting, but I am enjoying it.

Based upon 5/3/1 for Powerlifting, off-season for mass

  • Bench Press (superset with medium-rep lat pulldowns)
    • bar x whatever
    • 100 x 5
    • 125 x 5
    • 150 x 3
    • 175 x 3
    • 200 x 3
    • 225 x 3
    • 175 x 17, 4, 2 (rest pause)
  • Wide, pronated grip lat pulldowns
    • 90 x 12
    • 100 x 12
    • 110 x 12
    • 120 x 12
    • 120 x 12
    • 120 x 12
    • 120 x 12
  • DB Bench Press
    • 65e x 10
    • 65e x 10
    • 65e x 10
    • 65e x 8
    • 65e x 8
  • Chest-Supported DB Row
    • 50e x 12
    • 50e x 12
    • 50e x 12
    • 50e x 12
    • 50e x 10
  • Pushdowns (EZ-bar)
    • 40 x 100
  • Face Pulls
    • 50 x 100

2017-01-31 training log

/ hsoi

I really miss going for rep PRs.

You just get going, get into a good groove, and then you have to stop because the program is only about prescribed reps. Sigh. Life’s tough. 🙂

Actually I think next cycle will get better because I’m going to change and add in some of the Beyond 5/3/1 pyramiding, so that should help.

But apart from that, good day.

Deadlifts went well. I notice I’m sticking with double-overhand (no hook) as much as possible. Actually the lack of rep PR’ing helps here because I know I’m not out to exhaust myself so I can just double-overhand it. Grip certainly is improving, by how well I can work a Captain’s of Crush gripper.

RDL’s are doing better. Working to start with a slight bend in the knee and MAINTAIN that level of bend — no adjusting it while I move since that really takes away from the movement.

Added ab work back in, now that things are feeling better. I do think the strain is fully healed up, so I just did some light crunches so I got some work in, but not rushing back into things. Just to test the waters out and ease back into things.

Based upon 5/3/1 for Powerlifting, off-season for mass

  • Deadlift
    • 160 x 5
    • 200 x 5
    • 240 x 3
    • 280 x 3
    • 320 x 3
    • 360 x 3
  • RDL
    • 185 x 10
    • 185 x 10
    • 185 x 10
    • 185 x 10
  • Bent Over Rows
    • 140 x 10
    • 140 x 10
    • 140 x 10
    • 140 x 8
  • Leg Curls
    • 30 x 12
    • 30 x 12
    • 30 x 12
    • 30 x 9
  • Crunches
    • BW x 10
    • BW x 10
    • BW x 10
    • BW x 10

2017-01-30 training log

/ hsoi

I’ll chalk it up as a good day.

I still have a hard time NOT pushing myself on the last set, going for a rep PR, but it’s how it goes. I get into the groove and want to keep going, but nope. But adding in the drop-set, now with rest-pause, gives me something extra to push, so I dig that.

The RP does take more out of me, so the other shoulder work lost a little bit, but I think it also was a net-gain. For example, I found myself on the raises really trying to isolate and lift just by contracting the relevant muscles. Of course, that’s what I’m continually working on, but today it felt like I made a little better progress on that, especially with the rear raises.

All in all tho, things feel good.

What doesn’t feel good is my weight. I feel better, I don’t LOOK quite as bad in the mirror. But on the scale there’s little change. It’s a bit frustrating to have a negative calorie balance and thus I should be dropping, yet I’m not. Who knows. It may be a slower drop. I also didn’t do as much cardio last week due to life issues, so maybe that was it. I’m just going to stick with it. All I can do.

Based upon 5/3/1 for Powerlifting, off-season for mass

  • Press (superset with high-rep behind-the-neck lat pulldowns)
    • bar x whatever
    • 70 x 5
    • 85 x 5
    • 100 x 3
    • 120 x 3
    • 135 x 3
    • 155 x 3
    • 120 x 14,3,2 (drop set, rest-pause)
  • Behind the neck pulldowns
    • 85 x 15
    • 95 x 15
    • 105 x 15
    • 115 x 15
    • 115 x 15
    • 115 x 15
    • 115 x 15
  • DB Shoulder Press
    • 55e x 10
    • 55e x 10
    • 55e x 10
    • 55e x 10
    • 55e x 8
  • BB Curls
    • 60 x 10
    • 60 x 10
    • 60 x 10
    • 60 x 6
    • 60 x 6
  • DB Rear Raises (superset with lat raises)
    • 15e x 10
    • 15e x 10
    • 15e x 8
  • DB Lateral Raises
    • 20e x 10
    • 20e x 10
    • 20e x 7

Smith & Wesson M&P9 M2.0 – First Impressions

/ hsoi / 18 Comments

This is my Smith & Wesson M&P9 M2.0. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

Background

I’ve carried and shot an M&P9 (version 1.0, if you will) for a number of years now. Thousands upon thousands of rounds downrange. It’s what I’ve taught classes with, took classes with, hours of dry fire. I’ve got a lot of time behind that M&P.

But in all of that time, I’ve not been entirely happy with it.

It started with accuracy issues – or rather, lack of accuracy. When I first bought the gun the accuracy was horrible. I wasn’t the only one nor the only gun experiencing that problem. I did put in a KKM barrel and that addressed things to an acceptable level.

But the most annoying part was the auto-forward “feature”. Seat the magazine and the slide will automatically drop and go into battery. Or not – it wasn’t consistent. Sometimes when it would go forward, it failed to chamber a round. And during the Rangemaster Advanced Instructor class back in September 2016, it auto-forwarded right into a double-feed (don’t ask me how, but it happened). My frustration with the gun was at the tipping point and I was about to leave the class and head to the store to pick up either a Glock 19 or a SIG 320. However, at the time a little birdie told me that Smith was working on a major revision to the gun that worked to address “all the problems” AND would maintain compatibility.

See that’s the big problem with switching: it’s expensive. You buy the one gun, add better sights and better trigger. Well, now you need 2 guns (with sights and trigger) because redundancy is important. Then you need holster and mag pouches, well really two sets of those as well. I’d want at least 2 dozen magazines. And the cost of switching platforms just rises fast. So I figured I could wait a few more months to see what this “next gen M&P” would be like. If it fixed things, great; I wouldn’t have to invest in anything more than the gun (and sights and trigger). In fact, I’d be in no rush to get a second gun because I could always fall back to my old guns for redundancy if needed.

And a few weeks ago, the M&P9 M2.0 was revealed. I purchased one as quickly as I could.

Note: this is my own private purchase of the gun. No sponsoring, no T&E, no nothing. This is all my money, my experiences, my opinion.

First Impressions

Looks like an M&P.

I of course had to start dry. Bought the gun, brought it home, looked it over, a little dry work.

Here’s what came from that time.

Grip

Holy crap! That is some majorly aggressive grip texture.

I have to wonder who’s idea this was, and what market is S&W trying to hit?

I mean, it’s really good grip, but very abrasive. I would love this for competition shooting, because you don’t shoot much but when you do you shoot hard. Such an aggressive grip is great for that.

Shooting 2000 rounds in a weekend class? That’s going to get old really quick.

EDITED TO ADD: Based on some comments I saw, I want to clarify the above. I’m not trying to say anything about competition vs. self-defense type shooting. It’s merely a statement of shooting volume. That is, if your time shooting the gun is short, like a 30 round stage, plinking in the back pasture, or other things where it’s just a short amount of time spent with the gun, lots of rest/breaks, etc. then the texturing is likely to not be a problem. In fact, I’m sure it’s going to help because you will be able to grip the gun better. But if you’re shooting with a lot of volume: long practice session, weekend classes, etc., the texturing is going to wear on your hands. It’s just a matter of abrasion and how long your hands can handle it.

And concealed carry? I have no idea how that’s supposed to happen. Maybe I’m supposed to build up a callous on my torso? I wear against my skin and it took all of a couple seconds to know this is a no-go for me. Plus clothing snags way too easily.

If this gun pans out, I’m going to take some sandpaper to the grip to reduce the aggressiveness of the texturing. I didn’t mind the original texturing at all, but then I also have a strong grip so YMMV.

One thought I did have was to see if I could be judicious about where I smoothed it down. I may smooth down the sides but leave some aggressiveness on the front and back straps. TBD.

As for the backstraps, there are now 4, adding a “medium-large” to the mix. I’m still playing around to see what works for me. In the 1.0, the large is too large for me, but medium was workable tho always felt a little small. So I’m currently trying out the medium-large and so far it feels alright. I’ll continue to switch around a bit until I land on what works for my hands, and before I start sanding things down. The more size options are nice.

Another change to the grip is the removal of the extended beavertail. So far I’m good with this. I have other M&P’s, including M&P9c, which also lacks the beavertail. I haven’t really noticed any issues – shooting or comfort-wise when holstered – and I actually wonder if I’m able to get slightly higher up in my grip now. It feels like it, but it’s hard to measure.

Accessory Fit

I checked to see how accessories would work.

Existing magazines? No problem. I saw a few things online that gave the impression there’s a new “2.0 magazine” out there, but unsubstantiated. To my eye there’s no difference between the old and new mags. Or even if there is, the old mags worked fine with no problems I could determine.

Existing holsters? YMMV. I tried in all my M&P holsters and had no problems. I did notice a couple had a slightly tighter fit, but just barely. I saw someone measured and found the 2.0 is just a hair thicker than the 1.0, so it is possible you may have fit issues with your particular holster. But as well, since many holsters have tensioning screws, likely a slight adjustment will address fit issues. So I see no major problems here.

It does look like Apex Tactical has new/different parts for the 2.0. I’ll look into these at a later date.

I’m going to guess that aftermarket sights will be the same as the 1.0.

Trigger

I’m quite impressed. For a factory trigger, this is pretty good.

Measured the pull weight around 6 lb., but it does not feel like a 6# trigger. Karl tried it too and agreed it feels really good. I did notice during some later live fire that during some 25 yard slow-fire bullseye shooting I did think to myself “OK, this is a 6# trigger”, but overall not bad.

There’s a little travel for sure. You do get a good tactile reset. Some have asked about grit and I don’t feel any in mine, but I’ve seen some YouTube videos showing some – so again YMMV. I expect as the gun breaks in the weight will drop maybe to 5.5# and of course things will continue to smooth out.

I am finding the factory trigger to be quite usable. Oh I do expect I’ll get an Apex kit because there is room for improvement. But honestly? This is a gun where I don’t feel any rush to get an improved trigger.

Sights

The same Novak’s S&W has been putting on the M&Ps for a while now. I don’t find them all that bad; pretty good for factory sights at least. I did of course take a Sharpie to the dots on the rear sight and blacken them out. Only mod I’ve made on the gun.

I’m sure I’ll change these to Dawson Precision at some point.

Magazine Release

The mag release button is all metal. I’m not sure if this was to address some sort of problem, but it’s no big deal to me either way.

One thing I will be curious about is long-term. I noticed over time that my 1.0’s mag release got sluggish. I would disassemble and clean and it’d be fine again. I wonder if the added weight of an all-metal button might help with that. We’ll see.

Slide Stop

This is probably the most interesting and most-talked about change on the gun.

The engineering is different, and unlikely anything I’ve seen. I asked Karl if he’s seen such a thing before and he hasn’t. I’d be curious from any of the real gun-history buffs out there if this is truly a new approach or something rehashed from before.

Basically there’s a piece of metal “embedded” into the frame, and the slide stop lever folds over it. It’s a bump. So this bump now physically holds the lever up. It takes intentional force to push the lever down vs. in most guns where spring tension just returns the lever downwards. Building upon that, the slide stop’s notch in the slide is very small and shaped like a triangle. Why? Because retraction of the slide doesn’t just release friction and the stop drops. Instead, the front-edge of the notch is angled so retracting the slide applies force to the stop and pushes the lever downwards.

It’s an interesting solution to trying to keep the slide from auto-forwarding.

I’ve banged on it a bunch of times as hard as I could, harder than one would normally hit. The slide hasn’t fallen.

That’s great.

Unfortunately, it’s not perfect. Because there have been a couple times when the slide has dropped on me. I’m not sure why. My wild guess is perhaps the slide stop lever didn’t fully ride over the little metal bump, so it was on the windward side of sliding down anyways. But just a totally wild guess.

What I wonder? How robust is this solution?

You now have 2 pieces of metal in constant contact, riding over each other with tension and friction. Directly that means wear. But as well, the way the metal is folded over for the slide stop lever, every time it goes over the bump the metal has to flex a bit at the “hinge” point. How long until that breaks?

I would guess from the design of things if the slide stop tab did break off the gun would continue to function just fine – just no tab for your thumb to flick. Still…

Only time will tell.

Dry Fire

Working with the gun in dry fire was generally positive.

One hard part is again the aggressive grip texture. My draw technique apparently has me coming in contact with the grip and sliding my hand around the grip to achieve a proper hold. This is almost impossible with all that texturing; well, at least if I want to keep the skin on hands. 🙂

Trigger feels good.

Overall weight and balance feels good. S&W impregnated some metal into the frame of the gun, apparently to make the frame stiffer. Can’t comment on the stiffness in dry fire, but it doesn’t feel like the gun has become front-heavy. Some of the cosmetic changes to the front-end may have been to remove a little bit of weight to compensate for the addition of the stiffeners.

I’m not used to the factory sights (all my other guns have Dawson Precision, with 0.100″ red fiber optic fronts and 0.125″ serrated black rear Charger sights). But that’s no big deal.

Working the slide, slide-stop, etc. feels a little different, but the manual of arms is unchanged. It just feels stiffer, a little more work to do things, but when you’re working at speed you’re unlikely to notice. However, those of you that like to drop the slide by flicking the slide stop lever? That’s going to be harder to do with this gun: it’ll be interesting to see if S&W loses or gains ground in IDPA and USPSA competition with this 2.0 model due to that issue.

Live Fire

I’ve done some live fire with the gun, and while results are generally good, I’ve had some things that have given me pause.

I’ll be having another live fire session soon, and hopefully that will solidify what I’ve seen so far: either for good or for bad.

I’ll report on that soon.

Overall First Impressions

In general my first impressions have been positive.

The aggressive grip texture is the big negative for me, but because my primary context is concealed carry and that grip against my bare torso all day just isn’t going to happen. I can’t expect the average Joe to sandpaper their gun’s frame or even realize they could.

In terms of my reasons for buying and trying a 2.0? So far so good. But the jury is still out.

2017-01-27 training log

/ hsoi

Today is proof – you may not want to do it, but you do it anyways because you know it’s best, right, good, and you’ll be better off for it.

It’s been a hard week. Lack of sleep, many things blowing up all at once, behind at work, suddenly overfull plate – high stress week. Yeah first-world problems, I have that perspective, but that doesn’t negate the stress.

So when I woke up this morning, I wanted to just stay in bed. I actually slept ok and just wanted more rest. I thought about skipping the gym, going back to bed, or maybe just diving into the work day because so much to do. But no, keep the discipline and go because you know you’ll be better off for it. If it truly sucks, you can bail after squats.

But it didn’t suck.

It just got better.

After a couple warm-up sets, I was thankful for going. 🙂

Squats went well. The 20-rep sets for sure are getting harder, between doing more work before and then more work during. It’s good to start light and think things are too light, because they will get heavier and harder as the weeks wear on.

Still no ab work, but I think at this point I’m good. So next week I’ll add something back in, even if it’s just simple crunches.

Based upon 5/3/1 for Powerlifting, off-season for mass

  • Squats
    • bar x whatever
    • 135 x 5
    • 160 x 5
    • 190 x 3
    • 210 x 5
    • 240 x 5
    • 270 x 5
    • 190 x 20 (20-Rep set)
  • Leg Press
    • 225 x 10
    • 275 x 10
    • 315 x 10
    • 365 x 10
  • Hyperextensions
    • 15 x 10
    • 15 x 10
    • 15 x 10
    • 15 x 10

2017-01-26 training log

/ hsoi

Rest-pause is fun. 🙂

So I remembered to do rest-pause on the drop set at the end of bench pressing. Good times. Dropped a bit on the DB bench as a result, but that’s acceptable.

Pulldowns — work to initiate the pull with the lats, thinking about bringing the upper arms down and in — not pullilng the weight down. It’s a different mechanism, and hits the lats better. Still working, still improving on technique.

Everything else was what it was. Good solid day.

That said, it’s crazy but yes, I do start to think that once I hit my strength numbers, I may go off into the world of hypertrophy training. I won’t abandon the strength work, it just will no longer be the focus. It’ll all be about, as Arnold said, chasing the pump.

Weight-wise, yesterday I dropped to 237 but was up 2 today for some reason. Dunno what’s got me bloated because for sure that’s not tissue. The one thing I wonder about is how RP changed their approach. Used to be off-days for me had carbs in the morning and none at night, but now they have them at night — because it’s easier for the majority of clients to manage hunger and such by having no carbs in the morning but carbs at night. So maybe that’s having me blimp up a little bit. But whatever, the scale only matters so much. The one thing I have noticed is I do feel a little less “fronty” with my stomach. Tissue is actually coming off, slow but sure. Just stick to the plan, believe in the process, look at all the indicators over time.

Based upon 5/3/1 for Powerlifting, off-season for mass

  • Bench Press (superset with medium-rep lat pulldowns)
    • bar x whatever
    • 100 x 5
    • 125 x 5
    • 150 x 3
    • 165 x 5
    • 190 x 5
    • 215 x 5
    • 165 x 15/5/3 (drop set, rest-pause)
  • Wide, pronated grip lat pulldowns (to chest)
    • 85 x 12
    • 95 x 12
    • 105 x 12
    • 115 x 12
    • 115 x 12
    • 115 x 12
    • 115 x 12
  • DB Bench Press
    • 65e x 10
    • 65e x 10
    • 65e x 10
    • 65e x 10
    • 65e x 7
  • Chest-Supported DB Row
    • 50e x 12
    • 50e x 12
    • 50e x 12
    • 50e x 12
    • 50e x 12
  • Pushdowns (EZ-bar)
    • 40 x 100
  • Face Pulls
    • 50 x 100

Life lessons from a weekend hunt

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

This past weekend I had the pleasure of going hunting with an old friend, Charles Coker of TacticalGunReview.com. We were able to harvest 2 whitetail does and a feral hog. From the 48-ish hours together, I took a few things from it.

Sometimes you have to be a little impulsive if you want to succeed in life.

I’m a planner. Deer and hogs don’t care about your plans. They’ll be here one moment, then gone the next. You may only have a few seconds of opportunity, so sure… plan so you’re ready when the opportunity comes, but the moment the opportunity presents itself, you better jump on it.

But on the same token, if you’re not totally certain, let it go; rushing in can lead to failure.

Suppressors are good things.

Suppressors, silencers, whatever you call them. They have this stigma of being some bad evil thing that must be banned or at least heavily regulated.

Why?

You know what a suppressor is?

A muffler.

Next time some dude on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle blares by you with his loud-pipes and rattles your dental fillings loose – those are straight pipes, no muffler. That’s how loud engines are, and why mufflers were invented. That’s how loud your car would be if you didn’t have a muffler on the exhaust.

See why mufflers are nice and desirable things?

Same with suppressors.

Good friends are those that put up with your shit, and still want to hang out with you.

Charles has invited me out hunting on numerous occasions over the years, and most of the time I have to say no because I’m busy (day job commitments, or KR Training weekend commitments). He gives me some friendly and well-deserved ribbing about it, but he understands. And despite all my turn-downs, he always keeps the door open and keeps asking me.

On top of that, he was a top-notch and most-generous host.

Those are the sort of people you cherish in your life.

Thanx, Charles for everything.