2015-08-26 training log

/ hsoi

Good day… but I’m rethinking.

As week 4 of this Strong-15 Short Cycle progresses, I’m starting to wonder….

Should I keep going?

I knew it’d be an experiment to try a peaking cycle with the start of my weight-cut. I figured it could work OK since I was at the start of the cut and food would be essentially the same as it had been during my prior bulk/mid. But I think cutting out all those cheats and the fact I am losing weight is making a difference. Not so much the weight-loss itself, but the lack of volumous food. I have started to get the occasional dizzy-spell, which is a tell-tale sign of the carb depletion. I’m still doing well in my sessions, but it’s enough to make me wonder if I really will get to the end OK.

Also, the amount of work I’m doing per session just isn’t what I need to support the fat loss. This I expected, but I have to remember that my goal is fat loss and I need to be supporting THAT goal right now.

So why did I do this short-cycle? Because I wanted to. Because I miss lifting this way. Because I miss the heavier weights. Because I miss trying to build strength; because I miss being strong(er) than I was before. So yeah, it was all emotional and ego, but lord I needed it after a year of other stuff. So I don’t regret it, I do think the mental break was good.

But what I’m starting to think is that I’m going to skip the testing. So finish this week, finish next week (which technically marks the end of the cycle — after that you’d deload for a week, then test). And then switch gears. Why? Because what will testing accomplish for me other than the ego satisfaction? Granted, I want the ego satisfaction, but that’s not a Good Enoughā„¢ reason to do it. I have to also consider that my fat loss hasn’t been at the rate I’ve wanted, and if I want to hit my goal (weight loss in time-period) then I gotta get focused on it — so that means changing my gym work to up the volume and workload to support that goal-work. Besides, after next week I will have put in all the work, so really… is there anything truly lost here? No, I don’t think so.

So, it’s an ego-check, really. I think that’s a good thing. I think that I’ll benefit more in the long-run by doing this. I’m good with it.

Strong-15 Short Cycle, from LRB365

  • Bench (goal: 265)
    • bar x 5 x 2
    • 135 x 5
    • 155 x 4
    • 180 x 3
    • 200 x 2
    • 225 x 1
    • 235 x 1
    • 240 x 1
    • 200 x 7 (AMRAP)
  • Incline Press
    • 105 x 15
    • 105 x 15
  • Dips
    • BW x 10
    • BW x 6
    • BW x 5
    • BW x 5
    • BW x 5

2015-08-24 training log

/ hsoi

4th week, and feeling good.

Really, getting tight beyond tight is what it’s about. Crush that bar so hard the steel oozes from between your fingers. It makes a huge whole-body difference.

The other big help is having a clear head. I’ve been so busy, my brain buzzing with work and life issues, that my gym sessions are more thinking about that than the weights. It’s not about being focused — if anything it’s about having a clear mind, no mind. All I’m thinking about is what’s immediately in front of me. That’s been huge too.

Hitting 285 today isn’t much in the grand scheme, but coming back from all my losses it’s one of the bigger weights I’ve moved in ages. Next week’s 295 will be telling, but I feel no qualms about that going down and then coming back up. 315 is going to happen! I’m very happy about that, because I’m getting closer to regaining where I used to be.

Anyways, all in all today went well. Not much else to say.

Strong-15 Short Cycle, from LRB365

  • Squat (goal: 315)
    • bar x 5 x 2
    • 155 x 5
    • 185 x 4
    • 215 x 3
    • 235 x 2
    • 270 x 1
    • 275 x 1
    • 285 x 1
  • Pause Squat
    • 235 x 3
    • 235 x 3
  • Leg Press
    • 315 x 20
    • 315 x 15
  • Leg Curls
    • 40 x 15
    • 40 x 12
    • 40 x 9
  • Calf Raises
    • 105 x 10
    • 105 x 10
    • 105 x 10

2015-08-21 training log

/ hsoi

Things are getting heavy.

So brings an end to week 3 of the cycle. This is where things aren’t quite heavy, but they are starting to.

I’m going mixed grip on the singles from here out.

Really tho, I was surprised today went so well. I was out of town for the past 2.5 days on business, with bad travel, time-zone changes, and not a lot of sleep. My body did NOT want to get out of bed this morning — “MOAR SLEEP!” it cried. But once I got in there and got going, everything went pretty well.

Looking forward to how the last few weeks of this cycle go.

And yes, I’m leaning towards going Base Building after the cycle is done. I hope that will help me cement the work done in this Strong-15 Short Cycle, and start the transition back to rep-work and “bodybuilding” as I finish out this cut/diet cycle. Alas, the business trip may have set me back a little bit — I’ll know better come my weigh-in on Sunday, I’m hoping to at least have maintained weight. But when you have to eat a little and drink a little to be socially polite to your hosts and business partners, well… calories-in don’t care much about your business deals. Ah well, should just be a small bump in the road. For the record, Arcadia Ales is pretty damn awesome (had the Brown Cow… man, that was good).

Strong-15 Short Cycle, from LRB365

  • Deadlift (goal: 405)
    • 160 x 5
    • 200 x 4
    • 245 x 3
    • 285 x 2
    • 335 x 1
    • 345 x 1
    • 355 x 1
    • 305 x 3 (backoff)
    • 305 x 3 (backoff)
  • Stiff-Legged Deadlift
    • 255 x 9
  • BB Shrugs
    • 255 x 10
    • 185 x 23
  • Chin-ups
    • BW x 5
    • BW x 4
    • BW x 3
  • BB Curls
    • 60 x 10
    • 60 x 7

On witnesses

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Recently aĀ knife-wielding person was shot by a police officer. I’m not here to comment on the incident itself or other things peopleĀ tend to comment on regarding such incidents these days.

I want to focus on what was reported from the witnesses.

Here’s the story. From that article:

In interviews with the Washington Post, two witnesses said that when encountered by police, the woman had a knife, which they described as relatively small.

The knife was “relatively small”. When you hear that, what comes to mind? Probably not some sort of Crocodile Dundee type knife, right?

One man, Gerald McBrayer, said the woman was holding “a little steak knife,” and received no warning.

Another saying it was “little”

Another man, Nathan Strickland, said she had a steak knife with what he described as a skinny” 6 to 8 inch blade.

6-8″ is pretty specific, and that’s not all that little. Or if you want to put it in context, get a ruler, measure out 6-8″, now hold that “through” your body and see just how deep 6-8″ goes — or rather, see how shallow your body is, relative to a “small knife”.

The witnesses see the same basic thing ā€“ a woman with a knife ā€“ but they assess the knife differently. Why would they assess the knife differently? Proximity? Perception? Level ofĀ life experiences? Ulterior motive? Ignorance? Misspeaking?

Note as well Mr. McBrayer said the woman received no warning.

When officers responded they found a woman who was holding at least one knife, he said. Officers told her to drop the weapon but she did not respond to their command and as the woman continued to advance, she was shot once in the upper body Taylor said.

You can also watch the video and listen:

Urgent cries are heard, apparently from bystanders. “Put the knife down,” one person shouts. “Put it down.”

A man in a T-shirt stands between the two, a little to the side, waving his arms downward, apparently calling for her to drop what she carried

Some heard no warnings, others heard warnings.

Does any of this mean the witnesses are lying? No. Could they be?Ā Maybe. And again, I’m notĀ commenting directly on this incident or the witnesses — I’m just using this article, as reported, as an illustration. What it does mean is witness testimony is only so valid.Ā As I’ve touched on before, even video can only tell you so much.

You’ve probably seen this video:

Selective Attention is a real thing, and itĀ affects witness testimony.

Again, this isn’t evaluative as a good or bad thing, that people are being bad or wrong or intentionally trying to skew things (always possible, but not always the case). It’s just something worth knowing and understanding, so witness testimony can be taken for what it is.

2015-08-18 training log

/ hsoi

Taking a cue from Monday’s squat day — tight tight tight.

I worked on my bench setup today. Really getting my body locked in, from my shoulders being dug into the bench, to my feet being planted and arching hard. I don’t get much arch, but when my feet are in the right spot, if the arch is as high and tight as I can get it (which isn’t much, but still going as far as I can), boy that all really helps. Granted, I found myself losing my leg drive because I was focused on too many things, but I can live with that for now while I work through all of this.

After I get all tight and in there, hold it for a moment, settle, THEN unrack the bar. For whatever reason I get in place then unrack the bar without waiting… probably because I don’t want to tire out, but come on, it’s not that big a deal. I do want to work more on that technique of just pulling the bar out via lats, instead of “lifting” the bar out… all an effort to keep the shoulder blades back and pinned, y’know? Then unracked, let things settle and reacquire shoulders if needed, THEN start benching. Pause a moment at the bottom, then push.

So yeah, working on technique. It’s better, but it’s also a bit of a step back just because I’m thinking so much that it’s almost over-thinking and not just moving the bar, y’know? It’ll get there.

Anyways, things were generally good today.

Strong-15 Short Cycle, from LRB365

  • Bench (goal: 265)
    • bar x 5 x 2
    • 135 x 5
    • 155 x 4
    • 180 x 3
    • 200 x 2
    • 220 x 1
    • 225 x 1
    • 235 x 1
    • 185 x 11 (AMRAP)
  • Incline Press
    • 105 x 15
    • 105 x 12
  • Dips
    • BW x 8
    • BW x 5
    • BW x 5
    • BW x 4
    • BW x 4

Smart vs. Dumb Self-Defense

/ hsoi

It’s wonderful to see Adam from LowTechCombatĀ back again. The website’s been revamped, and the articles are once-again being published.

HisĀ first post-revamp article isĀ SMART SELF DEFENCE VS DUMB SELF DEFENCE (he’s from Australia, thus “defence”), and it’s a good one.

He’s right:

The sad fact is most in the self defence industry teach dumb self defence and really donā€™t encourage a lot of thinking from their students.

[…]

The dumb self defence approach is teaching people what to do when there is an attacker right in front of you; Nothing before that time.

[…]

This sort of practise is clearly needed. These are the sorts of skills you need when everything else has failed. As a last resort, you need to know what to do when there is an attacker standing in front of you. We cannot wish this possibility away.

The real problem comes when this approach (an attacker is right in front of you) is your only approach to self defence. This makes it dumb self defence.

Self-defense should not start when it’s too late. What’s the best self-defense? Never having to defend yourself. This usually means awareness, avoidance, deterrence, de-escalation.

And like Adam alludes to, none of this is sexy, none of this is particularly fun to study and train (at least on the surface, to many people). But if there’s anything that’s really going to keep you safe and out of harm’s way, that’s what will do it.

Always rememberĀ John Farnamā€™s famous quip: ā€œDonā€™t go to stupid places; donā€™t associate with stupid people; donā€™t do stupid things. We will add to that, be in bed by 10 oā€™clock.ā€ That’s pretty much awareness, avoidance, deterrence, de-escalation, and it’s what helps youĀ live a safer, better life.

2015-08-17 training log

/ hsoi

Today I learned many things.

First, the power of tight. This never ceases to amaze me. I already know that tightness brings strength, but every time I think I know it, I find out that there’s still more to learn. I’ve read a lot from guys like Dave Tate about crushing the bar, from the moment your hand first touches it until the moment your hands come off the bar, crush it. I grip it, hard, but what seems to happen is I start to focus on some other things in technique and so I lose the crush grip — not entirely, it’s still a hard grip, but certainly not a crush.

Well today I was able to keep outside world stuff off my mind and kept my focus on the next set and only the next set. I would spend the 2 minute rest period just telling myself things like “tight, go down, come up”. Tight tight tight. On that top set? I crushed the hell out of the bar the moment my hands touched it, and the telling sign was as I then got under the bar it hurt my arms/elbows/shoulders because I hadn’t loosened my grip one bit and so everything didn’t bend the same — telltale sign I haven’t been crushing as much as I could! Then I hit the rep and well… it’s hard to describe. I obviously felt the weight, I knew it was there, but the whole rep felt otherworldly, like I was there but wasn’t there and that it just happened.

That’s what I gotta keep striving for, because that was the easiest rep of the day for sure.

I do believe the helper was, as Dave has said, that crush grip, because it activates the whole body, the whole nervous system wakes up and charges up for it. And to do it from the start, first thing, gives the body a few to get up there, not when I’m already under the bar.

Yeah yeah… little things get better.

Second, the need to check equipment before you do anything with it.

I put the 315 on the leg press. I held onto one of the sled bars as I sat down into position… and the sled dropped. Not the whole way, but enough. From what I can gather, the person who last used it didn’t fully engage the hold bars/handles on one side and it popped out under load. The other was fully engaged so she didn’t move far, but BOY it was disconcerting to think about getting crushed, y’know? Was this the other person’s fault? One could argue that, but really the responsibility is my own for ensuring things are as they should be before I use them. So yeah, check your equipment — a check won’t take you out of the zone, but getting injured sure will.

Third, relaxed leg curls. Oh yeah, keeping my feet/ankles/calves relaxed through the leg curls makes a HUGE difference. Sure I can’t move as much weight, but who cares — it’s a leg curl. But it sure worked my hamstrings like I’ve never felt before. So here’s a place to NOT keep tight. šŸ˜‰

Anyways, good session. I really have to stay focused and keep my head clear because the weights are going up and getting closer to “heavy” now (for me).

Strong-15 Short Cycle, from LRB365

  • Squat (goal: 315)
    • bar x 5 x 2
    • 155 x 5
    • 185 x 4
    • 215 x 3
    • 235 x 2
    • 260 x 1
    • 270 x 1
    • 275 x 1
  • Pause Squat
    • 220 x 3
    • 220 x 3
  • Leg Press
    • 315 x 20
    • 315 x 17
  • Leg Curls
    • 40 x 12
    • 40 x 12
    • 40 x 12
  • Calf Raises
    • 100 x 10
    • 100 x 10
    • 100 x 10

Again, “unarmed” doesn’t equate to “not dangerous”

/ hsoi

[Christy] Mackā€™s injuries included 10 broken bones, a broken nose, missing and broken teeth, a fractured rib and a severely ruptured liver from a kick to her side.

Typically when people use the termĀ “unarmed”, they mean “doesn’t have a weapon” (knife, gun, baseball bat, screwdriver, hammer, crowbar, etc.). As if somehow that means the personĀ couldn’t beĀ dangerous, or couldn’t inflict severe bodily harm.

He allegedly forced her to strip naked and repeatedly punched and kicked her, breaking several of her teeth.

Look at her pictures:

That’sĀ the sort of damage an “unarmed” person can inflict. And honestly, she’s lucky; I’ve seen worse damage at the hands of “unarmed” individuals.

So tell me againĀ whyĀ you think “unarmed” means “not dangerous”?

(full story)