Me

Dietary stuff

/ hsoi

I’ve been doing the Carb Back-Loading thing for what? 3 weeks now?

It’s not horrible. It’s tough in some respects, awesome in others.

I think overall it’s pretty awesome because I don’t have to make radical changes to my life and diet, but yet it is still a big change with a lot of required discipline.

It’s great because I don’t feel weak. I don’t feel drained in the gym. I can go in, hit the weights hard. No feelings of tired or just being out of gas. But this took me a little bit to realize that I do need to eat more carbs than I think. Can’t go overboard, but it’s more than the “restricted carb” type diet mentality that pervades every other type of dietary plan out there.

It’s great because I can join in with the family. The other night Wife couldn’t make dinner so I just ordered pizza. I ate with gusto (it was the night before a workout; recall I am on the adjusted CBL program due to morning workouts), and I didn’t care much. I didn’t bloat and overly stuff myself, but I didn’t fear it or think I had to eat just 1 slice… or maybe just scrape off toppings… or maybe let the family eat pizza and I scrounged around to find something else to eat that “fit my diet”. No, this was great. Great to just eat with the family, be part of the whole experience instead of being the “one off”.  It’s also nice on the mind and soul because there’s not this deprivation.

But that said, there is deprivation. There isn’t much breakfast eating any more, tho sometimes on off days I might have a late breakfast with the family. I do need to come up with better lunch options, especially in the veggie department. And man… for me… a guy with a big sweet tooth… it gets hard. Oh sure, I’ll have my ice cream before bed. But sometimes during the day I like to have a Jolly Rancher. Or have a Mexican Coke (i.e. sugar, not HFCS) since I’m fortunate the day job stocks those in the fridge. But alas, no. And that gets to you. When everything is savory. When you can’t just satisfy the sweet tooth. It gets hard. You know better, you push through it, but it still wears on you.

So I’m trying a few things with artificial sweeteners. Like some sucralose; because all the bitterness of the whey and casein, sometimes you just need something to counter the bitter. Or that maybe I’ll have a Coke Zero at work. I found this Crystal Light Pure stuff (with Truvia) which isn’t half-bad. I generally stay away from artificial sweeteners, but right now I’m trying to transition. I know it’s best, long term, for me to just ween myself off. But that’s the thing: ween. Cold turkey is just going to risk failure, and all the CBL changes as it is are tough enough. I have noticed the Coke Zero seems to give me headaches, and I have no idea if the bout of diarrhea I’m presently dealing with is because of these things or something else. I just don’t know. I am not going overboard, but things are there. I do need to do more reading on these. I think the best rule really is to have none of it at all: natural or bust. But if I’m going to, what could I have? It seems pure sucralose can be OK (be mindful, because things like Splenda and even Equal’s version bind to maltodextrin) and also pure Stevia (I just read that Truvia is kinda sorta Stevia but isn’t, and is bad). Well, we’ll see. Overall they aren’t horrible things to have, but they could stall progress amongst other side-effects. So… I just need to learn to ween myself off it all, tho if I’m going to have something, aim for sucralose (only) or Stevia. Thing is, read the ingredients list sometimes for “sugar free” stuff. Almost impossible to escape acesulfame potassium and/or aspartame.

All the caffeine kinda wears on me too. There are days I can tell it’s driving me too much. Since I got the caffeine anhydrous powder/capsules from TrueNutrition, I needed to pare back since those hit faster. I’m trying to take the low-end of the scale in any of the CBL recommendations. So that generally means 200mg at a time. I do find it works nicely, and makes a good pre-workout. All that other pre-workout shit is “meh”. Just take some caffeine and roll on. But keeping my doses down to the minimums, given you take a bunch throughout the day, seems to wear on me better.

Hydrolysates. Holy shit! These are gross. Ever blow up a balloon and get that powder and rubber in your mouth? Imagine that, times 100, then chase it with a burnt tire. That’s what they taste like. Everything I read said they are “bitter”. That’s a lie. This is beyond bitter to fucking gross. 🙂  I tried mixing a couple ripe bananas with it. Even throwing in dextrose. It might reduce the horrible taste, but it’s still there. I believe the recipe calls for 10-15 grams. I go for 10g, seems to help a little bit (vs. 15). Look, I am going to trust Kiefer here about taking these, but I cannot wait until I don’t need to take these any more. Bleah.

Coconut oil? It’s solid at current room temperatures, so I just swallow a spoonful straight up. If I drank coffee I’d probably mix it in. And yes, I’m going to see if I can keep doing CBL without coffee because if the main purpose of this is appetite suppression, I’ll live without coffee. I just am not a coffee person. But taking a spoonful of the coconut oil is kinda weird. Tastes fine, just a glob of it is a funny texture in my mouth.

So results?

Hard to say at this point.

My weight is holding steady around 235#. But I (and Wife) notice that there doesn’t appear to be as much flab around my middle – the muffin-top is shrinking. I’ve also noticed more muscle in my arms and chest and such; evident when I’m crossing my arms, or putting on a shirt. You really can’t go by scale weight. Looking in the mirror tho, at how clothes are fitting, etc.. I think things are slowly getting there. I reckon if this all goes right and well, it may take me 6 months before I’m where I’d like to be, but that’s alright as long as I get there. Plus if it’s 6 months, that’s time for things to become habit and “the way it is” which improves chances of long-term success, instead of a crash diet.

So far, so good.

2013-02-08 training log

/ hsoi

I don’t think I’ve ever been happier for a deload week in my life.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 16 (mark 2), week 4

  • Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 355#)
    • 2x5x135
    • 2x5x185
    • 2x5x225
  • Assistance – Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
    • 3 x 8 x 135
  • Assistance – Pulldown Abs (kneeling)
    • 3 x 10 x 140

While I generally don’t like deload week (what’s exciting about deloading?), this week has been a blessing.

First, the split callus is healing well. At this rate, maybe another week (at least) before it’s fully healed. Work today was less painful than earlier in the week, but still wasn’t pain-free. So at least it wasn’t maximal weights.

Second, yesterday afternoon I started having uh… “digestive issues”. It hasn’t gotten much better; in fact, it in part caused me to wake up MUCH earlier than usual today. *sigh* Instead of walking to the gym I drove, so I could first hit the Walgreens and pick up some “aids” to help remedy my issues. I’m not sure what’s causing this problem. It may be just a fluke, it may be dietary stuff. Not enough information. Nevertheless, it caused me great caution in lifting today; again, maximal weights might have been a problem. Certainly there was no farting at the gym today. 😉

That said, after deadlifting I didn’t feel it was enough. So I dropped down to 135 and started doing stiff-legged deadlifts. I am trying to find something to help my glutes and hams, and lacking a GHR bench, that Good Mornings cause me some issues, well, let’s try this. I had no idea how much weight nor reps I could do, so I figured just start with 135 and see. 8 reps for 3 sets was good enough. I reckon I’ll try for 10-12 reps in general and probably can go up in weight some. Take it slow. I also did this off the floor: feet on floor, barbell on floor. not sure if I want to try something like standing on a box to get a fuller range of motion. We’ll see.

Anyways, that was that. Had to keep it short because well… I have my reasons. 🙂

Cycle 16 (mark 2) review, Cycle 17 preview

So looking back….

First, I had a false-start this cycle because of the flu, thus the “mark 2”. I think it was wise I just started the cycle over.

I am happy with the progress I made. I set a rep PR in squat (275 for 4), and a rep or maybe true PR in deadlift (340 for 5). I’m getting used to the new bench press technique, tho still working on it. Press technique needs some serious attention at this point, so it’s where I’m trying to focus some mental energy.

Speaking of mental energy, I’m very happy with how I’m approaching squats. The “not going to let this crush me” attitude is something I’m happy to be coming into. It’s a welcome change from years of baggage.

I am not sure how the Carb Back-Loading is affecting me just yet. So far so good, as I’m working my way into it. I do think it’s not holding me back, and may well be what’s helping me with some gains and progress. I’ll talk more about the diet stuff in another post later. But so far, so good.

Looking ahead to cycle 17.

I’m going to keep the routine mostly the same. I think my assistance bench pressing will be using the Swiss Bar to help further with easing my shoulders but also hopefully bringing a little more stress and work to my anterior deltoids and triceps, which are my bench weak points. Deadlift will likely see use of stiff-legged deadlifts instead of Good Mornings and probably also Pullthroughs.

I also am looking forward to setting true PR’s in deadlift and squat. I am not sure I’ll hit the 1000# club in 2013… within reach, but I’d probably have to grab for it by doing 1RM’s which I don’t see much need for; just that if I go by my 5RM’s (which is essentially what the 5/3/1 week ends up “testing”) that’ll typically total 100# less so, it’s a longer road. But whatever, as long as I keep going down the road. But I should be able to hit milestones along the way, like deadlifting 405 and squatting 300 (and if I can get to 315, awesome).

And I’ll be staying on CBL. I should get a better picture of it after the end of cycle 17.

Shooting practice

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

When I went out to KR Training this past Saturday for teaching, I made sure to go out extra early. Had to get things set up and prepped for classes, and I knew if I timed it right I’d give myself a fair chunk of time to do some of my own shooting practice.

After my last live-fire practice, my big decision was: slow down. My general guide is to be accurate first, fast second. This I know, have known, and is always the case, but the pressure of the line always winds up being on going faster and not being the last guy to shoot. It’s just how you get swept up in things. I’m making the conscious effort to not do that. And so when I shoot, slow down.

So to that end, I thought a good cold diagnostic would be shoot “the Farnam Drill”, at least, as I understood it to be. I’ve read so many variations on it, so here’s what I did:

  • IDPA target, only shots in the ‘-0’ zone count. (I’ve read some that say 8.5″x11″ piece of paper)
  • 7-8 yards. I just paced it off and that’s about where I was. (I’ve read 7 yards, 10 yards, 8 meters)
  • 1 round in the chamber (most agree on this)
  • load magazine with 5 live and 1 dummy round (randomly). (I’ve read some with 4 live rounds; I’ve read some that get specific about where the dummy should be, i.e. not on top, not on bottom; I say let it be wherever because you never know where a failure might be, and if you look at the magazine before you seat it well… you’re just cheating yourself.)
  • spare mag with at least 3 live rounds in it
  • shot timer

then on the buzzer:

  • drawing from concealment (I’ve seen some that don’t specify concealment/retention)
  • shoot until you hit the dummy round
  • clear the malfunction (tap, rack, bang)
  • keep shooting until the magazine is empty (slide lock)
  • reload (generally a slide lock “speed” reload, i.e. no retention of the mag)
  • shoot 3 more (I’ve seen some say to only shoot 2 more, so then the 3rd becomes the setup for running the drill again)

I also make sure to move at every non-shooting portion. Draw? move. Clear malfunction? move. Reload? move. It’s just a large side-step, but it’s still moving while doing “not-shooting” actions. Most write-ups I’ve seen of the drill do not discuss movement one way or the other.

Performance? Well, I’ve seen various numbers as well for what performance should be. I’ve seen students should be able to shoot it in 18.25 seconds. I’ve seen that students should be able to do it in 15 seconds. I’ve seen it said that instructors should be able to do it in 12 seconds. But then, how much of a standard can this be with so much variation in procedure? I mean, if you load the mag with 4 live rounds and shoot 2 after the reload vs. 5 live and 3 after, those additional 2 rounds will consume more time. So…. well…. that’s why it’s just hard to compare this across the board. Regardless of minutia, it’s a great drill that incorporates a great many parts of defensive pistol shooting. It provides a good measure of ability and performance. While I cannot compare so much to others, I can at least compare to myself.

My first run, “cold from the car”, all I knew was I told myself to go slow. I had to clean it, timer be damned. Go too slow, be certain of every shot, and just ensure a clean run. That I did, and ran it in 12.63 seconds. It felt glacially slow to me.

I opted to run it again, speeding up a bit. 11.10 seconds.

Then I changed course. See, I was going to just run that drill twice to get a feel on things then move to other stuff. But I decided to keep running the drill over and over and from it take what I could regarding my speed vs. my accuracy. How fast could I push myself before things fell apart? So I kept running the drill over and over, pushing myself faster every time. A couple times I pushed myself to a level that I felt was certainly “too fast” and I really didn’t care if I did miss because the goal was to find the point of “too fast”. I shot it in 8.56, but with 4 holes just outside the ‘-0’ ring, that was obviously too fast. Interestingly, I did shoot it in 8.84 clean. When I thought about the two runs, what was different? What I saw… or rather, didn’t see. On the 8.84 run I may not have seen perfect “target shooting” sight pictures, but I saw enough and was clearly seeing enough, brain was processing “yeah, that’s good (enough)”. On the 8.56, my brain wasn’t as “there” as the other run; I recall my eyes were just taking in noise, and it was akin to just “blazing away” at the target. Was the speed of shooting really any different? I’m not sure; I wish I had looked at the shot-to-shot times because that would be more telling, because maybe I was blazing away, or maybe I had greater time differences during the reloads or some such? I didn’t look. *sigh*  But I did note that even on the 8.84 run I had fumbled a bit, but still got a decent time. I recall Tom Givens shooting this drill (or whatever his flavor of it was) in about 8.5 seconds, so hey… I can live with this.

Averaging out the strings, I generally shot it in about 10-ish seconds. I’ll analyze in a bit.

After doing this drill a bunch, I decided to do a basic thing from the IDPA Classifier: Mozambique. I stood at 7 yards and fired. All 3 rounds must be acceptable hits. Shot from concealment, par time of 3 seconds. This was not only to nod towards my desire that the first string of the IDPA Classifier is something I should be able to clean on demand, but it was also some time to work on my concealment draw.

Finally, I ran the 3 Seconds or Less drill. That’s another drill that I should be able to do, cold, on demand, and clean every time. Only ran it once, but did clean it.

Analysis

I must remember to forget the timer and focus on accuracy. Even if that means I’m last in the match, if I can show “no points down” I’ll be happy about that. If that means in classes I’m the last guy, fine, because I’ll have no tape on my target. Accuracy is my focus, even if I’m slower.

But on that token, I must keep pushing myself on speed because I have to know where my limit is, and if I’ve improved.

One thing certainly is what I see. Those two 8-second runs were quite different in terms of the visual information gathered and processed, and I have to remember what I saw, and didn’t see. And I’m probably due for a refresh from the Enos book.

The other is “other stuff”. My concealment draws were consistently around 1.7 seconds. Not bad, but certainly room for improvement. But that said, I’m not sure that’s the best place to focus my time. I don’t think it’s so much speed getting the gun out of the holster as it is on my presentation. It’ll go back to the visuals. I need to get on the trigger sooner, allowing the shot to break when I have a “good enough” sight picture. I know I’m waiting a little too long, for more visual feedback than I actually need. Just gotta get on it sooner and allow the shot to break when I have the good enough picture, not after I have it.

It’s even visuals with split times. I actually didn’t look at my splits, but I know I’m going slower than my eyes and brains need.

Plus, reloads. I got caught in my concealment garment too much or had other little fumbles.

But I think the biggest help is my mindset: accuracy is final.

Still, while keeping the mindset is appropriate, if there’s anything to specifically work on it’s “see what I need to see, and ONLY what I NEED to see”.

Concert – Testament, with Overkill, Flotsam & Jetsam, 4ARM – Emo’s East, Feb 5, 2013

/ hsoi / 21 Comments

Last night I caught one of the more excellent shows: Testament, with Overkill, Flotsam & Jetsam, and 4ARM, at Emo’s East. THAT is a lineup.

Daughter came with me. It was her first metal show, first club show, and was quite an experience. More below.

4ARM

Never heard of these guys, but when I saw they were the opening act I checked them out. They were pretty good, so I made it a point to ensure to catch them. I recall at a prior Testament show missing most of opening act Lazarus A.D.’s set, and was bummed about that because they’re pretty awesome. Didn’t want to repeat that mistake.

4ARM was pretty awesome as well. They are still a little green, but are tight and played hard. They certainly know how to fly the thrash metal flag. I will pick up their album.

If you need any more testimony about them tho, they managed to win the crowd over enough to get a pit going. That’s quite impressive for an opening act!

4ARM @ Emo’s, Feb 2013

Flotsam & Jetsam

Here’s my embarrassing admission: I don’t know much about F&J. Here’s what I know:

  1. They were Jason Newsted’s band prior to Metallica
  2. “No Place for Disgrace” has cool album artwork
  3. I was exposed to albums like “When the Storm Comes Down” and “Cuatro” back in my college radio days but never did anything with them.
  4. Only song I can name is “I Live, You Die” because I had it on some old “Metal Massacre” compilation. I did like it.

That’s it. I just never got into them one way or the other. After seeing them live, I feel sorely remiss. They were awesome, despite some nagging guitar problems (not sure what it was… amp problems?). I need to go back and rediscover them.

Flotsam & Jetsam @ Emo’s, Feb 2013

Overkill

Overkill is a band I’ve known about since forever, but never saw live until now. Just one thing or another kept me from seeing them. I’m glad I was finally able to. Truly it was the fact this gig was Testament AND Overkill that made this a must-attend event.

I was bummed their set time was so short, and it was evident they were too (Blitz even commented as such). But hopefully they will be back through as a headliner and wreck our necks for 90 minutes. They made the most of their set tho, hitting it hard and fast, and you’d pray to God it never stops. Just a fucking awesome set, with all the right attitude and effort. You’d expect nothing else from these vets.

  1. Come and Get It
  2. Rotten to the Core
  3. Wrecking Crew
  4. Bring Me the Night
  5. Electric Rattlesnake
  6. Ironbound
  7. Elimination
  8. Fuck You

I think I got the setlist right. I really enjoyed it, but somehow I suspect future shows may be “more of the same”. I have seen live videos of Overkill and much of the stage whatnot was fairly similar. I mean sure, you’ve got your groove, you’ve got your thing, but it almost seems too comfortable here. Hopefully if they are headliners things will be looser and a better show.

Nevertheless, the shirt I bought was an Overkill tour shirt, since I have no Overkill t-shirts.

Overkill @ Emo’s, Feb. 2013

Testament

Headliners, Testament, put on a killer show, like they always do. At the new Emo’s, the stage is so much larger and they were able to put on a better show. Big curtains, ramps, drum riser, lights, everything. The set flowed well, with a mix of old and new. My buddy W described the setlist as a donut, because it was around the edges and no middle. That is, songs came from early albums and late albums, but not much from the middle (Low? Souls? Ritual?).

If there’s anything Testament’s set proved, it’s that Gene Hoglan is a drumming god. Just an amazing drummer. Of course, he really shined on songs from “Dark Roots” since those were his drum lines. But even the older stuff sounded awesome with him. You may not always notice these things, but the difference the right drummer makes is huge.  Gene is incredible.

  1. Rise Up
  2. More than Meets the Eye
  3. Burnt Offerings
  4. Native Blood
  5. True American Hate
  6. Dark Roots of Earth
  7. Into the Pit
  8. Practice What You Preach
  9. Riding the Snake
  10. Eyes of Wrath
  11. Trial by Fire
  12. The Haunting
  13. The New Order
  14. D.N.R.
  15. Three Days in Darkness
  16. The Formation of Damnation

I was happy they played “3 Days”. We wondered if they would play it or not, given the obvious unfulfilled date, but that doesn’t make the song any less epic.

Of course, “Rise Up” was the opener, which is just a perfect opening song. I was happy to see so much from Dark Roots and The Gathering. Curious why the middle albums weren’t represented tho… even just “Souls of Black”. *shrug*  Only so many songs you can have.

Testament @ Emo’s, Feb. 2013

Emo’s

This is the new Emo’s East. It’s my first show at the venue, which is really not my first show at the venue… because the new Emo’s is the old Backroom. But while the building is the same, they renovated and did a great job changing things around. It’s MUCH bigger (they removed the divider wall), and the stage is “on the side”. But it’s a much bigger stage, taller, a lot more room. Heck, compared to the old Emo’s, this place is a palace.

Sound was pretty good. I happen to have a SPL Meter on my iPhone and it clocked in around 110 dB max. Was a good teachable moment for Daughter as to why ear plugs are good. Yes, we both wore them all night.

Overall tho, I was really impressed with the new venue. It was comfortable, sizable, very good for shows. Drink prices weren’t crazy. The staff was VERY cool all night long.

Daughter

So this was Daughter’s first metal show, first club show, first a bunch of things. She’s not a huge metal fan, but of course with Dad always listening to the stuff she’s gotten exposure. And as she’s grown older, Dad plays more stuff, she’s more into music herself so she explores more.

There is no question she dug the show. In speaking to her about it afterwards she was quite stoked and really wanted to get into it, but I she just had her reserves for various reasons (not to share here). It was cool tho to see my Daughter standing in front of me… then raising the horns in the air. 🙂

Being a drummer, her prime reason for attending was to see Gene Hoglan play. Yeah, we had thought about getting up closer to the stage, but the pit was intense and the crush at the barricades was huge. Lots of people trying to crowd surf and stage dive (tho Emo’s staff did their best to keep that minimized), so that would have been a bunch of kicks to the head. For a first show, not really an ideal thing. We were standing just in front of the sound boards, which had barricades around them, plus a “track” that obviously covered the cable runs. That worked to her advantage giving her a couple more inches of height to better see above/through the crowd. We were pretty much centered on the stage, so she got to see a good show.

And she got exposed to all the things typical with a metal show. Lots of old metalheads, drunk dudes, pot smoke (no smoking it, natch; just it’s in the air around you), people throwing stuff. To that end folks… I don’t know why you choose to throw shit like ice and beer cans, but fucking stop. Thankfully none hit Daughter in the face, but Wife’s gotten hit and cut in the face (just under her eye) from flung ice. Stop doing stupid shit like that — I’ll be happy to peg you in the face with a beer can if you don’t understand why that shit is stupid and you need to stop doing it. I digress.

Bottom line is Daughter had a ton of fun. She got to see Gene — in fact, she got to see Gene standing on the street corner as we were pulling into the venue! Was kinda cool to just see him being a person like anyone else (not just as a drum god!). We got to have a fun time together. Just a grand time for both of us.

Only bummer for her was that we were home before midnight. If we got home at 12:01 she would have been happy, but it was a bummer to get to stay out past bedtime and not at least “come home the next day”. 🙂

Daughter @ Emo’s, Feb. 2013 – drum head signed by Gene Hoglan

And over at The Metal Files, Sean has his review of the show. \m/

2013-02-06 training log

/ hsoi

See? Sometimes deload week is welcome

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 16 (mark 2), week 4

  • Work Set – Bench Press
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 2x5x95
    • 2x5x115
    • 2x5x135
  • Assistance – Bench Press
    • 1 x 15 x 135
  • Assistance – Pull-ups (band assisted)
    • 3 x 7 x BW
  • Assistance – Dips
    • 3 x 8 x BW

Went to a concert last night. Only got a few hours of sleep before the workout. Plus, I should have carb-backloaded (well, technically a front-load) last night but didn’t due to the concert… unless 2 beers count. 🙂

So I just didn’t have much steam this morning. But that’s alright, since it’s deload week. Huzzah.

Just did some basic benching. Opted to rep out at 135. Then hit some pullups… still difficult with the split callus, but that’s healing. Opted to do some dips too… more compound than a JM Press or DB flies.

Kept it simple and deloading.

2013-02-04 training log

/ hsoi

Sometimes you’re thankful for deload week.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 16 (mark 2), week 4

  • Work Set – Squat (working max: 285#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 2x5x115
    • 2x5x145
    • 2x5x175
  • Work Set – Press (working max: 145#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 2x5x60
    • 2x5x75
    • 2x5x90
  • Assistance – Pull-ups (band assisted)
    • 3 x 7 x BW

Normally I don’t like deload week. I appreciate it, but it’s not fun. 🙂 But today, I was happy for a deload workout.

I woke up with no motivation. I didn’t want to get out of bed, didn’t want to go to the gym, didn’t want to go to work, didn’t want to get on with the day. Not sure why. Could be carb backloading is wearing on me. Could be the lazy Sunday wants to continue into lazy Monday. Could be I’m just worn out. I really don’t know. But you get up anyways and go.

As well, a couple weeks ago a callus started to split. It’s in the inside crease of my right middle finger, middle joint. I did all I could to manage it, to keep it from becoming a problem, but over the weekend it truly split. Ouch. It’s tough to extend my fingers, to curl them, to clench and grip things. My finger is swelling a bit, I’m sure from the body trying to heal. It hurts, it’s difficult to work with, and I can’t stress it to death because I type for a living so it’s more important for my fingers to type than to deadlift (deadlifting doesn’t pay the bills). So I did what I could, but I couldn’t do much. You can see I didn’t get many pullups in… I’m just hanging directly upon that callus, and while I tried to not put pressure on it, you can’t help it.

So I did what I could…. and it wasn’t much. A “jack shit” sort of approach.

I did work to focus on every single rep. I figure if I can’t lift much weight, I can ensure the weight I lift is done very solid and paying attention to every detail: make that 5th rep better than the 1st rep. Whatever I can do, especially with pressing.

Anyways, it was what it was. I will bench on Wednesday and deadlift on Friday, and hopefully my finger will be better by then.

Right or Kind? Pick one.

/ hsoi

Someone posted a “game” on Facebook:

If you had to choose between being thought right or kind, which would you choose?

Was there ever a time in your life when the other was more important?

When did that change?

Now granted, it’s just a game. Nothing says you have to choose, or even play along. But thinking about it is a good exercise, for your mind and your morals.

First, when I read this I wondered what “right” meant. Nothing deep here, just does it mean that you are factually correct? or that you are morally good? Not sure it really matters for the exercise.

I recall being a teenager, being proud to be an asshole, and needed to be right, in the “correct” sense of the term. Of course, I still prefer to be correct (I have greater understanding and appreciation for the cost of lies, mistakes, etc.), but I do think now I prefer to be kind.

Is it because I’m growing older? Is it because I’m growing up?

Or maybe it’s because I see the world is being overrun by assholes?

I don’t know for sure why I’ve changed.

Maybe because more people are willing to listen to me because I’m kind, because I’m nice, because I’m not an asshole who is out to lecture with a “FUCK YOU!” attitude. I see more success in my life coming from my having been kind.

Or maybe I’m just tired, because trying to always be right is a lot of work. Being kind can be as simple and effortless as a smile.

I do like smiling at people. Just walking down the street or the hallway at work, looking at the people I’m passing, giving a genuine smile, looking them in the eye, and saying “Hello”. Not everyone gets it or reciprocates, which is fine. Those that do always bring a little joy back into my life tho — it’s nice to receive kindness. We never get if no one gives, and since we all like to get, that means we need to be the first to give.

That which is right, be it a factual truth or a moral truth, it will be there, evident and on its own. It doesn’t really need me – or you – to be right. It just is, and will be. But kindness, that’s something that comes from people. That’s something that doesn’t exist unless people are kind.

This isn’t to say I want to be wrong, and I will still strive to be right (correct, moral). But I guess if I have to choose? Kind. These days everyone wants to be right. Wouldn’t it be great if instead everyone wanted to be kind?

2013-02-01 training log

/ hsoi

I need to focus on Press

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 16 (mark 2), week 3

  • Work Set – Press (working max: 145#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x60
    • 1x5x75
    • 1x3x90
    • 1x5x110 (work)
    • 1x3x125
    • 1x5x140
  • Assistance – Press
    • 5 x 10 x 75/75/75/65/65
  • Assistance – Pull-ups (band assisted)
    • 5 x 7/7/7/7/5 x BW
  • Assistance – Stuff
    • Upright rows
    • Dips
    • Preacher Curls
    • 3 sets, 8-15 reps, enough weight to make it hard; on 3rd set immediately drop weight and keep going to failure; tho on dips, bodyweight and push out all I can

There’s no question… Press needs to be the next place I focus on technique. I’ve always flip-flopped on things like where to breathe, if there should be a bounce at the bottom (the “stretch reflex”), hold and squeeze at the top with an ensured lock-out, or… just what. Lots of things, really. My recent drop in weight no question is due in part to technique change, trying to stress more at the bottom: breathe at the bottom, no stretch/bounce — bring it down, rest and reset a moment, breathe, then press again from a “dead stop”. It was brought on because I just don’t feel it in lighter sets, but in heavier sets it really comes out. When I was doing my heaviest set today I just felt myself all over the place, expending a lot of energy and costing myself a rep or two because of all this vacillation.

So Press I must focus on. And again, I used my assistance sets with lighter weights to ensure I focused hard on technique.

Happy that my pull-ups are going to 7 reps, almost 7 across; cool. 3x7xbw on dips too… doing more, doing more, very happy. Getting stronger is good.

I’ll have more thoughts on things later. Gotta run.

2013-01-30 training log

/ hsoi

Was it a true PR? Does it matter?

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 16 (mark 2), week 3

  • Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 355#)
    • 1x5x145 (warmup)
    • 1x5x185
    • 1x3x215
    • 1x5x270 (work)
    • 1x3x305
    • 1x5x340 (PR)
  • Assistance – Pulldown Abs (kneeling)
    • 3 x 15 x 140
  • Foam Rolling

Was it a true PR?

The term “personal record” means that you set your own record (not necessarily a world record, national record, etc…. your own personal, your best). And by record it’s the best you’ve ever done. There seems to be mentions of “PR” and then “rep PR”. The implication then is that a true PR involves some sort of weight max, since any lifting PR is going to involve weight and reps.

So was today a true PR? or just a rep PR? Before this session the best I had ever done in the deadlift was 340# for 3 reps. So I guess today was just a rep PR because I did 340# for 5 reps. But it’s still the most I’ve ever done period.

So rep PR? true PR? Who cares about the semantics (other than it makes for some blog fodder) 😉 The bottom line is that today I did more than I ever have done, I pushed hard, it wasn’t as bowling-shoe-ugly as last session’s lifts were, and that next session will be an ever better PR. Onwards to 405.

Interesting thing tho… first time I ever felt like I might blow out my biceps. I did notice towards the end I was trying to curl the damn bar. First time I’ve ever noticed myself doing that.

But after this? That was all I could do. The calluses on the inner folds of my fingers? They recently cracked and are peeling a bit. Between that and the aggressive knurling on the bar I prefer to deadlift with well… my hands were hurting pretty bad. After the PR I opted to do what I’ve been doing this past “week 3” and do the same main lift with 50% weight to really have a “form/technique clinic”. But I got through a few reps and just had to stop — too much hand hurt. Even the pulldown abs was difficult due to this. I type for a living (software developer) so I really can’t afford to fuck up my hands.

So whatever. Jack shit-ish. PR. Onwards.

2013-01-28 training log

/ hsoi

Continuing to explore ways to press that don’t kill my shoulders….

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 16 (mark 2), week 3

  • Work Set – Bench Press (working max: 225#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x95
    • 1x5x115
    • 1x3x135
    • 1x5x170 (work)
    • 1x3x195
    • 1x5x215
  • Assistance – Bench Press
    • 2 x 8 x 135
    • 3 x 8/9/8 x 125/105/105 * swiss bar
  • Assistance – Pull-ups (band assisted)
    • 5 x 6 x BW
  • Assistance – Stuff
    • Flat Bench DB Flies
    • JM Press
    • Hammer Curls
    • 3 sets, 8-15 reps, enough weight to make it hard; on 3rd set immediately drop weight and keep going to failure
  • sled drags
    • 8 runs, 75 yards each
    • 75# on the sled
    • 20 seconds rest every other run
    • attach sled around hips, walk forward with large, purposeful strides
  • Foam Rolling

No PR today, but it is progress along the continuum. It was interesting that I found myself very mentally into each rep, really focusing on form. Somehow today I really “locked” in terms of foot placement and leg drive. No it’s not pulling my feet back towards my ears and arching into a ball… my feet are “out in front” and pressing up and back. But Rippetoe seems to advocate that and screw it…. if that’s what it takes for me to get leg drive and decent arch without lifting my butt off the bench, so be it.

In between sets I found myself looking in the mirrors, imagining myself lying on the bench and going through the motions. I’m watching my arms, where my elbows go, tucking them, where things travel, where the bar should then end on my chest, etc.. No question the greater elbow tuck is welcome to my shoulders. In fact…. someone left a Swiss Bar at the gym (I think another patron, and the gym just has it on permanent loan). It’s been there a while and today it hit me to try it. Just like the prior squat session, when I did my assistance benching I didn’t care about weight or reps all that much, rather that I wanted to treat it like a “clinic” with every rep being under scrutiny. After a couple sets and then more examination of form in the mirror, I thought screw it — try the Swiss Bar because of how it positions the hands thus the arms/elbows.

I’m glad I did.

I like it and may well keep using it for my assistance pressing, to help emphasize anterior delts and triceps, and less shoulder stress.

That said, it was a little awkward. It balances very different in the hand, but it’s managable. I will get used to it. Also, the bar is 35# instead of the 45# of traditional olympic-sized bars, and the weights used will reflect that. So 125# on the swiss bar is a 45# plate on each side.

I also thought about switching away from JM Press to Dips. but thought better of it. I need the higher reps, I need to grow my triceps, and I need more bench-based pressing to help emphasize other aspects, like the leg drive and a solid foundation. Dips won’t give me that…. at least, not until I get much stronger.

Anyways, while it wasn’t a PR day, I think it was a good day in terms of the things I learned.

But next session…. deadlift…. I can and will set a true PR.