Me

2012-07-19 Dry Fire Practice

/ hsoi

Following the TLG 4-week sample dry fire routine.

Week 1, Day 4

Basic routine

  1. 20 reps of Wall Drill, from extension 2H
  2. 5 reps of Wall Drill from extension, SHO
  3. 5 reps of Wall Drill from extension, WHO
  4. 20 reps of Wall Drill from press-out, 2H
  5. 5 reps of Wall Drill from press-out, SHO
  6. 5 reps of Wall Drill from press-out, WHO

Trying to get my groove back regarding practice sessions.

Trying to focus on picking up speed, but again, not necessarily by going faster, but by ensuring no time is wasted. Press out and press trigger with less time wasted in doing both… so the time between “start” and “click” is used as wisely as possible.

2012-09-13 workout – Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 13, press 3

/ hsoi

PR’s are always good, but diet is impacting me.

“Week 3”

  • 5/3/1 – Press (working max: 160#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x65
    • 1x5x80
    • 1x3x95
    • 1x5x120 (work)
    • 1x3x140
    • 1x3x155 (PR)
  • Asst. #1 – Press
    • 5 x 10 x 80
  • Asst. #1 – Wide, pronated grip lat pulldowns
    • 5 x 10 x 130

It’s nice to set a PR… tho only 3. In theory I should have been able to do more, but I fear my fat loss efforts are getting in the way. But that’s to be expected. Given how things have been, I’m rethinking that next cycle will keep the same weights across the board (well, not for bench press because I want to see if I can hit 225) but go for rep PR’s. If I can hit 155 for 4 at the end of the next cycle I’ll be quite happy with that.

Speaking of diet, I am seeing success. It’s simple. a 40/40/20 macro split, 5 meals a day. Calorie restricted… aiming for 45-50g of protein and carbs (each) per meal. And that seems to be working so far…. tho I’m trying to aim towards 45 when I can be precise and allow a little slop up to 50 when I have to (e.g. something a little more difficult to measure out). But I have to say… this sucks and I hate it. 🙂 The progress is good, but it’s wearing on me.

2012-09-12 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 1, Day 3, reloads

  1. 10 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H
  2. 20 reps reload from slidelock, slow, 2H
  3. 20 reps reload from slidelock, 3/4 speed, 2H
  4. 10 reps reload from slidelock, slow, 2H
  5. 10 reps of wall drill form press-out, 2H

I’ve been falling a little behind in my practice, but dedication and accountability are motivators.

Keeping the gun up in your line of sight is useful. That is, you’re reloading almost in front of your face… not in front of your chest, nor your stomach. But yes, way up there. Not only keeps whatever was downrange in your field of vision, but it means there’s less for you to have to hunt and find when you shift your vision back to the target. Plus it means less movement for your hands and gun since they are ready to “ride the rail” of the eye-target-line back out, instead of having to get brought back up there. Every tenth of a second matters.

 

2012-09-12 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 1, Day 2, draws.

  1. 10 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H
  2. 20 reps of wall drill from holster 2H
  3. 5 reps of wall drill from holster, SHO
  4. 5 reps of wall drill from holster, WHO
  5. 10 reps draw & fire at 3/4 speed, 2H
  6. 10 reps draw & fire slow 2H

The day job has been taking a lot of my time, so blogging has been light.

I did get this done, just couldn’t post until today.

I can’t wait to verify my dry skills with some live work.

Extraordinary Resolve

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Regular readers know — I hate squatting.

I don’t hate it so much these days, but it’s still #4 on my ranking of the 4 main lifts. Why do I keep doing it? Because I’m supposed to. I know I won’t get stronger, I won’t get better, and I’m generally a wuss, if I don’t squat.

I still have some deeper fears about squatting, ingrained from my youth. Injury of course, or just that I’ll get down in the hole and fail and won’t be able to get out of the hole. I guess to some extent, squatting intimidates me.

Some make it metaphorical, in terms of what squatting teaches you. That all this heavy weight can be on your shoulders, and it can press you down, it will press you down, it will hurt like hell and it will do all it can to keep you down in that hole. But you prove your mettle by pressing back up and getting out of that hole… and perhaps, doing it again, over and over, until you are stronger. Eventually the weight isn’t so heavy, and you’re able to handle more, to do more, and you are stronger and better for it. Yes it will be scary, yes you will have fear, but it’s up to you how you want to address it. And so, there’s physical, but also the metaphysical that comes from squatting heavy weights.

Recently I’ve found myself squatting heavier than I ever have. I will not lie — it scares me. I am closing in on squatting 300# as a work weight, and while on the one hand I’m really excited about breaking a barrier I’ve never broken before, I’m also afraid I’m going to hurt myself… or at least, that I won’t get back up. That I won’t be as strong as I want to be, and the weight will get me down. The weight will win. While I know to not let it, I cannot deny the little demon gnawing inside me does exist and eats at me. My challenge is to control him, my challenge is to beat him.

So while I’ve been squatting — especially since my current routine has me squatting a lot more (the 5×10 assistance work)… it’s caused me to have to find some extraordinary resolve within me to keep going. That I will not quit. That the only reason I stop is because my body truly gave out and couldn’t give any more. Not because I pussed out, not because I gave into that little demon. I do look at it purely physically, but I also look at it philosophically because I know if I can handle this, I can handle anything. That will be stronger physically, but also mentally — everything else in life is pretty easy by comparison. All I have to do is resolve to do it.

But just as I think I have it… I realize how far I have to go. Dave Tate, founder and CEO of EliteFTS.com write about where “ER” really comes from.

After reading that, while I’m working to improve myself… I can see how far I really have to go.

But perhaps now when I’m down in that hole I’ll remember to think:

“Chest Up.” “Chest Up.” “Head Up.” “Head Up.”

 and from that, I can find greater strength.

2012-09-10 Dry Fire Practice

/ hsoi

Following the TLG 4-week sample dry fire routine.

This marks the start of month 3.

Week 1, Day 1

Basic routine

  1. 20 reps of Wall Drill, from extension 2H
  2. 5 reps of Wall Drill from extension, SHO
  3. 5 reps of Wall Drill from extension, WHO
  4. 20 reps of Wall Drill from press-out, 2H
  5. 5 reps of Wall Drill from press-out, SHO
  6. 5 reps of Wall Drill from press-out, WHO

Again, it’s so simple, yet so useful. It’s about as fundamental as you can get.

My focus? Don’t forget everything else I’ve been doing, like riding the rail of the eye-target line, gripping like hell, etc..  But let’s try to not waste any time. Get the gun out there, allow a “good enough” sight picture, and press off that shot. Minimize the time… don’t rush, just minimize and don’t waste.

2012-09-10 workout – Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 13, deadlift 3

/ hsoi

10 goto gym
20 set PR
30 exit

“Week 3”

  • 5/3/1 – Deadlift (working max: 355#)
    • 1x5x145 (warmup)
    • 1x5x185
    • 1x3x214
    • 1x5x270 (work)
    • 1x3x305
    • 1x4x340 (PR)
  • Foam Rolling

I have to get into the office early, so it was a “Jack Shit” sort of day.

Still, a nice PR of 4×340. True PR.

However, I noticed when I started pulling my butt lifted and the weight didn’t. I was pulling more with my back than my posterior chain. Not good. Why? Not sure. Could be that I’m not strong enough. Could be the diet. Not really sure.

But… given all the factors of what’s going on, I think I’m going to reset. Thinking back, I’ve never done a true deadlift reset… a minor “holding pattern” a few cycles back, but that’s all. I think given the diet change, today’s performance… I think a reset would be good. I’ll probably drop 20# on the working max and go from there.

2012-09-09 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 4, Day 3 (makeup), low-light

  1. 10 reps wall drill, SHO with flashlight
  2. 10 reps ID, move right, engage
  3. 10 reps ID, move left, engage
  4. 5 reps ID, draw on the move, engage
  5. 5 reps reload in the dark
  6. 10 reps wall drill, SHO with flashlight

I missed doing this day in the course of the normal rotation, thus I had to make up the missed session. Just took care of that.

I’m looking forward to October 20 @ KR Training. Going to have Defensive Pistol Skills 2, AT-2 Scenarios, and AT-1A Low Light Shooting. We can only do these days 2x a year because of the realities of light. It’s a LONG day, but always well-worth it.

If you’re in the area and haven’t taken any of these classes, you should consider it. The only class I’d put a hard prerequisite on would be DPS2 — you should be a graduate of DPS1. But AT-2 and AT-1A? Sign up. AT-1A, because of the flashlight requirement, will be a lot of one-handed shooting. And while AT-2 is “force on force” it’s not hard-core. Don’t let either of these two notions scare you off. In fact, if you feel a little unsure or challenged by it, I’d say that’s a good sign you should take it. Get your feet wet, break the ice, and take your skills to a higher level.

2012-09-07 dry fire practice

/ hsoi

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 4, Day 5, shooter’s choice.

Given last week’s WHO work, I opted to do the basic routine but emphasizing WHO again.

  1. 20 reps of wall drill from extension WHO
  2. 5 reps of wall drill from extension SHO
  3. 5 reps of wall drill from extension 2H
  4. 20 reps of wall drill from press-out WHO
  5. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out SHO
  6. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H

I just wanted more WHO work.

But I’m also working on slowing down and not going overall faster than I can do everything smooth and together. For example, trying to reduce the time between extension and the trigger break. Get things going faster and with a “good enough” sight picture.

2012-09-06 workout – Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 13, Bench Press 3

/ hsoi

PR’s are good, and the next cycle’s PR will be better. 🙂

“Week 3”

  • 5/3/1 – Bench Press (working max: 230#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x95
    • 1x5x115
    • 1x3x140
    • 1x5x175 (work)
    • 1x3x200
    • 1x6x220 (PR)
  • Asst. #1 – Bench Press
    • 5 x 10 x 135
  • Asst. #2 – 1-Arm Dumbbell Rows
    • 5 x 10 x 70
  • Foam Rolling

PR’s are nice. 🙂

Technically I’ve done 220# bench before, back during cycle 8. Did it for 3 reps, the BBB 3-month challenge. So today is really just a rep PR. But I also like that last cycle’s PR was 6 reps of 215. So keeping the reps the same and going up in weight? I’ll take it.

Assistance work was solid, but I didn’t realize until later that I dropped my row weight down. This is fine. I’m wanting to firm my technique back up here… that every rep is done as if I’m pulling with my elbow. That is, instead of focusing on the hand and pulling from there, focus on the elbow as if there’s a string going from my elbow to the ceiling and pulling up on that string is what pulls things. Engages the shoulders and back more, less arm. I think that was a Dave Tate tip. So a little less weight, a little more focus, all good.

Diet is progressing nicely. I still wonder about my reduced intake vs. my performance but I really do think since I’m keeping my carbs up that’s enabling me to still progress with my lifts. Huzzah.