Just feeling numb… out of it… however you want to phrase it.
I’ll write more eventually….
Me
2011-09-07 workout – starting cycle 2 of Wendler 5/3/1
Today was a good day.
“Week 1” – 5 reps
- 5/3/1 – Press (working max: 120#)
- 2x5x45 (warmup)
- 1x5x50
- 1x5x60
- 1x3x75
- 1x5x80 (work)
- 1x5x90
- 1x10x105 (PR)
- Asst. #1 – Press
- 5 x 10 x 55
- Asst. #2 – Lat pulldowns
- 3x10x100 – supinated grip, slightly wider than shoulder width
- 1x10x100 – close, neutral grip
- 1x8x100 – close, neutral grip
- Metcon – jump rope
- 1 Tabata set – all single hop
Today I begin my second round on the Wendler 5/3/1 program. Being a new cycle, it’s time to up the working max weights. The general recommendation is to go up 5# on the press, but I opted to go 10#. I figured that my press working max was under what I’m actually capable of. When I was on PPNP Novice I never felt like I got to my limit, and Wendler recommends starting light and underestimating. PPNP also never pushes you to the limit, like the last set of a Wendler 5/3/1 set. So when I did my “week 3, 1 or more reps” set, I ended doing 1x8x105, setting a new PR. When you do the math on that, it blew out of the water what I figured my 1RM would be… well out of the water. I’m stronger than I think I am. So I decided to ensure I better workout, let’s bump up the weight 10# on this cycle. Still conservative, but a little more work.
So far, I think that was the right move. We’ll see how it pans out in coming, heavier weeks tho. 😉
Thing is, 2 weeks ago I set that PR doing 1x8x105. Today I broke it doing 1x10x105. Furthermore, I had bumped my assistance weight from 45# to 55#, and that too was a good move. Interestingly, Jim Wendler just posted an article on “5 Ways to Increase Your Press” and I had taken some of that advice, like looking at the 5/3/1 sets as a movement and the assistance work as a muscle, but still having to lift heavy and hard. Without question the last couple reps on the 1x10x105 were just trying to get the weight overhead, and on the assistance work I strove to be stricter but even the last couple reps of the last couple sets was tough. I think it was all a good move. No, it’s not huge weights and big numbers, but it’s still pushing my limits, so that’s fine with me.
On the pulldowns, as mentioned previously the close, supinated grip was causing me some shoulder discomfort that lingered for a few days. I don’t need to screw up my shoulders. So today I started out by experimenting with different grips, both width and direction of the hands. I really want to stick with a supinated grip if I can, but a neutral grip was much nicer to my shoulders. I did 3 sets with a supinated grip that was just wider than shoulder-width; the closer the hands were together, the more they bothered my shoulders in the extended/top position. That wasn’t too bad but still had some shoulder annoyance at the top of the movement. I switched bars for the last 2 sets to a neutral, close grip (palms facing, a few inches apart). That was much nicer on my shoulders, but really limited the range of motion; furthermore, it’s not as mechanically strong as a supinated grip (biceps not as activated) so I didn’t get the full set of 10 reps. There’s another bar at the gym that allows for a neutral wide grip; I’ll likely try that next time and see how it goes. I want to do a motion that’s as close to chin-ups as possible, but that doesn’t irritate my shoulder and lead to shoulder problems — the last thing I want.
On jump rope, I think I may be at a point where I want to bump it to 2 Tabata sets. Not quite yet, but close.
All in all, it was a good workout. I’m really stoked about my press performance.
Could I be a Possibilian? I don’t know.
Via Fark and HuffPo, I learn about this thing called possibilianism.
What is possibilianism?
Possibilianism is a philosophy which rejects both the idiosyncratic claims of traditional theism and the positions of certainty in atheism in favor of a middle, exploratory ground. The term was first defined by neuroscientist David Eagleman in relation to his book of fiction Sum. Asked whether he was an atheist or a religious person on a National Public Radio interview in February, 2009, he replied “I call myself a Possibilian: I’m open to ideas that we don’t have any way of testing right now.” In a subsequent interview with the New York Times, Eagleman expanded on the definition:
“Our ignorance of the cosmos is too vast to commit to atheism, and yet we know too much to commit to a particular religion. A third position, agnosticism, is often an uninteresting stance in which a person simply questions whether his traditional religious story (say, a man with a beard on a cloud) is true or not true. But with Possibilianism I’m hoping to define a new position — one that emphasizes the exploration of new, unconsidered possibilities. Possibilianism is comfortable holding multiple ideas in mind; it is not interested in committing to any particular story.”
An adherent of possibilianism is called a possibilian. The possibilian perspective is distinguished from agnosticism in that it consists of an active exploration of novel possibilities and an emphasis on the necessity of holding multiple positions at once if there is no available data to privilege one over the others. Possibilianism reflects the scientific temperament of creativity, testing, and tolerance for multiple ideas.
But better than reading about it watch this 20 minute presentation by David Eagleman.
I was baptised Presbyterian and presently live in a Roman Catholic household. I remember at a very young age one of the first “deep thoughts” I had was realizing that everything in life and the world is relative: we can only know something in relation to something else. I think from that moment on it shaped how I viewed the world. Sure, I had a lot of growing up years spent in church youth groups and whatnot, but all that time did was demonstrate to me just how un-Christ-like so many Christians are. I get to undergrad and of course that becomes a good mind-opening experience (especially when you’re surrounded by so many people who claim to be “progressive” and “open-minded”, but in reality are some of the most close-minded individuals you’ll ever meet). I took courses on religion and philosophy and gained deeper thought and insight into many things. I received my first exposure to Taoism in undergrad, and while I don’t consider myself a Taoist, the philosophy, has much wisdom.
Then one day I realized that the best label I could give myself was “agnostic”. Why? Because the best I could come up with was “I don’t know”. Positions of theism or atheism are held as so definite: we KNOW for a FACT, or at least, that’s how those believers carry on. But it’s just that: belief. Neither group can know for a fact that their position is right. I often talk about how of the thousands of religions we’ve had in recorded history, and if we even bump that number up a bunch to count religions in unrecorded history and religions that maybe have never been recorded (e.g. small tribes, etc.) well… whatever you bump that number up to, it’s still quite small against the infinite possible explanations to questions like “how was the world created?” and “what happens when you die?”. So some simple math tells you that the chances of YOUR creation story being THE way things were created? Well, it’s possible it could be, but it’s more likely it’s not.
As well, I never liked the fact we called things “mythology”. To those ancient Greeks and Romans, to those ancient Egyptians, to those Vikings of yore… that was their religion. They believed in Zeus and Ra and Odin just as strongly as some today believe in Jesus and Allah. But people today shrug off that mythology as silly and uneducated. So, how will the religions of today be viewed 1000 years from now? All I can say is, I don’t know… but I can look at the trend and perhaps make a reasoned guess that today’s serious religion will be tomorrow’s silly mythology.
So when I stumbled upon this notion of “Possibilianism”, I didn’t know what to expect, but it sounded interesting and resonated with me. I watched the video and Mr. Eagleman was saying many of the same things I’ve been saying, only his presentation was far better put together. I never really liked the term “agnostic” because one, it never felt quite right, two, it has too many meanings that are either complicated to explain or are just misunderstood and you’ll never explain it well enough for someone to truly understand. So a new term like “possibilian”… maybe that’s a better label for me.
I don’t know.
Wender 5/3/1 – impressions from the first cycle
Today I finished my first cycle on the Jim Wendler 5/3/1 program.
I think it’s a great program. It’s simple, it provides a lot of flexibility for you to meet your needs. Training for football? 5/3/1 can work. Training for powerlifting? 5/3/1 can work. Bodybuilding? 5/3/1 can work. At its heart it’s about building strength, which also will build muscle mass. What you want to do from there, be it develop power, speed, dynamic explosiveness, sculpt your body, whatever, it can be done. But… you have to think. A key factor is recovery.
Growth doesn’t happen while you work out, it happens when you rest. You have to expose your body to progressively increasing loads, then your body realizes that load isn’t going away so it has to change and adapt. This can only happen when you 1. don’t overtrain yourself, 2. rest. Wendler’s program facilitates this because there’s always your core lift (press, deadlift, bench press, squat) that you work hard but in a submaximal way (working max is 90% of your 1RM, and it’s from that working max that you calculate your workout), then you really only do a couple more exercises to address any specific needs you have (tho there’s nothing that say you only have to or can do or are restricted to just 2 more exercises). What those assistance exercises are depends on you and your needs. Me? I’m wanting to build mass and strength. Yes, I ultimately want to eliminate the flab around my middle, but I’ve come to terms with that (more on that shortly).
The one (arguable) downside to the program? It’s slow. The basic progression is a 4-week cycle and you only up your weights 10# on squat and deadlift and 5# on press and bench press per cycle. So in theory you’ll only go up 120# on your dead and squat in a year, and only 60# on your bench and press. Of course, that sort of increase is fantastic, especially for people who have been training a long time, because gains are much slower and smaller the longer you’ve been at this and the closer you get to the limits of human potential. For a novice like me, I could gain a lot faster if I stayed on something like one of Rippetoe’s programs or moved to something like the Texas Method. The trouble there is those programs are very intense. If I was someone who could dedicate more of my life and time to lifting (and resting) sure, I’d probably be on the Texas Method right now. But that’s not my life. Wendler’s program looks like it could be a good long-term program for me because it’s not pushing me too hard too fast, and allows a lot of time for recovery. There’s a lot about the program that’s smart… subtle details in terms of how it’s done, it’s really well-thought out and constructed, so you get the work you need, when you need it, but it doesn’t kill you. I like that. Ultimately I’m in this for my health, not competition or sports, so hey… if I can jack up my dead and squat 100# in a year? That’s great. Just means I have to keep at it.
As for diet… that’s always been my tough spot. I have made changes, like I don’t eat grains that much (sometimes I do, e.g. I’ll still eat the buns on a burger), and I try to consume a lot more fresh veggies, which has been made easier with our CSA veggie box that we get once a week. I tried cutting carbs out almost entirely, but my body called me a fool. See, I do want to shed my gut, but I realized something. My weight has been a fairly steady 235-240# (depending on time of day, etc.). There’s no question I’m putting on muscle, so if I’m gaining muscle but weight remains the same, I must also be losing fat. Very slow fat loss, but still loss. Then I noticed something the past couple weeks: I was eating more useless carbs, especially in the afternoon/evening… like after a crappy day at work, I was happy to shove a few (more) cookies down gullet. I’m now hovering 240-245#. Just so happens I’ve been reading articles about insulin response and some other things and I see a pattern. Carbs? Fine, but if there’s going to be any cookies, have them in the morning. After lunch and especially after 3 PM or so, I need to have carb intake be pretty minimal. I do need some carbs (still need a crapload of protein), just focus it more during the day/morning.
The thing is, on this Wendler program, if I’m going to build mass and strength, I have to eat like a horse. That means there’s going to be some gut. That’s just how it is. I’ve come to terms with that. I do think I can eat a little smarter: if I can get back to where I have a steady weight number, muscle being built, that means fat being lost… that’ll work for me, and eventually I’ll get there and shed my gut.
All in all, I’m pleased with the program. I’ve lifted weights on and off since I was a teenager, but never did I enjoy it so much as I am right now. Finding programs like these? Geez… if I could have only had them 20+ years ago. Oh well, better late than never.
The plan now is to keep going with the Wendler program. Slow and steady. Going to change up a bit on my assistance work… more “Boring But Big” strict adherence, but trying to be I guess more “triumvirate” in picking what 2 assistance exercises work for me. The journey is good.
2011-09-04 workout
Had to lift a day early since the gym is closed tomorrow for Labor Day.
“Week 4” – Deload
- 5/3/1 – Squat (working max: 220#)
- 2x5x45 (warmup)
- 2x5x90
- 2x5x110
- 2x5x135
- Asst. #1 – Squat
- 5 x 10 x 85
- Asst. #2 – Leg curls
- 5 x 10 x 35
- Metcon – jump rope
- 1 Tabata set – all single hop
Today marks the last workout of my first cycle of the Wendler 5/3/1 program. I’ll have some thoughts on that in another post.
Again, since it’s deload “week”, I just doubled up on the warmup weight/sets. I did go up on my assistant squat weight and my curl weight, and while they didn’t really kill me today, they did work ok and I will keep them as-is for the next cycle because it’s hard to know if the “non-work” today was due to being a deload week and so the work squats didn’t exhaust me enough, or if in fact the assistance weights are too light. But if I do go up, I’ll only increase 5# and see from there.
One cool thing? Since the weights are light it’s very easy to let form go out the door. But on the same token, it’s a great opportunity to ensure form is tight and strict. I focused on keeping my chest high (tho still drive with the hips) and my torso tight; in fact, everything tight (arms too). That made a huge difference and I was really feeling it in my hamstrings during the assistance squats. That was cool, haven’t felt them like that while I squat… because I know I can tend to tip forward and involve the quads too much.
The workout felt good. Really pleased. But I’m so looking forward to the next workout, starting cycle 2. 🙂
2011-09-10 workout
Today was about taking it easy.
“Week 4” – Deload
- Deload – Bench Press (working max: 180#)
- 2x5x45 (warmup)
- 2x5x75
- 2x5x90
- 2x5x110
- Asst. #1 – Bench Press
- 5 x 10 x 95
- Asst. #2 – 1 Ar Dumbbell rows
- 5 x 10 x 35
First, normally I lift on Friday but I lifted today (Thursday) because I hope to be doing something else tomorrow morning. Plus with the long holiday weekend, I figured to beat myself up now so I could have a good restful weekend.
My right shoulder is feeling funny so I certainly wanted to watch things today. It actually felt better as I went along, which didn’t surprise me… increase blood flow to that area, that should help. Still, I kept it light and didn’t push myself on the assistance work like I have been doing. I think 95# will be a sufficient assistance weight when I start the next cycle, or maybe 100# but really no more; it felt good but not really heavy, I could have done 110# and worked myself harder but I learned something from yesterday’s deadlifts.
On the rows, yeah, let’s bump to 40# next cycle.
Didn’t jump rope today. Just feeling beat up, left knee arguing with me. I just make sure my walks to/from the gym were brisk.
I need some rest.
This first cycle is a little rough because I’m finding my way, finding my weights, my limits, and just how everything goes. I’ve learned a lot and what I need to do next cycle. One thing for sure? Deload week has to be truly and totally deload: don’t bump the assistance work up. In fact, on my walk to the gym this morning I thought that every so often it might be good to make it a “no-load” week instead and just take the week off and rest.
I do hope to squat over the weekend, just have to adjust that since the gym is closed Monday for Labor Day. Then Wednesday I’ll start cycle #2 of the 5/3/1 plan. I’ve already got some adjustments to the program, and looking forward to how that will go.
2011-08-31 workout
Today could have been better.
“Week 4” – Deload
- Deload – Deadlift (working max: 265#)
- 2x5x105
- 2x5x135
- 2x5x160
- Asst. #1 – Deadlift
- 5 x 10 x 135
- Asst. #2 – ab work…
- 1x7xbw – hanging leg raises
- 4x10xbw – crunches
- Metcon – jump rope
- 1 Tabata set – all single hop
Again, since this is deload week and the warmup and “work” weights are the same, I just lumped them into 2×5 groups. Worked out easier that way. When I hit the assistance deadlifts tho… I wanted to go up in weight because I know 95 wasn’t cutting it, and while originally I thought 110 well… it’s deload, I wouldn’t be as exhausted from work sets, so why not? While it wasn’t strictly about 135 as a weight, it was about getting that plate diameter so the bar was at a proper height off the ground. Frankly, it was too much. 5x10x135 with a minute rest in between was too much for me. Oh sure I was able to pound out the reps, but last reps might take a second or two more rest before I did the rep, I could feel my lower back rounding and form slipping, and so on. I’ll certainly drop back to 110 next workout.
On rounding, gym owner mentioned it to me. I know I’ve been rounding, but I haven’t been able to tell just why. It it just having poor form? Not totally, because I try to reset before each pull and flatten my back out; but I have noticed that sometimes when lowering the weight I’m not keeping flat and kicking in my legs/knees at the right time so touching the weight to the ground sometimes has my back rounded. So there is some form involvement. As well, could it be flexibility in that bottom position? That may be part of it. Could be something else. Nevertheless, it’s something for me to think about, and part of me is thinking next cycle instead of assistance #1 being deadlifts to do Good Mornings to help that area, plus some stretching of those muscles.
On the leg raises well… remember how after the lat pulldowns on Monday my shoulders felt a little wonky? They’ve been feeling that way since then, and when I started the leg raises they were unhappy. That concerns me. So I opted to stop after 1 set and just do some crunches instead. Yeah, I laid over a swiss ball to do them… best thing in the gym for the motion since I can get an increased range of motion.
So… .today was a mixed bag. I’m happy for the long weekend coming up so I can get a little more rest. I’ll see how my shoulder feels on Friday, when I do bench press.
2011-08-29 workout
This week starts my “deload” week. It’s all about recovery.
“Week 4” – Deload
- Deload – Press (working max: 110#)
- 2x5x45 (warmup)
- 2x5x45
- 2x5x55
- 2x5x65
- Asst. #1 – Press
- 5 x 10 x 55
- Asst. #2 – Close-grip lat pulldowns
- 5 x 10 x 110
- Metcon – jump rope
- 1 Tabata set – all single hop
The deload weeks are going to work out a little different for me. See, deload weeks have you do your warmup sets, then the “work sets” are 1×5@40%, 1×5@50%, and 1×5@60% (percent of working max). Strict 5 reps, no “push for the limit” on the last set or anything. It’s meant to keep you in the groove but not strain your system, to allow for recovery. It’s arguable that at my level I don’t really need the deload week, but I’m going to take it because it’s part of the system and I want to see how it all goes for me.
The thing that made it interesting is the warmup weights and the work weights are exactly the same! So I didn’t see much reason to lift 40%, 50%, 60%, then go back and lift 40, 50, 60 again. I just did 2 40’s, 2 50’s, and 2 60’s. Easier, and fine with me.
On my assistance pressing, that I kept the same… well, almost. I still kept it at 5×10 but opted to bump the weight to 55# (from 45). That was a good move. Will I keep it at 55# when the work weeks come back in? I will try, and we’ll see how it goes.
I remain happy with my decision to move to close-grip lat pulldowns instead of “chins”. Since my strength isn’t high enough and my bodyweight isn’t low enough, I just can’t get that level of volume and full range of motion with chins… yet. The pulldowns are allowing me to do that. 110# proved to be a good working weight to allow a full range of motion and really ensure I get my back into it. I did notice my shoulders felt a little odd today, so I may play around with my grip width to find what works better to keep my shoulders happy.
Honestly, while I know I need to go through the deload week, I’m itching to get back into the work cycle. The Wendler 5/3/1 program is turning out to be nice. Sure gains are slower than if I went on something like the Texas Method, but it’s all meshing with my life and goals just fine.
Shotgun modification
It was just supposed to be a simple replacement of a Side Saddle.
My old Side Saddle fell off the other week… I don’t know how it got into this state, but the holes of the mounting plate were loose… stripped. I have a few theories, but it doesn’t matter… it fell off, it had to be replaced.
So I start to apply the new plate to the side of my Mossberg 500 and I see that it doesn’t fit. That is, when the forend is slid to the rear position, the end of the forend comes in contact with the plate. Eh? I don’t recall this being a problem before? But sure enough… so I don’t know how she managed to work before, but here we are.
The solution is simple: the furniture is wood, so I took off the forend and applied a coping saw. 🙂 Took about an inch off the back end of the forend. Applied a little tung oil to seal the wood. Back together. Ah, much better.
But I got to thinking…. back in May when Tom Givens was out here for his Defensive Shotgun class, he promoted a shorter length of pull. There’s no question going from that long 14″-ish LOP down even just an inch to 13″ makes a HUGE difference in your ability to quickly mount the gun. So why not… I pulled off the 1″ thick recoil pad and tried mounting the gun. Yeah, that 1″ will do it. So why not… I taped off the buttstock, drew my lines, then applied circular saw and took an inch off the back of the buttstock. I put the original factory recoil pad back on… it overhangs a little bit, but that’s fine. I can grind or replace it later. While the factory pad isn’t the best (it’s no Limbsaver), I like that it’s got that “hard/slick” finish to it as opposed to the tack the Limbsavers have, so there’s no hang-up on clothing. Shaving off that inch makes a huge difference in the ability to quickly shoulder the gun.
And while I was at it, that elastic buttcuff to hold extra ammo? Applied a small wood screw at the base to keep the buttcuff from sliding around.
I don’t have a before picture since I didn’t plan on doing these mods, but you can see in the picture that the forend is quite clear of the side saddle, you can see the screw to hold the buttcuff, and if you look carefully at the butt you’ll see the recoil pad overhanging just a bit.
Some months ago I purchased an Aimpoint T-1 so I could put a red dot on the shotgun. When I bought the replacement Side Saddle I also found a bolt-on rail that would allow me to mount the scope atop the receiver. Well… as soon as I bolted on the rail I hated it. When I mount the gun my eye goes right down the top of the receiver and barrel, right to the brass bead front sight. With the rail, all I see is rail. Then throw that T-1 on there and I’m going to have to raise up a good deal to see things right and well. I recall checking out Tim’s shotgun when we picked up my STI Spartan… he’s got ghost rings on it and I just didn’t like how high I had to get. Oh sure, get a new stock, get a riser for the cheek weld, but that’s just more stuff to have to get, more money, more things to go wrong. You know, I ran the Givens course with the bead front sight and shot damn well. For the intended purpose of this gun? I’ll just stick with the bead because it works.
Yeah, the gun doesn’t look as pretty as it did before, yeah it was a couple of hours of redneck hacking. But it’s sure improved the shootability of the gun, and in the end, that’s far more important.
2011-08-26 workout
Today was mostly good.
“Week 3” 5-3-1
- 5/3/1 – Squat (working max: 220#)
- 2x5x45 (warmup)
- 1x5x90
- 1x5x119
- 1x3x135
- 1x5x165 (work)
- 1x3x190
- 1x5x210
- Asst. #1 – Squat
- 5 x 10 x 75
- Asst. #2 – Leg curls
- 3 x 10 x 25
- 2 x 10 x 30
- Metcon – jump rope
- 1 Tabata set – all single hop
As I said, today was mostly good.
The squats went well. I’ve been reading more about things to improve squat technique, like this article from EliteFTS about “Set Up to Squat Huge“. While I’m not squatting huge, it’s still good for me and technique. Tightening up my whole body, keeping elbows down instead of back (like Rippetoe advocates, tho I see why he advocates it), which then allows me to bring my hands closer in and really tighten up the upper back… tho my elbows still feel a little sore even now at home. It’s all good. No I didn’t set a PR today, but that I’m squatting close to my PR but with MUCH better form is good in my book.
Jump rope? Had to stop. As I started my second iteration some of my leg joints gave me some pain in the bad way, so I figured it was better to err on the side of caution and stop.
Since WordPress.com decided to suck and logged me out while in the middle of writing this post, instead rewriting my original post I’ll skip to the key point: the assistance weight.
I bumped my squat assistance up by 10# and you can see I bumped my leg curl weight in the middle of the run. Even then both weights felt like they were pretty light and not pushing me hard enough. Of course, Wendler said to start very light, but that very light felt right at the time. Interesting that as my work weights are getting heavier I’d expect my muscles to get more exhausted and thus that same weight would feel “heavier” but that’s not the case. Maybe I’m just adapting to the program and workload, maybe I’m getting stronger, maybe it’s all in my head. Maybe something else, maybe a combination. I can’t say for sure. Nevertheless, I’m going to take a less dogmatic approach to my assistance work. I have specific reasons for the assistance work and if the weight isn’t getting me there, up it… don’t just stick to the number because that’s what the workout is to be. If that means I pyramid up and down because I work hard and can’t settle on just one weight, then so be it. Ideally yes I’d like to have 5x10xX weight across, but if that doesn’t happen then it doesn’t… more important is to get the sets, reps, and the right workout.
I may not totally start on that next week… next week is the “deload” week so while I want to work myself, I can’t kill myself. Still, I can start to experiment with greater weight on the assistance work, but I just may be a little conservative about it.
Stuff From Hsoi 