Me

2014-05-30 training log

/ hsoi

Yes, I’m itching to move on.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Base Building – Mass cycle

  • Neutral-grip pull-ups
    • BW x 2
    • BW x 2
    • BW x 2
    • BW x 1
    • BW x 1
  • BB Rows
    • 135 x 8
    • 135 x 8
    • 135 x 8
    • 135 x 8
    • 135 x 8
  • Meadows Shrugs
    • 55e x 12
    • 55e x 12
    • 55e x 12
    • 55e x 12
  • Wide, Neutral-grip Pulldowns
    • 100 x 12
    • 100 x 12
    • 100 x 12
    • 100 x 12
    • 100 x 12
  • BB Curls
    • 60 x 8
    • 60 x 8
    • 60 x 8/3/3 (RP)

    • I know I shouldn’t be doing pull-ups given my past shoulder issues. But I’ve been wondering if alternative grips might help. The gym has a place where you can do neutral-grip pullups… can’t vary the width, but it’s OK for me, slightly wider than my shoulder with. Sometimes I will do one pull-up there just to see (as a part of my warm-up), but today I just kept going. Nothing major, but to me the larger accomplishment is 1. no shoulder pain, 2. no band-assistance. So sure, I only got a handful of reps, but at least it was all me.

    Anyways, since I did that on a whim, I adjusted the rest of the session accordingly.

    But what really distracted me was thinking about what’s next.

    I’m wanting to try Paul’s Strong-15, the full 9-week program. I know at this stage it’s best to do things “as written”. Of course, across Paul’s eBooks, there are 3 “as-written” for the Strong-15, and even then there are more variations. But the main 3 I look at is the one in LRB365, and then the 2 3-day templates in Lift-Run-Bang (“traditional” and “man-maker”).

    I like the 2 man-maker approaches because I think it’ll be novel to try squat and deadlift on the same day. But I have to admit, the past some weeks of having a “back day” doesn’t always thrill me — I like the dedication to the back, but I really like having one main lift each day (out of squat, bench, deadlift, press), and that doesn’t happen with a “back” day. So I like the man-maker approach, but one thing I see in that is something I’ve been thinking about for a while: frequency, and the whole adaptation/super-compensation curve stuff. When I was doing 5/3/1, that’s a program designed around 4-days, but you can do it on a 2 or 3 days/week setup, just means that every Monday isn’t bench press day (it will rotate). No problems, really. I tried 4-days/week and that was too much for me (tho today, with my potential ability for more rest, maybe it could work). 2-days did not work at all, and 3-days worked out well. And even tho I only did a particular movement every 9-10 days, I was working that part of the body every 4-5 days. That seemed to work out well for me for making progress.

    So back to Paul’s programs. Most of it has things worked once a week, which feels too spread apart for me. But I could do something like the “traditional” layout, with his optional 4th day of light pressing, make it a 3xWeek thing, and could that get similar results?

    I have been doing Paul’s stuff for a while now, and I do feel it’s working OK… but I haven’t been doing it on a strength-building cycle. So, I don’t know.

    While I am so prone to think too much about stuff… I think what will be best is to just shut up and follow the program as written. I know this. I just can’t help but think about things. Try it out, get more familiar with the way Paul does things, and see how it works for me. It may not work, and it’s better to know that, than to always fall back to the same old thing because who knows — it may work out better!

    I will probably follow the LRB365 setup.

    So next week, I’m going to adjust my routine to figure out working maxes.

    One month down – looking back

    / hsoi

    So it’s been a month (more or less) since I entered the world of self-employment.

    I still don’t know how to officially classify myself. Am I a consultant? A freelancer?  Am I an indie(pendent) software developer? Am I self-employed? Or am I really a full-time employee of Hsoi Enterprises LLC? Sometimes it’s easier to say one thing to people, but then no matter what I say, there’s always explanation. Then when there are forms to fill out, sometimes it feels like saying one thing is more appropriate, then sometimes it’s another. Or like filling out a medical form in the insurance part, I have medical insurance, but I pay for it out of my own pocket (oye!); but the form asks for “employer” assuming the medical plan comes via your employer (which it might, eventually).  But whatever and however I actually classify myself….

    The key factor is… was this a wise decision? 🙂

    I still don’t know. Ask me again in a few months. But so far, I’m saying “yes”.

    Income of course isn’t steady nor what it was when I had that regular semi-monthly paycheck. That’s taken some adjustment and getting used to. There’s a different rhythm now. I used to pay bills at a certain time, and pay certain bills at certain times, dictated by when the paycheck came in. But now? Doesn’t matter… just pay the thing because there’s no juggling. More importantly, don’t FORGET to pay the thing, because the semi-monthly rhythm isn’t there. I am living off savings for now, and it won’t last forever. But work is underway to remedy this… it will just take time.

    My mental, physical, and emotional health is improving. No question I’m getting more sleep. I’m still struggling to find a daily groove, but I think something is settling in. For the past 2 years I went to bed around 8pm and woke up around 3am. That wasn’t my choice, that was the evolution. Going to the gym is a morning thing, so I needed to allot time for that. Then there was the hell of commute traffic, which was a key factor to avoid because 1. I hate it, 2. sitting in traffic and commuting is a massive waste of precious time, IMHO. So I structured life to minimize traffic, which meant being out the door by 6:25am (yes, you had to be out before 6:30 because the rest of the world aimed for 6:30; get just 5 minutes ahead of the rest of the world and it makes a big difference — a rule that can be generalized to the rest of life). And so with all of that adding up, it pushed me to a 3am wake up.

    I’m still getting up early, because I still like going to the gym early, when it’s empty. Prior to the gym (4+ years ago), I stayed on a fairly natural clock with the sunrise and such. But now? I find myself wanting to sleep in but forcing myself to get up somewhat early, because of my desire to get to the gym when it’s empty. This is something I am undecided on — to try to keep to a semi-strict schedule, or to just ignore it, wake when I do, and then go to the gym regardless of time. But at least, I’m not intentionally waking at 3am, and no more alarm clock for sure. That’s huge.

    I nap a lot. That’s been immeasurable in benefit. I knew my plantar fasciitis just needed time and rest to go away; today, I might feel a little stiff when I wake up, but that’s about it. Huzzah!

    I am happier. I’m able to focus on my work, not having to struggle to find time here and there for the projects that I enjoy. I released an update to PanemQuotidianum, I’m almost ready to release a long-overdue update to the DR Performance Practice Deck for iOS (and yes, more is planned beyond this update). I’m still doing contract work for Bar-Z Adventures (the prior day job). I’ve got a solid project of a new app on deck (and I’m very excited to start work on it). And I’m talking with various groups about other future projects. So… not bad. Just gotta turn this work into income. 😉

    Being home has been wonderful. I can tell you the past month has been good for everyone in the household. Family is vital to me, and this has been wonderful.

    Of course, it’s not all good. Not a single day has gone by where I didn’t do some work. Most days are working a lot, tho I break the work day up; maybe there’s a nap after lunch, then I can start work in the afternoon far more refreshed (vs. having to be locked-down for 9 hours straight, that’s hardly productive). I’ll also work in the evening, reading, researching, or testing on the iPad while lying in bed. Work is fairly perpetual. But I’m OK with this. I think I’ve only had 1 day that I might classify as a “day off”, but I was out at the KR Training facility helping Oldest care for the grounds (mowing, painting steel, etc.). It wasn’t a total day off because I did work for Bar-Z a little bit, but I chalk it up as a day off since I did spend a few hours shooting, and the overall majority of the day was spent not doing Hsoi Enterprises work.

    And that… is something I have to mind. Every day that I keep going, that I keep slinging code, is a day I get deeper into it. It becomes harder to emerge from it, which can be bad when there are things to do. Chores around the house, bills to pay, Wife to go on a date with. So I have to be mindful. Before I officially started this, I happened to listen to a RayWenderlich.com podcast (ep. 5) about life as an indie developer. The guest spoke about how he tried to keep to a M-F 9-5 work schedule, because it was far too easy to have life become work otherwise. I understand that from my prior 12 years working from home. But yet, it’s totally different when it’s YOUR baby and there’s no guarantee of a paycheck unless you’re slinging code. Plus, when you’re so in love with the work you’re doing, when the ideas and thinking keeps going, you don’t want to stop. Interestingly, I’ve started to look at the clock in terms of “billable hours” and every hour, every 15 minutes, start to feel a different sort of value and pressure. Probably not healthy, but a number of my in-laws have run their own businesses and have told me you get over that in time. 🙂

    Reminds me… my truck needs an oil change, and I think the rear differential gearbox has a small leak. Hopefully that will just require a new gasket.

    So yes, I’m still working to find balance. Still working to find my groove.

    But overall? Things are good. I do not regret the decision. I feel overall happier and healthier, mentally, physically, and emotionally. I’m excited about the work I’m doing, and the business I’m trying to build. I sometimes wish there were two of me (so the other one could handle the boring stuff, like accounting, sales, marketing, contracts, paperwork, etc.). But it’s one heck of an experience.

    For the record, I lean towards “Indie Software Developer”… it sounds cool. 🙂

    2014-05-28 training log

    / hsoi

    Based upon Paul Carter’s Base Building – Mass cycle

    • Squat – working max: 295
      • BW x 10
      • BW x 10
      • bar x 5
      • bar x 5
      • 120 x 5
      • 150 x 4
      • 175 x 3
      • 225 x 2
      • 250 x 1
      • 215 x 11
      • 215 x 6

    Jack shit day. Squat, leave.

    In other news the new Crowbar album, “Symmetry in Black” is out and is awesome music to lift by.

    Do you know what a “Livestock Guardian Dog” is? Let Sasha explain…

    / hsoi / 2 Comments

    My dog, Sasha, is a Kuvasz.

    More cute than intimidating (for now…)

    The Kuvasz is a breed classified as a Livestock Guardian Dog, or LGD for short.

    Often when we discuss this breed or LGDs, people think about herding dogs like Border Collies. No, LGDs aren’t there to herd, they’re there to protect the herd. They aren’t guard dogs either, in the commonly understood sense, like a Doberman, but still they are guards and guardians. They are something unique, but not well-known.

    Cody & Liesl Lockhart of the Candll Lamb & Cattle Co. provide a great introduction and understanding of what LGDs are and their role.

    [vimeo 60354527]

    Here in Central Texas, I see a lot of farms with a “guard donkey” in the paddock, but not too many with LGDs. I have seen a few, and I think it’s a wise notion because of what a strong pack of “sheepdogs” can bring to the table in terms of keeping your stock safe.

    Via the Kuvasz Fanciers FB page, I read a great 3-part series on LGDs by Mother Earth News:

    1. Part 1 – a general introduction to LGD’s
    2. Part 2 – discussion of some of the breeds
    3. Part 3 – more breeds

    An important take-home is that all LGDs are not the same. As example, when people ask about Sasha we tell them she’s a Kuvasz. Most people are unfamiliar with the breed, so we explain it as “you know what a Great Pyrenees is? Similar.” We do that because Pyrs are fairly well-known, and they are similar: both big white fuzzy dogs, both LGDs. But once you get to know them, they are different. Pyrs tend to stay more with the flock and focus on the ground. Kuvasz are more perimeter dogs and will watch the sky. We see this constantly with Sasha, ensuring a secure perimeter, and ensuring those birds (especially the big vultures) keep away from the house.

    LGDs are serious dogs that require serious commitment on the part of the owner. They must have a job, they must be allowed to do their job. This is not a dog you can keep in a crate or alone in the house/apartment for 8-10 hours a day, then hang out with after work. Many people get an LGD breed not understanding what the breed is, and after they realize the strong commitment and work required, give up the dog (always a sad thing). These dogs are not Labs or Beagles, they aren’t a typical “family dog”. But if you can provide what they need over their entire life, they’ll give you something wonderful in return.

    If you know anything about me, you could label me a “sheepdog” (in the Lt. Grossman sense of the word). It stands to reason I’d have a dog that embodies the same qualities.

    2014-05-26 training log

    / hsoi

    Not sure what to make of it.

    Based upon Paul Carter’s Base Building – Mass cycle

    • Incline Press – Working max: 205
      • 45 x 5
      • 45 x 5
      • 85 x 5
      • 105 x 4
      • 125 x 3
      • 155 x 2
      • 175 x 1
      • 160 x 10
      • 160 x 5
    • DB Bench Press
      • 60e x 10
      • 60e x 10
      • 60e x 8
      • 60e x 7
      • 60e x 6
    • Behind the Neck Press
      • 95 x 8
      • 95 x 8
      • 95 x 5
    • BB Upright Row
      • 70 x 12
      • 70 x 12
      • 70 x 12
      • 70 x 12
      • 70 x 12
    • Tricep Pushdowns
      • 50 x 20 – rest pause

    I don’t know what to make of this. Could it be the lack of creatine? Could it be last night’s horrible sleep? Just don’t know.

    But, just one of those days I guess.

    I also think I have some boredom. I almost didn’t want to go to the gym, and I did think to myself “screw it, start the Strong-15 now”. So yeah, maybe it’s just wanting to get moving. Next week will be determining working maxes for Strong-15, then a deload week, then into it. I’m really looking forward to that… I want to get back to that sort of lifting.

    2014-05-23 training log

    / hsoi

    Based upon Paul Carter’s Base Building – Mass cycle

  • BB Rows
    • 140 x 8
    • 140 x 8
    • 140 x 8
    • 140 x 8
    • 140 x 8
  • Seated Cable Rows
    • 100 x 15
    • 100 x 15
    • 100 x 10
  • Meadows Shrugs
    • 50e x 12
    • 50e x 12
    • 50e x 12
    • 50e x 12
    • 50e x 12
  • Wide, Neutral-grip Pulldowns
    • 95 x 15
    • 100 x 12
    • 100 x 12
    • 100 x 12
    • 100 x 12
  • BB Curls
    • 50 x 8
    • 50 x 8
    • 50 x 8, then rest pause

    • Actually felt good today. The rep-deaths of the past 2 sessions didn’t appear to be an issue today.

    I did try some minor tweaks.

    Rows. These are still BB rows, not strict Pendlay Rows, but between each rep I set the bar down on the ground. I kept fairly strict, but just not keeping the bar in the air the whole time. I don’t know why I did this, but I did it and went with it, and it seems better. I felt a lot more worked in my back. I think when I keep it in the air the whole time, my arms bear a lot of the work. But here, I can ensure I come off the ground and really initiate the work with the back. Certainly felt it more in my back than I normally do. Good thing.

    On the Meadows Shrugs, I probably went too light because it wasn’t killing me like it was last week. But I played around with my positioning to try to get a better range of motion. What I settled on was DB’s hanging mostly in front of me, tho not strictly as if I’m holding a bar in front of me (they are DB’s, let them rotate a bit to a natural position). Angle the torso slightly forward at the hips, just very slightly (5º? 10º?). Then “turtle” the head/neck forward. This allows the shoulders to get a little higher at the top. Try it. Suck your chin in and really pull your head back. Shrug your shoulders and hold it up there. Now “turtle” your head/neck/chin forward and see how your shoulders move up a little more? More range of motion. So I’ll go with that

    I also dropped the reps and increased the weight slightly on pulldowns — why not keep experimenting? That felt a LOT better to me, aiming for 12 reps instead of 15. It just worked a bit better, I felt more worked in my back and not in my arms. So, I’ll keep going with that emotion.

    2014-05-21 training log

    / hsoi

    I’m not sure what to make of this.

    Based upon Paul Carter’s Base Building – Mass cycle

    • Squat – working max: 295
      • BW x 10
      • BW x 10
      • bar x 5
      • bar x 5
      • 120 x 5
      • 150 x 4
      • 175 x 3
      • 225 x 2
      • 250 x 1
      • 215 x 10
      • 215 x 5
    • Stiff Leg Deadlift
      • 205 x 8
      • 205 x 8
      • 205 x 8
    • Lunge
      • BW x 10e
      • BW x 10e
      • BW x 10e
      • BW x 10e
    • Standing Calf Raises
      • 45 x 12
      • 45 x 12
      • 45 x 12
      • 45 x 12

    Is it the removal of creatine that’s doing this? I don’t know. I couldn’t squeeze out any more squat reps, and I’m down from last week. But then, I cranked out a full round of stiff-legs, and I did a 4th set of lunges. So I don’t get it. Not really sure what’s up here, but I continue to just press on.

    Meantime, I’m thinking during week 5 I’ll try to determine maxes for the Strong-15 cycle, take week 6 as a light deload (still hit the gym, just light weights for like 3×8 or something), then hit it. I admit, I’m anxious to get started… and I’m pretty sure I’ll find out why Paul Carter calls that one template the “man maker”.

    PanemQuotidianum 1.0.3 released

    / hsoi

    Hsoi Enterprises LLC (my day job, now) has released an update to one of our apps, PanemQuotidianum.

    Full details of the update here.

    If you’re so inclined, please check it out and share it with others.

    Thank you.

     

    2014-05-19 training log

    / hsoi

    Today was… interesting.

    Based upon Paul Carter’s Base Building – Mass cycle

    • Incline Press – Working max:
      • 45 x 5
      • 45 x 5
      • 85 x 5
      • 105 x 4
      • 125 x 3
      • 155 x 2
      • 175 x 1
      • 160 x 14
      • 160 x 4
    • DB Bench Press
      • 60e x 10
      • 60e x 10
      • 60e x 5
      • 60e x 8
      • 60e x 8
    • Behind the Neck Press
      • 95 x 8
      • 95 x 7
      • 95 x 5
    • BB Upright Row
      • 70 x 12
      • 70 x 12
      • 70 x 12
      • 70 x 12
      • 70 x 8
    • Rope Tricep Pushdowns
      • 45 x ? a bunch… rest pause style

    I cranked out 14 reps, then I barely got 4. Huh? Weird. Then while DB pressing, 3rd set I suddenly failed. I was almost done with a 6th rep when suddenly everything just stopped — muscles said “I’m done”. I am not sure if I got out of the groove and things just didn’t happen, but look… I got 2 sets of 8 afterwards. Eh?

    I’m not sure what to make of this.

    I’ve been off creatine for a bit… maybe I’m now starting to see the effects and am losing out on those last few reps? Maybe today just sucked? Maybe I really drained myself on the 14 reps and that sucked it out for the rest of the session? I will say even those 14 turned into a grinder. I really can’t say based on one day. But… it’s curious for sure.

    In other news… I’m continuing to think about what to do when this cycle is done. I am starting to lean towards a 9-week Strong-15 cycle, THEN trying like 6 weeks of basebuilding followed by the Strong-15 short cycle then back to mass/BB-style stuff. I dunno. Key thing is I want to get back to some strength building. Still toying around.

    2014-05-16 training log

    / hsoi

    This was good.

    Based upon Paul Carter’s Base Building – Mass cycle

  • BB Rows
    • 140 x 8
    • 140 x 8
    • 140 x 8
    • 140 x 8
    • 140 x 8
  • Seated Cable Rows
    • 100 x 15
    • 100 x 15
    • 100 x 10
  • Meadows Shrugs
    • 40e x 12
    • 45e x 12
    • 50e x 12
    • 55e x 12
    • 50e x 12
  • Wide, Neutral-grip Pulldowns
    • 95 x 15
    • 95 x 15
    • 95 x 15
    • 95 x 13
    • 95 x 12
  • BB Curls
    • 45 x 21’s
    • 45 x 21’s
    • 45 x 21’s

    • Today was pretty cool.

    Last night Paul Carter posted something to Facebook showing progress of doing “Meadows Shrugs”. These are from John Meadows and it’s basically a DB shrug with a 3 second hold at the top. After 5 weeks, Paul was showing significant growth in his traps. So what the hey… let’s try them! Paul said to go light, so I did and worked up. If I do 4-5×12, I think 50’s will probably get me by for now. I will say, that hold… it does get to you, so you really have to squeeze and then squeeze harder to maintain it. If anything tho, my grip was getting tired before my traps were, but that’s OK too as grip work is never a bad thing. Afterwards? I can say I’ve never had a pump like this in my traps. I’m going to keep at them for this cycle. Why not?

    That said, the methodology spilled over to my pulldowns. See, a common problem I have with my back work is my arms get too involved. So I work to take them out of the equation as much as I can. Cues like to ensure from the hands, it’s the pinky that does the work. Or that really when pulling, I pull from the elbows, not the hands. Alas, these cues do well to keep my arms out, but not always to then ensure I fully involve the back. All too often I do wind up with my arms being the weak link and they peed out before my back does. So when I moved over to the pulldowns, those don’t work for me to do a hold — my arms bear the brunt. So I tried instead that when I got down, to give it a little more pull — like a crunch, like a squeeze, to really get my back/lats a little more tight without getting my arms any further involved. That seemed to help out. So this may be something I have to do for my back — more “tricks” and things to continue to get full-range of motion and less arm involvement, while getting my back muscles actually worked hard.

    Funny thing then… my arms didn’t get as much work as usual, so I did some 21’s (7 full reps, 7 top-half reps, 7 bottom-half reps) at the end.

    One thing I’m not sure how it factors in… a few changes.

    First, sleep seems to be getting better for me. Still weird, but I see increments of progress.

    Second, I am cutting out all caffeine. I propped myself up pretty badly over the past 1-1.5 years due to the day job. While I would then taper, I’d still do things like take a 200mg capsule before lifting or drink iced tea. Dropped those.

    Third, I’ve cut out creatine. I don’t cycle it — take it steady. While I don’t think this was having a negative impact on me, if I do wind up wanting to get a blood test to see if I may have some deeper issue with my sleep and such, I’d like to not have the artificially elevated creatine levels.

    Anyways, today was a lot better than last week. So, we’ll just see how things work out over time.