Me

Shootin’ practice

/ hsoi / 15 Comments

Got to do some live fire practice.

It was telling. sigh

Started with the Farnam Drill, cold. Whoa, I’ve gotten slow. My accuracy was spot on, but I was just too damn slow. As well, the auto-forward “feature” of the M&P continues to irritate me. I opted to just let it go, then the gun proceeded to go “click” because it didn’t put one in the chamber. Sorry, but this is not a feature unless it’s 100% reliable, and it’s not. I actually had a serious thought about switching to a Glock 19 and being done with it. Seriously.

Ran Karl’s current version of “3 Seconds or Less“. Was doing great until I pulled the one-handed shots. Dang it.

Shot the first stage of the IDPA Classifier. That went alright. My transitions were, you guessed it, slow. Slow was the theme of the day. I got better tho. Certainly was much faster here than I was when I started.

So I wound up shooting a bunch of Bill Drills at 3 and 7 yards. My goal was to just push myself and watch the front sight bounce. I wanted to get faster, push myself faster faster faster. I was hitting .33 or so splits at 7 yards (ugh) but had a really good cadence and all A-zone hits. I pushed myself and got down to .25 splits, with good cadence and all A-zone hits. See? That’s what I needed. I also started around like a 2 second concealment draw and got down to like a 1.5 concealment and a 1.3 open carry draw.

Finished up with some slow-fire group shooting.

A lot came down to some simple things:

  1. Just go faster, damnit. I can go faster, it’s not above the speed I can go. But I’ve always been a “mosey” kind of guy, and I just need to go faster. This is mostly about just physically being faster (i.e. sprint, don’t mosey). But it’s also mental: to let/allow myself go faster. To push myself faster because….
  2. No matter how much I know better, my brain still wants to see more than it needs to, in terms of sight picture. That’s part of why the Bill Drills — just shoot and observe, let the brain and eyes just see what’s there and accept “this is as much as you need”. I get acceptable hits, so I just have to keep trusting myself. I think dry fire is actually backfiring on me in this regard, because there everything winds up being “perfect” and you don’t get the feedback of where the shot actually went.
  3. Grip the hell out of the gun and keep focused on that front sight. That last Bill Drill was more of a complete mag dump – 17 rounds, and I just clamped down and kept focused on the front sight. When it was where it needed to be, pressed the trigger. That .25 split was pretty constant through the entire run.

Anyways, things to really work on:

  • One shot draws. This will help me move, get on the gun, get it out, get it to the target quickly, and press off a smooth shot. Call the shot, allow the sight alignment to be acceptable enough for the distance. In fact, if there’s any one thing I work on in dry practice, it should probably be this. Work to consistently hit at least a 1.5 second par time, from concealment.
  • One-handed shooting. I haven’t done much on this in a while, and obviously have regressed.
  • Set up multiple dry targets and work on transitions. Again, speed.
  • Working on reloads wouldn’t be bad either. Again, speed.

There are other things I can do, but that will keep me for a while.

2014-05-14 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 12
    • 215 x 5
  • Stiff Leg Deadlift
    • 205 x 8
    • 205 x 8
    • 205 x 4
  • Walking Lunge
    • BW x 10e
    • BW x 10e
    • BW x 10e
  • Standing Calf Raises
    • 45 x 12
    • 45 x 12
    • 45 x 12

I am adjusting to this workload. The 73% working max is ass-kicking, especially doing the 50% style. But it’s a good level of work here, and reps increase week over week. So, all good.

This is just a lot of work, so I dropped the leg presses. I’ll try to come back to them in time, but for now, I’m pretty damn worked.

Did standing vs. seated raises, mostly due to other people in the gym and equipment access. No worries. I kept the methodology the same. I’m doing more ankle work outside of the gym too, mostly simple things like full range movement, stretches, rotations, etc.. I noticed some improvement today when in the “down” position, so I think that’s all paying off and getting me my range of motion back as well as continuing to strengthen the ankle.

I have to admit… I started feeling a twinge of wanting to not do Base Building after this cycle and instead do a 9-week Strong-15. I debate. I want to get my strength back up, but I know that base building would probably be better for me in the long run. It would help my conditioning, build more mass, and build a more solid strength base. So, I’ll just keep thinking about it.

2014-05-12 training log

/ hsoi

Solid.

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 13
    • 160 x 5
  • DB Bench Press
    • 60e x 10
    • 60e x 10
    • 60e x 9
    • 60e x 7
    • 60e x 6
  • Behind the Neck Press
    • 90 x 8
    • 90 x 8
    • 90 x 8
  • BB Upright Row
    • 60 x 15
    • 60 x 15
    • 60 x 15
    • 60 x 15
    • 60 x 13
  • Tricep Pushdowns
    • 40 x bunch… rest-pause… some more… rest-pause… a few more

Today felt solid. Nothing really more to say.

Tho I will say, I’m kinda itching to try the base-building part. And I even wonder if I’ll have the patience to do it for so many weeks with what will seem (on paper) like a lack of progress. Maybe I’m feeling impatient to get my numbers back up. I was reading some Cube Method group postings where a bunch of people just finished a 10-week cycle under Brandon and seeing how they all increased their numbers got me itching. But I need to be patient.

2014-05-09 training log

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

Something’s not right with me….

Based upon Paul Carter’s Base Building – Mass cycle

  • BB Rows
    • 140 x 8
    • 140 x 8
    • 140 x 8
    • 140 x 7
    • 140 x 5
  • Seated Cable Rows
    • 95 x 15
    • 95 x 15
    • 95 x 15
  • Shrugs
    • 155 x 20
    • 155 x 20
    • 155 x 20
    • 155 x 16
    • 155 x 12
  • Wide, Neutral-grip Pulldowns
    • 95 x 15
    • 95 x 15
    • 95 x 15
    • 95 x 10
    • 85 x 12
  • BB Curls
    • 45 x 12
    • 45 x 10
    • 45 x 10

    • I don’t know what it is, but I’m just wonky.

    The best I can figure, when I step back and look at the whole of my life right now, is my body is reacting to my life change. My sleep is all messed up, tho it shows signs of normalizing. I’m more stressed out than I realized. I’ve been propping myself up with caffeine on and off for the past 2 years, and I’ve essentially given it up for the past week.

    I think my body is crashing, trying to deal with all of this. Bleah.

    It’s probably just going to take time to normalize. Try to get as much rest as I can. Eat well. Keep exercising. I’ll get there.

    I have thought tho that it might be good to visit a doctor and get a full blood panel done, looking at everything (including test levels). I’ll give it a little bit tho. Let myself attempt to normalize first.

    But anyways, today was what it was. Overall not too bad. Rest periods were very short and tight. I got to the gym much later than I have been, so there were others there. I kept earbuds in and just wanted to focus on lifting, so I kept a very tight watch of the clock and probably took 45-60 seconds of rest between sets, fairly strictly. Not a bad thing.

    Got my work in, and away I go.

    Regarding “base building”

    / hsoi

    When I want to really understand something, I have to keep coming back to it. So I read or take a class or whatever gets me started. Then I go do it for a bit, then come back and read the book again or take another class, then do it again. Sometimes I step away for a bit and forget about it, doing something else with my time. Then I come back and do it all again. Every time I do this, my understanding deepens.

    And so, I’ve been reading and re-reading Paul Carter’s 3 eBooks to digest his training strategy, programs, and philosophy. It started out out of need, because while I really love Paul’s writing and think he’s a very knowledgable and insightful person, I found the eBooks are a wee disjointed and unorganized — at least upon first read. The more I reread the 3 books, the more it all starts to gel because all the information is in there, but maybe the explanation for one thing is in another book, or the knowledge to really grok the concepts just has to come from immersion in his concepts. So reading and rereading his stuff has been quite useful because the more I do it, the more I understand.

    So from this, I’m looking at his “base building” as the plan to follow for a while. I think what appeals to me about it (vs. Big-15, Strong-15, or other programs) is that it is about getting stronger through volume. How you look at guys like Coan and Kaz, and they were strong as hell and big as an ox. It’s a philosophy you find in the Cube Method as well. How the entire base building cycle you might stick with the same weight, but if you can move it faster, move it to a point where the last rep of the last set is like nothing — that’s getting stronger, that’s building the base.

    But it really sunk in the other morning in an unlikely way.

    I live in a 2-story house. When we first move into the house, all the going up and down the stairs was tiring! We’d find our legs getting tired from all the stair walking. Now granted, this isn’t a huge stress, but it was still something our bodies had to adjust to. After a week of this, the body was no longer tired. After months of this, we could fly up and down the stairs all day long, 2-steps at a time, and it was no problem.

    This is base building, to speak.

    It hit me again recently. See, after 2 years of working in an office and with my home office being upstairs, well… many times I would come home, dump my bag on the floor, and that was it for me for the night. I might go a couple days before I went upstairs. Then I had my ankle injury and didn’t go up the stairs much at all. Some weeks ago, I tried going up the stairs 2 at a time, and could not — my left leg was just not happy about it. It looks like between the ankle injury, the fasciitis, then doing a lot of compensation to avoid aggravating those conditions well… I lost something in my left leg (which I even noticed when squatting). This is part of why I’m wanting to do more one-legged work, to help remedy this.

    Well, in the week I’ve been back full-time at home, I’ve been doing a lot more stair walking. I didn’t realize it at first, but after a week I looked back and realized that yeah, it was something I had to adapt to again (the ankle/leg problems made it more evident). I also made some other adjustments in how I walk so I was no longer compensating for my pain, instead trying to be smart about working through it to help overcome the issues. So far, it’s working, because things are strengthening.

    And again, this is base building.

    I’m not changing weights, I’m not changing reps, but I am working the same thing over, faster, quicker, shorter. There’s more intensity, and trying to build up a more solid foundation of strength so that I’m just strong and keeping that strength. We tend to measure progress in the weight room primarily by more weight on the bar and secondary by doing more reps. But there are other factors too, and this is where base building is.

    So ok…. it’s going to be many months before I really know how this works out for me, but the more I think about it, the more I read and experience…. yeah, the more it makes sense to me.

    2014-05-07 training log

    / hsoi

    I guess today would be a -10% day

    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 4
    • Walking Lunge
      • BW x 10 each leg
      • BW x 10 each leg
      • BW x 10 each leg
    • Seated Calf Raises
      • 25 x 5 — for… I don’t know how many sets. See below.

    If I had to classify today, I’d have to put it into the -10% column. I’m pooped. Since I changed my employment position, I’ve not gotten much sleep. I sleep maybe 4-5 hours, wake up because I need to go to the bathroom, then cannot get back to bed because my brain starts going. I think the job situation allows me more freedom, but is also bringing a little more stress and worry. I’ll adapt and figure things out in time. But meantime, I’m not getting enough rest.

    Compounding it, yesterday I didn’t get much sleep at all, then woke up and dealt with a picnic table all day. Drove up to Michele’s uncle’s house (about 2 hours away), loaded it up, hauled it back, stained and assembled it. It’s a nice table, but it was just a lot of labor. Spending 4-5 hours yesterday “bent over” to stain it really took a toll on my lower back and glutes. But at least the lack of sleep coupled with that work made me sleep like a rock for about 8.5 hours. Huzzah! Maybe that’s what I needed to help me kick my rhythms to where they need to be — blessing in disguise.

    That said, the session wasn’t horrible. It was my first using adjusted squat numbers per Paul Carter’s percentages (Big-15 style). I kept the tempo up, basically changing plates then squatting again — little rest. That 250 didn’t go up like a rocket (first indication it was a -10% day). And the 215 reps? Holy geez…. last week I was doing 185 for reps, and today 215 for almost the same number of reps. That felt good, but oye… that, plus yesterday, took a bunch out of me.

    I did my first set of stiff-legs and barely made it to 8. I started feeling dizzy, and I mentally checked out… thus the 4 reps on the second set. I just did not want to risk passing out while lifting and totally psyched myself out. I figured given my recovery situation it wasn’t best to push it too crazy. Skipped the leg presses and just did walking lunges. I want to do some one-legged work to help my ankle situation. I settled on walking lunges because I think that will also help me emphasize some posture improvements too…. plus it’s less boring to walk than to just work “in place”.

    After that, seated-calf raises because again, my ankle. This was interesting tho. I did NOT want to go heavy because it was more about getting the most from the movement for my ankle. I just put 25# on for a cursory weight. I would settle into the bottom position… maybe a good 5 seconds, really letting things settle in and stretch. I can tell I have some shortened mobility in my left ankle due to things, so I just let the stretch settle in — hurt a little bit (like “bad way” hurt), so I didn’t push it but did try to improve. I’d slowly raise up, hold for a couple seconds, then lower, stretch, and repeat. I could only manage about 5 reps each time because the pads resting on my lower thighs started cutting off circulation enough that my pumped/burning quads got upset with me. 😉 So I’d get about 5 reps, then rest a few seconds to let the blood flow in my thighs again, then do it again. I have no idea how many sets and reps I did. It didn’t exhaust me at all, but it did feel good for my ankle and that’s more of what I need right now.

    I also had an epiphany regarding “base building”. I’ll write on that separately.

    So, not an awesome day, but not too bad. I got the main work in, and what I really needed with acessories (ankle) I got. So, life goes on. And hopefully sleep will improve.

    2014-05-05 training log

    / hsoi

    Oh what the heck… let’s keep going.

    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 11
      • 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
      • 90 x 8
      • 90 x 8
      • 90 x 6
    • BB Upright Row
      • 60 x 15
      • 60 x 15
      • 60 x 15
      • 60 x 12
    • Tricep Pushdowns
      • 40 x 20
      • 40 x 20

    Originally I was planning to take this week off. The thinking was, given my shift to being a full-time indie software developer, I was going to take a little time off to allow my body to rest and recoup. Well, I’ve seen a couple things. First, I’m getting more rest simply because I have the time and schedule flexibility. If I need a mid-day nap, I’m taking it. Sure it means my work day shifts and there’s “more work”, but that’s alright if it also means I’m getting more rest. Second, taking that mid-day nap might become a problem. What’s happening is I’m taking one heck of a nap — 2-3 hours. This isn’t good. While it’s good for recovery, it’s not good for having a solid rhythm to the day and getting things done. I really need to start establishing my new routine, my new habits, and lifting is a part of that.

    Besides, I’m feeling pretty good so onwards.

    The key about what I’m doing now is trying to adhere more strictly to Paul Carter’s programs. I am focusing mostly out of his “Base Building” eBook, and so I start off with a 6-week mass building cycle. I was mostly there — you can see this isn’t very different from the prior cycle. But the one big change was the 5-4-3-2-1 “over-warm-up” work up. That was at Paul’s scheduled percentages and boy, it’s a lot lower than I had been working at. The 50% work was where it needed to be. It just felt strange, but I don’t think there was much loss or problem, when I look at how the rest of the session went. We’ll see how it carries over in time and how it works out for me.

    Time to do my own thing

    / hsoi / 14 Comments

    Today, I step out to be on my own.

    I’m leaving the world of W-2 employment to become a full-time independent software developer. I’m making Hsoi Enterprises my full-time gig.

    I’m excited, happy, and yes, scared. But very much looking forward to this.

    Why am I doing this?

    I’ve primarily worked for someone else all my life. But for over 20 years I’ve done side-project work to help scratch my own itches. Four years ago I got more formal with it when I founded Hsoi Enterprises LLC. So I’ve always been semi-indie, and one could say today’s event is just the next step in the evolution. But certainly my primary income came from being a salaried employee in someone else’s company.

    There’s multiple reasons why I’m doing this. I’ll share two: one business, one personal.

    My Own Road

    Every good work of software starts by scratching a developer’s personal itch.
    – Eric S. Raymond

    I like to create useful, meaningful software that enriches and improves people’s lives. Throughout my career, things I’ve done on my own usually happened because I had an itch to scratch, a need to satisfy. The best software always is the software that the developers themselves use regularly. But often, the direction of a product is pushed by people that don’t use the software, or care more about selling the software than about the use of and users of that software – this often leads to less than good software (and the users are left unsatisfied). Long ago I came to terms about the balance between “good” and “good enough”, the need to ship even if it’s not perfect because we need to make money to keep the lights on in our ivory tower so we can keep working towards “good” (thanx, Doug!). So I grant all the realities of business. But by the same token, I firmly believe if one writes excellent software, it pays off greater dividends in the long run. This is not only in the form of revenue, but also in reputation and goodwill. Conversely, if one keeps shipping shoddy software, if users are constantly frustrated and hate your product, that just isn’t a solid business model.

    I’m tired of compromising on this front. I know you can make good products, have happy customers, and still make money. Look at Apple, which is probably why I’ve been an Mac and iOS guy all my life but also why I believe you can have gorgeous, user-satisfying products, good reputation, and succeed. Look at Liberty Bottleworks. Look at EliteFTS. No, you cannot please everyone, nor should you try. But you can ensure you please yourself, that you hold yourself to high standards, and work to build a solid reputation with satisfied customers.

    I want to make awesome software. I want to make more useful things. I want to make people’s lives better. And I won’t get to where I want to be unless I travel my own road.

    My Family – Along for the Ride

    [I] do not believe in quality time but quantity time. I do thinking creating great memories is important but not as much as “being there”. Because of this I work a lot of strange and odd hours.

    – Dave Tate, owner EliteFTS, talking about his kids and who he is

    When I was growing up, my Dad wasn’t around much. It was just due to the nature of his job, and his dedication to it. As a kid, I resented this because while it was nice to have money and nice stuff, what I really wanted was my Dad. So of course I did what all kids do regarding their parental shortcomings: swear to do better when I’m a parent! For me, that meant being around for my kids. (BTW, I got over my resentment many many years ago, because I came to understand Dad much better as I got older… but a story for another time).

    Early on in my professional software development career, I saw how this was a job that could be worked remotely. This is not a job that requires being on-site; yes there are benefits to being on-site, but it’s not a hard-and-fast requirement. I also saw how due to this fact, you could have a bit of a non-standard life (I’m looking at you, Robin Mair and Greg Dow). This greatly appealed to me, and I set about making full-time remote/telework a hard-requirement for any job I took in the future.

    Due to that dedication and focus, I was able to spend 12 years working full-time out of my house. One way I can sum it up is that when Oldest took his first steps, I learned about it via a phone call from Wife. When Daughter took her first steps, I got a phone call. But when Youngest took his first steps, it was right to me because I was home. 🙂 Over those 12 years, I got to be deeply involved with my family on a daily, even hourly, basis. That’s precious to me.

    People keep bringing up those death-bed regrets, and no one says they wished they worked more, that they wished they had less time with their family.

    See, much of life tends to boil down to two things: time and money. I can always get more money, but I can not get more time. Time is the more precious of the two.

    After the 12 years at home, I took a job in an office. I spent 2 years there. It was an educational experience in many regards, and I’m happy I went back for the experience because I learned much from the good and from the bad. But the biggest thing I took from it was that that was not the life for me. The precious time wasted being stuck in traffic every day. The orchestration of life around a time-clock and someone else’s notion of what “productive” meant. It just wasn’t working for me. This isn’t a slight against any employer in specific, it’s regarding that sort of life in general. It is not for me and does not enable me to best satisfy myself and provide for my family that which is most important — me.

    Working at home gives me the ability to be around my family all day every day (helped in part because we homeschool). Yes, some people think, as a result of our work/school situation, we live an insular lifestyle. No, we just are a tight family. This work setup, the ability to have a more flexible work schedule, allows me to provide my children what I believe is right and best for them, including mentorship as they embark on their own business ventures. What’s funny to me is I’ve thought about having daily “stand-up meetings” with the family. Yes Dad, your daily asking of “Son, what did you do today that was productive?” has come full circle. 🙂

    Yes I know. The life I’m leaving is the life many of us live with. Understand this is a personal preference for the road I wish to journey down. I have friends who prefer working in an office; it’s just not my preference. I have friends that consider commuting to be a useful endeavor; I don’t. I know what my priorities are in life, what I want out of the life I have left on this Earth, including what I wish to provide for my family, and well… tho I’m scared and have no idea how this will work out, I’m closing my eyes and taking the plunge.

    What’s Ahead

    For the immediate future, it’s about getting established. I have infrastructure to firm up.

    I already have some projects to work on, and I actually will  be contracting back with my (now) former day-job for a time and helping them find a replacement for me and transition to that replacement person. For the record, I am thankful for the support and mentorship I’ve received from Lee and Carrie Little, founders and owners of Bar-Z Adventures.

    If you or someone (some company) you know is looking for a solid software developer, drop me a line. 🙂

    Meantime, I forge ahead. I don’t know how this will work out, and honestly while there’s much about this situation that I’ve done before, there’s much that’s new and novel — I don’t know how it will go, or even if it will wind up being the right road for me to travel. But still, I look forward to the challenges, to the new experiences, and the hope for the life I wish for myself and my family. If nothing else, it’ll be an interesting experience, and I’m thankful for the opportunity.

    2014-04-30 training log

    / hsoi

    Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

    • Squat
      • BW x 10
      • BW x 10
      • bar x 5
      • bar x 5
      • 135 x 5
      • 185 x 3
      • 225 x 1
      • 265 x 1
      • 295 x 1

    That’s all I did. Work my way up to determine a good every-day-max. I had been doing 285 and it felt a little struggle last week, but this week… I just felt good. Perhaps the lesser work, but I think it’s also in part due to the belt. See, I’ve been lifting belt-less for many months but recently started using it again on my heavier sets. I’m remembering how to use it, and finding that gee… I haven’t been getting as full-body-tight as I should be getting. Today’s big cues were “body tight” and “speed”. I made sure my grip on the bar was white-knuckle, that my upper body was tight too. The belt really helps with that feedback, more than I realized. Then I made sure I went down fast (not an uncontrolled drop, no bounce at the bottom), but that it wasn’t a slow lowering… get down, then power back up. I think between the tight and speed, that helped me get the 295 easily. I consider that good. I do feel I could have pushed harder and ground out a higher 1RM — I think 305 was in me for a grinder. But this isn’t about a grinder, it’s about an EDM. The 295 felt good enough to call it quits.

    I am still bummed to see how much strength I’ve lost. But between the poor diet plan and then the injury, some loss was inevitable. Still, this is only 20# away from my best of 315, so that’s not bad at all. Frankly if I work this all right (thinking 6 weeks mass building, 9 weeks base building, then the 5 week short-cycle), I don’t see why I shouldn’t get my 20# back… maybe a little more.

    Anyways, I’m going to take the rest of this week and all of next week off. I’ve started getting more rest in terms of pure sleep but also the lack of lifting is less stress on my body. I can already feel improvement, especially in my legs and left ankle. I want to focus on as much rest and recovery as possible. If I know what’s good for me, I will still do something at home, like foam roll, stretch, some bodyweight exercises (e.g. deep knee bends, push ups, etc.). But the key is rest.