Battles I have fought

The log has moved.

2008-12-08T21:42:00.001-08:00

I've moved my training log to the dragondoor forum.
Here it is.

20081206

2008-12-06T21:34:00.001-08:00

Snatches
24 kg.
5 sets of 10/10
32 kg.
3 sets of 5/5

Nail bending
4 yellow nails
1 blue nail

20081204

2008-12-05T00:10:00.000-08:00

TGU
28 kg. 1/1, 1/1
32 kg. 1/1, 1/1
40 kg. 1/1
32 kg. 2/2

Double Clean and Press
24 kg.
3x3

Armbar-Get Up- Windmill
(Picked this up from Adam Glass)
24 kg. 1/1, 1/1
28 kg. 1/1

3 Yellow nails bent
1 Blue nail bent

20081202

2008-12-02T23:55:00.000-08:00

Max VO2
16 kg.
50 sets
Half at 8 reps, half at 7
---
I'm still coughing and not feeling 100% so I dropped to the 16 kg. I think I'll be back on the 20 kg. next week. This cold doesn't want to leave. I hate feeling weak.

Training

2008-12-01T21:47:00.000-08:00

20081129
--
First day back at it. Mixed bottoms up presses and nail bending. Solid BUP on the 20 and 24 kg. Three yellow nails down.

20081130
---
Max VO2
20 kg.
6 reps
40 sets with one break.
This was bad. No comment. Still a little sick obviously.

20081201
---
5 bodyweight pull ups to heavy presses. Either 1/1 32 kg. or 2/2 28 kg.
6 sets
3 yellow nails bent. Have to work on technique. One was clean, two I had to brace against my leg to get the initial kink.

20081125

2008-11-26T18:23:00.001-08:00

Short Workout

Pistols
1x16 kg.
1x24 kg.
1x28 kg.
1x32 kg.
All right leg as I'm still working out that tweak in the left. Didn't notice it today, but I'm playing it safe.

Zercher squats
3x135
3x185
3x205

Bent one yellow nail and bowed two
---
Ok, I must lower my battle flag for now. I am sick. I was sick during this workout. I haven't been sick in about 4 years, and I denied it as long as I could, but I have finally been taken down. If I feel better friday I'll get back in.

20081124

2008-11-24T11:09:00.001-08:00

Max VO2
---
20 kg.
40 sets
10 sets at 7 reps
30 sets at 6 reps.

I'm still manipulating variables to work my way back up to 80 sets of 7.

Did some of the Bulletproof abs drills as well.

20081121

2008-11-21T17:11:00.000-08:00

Max VO2
---
20 kg.
40 sets
6 reps

This wasn't that hard. I primarily stopped because I don't want to just dive in and kill myself. The only negating factor was my hands, as I haven't been on top of my calluses the way I should be. No rips though. :)
I'm gradually tuning it up. Next Monday I'll bring it up to 50 sets. I think I'm going to hit 80 sets regularly. It didn't work for me before, but I may have a different reaction now. I need crazy work capacity to hit 100 reps on the 32 kg. in five minutes. I'm confident I can do this, I just have to be perfect. Diet, training, no room for error. I'm back on the warrior diet solid now and I already feel better.

20081119

2008-11-19T11:22:00.000-08:00

Max VO2
---
First day back at it. I've done almost zero cardio since the TSC so I expected this to be a slaughter, but it wasn't that bad.

40 sets total
30 sets of 6 reps on the 20 kg.
10 sets of 7 on the 16 kg.

had to drop back at the end as I was a little sloppy and my back started to fire up. No problem, easy fix. The 16 kg. felt like a toy.

20081118

2008-11-18T18:57:00.001-08:00

Bench Press
6x3 165 lbs.
Close Grip Bench Press
4x3 155 lbs.

---
Today I decided I will do the TSC in April, so I'm going to start spinning up now. Deadlift is strong, and I'm staying around 175. I'm going to hit the vo2 possibly tomorrow. We'll see how I feel. I was feeling pretty toasted today, but a light vo2 and thursday off may be just what I need. I mean really light, like I'm dropping back to the 16 kg.
Hopefully all the work I've been doing will pay off with a bigger deadlift and being able to keep the 32 kg. up longer during the snatch test.

20081117

2008-11-17T22:38:00.000-08:00

Squat Day
---
3x3 225 lbs.
3x2 275 lbs.
3x1 295 lbs.

This worked pretty well for me. I'll push it up in the coming weeks, I just have to correct some tightness issues I don't want to push. I got some recommendations from Rif on a lifting belt so I'll pursue that. I read something from Louie Simmons about Squats with a belt helping to correct pelvic tilts, but I'm not sure if that was anterior or posterior specific.

Zercher squats

2x3 135 lbs.
1x3 185 lbs.

I love these. Need to keep on them and toughen up a bit.

Did some ab work, weighted pull downs. I never do ab specific stuff, so we'll see how I feel tomorrow. :)

20081115

2008-11-15T17:03:00.000-08:00

Nail bending and get ups
---
I just alternated between heavy get ups and nail bending. All get ups were on the 32 kg. and the 40 kg. I worked out what the problem has been on my right, and Tara confirmed it. My externally rotated right foot is breaking up the chain of strength on my right side. When I corrected it Bam! problem solved.
I bent a handful of green nails easily and then bent two yellow nails.
I hit the presses on the 32 kg. and managed three solid reps on the right and I could have hit 4 or 5. Left side... 1. That's bad. I'm going to start working my left side harder. This is unacceptable.

20081114

2008-11-14T22:12:00.000-08:00

Squat Day
---
2x5 225 lbs.
2x2 275 lbs.
2x1 295 lbs.

Nothing too difficult here. I made it more difficult by being very exacting with my form. I realized the other day I've been in more of an Olympic style squat stance with how narrow I was, so I reviewed some video of good squatters and adopted a more powerlifting appropriate wide stance. I then narrowed it down a bit to accommodate my hips (I have none) and it was just right.
What was I just saying the other day about feeling weird in my own body at 175? My massage therapist identified the beginning of a C curve in my thoracic spine yesterday, so I really need to change the method of recovery I'm doing and even out my right and left sides. The working theory right now is that my right side is so much stronger it's pulling the spine that way.
Cool. I'm strong. :)

20081112

2008-11-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

I got in to Equinox early this morning to do some instruction for one of the trainers, so I used my time waiting to bend some nails. I got a shipment from fat bastard barbell the other night of some new stock, a horseshoe, and some leather and suede wraps. These wraps make a big difference, I just have to work on getting them tighter.
I achieved a significant bow of the yellow (60D) nail. I got so caught up in it that I didn't realize at one point I flipped the nail and bent it back nearly straight. Duh. Based upon this I'm confident I'll bend the yellow nail before the year is out.
I'll most likely head back this afternoon during my break to pull some deadlifts, at which point I'll update this
---
Deadlifts

3x3 315
3x2 335
3x1 355

All went well, not that difficult. I have to re-test my max in the next few weeks and see what I can pull. I think I may be well past 405. We'll see. The squatting has made a tremendous improvement in my leg strength and power breaking from the floor. I see a 495 lbs. pull in the not so distant future.
Today I'm solidly at 175. I'll get more in depth with this later, but I'm adjusting to my own body. I've never been this big before, not even close. It may not seem that big, but for me it is.

I wrapped up with some curls using the Olympic barbell, one handed. I like these as they force me to maximize tension.
3x3/3 45 lbs.

20081111

2008-11-12T12:04:00.000-08:00

Bench Day
---
I may have to retract some of the evil things I've said about the bench press. For all intents and purposes I do still believe for most people it ends up doing more harm than good, but for me it is generating some positive benefits.

Bench Press
4 sets of 1, 2, and 3 reps at 165.
These all went up pretty easily. I can definitely do more, so my strength is increasing quickly here.

Close Grip Bench Press
4x3 145 pounds

Bent some green nails from odd angles, including one bend performed while doing a pistol.

20081110

2008-11-10T13:24:00.001-08:00

Squats
---
This was really an off day. Didn't get my nutrition right this morning due to travel and felt weak. All in all I did okay. Pushed the squats a little bit.

2x5 225 lbs.
2x5 245 lbs.
1x3 275 lbs.

Last set at 275 felt solid. I know I can bring it over 300 lbs.

Clean and alt. press
24 kg's 2 sets of 6
32 kg. Cleaned them up and got one rep on the right, but it wasn't happening.

Renegade Rows
2x6 24 kg's
1x6 32 kg's

Farmer's walks
50 feet with a 24 kg. and 16 kg. in each hand
50 feet with a 32 kg. and a 16 kg. in each hand

I love these. I need to chalk up next time so I can get more distance. I can get a 32 and 24 in each hand.

20081108

2008-11-08T12:16:00.000-08:00

High Volume Pressing
---
18 sets of 3/3 on the 28 kg.
This went pretty well. I really need to attack my form more, as I can definitely get lazy when the weight is going up easily. I had to drop to the 24 kg. for the last rep on a few of the left arm sets.
All in all I'm pretty pleased with how this went. My pressing strength is definitely better as I didn't even get close to this number when I hit the 28 kg. at the end of the High/Low volume cycle.

I hit 3 sets of bent over rows with double 32 kg. for 5 reps each. Just because.

20071107

2008-11-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

Squat Day

3 sets of 5 reps- 225 lbs.
2 sets of 5 reps- 245 lbs.

I'm getting better with this, ironing out nuances of technique.

Note: Had a conversation with a friend of mine who works as a trainer at Equinox and has a strong powerlifting background. He has observed my squat and noted that while I have a pretty narrow stance it doesn't seem to be a problem, and that I'm getting pretty deep. So far so good.

Nail Bending
15 green nails back to back.

I can't say this was ever really hard. I don't think the yellow nail should be stopping me like this. I'm going to do some serious studying this weekend and work on technique. Right index finger is already feeling better.

Overhead sit ups
24 kg. 5/5
32 kg. 3/3

TGU (two bells in one hand)
24 kg.
1/1
1/1
28 kg.
1/1
1/1

I like these more and more.

174 lbs. today. Holy crap I'm a giant. :)

20081107

2008-11-07T08:09:00.000-08:00

Pull Ups
---
Ugh. I've officially decided to hold off on the Beast Challenge until June at RKC II or August at UCLA RKC.
At best I'm holding my ground with pull ups as my weight goes up, and I don't see that changing quickly enough to hit February. No big deal. I still have nails to bend and a TSC in April.

Pull Ups
4 sets of 2 with 10 kg.

Took down a couple of green nails, but my right index finger is tweaked out, which leaves me with only two working fingers on my right hand.

20081105

2008-11-05T13:12:00.000-08:00

Deadlift
---
I bumped things up to base my percentages on an estimated 420 lbs. max pull.

3x3 315 lbs.
3x2 335 lbs.
3x1 355 lbs.

This feel like it's right where it should be. The final sets were actually easier than the light ones as I had to employ all of my tension and lock everything down.

Jumpstretch/Kettlebell Crush Curls
3x5 with a 16 kg. bell and a purple JS band
I'm going to work into these as well once I get the chain and D ring to set up the rig.

Recovery has not been good. My hamstrings felt tight today and I've been having some neck/trap issues that led to a piercing pain behind my right ear for two days. Like I keep saying, lack of recovery will bite you in the ass, and I got bit.
I've been doing what I always do as far as rolling and stretching, but I didn't take the increased size and strength translating into more tightness into account. I'm going to start treating my massage appointments like doctor's appointments. I also have the stretching seminar with Pavel on Nov. 22nd in Sacramento, so I should pick up some new tricks there.

20081104

2008-11-04T12:41:00.001-08:00

Bench Day
---
All exercises were supersetted, so not done in this order.

Bench Press
160 lbs.
4 sets of 1, 2, 3

Mil. Press
28 kg.
10 sets of 1/1

Bottoms up press
20 kg.
3 sets of 1/1

Double kettlebell one handed press
2 12 kg. kettlebells in one hand
3 sets of 3/3

Close Grip Bench Press
4x3 140 lbs.

Suitcase Deadlift
3x1/1 135 lbs.

This all went very well and I got a lot of quality work done. Hitting some variety on the presses helps. I'm going to bring back the kneeling presses and start hitting those harder. Bench is getting better and better. To what end i don't know. Ego. :)

Today I weigh 173 lbs. I am the heaviest I have ever been, and I'm not fat yet.

20081102

2008-11-03T23:38:00.000-08:00

Squats
---
5x5 225 lbs.
Pinch Plate curls (2 10 lbs. plates) 3x5
Nail bending
Tried to straighten out some green nails. got them back to a right angle, mostly. :)

My schedule is a little goofy for the next couple of weeks, so some days will shift around.
Tomorrow I'm going to sit down and lock down the new routine. What I've been doing has been okay as I'm basing it around three primary lifts to bring overall strength up, but I need to get specific again. I still want to fit in the squats, deads, and bench press, but I need to hit the presses and pull ups harder, so I'm going to take it back to the low/ high volume approach.

It should look something like this-

Day 1: Squats/ Swings
Day 2: Bench/ Low Volume Mil Press
Day 3: Deadlift/ Heavy Swings
Day 4: Off
Day 5: High Volume Pull Ups
Day 6: Squats/ Swings
Day 7: Nail Bending/ High Volume Presses

Assistance exercises to be rotated in: Jump Stretch crush lifts, suitcase deadlifts, Windmills, Bent Press

As you can see there are more swings in this rotation. I haven't done jack for my conditioning lately, so I need to bump that up if I still plan on doing TSC in April.

20081101

2008-11-01T18:40:00.000-07:00

Presses and Pull Ups
---
10 kg. Pull Ups w/ 24 kg. presses 5/5
3 sets

28 kg. presses
5x1/1

Kneeling presses
24 kg.
4x3/3

10 kg. pull ups
3x3

This was all pretty good. I really need to catch up with my pull ups. I can do a 28 kg. right now, but can pistol and press a 36 (estimated)

20081031

2008-11-01T08:58:00.001-07:00

Squat Day
---
Went off the rails a bit today, but not badly. I think I've milked the 20 rep squats dry as my form is getting funky trying to grind through it. Others may persevere, but I see more value in stepping back and re-assessing.
I changed up the weight and hit lower reps.
5x205
5x205
3x225
3x225
3x225
1x275
1x275
1x275

These felt pretty good, no problems. Leg are definitely stronger and I kept my form tight. This weekend I'm going to do some research and put together a solid squat program.
I hit some plate curls with two 10's pinched together in between sets and even a few sets of one handed barbell curls. That got some weird looks.

Hit the bent press. Sets of 3 with the 24 kg. and some singles on the right with the 32 kg. Pretty easy and I'm going to work up on the barbell. My trouble bent pressing on the left appears to be flexibility related, so I'm going to work on that.

20081029

2008-10-29T16:31:00.000-07:00

Deadlift day
---

I'm definitely much stronger as this was all relatively easy, and percentages were based upon my last maximum of 405 lbs.

3x3 300 lbs.
3x2 320 lbs.
3x1 340 lbs.

I think I'm going to re-mix it this to base it upon an estimated 425 lbs. max. We'll see.