Grip training + AYCE = WINNING!

Grip training
30 min., 225 lbs.
MOOD: felt groggy and a bit cranky when I got home; spent some time puttering in the garage and eventually felt ready

warm-up: space mace, ghetto gripper, stretching, Chin Na movements (10 min.)

CoC #1.5 - 6 closes

CoC #2 - LH 1 near-close, RH 1 close
[I squeezed so hard on my first LH attempt that at the release I got dizzy enough to have to brace myself on my heavy bag. Fun times!]

CoC #2 - LH 1 near-close, RH 1 close

CoC #2 - LH 1 body-English close, RH 1 close

CoC #1.5 iso-squeeze - LH/RH 15 sec./15 sec.
[used a piece of a thin metal rule to detect when the ends separated]

1.5" pinch block @ 24 lbs. - LH 47 sec., RH 55 sec.
1.5" pinch block @ 24 lbs. - LH 50 sec., RH 50 sec.
[This last set reminded me how grip training is intensely, perhaps uniquely, "mental" in its intensity. I could almost feel myself willing my fingers to clamp harder near the end of my first RH pinch. Then I did the same for my second LH pinch, yet, significantly, let my mind wander during my last RH pinch.]

+ + +

And then, boys and girls, I did a Bad Thing: I gave into the urge to SQUAT MOAR and drove up to the gym for a set of FSQ.

FSQ: 8, 6, 3, 3, 3, 2 @ 145, 195, 215, 235, 255, 275 lbs.

+ + + 

Hooray: I believe those two reps at 275 are a new PR for me.

I'm pretty certain that I could front squat 285, which was the figure I estimated was 90% of my back squat. Once I achieve that FSQ, I will reintegrate SQ into my regimen.

All such certainties aside, however, I am willing to wait until I actually FSQ a couple reps at 285 before bringing back the SQ, and even when I do so, I'll be opting for a high-bar, narrowish-stance, Olympicky SQ instead of the low bar powerlifting SQ. FSQ helps your liftoff on the DL, and my Kelso Shurg Rush program is intended to augment the back-extension phase.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

This FSQ set was a perfect example of the benefit I got from Perryman's Squat Every Day. Just as some fellows tell their wives that they're headed to the store for some milk, I rather spontaneously told my wife, "I'm going to go squat, be back soon." I went in my Birkenstocks, shorts, a T-shirt and a sweatshirt, bee-lined for the squat rack, and got the whole set done in about 20 minutes. Before my very last rep, I took a long moment to collect my thoughts, assess my abilities, and then drove down for what turned out to be a second PR. ("How you feel is a lie.") Admittedly, I thought I was about to tip forward halfway up, but I pulled through, let out a small bark at the top, racked the bar, and stepped away, saying, "Well, wasn't that something?"

Felt. Totally. Awesome!

Speaking of "feeleens," I had some DOMS today in my thighs, and was of a mind to take it easy, but I keep coming back to the mysterious and too little known truth that it's extremely difficult to (really) "overtrain" squats.

Tomorrow is a Shurg Rush, and I will be throwing in a set of HSQ or ZSQ. Stay tuned.

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P.S. 

Almost forgot. I made my workout cards today, so I'm just as curious as you are what my Even Keel 1A workout is for next week. I've already got this week's 1B programmed. 

P.P.S. 

My first dino-db is complete! Turns out, lubricating the container actually makes it harder to extract the dried cement, since it forms a moisture lock with the plastic. It's about 34 lbs. and the handle ended up being a little longer than I wanted. The measurement I had taken of the first side of cement, and used for the second portion, was too high: once the water evaporated, the concrete itself finished "shorter away" from my intended handle width. Oh well. I laid the first half of my next, 60+ lbs dino-db today, which was a nifty wrist warm-up for my grip session, to boot. 

The new half is darker until residual moisture and silicone lubricant are gone. If you want to make one of these for yourself, here's a little heads-up: when setting the second half, you need to drill a small hole in the handle so that air in the pipe can escape and allow the fresh cement to fill the pipe. Oh, also, you should tap all around the bucket to get as many air bubbles out of the cement to the surface. Happily enough, this procedure splashed some of the cement onto the handle, which gives an otherwise smooth pipe some nice grit.