Hit a wall, going through it

After five consecutive days of training, a weekend of grip training and playing at the beach threw my body "out of whack" (a phrase which for the first time has a personal phenomenological vividness). For the past three days I have done virtually no exercise.* I hit a wall. I needed a break. I needed some space. Even today I was a bit reticent, but the axiom that "how you feel is a lie" was largely borne out once more. Kelso's Shrug Book is more substantial than I expected (i.e. its 94 pages are textbook size and provide numerous photos), and I couldn't wait to apply some of the great things I've read in it so far. A Carpe Ferrum workout was just the sort of rehab-refresher workout I needed.

Carpe Ferrum/Shurg Rush 
60 min., 226 lbs. 

Warm-up: 10 min.

FSQ: 6, 6, 3, 3, 3 @ 165, 185, 205, 235, 255 lbs.

Cable cross shrug: 10, 10, 10 @ 100, 120, 140

DBP: 6, 6, 6, 6, 10, 12 @ 215, 225, 235, 215, 195, 175 lbs.

Bench shrug: 12, 12, 12 @ 215, 225, 235 lbs.

stiff-arm pulldown & dip shrug (or "monkey shrug"):
[I just tried a few of these to get a feel for them. Weighted dip shrugs would be awesome, mega serratus trainer!]

db pullover: 10, 10, 10 @ 55, 60, 65 lbs.

EZ bar spider curl: 6/6, 6/6, 6/6 @ 40, 50, 60 lbs.
[I did the first 6 reps to work the short/inner head, and the next six for the long/outer head.]

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* Tuesday I did three sets of ab exercises, and Wednesday I did what was basically a diagnostic grip session. I closed the CoC #2 twice, in two separate attempts, with my right hand, but was "this close" three times with my left hand. I perused my past grip notes here and the best I seem to have achieved, in August 2012, was 4 right closes, and 2 (or 3) left closes. Despite this current setback, the good news is that, only a week or two ago I was unable to close the #2 at all, so my old grip foundation is coming back. Still, it will take time, and I daren't rush into tendonitis. 

Interestingly enough, I must thank last night's grip session for galvanizing me to do today's workout. There's something very special about intense grip training. A serious crush attempt, if done right, will have you flexing an entire side of your body, and will often leave you a little dizzy. (To experience this feeling, try doing half a dozen extremely arduous, standing front pec flexes, each time 5 seconds long, with your fists squeezing as hard as possible.) As I learned long ago, and which was a key impetus for my plunge into serious grip training, the brain will not activate full muscular potential if it's not convinced you have solid grip on the resistant object. By extension, therefore, achieving a solid grip on an object will deeply stimulate larger accessory muscles "up the chain." This is why trying to "crush" the bar helps your bench, and even your squat (cf. step 3), and also ties into effective kettlebell clean and jerk.