Even Keel - 25 April 2014

Even Keel 1B
70 min, 224 lbs 

DL: 6, 4, 3, 1/4 @ 235, 285, 325, 355 lbs 
[Used chalk on what was supposed to be the only rep in the last set, but then I did four more reps with a hook grip. LIGHTWEIGHT! Perhaps a PR. One nice little detail is that I used the thicker, powerlifting bar. Grip Strong Or Die.] 

pullover-press: 10, 10, 10 @ 50, 60, 70 lbs. 
[in line with the bench] 

FSQ: 5x5 @ 205 lbs. 
[Nut'n but a peanut.] 

Pendlay row: 5x5 @ 165 lbs 

bb guillotine: 12, 9, 8* @ 145, 165, 185 lbs. 
[spotter on last rep of last set] 

db spider curl: 12, 12, 12 @ 50, 60, 70 lbs 

+ + +

The DOMS in my hammies from the Shurg Rush (viz. hypers) gave me second thoughts about working out heavy today, but, as always, "how you feel is a lie." If I do feel wrecked tomorrow--which I doubt--I've got the weekend to recover. 

I hope to post a photo of my 60+ lb dino-dumbbell tomorrow. I will probably train grip tomorrow or Sunday. 

Fitness update...

Thursday, 24 April 2014

Space mace - 2 min.

Mace - 5-6 min.

kb swings -
20/20 x 6 single-hand
100/10/10 double-hand/single-hand 

db snatch -
5/5 x 3 @ 35 lbs.

kb swing -
120 double-hand/single-hand

My traps felt nice and toasty afterwards. A little DOMS from the Shurg Rush. Nice.

Also, the kb swings fried my grip. Also nice.

Tomorrow:

Even Keel 1B

DL: 5,3,2,1 @  
pullover-press: 10, 10, 10 @ 
FSQ: 5x5 @
Pendlay row: 5x5 @ 
bb guillotine: 12, 9, 6 @ 
spider curl: 12, 9, 6 @ 

Shurg Rush! - 23 April 2014

[Not a typo; just a nerdy joke. And I'm not even a gamer.]

Shurg Rush
60 min., 226 lbs. 
MOOD: excited, alert, yet calm, with tinges of somatic fatigue; want to sleep early tonight!

ZSQ: 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 3, 3 @ 55, 85, 105, 155, 185, 195, 205 lbs.

hypers: 12, 10, 8 @ bdw, bdw + 10, bdw + 25 lbs
[Since I wasn't trying to work my hammies, I braced my legs at the knee joint.]

"The" Kelso Shrug: 12, 12, 12 @ 90 lbs
[I tried these at 55° and 35°, with over- and underhand grips. Given my bench options, 35° seems a better fit, and I felt the overhand grip more in my lower traps... although Kelso defines "The Kelso Shrug" as an underhand grip focusing more on the lats and lowers traps. Working out these kinks is part of why this workout took an hour; once I get the hang of things, I'm hoping to curtail it to 45 minutes. I would have liked to go a bit heavier, but, along with heeding Kelso's advice to start light until you get familiar with the motions, these shrugs, as with spider curls, are easier to do if a spotter helps get the bar in your hands. I will try it with dumbbells next time. Range of motion, for the win!]

bench shrug: 12, 12, 12 @ 235 lbs.
[spotter for the break -- "Never seen those before!"]

dip shrug: 12, 12, 12 @ bdw + 60 lbs.
[felt awesome]

snatch shrug: 12, 10, 8 @ 205, 225, 245
[My only frustration with these was that, unless I wanted to SDL the bar into a standing position and then shrug, I had to shrug from the lower squat-rack braces. This was fine, except for the fact that it prevented me from taking a truly wide-snatch grip. I was distracted by the fear of pinching my fingers with the bar when I set it down. The widest grip was about an inch outside the outer knurling gap. All the same, two hours after this workout, I can feel that warm stiffness in my neck. I'm curious to see how I feel tomorrow and the next day.]

overhead shrug: 12, 10, 8 @ 165, 185, 205 lbs
[I tried my first set from a squat rack, which was precarious, so I moved over to the power rack, setting the pins in the highest slots. Then I stood the loaded bar up, with straight arms, as if finishing a jerk in slow motion. The key to this, or, really, any, shrug, is the squeeze and hold.]

+ + + 

If you didn't catch on, the idea behind the Shurg Rush is train the entire spinal column from the bottom up.

When I got to the gym, three of the usual high school gym rats were there, and they were still at it when I walked out the door. Ahh, youth.

Only... well... the ringleader was a chunky, middle-aged Bro who had them doing every possible mainstream "pec exercise": incline bench, pec deck, dip machine, flat bench, Nautilus press, etc. Those poor, poor youth--they never squat. Like so many, they're just in it for T-shirt muscles. Pecs and bi's, pecs and bi's, pecs and bi's. (Yes, they even do dips-with-chains-draped-over-the-neck, presumably just in case a sports drink photographer or cologne mogul happens to be in the gym.) Sure, you could argue that today was just their pec day, like it was my trap day, but I see them doing almost literally the exact same workout every time I see them, which is at least twice a week. It's sad, but perhaps over time they'll wake up to the fundamentals.

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.

---------------------

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.

Even Keel notes... (and why I can't entirely forsake AYCE...)

[Below I have struck out some of my falsely projected figures from yesterday.] 

Even Keel 1A
70 min. (incl. warm-up), 225 lbs. 

MOOD: felt excited and pretty focused; I'd like to get done closer to an hour next time around, though, since today I was feeling out the new regimen; plus I met a fairly cool, knowledgeable guy #bromance

FSQ: 5x5 @ 265 225, 215 lbs
 
db BP: 5, 5, 5, 5, 8 @ 90, 85 lbs 

SDL: 6, 4, 2 3 @ 215, 225, 235 lbs
 
PU: reps x 3 12, 9, 6
 
db MP: 12, 9, 6 @ 60, 65, 70 55, 50, 50 lbs
 
spider curl: 12, 9, 6 @ 50, 60, 70 lbs   

+ + +

Okay, yeah: dumbbells are harder. When I asked for a spot on my last set of bench presses today, I started to explain that I'm used to a barbell and dumbbells... "are way more work," the guy finished for me. I chuckled. "Kuh-RAY-zee!" I used to incorporate dumbbells more in the past, I guess, but over the past few months I got transfixed by the barbell. Don't get me wrong, the barbell is still awesome, and irreplaceable for some key lifts, but I can tell that this shift to dumbbells will be good for me. 

As for my projections on the FSQ, I had forgotten that my previous performances around 265 lbs were done in triples or doubles. Anything over a triple is virtually a different lift. My AYCE triples had me doing a total of maybe 18 reps, whereas a 5x5 requires 25 reps, so I quickly realized that I'm going to need some time to bounce back from going stale last week and taking some days off. Indeed, I couldn't help but feeling that I'm going to want to maintain daily squats--once you go AYCE, you never go back!--, even if that's all I do at the gym, even for only ten minutes, on off days. 

As for the barbell, I am choosing to use the thicker, powerlifting bar on everything but cleans and snatches, since there is only one (Olympic) bar at my gym with properly rolling sleeves. Gotta Get Grip. I used chalk on some SDL and PU, but over time I'm hoping to compensate with sheer grip strength. 

Speaking of grip, I'm curious to see if, due to today's exertion, my grip session tomorrow is not spectacular. Stay tuned. 

Possibly --> 

FSQ: 6, 4, 3, 3, 3 
Grip warmup
CoC #1.5 
CoC #2 
CoC #2 
CoC #1.5 
plate pinch
farmer carry 

AYCE was nice but...

Yeah. 

But seriously, AYCE quickly became an addictive program, but... 

I want to have more time for other training modalities. 

I'm just not enough of a gym rat to do a daily gym session. 

Perryman helped me exorcise the specter of "overtraining" but I found AYCE too hard to program, and I wasn't seeing the gains I expected from it (blame my poor sleep lifestyle, I know). 

So I'm going back to what I know works for me: Even Keel! 

This will give me more time for recovery, more time for grip training, and more time for "just messing around" with plyometrics, kettlebells, tires and hammers, sprinting, handstands, and so on. 

One adjustment I'm making compared to how I did Even Keel in Taiwan, is the rep scheme: for big, compound lifts I'm using a 5x5 scheme, while for smaller exercises I'm going for more volume. Another change is that I'm switching over to dumbbells on as many exercises as I can. One more tweak is that I will throw in unilateral lifts and compounds at times. I also struck upon what I hope is a sustainable and successful programming method, albeit with help from an old stand-by, the deck of cards conditioning challenge. As my millions of readers know, I am prone to adjusting things from one week to the next, as I love to try out new exercises and methods. For a while this adaptability was making me insecure and confused, but then it dawned on me that I should just work with my impulse for novelty. So, this weekend I wrote down my favorite exercises, divided into five groups (squat, deadlift, pull/row, press, and curls [because even I am allowed a little lifter's vanity]). I will be making cards (or straws or tickets) for each exercise, storing them in five different cups (or buckets or whatever), and then pretty much drawing them at random to fill in the following grid: 

A
squat (heavier)
chest/triceps/shoulders
deadlift (lighter)
chest/triceps/shoulders
back/pull
biceps

B
deadlift (heavier)
chest/triceps/shoulders
squat (lighter)
back/pull
chest/triceps/shoulders
biceps

The hub of the workout is the squat and deadlift, so I can always expect to do those lifts every time. I think this will keep things mentally stimulating, and will prevent muscle adaptation. I like the idea of not knowing exactly what challenge I'll be facing until about an hour before I get to the gym. I realize that "imaging" is very important, but this program does not work against imaging. Everything I'm doing here is to help me a) get better at squatting and deadlifting, and b) get stronger overall. Imaging is there to help me become more and more efficient with the first parameter. The variations on a muscular theme are there to achieve the second one. 

Anyway. 

Until I make my Lifting Lotto, here's what I've got projected for tomorrow: 

FSQ: 5x5 @ 265 
db BP: 5x5 @ 90 
SDL: 6, 4, 2 @ 225 
PU: reps x 3
db MP: 12, 9, 6 @ 60, 65, 70 lbs
spider curl: 12, 9, 6 @ 50, 60, 70 lbs   

I'm excited about presenting some exercise that will crop up in the upcoming workouts--I discovered some very neat ones this weekend, as a matter of fact--but I'll let the pattern emerge over time. If I lay it all out now, I'll just look even worse for, inevitably, changing it in a couple weeks. ;) 

Patience... Humility... Confidence... 

Gettin' the ol' gang back t'gether...

After close to a year and a half out of the game, I'm now officially and seriously back into "grip training" mode. My brain has reactivated the algorithm that I ran non-stop a couple years ago, namely, looking at everything as a possible grip training device or opportunity. I look at the ground nervously, wondering if I can fit in some handstands without upsetting people around me. Clothes pins with rubber bands wrapped around them become finger-pinch trainers. Toothpicks and matchsticks become finger levers (i.e. brace a matchstick on two fingernails or knuckles and try snapping it in half with the finger in between). Beans, rice and sand in a bucket are training tools. All steel pipe is a rolling thunder waiting to be made. And so on.

In the last few weeks, I've not only taken up formal grip training again, but have also either assembled or laid the ground for assembling a DIY titan's telegraph key, something-like-Joe-Kinney's-secret-weapon, thick-handle dumbbells, and some pool-noodle Fat-Gripz. And today I splurged on some plumbing supplies to make one of my favorite old tools, which I left behind in Taiwan a couple years ago.

The Space Mace. 

Hold the long end somewhere and make the spinny end go round for a while without smashing your teeth. The higher you lift it, the more it activates your deltoids, and the more you involve the elbow, the more your biceps get worked. If you spin it horizontally, it activates your pectorals quite a bit. The whole time, of course, your forearm is getting fried. You can also spin it upside down for a whole different kinda burn, but be warned that I've had the spinner fall off as the friction gradually loosened the cap. The Space Mace (I coined that name, if not the device) feels a bit like a gyro ball, but the leverage produced by the heavy bar (2' x 3/4") achieves a different whole-torso effect, and the number of possible grip positions, distances from the torso, and angles makes it a unique challenge. If nothing else, trying to keep the rotation in rhythm is mentally soothing. How I've missed it!

I would have liked to get a thicker handle, but I wanted to get in and out of The Home Depot today, so I just took whatever was cheapest and available. I'll probably end up wrapping the handle with tape etc. to thicken it, but for now, as a warmup, endurance, and rehab device, it's fine. Granted, because so many pieces are involved,* it was a little costly ($34), but it can double as a variably weighted wrist lever,** so I effectively paid for two devices in one.

As you can see, I've also taken to wearing wrist bands most of the time, in order to keep my wrists warm and more prone to recovery. I'm also taking a daily glucosamine pill, so, yes, friends, you might say, it's on, like Tron.



--------------------

* 2' x 3/4" pipe, 3/4" coupling, 4" x 3/4" nipple, 3/4" cap, 1" T-coupling, 1" x 5" nipple, and 1" cap ... though I splurged on that last bit, since it's not essential: it just adds an aesthetic finish and more weight.

** Just unscrew the cap and remove the spinning T-coupling, then add and secure a weight plate of your choice to the upper segment of 3/4" pipe.