Return to strength - Planet Fitness: Hexagonal Closest Stacking Edition

18 January 2019
50-55 min., 150-180 bpm
warm-up: testing out motions and weights

A circuit:
1) unilateral db press - 40# x 13, 45# x 12, 50# x 12
2) db flye - 40# x 15, 45# x 11, 50# x 9
3) Smith FSQ - 105# x 10, 120# x 11, 140# x 7

B circuit:
1) seated cable row - 110# x 16, 130# x 14, 150# x 13
2) bb spider curl - 50# x 13, 60# x 12, 60# x 12
3) Smith FSQ -  135# x 11, 135# x 10, 135# x 11

I was reading Stephen Barr's Modern Physics and Ancient Faith last week and on page 78, amidst a discussion of symmetry and design, Barr mentions that the most compact way to stack marbles in a box, as an example of order, is known as a "hexagonal closest stacking" (hcp) [link]. His point is that the order of the hcp matrix is a result of the deeper symmetry of the (designed) symmetry of the spheres themselves.

This illustration, in turn, reminded me of a mathematical puzzle I read about years ago, perhaps in Amir Aczel's Fermat's Last Theorem, about a proof for the most optimized arrangement of objects inside a container (though I'm probably misremembering it). By the end of last night's workout, I realized an application of hcp-ordering in my fitness life: I'm going to need to "optimize" my training at Planet Fitness or I'm going to outgrow it within weeks.

Last night, while squatting, I started to feel my old instinct and capacity for strength return, and I knew it's only a matter of time before I regain enough strength to start training with very heavy weights. This will, in turn, put me in risk of setting off the infamous "Lunk Alarm" at Planet Fitness. That is a bridge I will cross when I must.

Even apart from heavy squatting and big lifts that would entail dread sounds of exertion in the trademarked "no judgment zone" that is Planet Fitness, I realized that I'll need to make the most of the impressive array of cable machines there. There are no free barbells and the fixed-weight barbells only go up to 60 lbs. This is fortuitous in its own right, since it will force me to train my way to the heaviest available dumbbells (80#?), which is a practice I endorse anyway.

I foresee using pre-exhaustion, unilateral, thick-grip, drop sets, and high-intensity methods to "stack" as much training capacity into Planet Fitness as possible. Stay tuned...

Three-day split update...

Three-Day Ahnohld Split
26 November 2014
60 min.

warm-up: motions, stretching, etc.

SQ: 10, 8, 6, 4 @ 205, 225, 255, 275 lbs.
[Going for 300 lbs by December.]

leg curl: 10, 8, 6 @ 90, 100, 110 lbs.

seated calf press: 15 x 4 @ 180 lbs.

db BP: 10, 8, 6, 10 @ 70, 75, 80, 65 lbs.
[Yeah, I have never like the barbell BP. Dumbbells for the win.]

PU (supinated): 10, 7, 7, 6 @ bdw

db MP: 10, 8, 6 @ 40, 45, 50 lbs.

EZ bar curl: 10, 8, 6 @ 60, 70, 80 lbs.
[Slow and tight. I will not raise the weigh until I can 'crush' 80 lbs.]

skull crusher: 10, 8, 6 @ 60, 70, 80 lbs.

Fitness update - June 2014 (hitting a wall, shrugging it off, rage in the ga-rage, getting a grip)

Wednesday, 4 June 2014 
Shurg rush 
55 min., 225 lb.

warm-up

FSQ: 10, 5* @ 145, 195 lb.
[Okay, so... you CAN overtrain on squats. My dead squats on Monday must have challenged me more than I realized. I took Tuesday off, but when I got into the gym on Wednesday, I felt "weak" right away on squats. As I sank into the hole on rep 6 at 195 lb., I felt something between my vastus medialis and vastus intermedius "give" in my right leg and I lost all power. When whatever-it-was "gave", I felt a distinct popping sensation and what felt like a hollow marble. It was not a searing, tearing pain and I have not lost any mobility. The leg was still load bearing, just very tender and achey. By Thursday I was even able to jog lightly, so I'm not really worried about this setback. I simply strained under-recovered muscles, and they let me know it. Admittedly, I was pretty distracted and demoralized for the rest of my workout, but I led myself through it. After a week of three PR's in a row, it might have been wise to light(er) this week, but what do I know!?]

hypers: 15, 15, 12, 12 @ bdw, 10, 25, 35 lb.

Kelso shrug: 12, 12, 10, 10 @ 195, 215, 225, 235 lb.

bench shrug: 12, 12, 12 @ 225, 245, 275 lb.

pullover: 15, 15, 12, 12 @ 50, 60, 70, 80 lb.

snatch shrug: 10, 10, 10 @ 215, 225, 235 lb.

[Compared to my last two Shurg Rushes, I used lighter weight for more reps. I think I'm interested in trying a few weeks of high-volume, high "pump" weightlifting, and I didn't want to risk taxing my neck again just a couple weeks outside of a strain.]

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

Thursday, 5 June 2014 
Garage fitness
35 min., 225 lb.

[My buddy came over for a workout and we did the following circuits. I set my watch with a repeating 1'05" timer. Halfway through the workout, we realized that my double-end bag had a leak, so it's time to spring for a nicer one. I wore out my first double-end bag, woohoo!]

double end bag - 1 min.
heavy bag - 1 min.
[1 min. rest]
sling pushups & rows - 1 min.
sling dips & curls - 1 min.
[1 min. rest]
jump rope - 1 min.
tire/sledge - 1 min.
[1 min. rest]

REPEAT for 4 cycles

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

Friday, 6 June 2014 
Grip training
30 min., 225 lb.

warm-up - gyro ball, space mace, ghetto grippers

CoC #1.5 - 10 closes

CoC #2 - 0 L, 1 R

CoC #2 - 0 L, 1 R

CoC #1.5 - 7 closes, 2 closes

dino db hold (2", 74 lb) -
60 sec
42 sec
40 sec

[I've lost some ground on my grip strength, but I also trained at night, on a Friday, when I don't eat meat, and eat less in general. Just have to keep on keepin' on....]

Gym regimen - 2 June 2014 ("the abomination of de-elevation")

Monday, 2 June 2014 
Quasi-Even Keel 
65 min., 226 lb.
MOOD: eager, confident, focused, although I did have a dip in energy on the way to the gym; wanted to get a Cytomax or something, but I didn't 

warm-up: squats, stretching, scorpions, etc.

dead SQ*: 8, 8, 6, 4, 3, 3 @ 145, 195, 235, 285, 305 lb.  

incline db flye: 15, 12, 10, 8, 8, 12 @ 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 50 lb.

EZ bar spider curl: 15, 12, 10, 8, 10, 10 @ 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 lb.

* Last night I saw a video of a guy doing what he called an "abomination" squat, so I wanted to try them out. The trainer I ran into at the gym called them "dead squats," which makes more sense, and is a less stupid name, too. When you reach the bottom of your squat, just pause for a couple seconds, and then drive up. As with deadlifts, there is no momentum to bounce you back up, hence the name, dead squats. Very good stuff!

I think I shall train grip tomorrow, and then do a squat + Shurg Rush on Wednesday, some squats + chest + press on Thursday, and then SDL + back + bi's on Friday. Nothing too heavy all this week. I want to give my lower back plenty of days to recover from my deadlift PR last week.

Gym regimen - May 2014

Wednesday, 28 May 2014 

Quasi Even Keel 

60 min., 225 lb. 

MOOD: eager, focused, relaxed, had a Cytomax

warm-up: movements, scorpions, etc. 

FSQ: 10, 6, 3, 3, 2, 7 @ 145, 215, 235, 265, 285, 235 lb. 

[285 x 2. A new PR. Tried for a third rep, failed.]  

Pendlay row: 10, 8, 6, 6, 12 @ 145, 165, 185, 205, 165 lb. 

[These felt pretty groovy.]

db pullover-press: 12, 12, 10, 10, 10 @ 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 lb. 

[The key is to raise the shoulders when the db reaches the top of the pull, like a little bench shrug.] 

Gym update - "That's more like it"

Tuesday, 27 May 2014 

Quasi Even Keel 

50 min, 225 lb. 

MOOD: eager, confident, back to "normal" after a stretch of demoralizing discombobulation 

warm-up 

SQ: 12, 6, 6, 4, 3, 3, 3 @ 145, 235, 2, 285, 305, 325, 345 lb. 

db press: 12, 12, 10, 8* @ 60, 70, 80, 90 lb. 

[spotter on last set, ended with a negative that gave out and dropped on me, heheh!]

EZ bar spider curl: 12, 12, 10, 10, 12 @ 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 lb.

+ + +

That's another PR: SQ 345 x 3. Felt pretty good. Didn't really use a belt (though I had a belt around me, just to get the glaring, beefy loudmouth off my case). I'm happy about this PR, but let's just hope my neck doesn't get strained like last time. 

I've been out of the loop for at least a week, so I'm feeling my way back into a regular routine. I think tomorrow I will do FSQ, rows, and pullover-press. The day after that I will train grip and neck. Then I think I shall go for DL, press, curls, and ZSQ. I will put off a Shurg Rush until next week. 

Stay tuned. 

Even Keel (sort of) update - 16 May 2014

Friday, 14 May 2014 
Even Keel A (sort of) 
70 min., 225 lb. 
MOOD: Felt stoked about working out, but also felt a bit insecure on the squat. It's a while since I did back squats on a regular basis, so I was tweaking a lot of little variables (foot width, toe angle, bar height, hinge vs. legs, etc.), trying for an Olympic squat but wanting a little more posterior chain support. 

SQ: 15, 12, 8, 6, 4, 3, 3, 2 @ 105, 145, 235, 255, 275, 305, 325, 345 lb.

db press: 10, 9, 7*, 11 @ 80, 85, 90, 70 lb.
[A little spotter help and a final negative on the third set.]

spider curl: 12, 12, 12, 9 @ 70, 80, 90, 100 lb.

pullover: 15, 15, 12 @ 70, 75, 80 lb.
[These left my triceps and forearms SWOLE and FRIED. I love old school lifting.]

+ + +

I'm pretty sure that 345 lb. is a squat PR, but, honestly, I didn't get very jazzed about it. Reading Perryman's Squat Every Day has, probably forever, changed my entire perspective on squatting. It's not a special challenge; it's a given. In so far as squatting heavy on a regular basis is a given for me now, it stands to reason that I will have that many more "good squat days". But still, a PR is a PR! I feel like I might have squatted around that weight back when I was in Taiwan, but a perusal of my records indicates I might never have gotten to 300 lb. So that's real progress, and not just on SQ but on all my major lifts.

However, whilst perusing, I see that my original FSQ goal was to get 285 lb. x 4 (how quickly we forget), so I'm not out of the woods yet. Summer break is almost here, so let's hope I can make some more real progress by being able to get some proper, full nights of sleep for a change!

Shurg Rush (and, "I've really gone and done it this time!") - 14 May 2014

Wednesday, 14 May 2014 
Shurg Rush 
70 min., 224 lb. 
MOOD: A bit skittish at first, not knowing what I was going to go for on the squat. This workout took longer than usual due to a small amount of chatting with a gym buddy, and then a few minutes giving a trainer some tips on front squatting when she asked me for them!

FSQ: warmup, 8, 6, 4, 3, 3, 1, 1 @ 95, 145, 195, 215, 235, 255, 275, 285 lb.
[Yes, lady and gentleman, I have done it this time: I achieved my goal to front-squat 90% of my back squat. Granted, on a lark last week I did some back squats which edged my SQ up to at least 325 lb, which means I should go for 290 on the FSQ. Nonetheless, the original goal was based on an estimate of 15 lb. While I won't say it was easy, I will say that it wasn't nearly a gutbuster, especially considering how many reps I'd already done. My reward? Back squats tomorrow!] 

hypers: 12, 12, 12 @ + 25, 35, 45 lb.
[Should I do more reps next time, I hold more weight? I'll go for a 12/9/6 rep scheme next time with more weight and see what happens.] 

EZ-bar Kelso shrug: 15, 15, 15 @ 110 lb.
[Annoyed. Using a barbell worked better than dumbbells, but using a 110-lb bar was too light, and using a heavier bar in the dumbbell/bench-seat area is too cumbersome. So, next time, I shall simply take a slightly bent-row posture and shrug a properly loaded barbell. I need at least 135 lb.]

bench shrug: 12, 12, 12 @ 285, 305, 325 lb.
[These were gratifying because I got the bar off the break without a spotter.] 

standing "shrug" shrug*: 12, 9, 9 @ 315, 365, 395 lb.
[A loudmouth at the gym looked at me incredulously when he saw me approaching the machine for a second set, with close to 400 lb. in my sights. That's right, meathead, we don't all have to be beefy to be strong, or loud to be competent.] 

snatch shrug: 9, 8, 8 @ 195, 235, 255 lb.

+ + + 

I replaced dip shrugs for "shrug" shrugs this time, partially because using the gear for dip shrugs is time-consuming, and partially because I want to give my palms a little break. My cleans from the other day gave me a weird periostium bruise/strain on my right hand. I am thinking of doing SQ, chest, biceps, and neck tomorrow, and giving my wrist one more day to rest before I do a  grip workout on Friday. Stay tuned.

* 

Fitness update - 7 May 2014

Wednesday, 7 May 2014 
45 min., 221 lb
MOOD: Felt tired, lifted tired. How you feel is usually a lie. Had a Cytomax. Kind of a random workout, but I got it done. 

warm-up: movements, stretching

SQ: 8, 5, 3, 3 @ 235, 285, 305, 325 lb

plate pinching:
25 lb x 40 sec.
35 lb x 20 sec.
50 lb x a few seconds
[John Brookfield is right. Plate pinching is a radical grip challenge. I managed to get to 25-lb plates off the ground for a few seconds for each hand a couple times, but then I just stuck a little 2.5-lb plate in the hollow of the plate weights listed above, to give my fingers a challenge harder than simply holding the lip of the plate, but easier than a true two-plate pinch.]

towel hang (L-over-R, R-over-L):
15 sec., 15 sec. x 3

db pinch: 60 lb x 15, 20, 17 sec.
[I haven't seen these before, but I'm sure I didn't invent them. I simply grabbed the dumbbells by the plate stack until my grip gave out. You might call them horizontal plate pinches.]

farmer carry: 90 lb x 25, 25, 25 sec.

+ + +  

I'm headed off to a good night of sleep and then I hope to do a Shurg Rush tomorrow. Will probably throw in some Zercher or hack squats, given my masochistic nature.

AYCE notes...

Thursday, 3 April 2014 
37 min., 226 lbs. 

Warm-up (7 min.) - stretching, motions

ZSQ: 10, 8, 6, 4 @ 105, 115, 125, 135 lbs. 

HSQ: 10, 8, 6, 4 @ 135, 145, 155, 165 lbs.

Guillotine (Gironda) press: 10, 8, 6, 4 @ 135, 145, 155, 165 lbs.

Underhand db flye: 10, 8, 6, 4 @ 35, 40, 45, 50 lbs.

+ + +

Zercher squats were fun, but the bar wedging into my elbow crook was unpleasant. I smiled at the fact that I finally had a reason to use the bar pad that some people use on the SQ. Forget that pad for squats--build your traps up--but it did help on my arms for the ZSQ.

Hack squats were amazing! Superb quad exercise! I understand why the HSQ is said to help with the DL, too, as it activated lats on the eccentric phase. I would have liked to go heavier, but the whole point of today's workout was to be light and quick, almost like greasing the groove for my power lifts. I decided not to do any rows today, seeing as I DL's yesterday. 

I will try replacing the underhand db flye with underhand cable rows next time, lighter but for more volume. I'll also go for more more volume on the neck press.

Tomorrow I'll replace the DBP with the MP, thus: FSQ (4, 3, 2...), MP (4, 3, 2...), CL (3, 3, 3, 3, 3).

Also, while I'm certainly not looking to get "shredded," I do want to lower my body fat percentage by about 5%. I'll keep throwing in planks and kb swings in the evening. 

Stay tuned.

AYCE notes... and an epiphany or two...

Monday, 31 March 2014
AYCE Anterior
37 min, 234 lbs

[Rather than devote a separate time just for warming up, I used my "ramp-up" sets as the warm-up for each exercise. I may have been a little too hasty in that regard, but it wasn't really a problem. I'll try some usual stretching and shaking next time.]

DBP:
225 x 1, 2, 2
235 x 2
245 x 2
255 x 2*
[* my spotter was grabby, but I'm sure I could have gotten them without his overzealous pawing]
-
FSQ: 
205 x 4
225 x 2
235 x 2
245 x 2
255 x 2
265 x 2
-
Dip: 14, 12
PU: 10, 10
-
db supinated press: 100 x 10
[I'm not sure what to call this exercise. It's based on the idea of "scooping" to activate the pecs. Like a chicken press, bring the weights low, but then arc them upwards into a squeeze. Sort of a chicken flye, I guess. Very fun.]

+ + + 

Today was a very fruitful workout. Maybe even a sort of milestone. I think I PR'd on my FSQ (though I'm not concerned with a PR: my goal is to get 4 reps at 285 lbs, at which point I'll bring back squats into my routine).

A possible PR was nice, but the real benefit was the two-fold insight I had about AYCE. First, I need to do an upper-body semi-split (anterior/posterior or push/pull). Second, it's called "Squat Every Day", not bench press or row every day! The upper body simply cannot keep up with the rigors which daily leg work is meant to provide. My legs haven't really been sore for a couple weeks. This will not do. Happily enough, then, today I realized the problem: I am basing the intensity of my upper body exercises on the intensity I want for my legs (which is unsustainable), while I'm limiting the volume which my lower body needs based on a reflex for symmetry. Instead, I need to divert more volume to my legs and less to my upper body.

Lest I keep rambling, let me just lay it out:

AYCE Anterior
DBP / db press - 5, 4, 3, 2, 2, 2
FSQ / HSQ / OSQ - 5, 4, 3, 2, 2, 2 
neck press / dip / pullover / db flye / underhand BP - 5, 5, 5, 5, 5   

AYCE Posterior
CLSQ / DL / SDL / RDL / JSQ - 5, 4, 3, 2, 2, 2 
MP / one-arm press -  5, 4, 3, 2, 2
Pendlay row / Rope row / T-row / PU -  5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

(The slashes indicate options I can choose depending on how I feel or what I think needs more work.) 

The simplicity of this program, like Even Keel, but even more so, is among its most attractive features, so I don't want to over-think it. At the same time, I'm experimenting into a new approach to training, so it's enjoyable cutting out excess exercises and going for the essentials with heavy low-rep sets. It's too distracting right now to try to figure out what percentages to use for the above reps. I'm just going by feel these first few weeks--and today felt just about perfect. Nonetheless, I will use a ratcheting principle to guesstimate weights from one workout to the next. It's what Perryman calls your daily minimum: imagine right now what you could do on various lifts if you just walked into the gym and hit them cold. That's your daily minimum, your confidence-boosting warmup-baseline. By the end of the workout, you should have gone heavier than your baseline, of course, so you then use that number as your rule of thumb for a new daily minimum over the ensuing workouts. Mind you, this is different from a mechanistic, highly regimented planned progression scheme. Sometimes you'll simply perform sub-par and punch the clock based on your older baseline--and that's perfectly fine. Why should one bad workout--and they will happen!--derail your progress? Why should you shackle yourself to such a fragile and finicky regimen? Train your body, not a set of numbers. The key is to show up, get the lifts in, and keep developing a "fatigue-hardened" neuromuscular system.

Now, Perryman acknowledges the awkwardness of fitting the DL into a daily regimen like this. I have learned two things about the DL: 1) I go heavy when I do it, and therefore 2) I must not do it twice in too short a time (i.e. once a week is not a bad idea, as it worked out when I was doing Even Keel in Taiwan). I think I will execute the DL every fourth AYCE Posterior workout. I did one last Wednesday and Friday, and will do another tomorrow, so I'll go for the DL on Thursday.

Again, though, what makes high-frequency training counter-intuitive is that it focuses more on consistency than rigid programming. The goal is to develop athletic preparedness, with daily (perhaps sometimes even will-o-the-wisp) attempts for 1RM, so, unless you simply stop training, it's almost impossible to "derail" your program with a bad workout or more. By contrast, highly regimented programs only work like they are supposed to if you "conquer" every workout as prescribed. As Perryman notes, though, we've got to stop seeing the weight as the enemy, and see it simply as a tool for athletic improvement.

Mass Made Simple - Day 12

Wednesday, 26 February 2014   
231 lbs, 60 min

Warm-up
-
BP : 2 x 5 @ 235 lbs 
          [I did 3 reps on the last set, with a minimal but just-right amount of help from a spotter.]
One/arm press : 2-3-5 x 3 @ 60 lbs
Bat wings : 5 x 10 sec @ 70 lbs
[Bird-dog : 20 sec, 20 sec x 2 (tighter form)?]
-
Complex : 3 x 3 @ 135 lbs
-
SQ : 10, 3, 27/13 @ 155, 185, 205 lbs


+ + +

Mass Made Simple - Day 8

Wednesday, 12 February 2014   
228 lbs, 55 min

Warm-up
-
BP : 2 x 5 @ 235 lbs
One/arm press : 2-3-5 x 2 @ 55 lbs
Bat wings : 5 x 10 sec @ 65 lbs
[Bird-dog : 20 sec, 20 sec x 2 (tighter form)?]
-
Complex : 2 x 5 @ 105, 110, 115, 125, 135 lbs
-
SQ : 10, 3, 3, [up-to-50] 17-13-4 @ 135, 185, 205, 225-225-225 lbs

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

For this workout, Dan John called for five doubles at 20 lbs lower than my Max Double from last time. Although I managed 2-3 reps at 245, and then two reps at 265 lbs, last time on the bench, tonight I didn't feel as "amped", so I stuck with 235. It felt decent enough.

It felt very good to go heavier on the complex, though admittedly they were only two-rep sets.

Squats were... brutal. I think I could have crushed out two sets of 17, but I was feeling a strong exertion headache after the first set of 17, so I "went easy" on myself by saving 4 for the end. As Dan John notes, the point is to get "up to fifty" any which way, so I didn't cheat. I just feel like I cheated. ;)

Last night I greased the groove with two sets of KB swings, cleans, clean-jerks, and snatches. I continue to put on weight, but I need to make more time for food prep on my rest day, and must drink more water every day! Good night, and stay tuned.

Mass Made Simple - Day 4

pre-workout projections...UPDATED after workout: actual reps in red

Monday, 30 January 2014   
224 lbs, __ min
 
Warm-up
-
BP : 2-3-5, 2-3-5, 11 @ 195, 185 lbs
One/arm press : 2-3-5 x 2 @ 50 lbs
Bat wings : 5 x 10 sec @ 55 lbs
Bird-dog : 20 sec, 20 sec x 2 (tighter form)
-
Complex : 5 x 3 @ 105 lbs
-
SQ : 25 x 3 @ 115, 120, 125 lbs

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

I think I felt some of the benefits of creatine tonight. A certain springiness in my reps even despite my overall distraction (I'm moving house). Must keep drinking water.

I'm surprised I'm doing as well as I am on the bench. I just need to take it slow and steady, especially seeing as I I felt a twinge in my right shoulder when I lowered the bar on the hang clean in my complex sets.

Oh, and speaking of complexes... THEY'RE HARD!!! Good news is that my press ("the limiting lift") felt stronger.

Lastly, the squat set FELT like I thinking heavy squat sets should. Lots of breathing reps (John McCallum would be proud).

Stay tuned.

Back under the bar!

For the past several weeks, I've been immersed in my main blog, but I have been keeping fit. I will not even attempt to catch up on exactly what I did when, so let me just provide a brief sketch. Every couple days, I did routines anywhere from 15-40 minutes based on the following exercises:

tire flips
tire tennis
tire-sledge hits
medicine ball slams
jump rope
box jumps
high-knee jumps
tire jump-outs
tire stair-climbers
jogging
KB swings
boxing
lasso swings
KB tossing
pullups
dips
L-sits
planking
etc.

Around Christmastime, though, I was finally inspired to get back in the gym. I have missed THE EVIL SQUAT for too long. Being able to DEADLIFT is also wonderful.

My goal is get my muscle used to weightlifting again over the next two weeks, and then complete Dan John's six-week Mass Made Simple program from late-January until mid-March. I weigh 210-215 lbs. now, and I expect to be 220 lbs. when I start bulking in earnest. I want to be at least 230 by mid-March, and woudn't be surprised if I hit 240, which would be a new personal "record".

For now, I'm doing a variation of my Even Keel routine (you can find the basic structure of it here, infra, in orange and purple). I'm now doing a 5(reps)x5(sets) schema, and I have decided not to crash in by going too heavy at first. I'm old enough by now to know that true gains will come in their own time. There's no need to...

Saturday, 4 Jan 2014 
40 min, 212 lbs. 
Quasi Even Keel A

Warm-up

-

SQ : 185 lbs @ 5x5 

Lying T-row : 95 lbs @ 5x5

- 

SDL : 185 lbs @ 5x5

db flye : 45 lbs @ 6x5

- 

db pullover : 65 lbs @ 8x3

Sunday, 6 Jan 2014 
20 min, 213 lbs

tire-sledge hits (8 lbs) x 25 

jump rope 150 skips 

TWICE

heavy bag 2 min

jump rope 150 skips

TWICE

3 Ferdi flips 

Tuesday, 7 Jan 2014 
45 min, 214 lbs 
Quasi Even Keel B

Warm-up

-

DL : 225 lbs @ 5x5 

Dips : bdw @ 6x5

- 

FSQ : 155 lbs @ 5x5

chinups : bdw @ 5x5 

- 

db pullover-press : 60 lbs @ 8x3

standing calf raises (using shurg machine) : 270 lbs @ 10x3  

Fitness update – April 2013

Friday, 12 April 2013
60 min.

Coached a student on how to squat and deadlift. Helped me focus on and improve my own technique. He's coachable; only thing that matters.

warm-up: motions, stretching

SQ: 5 x 5 @ 205 lbs.

db slight-incline press-and-squeeze: 5 x 5 @ 55, 65, 65, 70, 65
[Felt pain in right posterior shoulder, hence I dropped back to 65 lbs.]

DL: 5 x 1 @ 305 lbs.
[Felt great!]

EZ bb standing curl: 5 x 5 @ 80 lbs.


Saturday, 13 April 2013
20 min.

3 min. mace drills (10-and-2's, 360's, King Arthurs)

kb swings: 30

kb shotput swings: 10/10

kb high pull / snatch: 5/5

3 min. speed bag 
REPEAT 


Monday, 15 April 2013 
40 min.

mowed lawn…

3 min. speed bag

3 min. kb drills

3 min. speed bag

3 min. kb drills

3 min. speed bag

Fitness update – April 2013 … Back in the Gym for a little 5x5!

Saturday, 6 April 2013
<60 min., 215 lbs.

warm-up:
SQ: 8, 8 @ 135 lbs, 185 lbs
db press: 8, 8 @ 45 lbs, 50 lbs
DL: 8, 8 @ 185 lbs, 135 lbs

SQ: 5x5 @ 205 lbs
THEN
db press: 5x5 60 lbs
THEN
DL: 5x5 @ 245 lbs
THEN
EZ bb curl (quasi-superset):
10 @ 60 lbs, 8 @ 50 lbs, 10 @ 40 lbs;
REST;
8 @ 60 lbs, 6 @ 50 lbs, 8 @ 40 lbs;
REST;
10 @ 60 lbs, 8 @ 50 lbs, 8 @ 50 lbs

My training program/cycle? And yours?

The reason I'm doing the Even Keel regimen, is, as I've said, not only because I saw the best results with it compared to two previous regimens I'd tried (viz. my "A1234 Regimen" (more details here), which was a muscle group routine spread over four sessions a week, followed by my "Ur-Workout" (seedling notes here), a full-body workout I foolishly did three times a week, back when I used to weigh a mere 87 or 88kg), but also because it fits my schedule better.

[Allow me a little nostalgia: I decided to take up weightlifting "for realz" in June 2010. I weighed 87kg. I trained at 中力 gym until May 2011, at which point weighed a solid (or solenoidal?) 98kg. I kept using my own equipment at home, with a big emphasis on grip training, until fall 2011, during which time I got married, then got ready to be a parent. This February I decided to return to a gym "for realz". I weighed 95kg. Less than three weeks later, I weigh 97kg. Presumably, if I keep it up for another year, now that I know a little better what I'm doing, I'll weigh about 110kg. That's my goal, anyway. This Crossfit table {PDF!} presents good goals I also have for the major lifts in the "Advanced" bracket.]

Yet the most important thing about it is that it makes recovery an essential part of training. I call it the "even keel" regimen precisely because it saves from the Charybdis of overtraining this or that muscle group and the Scylla of punishing my body based on some arbitrary (or even "scientifically proven") timetable. I only train once my body feels ready to train (which is not to say when I "feel like it"!). As I like to tell people (myself included), "Rest is the missing exercise from most regimens, and the most difficult in all of them."

Along those lines, let me cite one article I've just been reading, and then segue into this post's main topic: how I'm trying to calculate/schedule my training period. According to Dr. John M. Berardi, Ph.D., in his (astute but whimsical) article, "Weight Lifting and Post Exercise Muscle Recovery" (first published at www.fitdv.com, Mar 2002):

During conventional weight lifting, muscle force production (strength) is diminished for at least 1 to 3 days after the damage has occurred. … [W]hile the muscle is healing, its ability to "refuel" with carbohydrate is decreased because of disruption of the muscle glucose transport mechanisms. This means that no matter how many carbohydrates you eat, you simply can't get your muscle energy back up to normal for at least 48 hours after exercise. So don't convince yourself that pigging out on pizza and beer will help you recover more quickly from your sore muscles. …

[T]he only way to get improve your muscle size and muscle strength is to allow adequate recovery time between performing exercises with the same muscle groups. Without adequate recovery of calcium balance, muscle energy, and muscle protein content, your muscle force will be lower with each subsequent workout, thereby reducing the quality of the workout in terms of the weight lifted. … [U]nless you wait until full structural recovery occurs, you will simply be destroying the new muscle tissue being formed to replace the damaged tissue. And this is no way to get bigger.

So how long should one wait between weight lifting bouts using the same body part? … [I]t appears that when doing intense weight lifting workouts and letting nature take it's [sic] course, a period of 7 or more days may be a good starting point.

Seven days! Or more! As a starting point for rest! I think most "gym rats" would find that kind of advice insulting and "weak". But my experience with the Even Keel regimen bears out Dr. Berardi's opinion. (Not that I got the idea for the even keel from a loser!) Further, Berardi recommends at least "7 days" of rest between heavy training in the context of "detraining" and "recovery techniques", which he discusses in the sidebars of the article cited.

Now, I may be hypocritical, but, since I'm not training as heavily as professional, nor even as heavily as serious amateur, lifters, I'll stick with my 4–5 day rest period.

In any case, to cite Berardi again:

Detraining is defined as a prolonged period of reduced exercise volume or muscle inactivity. Interestingly, although frequent and intense exercise is needed to yield gains in muscle strength and size, detraining studies have demonstrated that muscle strength and power can be maintained with intense workouts separated by as much as 10-14 days.

The data suggest that two weeks is the extreme of rest for heavy trainers, so I feel my off-day training with hula hoop, jump rope, neck training, ab wheel, grip training, swimming, etc., is enough detraining for now. Interestingly, after my baby is born, my schedule might be so much busier that I'm forced into an ideal regimen with 7+ days of rest!

Interestingly, Lee Apperson says virtually the same thing in his discussion of training periodization:

[E]ven though you are always adding weight to the bar it is done in small (8 ounces or 1 pound at most) increments and the change in weight is often imperceptible. … You can really build up training like this, but you have to really recover fully between workouts, or you won't grow. A week of rest is often taken between workouts.

With that in mind, I'll now talk about cycles. Seeing as I developed my Even Keel program from him, I must defer once more to Lee Apperson on the issue of cycles. In a word:

You don't NEED CYCLES to progress, they help but they are not some magic formula. You need to workout progressively on a regular basis, that is all that is needed in the final analysis of weight training. In many ways cycles complicates training unnecessarily. Bodypart recovery also does this. … Training is simple. Don't complicate it.

FORGET Bodypart recovery: Your body recovers as an organism. … [T]rain with a "total body" mindset. If you are tired from legs, don't do arms or anything else till you recover. Train with a mind toward total body training and recovery. Do uppers one day and legs 2 to 3 days later, repeat forever.

… Train hard for 6 to 10 weeks then take a week off or switch to light workouts. Lift progressively. Slowly add weight or reps to your exercises over time using linear progression. Forget cycles, just lift and get stronger.

There you have it. Intensity. Rest. Progression. Variation. Apperson's blunt exhortation––"Forget cycles and just progress!"––matches up exactly with the main lesson I've learned from reading John Wood's emails: progression, by any means, in any increment, is the key to victory. Indeed, I'll lay out in one sentence what I think is the core of strength training.

Ready?

Strength (S) is a function of muscle mass (M), and M increases as a result of sustained progression (SP), whether a progression in the number of reps (R) at a fixed weight or in the amount of weight (W) for a fixed number of reps.

S = f(M), M α SP, SP = R x W

If all you did were five or six exercises (from a repertoire of maybe a dozen), adding a little weight each time, or a rep or two more each time, alternating that progression forever, you would see dramatic gains.

But I anticipate myself.

Now Apperson is being hyperbolic, since he himself followed an annual competitive cycle. Apperson, then, doesn't mean to forget about progression, he just means to stop fixating on a tedious schedule. So, to put it in terms of this article, my basic plan for my program-cycle is this:

MICROCYCLE: ((Even Keel A + Even Keel B) / 7 to 10 days) + Detraining & Recovery x every day or two

MACROCYCLE: (12 Microcycles + 2 Cycles of Conditioning) x ?

I returned to the gym February 8, so my first macrocyle should wrap up in mid- or late May. This Thursday was actually only the first phase of my 3rd Even Keel microcycle. When the 12 (or so) weeks are up––and I will only stick to this schema, of course, if my body keeps progressing without injury, otherwise, I'll just adapt!––, I'll do two weeks of high-rep conditioning (at about 60% intensity), bodyweight drills, super-slow reps, isometrics, (more) swimming, etc. And then it will be back onto another macrocycle of Even Keel.

Or perhaps not.

For a while now, I've been toying with an idea I'd love to try, which relates to the 'anticipatory' points I made about progression.

One of my tags for this blog is "The Big Three"––the Squat, the Deadlift, the Bench––, and one of my tenets is simplicity. So… what if… I only trained… The Big Three!

Call it the Big Time regimen.

Big Time A
Aerobic warmup & stretching
SQ / FSQ: 5 x 5 @ 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%
BP / IBP: 5 x 5 @ 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%
DL / SDL: 5 x 5 @ 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%

Big Time B
Aerobic warmup & stretching
FSQ / SQ: 5 x 5 @ 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%
IBP / BP: 5 x 5 @ 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%
CJ: 5 x 5 @ 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%

(CJ means the Clean and Jerk. Percentages refer to a fraction of my single-rep max on any exercise. If one session I do SQ, the next session I do FSQ. If one session I do DL, the next session I do SDL. And so on. I could also alternate db's for bb now and then.)

Unusually for me, the Big Time would not use compound sets, i.e., for day A, I would do all five sets of five reps of SQ, then do all my BP sets, then finish with all DL. No session should take more than 45 minutes.

One problem with implementing this program is that 中力 is entirely too small for me to do CJs. I don't anticipate being at 中力 after July, however, so that's not a big deal.

Now, let me see how this feels. (You should have stopped reading this long ago, you know that, right?)

I reckon my max SQ right now is 140kg (my max FSQ being 115kg). My max BP is probably 100kg (and my max IBP maybe 90kg). My max DL is maybe 160kg––with lots of chalk and a hook grip!––and my SDL max might be 145kg. As for my max CJ, I have no idea, since it's a very technical lift, and I need time and even coaching to master the sheer mechanics of it. So let's just say my max is 80kg.

Assuming the above is basically accurate…

Big Time A
SQ: 5 x 5 @ 70kg, 85kg, 100kg, 115kg, 130kg
BP: 5 x 5 @ 50kg, 60kg, 70kg, 80kg, 90kg
FSQ: 5 x 5 @ 60kg, 72.5kg, 85kg, 100kg, 112.5kg

Big Time B
IBP: 5 x 5 @ 45kg, 55kg, 65kg, 75kg, 85kg
DL: 5 x 5 @ 80kg, 95kg, 110kg, 125kg, 140kg
CJ: 5 x 5 @ 40kg, 47.5kg, 55kg, 62.5kg, 70kg

That's very respectable, and, in my mind, attractively doable! All in due time, I suppose. Patience. Humility. Confidence. Progression.

Stay tuned….

Gym regimen - June 2011

This eczema in the crotch is becoming a real bore. I've got three different tubes of medicine for it, as well as some "Anti-Flamme" I apply now and then (with whisky, to dull the shrieking burn), and some Seba moisturzier and Seba soap. Frankly, I'm at a a loss. If I make it dry (with 痱子粉), I get bumps in the morning. If I make it wet (with etc.), I get a nagging rash. Tonight, I was so wound up, that I was crabby with my gf… until I did the following in my gym-room (in circuits, mind you):

chest expander flye 3-spring: 12
chest expander flye 4-spring: 12
chest expander flye 5-spring: 12
chest expander flye 7-spring: 6
[The c-e handles are latched under the stool legs as I lie on the stool.]

db rows: 12 @ 33kg
db rows: 12 @ 33kg
db rows: 12 @ 33kg
[Could have gone much, much heavier, but I need to invest in heavier plates, when the time comes.]

db tricep extension: 15 @ 11g (only first set)
2" db tricep extension: 12 @ 15kg (second set)
2" db tricep extension: 10 @ 15kg (third set)

tricep extension chest expander 3-string: 12
tricep extension chest expander 4-string: 12
tricep extension chest expander 5-string: 10

chest expander 3-string curl: 12 (only one set)
db curl: 10 @ 21kg
2" db curl: 9 @ 15kg

chest expander 9-spring: 15
chest expander 9-spring: 18
chest expander 9-spring: 20

neck harness raises: 15 @ 7kg
neck harness raises: 15 @ 7kg
neck harness raises: 15 @ 9kg

+ + +

In all this, I may have done a few more reps for my right arm on flexes and and few more reps for my left arm on extensions. But let the numbers stand.

The chest expander (c-e's) flyes were nice, but I need to keep tweaking the angle. I don't want to ovetax my shoulders on a chest exercise. Indeed, on the last set of tricep extensons with the c-e, I went from behind the back to in front of the chest, since I could tell the behind-the-back was ultimately more of (or just as much of) a trial for my shoulders as for my triceps.

It's uncanny to me that my left-arm curls are so much easier than my right-arm curls, yet my right-hand crushes "pwn" my left-hand crushes.

I finally found a way to make a neck harness, after many months of pondering: a mid-size dog chest harness put on my head with weights hooked below. Voilà. I also discovered later that a good way to use the harness is to latch it onto a doorknob and then do iso's in all four angles.

Gym regimen - May 2011

Even Keel Workout 2
50 mins, 97kg

WARMUP

CIRCUIT:

SQ: 12, 9, 6 @ 100kg, 105kg, 110kg

Incline BP: 12, 9, 8 @ 65kg, 70kg, 75kg

DL: 12, 9, 6 @ 120kg, 130kg, 140kg
[Straps on set 3.]

Bar pushdown: 12, 9, 8 @ 30kg, 35kg, 40kg

Seated db curl: 12, 9, 6 @ 17kg, 19.5kg, 22kg

Seated lever row: 12, 9, 6 @ 105kg, 110kg, 120kg

+ + +

The nice thing was the rain cooled things off, though it was still extremely humid. I got a poor night of sleep last night so I was a bit undercharged for this workout. The Evil Squat is always a bear. As I was warming up, I felt to myself, "Wait, this is happening too quickly, after I warmup, I have to really train! Help!" A very mental workout. By the time I finished my first set of squats, I said, "12, 10, 8 is insane! I'll just do my old 12, 9, 6 rep scheme." I did break the mold on the bench press and tricep pushdown, since it felt good to push through.

My arms were pretty fried on the curls. On my last set of seated rows, I chalked up, though a little voice inside––my Grip Challenge Demon––told me to go chalk-free, so I'd have more of a grip challenge on the rows. "Eff that," I barked back, "I don't want a grip challenge, I want my wrists to be well." My wrists weren't too painful after the workout, so they are recovering. Give them another week and then I'll try some grip training without much crushing.

Speaking of which, last night I made a pinching block, a 2x4 wrist roller, and another simple flail from a sledgehammer handle and a chain (inspired by this webpage (scroll down), which has oodles of other homemade "grip quip", as I call it. [Actually, I was just puttering with some extra pipe I had and constructed a full metal flail!]).