HIT Basic - week 4 - Good workout! Hurray for rowing!

Monday, 26 January 2015 
230 lbs., 15 min + 30 min. 
well hydrated; focused; steady, tight form

[I made a serious effort to maintain a 3-1-4-0 cadence on all repetitions (as in, 3 seconds concentric, 1 second static, 4 seconds eccentric, and smooth turnaround, though it just dawned on me that I should have made it a 3-1-4-1 cadence. God willing, I'll do that next time and on Friday, though Wednesday will be a NqTF (Not quite To Failure) workout.]

warmup: elliptical machine, stretching-ish, motions

leg curl: 100 lbs. x 10c 

leg extension: 100 x 12c 

leg press: 225 x 15c 

calf raise: 230 x 12c 

Hammer press: 200 x 11e 

Pendlay row: 125 x 9c

pullover: 90 x 8c

cable curl (rope handle): 70 x 11e

Nautilus MP: 80 (?) x 10c 
[Was not really sure what the plates amounted to, but in the right ballpark it felt like 80 lbs.]

farmer carry: 85/85 x 81 steps 

tricep cable extension (rope handle): 70 x 10e

+ + +

A very good workout this evening. More controlled than last workout, though actually stronger in some exercises.

Today was also my first day as an assistant rowing coach at my old high school. I'll be helping with the middle schoolers. We did a baseline fitness assessment today, involving a circuit of a flexibility test, a timed run, jumpies, burpees, and planking. Some students remarked, with shock, "You're so quick! You're so flexible!" Funny to think that I'm in better shape than a bunch of healthy, young people, but, hey, I've got experience and obsession on my side.

It feels amazing to be back on my old stomping grounds. Rowing is "a part of me" on a deep, existential level. Even now I'm getting goose bumps thinking about what it meant and means to me. However, I need to keep reminding myself to observe (the other coaches, the existing boathouse culture, etc.), not only so I can refresh my rowing savvy after two decades off the water, but also so I don't come across (even moreso!) as a blowhard and/or know-it-all. Should be fun. :)

Patience... Humility... Confidence... Intensity... Progress...

AYCE notes...

[PROJECTED EVENING WORKOUT...]
[UPDATED]

Tuesday, 8 April 2014 
60 min., 227 lbs 

Warm-up (8-9 min.) - movements, stretching 

BP: 5x5 @ 215 205
[Nice and slow. Felt very good. Slightly narrower grip than normal.] 

SQ: 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 4, 2 @ 225 135, 155, 175, 205, 235, 255, 295
[These felt awesome. High-bar, narrow stance, so deep the bar banged the rack a couple times.] 

PU: 10, 8, 4 
[Slow and controlled.] 

PNF- N/A

+ + +

A memorable workout. For the first time in... I don't even know, I said, "I really like the bench press." In the past I guess I had tried to dive into it too zealously with my usual weak chest. Now after several months of torso development (core work, slings, kb, boxing, DBP, etc.), I have the foundation and proper form to use the BP well. It's important on a 5x5 scheme not to be too ambitious. I could have struggled and floundered under 215, but it's important to finish all 25 reps with uncompromised form. Next week I will try for 5x5 at 215, and will not up the weight until I can do 25 "clean" reps. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Today's SQ felt exactly like what I think Perryman is trying to convey. No fireworks, no heroic straining. Just good, solid squats up to what felt like a daily maximum; it felt almost like a business transaction. "Greetings, bar, I'll just be a moment." - "Sounds good, let me know if you need a hand." Done.

Except for the thing that made it memorable. A guy was getting set up on the rack next to me and I asked him what lift he was doing, as he removed the standard bar, leaving the thicker power barbell on the rack. I guess my alerting him to the difference the bar size can make, as well as the form he saw on my part, showed him I was worth asking, "Can you give me some pointers on the squat?" Why, as a matter of fact, I can! He wants to play college ball (or wants to get back into it, I think), and his coach always said he needs to squat deeper. He's got tight hips and ankles, so I gave him some pointers on how to fortify his squat technique. When I finished by explaining how weightlifting is really just a hobby average dudes make of segments of Olympic-lift training, he had a visible epiphany. Long story short, I realize how much I would love being a P.T. and a trainer. Gonna have to see about that.

Granted, the teaching episode delayed my workout, but, as I would soon be reminded, knowledge is only worth something if you can apply it, best of all in the service of others. Specifically, one other memorable feature from today was that, when I went to pick up my mom from her church circle, she was talking with and witnessing to a homeless man, who was shedding his own tears. We're going to see about helping him get some good work boots, so he can become gainfully employed. As if my mom weren't cool enough, on the ride there and back she asked me if squatting would be good for her and then asked me to cook up a basic bodyweight squat routine for her. 

[N.B. The point of this regimen is to GO HEAVY ON THE MAIN LIFT M-W, and supplement with volume on other lifts and days.]