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 rebuild notes...

Friday, 28 November 2014
Three-Day Ahnohld Split 
65 min. 

warm-up: motions, stretching, etc.
[Felt what I think is an "adhesion" in my right thigh, so I spent a good 10-15 minutes warming up. It feels like the same spot that "poped open" back in June, so I'm being cautious. Will need to do some foam rolling.]

SQ: 10, 8, 6, 6 @ 225, 245, 265, 285 lbs.
[I feel very confident that I will put up 305 this coming Monday.]

leg curl: 10, 8, 6, 10 @ 90, 100, 110, 80

calf press: 15 x 4 @ 180

db BP: 10, 8, 7, 10 @ 70, 75, 80, 65

PU (supinated): 12, 9, 8/1
[Penultimate rep needed body English and the last rep was a negative.]

unilateral db MP: 10, 8, 6 @ 40, 45, 50
[I'm content sticking with the same poundage until I can 'crush' the final set and legitimately advance. Double progression. Unilateral lifts are great, and sorely neglected.]

EZ bar curl: 10, 8, 6, 10 @ 60, 70, 80, 50
[Same as with the MP.]

EZ bar skull crusher: 10, 8, 8 @ 60, 70, 80

+ + +

I have yet to invest in a "big tub of powdered protein" but I will do so soon. I may also get some creatine again, but for now my "supplements" are a gallon water a day, lots of greens, B-complex, fish oil, acai, and vitamin C.

Grip session PLUS

[See update at bottom...] 

Crush training
27 min., 225 lbs.

Warm-up (10 min.) - gyro ball, Chin-Na drills, stretching

Ghetto Gripper* - 10 closes

CoC #1.5 - 6 closes

CoC #2 -
1 near-close L, 1 close R
1 near-close L, 1 close R

CoC #1.5 - 10 closes

Ghetto Trainer - 20 closes

[...deal with babies...relocate to garage...] 

Hand balancing - 5 min.
one-arm db snatch - 5/5, 5/5 @ 35 lbs.
one-arm kb swing - 80 @ 35 lbs. [switched hands every ten swings]
one-arm db snatch - 5/5, 5/5 @ 35 lbs.
one-arm kb swing - 80 @ 35 lbs. [ditto]
[^ 15 min.]

+ + +

Yesterday I began assembling my first dino-bells. I call them dino-bells in honor of Brooks Kubik's Dinosaur Training. I will make a 30 lb. and 60 lb. dino-db with a 5" grip width, and a 125 lb. dino-bar with about 4' of grip width. I am using 2" electrical conduit, plastic buckets, and Sakrete. I forgot to spray silicone lubricant into the bucket when I set the first 15 lb. "plate" yesterday, so it will either come off with some help from a rubber mallet, or my 30 lb. dino-db will have both ends covered in white plastic, and I'll have to invest in a third bucket. I'm giving each batch at least a day and a half before I mess with it, so hopefully I can set up the other half of the 30 lb. dino db tomorrow.**  

At The Home Depot, when I asked the plumbing helper to cut the conduit into shorter segments, he said, "That grip's too thick, it's too hard to handle." I explained that that's the entire point of making such devices, but as I learned long ago, thick bar and "rough" training is counterintuitive almost anywhere you go. 

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

* Yesterday I got a spring clamp for a dollar at The Home Depot. I gave my Heavy Grips 150 to a friend when I left Taiwan, so I need something again for warm-up reps. The Ghetto Gripper feels like the Captains of Crush Point Five, I reckon. If I need it to be tougher, of course, I'll just wrap rubber bands around the pincers, like I did with an alligator clamp back in Taiwan.

** UPDATE 20 April 2014 - The rubber mallet worked like a charm. This half currently weighs a little more than 18 lbs, but once I cut off the excess bar and (perhaps) grind down the inner edge of the concrete so it won't cut my forearm [I'll probably just wear large wrist bands], it should weigh about 18 lbs. So by the end of the project, the dino db will weigh at least 35 lbs, with a total cost of about $5 and a couple hours of puttering.