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 update - 30 May 2014 ("Booyah!")

Friday, 30 May 2014 
Quasi Even Keel 
65 min., 226 lb. 
MOOD: Felt expectant, confident, but had to overcome some grip slippage and mental uncertainty in my first sets of DL. Had coffee, L-carnitine, fish oil, and a Cytomax before the workout.

warm-up: movements, stretching, etc.

DL: 6, 5, 3, 3, 2 @ 235, 305, 385, 425, 455 lb.

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

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

+ + +

425 x 3 and 455 x 2--that's technically two DL PR's in a row, which makes for three PR's (DL, SQ, FSQ) in as many days. The final DL rep felt a little "tweaky" and I can feel some warm stiffness in my lower back now. I wore sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt, which I really enjoyed. I can't stand feeling cold when I lift.

Today was the last full day of school, and the weekend is here, so I'm ready to recover. It'll be interesting how all this free time over the summer helps my gains.

Stay tuned, and I'll stay...

Humble, Consistent, Confident, Patient.... 

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. 

Recent workout notes

Last week I had to deal with a neck strain (thanks a lot, SQ!), so I did a few days of jump rope, space mace, suspension dips and curls, ab wheel, sledge/tire, dino dumbbell movements, etc.

Thursday I went into the gym, but felt very sub-optimal, and was quite modest with my squats. I did the following (about an hour) as a circuit:

SQ: 12, 10, 10, 8, 6 @ 75, 105, 125, 145, 195 lb.
FSQ: 12, 10, 10, 8, 6 @ 75, 105, 125, 145, 195 lb.
db press: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 @ 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 80 lb.
seated cable row: 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12 @ 100, 100, 110, 110, 120, 120 lb.
spider curl: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 @ 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 80 lb.

I did a 30-minute workout on Saturday involving dino-db movements, space mace, and perfect pushups.

I'm headed into the gym now. We'll see what I pull off. Maybe I got "stale" this past couple weeks, so I'm willing to take it easy until the school year is over.

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!