Grip training ... and then a Shurg Rush - 30 April 2014

Crush grip training
30 min., 224 lbs 
MOOD: felt ready but got easily distracted at times... because I trained in my office and babies were around; all right-hand reps and closes were "with authority" 

warm-up (9 min) - space mace, light grippers, stretching

CoC #1.5 - 6/6 closes
CoC #2 - L 1 close, R 1 close, L near close, R 1 close
CoC #2 (chalk) - L near close, R 1 close, L 1 close, R 1 close
CoC #1.5 iso-hold - L 20 sec, R 25 sec. (used an envelope as gap-release indicator)
CoC #1.5 - L 8 closes, R 8 closes

74-lb dino-db hold - L 33 sec., R 36 sec.
74-lb dino-db hold - L 35 sec, R 37 sec.

[Then about an hour later I got to the gym for trap day...] 

Shurg Rush
50 min, 224 lbs 
MOOD: felt stoked and focused, worked quickly but not carelessly 

hypers - 18, 15 + 10 lbs, 12 + 25 lbs, 9 + 45 lbs
Hindu squats - 40

Kelso db shrug - 12, 10, 10 @ 85 lbs
Hindu squats - 40

bench shrug - 12, 10, 12 @ 225, 245, 265 lbs
Hindu squats - 40

dip shrug - 12, 10, 10 @ 70 lbs
Hindu squats - 40

snatch shrug - 6, 8, 8 @ 235, 225, 225 lbs
Hindu squats - 40

rear shrug - 6, 6, 6 @ 275 lbs
Hindu squats - 40

+ + +

At one point, as I did Hindu squats--which I assure you the vast majority of gym rats don't even know about, and probably even fewer would be willing to try--I heard one older gym bro muttering to another older gym bro, "Oh, he's workin' his legs and his back. Heh. Yeah, mumble grumble, etc." Was it about me? I don't know. But as I found myself surrounded by dudes who do uneven straight bar curls in the squat rack, shout about "thowin' them bitches [25 lb dumbbells]", and have as large a torso as their legs are puny... I just had to look to the future. I'm doing what works for me, and it's bound to raise some eyebrows. To wit, I got queried yet again about bench shrugs. I'm happy to share new ideas.

Patience, Humility, Confidence, Persistence... Stay tuned.

P.S. Since I know that my millions of readers are as interested in the minutiae as I am, I should add that the above figures for my grip training indicate a significant step forward--or, if you will, a significant return to where I was in last 2012. I believe that by summer I will have a CoC #2.5 to train with. 

Even Keel - 28 April 2014

Even Keel 1A
75 min., 222 lbs 
MOOD: a bit groggy, DOMS in my quads, splurged on a Cytomax

Warm-up: 10 min.

FSQ: 5x5 @ 225 lbs

db BP: 5x5 @ 90 lbs

SDL: 6, 4, 2, 2 @ 225, 235, 255, 275 lbs

db MP: 10, 8, 7 @ 55 lbs

PU: 12, 11, 7

EZ bar spider curl: 12, 10, 9 @ 60, 70, 80 lbs

+ + + 

I don't like my workotus to take too long, but I'm taking Pavel's advice that "power thrives on time". I took at least a few minutes between each set, so that I could give maximum effort. I was a little hastier with my pullups and curls, but at that point I just wanted to git 'er done.

Also, I sort of contracted myself out to make some cement kettlebells for a trainer at the gym. I'll make a 16 and a 36 pounder. The 16 pounder will just need a 2-gallon bucket, but for the 36 pounder I'm going to try embedding two 10-lb plates in the cement. Should be fun.

Heavy-ass weight!

No delusions of grandeur here, don't worry. I don't even consider myself a bodybuilder.

All the same, Coleman's quote is immortal. Just replace "bodybuilder" with your strength-training goal and it fits.

Today was a "life fitness day". I didn't hit the gym. I didn't touch a metal weight of any kind. The most I did in terms of "fitness" training, in fact, was some core work I'll describe below.

Today I woke up, played with my kids for a bit, then drank some milk and a beer (!), and napped again for a few hours.

Then I really got up, had some oatmeal and eggs and coffee and my usual humble supplements. Then I did some core work before my wife and I took the babies on a stroller walk for nearly an hour. When we got back I practiced hand balancing for about 10 minutes, between bursts of yard work, which then shifted to me mowing the front yard.

But here I am rambling--and on my own blog, no less!

The core work I did this morning is, according to Tamir B. Katz, M.D., a "flat bridge".

Or you could just call it a straight bitch.

Of which more in a moment.

I started with two 50-second neck bridges. Felt great on the hamstrings and back.

Then I rolled over into a butts-up headstand... and slowly backed my feet up until I was into a basically horizontal, hands-free plank position.

On my forehead.

Yeah. That's the flat bridge which Katz presents.

I held that for 30 seconds, twice.

Then I tried it again for another 30 seconds.

I can't find an image of what Katz advises, so here are some photo grabs from a pre-publication version of his book that I printed out a few years ago:

When I got inside from mowing the yard, I tried Katz's flat bridge again for 30 seconds. Then I tried it on a chair, thinking that a higher elevation might provide a way to train the exercise more progressively and less aggressively.

How wrong I was.

Friends, I tell you: Just stick with the floor.

The two fulcra are how far back you position your feet and and how "flat" you put your face on the mat. The closer your feet are, and the higher your rest on the crown of your head, the easier it is. And vice versa.

Anyway, what are the heavy-ass weights which birthed the title of this post?

Amidst hand balancing and yard work, I finally got my "bigger" dino-dumbbell out of the plastic bucket this evening.

And, holy cats, is it ungainly.

It's at least 10 lbs heavier than I had intended, and, honestly, may not even be symmetrically heavy.

Which...makes it that much cooler, in a weird, dinosaur way.

That bad boy weighs in at just shy of 74 lbs, with a 2-inch grip. 

I chipped off a little bit of it today trying to get it out of the bucket, but if I want to, I can just patch it up with a few dollops of cement. Seeing, however, as it's heavy-as-shit already, I will not be doing any patching up until it gets more chipped over time. 

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.