Fictional Strength for L'il Dub

Time: ~2 PM
Place: Shaf's Gloryhole
Soundtrack: "Training I" Hard and rap mix

Bench press ladders complexed with explosive push ups

warm up.

285x1/2/3 + 5, 285x1/2 + 5 (1), 285x1/2/3 + 9 (2)

(1) Notice I quit before failure. That second rung was surprisingly hard...I don't think I rested enough.

(2) I got the whole ladder. Why? That whole synaptic facilitation thing, probably. Plus, that third rep was a bitch. Repped out on explosive push ups instead of 225. I stopped when my hands wouldn't leave the floor anymore, i.e. at 9 reps.

Bradford presses:

45x10, 95x10, 115x6, 135x3, 95x8

-note that 1 rep is the movement from front to back to front again. I am noticing a pump on these today. The low reps on the 135 represents a bit of uneasiness with putting the weight behind my neck.

hex bar row/shrug:

135x15/15, 185x7/10, 205x4/8

METCON: BWP 1A circuit (see previous blog entries for explanation)

25/10+10/10
20/13+7/8
20/10+5/7

Shit. Sweaty. Lungs bellowing. Hard to type

Core work. kb windmills and rope rollouts

TKES

Good one.

Favor for the Fat Man

Time: ~2:00 PM
Place: Shaf's Gloryhole
Soundtrack: Dropkick Murphy's "Live on St. Patrick's Day"

Squats:

45x10, 135x10, 225x5, 315x5, 365x5, 405x2, 455x1, 405x3, 475x1

-not bad for the detrained

RDLs/Defranco Split Squats (R or L describes which leg is leading)

45x10/10R+10L, 135x10/10L+10R, 225x10/10R+9L

-Defranco style split squats really hit you when they hit you. Feels good though.

barbell curls/GHR situps: 135x3/10, 135x3/8, 135x3/8

-not bad, curls weren't even close to failure.

It's a Brand New Day

BP: Ladders

135x10, 225x5, 275x1/2/3/1/2/3/1/2/3, 225x10

-not hard, just right for the start.

Bradford presses: 45x20, 95x10, 8, 6

-totally weak and out of shape here

Shrug bar rows + shrugs

135x10/10, 185x8/8, 205x5/5

-weak, really weak

BWP Circuit: 2B

t-jump/bridge row/circle pu

20/10/10, 15/10/8, 14/11/4

Devastating. Almost threw up my greasy spoon lunch

Chewie...at about 8 weeks

 

Lazy

Damn I'm lazy. And this time change is killing me. And Conner's going through a rough spake with some delayed stress.

And the dishes and laundry are piled up. My father doesn't pay for a maid for me. He's dead anyway, but, hell, he wouldn't pay for a maid if he were alive. He might tell me to stuff that shit under my bed so it was out of sight though.

Dance!

 

Find Your Way Back

Squats:
135x10, 135x10, 225x5, 315x5, 365x5

-easy. not ready to push, want to strengthen the muscles around my knees again.

1H kb swings: 72kg x 5R/5L, 3 sets total.

-pretty easy

BWP 1A circuit (see previous post for more info on it)

Sumo Power Squat/Egyptian Push up/Bridge Cross

20/20/10, 14/18/7, 16/17/6

GHR sit ups: 7, 7, 7...fast and powerful

Feeling good.

Once Forsaken

Bench:

135x5, 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5, 245x5, 265x5, 285x3

-left 2 reps in the tank on the last set. am setting up for a 5x5 type of scheme, and don't want to overintensify yet. haven't benched in this fashion for at least 5 years.

KB press: 12kg, 16kg, 24kg x 15, 15, 10

-shoulders weak and small, dammit.

Circuit 1B from "Bodyweight Power"

T-jumps/Bridge pulls/Circle Push ups.

18/10/5R+5L, 14/10/5L+3R, 11/10/5R+3L

3 circuits damn near left me on the floor. Brutal. I fell down after the last set of t-jumps and it took me 20 seconds to get back up.

Am kind of integrating Dan John's One Lift A Day stuff with some metabolic conditioning. Worked very well for me in the past.

Damn. Chained to Misery of the World

Deadlift: Worked up to 405x1 for 5 singles with 10 seconds rest in between, then 435x1, 455x1

-weird soreness in my pecs and jaw after this. I haven't deadlifted in at least 6 months, maybe more.

Bryce Lane's "Bodyweight Power" circuit 1A

-3 trips through

Sumo Power squats 20/10/14
Egyptian push ups 20/12/16
Bridge Crosses 10/5/7

HR was approximately 160 bpm immediately after the third circuit, and I am sweating and breathing like bastard.

I am going to follow the pattern of 1-2 big lifts followed by metabolic conditioning work for a while, and hopefully keep it up on a daily basis.

Adversity

I am sick and tired of asswipes who have had everything handed them to on a silver platter blathering on and on about "adversity" and overcoming it.

These lame individuals feel that adversity is when they can't get a their double latte with chocolate in it in less than 10 minutes, and they always have some pseudo-scientific babble they ripped off some self-help or success guru to try to beef up their incoherent ramblings.

Who knows how to overcome adversity? You need to go no further than your nearest hospital and enter the children's areas. See those sick, sometimes terminall ill kids comfort their grieving parents and relatives, and being cheerful enough to make their nurses and doctors smile.

Kids are so resilient and positive. My own son Conner has had to overcome too much adversity in his short life. All I can do is watch him handle it and be humbled. Conner, buddy, you'll probably never read this but I am very proud of you and I want to congratulate you on your attitude and how you've kept coming back after all this crap that's happened.

We could all take a lesson from how kids handle this stuff: Roll with the punches, then go play.

Banjo & Sullivan

My boy Taggart, a formerly buff powerlifter dude, who's getting ready for a bodybuilding shot right now gave me the heads up on this goofy honky tonk CD.

Good stuff, good music, and worth more than a few laughs.

For those who don't know, Banjo and Sullivan are featured in Rob Zombie's new movie "The Devil's Rejects"

It's Over

My son's radiation therapy is over, so I will no longer by driving to Ann Arbor thrice weekly. I'd like to give a shout out to all the valet's at the Gandy Dancer. WASSUP HOMIES!!!!!

Training

Bench Complex:

BP/Explosive Push Up:

225x5/5; 5 sets. 1 minute between pu and bp. 30 seconds between bp and pu.

-note: bp felt light (and they should, damn it.)

Shrug Bar series
1. Bent row
2. Bent shrug
3. Upright shrug row
4. Shrugs

2 45s on the bar, 10 reps each exercise, 3 circuits.

-note: surprisingly strenuous. lots of upper/mid back pump

KB and Abs circuit:
1. Windmills (L+R)
2. 1H OHS (L+R)
3. GHR sit ups

5 reps each side and on the GHR sits, 5 circuits. I am dripping with sweat and obliques and abs are burning

Smoked. Took a bit over an hour, and I was dicking a bit.

Why kbs?

I don't have the focus for heavy and skillful stuff.

Not right now. Shitty sleep, general stress, no motivation or willpower.

I am hammering on the CoC handgrippers. I am regularly closing my hard #2 (not everytime I pick it up, but enough so it's a noticable improvement).

Bob L would be so proud.

Ran through the Burgener 100 (see below) with the 16kg kb and then the 24kg kb.

-very tough on the lungs.
-conditioning is crap.
-my posterior chain and traps get sore from this.
-I need to pick up some cinderblocks to add ROM to the squat-pulls
-My kb snatches need work with the heavier bells.
-The B100 series would be a nice warmup, maybe in conjunction with some joint mobility. Maxwell's JM & R seems to be working well for me.

Did some ab work on the stability ball afterwards.

I am looking at 5:30 am metabolic conditioning workouts in the near future, followed by heavier work in the PM.

Ugly, Slow, Weak

Did some benching today:

From the bottom start with the 2" bar: Up to 305. 315 was missed 3 times, once after each successful attempt at 305. Ugly. Weak. Slow

Regular bench via touch and go: 345x1. Ugly. Slow. Weak

Some rotator cuff work with bands.

Then I tried Mike Burgener's kettlebell circuit:

2H squat-pulls: 20
1H squat-pulls: 10+10
2H swings: 20
1H swings: 10+10
1H snatches: 10+10

I did that with the 16kg, with no rest. It wasn't super hard, but it sure got my breathing and heart rate up.

Then I did some other goofy crap I won't even mention.

I seem to be avoiding any kind of upper body work. OK. I'm avoiding any workouts at all.

Up and At 'Em

Jesus, been a long time since I've added anything. Nice session today though.

Squats: 135x20, 225x12, 315x5, 405x1, 425x1, 445x1
-heavier singles were easy, but slow...rock bottom depth.

OHS: Form and Flexibility work: 45x10, 10, 10

Kb windmills: 16kgx8, 25kgx8, 32kgx5
-for some reason, I really like these for core work and shoulder stabilization

RKC Armbars: 4kgx5, 8kgx5, 12kgx5
-mostly for pec stretching, shoulder stabilization

Standing abs: Light JSB: 20, 20, 20

Immediate goals:

1. Get through my son's radiation therapy without going insane. He's doing quite well though, and he's braver and stronger than me.
2. Get used to regular lifting again
3. Lose some blubber.

A quick note: I've been doing Scott Sonnon's Warrior Wellness beginner program for about 3 weeks now, trying to do the routine every day, either upon rising or before bed. I am noticably looser and it seems to be helping my shoulders. I add some of Pavel's Superjoint moves to the routine to help with extra shoulder and knee lubrication.

Bottom's Up

The exercise:

Axle bottom-start benches:
125x5, 215x3, 235x1, 265x1, 285x1, 305x1, 305x1, 315x1, 325x0

I was kind of surprised at the 315. I haven't done shit like this in so long, that I had no reference point.

Back and rear delt work was then done with the jumpstretch bands.

Conner, 2.5 weeks after 

Starting up again

benches, chins, shoulders, bis and tris.

nothing to get excited about, but simply to start getting into it every day again.

Craniopharyngioma

Craniopharyngioma