2014-06-26 Front Squat

Warmup - just Diesel

Front Squat -
20x5
30x5
40x5
50x5
60x5
72.5x5
85x5x3
I'm unhappy about how hard these were.
Also unhappy about the rack-type things they have set up. It's one of those 2-d smith machines; I can get a bar in, but only just.

PShoulder Rolling
Shoulder Taps

Push-Up -
10, 12, 8, 8, 13

HS Plank - 5x10/10

2014-06-24 Snatch-Grip Dead

Strapped up immediately. China is not a good place for sticky bars.

Snatch Grip Dead -
60kg - 5
70kg - 5
80kg - 5
90kg - 5
105kg - 5x3

Armbar, Farmer Carry

Push-Up - 60sec rest
10, 12, 7, 7, 11

Shoulder Tap
HS Plank, 3x10/10

2014-06-01 SPF States Meet

I didn't sleep well for the days leading up to the cut and the meet, partly from staying up with a girl and then scrambling to reach my PT appointments. I went low-carb the week leading in, and somehow got sick as well. This resulted in my starting the hot baths while already feeling like crap. The feeling went from unpleasant to outright dangerous (felt like I was going to pass out every time I got out of the tub) so I called it off and weighed in around 170lbs after a lot of food Friday night and Saturday morning.

Sunday's flights went Women - Men Light - Med Middle - Men Heavy, so I had more time to warm up than usual. I ran roughly the same warmup I do during workouts; I think this worked out, actually. I did need to roll somewhat more than previously to get every loosened up and feeling healthy.

When I hit my 315 warmup single on the squat, the guy helping me with the weights told me it was probably time to cut it, so I asked Cara to drop my opener to 350 (originally set 365). When I took that out I stepped very far back (as usual) and got words from both Cara and the back spot to stay closer to the rack. That kept working for the 2nd attempt (mid-380s) but on the third I completely fucked up:
1) I forgot to cinch my belt, so I had to interrupt setting up to fix it
2) I somehow decided to take a much closer stance than I was used to
3) As I started the descent and realized #2 I immediately though "You're going to fail this" and jinxed it
So that failed immediately.

The bench went a lot better. I did some hard-style planking and shoulder taps before setting down on the bench and actually warming up. Everything felt a lot more stable (probably due to bench quality) and "healthy." 175 flew up, 185 felt really good, and the 195 opener went fast (too fast - I didn't pause long enough). 215 also went pretty well so I decided to push to 230 (...or 231, or whatever) for #3. That was probably the most satisfying bench rep of my life - I shouted "up" at least twice and did a victorious air-fist after I locked it out. I see this as a sign that shoulder stability and slingshot work both do a lot here. It doesn't feel like I broke a huge wall, but it's still the end of a major plateau.

Warming up for deads felt pretty bad. The bar stuck to my thighs until I added some of Saarni's ~baby powder, and everything generally felt heavier and slower than it should have. I got to 355 and decided to drop my opener to 385 (originally set for around 420). The attempts themselves were very solid, and I left a lot on the platform, but I felt like my head was going to explode after each one so I'm satisfied. I did 413.5 as my second (tying third from last year but looking drastically better) and roughly 435 for the third, since that was the lowest that would get me a 1050 total. I easily had over 450 in me, but, again, I just wasn't feeling it on anything other than the bench.

I also had to borrow Saarni's belt for the deads because my waist had expanded so much that I couldn't get air while my lever was closed. I figured out why around 2am when I vomited up basically everything I ate the entire day - it looks like it all just sat in my stomach while the food from Saturday went through.

Full Video (1050lb Total at 170)

Squat 1 (~350lbs)
Squat 2 (~385lbs)
Squat 3 (~413lbs)

Bench 1 (~195lbs)
Bench 2 (~215lbs)
Bench 3 (~231lbs)

Dead 1 (~385lbs)
Dead 2 (~413lbs)
Dead 3 (~436lbs)

Programming-wise -
1) My next run will be front squats and snatch-grip deads, with push-ups until I can get 50 good reps (see previous). That's in conjunction with my PT stability exercises, many of which now involve the push-up position. I'm going to keep doing slingshot work, but probably not while I'm in China.
2) I'm going to either learn how to squat out of a monolift or keep my walkout more symmetrical and closer to the rack so I don't screw up my third next time.
3) Lots more ab work.

I'm also going to go back to the 3/week approach for now, since the weights are lighter and it facilitates keeping in a lot of conditioning. China will make it harder to keep my weight low but I should be able to pull it off.

I'm going to work on hip/thoracic mobility and general physical maintenance to help maintain things. I felt like my back was rounding out a lot on my squats.

I'll write up an actual program on Friday after my last PT session (which will probably involve some programming discussion).

I'm going to need more Broz tape.

2014-05-28 Final Heavy Day

Warmup

Squat -
45x5
95x5
135x3
185x3
225x1x3
275x1x6
315x1
225x1

Bench -
45x5x2
95x3
135x1x3
155x1x6
175x1

Deadlift -
135x5x2
185x5
225x3
275x1x3
315x1x3
365x1

I planned to do less than this, but singles don't tax me that much. I wasn't totally satisfied with my technique on the top reps, but I should be fine come Sunday.

2014-05-27 Depletion

Warmup

Squat -
45x10x2
95x10
135x10x10

Bench -
45x5x3
95x10x5

Then various long sets on the pec deck, hammer row, some bicep curls, and some 45-degree back raises.

Next time I don't think I'll do this.

2014-05-26 Everything Deload

Warmup

Squat -
45x5
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x3x3
I didn't feel too good on these until the final set.

Bat Wings (7.5x5x5sec)

Bench -
45x5x3
95x5x2
135x3x3
I did feel a bit better on these.

Deadlift -
135x5x3
185x5
225x5
275x3x3
These felt heavier than they should have.

Lat rolling
Armbar and Armbar Press
HS Plank
Farmer Carry
Shoulder Tap
Bat Wings

Did the above for about half the usual reps or sets.

2014-05-25 Squat Opener

Warmup

Squat -
45x5
85x5
125x5
165x5
205x3
245x3
275x3 (Belted here on out)
305x1
335x1
365x1
As with the bench, I didn't feel "with it" this time.

Press -
135x1

Armbar - 10lbs, 10 rotations each side, 2 presses
Hardstyle Plank - 2 set of 5x10 on, 5 off
Farmer Carry - 35s, 4 double-lengths of the annex
Shoulder Tap - some # for two sets

2014-05-24 Bench Opener

Warmup, including bat wings

Bench -
45x5
60x5
75x5
90x5
105x5
120x5
135x3
150x3
165x1
180x1
195x1
I wasn't thrilled with the technique here; things felt shaky and out of place. I suspect that a full day at Six Flags had something to do with this, though.

2014-05-22 Deadlift Opener

Warmup

Deadlift -
135x5
165x5
195x5
225x5
255x3
285x3 (belted from here on out)
315x3
345x1
370x1
395x1
415x1
225x1x5
Video on the way via Josh.
415 felt slow, but I wasn't as mentally "there" as I have been previously, and it looked like a decent choice of opener.

Clean -
225x0
185x1
225x0x2
135x1

Squat -
135x1x5
Actually did a couple of doubles but whatever.

Bench -
45x5x3

Useful Tate Tidbits

For accessory movements:
1) Think of them as building the muscle; feel them there, don't worry about weight, slow the tempo, pick exercises you FEEL in the muscle, etc.
2) Failure with these is when you finish a rep and think "Hmmm...miiight not get the next one."
3) Get a vicious pump every single time

More rehab stuff

Wall Walks - Walking hands up and down the wall with a band around forearms. Keep elbows in.

Arm Bars - Lie on side, bottom arm overhead as a pillow, bottom leg extended, front leg extended at 90. Hold KB overhead with straight arm and rotate hand. Bring down so elbow touches rib. Make sure lat engages.

Bodyblade - Various angles

I'll be integrating most of these into my program as prehab because I really, really need to keep the right shoulder healthy. Brian also suggested icing it after every workout.

2014-05-20 Bench (Slingshot)

Warmup

Bench -
45x5
65x5
85x5
105x5
125x5
145x5
165x5

Slingshot -
185x5
205x5
215x5
225x3, 4 (5F)
235x3
245xNegative, 1
255xF
Didn't attempt the negative; shoulder fell out of place.

Post-Meet Program Plan

General thoughts -
1) I need to get a lot better at push-ups
http://hundredpushups.com/test.html
Using something like this, presumably.
2) Front Squats and Snatch-Grip Deads
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most.../the_snatch_grip_deadlift
3) Possibly/probably add intervals back in

Reading online suggests that Front Squat and Snatch-Grip Dead both tend to come in around 80% of the conventional versions.

To help keep my focus on life rather than lifting, I'm going to drop back to 3 days per week and do this initial run in the traditional abbreviated style.

So, on the Day A / Day B schedule, I'm guessing I'll have:

A:
Front Squat 5x3
Push-Ups (until 50 good reps)
Chin-Ups
Abs
Prehab - and this time I'll spell out an actual set for it

B:
Snatch-Grip Dead 5x3
Push-Ups (until 50 good reps)
Chin-Ups
Abs
Prehab (as above)

Lamb Four Ways

Background -
Last week, I got a little freer with my spending and decided to buy a rack of lamb. Since I wanted to cook it for fun rather than nutrition or a party, I decided that one preparation wasn't sufficiently haute and that I wanted to do it at least 3 ways. I eventually upped that to four after some consideration.

The four I went with were English (for mint), Italian (Heston), Egyptian (Nomnompaleo), and Chinese. I decided against trying an Indian variant.

For the recipes I went with:
http://www.marthastewart.com/316902/roast-rack-of-lamb-with-mint
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roast-Rack-of-Lamb-with-Hoisin-Orange-Glaze-and-Red-Onions-233711
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/recipes/appetizers/dukkah-egyptian-spice-mix-recipe/

And then the recipe I used at the final party of last year.

I decided against the Food Wishes minted lamb approach because it seemed too Italian. The Martha Stewart one basically sucked, though, so next time I'll probably either do the Food Wishes one or use Heston's with mint sauce and do a more traditional parmesan crust for the Italian.

I made the Dukka myself, but think I oversalted it, didn't get the power fine enough, and should have pan-toasted the nuts instead of/in addition to getting them pre-roasted. The aroma was very nice, but I layered it too thick. The crust texture mixed really badly with that of the meat, and I found it generally unpleasant.

Heston's worked like a charm again, and the Chinese one was amazing - I'm going to try that glaze as a barbecue sauce on pork ribs in the next few days.

I wanted to serve condiments for each one, going regionally. I went with minted mashed potato/pomme puree for English, Heston's tapenade for Italian, sweated red onions in the hoisin glaze for Chinese, and moussaka for the Egyptian. I'm not going to do that again; the dish is heavy enough as-is so I'd rather do a big central main side (probably the potatoes) and then sauce the others. The hoisin onions worked very well as a "sauce" (I pureed them with the hand blender), but I'm never bothering with the tapenade again. The moussaka didn't really work with the lamb (or couldn't save it from the terrible duqqa crust - though I remember forgetting to add the thyme) and the mashed potatoes didn't really add anything to the plate for the English one.

But, for this iteration:

For the Hoisin Glaze -
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce
3/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder or ground aniseed

Whisk ingredients together in a bowl.

For the Dukka Crust -
30 grams (1 ounce, 1/4 cup) hazelnuts
30 grams (1 ounce, 1/4 cup) shelled pistachios (unsalted)
4 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon black pepper berries
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt

Toast the nuts in a pan; remove, then toast the seeds for 2 minutes. Add the salt and thyme, then grind in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to combine; you may need to work in two batches.

For the Mint Crust -
1 medium shallot, peeled, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups fresh mint leaves, (no stems)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Add all ingredients to bowl of food processor; pulse until mixed.

For the Herb Crust -
2tbsp finely-minced rosemary
1tbsp finely-minced thyme
Olive Oil

Mix the herbs together with the olive oil.

For the Lamb -
1 Rack of Lamb, Frenched
Hoisin Orange Glaze
Dukka Crust
Mint Crust
Herb Crust

Cut the lamb into four portions of two ribs each; try to keep sizes equal. Crosshatch the fat on top and coat all sides generously with kosher salt. Refrigerate overnight, uncovered, on a wire rack.

Apply one crust to each segment, coating on all sides. Refrigerate another night to marinade, still uncovered.

Preheat oven to 150F convection roast. Cook the lamb elevated on a wire rack for 4-6 hours or until internal temperature reaches 130F. Remove from oven and raise temperature to max; prepare sides. Once oven has been at temperature for 30 minutes, return the lamb for 5-10 minutes to crisp.

Cut each pair of ribs apart, and spread on plate in a pinwheel. Serve sides between both ribs and to one side of each "section" (so Egyptian Rib - Moussaka - Egyptian Rib - Moussaka - English Rib - Potato - English Rib - Potato - Chinese Rib - Onions - Chinese Rib - Onions - Italian Rib - Tapenade - Italian Rib - Tapenade).

Change Ideas:
- Do the sides as sauces rather than sides. The onions worked really well with the Chinese one. Use a mint sauce for Heston's and call it English. Do a more traditional Italian one. Work out an Egyptian sauce to serve.
- Do them sous vide with the "crusts" as marinades, then sear and pack the crusts on afterwards. This also lends itself to pre-searing if we want to try the mutton flavor.
- Alternative plating idea - split them apart and do as }{ rather than {{.
- Presentation would also look better with more wasteful butchery - trim them down along the axis of the loin so they're all the same size.
- The Chinese one would work really well for a party - it's not much effort, it's delicious, and you could just carve up a ton of the racks and serve in circles around bowls of the onions.

I won't give the potato, tapenade, and moussaka recipes, but the onions were easy - just roughly dice red onion, sweat down in some olive oil, mix with some of the glaze and cook together for a few minutes, then remove to a pitcher and liquefy with a hand blender.

2014-05-17 Squat

Last heavy lower body workout before competition.

Warmup

Squat -
45x5
85x5
125x5
170x5
215x5
260x5 (added belt)
305x3
440 Walkout
350x5
450 Walkout
350x4
460 Walkout
350x1 (2F) (No Belt)
Took my shirt off for the last one and went without the belt. That didn't work out so well.

My back was shot enough from doing this that I've decided not to do a heavy dead session in the next few days; I'll pull my opener a little earlier and space things out.

2014-05-15 Deadlift and Bench

Warmup

Deadlift -
135x5
170x5
205x5
240x5
275x5
315x5
355x4
397.5x4, 3x2
Second set with a fabric belt, third with the lever belt.
The last few days have been stressful, and the caffeine/ephedrine stack had worn off hours before I got in because I was waiting on Rich for the microplates and Henry for the belt.

Bench -
45x5
95x5
135x5
160x3
Add Reactive Slingshot
185x5
205x3
225x3x2
Might have had 5 in me on the first 225 set, but cut at 3. Second time did not have 5 in me.

Further Diet

Stuff I found:

1) Prime sirloin is still at Costco, is cheaper than the strip, and runs lower in fat. Score.
2) Halibut is expensive but thick. I'll find the taste in about an hour.
3) I'm going to try a brief experiment in trying nothing but protein and calorie goals. If I keep dropping weight, I'll stick with that...life's meant to be enjoyed.
4) Also, Costco's pork tenderloins are still pretty nutritionally nice and I should be able to do them thick enough to make everything work. I'm satisfied with that idea.

Some Notes from PT

Taping:

Rotator Cuff: Cut tape into a Y (go 2/3 of the length). The gap should start right at the base of the deltoid. No tension on the attachment; then reach back to stretch the front side, wrap one arm of the Y around the front of the deltoid. Then reach forward to stretch the back, wrap around the back of the delt. Tension should be about 50-60%.

Bicep Tendon Support: No cutting. Attach at no tension along the bicep; when you get close to the origin, stretch to about 50% tension and attach at the acromion.

"Reminder" for shoulder position - attach along the the shoulder joint. When you get to the acromion, draw to full tension and wrap back around to the tip of the scapula.

2014-05-12 Slingshot Bench

Warmup

Bench -
45x5
65x5
85x5
105x5
125x5
145x5
165x3
165x5 RSS
185x2
185x5 RSS
295x5 RSS
215x5 RSS
225x2 (3F) RSS
235x1 RSS
235x2 RSS
245F RSS
205x5, 5, 4 (5F) RSS
185x7+2(3F)+1
This shit is interesting. I can feel my shoulders pulling forward and trying to bring me out of position; lends a lot to the idea that my upper back strength is part of what's holding me back. The failure mode also supports the idea that my triceps are part of the issue.
Teaching Josh to give liftoffs.

Comp Squat -
45x10x3

Deadlift -
135x10x3

2014-05-11 Squat

Warmup

Competition Squat -
45x5
85x5
125x5
165x5
210x5
255x5 Add belt
300x3
425 Walkout
345x5
445 Walkout
345x5
465 Walkout
345x5
I wasn't fully "there" for these; I haven't slept well for the last few days, and work was pretty active today. I'll get a front angle so I can track knee position next time.
I have to wear Henry's belt (10mm) fairly low to avoid digging into my ribs. I tried the RSF's velcro belt for a few of these but didn't like the difficulty of adjusting it etc..

Chin-Up -
6, 5, 5, 4
I'm going to keep these strict to support shoulder health. The numbers drop dramatically.

Bench -
45x10, 5x2
95x5

Dead -
135x10x3

Pistol -
5 each
Doing the left (the one on which I have worse balance) seems to set off the tightness in the right.

Quad Roll w/ Rumble
Super Couch, medium band
XBand Squat, 5 5-second holds with Mini+Micro (both doubled). I may get a hip circle or something.
Quad Roll, Ham Roll, Adductor Roll w/ rumble and regular
Hamstring and Adductor stretches
Lat roll with rumble
Posterior smash with gemini
Hard Plank 3x20ct
Power Pull 10 each side
Farmers Walk, 3x3 lengths of the annex with 25s
Bat Wing 10 reps with 10s, 5 second hold
Upper back rolling with rumble

Possible Dietary Changes

I'm considering switching off to more of a carb cycling-type approach, albeit handling things more on the context of the meals than any focus on high/med/low-type days. I'm also thinking of shifting some of the carbs over to breakfast via either cranberries/cherries (fresh or dried) or some form of starch (wheat berries?).

Carbs on waking just boils down to some nutrient timing stuff for preserving lean mass, and I don't know how much I really care about it. I'm interested in the carb cycling aspect for two reasons:
- Eating carbs today felt like something of a waste since I'm not exercising
- It gives me a couple of higher-fat days on which I can branch out without really interfering with existing meals (primarily thinking of eggs, salmon, and lamb here).

The big thing is mostly just that I miss eggs, to be honest. There's no way for me to integrate something that high in fat per unit protein without throwing out an entire salad, and I'm hesitant to discard one of the generically healthy parts of my day. Dramatically lowering carbs for an entire day opens up an entire meal to do that, with some bonus maneuvering on carbs, hormonal benefits, and extra protein.

I'll think about this more tomorrow. The overall IIFYM theme of my approach gives me some maneuvering on breakfast regardless (one run of eggs benedict is basically equivalent to the steak salad as-is), so working out recipes to fit with things and getting a little more flexible sooner rather than later has some merit.

2014-05-09 Bench

Warmup

Bench -
45x5
65x5
85x5
105x5
125x5
150x5
175x3
200x2 (3F)
200x1 pinkies
205x1
Fuck this.

Floor Press -
45x5
60x5
75x5
90x5
105x5
120x5
135x5
150x5
155x5x2
Still feeling heavy.

Close Grip -
45x10
75x10
105x5
135x5x3

I have a strong feeling that part of the issue is benching the day after deads. Beyond that, I also just have a really hard time getting emotionally invested in benching for 5s like this.

I was in a really bad mood for this and wound up doing a 315 squat single basically just to spite the guy "whoof"ing on 225 half-squats next to where I was CG benching. I think it's time for me to get out and be more social.

Slingshot's shipped, so integration's going to happen there.

What I notice thinking back is that I'm generally more excited for pressing movements if I'm working up to single sets and rep PRs. I'll see if that also pans out on the floor press, since I'm switching to that as my main movement. I may put Incline in as my strict press alternate and get rid of the push pressing (for now) and use the slingshot as a secondary exercise for building up some high-intensity volume. I haven't decided, but I do know that I need a plan now if I'm going to keep benching.

Incidentally, going into the meet I'll just be using the slingshot as a major exercise since I need more experience with heavy weights and see no other good way to get it. Rep PRs.

Diet Bits

I've switched off the beef; now it's 130g of Strip (Costco discontinued the sirloin), and it'll change to 130g of something cheaper once I've run out of that. Chicken's down to 130g as well. I've got the pork portioned out, and I'm set on fish for the time being but will probably switch to one that I can dole out in larger pieces.

Since I might still be losing weight at 2200kcal/day, I've upped the rice to 140g for dinner. That may have helped with deads yesterday (where I ran it as 130 for dinner and 50 for supper), and I'm interested to see what happens over the next few days. If I'm walking around at 160 when I start my cut I should be totally golden.

2014-05-08 Deadlift

Warmup

Deadlift -
135x5
170x5
205x5
240x5
275x5 (added belt)
310x5
350x3
390x5x3
I did these with shorter rests than usual; I just felt ready sooner. I'll give 397.5 a whirl with no belt for the first set to see if I've just been recovering better, but I have a strong feeling that belting up contributed to how well I did here. Ejay took a video for set 3, and it honestly didn't look like anything maximal.
From this I'm confident that I'll hit 405x5x3 in two weeks (hence an extra 2.5lbs next time) and have a good shot at 500 come June.

Pull-Up -
10 (9 and 10 cheaty)

Chin-Up -
8 (straight bar)
8, 6 (V-bar)
My lats are not used to contracting to this position. I'll alternate the two or something.

Squat -
45x10x3
95x8x2
135x5
I found "my" stance - it's a bit wider than shoulder width.

Bench -
45x10x3
95x5
Focusing on the lat cues I've been learning in PT really helped on the 95 set.

45-Degree Back Raise -
10x20x3
Plate behind the head makes these brutally hard.

Hard Plank - 3 of 20sec
Bat Wings - 3 of 10 with 7.5lbs and 5-second holds. Use Saarni's old bench; it's higher.
Blast Strap Row - 10x3
Power Pull - 10, 5 (at this point I was really losing the ability to contract properly)
Plate Farmer's Walk - 3 trips with 25lbs each hand, each one from the decline to the wall x2
Pretzel Stretch - 10 breaths each side. I need to check on how to do these.
Lat Roll - Some using regular roller
Posterior Shoulder Smash - Used the gemini, had some good finds
Pec Smash - Tried with the lacrosse ball; not as good. Will work on this.
Super Couch - Tried to use a stronger band but the fitstaff couldn't hook it to anything. I'll ask Cyrus to hit my quads tomorrow to make up for this and the lack of quad rolling (ran out of time).

I'm going to order a (Reactive) Slingshot tomorrow, and a belt fairly soon. I'm guessing I'll go with the same Lever style that Henry has, but it might wind up being a different brand with finer hole spacing (if available). Bench training will now alternate benching and slingshot volume work.

2014-05-05 Squat

Warmup

Squat -
45x5
85x5
125x5
145x5
205x5
250x5 (Belt)
290x3 (Belt)
410 Walkout (Belt)
340x5 (Belt)
430 Walkout (Belt)
340x5 (Belt)
450 Walkout
340x5
I borrowed Henry's lever belt and adjusted it in by one notch; that actually wound up making the lifts and walkouts a lot harder. Pushing out against the belt distracted me from keeping an upright torso (or biased my brain towards letting my back take the weight), so I leaned forward a lot more than usual. The last set actually looked better than the others, and the 450 walkout was easy without the belt.

Deadlift -
135x10x3

Squat Walkout -
405, 2 times
I loosened the belt one notch to go for this one; it worked a lot better. Being able to breath helps.

45-Degree Back Raise -
20x3, hands on head
Adding these for a deadlift accessory.

Pull-Up -
8x4
Fairly strict

Super Couch for 1m/position

I met Cyrus in the parking lot and he gave me a card; I've got a free massage credit, and I'll set up with him for Friday. Today's main focus from now on will be on abs; I have a feeling the rear laterals were actually hurting me shoulder-wise.

2014-05-04 Arms and Prehab

Warmup

Overhead EZ Extension -
30x12
40x12
50x12
60x7
That external rotation "slip" during the 235 unrack seems to have set my left shoulder worse; it didn't like these (which makes sense, since I cheat the later reps by throwing my elbows out).

Preacher Curl -
50x13, 9, 10

Rope Pressdown -
40x20
Aggravated shoulder.

V-Bar Pressdown -
40x20x2
Didn't aggravate shoulder.

Face Pull - 5x15x3
BER - Micro*15x3

Super couch with twist
Quad rolling
Upper back rolling

This is the last two-a-day workout; it was nice for a while but I think I'll benefit psychologically (and progress-wise) from moving back to the evenings.

2014-05-04 Bench (and some bonus)

Warmup

Bench -
45x5
65x5
85x5
105x5
125x5
145x5
170x3
235 Unrack - tweaked my left shoulder; it felt like it pretty much slipped backwards out of the socket
195x3 (4F)x2
190x4

CG -
155x5
160x5
165x4 (5F)
165x0, 1 (pin press)
155x5x3

Bench (ring finger) -
155x5
Feels weird

I'm going to try benching in the annex again and doing everything in the evenings. I guess we're back to one workout per day. It's also time to put the prehab back in, since the limiter here may just be shoulder stability.

Looking back over my logs, the common element in my progress here seems to be the floor press. I want to do some higher-intensity work on the bench itself, so I'll throw floor press where Push Press was and switch bench down to triples. I'll also try throwing in strict press and close grip for 5x5s after those movements...I'm really just throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks at this point. After the meet I'll rotate bench out for floor press and go back to the push/strict pressing cycle on the other day.

2014-05-02 Deadlift

Warmup, with some lat pulldowns

Deadlift -
135x5
170x5
205x5
240x5
275x5
310x5
345x5
385x5, 5, 4 (5F)
315x1
Technique is king here - I lost my lat engagement on the later reps. The bar swung out a bit later on set 3, and that plus resting the bar fully on the ground probably cost me the 5th rep.
I went scared cat/Bob Youngs style on that one; I got it past my knees, but the total loss of back position made it impossible to lock out.
I'm going to push my workouts back an extra day or so for extra recovery, do some recovery deads over the next few days, eat a bit more today, and probably take deadlift days off work so I can pull in the evenings next time.

2014-05-01 Light Bench

Warmup, mildly

Some slight rolling for upper back

Bench -
45x5
65x5
85x5
105x5
125x5
145x5x3
Didn't focus on form until the last set; these wound up being pretty sloppy.

Side Raise -
20x12
Felt like these were aggravating the shoulder so I stopped and went home.

I'm getting depressed over this. Not doing upper body prehab seems to have cost me.

Skipping Evening Today

Placeholder entry. My shoulder and deads being on Friday both make me wary of doing much work around my shoulder today, and between that and the incoming stress of working before Friday (deadlifts) I'm hesitant to do anything that could damage recovery. It also just seems like a bit of a waste coming in in the evenings if I'm not doing a major lift, though I'm trying to get away from that mentality.

Tomorrow I've got some light benching-related activities in the morning, and probably nothing in the evening. Friday morning it's deads with 385, and I'm excited to hit that.

2014-04-30 Competition Squat

Warmup - limited positions due to shoulder

Didn't do the glute bridges, for some reason.

Some extra tennis ball work for upper back

Squat -
45x5
85x5
125x5
165x5
205x5
245x5
290x5
385 Unrack
335x5
405 Unrack
335x5
425 Unrack
335x5
I did pretty well on the first set, not so well on the second, and very well on the third. I'm not totally sure of my depth, but that's usually a sign that I'm cutting slightly below legal instead of rock bottom.
I credit a lot of the difficulty changes to rest periods. After set 2 I rested roughly a minute before setting up to unrack 425, then something like 8 minutes before set 3. I probably did the same going into the second walkout, but then only 4-4.5 minutes before set 2.

I've rearranged the playlist a bit; basically added another 1:30 between the first two sets dropped 1:00 between the last two to give things a bit more balance.

I still have issues with my knees, but speed (and the fact that difficulty doesn't really increase during the set if I rest long enough) has me thinking I'll make it to 350x5x3, which will be a lifetime PR for sets across (lifetime PR for a single set of 5 was 375).

Updates 4 weeks out

I woke up this morning at 164. Weight loss seems to be capping off, so I'll be reducing meal sizes again. I'll start by just reducing the dressing on breakfast to 20g of olive oil and the rice to 90g each (so roughly 170kcal dropped, for ~2175)

Next steps:
1) I've got about a week left before I restock beef and chicken, and 10 days each for pork and fish.
Beef: Replace the 185g short rib with 130g top sirloin
Chicken: Reduce portion to 130g -> but bump rice back up
Pork: Start buying segments that are 100% loin only and reduce portion to 140g
Fish: Increase portion to 150g (hilarious, I know)
(~2025kcal/day)

EDIT: As some slightly greater ass-coverage, I'm going to increase the meat portions somewhat further and compensate with a drop to 10g oil for the salads.

2) If rice stayed down, drop it to 80g/meal (~1875kcal/day);

3) Remove the apple from lunch and drop rice to 70g/each (~1725kcal/day)

I doubt I'll hit #3 before the meet, in which case I'll only do it after reintegrating conditioning. If I head off to China I'll drop training to 3-4x per week and condition all 3 days to compensate for increased calories and drinking; if I stay in town I'll stick with my 4-on-5 schedule but add back the old conditioning days.

I don't have an official diagnosis on the shoulder, but I've got a strong anti-inflammatory prescribed and instructions to avoid overhead work. Benching is still fine, so I guess we're just dropping into a heavy/medium mix there. Thursday will be bench 145x5x3 (so 75% of next week's working weight) with some extensions, crossovers, and raises depending on what aggravates the shoulder and what doesn't.

2014-04-28 Arms

Warmup (5lbs, no holds)

Close Grip -
45x10
65x10
85x10
105x10
125x10
145x9
165x3
I didn't get much shoulder pain here as long as I stayed tight.
Surprised at only getting 3 with 165, though.

Overhead EZ Extensions -
30x10
40x10
50x8
45x11
I like these.

Preacher Curl -
50x11x2, 12
After the third set, I saw bicep veins that I didn't know existed.

V-Handle Extensions -
30x20
45x20x2
I did these mainly to justify watching Henry hit a couple of squat PRs.

2014-08-28 Bench

Warmup (minimal holds)
Some LAX rolling for left upper back due to possible slap tear

Bench -
45x5
65x5
85x5
105x5
125x5
145x5
170x3
245 Unrack
190x3x4, 2 (3F), 1 (paused 3ct)
Possible causes:
1) General tiredness from deadlifting yesterday (addressed next time - Sunday's a day off)
2) General tiredness from work yesterday (worse next time - work starts earlier next Saturday)
3) Pressing tiredness from Friday (partially addressed next time - taking it easier this week but still attempting PR)
4) Pressing tiredness from cumulative pressing volume (mildly addressed next time - lower cumulative volume this week)
5) Fear over the possible slap tear, though benching didn't seem to aggravate it so I don't see much reason to worry
6) Possible sleep and stimulant issues; napping daily might not be helping.
I have three cycles left before the meet (plus one deadlift day if I get 395x5x3). If I don't get 5 reps on Sunday, I'll drastically drop the volume and take the Press days lighter until the meet.
Nixing drop sets for now as I run into final prep. I'm basically peaking now.

No chins due to worry about aggravating my left shoulder; I'm very paranoid about this.

2014-04-27 Back and Ab

Warmup (minimal holds)

Pull-Up -
10, 5, 6, 6, 6
Sparing my left shoulder

Barbell Row -
135x10
145x10
155xx11
165x12
175x8

Rear Lateral -
20x25
22.5x20
30x12

Plank -
135x30ct
After which I couldn't get back up without hurting my shoulder again.

2014-04-27 Deadlift

Warmup

Deadlift -
135x5
170x5
205x5
240x5
275x5
310x5
345x3
380x5, 5, 4 (5 no start), 1
I don't think I pulled back hard enough on these; several (especially the 5th of set 2) drifted out and got very, very bad. I also made the mistake of resetting for the last rep of set 3; had I done it normally I'd probably have (slowly) gotten it, but in resetting I lost position. I almost passed out after the single.

Left before pull-ups; the gym opened later than I thought, so I didn't have time to run through the rest.

2014-04-25 Chest and Shoulders

Warmup (full)

Bench -
45x10
75x10
105x10
135x10
165x6 (spotter grabbed last right before lockout)
195x1
135x13
I took the shoulder fatigue here as a bad sign for things to come.

Decline -
45x10
95x10
135x10
160x6(7f)+1(2f)+1
135x8(9f)+1

Incline -
45x10
65x10
85x9
105x5 (6F) + 1
65x12 (13F)+2
I stayed in the midrange for most of 65 (only locked out 2-3 of them).

I'm making a mental (and physical) note not to attempt something if I'm not sure I can get it. I've gotten into the habit of "just seeing" on pressing movements, and have way too many Fs on the last 2 workouts to let that continue.

Side Raise -
15x20
17.5x15
20x17

And now for a drink.

2014-04-25 Push Press

Warmup - 7.5s, holding all positions for 3

Overhead squat with 45

Push Press -
45x5
60x5
75x5
90x5
105x5
120x5
135x3
155x5x3
105x10+2+2(3F)+3
This was a good workout.
I lost control at the end of the first and third sets, mostly due to difficulty with the very end of lockout. I think leg drive and follow-through count for even more than I'd realized - the later reps of the drop set either flew up (if I got everything synchronized) or stopped around my forehead.
Wearing my headphones backwards seems very important here - I get distracted if they come off.

Oh, and I felt really good going into these. Apparently I rested well last night.

Pull-Up -
10, 9, 8, 7

2014-04-24 Squat Accessories

Warm-up - lazy on the holds this time

DB Row -
20x10
35x10
50x10
60x30
70x20
80x13, +5 for right
Not feeling as energized as last time; lighter emotional state.

Rear Lateral -
20x25
22.5x20+2
25x15+2
27.5x15
30x12

Pulldown -
135x10x3

Neutral SLR:
20, 11, 11

Plank -
90x30x2
135x30

2014-04-24 Squat

Warmup - 7.5s, holding the scapular retraction phase for 3 seconds as well as the rest

Also some overhead squats to help unlock my t-spine.

Low Bar Squat -
45x5
85x5
125x5
165x5
205x5
245x5
285x3
380 Unrack
330x5
400 Unrack
330x5
420 Unrack
330x5
225x15
I got video of the last work set via Eugene; my back position stays a lot better than I thought.
Walkouts make 330 feel like air.
225 felt like hell; holding the low bar position is really tiring.

Pull-Up -
8, 8, 8, 7
Got a tip from Mark to try loosening up slightly and staying less straight. He's the authority on pull-ups, but I couldn't quite pull it off yet. It'll definitely integrate my abs more once I get it.

2014-04-23 Arms

Warmup - 7.5s with 3s on everything, as before

CG Bench -
45x10
65x10
85x10
105x10
125x8
145x8
155x5+1
95x20+4+2+(3F)+4
I'm liking this. Warming up more slowly gives me time to get into the movement, which seems to let me get more amped.

Decline NG Extension -
30x20
40x12
45x7 (8Fx2)
40x10

EZ Preacher Curl -
30x20
35x15
40x12
I definitely prefer this to the dumbbell version.

Did the super couch to help loosen my quad up for squatting tomorrow morning.

2014-04-23 Bench

Warmup - 7.5s, with 3-second holds for every position (including the transitions during scarecrows)
I've been doing the 3-second thing for a while to up the difficulty when I do 5s, but now I'm trying it with the 7.5s to build up even more.

Bench -
45x5
65x5
85x5
105x5
125x5
145x5
170x3
195x4
245 Unrack
195x4x2
245 Unrack
195x3 (4F), 2
245 Unrack
135x14 (15F x2), 2 (3F), 1 (2F), 2
I decided to run higher volume to make up for the decreased reps. That said, I also failed somewhat on "never stop pushing" and had issues with my unrack. It's hard to tell if GTO issues played a part in this.
I also went pretty nuts for the drop set. In future I'll play slightly more conservative; failure helps nothing.
On technique, I've got issues unracking properly and with shoulders losing position on the way up.

Pull-Up -
11, 10, 9
Still questionable technique, but I'll build up. Weighted starts when I can do 10x3 clean.

2014-04-21 Deadlift and Accessories

Warmup

Deadlift -
135x5
165x5
200x5
235x5
270x5
305x5
340x3
375x5x3
250x22 (strapped; plus a 23rd with no straps to rerack)
I felt very good going into these.
My wrist position slipped somewhat on the first two sets, and grip failed completely on rep 3 of the third. I forgot to set my lats properly for the first two sets; that may be affecting my lockout. I'm having trouble getting my shoulders fully behind the bar, though that may be from limited thoracic mobility.

Pull-Up -
10, 8, 10, 9
Again, not all reps would have passed if I'd been less tired. I did keep tension in my lats for all of them, though.

Barbell Row -
135x10
145x10
155x10
165x11

Rear Lateral -
20x25
22.5x15
20x20

Neutral Straight Leg Raise:
10x4, 30 seconds rest between

I'm still in a very tired state; after deads today I was basically tanked, though I pushed through with a lot of rest before and during the pull-ups.

2014-04-20 Push Press

Warmup

Push Press -
45x5
60x5
75x5
90x5
105x5
120x5
135x3
150x5x3
I've had too much to drink the last few days and I didn't sleep much last night. These felt...foggy. It was like I was pushing through water; I knew I could get every rep, I just felt sleepy while I did it.

Pull-Up -
10, 10, 8, 8
I don't know if I would have counted those 10s on a rested day, but I'll take it for now.

Pulldowns - Did singles to a max of about 200, which was fun

2014-04-19 Low-Bar Squat Practice

Since I'm now only 6 weeks out, it's time to switch back to low-bar regardless.

Warmup

Low-Bar Squat -

Bunch of 5s with 45

Few 5s with 95

Then 135

Then 155

Then a couple with 185

Then singles with 225, 260, 285, and 315

Then a few walkouts with 365 and two more with 405

2014-04-18 Squat

Warmup

Squat -
45x5
85x5
125x5
165x5
205x5
245x5
285x3
330x3, 1x12
I drank last night and didn't sleep too much. I tried 100mg and 1 primatene going into this; I definitely felt the heat effect from the ephedrine but don't think I got much performance boost.
The singles got harder very quickly. I realized after a while that I've been pausing at the bottom of my squats; for the later reps I tried to emphasize Frank Yang's "ECCENTRICONCENTRIC" in my head, which helped somewhat.
If I don't get at least 4, 4, X next week I'll switch out to either banded or front squats.

It may be time to add a belt.

2014-04-17 Bench and Arms

Warmup (sans bridges)

Bench -
45x5x2
85x5x2
105x5
125x5
145x5
165x3
190x5, 4 (5F)
240x Unrack, 10-second hold
190x5, 2
135x13
Benching at the gym near Duke (i.e. not the Duke gym, since they don't do paid guest passes). The squat racks and portable bench were perfect for my setup and unrack.
I focused much harder on pushing myself through the bench. For sets 1 and 3 I held my breath until after rep 4; for #2 I breathed after rep 3. For the 5th rep of set 3 I also went in with the intention to not stop pushing until my arms physically gave out. That plus the unrack probably overrode my tendency to fail - I suspect my GTO just kicks in too easily.
I'm going to integrate more heavy unracks into my training, at least for bench.

Pull-up -
10, 9, 7, 5
Starting to get a slight pulling sensation in my left lat.

CG Bench -
45x10
95x10
135x9
145x6
185x Unrack, 10-second hold
135x7

Decline NG DB Extension -
15x15, 11 (12f, but that just meant squeeze pressing them up), 7

Preacher DB -
20x6ea
Right arm totally shot for some reason.

2014-04-16 Deadlift

Warmup

Deadlift -

135x5

165x5

195x5

225x5

265x5

300x5

335x3

370x5x3

I feel pretty good about these. I found them harder, but I also pulled them on less-suitable bars on less cumulative sleep. I enjoyed the round plates, though.

Pull-Up -

10, 8, 6, 7

I ran out of time here.

2014-04-12 Bench

Warmup

Bench -
45x5
65x5
85x5
105x5
125x5
145x5
165x3
190x5, 4 (5f), 4 (5f), 4 (5f), 2
135x15
I'm forgetting my technique again; I'd've had the second set of 5 if I'd held my breath after rep 4 and remembered to drive myself through the bench. I should have known better for the third and fourth sets. 5th I wasn't satisfied with the technique on the first so I hit it again on the second.
The last 135 rep was very bad; my right side seems to be shutting off again. I need to stop skipping my mobes.
I was really chipper going into this though, which was funny.

Pull-Up -
10, 9, 8, 7

CG Bench -
45x10
95x10
135x8
145x5 (6f)
135x6
Near miss on the last 135 rep.

JM Press -
45x10
Wrist.

Decline Swiss Extension -
40x8
30x10
20x20
If I go towards my neck on these they actually seem to imitate a JM press, at least somewhat. Maybe if I flare my elbows.

Then time's up.

2014-04-11 Deadlift and Accessories

Warmup

Deadlift -
135x5
165x5
195x5
225x5
260x5
290x5
330x3
365x5x3
I got Chris to video the last set; I'll see if I can get it up. The gist is that my back feels like it's coming out of place, but looks totally neutral. I'd guess I'm just losing extension.

Pull-Up -
10, 9, 8, 8

Barbell Row -
135x10
145x10
155x10
165x10
All strapped.

Rear Lateral -
17.5x25
20x20
22.5x15

2014-04-09 Chest and Shoulders

Warmup

Bench -
45x10
70x10
95x10
120x10
145x10
160x9 (10f)
135x7
I'm not totally sold on keeping the reps this high, but it does sort of make sense given the goal.

Incline -
45x10
65x10
85x10
95x10
This shit is embarrassing.

Side Raise -
15x25
17.5x20
15x20

Skipped mobes, partly for bad reasons and partly because today got unbelievably stressful in a hurry and I just wanted to get the hell out. I realized after I left that I'd planned to do Decline; oops. Maybe I'll do some really wide crossovers next time; I discovered this afternoon that getting my hand REALLY far across my body generates a REALLY strong contraction in my inner pec, which is nice.

2014-04-09 Push Press

Warmup

Push Press -
45x5
60x5
75x5
90x5
105x5
120x5
135x3
150x5x3
I felt extraordinarily tired during these. I assume a lack of caffeine had something to do with it.

Pull-Ups -
9, 8, 7, 6

2014-04-07 Squat Accessories

Warmup

DB Row -
22.5x10
40x10
55x25 (straps)
65x15 (straps)
75x10 (straps)
Fun.

Rear Lateral -
20x20, 15, 15

Tried pallof press, couldn't make it work. It's also very hard to load the hanging leg raise.

Tried the double super couch (tie ankle to thigh, then thigh to another object). Very good.

Supplements

The taurine, carinitine, alpha-gpc, and citrulline came in today.

So, my entire supplement regimen:

1) 2 Fish Oil, 2 Vitamin D, 2g Taurine, 1g LCLT

Preworkout: 5g Creatine, 6g Citrulline, 600mg Alpha-GPC

2) 2 Fish Oil, 3 Vitamin D, 2g Taurine, 2g Citrulline, 1g LCLT, probiotic

3) 2 Fish Oil, 1 Vitamin D, 2g Taurine, 2g Citrulline, 1g LCLT

4) 2 Fish Oil, 2g Citrulline, 1g LCLT

Looking things over, it actually appears that the pills aren't any more expensive than the powders. Preworkout L-citrulline and creatine both work best as powders, but around meals I'd rather be using pills.

2014-04-07 Squat

Warmup

Squat -
45x5
85x5
125x5
165x5
205x5
245x5
285x3
330x4, 3 (4F), 3, 2, 2, 1
I haven't been sleeping too well (same problems as the last few days). I also suspect that the extra volume just isn't any use with my lower body movements - they were moving just fine before.

Coming in 3 times a day is also enough of a pain in the ass, and sufficiently boring, that I think I'll revise it down regardless. Triceps is now arms, chest and shoulders merged, reduced split on the leg days.

Bench: CG Bench, JM Press, EZ Curl
Squat: Kroc Row, Rear Lateral, Neutral HLR/Pallof
Press: RE Bench, Incline, Side Raise
Deadlift: Barbell Row, Rear Lateral, Suitcase Dead/Fallout

Upper body prehab runs with face pulls and push-ups; lower body prehab goes with x-walks and single-leg rdls. I may run this back up to 4 movements, but for now I'm sticking it at 3. SLDLs and maybe TBLs could wind up back in eventually, but that's pending lower body feeling.

Oh, and I'm also thinking about splitting the salads up by vegetable (pork gets spinach, maybe separate after that) and returning to an apple vinaigrette for the pork one.

2014-04-06 Chest

Warmup

Decline -
45x10
95x10
135x10
160x8
185x5
135x15
I'm not tall enough for this thing.

DB on Swiss -
30x10
40x10
50x13
30x22

Crossover -
20x18
17.5x12
15x14

2014-04-06 Biceps

Something of a feeler workout.

Warmup

EZ Curl -
30x10
40x10
50x8
60x8
65x6
70x5
75x4
80x2
40x20
Mislabeled in notebook; apparently the nice bar weighs 30lbs, not 25.
Next time I'll drop to 5 sets; 30, 50, 65, 75, 45.

Preacher Hammer Curl -
15x10
17.5x12
15x13
10x30

Incline Curl -
10x15, 12, 12
5x30

Then a bunch of roller, gemini, and ball work on my thoracic stuff.

2014-04-06 Bench Press

Warmup

Bench -
45x5
85x5x2
105x5
125x5
145x5
165x3
185x5, 5, 4, 1
135x10
I wasn't quite mentally here for these. I've also noticed that my caffeine doses don't seem to work very well anymore. At least one major technical flaw (pushing the bar away rather than myself through the bench), plus inadequate hip and heel drive.
I locked out most/all of the 135s; I'll try to avoid doing that again, since my triceps are a weak point here.

No pull-ups today; I'll put them back in on Wednesday (longer recover period for my shoulder, push pressing so violent shoulder extension regardless).

I've ordered a month's supply of taurine, citrulline, l-carnitine l-tartrate, and alpha-gpc; they're arriving tomorrow, and I'm interested to see how well that goes. That came to about $130 (with food expenses running about $350-$400 before off-meals). I've got an extra $1200 from my tax return, and while a fair bit of that's going to discretionary expenses (new shoes and clothes, sunglasses, car stereo header, belt(s)), I should have enough on the side to fund supplementation until the meet, and possibly through the end of the summer. I may also need to order more caffeine, though I'm hesitant about that after a brief episode yesterday.

Incidentally, if anyone actually human reads this, know how to identify your major friends and don't take them for granted. You never know when they'll proactively and unexpectedly come through for you without even knowing that you need them.

2014-04-04 Deadlift and some accessories

Warmup (7.5s)

Deadlift -
135x5
165x5
195x5
225x5
255x5
290x5
325x3
360x5x3
250x15 (strapped)
Solid reps. I wasn't sure I'd get them after the first set, but then set 2 went up the same way and I decided I was probably ok. I don't know if using a red bull in place of caffeine pills as my preworkout helped.
The Broz lifting tape worked out really well; I like it a lot and will keep using it.
I need to re-work my strapping method; getting fed up of the straps slipping during high-rep sets. That should have been at least 20, possibly over 25.

Barbell Row -
45x10
95x10
135x9
155x11
165x10
105x25
Went with my bench grip; I think it actually did help me focus more on my upper back.

Rear Lateral -
15x20
20x18
25x15
15x26
Lots of cheating and rest-pausing, but hey, volume.

2014-04-02 Squat

Warmup

Squat -
45x5
85x5
125x5
165x5
205x5
245x5
285x3
325x5, 5, 4 (5F), 1
225x15
Misracked the second 325 and got lightheaded getting it back up. Held the third set for way too long going into the last rep and then low-bar Anderson squatted it back up as 225.
I'm pretty sure I had 20-25 (at least) in me for 225. I guess we'll find out next time.

I injured my shoulder on Monday, so no pull-ups today. I'll still do the quad workout later though.

Possible Further Split

I'm considering nixing cardio and splitting things up even further to focus more on the individual muscles (primarily because I don't feel like I'm adequately addressing a lot of things right now).

This would look something like:

Bench (5x3 Bench, drop set, Pull-Up)
Biceps (EZ Curl, Hammer Preacher Curl, Decline Curl)
Chest (Decline, DB Swiss, Crossover) <- potentially RE Bench over Decline, pending shoulder

Squat (5x3 Squat, drop set, Pull-Up)
Upper Back/Abs ("Kroc" Row, Rear Lateral, Neutral HLR ss Pallof Press)
Quads/Abductors (Trap Bar Lift, Pistol, Banded Abduction)

Press (5x3 Press, drop set, Pull-Up)
Triceps (CG Bench, JM Press, Decline NG Extension)
Shoulders (Incline, Landmine Press, Side Raise)

Deadlift (5x3 Deadlift, drop set, Pull-Up)
Upper Back/Abs (Barbell Row, Rear Lateral, Band Fallout ss Pallof Press)
Lower Back/Hamstrings (SLDL, 45-Degree Back Raise, Uni RDL)

Subject to various changes.

That being said, I'm not going to just leap into this - I'll think it over a bit and at least allow a week or so on the current iteration so my body can adapt to the already-higher volume.

This also lends itself to experimenting with ephedrine. Alternatively, I can rearrange things a bit on Mondays and Fridays and do the conditioning in the evenings (cluster the above earlier in the day). That sounds like a recipe for complete burnout, though. Honestly, this whole plan seems like a recipe for burnout; I doubt I'll actually do it, but spitballing can be amusing.

2014-03-31 Bench

Warmup, with 7.5lb DBs and some cat-camels

Bench -
45x5
65x5
85x5
105x5
125x5
145x5
165x3
180x5x3
135x13 (12, rerack, reset, 1)
I'm going to do some rolling around my shoulder; it's not feeling too hot right now.
I felt pretty bad on the first set, with that same "dead triceps" feeling I'm used to. My solution was to just tell myself I was being dumb and to push through it anyway, and it worked really well. I didn't really pause some of the reps (at least the very last one), but I got everything and feel pretty solid for next time.
Since I'm heavily mimicking Costis' approach to bench training, I decided to run a drop set and see how it went. I tried keeping a lot of the reps in the mid range and royally fucked up the groove, but mostly pulled things off. I can skip lockout without actually sacrificing range, so I'll just stick with that in future and stay roughly competition-style otherwise.
I wanted 15, but that turned out to be beyond my reach. I might try doing strip sets in future (135, 95, 45).

Pull-Up -
8, 7, 7, 6, 6

2014-03-30 Back and Bicep

Warmup - making a note to try the 7.5lb dumbbells, since this is getting trivial with 5lb plates

Stiff Leg Deadlift -
135x5
185x5
225x8 (Hook Grip)
250x12 (Straps)
275x8 (Straps)
I'm going to work on my hip mobility and get video at some point; I want to make sure I'm staying neutral and not developing "oysters" with these.
Trying to work with the hook grip was a huge pain, so I strapped up, which worked better. I couldn't hit a consistent groove here; clearly something I need to work on. I'm guessing that was my body trying to shift the load to my upper back (kept falling forward).
So, straps and work up. I chatted about that with Costis and discovered that he works up to top sets on everything; it seems like a common enough trend to try out, especially on shit like these. He also usually drops down to do a high-rep set of most things after his heaviest one, which could also be valuable.

Barbell Row -
135x12, 12, 10
Not sure how I'd handle working up on these.
I can actually hit these strict with a flat back for a few reps. Figuring out the technique to use may take a while.

Curl -
22.5x12, 8, 6
Considering doing some sort of curling cycle here where I just murder my biceps with a single HIT-style set on 3 different curl variations. Leeman's suggestion is Heavy -> Volume -> Stretch/Squeeze/Contraction across various angles. Straight up copying him would be something like heavy EZ bar curl -> Hammer curl -> incline curl. Going heavy on the EZ curl sounds like a good idea, not 100% sure on the followup. Maybe EZ -> Hammer Preacher -> Incline with ascending rep ranges.

Banded Neutral HLR -
Green RSF Band for 12, 13, 15
Realized I still need to keep my back away from the pad. Doing these with the band is pretty tough at the top, which is probably a good thing.

Then left.

2014-03-30 Deadlift

Warmup

Deadlift -
135x5
165x5
195x5
225x5
255x5
285x5
320x5
355x5x3
I love that these felt about the same as 335-345.

Pull-Up -
8, 8, 7, 7

I had (or opted) to take the last week off to tour grad schools on the east coast. In light of that, I've rearranged my training somewhat; I'll have a 2-day deload (squat and press) in a few weeks, and otherwise everything's largely reset.

I'm also reworking conditioning; I think I'm going to extend my time in each block and try alternating weeks of the erg and the battle ropes. I'm pretty sure that one of the big things limiting my bench progress is that all of my conditioning hits my lower body (and now my back); the ropes should add something for upper. I'm extending the cycles so things time better with deloads.

2014-03-24 Squat, Conditioning, Legs and Back

Warm-up, plus cat-camel

Squat -
45x5
85x5
125x5
165x5
205x5
245x5
285x3
320x5x3
I felt like shit on the way in (bad sleep, early rise, etc). Then I noticed around 225 that I wasn't noticeably fatigued during or after my sets. 320 wasn't a breeze, and I've got some forward lean to address, but it certainly wasn't impossible.

I had some of my old left hip pain on the later warmups. Quad pain hit when my knees tracked forward on 285, but was generally more tolerable than usual. No comment on knees.

Pullup -
9, 8, 7, 7
Took yohimbine and 200mg caffeine right before the 320 sets. It hit right before these, so they felt like death.
----
Elliptical -
5m @ 7r, 140
10m @ 9r, 185

Erg -
1m @ 3:30
6x (45 @ 1:50 - 2:10, 30 @ recovery)
Switched to 1 drag factor to help spare legs.
----
Low Trap Bar Lift -
135x5
185x5
225x11, 10, 15
Hard. More left hip pain. Weight should go up, yells should be had.

Feeling nauseous around here. Only a bit. Tagart said I was pale as death.

DB Row -
40x20, 15, 12
Clearly needs to be heavy. Need to get sensation in right upper back, too.

DB Preacher Curl -
20x12, 8, 8
Getting a tweak in the right origin.

Jackknife -
13

Neutral HLR -
12
Red RSF Band x10
Band around feet to add resistance without weirding up feet. Need to play with that.

Further programming thoughts

I've realized looking at this that I probably can't hit everything to my satisfaction during the evenings if I only have two workouts across the 4 types of training days. Off of that, I'm thinking I'll handle each day in a more traditional bodybuilding sense and arrange the accessories by bodypart:

Press - Shoulders
Bench - Chest
Deadlift - Back
Squat - Back

Back's in twice because I doubt I'll benefit from a whole lot of extra leg volume. Different runs for each of them (and probably some hamstrings on deadlift day - basically the whole posterior chain). Probably looking at something like:

Dead: SLDL, Barbell Row, Curl, Jackknife
Press: Incline, DB Incline, Side Raise, Landmine Press
Squat: Trap Bar Lift, DB Row, Curl, Jackknife
Bench: Close Grip, DB Swiss, Cable Crossover, Push-Up

Picking lifts here was a bit tricky; the idea's to build up weak points and strengthen movement patterns, but I also want to make sure that the session opens with a "real" lift (i.e. something I'd consider supplemental and not accessory). It's a mildly close contest between Front Squats and Trap Bar Lifts, but I think I'll get some extra from the TBL just because it involves breaking something off the ground. Snatch Grip vs. Stiff-Leg deads is also a hard one, but if I'm already doing the trap bar I figure it's worth hitting my low back and hamstrings here.

These are all on the same rep pattern:
First: 6-10 x3
Second: 8-15 x3
Third: 10-15 x3
Fourth: Discretionary

Let's give it a try.

2014-03-23 Push Press and Accessories

Warmup

Push Press -
45x5
60x5
75x5
90x5
105x5
120x5
130x3
140x5x3
I felt really, really good coming into this one - I've got a strong feeling that the mix of high fatigue Friday, decent sleep both nights since then, caffeine, and actually hitting my macros yesterday set me up pretty well for success. The work sets weren't ridiculously easy, and I kept on knocking out my headphones (gave up wearing them pretty quickly), but I've got plenty of progress left on this one.

Pull-Ups -
10, 9, 7, 7
3 minutes rest. Very happy.

CG Bench -
45x5
95x5
135x9, 7, 6
3 minutes between the heavy sets.
I did these RE and fairly "tension"-style; I'm trying to give myself one rest at the end of the set, but otherwise keep tension in the muscles and focus on my pecs.
Set the goal here at 6-10.

DB Bench -
20x8
40x12, 14, 8
I forgot the RE rule and stopped at 12 (guideline was 8-12) for the first set; guess the weight's just going up next week.
Forgot that I'm supposed to do these on a swiss ball.

Push-Up -
9, 9, 7
Gotta work these up. No rep goal here.

Cable Crossover -
20x20x3
I'm still feeling these out, but my inclination here is to keep the handles high and wide, at least for a "lower" pec emphasis; it seems like going low hits the bulk of the muscle the most.

Face Pull -
5x15x3sec

I did today all in one go; I need to wake up earlier tomorrow to get everything in (again in one go) and then catch a plane. This week is going to be interesting.

Some programming thoughts

Given the frustration involved in decline extensions, I think I actually will try more of the Costis thing. CG Bench -> DB Bench -> Push-Up -> Crossover should wreck basically all of the pressing musculature. If DB Bench keeps aggravating my shoulder I'll drop it and keep running side raises.

Target for CG Bench is somewhere around the 5-8 range, DB 8-12, Push-Ups we'll see, Crossovers 12-20.

2014-03-21 Accessories

Warmup

Pull-Up -
9, 8, 8, 7
3 minute rests.
I tweaked my shoulder during cardio; that got reflected a bit here, at least in physical sensation.

Rear Laterals -
15x15
20x20
22.5x15
Running to a more Costis-type approach here and just playing with heavier stuff.
1 minute rests.

Uni DB Preacher -
25x8x3
Continuous, 6+1+1, 5+1+1+1. These I'm sticking with the 8s thing, at least for now.

I got in late and didn't have much time to do anything afterwards.

I'm going to track my weight pretty closely here so I can get an idea of how my calories need to look; if I start losing faster than 1lb/week, I'll start bumping the carbs back up. My exhaustion here may have just been the aftermath of high yohimbine and caffeine doses, but it still felt pretty grotty.

2014-03-21 Intervals

40m in advance: 200mg caffeine, 15mg Yohimbine HCl

Elliptical -

5m @ 1I, 7R, 130-140bpm

10m @ 1I, 9R, 180-190bpm

~3m to get upstairs and strap into the erg

Erg -

1m @ 3:30

1m @ 1:40-1:50, 1m active rest

1m @ 1:45-1:55, 1m active rest

1m @ 1:45-1:55, 1m active rest

1m @ 1:50-2:05, 1m active rest

1m @ 1:50-2:15, 1m active rest

Unlike the last few times I slowed down and didn't feel satisfied afterwards, this one definitely boiled down to me being a pussy. My legs burned like hell and while I generally stayed below 2:00 for all of the intervals, I'm pretty unhappy about what happened on the last one.

I'm still seeing slight stars.

Oh, and next time it's after maxing on squats, with harder intervals (45/30). I'm looking forward to the shorter sprints, but the disproportionately shorter rests may make it murderous (though I'm not 100% sure there...)

2014-03-21 Deadlift

Warmup, Cat Camel

Deadlift -
135x5
165x5
195x5
225x5
255x5
285x5
315x3
350x5x3
I forgot my long socks and dropped my athletic tape, so today was pretty old school. I didn't sleep too well last night and felt pretty tired going in. Also, this being the morning (and me seeing Al walk in right in front of me and then make a pass through the annex) I did the first few sets on an impromptu platform and controlled the negative on rep 5 of the rest. That last one's probably good from a training effect perspective, though.
The sets were pretty hard (probably from the last few days of fatigue) but doable. I actually suspect that the stuff I do to protect my shins has a straight up ergogenic effect, which is pretty cool.

Long rests left me out of time after this.

More Programming Thoughts

I talked with Costis about his bench, shoulder, and arm programming today; I'm recording it roughly here and then talking about ideas.

He pretty much trains on a Westside-type template; main day goes heavy bench, then generally incline or press, cable crossovers (starting as a "decline" and eventually coming towards flat across a few sets), dumbbells, and then sometimes decline bench. Shoulders opens with Press, then side raises and a rear delt destroyer. Arms runs close grip, heavy barbell curl, then a mix of various other curls and extensions.

Since I'm running two per day now, it's reasonable to actually inject some higher intensity into the evening sessions; since they're for accumulating volume (more bodybuilding style) rather than intensity, they won't be particularly "damaged" by fatigue from conditioning.

The big stuff I'm noticing in Costis' approach:

1) Heavy emphasis on CG bench (actual close-grip - hands inside torso)

2) Rep ranges vary a lot, with most sets basically being RE

3) Crossovers/Flyes

4) Side Raises

5) Rear Delt work

6) Dumbbell flat or incline

(He also likes dips, but slap tear)

The RE aspect is pretty typical for his programming - he goes by feel, not prescription, and the Westside guys have made a good case for that being the way to go with accessory work.

From that I'm strongly considering putting CG Bench in first, taking out the extensions, and doing the whole thing RE.

2014-03-20 PM Accessories

Warmup

DB Bench -
30x10
60x6x3
I had some trouble maintaining shoulder position here; I guess it'll be an ongoing process.

DB Fly -
20x8
27.5x8x2
I had an even harder time here. I also find it kind of frustrating that I only feel the contraction in the very outer edges of my pecs.

Decline NG Extension -
55x8, 7, 6
I did these in the machine room, and it was a pain in the ass. The decline there is adjustable, but steeper and dramatically less "stable"-feeling. I can probably use it again, but getting into and out of position just feels unsafe.

Lateral Raise -
15x8
20x8
22.5x8
These felt pretty normal.

Face Pull - 5x15x3, 3sec
Push-Up - 10, 8, 10
Micro ER - 15x3

Then ball and roller work for pec, infraspinatus, upper ribs.

2014-03-20 Bench, and bench thoughts

Warmup

Bench -
45x5
60x5
75x5
90x5
105x5
120x5
135x5
150x5
165x3
175x5x3
I did these in the Memorial Stadium gym, and it turns out it's probably the best place to bench on campus - the leather actually does an incredible job holding onto my shirt, and the hooks allow for the best unrack I've ever done. It's probably specific to my body and shirt, but I'm not going back, especially since the unrack puts my shoulder in an almost unbreakably solid position.

Pull-Up -
9, 8, 8, 7
Switched to the morning.

I'm starting to put some of my squatting, pressing, and deadlifting intensity into benching (partly by copying the setup ritual), but I still don't "grind" the same way on hard reps. I didn't have that problem back during sophomore year, so I'm going to try building up more volume in the evenings.

I'm cutting the length of the warmup for everything (used to do 8-9 sets; cutting to 7 for now). Prehab's moving completely to the evening for now; I may double it up again as I cut time from the morning.

As I mentioned yesterday, pushing the evenings to more of a distinct bodybuilding-type workout probably makes the most sense, especially for the upper body days. Since I'm looking to up the volume specifically for benching, I'm looking at:

DB Bench 6x3, Flyes 8x3, Extensions 8x3, Side Raises 8x3

For lower, probably try:

Barbell Row 6x3, Ab 8x3, Rear Lateral 8x3, Curl 8x3

Possibly switching to DB rows and moving the barbells to the morning once I'm doing the pull-ups with weight.

Prehab also sees some change:
Upper - Face Pull, External Rotation, Push-Up (3 rounds); banded bilateral shoulder flexion (supple leopard 259-260), rolling for chest, shoulder, infraspinatus, lats, and upper ribs
Lower - Pistol, SLRDL, banded abduction (time.); couch (with rotation in position 2), rolling for lower ribs, hips, quads, hamstrings, and calves

If those prove unsustainable time-wise I'll switch out a bit and do more at home. I'll be doing some of it after conditioning, as well (mostly just to open up the hip and upper back).

2014-03-19 Accessory Work (and some programming notes)

Warmup

Pull-Up -
9, 8, 7, 7
2 minutes' rest for 1-3, 3 for 4. Sticking with 3 in future; ideally I'd like to move this to the morning workout, but that'll take some work on timing for those sets.

Pistol -
8x3
Each set took somewhere in the 2-3 minute range. I think the chucks throw my balance off a bit, but either way it's ludicrously hard for me to stay stable doing these. I'm going to class these as prehab along with the single-leg RDLs and progress them onto a bosu ball once I've got them down continuously with a good arch and good posture (and possibly some weight - hopefully that'll force me to stop keeling to the side).

Curl -
25x8x3
Continuous, 7+1, 6+2 (technically the right side failed, but only just).

Pulldown Ab - 95x8
Leg Raise - 8
Hanging Leg Raise - 7
Leg Raise - 2
I'm still not convinced on how to do these.

And then I ran out of time.

I see a few lessons here, and some insights:
1) I really, really need to keep doing the pistols. Given how easy the physical motion is, that and the single-leg RDLs might be best-placed on off-days as rehab.
2) Best-case scenario, I find a way to get pull-ups in with the main lift each day (presumably by reducing warmup sets) and do the entire evening as a bodybuilding-style accessory workout or something.
3) Until I move the pull-ups, I'm going back to the old version - with warmup and prehab I've got maybe 35 minutes to go through the main exercises, which locks me down at 3 (potentially 4, if I cut rest down a bit). I can experiment with that as it goes, but for now I'll just have to investigate shortening the warmups.

2014-03-19 Squat

Warmup, including cat-camel

Squat -
45x5
75x5
105x5
135x5
165x5
195x5
225x5
255x5
285x3
315x5x3
Rests probably fell somewhere around 5 minutes going in (most of California Love, all of Fight Music, first minute of Til I Collapse), 6 minutes for set 2 (3 minutes each of Til I Collapse and Lose Yourself), 8 minutes for set 3 (last minute of Lose Yourself, all of Fat Lip, all of Thug Revolution, first minute of Til I Collapse).

I actually sort of like this setup; first set's hard, second's harder, third set's comparatively easy.

Face Pull - 5x15x3x3s
Band ER - Micro*15x3

Further Split Thoughts

Let's go into some detail:

As far as I can tell, the main lift basically has to be in the morning. Pre-fatiguing the muscles involved weakens the most important movements; doing them first maximizes the benefit from stimulants without risking them running up against the ones used during conditioning. Conditioning can never happen before the main lift. Mains can technically be done at 1pm on non-conditioning days.

Conditioning shouldn't be done too close to bed; the adrenal effects of serious intervals are really dramatic and make sleeping very, very difficult. Ideally, we want to separate conditioning from any prior training by at least 4 hours (preferably more like 6) to avoid any metabolic conflicts. I finished like two and a half hours ago it's going to take a serious contrast shower to get me to sleep.

Accessory work can basically be done whenever, but since it requires no changes in psychological state and doesn't cause much of an adrenal dump, it can be done at night (possibly quite late at night), though it's still important to eat afterwards.

On the supplement side, the main lifts are probably best done on caffeine, creatine, and ephedrine to maximize CNS activation. Ephedrine synergizes with yohimbine to cause some fairly serious cardiovascular effects; given the longer half-life seen with Bronkaid, taking yohimbine any time after ephedrine is probably a very bad idea. Yohimbine can have a mild effect towards inducing panic attacks, which gets viciously exaggerated during intense exercise. Ephedrine seems to work primarily through appetite suppression, and since that's never going to be an issue for me I'm going to open with yohimbine. If that goes badly for cardio, I'll drop it and gradually add in some ephedrine to see how it goes.

Meal-wise, we want to eat before and immediately after the main lifts, have a gap of at least a few hours before the intervals to avoid blocking the effects of yohimbine, immediately after cardio because why not, and at least before (and preferably after) accessories as well.

Timing-wise, conditioning days are more flexible than the others, because I don't actually have to wake up early the following morning.

From that I'm getting something like:
8am - Breakfast
9:30am - Caffeine, Creatine, Baking Soda
10am - Main Lift
11am - Lunch (meat)
2pm - Lunch (salad)
6pm - Dinner (rolling while the rice cooks)
7pm - Accessories
8pm - Supper (rolling while the rice cooks)
12pm - Bed

8am - Breakfast
9:30am - Caffeine, Creatine, Baking Soda
10am - Main Lift
11am - Lunch
3:30pm - Caffeine, Yohimbine, Baking Soda
4pm - Conditioning
5pm - Dinner (rolling while the rice cooks)
9pm - Accessories
10pm - Supper (rolling while the rice cooks)
2am - Bed

Then walk to the gym for some "technique" erging on off-days, preferably in the evening, before carb intake. I can actually see some benefit to doing two light workouts that day, just to flush muscles with blood and assist with recovery.

The mild caveat here is that I don't know how well I'll be able to train the main lift without some carbs beforehand. Keeping carbs to the evening and emphasizing the post-workout period has some support (lower full-body insulin sensitivity, but some improved partitioning towards muscles, particularly on the conditioning days), and I'd like to stick with that.

Two bonus notes, though:
1) The whole idea behind training this way is to keep the actual activity to 45 minutes per session. That seems to translate roughly into Warmup+Main+Prehab, Conditioning, and Pull-Up+Accessories+Prehab. This potentially opens up some options for extra accessory work (and possibly something more intense). Off of that, I'm going to try:
Upper: Flyes, Lateral Raises, Extensions
Lower: Pistols, Curls, Abs

Ultimately, I may wind up adding or subbing for other stuff; I've had good results with Dumbbell Benching for 6s in the past, and want to start rowing again once my Pec's better (which it might be already). Single-leg RDLs and push-ups both fall into what I'd consider prehab, so I'll integrate those into the circuit.

2014-03-17 Accessories and Conditioning

Accessories:

Pull-Up -
9, 9, 10, 7
The trick seems to be pushing the continuous portion as long as possible, which makes sense. Some of the later reps were questionable on each set, but at the end of the day, I still got close for 10.

Front Raise -
22.5x8
20x8x2
The guys are pushing me towards laterals and rears, and I think I may take them up on that. Honestly, I may add more movements in here - the goal's to keep it to 45 minutes, and even with 5 minutes of rest on the pull-ups that's still very doable.

Decline NG Extension -
50x10x3
Rest-pausing and such here; repeating.

Conditioning:

Elliptical -
5m @ 1I, 7R, "easy" pace
10m @ 1I, 9R, "effort" pace
I did actually get my heart rate up to 160 towards the end of this.

Erg -
5m @ 3:30 pace
1m @ 1:50-1:55, 1m @ active
1m @ 1:45-1:50, 1m @ active
1m @ 1:45-1:50, 1m @ active
1m @ 1:45-1:55, 1m @ active
1m @ 1:50-2:00
I could barely walk after this. I still feel it in my chest.

2014-03-17 Push Press

Warmup

Push Press -
45x5
55x5
65x5
75x5
85x5
95x5
105x5
115x5
125x3
135x5x3
I did these at Memorial Stadium; seeing myself in the mirror was very distracting, and I didn't like the sense of being in a shared space. I might be ok to bench there, though.

Face Pulls / BER:
(2.5x15x3sec / Micro*15)x3

Split Training Thoughts

I went to the Memorial Stadium gym. The benches are lower (17") and slippery, and since the racks face the mirror it's hard to concentrate properly when pressing (and probably will be for squatting). It's very light and "public" in there, too, which makes it harder for me to change gears and really get into lifting mode. I suspect that physically being in the annex adds something there, too. The Stadium also gets DQed on accessories - no tricep bar, no preacher bench, no decline.

That said, they do have a Scifit bike and better ellipticals, which expands my options for cardio. I'll need to try both out before I do any intervals, but it's looking reasonably from that angle.

Schedule-wise, I think I'm fairly set up right now - I can still bench in the stadium, and I'll make things work for deads. Squat and Press I can both do comfortably in the main room at the RSF.

The plan's currently: Wake up at 8, then main lift 10-11, accessories 1-2, and conditioning 6-7 if applicable.

Waking up at 8, we get breakfast, caffeine, creatine, and ephedrine at 8:30, lunch at noon, "dinner" at 2:30, yohimbine and baking soda at 5:30, then supper around 7:30. Ephedrine may get nixed, but if I'm doing this hardcore I may as well actually go hardcore.

For the deloads, I'm looking at reducing the weight rather than volume, knocking off the caffeine and ephedrine, and not listening to music.

Once my tax return comes in, I may add in l-citrulline 8g/day, l-carnitine l-tartrate 6g/day, alpha-gpc 600 mg/day, taurine 6g/day, and possibly beta-alanine (competes with taurine). I may also start throwing in the baking soda throughout the rest of the day, but I'm not keen on how far it'll throw off my sodium/potassium ratio.

EDIT: I'm also considering just not doing the accessory work on conditioning days, or something. To be honest, I'd most like to do accessories at 9 and main at 1 or 7 (depending on conditioning), but I'm worried about the effects on performance.

2014-03-16 Deadlift

Warmup

Deadlift -
135x5
160x5
185x5
210x5
235x5
260x5
285x5
315x3
345x5x3
I'm going to bump the rests up a bit; here I took about five going into set 2 and felt atrocious, then more like 7 for set 3 and felt awesome.
I'm in a fairly bad position breathing-wise, though - I do better if I hold my breath for the whole set, but I also pop blood vessels all over my face and upper chest (maybe). I'll make an appointment to get that checked out, just in case it's an actual sickness.

Pull-Up -
9, 9, 8, 7
The 9s tend to be sketchy, but I won't hit 10 without pushing it.

Ab -
100x8
95x8
90x8
I had a pretty hard time with 100; 95 less so, and 90's a piece of cake. It might be time to brainstorm a new movement here, actually.

Curl -
25x8x3
First set continuous, second with a 3-second rest after the first 6, third with a 3-second after 6 and 10-second after 7. I failed on the right side (hence the 10 seconds); left just mimics the right, including the rest break.

Face Pull -
5x15x3, 3 second holds

Couch Stretch -
2m/position
I tried turning to the left while I did the right side; it seemed to get the painful line of my quad, so I guess my new step here is to rotate my torso towards the "forward" side.

Going to get a massage from Wynnie; my QL was acting up most of the day.

2014-03-14 Deload Bench

Warmup

Bench -
45x5
60x3
75x3
90x3
105x3
120x3
135x3
150x1
170x2x5
I added the music today; these felt considerably better than usual. I am getting some tweaking on the front of my shoulder, though.

Pull-Up -
9, 9. 7, 7
Gradually getting to that 10.

Decline Swiss Extension -
50x8x3
Repeating - this was pretty damn hard, actually.

Front Raise -
22.5x8x3
Also hard. I'm still debating the side raise (or delt destroyer) idea.

Decided against conditioning due it being a deload, my having to submit my Dartmouth essay by 9, and my having case practice scheduled for 8.

2014-03-13 Deload Squat

Warmup

Squat -
45x5
75x3
105x3
135x3
165x3
195x3
225x3
255x3
285x1
310x2x5
I'm going to see how fresh I feel at the start of the next cycle (keeping good track) and then try a weight-based deload in April. I know deloads generally feel pretty crappy, but on a program like this it seems like they should feel less so than on the Texas Method (where you deload mid-week after hitting yourself with a tremendously concentrated training stress on volume day).
My quad's acting up even more than usual. Since I'm on vacation now, I'm going to start really hammering the mobility while I'm at home. I also noticed that the right side has a bit of an abduction deficit.

Pull-Up -
8, 8, 7, 7

Cable Ab -
90x8x3

Curl -
25x8x3
Some rest pausing here (6+2, 5+1+1+1, 6+2) but good.

Face Pull -
5x15x3, 3s

Had to skip mobility due to expired parking.

Possible Program and Diet Revision

I realized earlier today that as of 12am Saturday, I'm basically on holiday. That might come with an asterisk from working at Habitat for Humanity, but it still leaves me very open most days. The guaranteed takeaway there is that I'm going to be sleeping plenty this time around.

From that, I'm considering splitting training up into AM/PM segments (possibly AM/Lunch/PM for Monday and Friday). This has several bonuses (greater elevation of metabolic rate, get to lift with the morning crew, split cardio and lifting up to reduce catabolism, further increases frequency, etc. - hell, the lunch thing would jump it to 12 workouts per week).

I see three drawbacks, though:
1) I'll have to wake up a little earlier, get more warmed up, etc.. This might be difficult at the beginning.
2) I may want to add in some additional carbs in the morning and otherwise revise the diet, which could be annoying. I don't have a huge problem with splitting the carbs up, but editing meals to optimize performance could be annoying. That said, I'm not going to change breakfast unless it really seems to make a difference. Post-training meal might benefit from some carbs, though.
3) Dealing with the staff on deadlift days might be inconvenient, though if that does come up I've got options (move deadlift sessions around, etc.)

Light cardio on my off days would also be useful to speed recovery.

2014-03-12 Deload Push Press

Warmup

Push Press -
45x5
55x3
65x3
75x3
85x3
95x3
105x3
115x1
130x2x5
I walked in for these feeling unusually slow.

Pull-Up -
9, 9, 8, 6
Pretty happy here though. Might have been 7 on the last set.

Front Raise -
20x10x3
22.5.

Decline Swiss Extension -
45x10, 10, 8

I spent a lot of today on the foam rollers, so I skipped the usual mobility work and left to go hang out.

2014-03-10 Deadlift

Warmup

Deadlift -
135x5
160x5
185x5
210x5
235x5
260x5
285x5
310x3
340x5x3
Back to feeling very easy; I did have some caffeine and put the music on fairly well, but anything for speed pulls. Also taped up my calves and thumbs. The last set didn't go as well; I take that as a sign of bad music selection. Still, I'm definitely good through 365 at this rate.

Pull-Up -
8, 7, 7, 5, 5
I didn't feel like pushing it after the lat pull.

Cable Crunch -
90x8x3

DB Preacher -
22.5x8x3
All reps paused and done for speed. I guess we're hitting the 25s next time.

Elliptical -
5m @ 1I/7R, 135rpm
10 @ 1I/8R, 180rpm
I think I'm getting too used to this - my heart rate barely broke 150 on the 180rpm, and going up to 9R felt a bit excessive. Maybe I should just deal with that, I dunno.

Erg -
5m @ 3:30
5x (1m @ >=1:55, 1m active rest)
I'm definitely getting too used to this; unfortunately it's still the only option I've got for full-body cardio. My legs and biceps were the main sufferers today, though, so it might be worth going to the stairmaster for a bit regardless.

Couch - 1m/position
Upper back stuff for right side, LAX Ball

The pulls make me think my body's starting to break down a bit; then again, since the issue apparently keeps moving, it's probably more Broz-esque than a set of truly dangerous growing injuries. I'll see how things go.

2014-03-09 Bench

Warmup

Bench -
45x5
60x5
75x5
90x5
105x5
120x5
135x5
150x3
170x5x3
I moved these very slowly; I'm not sure what was behind that. Several factors tend to coalesce on Sundays, so it's pretty hard to pick out a single issue. My right pec started acting up, too; I'm going to get an appointment with Sean at some point so we can fix it up. The rates have gone up, though, so for now I'll be relying on some informal masseuses.

Pull-Up -
9, 9, 8, 7
I didn't get all the way up on the 2nd nine, but you win by pushing.

Front Raise -
20x10, 10, 8
I've started cheating a bit on these. It's also occurred to me that Costis does laterals and not these, and benches a lot more than I do.

Decline Swiss Extension -
45x8x3
I'll repeat this again. I suspect my triceps are a little more shot after benching.
I also moved my grip down a bit; touching my forehead makes the off-center grip fairly superfluous.

Face Pull -
5x15x3, 3 seconds

Couch Stretch -
1m/position, plus 30 seconds in pos2 for right side
I kept the stretched side's glute contracted for left pos2 and the second run on the right.

Chest with Tennis Ball
Upper Back with Lacrosse Ball

2014-03-07 Squat

Warmup

Squat -
45x5
75x5
105x5
135x5
165x5
195x5
225x5
255x5
285x5
310x5x3
I brought my stance in to deadlift width up until 255; 225 felt off, so I took it out a few inches. I still get the quad pain and knee cave but neither is as bad as it was with my (old) competition stance.
315's a pretty nice milestone, so I'll get video for that one (front and side).

Pull-Up -
8, 8, 7, 7
These are getting more questionable; I'm going to swallow my ego and allow for more sets in future.

Cable Crunch -
95x8
90x8x2
It helps to "chin" a bit to get the weight moving.

DB Preacher -
25x8, 8, 6, 2
Just switched arms for the 2.
I realized while doing these that I've skipped 22.5 completely; I'll go back and hit that.

Elliptical -
5m @ 1I, 7R, 135rpm
10m @ 1I, 9R, 175rpm

Erg -
5.5m @ 3:30
5x (1m @ <2:00, 1m @ active rest)
Next time I'm going to push myself for sub-1:55 on all 5 intervals. As I think I mentioned last time, the downside to good work capacity is that you recover so fast that you feel like you didn't make yourself work hard enough at...well, anything, really.

Face Pull -
5lb*15x3

Couch -
1m/ea

LAXUB

2014-03-06 Push Press

Warmup

Push Press -
45x5
55x5
65x5
75x5
85x5
95x5
105x5
115x5
130x5x3
I forgot that 115 was supposed to be a triple. 130 wasn't as light as it could have been (no yelling or really drastic changes in mental state), but it moved fast. I have a strong feeling I'm good for continuous progress next cycle (135->150).

That said, I did notice that it took me some time and effort to get activated here. I think it's time to just sacrifice my inhibitions and start taking caffeine again; if I get to the gym when I plan to, I should still be able to sleep afterwards.

Pull-Up -
8, 8, 7, 7

Front Raise -
20x8x3
All sets done continuously.

Decline Tricep Bar Extention:
+25x8x3
I "weighed" the bar using the cable setup; I think I'll do it again and compare to various dumbbells, just to be sure. Right now it looks like 20lbs, but I suspect we're getting thrown off by the friction.
Either way, I'm repeating this one next time. The trick seems to be touching the bar to my forehead.

Couch - 2m/ea
Face Pull - 5lb*15*3 (3 second holds)
LAX Ball UB

"Cheated" on diet somewhat this evening with Kettle Corn instead of fish&rice. That drops my carb intake a little, ups the fat, and basically kills the protein for dinner. I followed up with an apple for fullness.

2014-03-05 Deadlift

Warmup

Deadlift -
135x5
160x5
185x5
210x5
235x5
260x5
285x5
310x3
335x5x3
These moved slower than some of the other recent ones; I suspect that conditioning on Friday took a bit more out of me than I'd hoped. I may switch back to alternating machines (do the initial portion on the elliptical use the erg for the intervals) next time; I'm not sure.

Pull-Up -
7, 6, 6, 6, 5

Curl -
25x7, 8, 8
Rest-pausing all over the place here.

Cable Crunch -
90x8x3
I did these on the lat pulldown with one of the wide handles - I sat down facing away from the stack, stood up and grabbed the bar with a supine (chinning) grip, then sat back down, braced my legs, and crunched in while steadying the bar with my arms. It was a pretty good workout.

Couch - 2m/ea. I'm not getting that "hanging on my meat" sensation on the right anymore.
BPA - I honestly don't remember if I did 3 sets here. I think I made a mental note to go back to face pulls, actually.
Upper Back LAX - Lots of work around the scapula. My knots are resilient.

2014-03-03 Bench

Warmup

Bench -
45x5
60x5
75x5
90x5
105x5
120x5
135x5
150x3
165x5x3
I'm going to start pulling the music out here; not because I need the input, but because I need to get in the habit of amping up going into my work sets.
Some of these felt technically questionable, but no real big deal besides that.

Pull-Up -
8, 8, 7, 7

Front Raise -
20x8x3
These felt about as hard as they did last time; I think I'll go for sets of 10 for a bit before jumping to 22.5s.

Decline Swiss Bar Extension -
+0x8x1
+20x8x3
I have no idea how much this bar weighs; ones online run from 15lbs to 30 (supposedly). I'll compare it with the dumbbells to get an idea.
(I guess I could load them up with weight and see where my grip fails, actually)

Cardio: Erg -
5m @ 3:30
10m @ 2:30
5m @ 3:30
4x(90s@1:50-2:05, 90s@active rest)
Drinking and toweling myself off on the erg are both really, really inconvenient. I managed to keep the timer going better this time, but I'm going to ask the Dragon Boat folks if they have any tricks.
I also don't think I pushed myself as hard as I could have here; I opened the first interval at 1:40, but wound up in the 2:00-2:05 range for the last on and got off feeling reasonably unwinded. My legs were giving out a bit more than usual thanks to squatting yesterday, but I still feel like I let myself off the hook for the later intervals. That might just be my cardio exceeding my legs, though.