Family Times:
General awesomeness here.
Daughter is doing well in school, had her first ballet/tap recital a few weeks ago and it was lovely. It's great to watch her work, and watch how she thinks, etc. I am also thankful that she has found a few sports/activities she really likes- ballet and gymnastics. She seems to be more of a solo athlete than team player, but this is good for now.
She wants to join me in the gym, but at the age of four, we may let her get some more development in first.
She is also doing well at school and aside from the typical kid issue of not wanting to get up in the mornings (going to sleep before 10:30 or 11:00 would help that, kiddo), she really looks forward to it and has plenty of friends, etc. Her teachers have nothing but good things to say about her and she is behaving well. Can't ask for much more.
Also, we have a new swingset. After building it, I want to add on to the "blank" side. Nothing crazy, just a deck, climbing wall, spiral tube slide... yeah.
My wife continues to be a lovely lady and I love her dearly. Again, can't ask for anything more.
In a funny turn, she recently pulled a muscle which has put her out of commission on some of what we would consider domestic duties, so I have stepped up my game there a little bit... and I like it. I know I need to help more on the home front, especially with so much time spent in training, etc, and I would like to think I am doing a better job there.
Meet Training:
Training went well over the 12 week cycle leading up to the 06 April Blytheville meet. As mentioned, we worked a conjugate/block periodization method and for my first time through I think it showed some definite progress. I don't like how my bench went, but I honestly attribute that more to not knowing exactly what I needed to do to build it up versus the program itself.
Blytheville Meet:
I'm officially a powerlifter.
What a great experience! My first meet and definitely not my last.
Drove up the morning of 05 April with our coach and we got weighed in by 10:00AM. I knew the morning before that I was not going to make my half assed established goal of cutting to 220 so I started refeeding night of 04 April. Was 233 when I left the house on 05 April, weighed in at 237 in Blytheville, and God knows what I weighed by that night. We ate our faces off across three large meals. A Perkins attached to the hotel certainly helped matters. Several big ass meals and a whole lot of Gatorade and chocolate later and I am sure I hit 245 by meet day- was 242 after I got home.
The meet itself was good. Didn't hit what I wanted due largely to my own errors- I got rushed in my last squat and missed 405 (hit 410 in the gym previously), got out of position on my bench 3rd (265), and ended up calling my last deadlift a lot lighter than what I could have done at 465 (still a PR). Ended up with a 1090 total. Really wanted 1150, but c'est la vie- we learn and move on. Next meet is not yet planned, but I will be looking for 1250 then.
Here's a link to our coach's write up on the meet at EliteFTS
I think his analysis is entirely accurate, and you can see the changes we are making. I know I was guilty of more than my fair share of cheerleading when I should have been zoning in better and I will know better going forward. I also need to take a little more time getting set up in my lifts and making sure I can hit what I need to hit.
Also need to not listen to my lifting partner as much and trust my own gut on my lift attempts. ;)
Current Training:
With our next meet not yet picked, we are currently working on GPP/Conditioning/Balance work. The purpose, generally, is to train weak areas into balance, work on explosiveness of movement, and get better overall conditioning. We are maintaining a four day training week with light cardio and mobility work prescribed on off days. Instead of a squat/bench/squat/bench training day rotation, we are basically running upper body/lower/upper/lower rotation. Each day varies, but concentrates on a dynamic warm up, "jumping" movements, core work, unilateral work, then HIIT of your choosing. Getting some sledgehammer work in, which I love, but have also had a turn at battle ropes (also awesome) and made a return to the Prowler as of yesterday- haven't hit it in earnest in a while and it showed yesterday.
This is some rough work at times, rough recovery, but exactly what the doctor ordered for most of us. Good times.
Additionally, the team has been split up into three working groups, ours has been affectionately dubbed "Team Big Bag O' Dicks". Yup. We are that awesome. The idea of splitting the team up allows us to alternate workouts depending on what other groups are doing and allows us to work at different times, this freeing up portions of the gym for other groups and ensuring we have what we need to get the work done.
All in all good times so far.
Diet:
Currently not doing anything too crazy, some loose carb timing and generally trying not to eat like complete dog shit. Trying to get a lot of protein from whole food sources, eat some veggies, and timing the vast majority of my carbs at night with boosts post workout with additional protein.
Breakfast is almost always a protein/cream/instant coffee/creatine shake. Lunch is normally a healthy portion of something protein heavy (eggs, deli meat) with some veggies. Dinner is usually protein and a carb with some good fats (chicken and rice, salad with baked chicken, burgers, sweet potatoes, etc). On training days, I will usually close the night out with a protein shake in milk with added sugar.
So far so good, maintaining bodyweight in the 232-233lb range. We are supposed to start a hypertrophy cycle in a few weeks, at which point I am going to open the diet up more and increase portions, get a little hooge. Still want to maintain body weight under 245, lift at 242. Not looking to cut anytime soon.
The Riddle Of Steel:
Nothing new in the land of blades and firearms. I have honestly devoted almost zero time to this pursuit lately. Training plus the political climate lately have left me little time or money to shoot, build, or horde. I have resisted any form of panic buying but I will need to start rebuilding ammo stores and finish my SBR build sometime soon. Some work needs to be done on the house to get my workbench back in gear, which is my own fault.
So that's what's been up, in a nutshell.
See you in another few months...
