Squat sesh - 1/29/14 and I owe Meshuggah and production team an apology.

Fun with photo editors

This one was one of "those days". Didn't sleep enough last night, got out of work later than I wanted to, hit the jamesnasium later than I wanted to, hips were tight, all the racks were full blah blah blah meh meh meh squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Get over it, right?

Here's what occurred:

• ME squat- worked up to 2x312lbs w/EliteFTS SS Yoke Bar to box with EliteFTS soft pad
• Deathlift accessory - 10x135lbs, 4x10x185lbs

So a few things:

1. Squatted with the Romaleos again, so far so good.
2. Blue pad is definitely harder to squat off of than the black (firm) pad
3. Deadlifting in Oly shoes is freaking odd. Like a deficit deadlift, but not as cool.
4. High rep deadlift is not much fun, but it is pretty awesome.

That's about it for the squat sesh. Really wanted to triple that 312 as last week was tripling 292, but I have only myself and my wussing out to blame for that. Need to get the determination back in order. Might try for that next week, or a 2x2 at least, if I don't decide to switch up the movement. No competition in sight for now, so it's all good work as long as there is progress.

In completely unrelated news, I owe Meshuggah and their production team an apology.

I have been a fan of Meshuggah for a while, but I could never really listen to them as I was under the apparent false impression that the production values on their albums were not awesome. That is something I cannot forgive- bad production values on a recording, especially anything within the last 20 years or so. It's probably something that keeps me from enjoying more music, but I just can't do it. The most endearing nostalgia will only let me listen to classic metal albums I have long held dear every once in a while, and in this age of immediate gratification for anything downloadable, I refuse to download a lot of really good music as I just

simply

can't

stand

the

sound.

Case in point: Napalm Death's "Suffer the Children", from the classic Harmony Corruption.

This is one of those classic songs from my yute- one of my all time favorite songs, very formative in shaping my early musical taste for metal and Napalm Death being an early influence in some political and moral philosophies in my little rebellious and seemingly independent 13 year old mind.... that I can barely listen to now because, let's face it, metal needs to be loud. Just does, and this is one of those songs that when blared at proper volumes can grate in the highs and push no air in the lows.

And it makes me sad.

Because I heart it. I heart it very much.

Someone really needs to remaster that album and kick it the flip up. I want this whole album to be huge again. Like the last section of Neurosis's "To The Wind". I want to turn it up so loud it destroys things.

Random guy sets "To The Wind" to some random pics and video clips

At any rate, as stated I have always been a Meshuggah fan but haven't given them their fair spot in rotation because any time I listened to them previously the sound quality was just lacking enough to do the music injustice. Flash forward to today when I decide to download Koloss and Obzen for shits and giggles.

And boy, was I wrong before.

Not sure what the difference maker is. I do have a new car, but it is still a Subaru with what I think is pretty much the same sounds system as the Legacy, which is where my previous listens had taken place. The stereo in the Crosstrek is even lacking the SRS enhancement that I enjoyed in the Legacy, so I would almost expect it to be worse. I did recently have to get a new phone- old one (Nokia Lumia 925 running Windows Phone 8) took a dump, was under warranty, got a new one OF THE SAME MODEL. It is also without SRS, as far as I can tell.

Regardless of what it is, Koloss freaking thumps. It's what I want Meshuggah to sound like. It's air moving, whump thumphing, grinding, lovely metal at its finest. Plenty of bottom end and the highs are not grating. The sound is full.

And it is Meshuggah. The kings of djent. Masters of the time signature.

Yes.

So there. I am sorry, Meshuggah and team. I promise I will listen to you more and sing your praises.

La la la.

Bench sesh - 1/27/2014. Metal Klokov metal.

Just another manic Monday, just another bench sesh. 

This one was interesting as I switched the movement up a hair- it was going to be either Buffalo Bar bench or floor press. Ten billion people squatting in racks and the competition bench was taken BUT some of the ladies on the powerlifting team were gracious enough to let me work on the outside of the rack they were using, so floor press it was.

Here's what occurred:

• Floor press- Up to 3x15lbs, 2x5x135lbs
• Ladder handle pulldown, varying widths from wide to narrow to wide- 5x10x120lbs
• Klokov press- 10xbar, 10x65lbs, 10x85lbs, 3x5x95lbs
• Band pull aparts at home after dinner - 3x20 w/EliteFTS red pro mini band 

Floor pressing is always fun as my chest is large enough and my arms short enough that if I arch right, even off the floor, the bar touches my chest before my elbows touch the floor. Does it kill part of the intent of the floor press? Sure, but it still takes my legs our of the movement so it is pretty strictly upper body. Got the top set at 155lbs, but my shoulders/stabilizers just aren't quite there yet. Yvonna spotted and critiqued that set because she's awesome, and she said my right side was struggling. This was interesting as my left side is the weak/injured side. Seems I was concentrating hard enough on actively stabilizing my left side that I was letting my right side slack. 

Turd.

No worries, back the weight down and get some more reps so we don't engrain bad patterns. 

Also fun, back to some Klokov presses. 

Got some technique correction and affirmation from Jordan and David and got to work a little heavier than I have gone in a while. While I didn't get a ton of reps in at the top weight, the weight felt good and had a few grinders on the last set. 

Bing bang bong.

Photo Dump: Zoo Trip, 1/26/14

The weather today was surprisingly nice and the sun was shining, but the daughter was seemingly wrapped up in gadget time this morning. The only logical conclusion was to get the heck out of the house. 

Zoo time. 

We didn't hit the whole thing up, and not every animal was out on display, but I managed to get a few pics. We hit the herpetarium first, but I neglected to get pics. My bad, dog. On through the China exhibit and a little bit of the African Veldt, Northwest Passage, and Teton Trek.

If your browser is still loading this page, I apologize.