Just in case you don't get the "Craig" reference...
and if you don't know from what movie that that scene was pulled, may God have mercy on your soul.
Funny, though, for all the tomfoolery of the training sesh (like any training sesh, really), the most prevalent recollection of the day is the belly talk. Between my sitting around like Buddha after front squats (Craig noticed my majestic stance) and Craigory complaining about his O lineman's gut whilst trying to get into a dog hair covered pair of Bryan's ex-squat briefs and not realizing that Todd was even there until he staggered out from behind the great wall that hides the treadmill and the step mill, today was largely about bellies.
Don't hate us for this glamorous life we lead.
At any rate, here's what occurred:
- Front squat - 2x5xbar, 5x95lbs, 5x135lbs, 5x185lbs, 5x205lbs, 5x225lbs, 3x245lbs
- Deathlifts (sumo, no belt) - 5x135lbs, 5x185lbs, 3x225lbs, 3x275lbs, 3x315lbs, 3x3x275lbs, 2x2x275lbs
- OHP - 7xbar, 7x95lbs, 5x115lbs
- Tbar row, two count at top - 4x8x45lbs
- Unilateral kettlebell OHP - 10x25lbs/side, 3x10x30lbs/side
I don't know if it's bad or good yet, but with my focus shifting toward increasing my squat and trying to nail down my sumo deathlift, I have just not put the emphasis or the care into my front squat and OHP. My front squat is feeling a little better, but still not quite back to "there", slowly starting to relegate these and OHP to accessory work as my focus shifts. I don't want to discount them at all, as I think they are good work, but when the tank starts getting low, I find myself saving the drive for other lifts. That said, if those two lifts do start shifting toward accessory work, I am going to need to up the set count at "working" weights if I hope to reap the benefit from them.
I think it is natural for powerlifters to discount those lifts, but I do think there is plenty of benefit from doing them BUT one still has to put in work. As long as there is benefit gained from doing the work, the work is worthwhile, and a lot of what I am doing right now is base building kind of work so I think these lifts are worth putting effort into. With my squat and deathlift going up or getting closer to "right", it is hard for me to argue against my last six or eight weeks of training, regardless of if it "feels good" or not.
Deathlifts went reasonably well, I think, and I went on after the working set at 315 to work on technique and get my posterior chain work in with some more sets at 275. I think it is coming together decently and I think I am finding my queues and grooves a little better still.
From last deathlift sesh:
to this sesh:
Some little improvements, and a little more speed. Talking and game taping with our man Christian, the puller and squatter of 605lbs at 187lbs bodyweight (much props, again), I am losing some hip tension in my secondary set up- you will see me set the hips, then loosen and set the back, then set the hips again- and probably focusing on too many queues at once. He noted in my 315 set (he and a client were working in with me during my sets as the Oly area was pretty well full) that when he would queue me for one thing, at times another would suffer, so my last few sets (the 3x3 and 2x2) I worked on setting up efficiently and "just pulling" versus trying to set up perfectly and getting fatigued or forgetting a queue because of it. I'll need to get video of it next time, but the pulls seemed to be speeding up and getting better set doing it.
Hell, the fact that I actually managed to get the 3x315 off the floor consistently without issue is evidence that my activation is better and I am pulling better. It's been an odd thing getting adjust to the opposite stance, but I think it is finally coming along enough to get those last few queues down and plow forward with it and get the strength up. Rep seems to work here so far.
Dem some big flexible boys.
Aside from that, need to work on getting my thoracic spine loosened up so I can get it better arched and locked into the pulling groove- feels very locked up with my upper back tight from injury and the erectors tight from work. Time to hit the electro stim and the foam roller some more.
Deathlifts done, I knocked out the OHP work, spotted Bryan in some more geared singles in the monolift, and got the rest of my accessory work knocked out between bouts of grab ass with Porter. Porter was in training with a couple of the new guys on the powerlifting team, tending to the long forgotten art of hypertrophy.
Which means they were using machines.
Weird.
At any rate, looks like I have some family time coming up (I actually do like hanging out with my family) so this week will be a little funky for training- and honestly, my hips could use an extra day's rest- but until then I will be working some band rehab and hip work and starting to tippity tap on some more WWCHNT and maybe even an overdue Biergartenopolis.
And with that, I am afraid I must leave you on little bit of a down note- Dave Brockie, who played the part of Oderus Urungus in the band GWAR, died this morning at the age of 50. Last I saw, they were saying an autopsy would be done, etc. GWAR had also recently suffered the loss of another band mate, Cory Smoot, from a heart attack. As I have said before, I hate to hold up the death of a "celebrity" as anything more important than the death of any other person, but one could hardly call these guys celebrities in the normal sense of the word. One has to acknowledge that in the world of music, these guys were on the fringe of shock entertainment and used their music as a mirror pointed back at society, pulling no punches and often crossing the boundaries of good taste and decency. There were plenty of things they did onstage and off that I either disagreed with, dismissed as merely shock for shock's sake, or was even morally repulsed by, but I think the world of music and free expression was ultimately bettered by their existence.
Go forth and destroy.
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