Ssssssshhhhhhh...

I'm watching you...

And of course...

As soon as I say I am sticking with Juggernaut, I am back on 5/3/1. 

BUT WAIT

I can explain.

It's not you, baby, it's me. It's always been me.

Me, me, me. Mine, mine, mine. 

That just happened.

Anyhoo, the ol' jamesnasium announced the other day that they are holding an unsanctioned meet in mid-July. While I am not yet committed to participate, where I am with Juggernaut just ain't going to cut the mustard as far as getting back under semi-heavy weights in the short term, and there just isn't enough time for a standard block/conjugate cycle. Figured I would run a few cycled of 5/3/1 without deloads (tentatively), should get me approaching maximal weights in the shortest amount of time without completely winging it. 

That being said, I also took last week off because I have been feeling a low back/upper butt muscular pain lately that has only been getting worse, not better. Sure, one could argue that stretching and low back work would help take care of that, but let's face it

and I haven't been keeping up with it as I should. So the story goes. Squatted last night for my 5/3/1 sets, then a few heavier singles and back down to my last working weight for a few more sets, then some yoke bar good mornings. Tonight, Thor willing, I'll get into some bird dogs or supermans to work on that low back. 

Go forth and word to your nearest relative.

WELCOME BACK! 10K! SILLY BUSINESS! HAPPY OSTARA! ET CETERA!

Hey kids!

Yeah, it's been a while. Dear leader has been a busy bee lately, but I hope to be able to get you some content for your grubby little internet paws soon. Some photo updates, maybe a quick do901, etc.

As first order of business, let's talk about a little milestone we hit a few days ago - the ol' bloggety blog here hit 10,000 page views, without the use of a bot or some other silly ass social media thingamajig. I'm sure that some of those are automated hits from searches, etc, but there you have it- we really pulled together and made it happen, so 

thanks

Second, let's talk about training. First cycle of the Juggernaut Method has been wrapped up and in the books- more on that in a minute. Looking at what's going on in the year and where I am with my general strength, I am looking toward trying to do another meet somewhere in the September - November time frame. If the jamesnasium does a November meet, I will probably just call it that one, but the SPF calendar has a good handful of options in that time frame. 

Let's see if we can get a repeat of this moment... That's my bar, silly spotter.

As to how the strength is coming along, I am, of course, not happy with it currently (any lifter should tell you the same thing, regardless of injury status) BUT I feel like it is coming along decently. Taking a look at what has occurred over the last X number of months on Juggernaut, I am feeling pretty decent about how I am progressing- while I think my training max is closer to my actual max, my calculated three lift "training total" (90% of 1RM on each of the three power lifts) is up a little more than 150lbs.

Bonus points if you know where that is from.

Or from where that is referenced. 

Or what have you.

Since I am a person that has access to way too much information (welcome to the internet) AND I am currently coachless, I am feeling the urge to program bounce.

BUT

Did you see what I typed above? 150lbs added to my training total?

Come on, man.

Seriously?

I don't know if that rate of continued progress is sustainable or not, but

seriously.

There is no reason for me to program hop. I will be sticking with the Juggernaut Method for at least one more cycle, then probably move into some good ol' 5/3/1 closer to meet time. In fact, I am already halfway through the second week of the new 10s wave and, while that first week of squatting was still freaking torture, I didn't pull anything or whatever it was that happened in my first week of Juggernaut AND I managed to get an extra rep or two in on the last set.

That's a heck of a lot better than my first week went. That was a shit show.

But I digress.

No, I progress.

Boom.

I should note here that I am not following the Juggernaut Method to the letter - I am utilizing the rep scheme at the heart of Juggernaut, currently on a 3x/week template with deathlifts and OHP on the same day. I am not following the full warm up protocols and I totally forget what the accessory work spelled out was in the book, but there you go.

And I need to do more work to lose the belly. But there you go.

Anyhoo, April Fool's day was the other day. Some of us did this. It's tough to love a powerlifter sometimes.

Then, Easter. Good ol' Ostara. Took some family time off, and combining that Thursday with my normal Friday off, turned into a four day weekend. What I didn't realize was that there would be an egg hunt every day over the Ostara holiday.

Thursday at the daughter's school after their Fun Run, then Friday out east at a favorite spot of the little lady's...

Saturday at the Botanic Garden,..

then Sunday at our place before some family came over for steaks and what not.

So there you have it. That gets us caught up to about two weeks ago.

Stay tuned- more lifty shenanigans and other goodness to come.

Oh- and the Grizzlies are in the playoffs.

Go forth and grit and grind and stuff.

Mostly Metal Monday: A Couple of Covers And Some Not Metal From Members of Revocation and JFAC

Well, hello there, good looking. Hope you had a good weekend, because I did. It essentially started with an oil change, moved on to poutine, then extra curricular activities to include getting that ol' bike up and running - much thanks to my buddy Jim, the Bikesmith, for getting the pedals swapped on it and helping a fat guy get back on a bike. 

Yay!

In and amongst the miscellany of the weekend, however, were also a couple of little hidden gems from the deep mines of METAL. 

First, and let's just go ahead and get this out of the way, one of the scariest non-metal things that involves metal you may ever see. A thing straight out of nightmares. A thing... that cannot be stopped... that should not be stopped... a thingaringading... It's a thing that happens when two (or more) talented people, at least one of which is more than slightly demented, make a video together. 

Yeah. Just watch. 

Background, as brief as it may be - Nick Schenzielos is the bassist for Job For A Cowboy and Cephalic Carnage, two very technical "death metal" bands. You may recall the JFAC song that made a guest appearance in a previous post. Damn fine stuff. Nick is also a bit nutty, as evidenced by more than a few videos on his YouTuber channel- some guys still like to have fun, apparently. Another fun loving young feller, Dave Davidson, is the lead guitarist, singer, etc. for Revocation, another technical metal band whom I also love dearly. These two cats apparently know each other and it appears that ol' young Nick asked Dave to sit in on one of his bass vids, the result of which is what you just watched. They apparently also have access to people that make scary things, and hence, screaming newborns with adult bodies play some sort of world music slash bossanova slash whatthejesusjumpedupchrist for your visual and aural pleasure.

So for that, you're welcome.

The next entry in our sordid tail... hurhurhur... tale... comes, again, from Revocation. This is something apparently long since released to the world, but I only recently discovered (thanks Google Play). It blends one of my all time favorite bands, Faith No More, with one of my current favorite bands, good ol' Revocation, to make lovely noise. As with anything, the original is still better than the newer version, but it made me teehee nonetheless.

Originally released on the as a bonus track on a special edition of Revocation's album from a few years ago, Chaos of Forms, I give you their version of FNM's "Surprise! You're Dead!"

While the original was not, by any means, the pinnacle of FNM's writing, every time I hear it I think of Mike Patton giving the middle finger to mainstream rock and metal whilst cackling and gleefully rocking back and forth during the writing sessions. BUT, metal being metal, embraced it anyway.

The original video was also very serious.

Yeah, I've posted it before. You'll live.

I love that song.

Lastly, I would LOVE to leave you with a little parting nugget of joy, a cover by Sylosis. I just recently discovered Sylosis, though they have been rocking the world for several years now. They appear to be younger dudes, but write music that seems to be a bit ahead of where you would expect them to be- definitely a more mature, riff heavy kind of doomy metal tasty goodness. Their latest album, Dormant Heart, along with scads of other good songs, has a bonus track cover of Smashing Pumpkins' "Zero".

It's been a good weekend for a metal child of the 80s and 90s.

Enjoy.

Juggernaut, The Second Wave: Wrapping up the 8s

ell, here we are. The holidays are now past us and we are well into the new year, resolutions and all. 

Incidentally, I have no real resolutions, personally, other than needing to get everything back on track with diet and lifting. They both took a hit with the holidays- gaps between lifts were longer than normal and diet, well, diet has been pretty wickedly bad the last four weeks or so. 

Part of those gaps was a little whirlwind trip to Chicago with the fam. Should have a bunch of pics from that coming up in the next few weeks.

So many pictures. Such feels. Wow.

That all said, the "8s" wave of Juggernaut is all wrapped up. The first week (Accumulation) of the 8s wave wrapped up right around the first of the year, moved into and wrapped up the Intensification week. 

I think I formerly referred to this phase as "Transformation", which is incorrect. My apologies to Chad Wesley Smith for screwing up the nomenclature. It's called "Intensification" because it's really intense, brah.

In the interest of full disclosure, I had to hurry and keep typing after I posted this image to get it to scroll off my screen. 

Yeah. Like wow.

Accumulation and Intensification squat day DOMS are, in fact, the worst. I have been adding in some light periodic stretching through the day following these, but it has yet to help.

Need to take some Wendler advice and run Agile 8 or similar on off days. Probably a few times.

God bless.

Anyhoo, wrapped up that bidness and got into the Realization phase. All went reasonably well, added weight to all lifts, time to deload and get into the 5s wave.

Metal.

Incidentally, the above track is from Job For A Cowboy's newest album, Sun Eater, which came out in November. It has managed to work itself into my near constant Meshuggah rotation, and it pleases me. If you're into the death metals, I would recommend sticking the whole album in your ear hole.

Back to lifting, etc.

A couple of things feel like they have been helping the process a bit - and it all boils down to back and shoulder work, go figure. Early in the wave, I decided to add rehab work in every session for the ol' shoulders. This consists of band pull aparts with the good ol' EliteFTS red mini Pro band and "Ws" with the orange micro Pro band. Additionally, I am trying to be sure to add in plenty of lat pull downs and T bar rows into the mix.

Diet, etc, have slipped a bit during the holidays/my birthday- turned 37 the other day.

That plus adding creatine back into the supplemental rotation has slowed things down a bit on the weight loss front.

But I'm getting all jacked and tan, right?

Yeah, not enough to make up for the weight gain.

Like next weight class up gain.

That means we must tighten back up and burn some more calories. And that means more things in blogs.

Things like bikes.

Yeah. Mountain bikes.

Through a strange and fortunate event, I have semi-permanently inherited a Motobecane 29er. Nice bike, want to ride it, need to change the pedals out. Thanksfully, a buddy of mine runs a bike repair truck and had a pair of pedals that he rebuilt that I can try before buying, so I am a 6mm hex wrench away from cardio that is more fun than running. Yay!

So that about wraps it up. Till next time, go forth and listen to more metal.

FINALLY Wrapped Up My First Wave of Juggernaut

weet Jesus, it has finally happened. After much life, trials and tribulations, a holiday, and a stomach bug, I am FINALLY wrapping up my first wave of the Juggernaut Method AND I am getting to write about it. 

The most hardcore of the hardcore will tell you that training comes first, nothing should stand in the way of striving for powerlifting excellence, etc, but let's face it - ain't no meets paying my bills. Bruh gotta eat and a family gotta be taken care of EVERY so often. 

I dare say they actually like seeing me from time to time. 

Maybe.

I knew that I as going to take a little longer than the standard four weeks prescribed to complete a wave, but damn. First day on Juggernaut was way back on 10/28, just now hitting the first day of the next wave, "8s", as of 12/15. So basically what should have taken about five weeks (call it a nine or ten day week  how I have it programmed, as opposed to a seven day week as it is written) has taken about six. 

At any rate, nothing truly spectacular happened during this cycle or its last week, but I did add a little to every lift, so there is a little progress. If I can manage to stay on the wagon through this next wave we should see even more progress, gains will be reaped, glory will be had (not really), etc.

Just realized that I hadn't posted up on the second "week" of the wave.

Suffer.

In keeping with the format of block periodization, Smith has dubbed the second week "Transformation", then week three is "Realization", then a deload, Loosely speaking, the Transformation week work is for the same number of sets as in the Accumulation week, but for fewer reps- if Accumulation 10s was for ten sets of five reps, then Transformation 10s was ten sets of three reps at slightly increased weights, more reps on last sets. Keep in mind that I am following the "Inverse Juggernaut" pattern, so as the program was originally written Accumulation and Transformation weeks would be five sets of ten reps and three sets of ten reps (more reps on last sets), respectively. Realization is done in essentially a 5/3/1 pattern, with max reps for the last set, then training max for the next wave based on a calculation using those reps over the standard for the wave.

Confused? Go buy the book, as linked in the first paragraph of this post.

I even remembered my add reps on all sets for the Transformation week. Yay, me.

Quick last week wrap up:


10s wave, Realization 1: Squat Day

This was a short session, had to get in and out fairly quickly and everyone wanted to be all Talky Talkenstein.

• Warm up, stretch - about 10min
• Box jumps - 4s 5r
• Squat - worked up to a set of 11 @ 260lbs

Done

Did you know that dancing to Meshuggah is a thing? As in, there are a ton of videos on the intertubes where people have synced up dance performances to Meshuggah songs? It's bloody amazing, and now you will all suffer for it.

10s wave, Realization 2: Bench Day


Nice and straightforward day, got my work in and got out.

• Warm up, stretch - about 10min
• Bench - worked up to a set of 11 @ 150lbs
• Incline dumbbell bench - 5r @ 40lbs, 5r @ 50lbs, 5r @ 60lbs, 5r @ 65lbs
• Straight bar lat pulldown - 10r @ 100lbs, 8r @ 110lbs, 5r @ 120, 5r @ 140lbs, 5r @ 150lbs
• Straight fat bar press down - 5s 5r @ 150lbs
• Band pull aparts - 4s 15r w/ EliteFTS red mini Pro band

10s wave, Realization 3: Deadlift Day

• Warm up, stretch - about 10min
• Box jumps - 5s 5r
• Deadlift, sumo - worked up to a set of 12 @ 260lbs
• RDL a la Duffin - 10 @ 135lbs, 155, 175, 195
• Tbar row, slow - 4s 8r @ 45lbs

Not an awful day of deadlifting, though That shows I am still weaker than a few months ago. Think I did something similar with 300+ previously. Oh yeah, I did.

I am excited to see where I am with these in another few months of running this program. It seems I do better with volume in deadlifting and squats, so hopefully this is right where I need to run.

I even managed to remember a video. Shitty, shitty video:

10s wave, Realization 4: Press Day

This was another that felt pretty good when it all came down to it. I was honestly a little worried about making or exceeding goal on this one (10 reps +) as (1) I missed the press day on the previous week and (2) press has always been my weakest lift - especially after hurting my back/shoulder last year.

• Warm up, traction - about 10min
• Press - worked up to a set of 13 @ 100lbs
• Klokov press - 4s 8r @ 85lbs
• Tbar row, slow neutral grip - 4s 8r @ 45lbs
• Straight fat bar cable press down - 5s 5r @ 150lbs
• Band pull apart - 4s 15r w/ EliteFTS red mini Pro band

As one of the fellas at the gym said, I probably cheated by kipping off of my beard. Wish I had video of it, but alas, the phone is largely relegated to timer duties to keep me on track so I have not been doing much video.

There is always Meshuggah, though.

Followed those all up with a shorted deload and we're all wrapped up. All the work is feeling good, save for that first squat day in the wave- high quantity sets of five are absolutely killing my legs. As mentioned, I am squatting a little differently now, but sheeeeeeit. As mentioned, currently into the first week of the "8s" wave, and it is really no different, DOMS, wise. Legs are murdered for multiple days after the squat training sesh, points to need for improved recovery processes and more stretching before AND after needed.

Stay tuned and destroy.

First "Week" of Juggernaut Wrapped Up

uggernaut Accumulation phase numero uno is in the books.

Juggernaut is programmed as "waves" based on the prescribed base rep scheme for work sets. Each wave is then broken into phases. The four phases are Accumulation, Intensification, Realization, a la block periodization, followed by a deload phase. In a four day/week program, a phase would last a week. I am currently programming it as three days a week, or a roughly nine to ten day phase.

As mentioned previously, I decided to give The Juggernaut Method a try after analyzing my own issues with ever so briefly perusing its digital pages and reading some of the articles on their site, it looked like a well programmed way to apply some more volume to my training. While I heart the ol' block periodization, my previous programming protocol, I realized several weeks ago that I really wasn't ready for it. While I got a little better with the shoulder, etc, I lost way too much strength during that downtime- and that is not just with pressing. Everything suffered. Squats are crap, pulls are crap, conditioning and work capacity are crap. 

In short, I am not ready for a meet. 

Maybe meat, but not meet. 

And at least so far, Juggernaut feels like it will help quite a bit with restoring all of that stuff above.

Stuff. Yes, that's science.

So anyhoo, onto the work:



10s wave, Accumulation 1: Skeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewat Day

• warm up, about 10min
• Squat - warm up sets, working sets: 8s 5r, 1s 3r @ 210lbs (should have been 10s 5r) - 90 second rest periods
• X walks - 5s 10yds each direction w/ EliteFTS red mini Pro band, 90 second rest periods
• Seated hip abductions - 5s 10r w/ doubled over red band, 90 second rest periods

Good times. One thing you should notice is the sets/reps on this week- the prescribed work under standard Juggernaut method should be five sets of 10 repetitions at 60% of your training max (training max = 90% of your one rep max, a la 5/3/1) BUT I strained (popped?) something in my right quad on rep three of the ninth set just coming out of the hole and got put back down in the hole. I finished the rep, but the remainder of the set and all of the next set just weren't happening. Tried to roll it and stretch it out, but to no avail. Walked around for a bit to try to keep it warm, hit the accessory work, stretched a bit more, and called it a day. 

As mentioned in the previous post, my warm up apparently needs to be more thorough. Between the quad strain and the DOMS that followed for the next three to four days, it was no bueno. In memes, this translates to:

You get the point.

BUT I can say that the work itself felt good, and while one can obviously dictate rest periods themselves, having them built into the program is pretty great. As stated, one of my issues as a lifter in general is work capacity, and the built in short rest periods help that.

Sometimes, you just have to be told what to do.

10s wave, Accumulation 2: Bench Day

All work done with approximately 90 second rest periods between sets:

• warm up and band traction, about 10 min 
• Bench - worked up to 10s 5r @ 120lbs
• Incline dumbbell bench - 5s 10r @ 40lbs
• Lat pulldown, paused - 5s 10r @ 100lbs
• Band pull aparts - 5s 10r w/ EliteFTS red mini Pro band

Not much to report on this one. Good sesh, work felt good. I DID forget an important aspect of Juggernaut on this sesh and the following deadlift sesh - the idea that one should exceed the prescribed reps on the last set, leaving 2-3 in the tank on your first "week" of the wave, so I did just the prescribed reps.

Still, good times, and it felt good working at that repetition and feeling technique (bar path, touch point, etc) becoming more consistent.

Metal break.

10s wave, Accumulation 3: Deathlift Day

This one was a bit rushed, and I am still not 100% set on accessory work, so required work was about it for the day.

• Warm up, about 10min
• Box jumps - 5s 5r
• Deadlift, sumo - worked up to 5s 5r @ 215lbs, 5s 5r @ 220lbs, 90 second rest periods

One of the gym bros needed to work in, so we ran with his working weight for the last few sets. Past that, I honestly don't remember what I did for accessory work.

And as mentioned, forgot to get the "+" on the last set.

That said, another positive with this volume of work, especially at a consistent weight, is that you can really work on technique. Much as I got to work path and touch point on bench day, I worked on consistently setting up, opening my hips, and getting my pull point locked in. I have a tendency of slowly transitioning over to pulling with my back instead of my legs during high volume deadlift work, so I was working to actively counter that.

Quoth David, "Can you store a lot of water in that hump?"

Ha ha. You funny I forgot to raff.

OKAY, SO MAYBE MY FORM ISN'T PERFECT, BUT I'M NOT THE ONE LISTENING TO BOBAFLEX, DAVID!

ahem.

Yeah.

Just for that, I have to purge somehow.

Ah, yes.

I have the perfect remedy for Bobaflex.

Whew. All better.



10s wave, Accumulation 4: Press Day

Not much exciting here, just a press day. Press is my weakest comparative lift (even worse than my bench), so I am excited to have a day dedicated to it. Should be some good work happening here in the future.

• Warm up, stretch, traction - about 15min
• OHP, strict - 9s 5r @ 80lbs, 6r @ 80lbs
• Klokov press - 5s 10r @ 65lbs
• Tbar row, slow - 5s 10r @ 45lbs
• Band pull aparts - 4s 15r w/ EliteFTS red mini Pro band

All working and accessory sets done on 2 min cycle times

I remembered to get my extra work in on the last working set - only one extra rep. Ever since my upper back/shoulder injury and my subsequent lack of consistent rehab work I fatigue easily on overhead work. This is yet another area I hope to make strides on with this program as I know I need the improvement.

And who doesn't love overhead work?

Fascists and pedophiles, that's who.

And don't you forget it.

Go forth and press for freedom.

Ready to put in some work.

Alright, let's get reacquainted.

Firing it back up, time to get serious about the diet and get some good base training underway.

As to methods being used, I am perusing the Renaissance Diet and the Juggernaut Method. I don't claim to have the best, most thorough understanding of either as I am still reading through them, but I have culled what I believe are some of the general principles or the high level concepts. I am running with those for now and as I read more and gain a more thorough understanding of them, I will keep sharpening the axe, so to speak.

One of the biggest things I will be working on, from a diet standpoint, is honing the macro balance to more closely match the Renn Diet recommendations, as I know I am not currently in line with them and probably won't be for a minute. Current targets are 2700kcals/day on non lifting days, 3000kcals/day on lifting days. Macros are not set in stone yet, but it looks like around 225g/day protein (or more) with carbs and fat undecided, but trying to keep them relatively low.

At least as compared to the standard American diet.

Goals are pretty open at this point. Short term diet goal is to get under 220lbs bodyweight without letting the lifting suffer. No real time frame there except to try to get there in the next six months or so- want to hit it before next selected meet, which should be next spring.

Lifting goal is much broader than even that, currently only working on rebuilding my base strength and honing technique in the big three lifts. Juggernaut appears to be good for that with the higher rep work built in, so that's what we'll roll for right now.

Also trying to get back into the habit of early morning lifting. Yay.

As an aside, it's kind of funny that when you do a Google image search for "alarm clock" very few of them are shown as displaying a time earlier than 6:00AM

First morning in was last Tuesday, 28 October. This morning was a nice little "getting to know" session - early morning sesh + Juggernaut intro.

Woke up easy enough (for me), at about 4:30AM, brushed teeth and packed up, made a couple of brotein shakes and took a caffeine pill, and was out the door by a little after 5:00AM. Made the gym by 5:45AM and proceeded to warm up.

But apparently not enough.

The first few weeks of a Juggernaut cycle are the "10s wave", based on sets of 10 at a certain percentage. Because squats are special, the first day of a training week seems to always be squat day, and this was certainly no exception. I'll detail the programming coming up, but I can already tell I like the work, despite straining a quad or cramping it or whatever.

Point being, need more warm up and cool down, because I had DOMS in my quads and ass for the next four days solid.

This is going to be fun.

Your Dally Wisdom, 17 October 2014

NEVER STOP DEADLIFTING

T3 - Transmutation Week 3: Let's Go Ahead And Call It

o yeah, let's go ahead and call it.

November meet is off.

Transmutation Week 3 is in the books, and it has been very mixed. As we spoke about previously, there have been numerous issues with this training cycle, culminating in what I would like to call "let's forfeit this battle and work toward winning the war".

We'll get into some analysis of issues and the responses after the sesh report.

But first, everybody just calm down and let's all just sludge metal for a second...

And now is the time on Hanselopolis when we log...

T3A - ME Squat, 9/24/2014:

Short session, was up at work late and took FOREVER to get in and get going, so I only hit my working reps. Switched up to competition lift for double + revers grey bands, as such:

• 2x445lbs + reverse grey EliteFTS average Pro bands, 1x465lbs

Viddy this:

Looking back, I probably had another rep at 465 on that last set, felt a lot worse than it looked. Got a little tilted forward, transferred to the quads, and shot my ass back. Also, squatting in my Chucks, so my parallel is not exactly where I want it to be. Check out the Romaleo action coming up, the wave of the future...

T3B - ME Bench, 9/27/2014:

Much better sesh for time, if not performance. Like the squat, with this sesh we moved a little more from the NCL (non competition lift) to the CL (competition lift) with a reverse band close grip bench.

• Reverse band close grip bench - 2x275lbs, fail 285 @ rep 2 
• Close grip bench- 3x185, 5x175, 5x165, 7x155, 10x135  
• Bench grip bent over barbell rows - 5x5x175 
• Klokov press - 3x8x85lbs 
• External rotation  - 3x20/arm with doubled over orange band

So this is basically 10lbs under where I was prepping for the meet last year. That, obviously, sucks with curse words and descriptive phrase involving livestock, but I need to remind myself that this is still better than where I was last August.

Imagine if I had kept my rehab up and taken care of my shoulder, then this video




could have been taken six months ago instead of just a few days ago.

That, incidentally, is the first time I have been able to bench 225lbs since my injury last July.

Progress.

That said, it's not where I want to be. More work, more recovery, more rehab. We gon' make it a'righ', chil'.

Didn't get video of the programmed work sets, but c'est la vie. Actually got video of my failed set but the file was somehow corrupted by the time it came to upload to the ewe tubes.

Or is that yew tubes.

Whatever.

Wah.

T3C - DE Squat, 9/29/2014:


Another slight change up in movements - as opposed to the bar weight + chain, this sesh started in on bar weight + bands.

• Squat - 8x2x245lbs + EliteFTS Pro average grey band per side (okay they were green, but same tension)
• RDL - 5x7x235lbs

Ah, band tension when squatting. That shizzle is a mudder humper getting back into it- it's not necessarily that it is impossible to complete reps, it's just that shock of tension at lock out that is always surprising if you haven't squatted against bands in a while. It's dynamic work, so the bar weight is obviously much lighter than on heavy work, but you go from "YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" at the descent and in the hole to "OH MY GOD WHAT THE CRAP JUST HAPPENED ON ME?!" about a quarter of the way from lock out.

So many good times.

I didn't get video of all sets, but here is the first "test" set after throwing the bands on, checking depth, etc. I was pretty happy overall with the work.

That's more like where my depth needs to be.

Note to self: Squat in Romaleos.

Done.

Other part of the fun of this sesh was starting to actually be able to begin comprehending a technique from good ol' Chris Duffin.

No, I didn't get it directly from him and we don't hang out on weekends, but sometimes I feel like I do have direct access to some of the greatest minds in powerlifting because of elitefts.com. Seriously. If you have a question on just about anything powerlifting, bodybuilding, or even just general sports preparedness, Elite can get you sorted out 99.9% of the time. And it's freaking free.

Free fifty.

Gratis.

No charge, sirs and madames.

Free.

At any rate, Capitan Duffin, if anything, is a technician. He is brutally strong, and in addition his technique is spot on and you can tell he has thought about it on more than one occasion. He did a video series on T spine stabilization and the squat, part one of which is below

One of the things he talks about is properly utilizing your core muscles in order to help brace and align the T spine in the squat. Conceptually, I think this is rather simple, but once working weights are on the shoulders, I have found it difficult to activate properly. Whenever I unrack and go to tighten the core, it feels like the only way to properly do it is to contract the abs in such a manner as to cause some anterior pelvic tilt, which seems to fly in the face of most squat technique. HOWEVER, it seems that when done properly and NOT overly exaggerated, it's just freaking fine.

Also note that if you have not attempted this technique before then please, for the love of Odin, watch the entire video series, maybe get with a coach, practice with light weights, etc, before you start trying to throw 2x your max on the bar and start tucking your pelvis. Again, this is not the most difficult technique in the world to grasp, but if you don't know what you're doing, don't just tuck your pelvis and blame me when you blow a disc.

Ya big dummy.


T3D - DE Bench, 10/1/2014:

Again with the change up, this somewhat uneventful sesh was brought you by the letter "Y".

As in, Y do I happen to be one of only three or four people in the gym available to spot or board for the geared benchers or squatters whenever I am in my DE sets? Seems like whenever I am actually on a good roll, my DE sets always get interrupted by spot requests.

And while I don't want anyone at the gym dropping a bar on their throats or destroying a monolift, I gots work to do do, main.

This was also one of those days where you wait a half hour on a rack. This is not necessarily the worst thing in the world, but once you've popped a scoop and a half of Magnum Serum washed down with the full power of Mountain Dew (tee em), you pretty quickly want to go ahead and get to work.

Or you get extremely chatty while absentmindedly doing band pull aparts, either way.

• Band pull aparts - about 100 reps with EliteFTS Pro micro mini orange band whilst waiting for a rack
• Bench - total of 12x3x125lbs + EliteFTS Pro mini red band per side
• External rotations - 4x20 per arm w/doubled over micro mini band

Again with the no video, but the sesh felt pretty good, despite the interruption every few sets. Band tension was about right to slow the press down just a little to force the speed on follow through, but not so wicked as to make them all grinders. Good times.

/End sesh report.

...

Alright, so back to what you have all been chomping at the bit to delve back into, issues with the training cycle, the planned fixes, and plans going forward.

Let's recap a tetch:

1) The (less than) Almighty Shoulder Injury - this has been a rehab and rebuilding point since last year, and it has not gotten the attention it deserves. Mea culpa, completely.

There has been some progress made, but it still feels comparatively unstable and it has been reacting more adversely to strain than it needs to.

2) Squat technique - this was an area I didn't really expect to have issues with going into the training cycle. Part of this is mobility - along with the shoulder issues, my throacic spine has been pretty well locked up, and as always, my hips are generally shit. I have been going back and forth with Oly shoes and flats for squatting, and have had some work done by ol' Doc Martinez, so it is getting better, but again, not where it needs to be. I shouldn't have questions as to FREAKING SQUAT TECHNIQUE a few weeks out from a meet.

3) Missed and short training days - while this will tend to happen what with, you know, life, this certainly doesn't help matters. I need to get a little more consistent overall, and get more consistent with what happens on off days, as well.

So what the crap are we going to do to remedy all of these issues, you ask?

Long and short of it is that I need to get more consistent overall, but especially with regard to the rehab on the shoulder, and keep building a better strength base. I have numerous programs from which to pull and the means to do it, it's just all about consistency. I have kept up with some rehab/prehab over the last week or so, but a week a new shoulder does not make.

Next training sesh or two will probably be max tests for squat and deadlift, since I know where I stand on bench and I have had about a week of deload at this point. In the meantime I am going to be analyzing a few different programs and I have some reading material to get in and digested, so I am as of yet undecided as to exactly the method of training coming up.

Also need to determine a length of time for building the base up and check out meets on the horizon to determine the next training timeline or set of timelines.  This will determine how quickly I need to get back into a meet prep cycle but, as of right now, I don't think I am looking at anything before April or May of 2015.

Sounds like a long time out but as the saying goes, "it's a marathon, not a sprint". Better to take care of some needed business in the near term and get healthier for meet training and performance down the road.

Go forth and don't jack up your rotator cuffs.

T2 - Transmutation, Week 2: Stuff and stuff with things and more stuff

ransmutation week 2 is in the bag and week 3 is well under way. Sorry for the delay between updates, been a busy bee lately.

The creeping demon of doubt is starting to dig its filthy, dirty little claws into my program. I'll detail a little more in next post, but getting into some squat technique issues and the shoulder related base strength issues are starting to make November look like a "should not".

I am basically eight weeks out at this point, and while I knew full well that the shoulder would be an issue going into the training cycle, I'm not sure that enough progress has been made to participate in this meet.  

As mentioned, I am into T3 a bit at this point, should be benching soon and will test to gauge progress. Maybe we can stuff that mother trucker back in the closet where he belongs.

And as an aside, and I am sure I have posted this up before, but here is one of the finest pieces of heavy music in the last 30 years:

At any rate, time will tell and updates will come. Until then, here is the shizzle that went down in Transmutation, week 2...

T2A - ME Squat, 9/15/2014:

This was the last of two days of  max effort work on the Buffalo bar. Got the previous week beat, if not by what I wanted. 

• Buffalo bar squat - Worked up to 3x460lbs + reverse grey bands
• RDL - 20xbar, 10x135lbs, 10x185lbs, 5x8x225lbs

Again, not bad work, just didn't quite have it to kill more weights. Also not real happy with my depth, but there you go.

This shit's going to get boring quick if I don't feel like writing much.

T2B - ME Bench, 9/17/2014:

Hit this one late, so not a ton to it.

• Bench - worked up to 2x305lbs + reverse EliteFTS orange light Pro bands to 3 board, failed on second rep at 2x315lbs
• Bench grip bent over barbell rows - 5x8x155lbs
• Klokov press - 3x10x80lbs
• External rotation, arms down w/90° bend - 3x20/each arm w/ doubled over EliteFTS orange micro mini pro band

So I managed to beat last week's weight, but did fail with a little more greed. Check out the videos, pretty plain to see that I screwed up the bench by getting out of groove, need to get the triceps stronger and get the back more stable. With how I press, this should be a short, vertical press and not a "J" press

2x305-

Attempt at 2x315-

T2C - DE Squat, Missed:

That would be why there is no detail here.

I decided this night was better spent with family, as the schedule has been putting a strain on our relationship and causing disruption. So that's what I did.

Balance, homies and homettes.

I would normally put some metal right about here, but you are probably still listening to that Neurosis track, yes?

T2D - DE Bench, 9/22/2014:

Pretty decent feeling sesh, really, even if I should be pushing more weight. This one was:

• 9x3x135lbs w/two chains/side 
• Incline dumbbell press - 4x8x50lbs 
• Bench grip bent over barbell row - 4x10x135lbs  
• Klokov press - 10xbar, 10x65lbs, 10x85lbs, 8x75lbs, 10x65lbs 
• Standing side external rotation- alternate arm 3x20 w/EliteFTS orange micro mini Pro band
• Dumbbell shoulder rotation stretch - 20 internal/external each arm

No video, nothing crazy.

Just good ol' sesh work.

Go forth and stuff and things.

T1 - Transmutation Block, Week 1 for November 2014 Meet

ransmutation.

What a funny word.

transmutation

/ˌtrænz mjuːˈteɪ ʃən/

Noun

1. the act or process of transmuting.

2. the fact or state of being transmuted.

3. change into another nature, substance, form, or condition.

4. Biology. the transformation of one species into another.

So that's what this middle block is all about. 

To bring us back up to speed on the overarching program, I am running a block periodization style program. This consists of three waves, or "blocks". The first block, Accumulation, is about some hypertrophy and laying a base for the work to come. The second and current block, Transmutation, is about transforming what we have accumulated, molding that base from a general specificity toward sport specificity, until we finish out with the last block- Realization. This final block will be the most sport specific, where the focus will be on finalizing the power for our "power lifts". 

Generally, the main movements will be getting more specific toward the "big three" of squat, bench, and deadlift, and the accessory work is toning down in volume, to a degree, but will be more specific towards building the main movement.

Metal break, mainly for David: 

See, David? Soooooooooooooooooo much better than Nickelback. Or Five Finger Death Punch.

But I digress. Here's what occurred in T1... 


T1A - ME Squat, 9/4/2014:

• Warm up, stretch - about 10min
• Buffalo bar squat - Worked up to 3x450 + reverse EliteFTS average Pro bands, then 1x480 + same bands
• Lockouts w/buffalo bar - 5x1x10sec holds @ 500lbs
• Top range pin squats w/buffalo bar - 3x7x410lbs 

Did this sesh in the Oly shoes as I think I am leaning toward them so far for squatting. Screwed the pooch on what was supposed to be 3x475lbs- curved buffalo bar + tight left shoulder causing the right side to dip even more = right side JUST catching on the hook on the walk out. I'll have to remember to set the hooks a notch lower next time. Really wanted to get that 3x475 and go on to try 3x495, but I let it punk me out. 

Next time. 

Still beats last meet cycle's first transmutation week with a straight bar, so I guess I am reasonably content with that for now. 

You would think with the heavier bar weight that the backward pull of the bands would be lessened, but apparently that is not so. 

I lived. I learned. I will pass on.


T1B - ME Bench, 9/6/2014:


More reverse bands, more fun times.

• Warm up, shoulder traction - about 5min
• Bench to 3 board - worked up to 3x295lbs + reverse orange bands
• Pin bench press, pin @ about middle of press - 2x225lbs, 2x205lbs, 5x185lbs, 7x165lbs, 10x145lbs
• Barbell rows, bench grip width - 5x10x135lbs

The fun of this sesh was figuring out how to do this movement without a training partner. I got a suggestion or two from David, the owner of NBS and coach of the NBS powerlifting team, and eventually settled on setting the hooks at my normal height, safeties set right below that, then with the three board stuffed under my shirt.

Held alright.







Still a bit bummed that this work was not up to numbers level of last meet cycle more than a year ago, but it's coming along.


T1C - DE Squat, 9/8/2014:

This was a decent sesh, even if I did jack it up a little bit.

• Wait for a god damned bathroom to change in because Christian has to primp his damn mohawk and someone wanted to talk every time the other bathroom opened up - easily 30min
• Stretch, warm up - about 10min
• Dynamic squat business - 8x3x250lbs + two chains/side
• Seated upper back extension w/ EliteFTS SSB/yoke bar - 10xbar, 10x130lbs, 7x170lbs, 7x220lbs, 7x260lbs

So you will note that I did eight sets of three- as written, it should have been eight sets of two. Wondered why I was getting more fatigued than normal halfway through the sets. 

That and my conditioning sucks.

But that's not important right now.

Okay, so maybe it is. 

Moving on.

One of the big issues has been my left shoulder and its tightness, and the corresponding elbow/shoulder flare in my squatting. About halfway through this sesh I think I finally figured out how to keep my elbows down during the descent of the squat, need to figure it out a little better in the ascent. Should be a combination of cranking them down plus kicking the head back/chest up a bit at the beginning of the ascent to help keep the upright posture. More work on that and progress notes.

T1D - DE Bench, 9/10/2014:

• Warm up, band traction - about 10min
• Bench - 9x3x130lbs + 2 chains/side
• Dumbbell incline bench - 3x5x50lbs, 4x5x60lbs
• Bench grip width barbell row - 5x8x155lbs
• External rotations, rapid/short ROM - 5x10 per arm with doubled over EliteFTS orange pro micro mini band, no rest between sets
• Ministry video: 

So really a pretty decent sesh, if nothing really of note. Did work as written, got accessories in, including that last set of external rotations as recommended by the PT/chiro homey at the gym, Doc Jason Martinez. More on that in a minute...

Die Arbeit Video-

Bing bang bong.

In other news, I finally got together with Jason, not so resident chiro/PT bro, and went through a consult and started work on getting my tight shoulder and T spine worked on. Jason is a good dude, lifts, and does (so far) good work. We went over my injury history, symptoms, and issues and started into the deep tissue work and an adjustment, followed by dry needling across both traps and my upper back, shoulder, and upper arm on the left side. While it's definitely not the most pleasant process in the entire world, I think we have already started some good things working. By the time we got to dry needling, I was face down on the massage table thingy, second knuckles on my right hand touching the ground, and basically left fingertips touching the ground. After we were done, the left hand knuckles were touching the ground and I felt like I had been kicked by a horse a few times, but all was good.

Thank you, Google image search

That Friday, 9/12, was supposed to be the start of Transmutation, week 2, starting with ME squats as routine dictates, but as good as it felt having gotten all that work done on my back/shoulder/arm, there was no squatting to be had that night- my traps might have literally jumped off of me, slapped me about the face and neck, and walked out. I did test a few days later when I actually did the ME squat sesh (9/15) and all seemed good- left shoulder didn't have the typical pop up with the left elbow flaring back like it had been doing.

And in completely other news, diet is chugging along. As mentioned previously, shifting over to more whole foods, ~2800 kcal/day, 200g protein/day. Looks like 10 day average for caloric intake has been a little over 2700 kcals/day, protein sitting at about 190 g/day. At start of diet about a week ago, I was sitting at about 256lbs. Body weight was 254 this morning.

I also managed to resist most of the fair food at the Cooper Young Festival this past weekend, even if a trip to Schweinehaus almost got me off track.

IIFYM, right?

More on Schweinehaus some other time.

Go forth and laissez le bon temps rouler.

Mother trucker.