Day 2 Week 1

It's a gorgeous day here.

I'm onto the second day of Shelby's new protocol for me, both in diet and weight. This week is as much about getting used to constant (pretty much literally) eating and getting used to movements I haven't used in several years.

I wore Convict elbow sleeves and some rather loose Metal Viking briefs. They had to be loose so I could squat ATG -- had to get butt to heels. So the briefs were more about hip support out of the hole than any pop at all. I used a loose Spud DL belt just to hold the briefs up.

I started with the maltodextrin/whey/Anatrop mix specified and mixed a second for during. I warmed up with the bar, which was stupid. I have to keep up with the dynamic work, but I've been getting caught up in what I was about to do and just forgot.

Anyway, so I warmed up for the three primary movements today, tested weights I thought I could get the rep ranges with and still have perfect form, failing on the last rep. All sets were 10-12 reps, explosive on contraction and stable on eccentric movement (2 sec). And all sets had 120 seconds rest in between.

90-degree lateral shoulder fly: 25 kg DBs 3 sets of 12 reps
These were tough but not tough enough -- I need to go up. I used the 25 kilo DBs I had left from yesterday, and it wasn't enough. The 12th rep of the last set was the first true form failure.

Narrow grip skull-crusher to nose bridge: 100 kilos 3 x 12
Very strict form here. I had the pins set in the rack so that the bar just touched my nose, just so I wouldn't kill myself. I started with 100 kilos and reduced by 5 kilos each set, and still my last set I only got 10 reps. I have to say, I love these.

Front squat: 180 kg 3 x 12
This movement was hard for me to be comfortable, particularly going ATG. I dropped 5 kg each set and I still had to nut up all the reps of each set. This was brutal. I've squatted 800 pounds and 400 thoroughly kicked my butt. This is going to be interesting in two weeks when I'm doing five sets. I noticed a tendency to pitch forward a little at the bottom of the hole, so I clearly have technique issues to work out. I was sucking wind most of the time and even nose-torked once to get on it.

I did band ab pulldowns with the super heavy band x 50 after everything.

After each movement I did one-minute extreme stretching of the body part a la Doggcrapp stylee. Honestly, this is more like extreme wretching -- these stretches make me want to cry every time. If they don't, I'm not trying hard enough to stretch the body part. Just brutal.

I guess the word for the day is 'brutal'. Still, I'm loving the direction this is going.

Great day.