Wednesday, November 30, 2011

training 11.30

Tough week for training, but got in my time today.  Necessary for sanity.

Started with MGPM, sipping Dark Matter afterward.

Totally forgot dynamic work to start -- too eager.  Did a fair amount of bar work.

Used elbow sleeves and wrist wraps.  Didn't eat enough today, but was nothing more than hungry at training time.  I'm still amazed how good my training has been even without any carbs before.  Many days I'm borderline fasted prior to training.  I make up for it afterward.

Military: Seat at 80 degrees, worked up to 190kg and pushed out 5 reps.  While not a record, everything felt so good and so light that I'm still very happy with it.  No pain anywhere.

Supersets of light, ultra-wide-grip military, pushups, and reverse rows hanging from a Spud long ab handle.

Great work today -- very pleased.  Hope everyone is doing well, and thanks for checking in.  More interesting posts are forthcoming.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

update

I was quite sore yesterday.  I love that, but that's not why I'm checking in early.

I entirely forgot to mention that the analysis of my kidney stone was unrevealing -- calcium oxalate.  When considering what I've changed in my diet that could have accelerated stone development so drastically, the first thing that set off alarms was vitamin C supplementation.  In fact the only thing.  Seems crazy, but apparently it is a real risk factor.

So I quit Vit-C and Vit-D supps.  I will likely return to D, but only after I feel less paranoid.

Military day today -- will check in later.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

training 11.27.2011

Gorgeous day today, and downright hot.

Started with MGPM before and through and finished with Dark Matter.  Used knee sleeves, belt, and the looser of my two pairs of Ace briefs.  Used a belt.

Did some dynamic work and bar work to warm up and got to it.

Squats:  worked up to 285kg and pushed out seven reps.  Felt great, even though it was dark in the rumpus room by this time.  Had the big fluorescent work light on and got it done.  Really felt good, depth was good, no knee pain, nothing bad.  Pushing up toward a new PR, apparently.  When I get over 300kg, I may put on my loose Ace suit as a safety net -- it starts to seem heavy in my head at that point, and that's a good way to get hurt.  Maybe straps down just for security.  We'll see.  At least I don't have to walk it out anymore.  700+ pound walkouts scare me, I admit.

Did a bunch of assistance work -- mostly light, high-rep squats ATG and hip thrusters.  I need a manpon for the thrusters, as the weight is getting high enough to rough up my hips pretty well.  Look like I've been in a fight, but only in my lap.  Do what you will with that.

Hope everyone had a great T'giving.  Still loving the carb backloading, feeling great and missing breakfast a little less.  Loving my afternoons and evenings, though, and sleeping like the dead.

Big shouts out to our Aussie buddie Alli and her monster success in her first strongman comp.  Awesome stuff, particularly given how nervous she was.  She rocks.  If you don't follow her on Twitter, start: G00DYGIRL77


Later, all.

Friday, November 25, 2011

training 11.25.2011

Gorgeous day today.

Started with creatine and MGPM.  Did some band hurricanes and bar work to warm up.

Used elbow sleeves and 18" wrist wraps.

Bench: worked up to my work sets, closing with 220kg; pushed out 10 reps and had some left.  Not sure why, but the diet is making a big difference in my lifting.  More about that later.

Supersets:
Incline bench and elbow out triceps extensions, 5x20    These were brutal by the end.

Still knee-deep in carb backloading and loving it.  In fact, it's had a significant effect on my training.  I know Kiefer wrote about the Hulk Effect or some such nonsense, and I make no claims of feeling green or super-heroic.  But I do feel as if I've had a huge caffeine boost when I've had none.  My training session intensity has risen when I didn't think it could, and I can only attribute it to the backloading.  I'm still figuring a lot of it out on my own until he publishes his book (and I find out I'm doing it all wrong), but it's not particularly complicated.  And while I have an emotional struggle with no breakfast, it's been easy to adapt to.  I haven't seen any huge body comp changes in all of a week, but there are noticeable differences elsewhere.  And I think I am losing some fat.  What I'm sure of is that I feel huge, tighter in my skin, and my weight is staying very stable even though I'm having carb orgies every night.  And I don't eat any differently on training days and non -- always the same.  My cooking has gotten more inventive (don't want Oreos all the time), and Thanksgiving yesterday was an absolute blast after 5:00.

Anyway, I encourage you to try it, any of you interested in body comp change that involves losing some fat.  Let me know if you need info sources.

Hope you have a great weekend.

training 11.22.2011

Didn't write this the day I did the work, so some detail is missing.

Warmed up with a lot of dynamic and bar work.  Used MGPM and creatine before and during.  Used Dark Matter afterward.  Wore knee sleeves and loose briefs.

DL: worked up to 290kg and pulled 5 reps off the floor for my last set.  That was pretty much all I had.

Did RDLs with shrugs and light DLs for assistance work.  My back was obliterated by the end.

Sorry this is short, but too much time has passed to bore you with minutiae.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

training 11.19.2011

Great weekend day today -- I have gotten a lot done, got training in, and am continuing to learn about  this carb backloading idea.  It's funny how once you start to pay attention to something, it shows up everywhere, huh?  This month's Power magazine has an article from Kiefer on carb backloading.

Started with creatine in green tea.  I will likely return to Results, but change the timing.  More on that later.  Used MGPM during.

Week 2 of the cycle.  Warmed up with the weight.

Military: worked up to 180kg with sets of 3 and repped out 9 reps with 180.  Had one or two more in the tank but lost my groove and about dumped the bar in my lap.  Decided to stop before I hurt myself.

My shoulders felt great and the intensity was outrageous.  You'd think being seriously carb deprived would kill your training, but the opposite is true.  I felt like I was massively caffeinated, as if I'd Spiked.  Just the anticipation of the food orgy that's about to begin.

I did a bunch of assistance work -- felt very motivated for that, even.  Did a bunch of rowing and snatch work.  Felt great.

Anyway, I'd write more but I've got a few thousand calories to pack in and only four hours to get them down.

Later.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Training 11.16.2011

Back at it.  Welcome back.

Started carb backloading today.  I'll check in from time to time to let you know how it's going.  Short version for today, day one, is that I didn't eat anything but almonds and coffee until 3:00 when I started prepping for training.  I will let you know what happens after the carb-fest later.  More importantly, what happens after a month of this.

Interestingly, I was no more worthless this afternoon than usual.  I felt lightheaded, but that could just be the lead-in to the punchline of a joke.

Used Results to prep and MGPM during, as usual.  Once done typing, I'll hit some protein and leucine and get to cooking.  I've got some American chop suey, pumpkin spice bread, and ice cream in my immediate future.

Used knee sleeves and loose briefs during.  Did a fair amount of dynamic work to warm up before starting the warm-up on the bar.

Squat:  Worked up my work sets in fives; did 7 reps with 265kg; finished with a drop set of 20.

Did some glute/hip thrusts for assistance work and called it.

I'm too hungry to chat much.  I hope everyone has a great evening.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

training 11.12

Saturday morning, raining hard.  The boy is supposed to have a baseball tourney all weekend, but there's no way; it's been raining for hours already, and fields around here soak quickly.  They were never made to percolate well anyway, so it's no surprise.

Started with the usual MGPM, Results, and Axcel.  Really liking the AtLarge Axcel -- great effect, manageable energetics without feeling funky, no nausea, no runny nose.  The stuff rocks.  Titer up appropriately, though -- first time I took it did not feel like it does now, having gotten used to it.  I will cycle off occasionally, as it wouldn't do to be inured to stims.

Warmed up with the bar.  I need to do more dynamic and band work on days that are shoulder intensive, but I frequently forget in the excitement of days I like.  Need to fix that.  I felt my right shoulder a couple of times this day, so...

Bench:

Worked up to 200kg and pressed ten reps.  I think that's a rep record.  I racked the bar, weighted ten deep breaths, and did three more.  The last was pathetic and ugly, which was desired.

Supersets, 5x20:
Incline bench
Elbow-out extensions

The incline bench I did what were in essence three-quarter reps on the low end, never fully locking out until the last five reps.  I used the elbow-outs for triceps and the incline for chest and shoulders.  I love this combination, frankly, and annihilated my arms and chest (it's next day as I type, and I am quite sore).  This is what I want my training sessions to be -- intense, thorough, exhaustive.  Love it.  If I have to use my arms in anger today (11.13), I'm screwed -- there's nothing in the tank today.

Great session, and today is a beautiful day.

training 11.10

Writing this several days later, so some details are lost.

Trained at 6:30 a.m., which is too early for me to warm up properly.  Plus I feel pressure to get out and go to work, and I must resist that pressure.  That surely effects my training.

Started the usual way, added Biofreeze on hips and low-back, and did a lot of dynamic work to avoid damage.

DL:  Worked up to the same week 1 weight as last time and pulled six reps with the final weight (due five).  Not bad, but not great either.  No real gain from the last time, which I attribute to the hour.

Supersets:
RDL
Side bends

Got some done, though likely cheated myself of a few.

On weekdays, I really don't have any other options with work right now, so this is how it will have to be.  I will have to work on my early morning attitude in particular, which may involve a lot of stims and ammonia.  No angst about that except the let-down after lunch when the stims wear thin.  Don't want to be stimming all day, and don't want a pot of coffee at 4:00 either.  I will have to figure this out.

Thanks for checking in.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Editorializing about music

This may not be the place for this, but it doesn't seem to fit my other blogs.

When I train, I listen to music I might not listen to any other time that I'm conscious -- hard, driving, intense stuff that goes well with stimming up and Torking for big effort.

Understand that I grew up with an opera singer for a grandmother.  I grew up in Nashville and cut my teeth on jazz, blues, and bluegrass.  I saw Bill Monroe several times before I was ten.  I saw Bob Marley before he died, the Sex Pistols in London, even Led Zeppelin jamming for fun in a public park.  I knew the lyrics to several arias before I was a junior in high school.  I was steeped in music.

To the point, I am incredibly impressed with Meshuggah.  Most people my age would run screaming from a band like this, but I don't hesitate to say that these guys are inspired musically.  They are categorized as 'extreme metal' or something generalized like that, but they aren't just another growler band of metal heads.  Frankly, if you ignore the growling, I would sooner lump these guys into the category of rhythmic experimentation.

For instance, check this video out; it's just the drums for the song Bleed.  Ignoring the song itself, pay attention to the polyrhythms Haake is playing.  Incredible stuff just to keep track of in your head, much less trying to sort it out with your hands.  And he changes the polyrhythms several times during the song, returning to the original rhythms late.  To gain a little more appreciation of how complicated this is, listen to the beat he's playing with his feet.  Simply amazing. 

Anyway, I try to listen to music that makes me want to move without feeling, well, weird.  A lot of the bands in this category produce pseudoreligious noise that is catering to the audience they attract.  I stay away from them, because I don't appreciate what they are trying to represent and don't think they appreciate what they are messing around with.  Maybe more than that, most of what they produce is just crap.  But the guys in Meshuggah are impressive to me.

Remember, half the world is above average.  Make sure you stay in the right category.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Addendum

By the way, if you have trouble sleeping through the night, you may want to try Somatomax.  You can buy it through Amazon.

Honestly, the directions suggest a heaping scoop (included), but even a scant scoop leaves me practically hung over the next morning.  Half to 3/4 scoop puts me to sleep so deeply I don't move -- one ear aches in the morning because I spent the whole night on it.

Anyway, it's worth a try for anyone who struggles with insomnia.  Just take it easy until you figure out how much works for you.

training 11.5.2011

Gorgeous day here today after a rare full day of rain yesterday.  Cool, crisp, and still pretty wet.

Started with Results and MGPM.  Did some bar work to warm up and used elbow sleeves for the pressing.

Can't tell you how glad I am that deload is over.

Military press: Worked up to a 5-rep set of 170kg, pushed out ten reps.  Very happy with that.

Superset:
DB Snatch and
Krocs

Used more weight than usual for the assistance work and did sets of 5-8 reps.  Did a bunch.  Felt good.  I have done Krocs in a long time, and my left hand was very strangely weaker than my right.  Never had such a disparity before.  Wonder what I did.

My wife rocked at the Border States last week, taking a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.  Very proud of her, as it was a huge comp and each of her classes was packed.  Right now she's in DC working, so I'm alone with the dogs.  Good time for reading.

Hope everyone has a great, safe weekend.