Entry #923

First day back yesterday. Did unilateral dumbbell press, 105 x 8-9 in good hand, 40 x 25-30 in left hand. Didn't do any lat work because I thought I'd go today as a pull day after deadlifts, but rather than that, I'm going to a full-body workout starting tomorrow.

Did a lot of warm-up and rehab/prehab using bent-over shrugs, push-up pluses, and other Diesel and EliteFTS ideas.

Shoulder is feeling fantastic.

Entry #922

Shoulder is feeling better. Wearing a sling seemed to retard recovery more than anything. Still feels weak, though, so I have to be careful, but at least I'm pain-free.

Gonna be revamping my routine to be accommodating for my condition. I've been through this before so I know what to do. All unilateral movements.

In the meantime, I'm sticking with 24 Hour until I can get some heavy dumbbells of my own. Crunch is my new gym of choice, but make no mistake about it: it's purely for the price, $10 a month. They have no squat or power racks and the heaviest dumbbells only go to 80. They fucking suck, but so does 24 Hour. At least Crunch has round plates and kettlebells.

Instead of real racks they have a Jones machine, which is like a Smith machine but with 3D plane movement. A lot better, but still nothing that I want to do squats under. The hooks are big enough for a free bar to fit in, though, as long as I move the machine's bar out of the way. Only problem is the bars aren't long enough so it'll sit crooked when I want to squat. This is going to suck, lol.

But on that note I'm stoked about buying my own equipment. Gonna order a pair of Olympic dumbbell bars for only $50, and I'm even thinking about a portable squat rack for the future that I can fit in my car:

http://www.onlinesports.com/images/gia-we155.gif

Also going to want a trap bar, Swiss bar, and a pair of Kroc row bars, in addition to the bands and boars I already keep there. You know how Civic owners get shit for tricking out their car? This is how to upgrade one the right way.

Lots of happenings in the past few days.

First, I subluxed my shoulder again. This time swimming, haha. Embarrassing. I'm in a sling for a few days.

Second, I deadlifted 392.5 x 10. This prompted a trainer to tell me not to make so much noise. That was the last straw, and I resolved to quit paying a gym that won't support me and my training. I'll no longer be going to 24 Hour Fitness.

Overhead press:
135 x 3
155 x 3
175 x 7

Arnold press:
80s x 8, 6, 5
70s x 6
60s x 8

Band pull-aparts:
25

Weighted NG pull-ups:
45 x 8, 5, 5, 5, 4

Entry #919

Squats:
245 x 5
285 x 5
325 x 7
> Really bad. My knees were bowing in, too, and my right one felt the tiniest of pains, though it's fine now.

My depth might be varying. Even 285 felt harder than normal, as I felt my hamstrings sink into my calves. I feel like I'm doing so much squat analysis that my form is varying every time as I make rectifications and it's making for wildly inconsistent numbers.

I'd say box squats are the answer but I'm wary about deviating from the routine after last time.

Something to note: I made better progress when I timed my rests. Start doing that next week.

Entry #918

Bench press:
200 x 5
230 x 5
260 x 9
> Felt incredibly strong. Warm-up is probably to thank: 6 sets alternating between super fast band presses and doing reps with the bar. Also some push-up pluses which are amazing prehab and help train scapulae retraction. Band pressing does, too, since the further I step away from the rack with the bands in tow the more they pull my arms back.

I'm keeping in mind something I heard Dave Tate say on Iron Radio. Here's what I would do before a heavy set:

"Gonna aim for 10. I'd really like to get that. Maybe get 9 as a safe option. Hopefully 10, though."

Here's what I think now:

"I will for sure get 9."

And that's what I did.

Dumbbell press:
110s x 8, 7, 6
95s x 6
80s x 7
> Failed a couple reps trying to reach 8. Need to watch out. Triceps were heavily fatigued.

Band pressdowns:
20, rest pause, 5

Bent-over dumbbell rows:
115 x 8, 7, 6, 7, 6
> Strict. Might do Kroc-style rows for high reps with the 125s in heavier weeks. Wonder if using a barbell would work.

Bilateral dumbbell curls with Fat Gripz:
50s x 6, 5, 6

Entry #917

Mike Tyson is now a vegan.

In response I ate steak for three meals a day. Goddamn do I need to go shopping.

Tomorrow is cheat day. Time to get fat.

Entry #916

Did a 15-minute circuit of shadowboxing, burpees, and mountain climbers in the apartment. Afterwards I messed around with the Sega game on Eyetoy. No, I'm actually not so senile that I don't know the name and I have to refer to it as "the Sega game" but "Sega Superstars" is Superstupid. Back is incredibly sore today, despite foam rolling last night post-workout.

I'm shaking my head at how good the dorks over at T-Nation are at building the most fervorous hype for their supplements.

"So, if you're considering Indigo-3G,™ but you're on the fence, or worried about cost, stop right there and go no further. It's not for you, at least not at this time."

So if I wanna know more about an ambiguously-named product, I should just walk away now 'cause I'm not hardcore. K, will do.

Wait, one gem in the comment section:

"Jayk:  I just threw up and cried at the same time... Okay, not really, but I was so excited for this, but it's way too expensive.."

Jesus, shut up and squat.

I think it's highly unfortunate that they let this crap bleed into otherwise-great articles. I'll be following along and wrestling with some newfound training revelations from Poliquin or Cosgrove when all of a sudden I'll get to something like "Tip #8: Why do idiots buy the cheapest supps just to save some money? Seriously, you get what you pay for. I only use Metabolic Drive." Completely kills the intellectual momentum.

Entry #915

Deadlifts:
280 x 5
325 x 5
372.5 x 12
> Could have done more. For some reason had my mind mentally set to "12". Weight felt like air. This is the strongest I've ever been on deadlifts. I'm really glad with my grip level, too. I can hang on to 515 for reps (reverse-band) easily, and that was several months ago. Fat Gripz are awesome.

Good mornings:
205 x 8, 5, 7
135 x 10

Ab wheel

Entry #914

Down to 220 lbs. Traditionally I'm used to two things: exploding up in strength and weight or sharp declines in both. Either or. This is very different. I'm slowly, slowly gaining strength and very gradually losing weight. While it can be disheartening as a gut reaction to realizing I haven't put 15 lbs on my bench press since last time, I'm doing very well for myself considering how much less I'm eating (which is still quite a bit).

Got dextrose in the mail today. 16 lbs for $32 off Amazon. This should last me another year. Not on creatine yet, though it's sitting on my fridge waiting for use.

Overhead press:
125 x 5
145 x 5
165 x 8
> 5 lb increase with 5 lb weight loss. I'll take it.

Arnold press:
75s x 8, 8
70s x 6, 6
60s x 7

Band pull-aparts:
20

NG pull-ups:
10, 10, 6, 5, 8

Entry #914

Entry #913

End deload.

New lift numbers with 90% calculations that I'll be using:

OHP: 215 - 193.5
Deadlift: 485 - 436.5
Bench press: 340 - 306
Squat: 420 - 378

Groovy.

I'm looking super trim. Hopefully I haven't regressed any during the deload. Diet has been going great.

Entry #912

Squats:
150 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5

Front squats (clean grip):
185 x 10, 2 sets
185 x 8, 2 sets

Planks

Entry #911

Bench press:
120 x 5
150 x 5
180 x 5
> Still using the false grip.

Incline dumbbell press:
75s x 15, 9, 8, 7, 6

Band pressdowns:
20

Standing bilateral bent-over dumbbell rows with Fat Gripz:
50s x 15, 10, 10, 8, 8

Hammer curls with Fat Gripz:
35s x 15, 3 sets

Entry #910

Deadlifts with Fat Gripz:
172.5 x 5
212.5 x 5
255 x 5
> Had to very quickly readjust grip a few times on the last set, but this is the heaviest I've pulled with these infernal things on for reps. They make going light less of a bore.

GHR:
Just whatever felt good. 5-8

Ab-wheel rollouts:
3x5
> Can finally do these from a standing position: http://rosstraining.com/blog/2011/03/03/standing-ab-wheel-rollout-tutorial/

Listening to Iron Radio a lot. Latest episode is with Dave Tate.

Entry #909

Caught a bug, probably from sleeping with the fan too close to me on high, and haven't been able to do HIIT this week. Going on hour long brisk-paced walks instead about 2-3 hours after a meal. I spoon whey in my mouth and let it dissolve for the BCAAs during this. Also drinking a lot of green tea lately. Works well for me that I'm deloading.

Got a foam roller in the mail. My back is already thanking me. Also got creatine which I'll take next week.

Entry #908

Deload week.

OHP:
75 x 5
95 x 5
115 x 5
> Experimented with thumbless grip here. Felt alright.

Dips:
15, 12, 10, 8, 8

Chins:
8, 8, 8, 5, 5
> Chest touched the bar on almost every rep.

Barbell curls with Fat Gripz:
55 x 15, 10, 8

Entry #907

Squats:
285 x 5
320 x 3
355 x 5
> As deep as I could go. Should have tried for more. Felt mentally held back for not using safety bars, even though I've never failed on squats in 10 years of lifting.

Clean-grip front squats:
225 x 5, 5 sets

Planks

I'm eating steak 5 days a week. WinCo is awesome.

Entry #906

Bench press:
225 x 5
255 x 3
285 x 5

Incline dumbbell press:
105s x 6
105s x 5
105s x 5
105s x 4

Band pull-aparts:
30 reps

Standing bent-over dumbbell rows (bilateral):
70s x 8, 5 sets

Hammer curls with Fat Gripz:
50s x 8, 3 sets

Entry #905

Walked out on my job. Felt great.

Deadlifts:
320 x 5 (pronated)
365 x 3 (pronated)
405 x 9
> Awesome, haha. Could have done 405 overhand but reps were too high for that.

Two days before:

Overhead press:
142.5 x 5
160 x 3
180 x 5

5/3/1 is such a great program, but this is my max week and I'm doing reps higher than 8. Thinking about adding a fifth microcycle for 1-3 reps at an estimated max with no percentages involved, then deloading. Or, I could deload as normal and then repeat the four weeks with the same max estimates, only this time nixing the 90% rule. On the third week I could do the plan of getting rid of percentages for maxes. That might be better for recovery than just an extra week added on, and it would make for a longer preparatory period ala Bill Starr.

Entry #904

Got a physically hard job at a warehouse and have little time for the internet. Training is going to be insane.

4 am: Wake-up, eat.
5:30: Lift.
6:30: Finish, come home, eat.
7:55-4:30: Work.
5:30: Martial arts.
8:00: Sleep.

Yesterday:

Squats:
260 x 3
297.5 x 3
337.5 x 8

Front squats with clean grip:
205 x 8, 7, 5, 7, 5

Planks