Deckard Gainz scribbles and scrawls through catacomb halls

[CourtnieMarie]

oh hii! sorry i'm late. looks like you're doing pretty well over here (damn that weekend makes me look lazyyy). glad you figured out the 4 pgs/week was too much and can course correct  book sounds and looks awesome!

[Deckard Gainz]

17 hours ago, CourtnieMarie said:

oh hii! sorry i'm late. looks like you're doing pretty well over here (damn that weekend makes me look lazyyy). glad you figured out the 4 pgs/week was too much and can course correct  book sounds and looks awesome!

 

No worries, thanks for stopping by! The weekend before last was my lazy one, so last weekend was just making up for it I guess. It all evens out. I'm still pretty lazy. At least I say that a lot. Evidence might beg to differ. I do enjoy being lazy though!

 

Anyway, we're more than halfway through the week now so I'm probably due for an update.

 

Monday and Tuesday workouts were hard, but successful. Deload week seems to have had the intended effect. I felt fresh going in, and tired as hell coming out. I got pretty wicked DOMS to boot. I was very happy to get 10 reps on a 5+ AMRAP bench set, way more than any other AMRAP I've done on this program so far in any lift. I'm still pretty sore, so hopefully I can shake it all out and finish the week strong.

 

I also met with the author of the book. She seems to be enjoying what I'm putting out so far, so that's good. I was hoping we could pare down the workload a little, but that didn't really happen. Nor did we really address the issue that the deadline is going to be difficult to make... I'm just going to keep working and see how it goes I guess.

[Mike Wazowski]

Woo, bench AMRAP!! I definitely find that 5's and 3's are easier to hit higher AMRAPs than 10s and 8s when running juggernaut, looks like maybe you'll find the same thing? (Not that I'm really running it currently, I'm only using it once a week for lower body lifts).

[Deckard Gainz]

23 hours ago, MikeWazowski said:

Woo, bench AMRAP!! I definitely find that 5's and 3's are easier to hit higher AMRAPs than 10s and 8s when running juggernaut, looks like maybe you'll find the same thing? (Not that I'm really running it currently, I'm only using it once a week for lower body lifts).

 

So far, definitely. I also got 10 on deadlifts yesterday. It's good to hear that 3s wave might be similar. Tonight is OHP, the last of the bunch. I have very low expectations for OHP just in general, but hopefully that tendency will translate to some gains that I have had a hell of a time getting on that specific lift in the 10 and 8 waves (I've gotten none, to be exact).

[Laghail]

1 hour ago, Deckard Gainz said:

 

So far, definitely. I also got 10 on deadlifts yesterday. It's good to hear that 3s wave might be similar. Tonight is OHP, the last of the bunch. I have very low expectations for OHP just in general, but hopefully that tendency will translate to some gains that I have had a hell of a time getting on that specific lift in the 10 and 8 waves (I've gotten none, to be exact).

It's a stubborn lift. I've hidden from it, only OHP on dumbbells for a bit. I'll join you in the misery of BB OHP on monday.

 

[Grumble]

I'm gonna hit ohp today. Misery loves company.

[Mike Wazowski]

On 1/19/2018 at 11:59 AM, Deckard Gainz said:

 

So far, definitely. I also got 10 on deadlifts yesterday. It's good to hear that 3s wave might be similar. Tonight is OHP, the last of the bunch. I have very low expectations for OHP just in general, but hopefully that tendency will translate to some gains that I have had a hell of a time getting on that specific lift in the 10 and 8 waves (I've gotten none, to be exact).

Way to go!!!

 

I’ll enjoy all y’all progressing on OHP vicariously, since I’m on an indefinite break from upper body lifting for gymnast-y stuff.

[Deckard Gainz]

Wekend Update

 

Friday started out pretty well with a few extra reps on OHP for a change. I tried out a thumbless grip and I think I really like it for that lift. I still feel really stupid trying to screw around with the assistance band for pull-ups and still only being able to get 1 or 2 reasonable reps. It doesn't feel quite worth it yet, and I'm not feeling as much in my lats as I'd hope/expect to. I may go back to inverted rows until either my lats are much stronger and/or I'm better at activating them, or until I lose some more weight and have less junk to pull up. I kind of rushed through the tail end of the workout and lost some assistance reps, but I got a good bro-burn from curls. I followed it all up with a mediocre but fairly healthy salmon salad from a local brewery. We also shared a very small (4oz) pour of their peanut butter porter and decided that I'm going to brew one myself in the coming weeks. For the past couple years I've brewed some kind of beer around this time of year in order to have it ready by St. Patrick's day, so that's what will be on the menu for this year, in addition to our homemade corned beef and scotch eggs. Sláinte, motherfuckers.

 

Anyway, Saturday was busy. I started the day cheering on @Laghail at his meet and working on my drawings during the down time. The meet was something like 4-5 hours, and only probably 10-15 minutes of that time was time I actually needed to pay attention, so even with all the socializing and meeting new folks, I got quite a lot done. I had 3-4 hours in between the meet and a friend's housewarming party, so I got a few more hours of work in amongst some eating and relaxing. The party was fun. I threw dietary cares to the wind and drank some beers, had some whiskey, and ate a bunch of delicious smoked pork shoulder and various dips and sweets. Ya gotta live a little sometimes.

 

Sunday was a day of recovery and productivity. I was feeling a little dehydrated/hungover from the party, but I was still able to put in work cleaning, laundering, working on the book, and catching up on some freelance work. I lost a few hours to a powerful afternoon headache, but otherwise it was a fine day for getting stuff done.

 

I'm still pretty far behind on the book. The silver lining is that most of what I have left to do will be easier/quicker than what I've done so far. When broken down in terms of... we'll call it artistic RPE, my progress list looks something like this, in descending order of effort:

 

Full spreads (very high effort): 1/3 (2/6 pages total)

Highly detailed single page scenes (high effort): 5/6

Moderately detailed single page scenes (moderate effort): 0/3

Vignettes etc. (low effort): 1/10

 

Things are going much more smoothly than when I started now that I've acclimated to the hardware and software and learned a few more tricks. I'm hoping that once I finish the next big spread, I can use that momentum to knock out a lot of the pages very quickly. Stay tuned!

[farflight]

 

you go boy! I love it when you hit that exponential climb on a learning curve, when that last piece just clicks and you can start to ACTUALLY get shit done!

 

Also, major kudos for supporting a fellow! +10 internetz

[Laghail]

30 minutes ago, Deckard Gainz said:

Wekend Update

 

Friday started out pretty well with a few extra reps on OHP for a change. I tried out a thumbless grip and I think I really like it for that lift. I still feel really stupid trying to screw around with the assistance band for pull-ups and still only being able to get 1 or 2 reasonable reps. It doesn't feel quite worth it yet, and I'm not feeling as much in my lats as I'd hope/expect to. I may go back to inverted rows until either my lats are much stronger and/or I'm better at activating them, or until I lose some more weight and have less junk to pull up. I kind of rushed through the tail end of the workout and lost some assistance reps, but I got a good bro-burn from curls. I followed it all up with a mediocre but fairly healthy salmon salad from a local brewery. We also shared a very small (4oz) pour of their peanut butter porter and decided that I'm going to brew one myself in the coming weeks. For the past couple years I've brewed some kind of beer around this time of year in order to have it ready by St. Patrick's day, so that's what will be on the menu for this year, in addition to our homemade corned beef and scotch eggs. Sláinte, motherfuckers.

 

Anyway, Saturday was busy. I started the day cheering on @Laghail at his meet and working on my drawings during the down time. The meet was something like 4-5 hours, and only probably 10-15 minutes of that time was time I actually needed to pay attention, so even with all the socializing and meeting new folks, I got quite a lot done. I had 3-4 hours in between the meet and a friend's housewarming party, so I got a few more hours of work in amongst some eating and relaxing. The party was fun. I threw dietary cares to the wind and drank some beers, had some whiskey, and ate a bunch of delicious smoked pork shoulder and various dips and sweets. Ya gotta live a little sometimes.

 

Sunday was a day of recovery and productivity. I was feeling a little dehydrated/hungover from the party, but I was still able to put in work cleaning, laundering, working on the book, and catching up on some freelance work. I lost a few hours to a powerful afternoon headache, but otherwise it was a fine day for getting stuff done.

 

I'm still pretty far behind on the book. The silver lining is that most of what I have left to do will be easier/quicker than what I've done so far. When broken down in terms of... we'll call it artistic RPE, my progress list looks something like this, in descending order of effort:

 

Full spreads (very high effort): 1/3 (2/6 pages total)

Highly detailed single page scenes (high effort): 5/6

Moderately detailed single page scenes (moderate effort): 0/3

Vignettes etc. (low effort): 1/10

 

Things are going much more smoothly than when I started now that I've acclimated to the hardware and software and learned a few more tricks. I'm hoping that once I finish the next big spread, I can use that momentum to knock out a lot of the pages very quickly. Stay tuned!

 

Stupid good to see you on Saturday. 

Stupid annoyed at the lack of food porn.

Well done hustling on those pages.

[Grumble]

1 hour ago, Deckard Gainz said:

I'm not feeling as much in my lats as I'd hope/expect to. I may go back to inverted rows until either my lats are much stronger and/or I'm better at activating them, or until I lose some more weight and have less junk to pull up.

 

Work on active hangs. Makes all the difference in the world. Also, if you can't do pullups, do negatives. Jump from a box or step to the top of the pullup position and try to do a 5 count negative

[CourtnieMarie]

Sláinte! menu sounds delicious. i already have my st. paddys day decor up around the house...

[Deckard Gainz]

17 hours ago, Laghail said:

 

Stupid good to see you on Saturday. 

Stupid annoyed at the lack of food porn.

Well done hustling on those pages.

 

Good to see you too man. Now that we're regularly utilizing the sous vide to slow cook many meats, I should have plenty of good opportunities for some food porn. I'm stopping by the butcher tonight to pick up one of those volume deals I was telling you about. 

 

3 minutes ago, CourtnieMarie said:

Sláinte! menu sounds delicious. i already have my st. paddys day decor up around the house...

 

I'm glad you're getting in the spirit early! We're still trying to recover from Xmas. The main problem with holding down a full-time job, an ongoing freelance gig, a time-intensive illustration project, 4-5 days/week of exercise, trying to make home-cooked meals nearly every night, and maintain some semblance of a social life, is that it leaves a lot less time to take care of things like taking down and putting up decorations. I was even contemplating whether or not I'd have time to brew the beer, but a man's gotta prioritize.

 

Not much to report since yesterday. I got a haircut after work. I think it looks really nice! But it had to be pushed back a bit due to some scheduling kerfuffle, so by the time I got home, worked out and showered, it was 8:30. Fortunately, I had some leftovers to eat so I didn't have to waste my tiny bit of free time cooking. I got in a bit of a spat with the SO due to the aforementioned lack of free time hindering me from doing things like help her with cleaning as much as she'd like. I didn't sleep too well as a result. Hopefully bringing home like 50 lbs of meat will raise both of our spirits?

[farflight]

33 minutes ago, Deckard Gainz said:

some semblance of a social life,

....I am thoroughly confused by this concept....

 

 

33 minutes ago, Deckard Gainz said:

bringing home like 50 lbs of meat

Can I come over...with a shopping cart...or some charcoal...I'll bring bok choy!

 

Spats happen. Sorry to hear it affected your sleep. That has gotten better in the farflight house. Much better at seeing what is/isn't in my control and not feeling guilty for stuff outside of my control (can still feel sorry that it happened, but not that good ole catholic level guilt)

[Deckard Gainz]

6 minutes ago, farflight said:

That has gotten better in the farflight house. Much better at seeing what is/isn't in my control and not feeling guilty for stuff outside of my control (can still feel sorry that it happened, but not that good ole catholic level guilt)

 

It's gotten better in our household as well. Arguments are fairly rare for us to begin with, so it makes them seem all the more substantial when they actually do occur.

 

Spoiler

Am I doing this right that we put feels in spoilers? Time management is difficult because it largely is within my control. I made choices to take on extra work and to dedicate a significant amount of time to training. The consequence of those choices is that my finite resources have to be spread more thinly, and anything I don't accomplish falls on my partner. In a perfect world, I'd be able to utilize every second of my free time and every ounce of my energy to work on personal development, domestic upkeep, and whatever else needs to be done. But it's not a perfect world; sometimes I just have to sit on my ass for an hour and decompress, even when there's plenty I should be doing. A younger, weaker, less ambitious me would prioritize whatever made my partner happy, and personal development would take a hit when I ran out of juice. It's an easy way to avoid arguments but it's a sad way to go through life (not to mention it can make you spiteful). It feels good to prioritize myself, but with that comes the need to advocate for my needs, and clearly communicate how our expectations may have to shift to accommodate for me. That part is hard for me. I never want to be a bother. I also need to give my partner credit for picking up slack, and understand that things might be more difficult for her as well. I try to make my appreciation known. She does too, but when she gets upset, all that appreciation goes out the window, and I start hearing "you never do this," or "you always do that," with regards to something she complimented me on doing or not doing only days before. That's the kind of stuff that sets me off.

 

[farflight]

Fully understand (I have no idea about the feels in spoilers thing, so I won't quote the entry, just share my own thoughts)

 

Taking care of self/personal development really isn't a choice. Wife and I have gone back and forth on that. My final stance has come down to: I work out for me, not to impress, I feel better afterwards, I enjoy getting stronger and having more energy for other life activities. For me, exercise has become a "need" (more on wants/needs later). I schedule my workouts at 6 am MWF, in an effort to schedule them when SHE IS SLEEPING (a.k.a. unconscious). I tend to schedule most of "my time" when she isn't available (i.e. she's working or sleeping). 

 

I applaud you for knowing when to "decompress." I think I've had (not counting last week with all the snow induced days off) maybe 2-3 days of the past several years where I actively chose NOT TO DO ANYTHING. I feel guilty when I do that, its something for me to work on.

 

Something I've learned in small groups in prioritizing different things/activities/plans (this isn't a hard and fast rule, just a "rule of thumb"/guidance):

 

My needs >> Her needs 

My needs >> Her wants

My wants << Her needs

My wants <> Her wants

 

The challenge is in objectively determining a "want" from a true "NEED." A lot of times, I think I NEED my WANTS, and that just isn't the case. On that first one though, obviously some negotiation takes place. Lets look at an example: She "needs" me to go do something with her, I've had a shitty day, can't focus, kind of hangry/gassy, and really need a recovery meeting; In that case I go to my meeting and meet up with her afterwards (if possible). Scenario two: She "needs" me to go do something with her, I "need" to play Skyrim for 6 hrs...thats a want. Maybe a compromise would be to take my switch with me and if there is down time I can play the switch in marshalls/church/wherever :-P

[Laghail]

Yeah. Balancing self care and care for SO is tough. Awkwardly, my SO is my biggest cheerleader in finding balance; which sometimes means she needs to cheer me into neglecting her. Makes my head hurt.

 

[Deckard Gainz]

As I think I've said in the past, I'm hesitant to completely derail my thread into Relationship Time™ because that part of my life is great and usually among the least of my concerns. It's still an important part though, and one I need to continue to address with care and not "forget about." In any case, all it took were a few kind texts back and forth to re-establish equilibrium.

 

My SO is not a cheerleader; she's a grinding stone. She helps keep me sharp. I've improved dramatically in the time we've been dating in all facets. Sometimes I wish she'd lay off and be like "Alright, you're good now. You're the perfect man. You did it." Not only is that not true, but it's not really how anything works. Compare it to lifting. Lifting doesn't become easier as you get stronger. It gets harder and harder; you gain less and less and work more and more. That's pretty much self-improvement in a nutshell.

[Laghail]

14 minutes ago, Deckard Gainz said:

My SO is not a cheerleader; she's a grinding stone. She helps keep me sharp. I've improved dramatically in the time we've been dating in all facets. Sometimes I wish she'd lay off and be like "Alright, you're good now. You're the perfect man. You did it." Not only is that not true, but it's not really how anything works. Compare it to lifting. Lifting doesn't become easier as you get stronger. It gets harder and harder; you gain less and less and work more and more. That's pretty much self-improvement in a nutshell.

Smart deckard is smart.

[farflight]

Apologies for almost/kinda derailing thread. Just wanted to comment

 

Grindingstones and cheerleaders are good, that means they are present and involved!

 

Glad things got back to balance quickly!

[Deckard Gainz]

2 minutes ago, farflight said:

Apologies for almost/kinda derailing thread. Just wanted to comment

 

Grindingstones and cheerleaders are good, that means they are present and involved!

 

Glad things got back to balance quickly!

 

It's all good. Relationships are a big part of life for a lot of us, so it's natural for it to come up in conversation, even if it's not directly related to fitness. I mostly just want to clear up that I'm not trying to complain about my situation or anything. We're all trying to find that balance!

[Scaly Freak]

3 hours ago, Deckard Gainz said:

Compare it to lifting. Lifting doesn't become easier as you get stronger. It gets harder and harder; you gain less and less and work more and more. That's pretty much self-improvement in a nutshell.

 

QFT

[Deckard Gainz]

On 1/22/2018 at 4:31 PM, Grumble said:

 

Work on active hangs. Makes all the difference in the world. Also, if you can't do pullups, do negatives. Jump from a box or step to the top of the pullup position and try to do a 5 count negative

 

I want to thank you again for these suggestions. I replaced my feeble sets of 2 with both of these exercises. Active hangs definitely improve my ability to focus on activating lats, and the negatives made it actually feel like a workout. I didn't have as much success consciously activating my lats on the negative, but given that I start with them down and end with them up, I figure they have to be doing work at some point.

[Deckard Gainz]

It's been about a week, so I'm probably overdue for an update. I did all the lifting. I ate high quality food, but maybe a little too much of it. I haven't been tracking. I need to keep tracking, and I also need to improve my accuracy. I need to weigh stuff and calculate based on actual ingredients, not just shorthand with whatever seems close on MFP. But even the "easy" version of tracking is tedious enough that I always give up, so I don't know how I will ever be able to dedicate even more time to improving my accuracy. Maybe when I'm done with my big project, I will have more fucks to give, but I am spreading my existing pool of fucks pretty thinly at this point. So it goes.

 

We had some friends over for a nice dinner party on Friday, and other than that, we didn't have any other plans. It was amazing.

 

On 1/22/2018 at 2:23 PM, Deckard Gainz said:

Things are going much more smoothly than when I started now that I've acclimated to the hardware and software and learned a few more tricks.

 

Quoting this for posterity, as I managed to delete 6 hours of work on accident. TECH WIZ! I was able to recover a lower resolution version that will be usable, but I will likely have to do quite a bit of touch-up in the coloring phase. Annoying. But! I did finish a big spread. I also discovered the program tracks the time I've spent working. So I can tell you the spread took 9 hours between Saturday and Sunday. It will be interesting to go through when I'm finished and see how long everything took all said and done.

 

It's test/peak/AMRAP week now, so that's exciting. I got the 2 extra reps that I wanted on my squat, which brings my training max up another 10lbs. It's up to 400 now, which means my theoretical 1RM is 444. I doubt that's realistic, but it's still more exciting than trying to figure out how much better 7 reps at 335 is than 9 reps at 310 etc etc.

 

I'm also thinking since I'm approaching the lowest volume point in the program, it might be a good time for a little bit of cutting. It would give me a compelling reason to get back to tracking and to try and be more accurate, since I'm only considering cutting 200 cals or so. Also we're going to an indoor waterpark for my birthday about a month from now, so I need my Totally Shredded Beach Bod ASAP. Jk, but not really.

 

 

[Laghail]

Been there. Sorry man. Self sabotage is less dramatic when it's accidental.

Also vacation cutting goals are the only kind that matter.