Raptron Rages On

[raptron]

Also, here's me cheesin' hard before the race and I'm only sharing it because MY DELTS LOOK GOOD, Y'ALL. SHOULDERS ARE POPPIN.

[KB Girl]

Delts, quads, oh my <3 

 

2 hours ago, raptron said:

I slept from 9 PM to 9 AM

that sounds lovely, best part of the weekend?

just kidding! awesome that you made your time goal

[Mad Hatter]

Dem quads get me every time.  Hooray for surviving AND beating your time limit. 

 

You mentioned you're writing, what are you writing now? And any chance of progress on the guide to day drinking?  

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Congrats on that race time. Sex place got me too. 

[@mu]

Yihaa! Well done you!

[raptron]

21 hours ago, KB Girl said:

that sounds lovely, best part of the weekend?

Honestly, yes! Hahaha.  

 

20 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

You mentioned you're writing, what are you writing now? And any chance of progress on the guide to day drinking?  

Yes! I worked on it on Thursday! Otherwise, mostly poetry things for myself and bulking out more D&D stuff for when we resume our campaign. 

 

Day 3.1 & 3.2

Rest days! I went to the beach on Monday, had seafood and ice cream, and got back in time to laze around and re-read Alanna books. Tuesday, I had tickets to a rosé event, so I drank seemingly bottomless pink wine with a good pal. I got myself home and in bed before midnight and am smoothing out my rough edges with a large iced coffee this morning. 

 

Jog: 3/3 

Lift: 5/15

Write: 4/10 writing, 3/10 journaling

Job applications: 3/10

 

W: lift + LAUNDRY 

Th: gymnastics + job applications 

F: lift + maybe a date but idk

S: gymnastics + birthday celebration for a friend

S: lift + dim sum + ?? 

[sylph]

4 hours ago, raptron said:

re-read Alanna books

A wonderful use of time, always.

[Mad Hatter]

4 hours ago, raptron said:

Yes! I worked on it on Thursday! Otherwise, mostly poetry things for myself and bulking out more D&D stuff for when we resume our campaign. 

Nice!

 

Your rest days sound perfect  

[miss_marissa]

Congratulations on being a perfectly average 50% in your race  (100% that's awesome tho, great job)

 

THOSE DELTS THO! 10/10 

[raptron]

19 hours ago, sylph said:

A wonderful use of time, always.

STRONG AGREE!

 

 

Day 3.3

I did something wild, you guys. I went home after work of going to lift because I felt like I wasn't going to have much time to do anything I wanted to do with D&D later on in the evening. So, I went grocery shopping, read for a bit, took a small nap, and then woke up to find out that D&D was postponed until next week anyway so I had even more free time. I threw in my laundry, made some food, watched the first episode of Euphoria finally, and journaled before bed.

 

THREE REST DAYS IN A ROW?!?! What is this? Who am I? Oh yeah, a totally recreational fitness person who goes way too hard most of the time and is starting to shake off the reins of immense workout guilt! Woooo! Plus, I can lift Thursday, Friday, and Sunday to get my full week's worth in and it's really not that different from lifting TW&F! I'm just skipping a gymnastics workout, really. WE'RE ALL GOOD HERE. 

 

Jog: 3/3 

Lift: 5/15

Write: 4/10 writing, 4/10 journaling

Job applications: 3/10

 

I have a phone interview on Friday for a position that I'm intrigued about. I also need to ask someone at work to put in a good word for me at a state job I applied for last week as well. I've been feeling a bit gunshy about that, even though most of my coworkers (and bosses) know I'm planning to leave in the fall and have said they want to help me in any way possible. I just have to ask.

[CourtnieMarie]

On 8/21/2019 at 9:46 AM, raptron said:

 

awesome job on the race! and shedding workout guilt! and phone interviews!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I'm glad you're finally seeing the benefits of rest. I was worried you'd burn out.

[WhiteGhost]

Good luck on the job search.   

[Raxie]

6 hours ago, raptron said:

I did something wild, you guys. I went home after work of going to lift because I felt like I wasn't going to have much time to do anything I wanted to do with D&D later on in the evening. So, I went grocery shopping, read for a bit, took a small nap, and then woke up to find out that D&D was postponed until next week anyway so I had even more free time. I threw in my laundry, made some food, watched the first episode of Euphoria finally, and journaled before bed.

 

It's funny because this totally sounds wild to me, too XD

 

6 hours ago, raptron said:

Oh yeah, a totally recreational fitness person who goes way too hard most of the time and is starting to shake off the reins of immense workout guilt! Woooo! Plus, I can lift Thursday, Friday, and Sunday to get my full week's worth in and it's really not that different from lifting TW&F! I'm just skipping a gymnastics workout, really. WE'RE ALL GOOD HERE. 

 

Mostly because I, too feel this in my soul^

[KB Girl]

21 hours ago, raptron said:

Oh yeah, a totally recreational fitness person who goes way too hard most of the time and is starting to shake off the reins of immense workout guilt!

Wooo!

 

21 hours ago, raptron said:

I just have to ask.

You say that as if that's so easy  

[raptron]

22 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I'm glad you're finally seeing the benefits of rest. I was worried you'd burn out.

I FLY PRETTY CLOSE TO THE SUN.

 

17 hours ago, Raxie said:

Mostly because I, too feel this in my soul^

It's crazy, isn't it?

 

2 hours ago, KB Girl said:

You say that as if that's so easy  

Right? He's in the office today, but I think it might be an easier request over email becauseee reasons. Hahaha. I'll send it today, I promise.

 

Day 3.4

OK! OK! Back at the gym. My body felt mostly recovered from the race except for some niggling soreness in my dominant calf because I apparently only run using one leg. With three days of rest under my belt, I figured I should just dive right in to meet prep. This is 7-8 weeks out from the powerlifting comp, which is actually a good length to plan for peaking. 

 

Squats: 4 x 260# (should have been 5 but I didn't ask for sides and my last rep was grindy), bonus 2 x 260# to make sure I got all my reps finished, 5 x 245#, 2 x 5 x 235# 

Bench: 2 x 5 x 135#, 2 x 3 x 135#, 5 x 125# <-- the front of my shoulder on the left side has been bothering me and seemed aggravated after squats, so I knocked down my bench a bit because it hurt

Scap pulls: 4 x 10

Reverse hyper (we have one now!): 3 x 12 x 85#

 

I was going to do curls but my shoulder didn't love it. This shoulder thing started up two Sundays ago at gymnastics camp and I'm not sure what it is or where it is. It has gotten aggravated periodically over the last two weeks, but most of the time I don't notice it. I think it may be a slight muscle strain? I'm not sure. I have trouble replicating the range of motion where it hurts on demand. I shrugged and walked home.

 

I'm on another caprese kick, so more caprese salad with chicken for dinner + more Euphoria. People keep texting me to go out, but I keep declining because this is MY WEEK, motherfuckers. 

 

Jog: 3/3 

Lift: 6/15

Write: 4/10 writing, 4/10 journaling

Job applications: 4/10

[CourtnieMarie]

4 hours ago, raptron said:

because this is MY WEEK, motherfuckers. 

don't stop get it get it

 

hmmm on the shoulder pain. were you planning to see your PT before the meet?

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Mmmmmmmmm Caprese

[GoodDoug]

You. Yes you.

 

You are crushing it. Even your rest days are awesome.

[Harriet]

On 8/20/2019 at 10:32 AM, Mad Hatter said:

Dem quads get me every time. 

 

Agreed. Quadtastic. Very inspiring.

On 8/21/2019 at 6:46 AM, raptron said:

I went to the beach on Monday, had seafood and ice cream, and got back in time to laze around and re-read Alanna books.

Ooooh, I read these as a small child. But it was so long ago that I had forgotten all about them until now. I didn't realise anyone else had read them. Sometimes my memories of things I read as a child are so distant I wonder if I imagined them. I think there was another book in which a woman has some bells that open doorways to the realm of the dead or something. And there was a cat. I think??? Or did the cat have the bells? Or was it pipes? Hmmm. 

 

On 8/22/2019 at 6:46 AM, raptron said:

 I can lift Thursday, Friday, and Sunday to get my full week's worth in and it's really not that different from lifting TW&F! I'm just skipping a gymnastics workout, really. WE'RE ALL GOOD HERE.

 

Since you lift two days in a row, do you do splits? Or full body workouts? 

[raptron]

5 hours ago, Harriet said:

 

Agreed. Quadtastic. Very inspiring.

Ooooh, I read these as a small child. But it was so long ago that I had forgotten all about them until now. I didn't realise anyone else had read them. Sometimes my memories of things I read as a child are so distant I wonder if I imagined them. I think there was another book in which a woman has some bells that open doorways to the realm of the dead or something. And there was a cat. I think??? Or did the cat have the bells? Or was it pipes? Hmmm. 

I love them! They were very formative books for me, haha. My next tattoo is a rearing sphinx and the rearing is fully in reference to Alanna's shield and the rearing lioness upon it. 

 

The second set of books you're talking about are the Sabriel books by Garth Nix if you were looking to check them out again. I also loved those. 

 

5 hours ago, Harriet said:

Since you lift two days in a row, do you do splits? Or full body workouts? 

Full body all day. I adapted a 4 day a week plan that I usually only run 3 days a week, but might move back up to 4 for this prep cycle if I have the time. I'm doing squats/unpaused bench, deadlifts/close grip bench, lighter squats/paused bench. Fourth day would be lighter deadlifts + front squats, probably. Accessories on squat days are usually like biceps/chest/butt. Accessories on deadlift days are back/hams/shoulders. I don't really mind doing back-to-back lifting workouts, but if I do gymnastics the day after two lifting days, my legs are usually too toast to do too much. 

 

On 8/23/2019 at 3:01 PM, CourtnieMarie said:

hmmm on the shoulder pain. were you planning to see your PT before the meet?

I was not. Also it seems to be okay now? Bodies. :P 

 

On 8/23/2019 at 5:06 PM, GoodDoug said:

You are crushing it. Even your rest days are awesome.

Haha, I try.

[Harriet]

2 hours ago, raptron said:

The second set of books you're talking about are the Sabriel books by Garth Nix if you were looking to check them out again. I also loved those. 

That's them! I love how you identified the books from my extremely loose description. Awesome skills  

Also, your lifting programme is interesting. That's a lot of benching. Hmmmmmm. Now I'm tempted to lift more days per week for moar gains. Does lifting on more days lead to more strong? Or does it lead to exhaustion and collapse? Hmmmmm.  

[raptron]

Day 3.5

Deadlifts: 5 x 290#, 3 x 5 x 275#

Close-grip bench: 4 x 8 x 115#

Kneeling DB presses: 4 x 8 x 35#

Bent-over DB rows: 4 x 8 x 45#

 

 I got dinner and ice cream with some gym pals, which we sat to eat on the steps of a church on a really nice late August night. I passed out on top of my covers in my gym clothes and woke up confused at 5 AM to brush my teeth, change, and go to bed for real. 

 

Day 3.6

Saturday morning gymnastics practice was low key for me and for everyone, tbh. My hips were too toast for tumbling and my body was still really fatigued. Oh, that high intensity lifting life. I'm sure I'll get more used to the load in a week or two, but I'll continue trying to prioritize a lot of sleep. I did a bit of uneven bar cast handstand drills and totally whammed my pubic bone on a couple attempts, which is really smarting today. After that, I practiced toe shoots. I tried to go to balance beam but everything felt off, so I called it early and did some conditioning. I use my traps instead of my lats for a lot of movements and my teammate was cueing me/giving me drills to practice improving my mind-lat connection, so it was very productive!

 

 I had to head home after for a quick jaunt because, like @Manarelle, my apartment is also having a fridge crisis. They couldn't get the new one in and I was under the impression that meant all of our stuff was left out rotting on the counter, but apparently they put it all back when it was clear that it wasn't going to work. So I actually ran home for no real reason, but I did use it as an opportunity to shower and change. The new fridge will come on Tuesday, but our old one is still in place for now! 

 

It turned out to be too windy to paddleboard and I was nervous about kayaking aggravating my shoulder. So! Instead, my friend and I wandered over to a nearby brewery for a beer and dog petting session + had a nice glass of natural wine next door. I went to the Seaport for my other friend's bday and we roamed, but they went to bed early, so I called up reinforcements and visited my bartender friend at one of my bars. Good night!

 

Day 3.7

Ate dim sum for an hour and got totally stuffed but it was delightful. Walked to the gym and did lighter squats and paused bench.

 

Squats: 4 x 5 x 235#

Paused bench: 5 x 6 x 125#

Hypers: 4 x 20 x 55# with 10 second pause at the top of the last rep

Dips: 4 x 7

Elbow to hand plank things 4 sets of 15 

 

Walked home, got some snack food and nice bread, just made an amazing sandwich and I will be journalling tonight!

 

Jog: 3/3 

Lift: 8/15

Write: 5/10 writing, 5/10 journaling

Job applications: 5/10

[raptron]

3 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Also, your lifting programme is interesting. That's a lot of benching. Hmmmmmm.

I figure the close grip is just a variation and I usually do it higher volume. My paused day also tends to be lighter and more volume than intensity! I haven't had problems benching this often yet and I think the lighter weights are part of it. 

 

3 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Now I'm tempted to lift more days per week for moar gains. Does lifting on more days lead to more strong? Or does it lead to exhaustion and collapse? Hmmmmm.  

It's a balance and you just have to listen to what your body is saying. Mine is still saying "lol why are you trying to do shit with your legs after lifting heavy two days in a row" and I haven't figured out a good answer to that yet. I also noticed my capacity for more intensity increased a ton after last year when I realized I needed to get more like 9 hours of sleep a night when I'm training for real. 

[CourtnieMarie]

16 hours ago, raptron said:

The second set of books you're talking about are the Sabriel books by Garth Nix if you were looking to check them out again. I also loved those.

i just love that you knew this haha <3