Stonefist: Digging in

[Stonefist]

Having made the dangerous trip to the miserable hole-in-the-ground known as Gildgrizzle, Stonefist surveyed the surrounding landscape. Yes, there was potential here, but it would take a lot of hard toil, time, and not to mention malt beer and ripe meat off the bone.

 

First things first, dwellings must be dug. The upper layers around here were sandy loam, relatively easy to shift. Just as well, as he was still a novice miner. For the size of dwelling he'd imagined, it would take shifting quite a bit of weight, but he had a secret weapon, a method created by some mysterious entity known only as "JDanger", an ill-fated name indeed. But then, a dwarf's life was frought with danger, from murderous carp to lack-of-booze-fueled tantrum spirals. He was commited, he was ready. It was time to STRIKE THE EARTH!

 

 

Ahem, flowery prose aside, I just finished my recruit challenge (2nd time around). I've been lifting for several months now, using Starting Strength as a template. Finding that I just can't keep adding weight every time, I've decided it's time to try a different program. So what better program than one made by a member here at NF?

 

Looking at the program, I see right off the bat that it'll probably kick my arse, if all goes well, I'll be lifting over 2x the tonnage I have been! This definitely will be a challenge allright.

 

In order to add some DF flavor to the challenge, as well as having a measure of my success, I have decided to keep track of the amount of weight shifted. The danger method helpfully comes with spreadsheet (I love spreadsheets), complete with volume calculations. Inserting my starting weights, I get a total volume of about 50000 lbs for the first week. This will be my goal, then. Over the course of 6 weeks, I should have shifted 300000 lbs.

 

Using the density of sandy loam (78lbs pr. cubic foot), I can estimate the size of the excavation at Gildgrizzle's lvl 1. Assuming a ceiling height of 8 ft, 300000 lbs of loam would equal an area of 480 square feet. Not exactly a mansion, but at least it's a start on the living quarters.

 

Of course, not hitting the goal will result in a smaller hovel. Conversely, a bigger total will equal a larger fortress. I will keep this updated with a running total of the size of Gildgrizzle.

[wildross]

No real idea what that is about...but good luck with it.

[Sam Ashen]

No real idea what that is about...but good luck with it.

His avatar looks like dwarf fortress, but I never played it. I am sure he is going to tell me I need to play it, especially since I am into old games with pixelated graphics.

The dangerous four day split starts with sets of 10. Are you going to fill is in with starting numbers or make us wait for your first workout?

And hi. I have seen you around. Welcome to the warriors!

Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk

[Br0din]

Go forth and be warrior like, as I am watching.

[SevenofSeven]

Hey you, welcome to the Warriors!

I applaud you on the Djanger Method. I looked at it and it scared me!

love your opening story line!

[Stonefist]

No real idea what that is about...but good luck with it.

 

Thanks, I suppose I should have made my non-DF themed part of the post a bit clearer. Hopefully it will become a bit clearer once I start updating with the workouts.

 

His avatar looks like dwarf fortress, but I never played it. I am sure he is going to tell me I need to play it, especially since I am into old games with pixelated graphics.

The dangerous four day split starts with sets of 10. Are you going to fill is in with starting numbers or make us wait for your first workout?

And hi. I have seen you around. Welcome to the warriors!

Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk

 

Hello! Well, I wouldn't say you need to play dwarf fortress (I won't take the blame if/when it consumes your free time), that's entirely up to you, but if you value gameplay over graphics, then it does sound like you'd enjoy it. It also happens to be the nerdiest game I know of, so I figured it would be appropriate for this page.

 

My first workout will be today, so I suppose I hadn't figured on there being people interested enough in my flailings to post the starting weights. Not that I'm complaining, though! It's great to have so many people show interest!

 

I also suppose I should have put a link to my daily battle log (where I've been testing my 10 rep maxes in preparation) and my recruit challenge in here. Since I forgot, however, here are the starting weights (lbs/kg):

 

Squats (these will be front squats, due to equipment restrictions, i.e. no squat rack): 135/61.25

 

OHP: 85/38.55

 

Floor press (again, no bench): 135/61.25

 

Deadlift: 255/115.67

 

Go forth and be warrior like, as I am watching.

 

Yes, AllBrother, I'll do my best. Thanks for watching!

 

Hey you, welcome to the Warriors!

I applaud you on the Djanger Method. I looked at it and it scared me!

love your opening story line!

 

Hey there! Thanks! It scares me, too. Like I said, I'll be lifting twice as much weight in the same time, right off the bat!

[Stonefist]

So yeah, I cheated and started this one day early (my schedule trumps this site's, I'm afraid).

 

The full writeup is in my daily battle log, but here's a copy behind spoilers, if anyone's interested:

 

Warmup: BW squats 4x5, Cossack squats 4x5

Floor press: 45x10, 65x10, 95x5x2, 115x5, 135x2, 135x10, 125x10x3

Front squat: 45x10, 75x5x2, 95x5, 110x3, 135x10, 125x10x3

Good morning: 45x5x3 (Holy crap, I suspected my hamstrings were tight, but this is just ridiculous, my ROM on these is tiny! More a stretching than a workout at this load. Might add some more weight next time)

(Cheating) Ham raise: 4x8 (Cheating because I had to assist with my hands in getting off the floor)

Abs: 1 min plank

 

Anyway, as suspected, this kicked my behind pretty good. The total weight moved was about 150% of my previous biggest total. Looking at FitNotes, the number of sets/reps also pretty much doubled for both the main exercises.

 

Still, got through it in about 2h, which is slightly worrying, considering I only have 1 h for workouts in the mornings on weekdays as is. I'll either have to divide those workouts into two sessions (one pre-work, another when I get home), or I'll have to get up an hour early. Decisions...

 

Edit: Oops, I promised to keep a running tally of amount of loam moved, didn't I ? Here we go.

 

Total weight moved: 15,908 lbs

 

Equivalent in cubic feet of loam: 204

 

Gildgrizzle total sq. feet area: 25.5

[Sam Ashen]

 

 

So yeah, I cheated and started this one day early (my schedule trumps this site's, I'm afraid).

 

Totally with you on your schedule trumping the site's.  Line it up in a way that makes sense, which looks exactly like what you did.  For me, it makes the most sense that my week ends on a Friday, because I do my official weekly weigh-in on Saturday morning.  I do my official weekly weigh-in on Saturday morning because my weekday eating tends to be very consistent, so I push the weekend days as far away as possible.

 

Are you going to keep track of volume each workout, or each week?

[Stonefist]

Yeah, I gotta do the heavy stuff around the weekend, and I need saturdays off to do all sorts of work around the house and yard (this might change come winter, we'll see). So my week starts on Sunday. The second workout will be Tuesday, with the "light" days coming on Thursday and Friday. With my work being rather physically challenging still, I want to keep as much of the workout close to my weekend as possible.

 

I was thinking to update the total after each workout.

[Stonefist]

The morning after report:

 

Ouch. I was right to fear the DANGER method! Haven't had DOMS like this since I first dragged myself up out of the sofa and started doing the BBWW. Which is good, I suppose. My behind would tend to disagree, though.

[SevenofSeven]

Embrace the mighty DOMS!

[Stonefist]

Allright, I lived through the 2nd workout, too. Which means I'll probably make week 1, given that the next two days are lighter.

 

Warmup: BW squats, cossack squats, jump squats

OHP: 45x10, 65x5x2, 75x5, 85x3, 85x10, 75x10x3

DL: 135x10, 165x5, 205x4x2, 235x3, 255x10, 235x10x3

Chins: 4,4,3,3

Ugh. I was right to fear the DANGER, but I have learned is that it's not the 10 AHAP reps that destroy me, but rather the 30 reps at 90% of that. Probably not that surprising, really.

 

Weight moved today: 18,948 lbs

 

Total weight moved: 34,856 lbs

 

Equivalent cubic ft loam: 447

 

Gildgrizzle size: 56 sq. ft.

[Br0din]

DOMS will go away.  keep doing it.  

[Stonefist]

Thanks for your support, guys.

The DOMS are pretty much gone already, I'm pleased to report.

[Br0din]

Thanks for your support, guys.

The DOMS are pretty much gone already, I'm pleased to report.

 

how often do you lift?

[Stonefist]

I was lifting 5 days a week for the past 6 weeks, but the volume was much less, about half of what the DANGER method has.

The details are in my daily battle log.

[Stonefist]

Today was a not-so-crazy day, thankfully.

 

Warmup: Jump squats 4x5, Cossack squats 4x5

Front squat: 45x10, 85x5x2, 100x5, 110x3x2, 125x6x3

Floor press: 45x10, 95x5x2, 115x5, 130x3, 125x6x3

Good morning: 65x5x3

Abs: 4x5 Hanging knee raises

Ran out of time for the dips, unfortunately.

 

Need to figure out some way of making a dip station. Thought about stealing the dining room chairs, but I don't think the mrs. will approve.

 

Weight moved today: 10,300 lbs

 

Equivalent cubic ft loam: 132

 

Gildgrizzle size: 72.5 sq. ft.

[Stonefist]

Week 1 done! Still alive!

 

Next week we dig deeper, increasing weight on upper body lifts by 5 lbs, lower body by 10 lbs.

 

Warmup: Jump squats 4x5, Cossack squats 4x5

DL: 135x10, 165x5, 205x4, 235x3, 230x6x3

OHP: 45x10, 70x5x2, 80x5, 90x4, 75x6x3

BB rows: 75x10x5

Paused front squats: 75x1, 95x1, 115x1, 95x3x3

 

Weight moved: 15,895 lbs

 

Equivalent cubic ft. loam: 204

 

Gildgrizzle size: 98 sq. ft.

[Brovatar Korra]

 

Hey there! Move that weight!

[Stonefist]

Hello, hello. Love the gif!

I'll keep diggin', especially given all this encouragement, thank you!

[Stonefist]

Here we go, week 2 of living DANGERously.

 

Floor press: 45x10, 75x10, 95x5x2, 110x5, 130x3, 140x10, 125x10x4

Front squats: 45x10, 75x5x2, 95x5, 110x3, 145x10, 130x10 (felt like I was dying here, this was only 5 lbs under my ahap a week ago), 130x10 (amazingly, these felt better), 130x10 (that dying feeling was back again), 130x10 (dead).

After about 10 min of panting on the floor:

Good mornings: 75x5 3

Abs: 1 min plank, 1 min sideplank, both sides.

 

Yeah, those squats were killer. Thinking about only upping them by 5 lbs for next week.

 

Weight moved: 19,270

 

Equivalent cu. ft. loam: 247

 

Gildgrizzle size: 129 sq. ft.

[redtomato501]

I love/hate how each set of squats seems to have it's own feel... Good going on working out! Woo-hoo! Gildgrizzle's getting bigger!

[Stonefist]

Thanks! Yeah, Gildgrizzle is about the size of my flat at uni now, heh.

 

22. Limestone 2015

OHP: 45x10, 65x5x2, 75x5, 85x3, 90x10, 85x10x4

DL: 135x10, 165x5, 205x4x2, 235x3, 265x10, 235x10x4

 

Weight moved: 22,400 lbs

 

Equivalent cu. ft. loam: 287

 

Gildgrizzle size: 165 sq. ft.

[Stonefist]

Front squat: 45x10, 65x10, 85x5x2, 100x5, 110x3x2, 130x6x3

Floor press: 45x10, 75x10, 95x5x2, 110x5, 130x3, 125x6x3

Good mornings: 95x5x3

 

Weight moved: 12,215 lbs

 

Equivalent cu. ft. loam: 156.5

 

Gildgrizzle size: 184.5 sq. ft.

[Stonefist]

Ahh, paused front squats, we meet again. And again you teach me humility.

 

DL: 135x10, 165x5, 205x4x2, 235x3, 240x6x3

OHP: 45x10, 70x5x2, 80x5, 90x4, 80x6x3

Paused front squats: 75, 95, 120, 100x3x3 For a brief moment there, at 120, I thought: "Oh, this wasn't so bad today, perhaps I should up more than 5 lbs next week." Then the triples hit me. Nope.

BB rows: 85x10x5

 

Weight moved: 17,605 lbs

 

Equivalent cu. ft. loam: 226

 

Gildgrizzle size: 213 sq. ft.