Urgan Shows Up, Does the Thing

[Urgan]

23 minutes ago, ixaera said:

But it does make the car go faster

 

10 horsepower increase, fact. 

[Jord]

2 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

This felt like a totally different weight compared to Tuesday, O.M.G. So much better. And lol, I had planned to do 46.5lb on the press, but apparently you need a pair of 2.5s on a 45lb bar to make 46.5?? Lol math whut?

 

 

 

Unless you are using some kind of mathematical unit that I'm unaware of, your math is still wrong. 

 

 

[Urgan]

4 minutes ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

 

Unless you are using some kind of mathematical unit that I'm unaware of, your math is still wrong. 

 

 

 

I ended up with 50.5 when I should have been lifting 46.5, the joke was apparently there's a way to reconcile putting 5lbs on the bar to get the desired microload. 

[Jord]

1 minute ago, Urgan said:

 

I ended up with 50.5 when I should have been lifting 46.5, the joke was apparently there's a way to reconcile putting 5lbs on the bar to get the desired microload. 

 

Haha. Whoever said meatheads have no smarts clearly never tried to do plate math. 

 

I even made a cheat sheet for my deadlifts (that I taped into my training log) because, with the 10# bumber plates I bought, it's not as clear cut as you would think. 

[Urgan]

Just now, Taddea Zhaan said:

 

Haha. Whoever said meatheads have no smarts clearly never tried to do plate math. 

 

I even made a cheat sheet for my deadlifts (that I taped into my training log) because, with the 10# bumber plates I bought, it's not as clear cut as you would think. 

 

Wow yeah, I didn't even think of the complications that'd create when loading the bar, having to factor for the bumpers every time. Thank God for calculators, because clearly relying on doing math in my head is a crap shoot. 

[Urgan]

 

8-5-2016

Wish I was as balanced

 

Recovery

Food!

Calories - 2,465

Protein - 127

Sugar -  53 (Kit Kat Big Kat)

Salisbury Steak + hamburger ftw. I wasn't feeling particularly creative today. At least some vegetable matter happened and my sugar count is down.

 

Mobility!

Hips: 2/12

Upper Back Yoga: 0/4

-

 

Sleep!

8:30, Out of bed: 4/24

 

Lifting

-

 

Aikido

Standing F./B. Rolls: 4/12

Bokken Suburi: 1/8

Ukemi Undo: 1/4

Shikko: 1/4

Side Breakfalls: 1/4

Dojo Days: N

-

 

22kill

@ixaera challenged me to do 22 push-ups for 22 days to raise awareness for the 22 U.S. Soldiers that, on average, commit suicide each day. Support our veterans, check out: 22kill.com, stop22.org, battledawgs.org

 

Pushups: 14/22

Did the thing!

 

Boring Friday, sorry not much to report. I did a lot of 5/3/1 research because Reasons and prepped for the interview I went on to brick in the afternoon. Sat in traffic. Got groceries. Got dinner. Blah blah blah.

[Emerald_Dragonfly]

What do you think of your 5/3/1 research?

[Urgan]

 

8-6-2016

Just one...more...bite...

 

Recovery

Food!

Calories - 2,154

Protein - 105

Sugar -  49 (Kit Kat Big Kat)

Okay, today was practically an IF day. Other than some crackers, I ate all my food from 5PM - 10:30PM. It was so easy to just surrender the macros for the day, because I got sooooo close with a pair of huge sandwich halves (dad and I shared a half with one another), and consequently got soooooo full. But, clearly I exercised discipline and ate some rice, which pushed me over the top.

 

Mobility!

Hips: 3/12

Upper Back Yoga: 0/4

Got in some hip mobility work. I’m really getting more flexible here.

 

Sleep!

8:30, Out of bed: 5/24

 

Lifting

Squat - 45 1x5

            115 1x3

            150 1x1 - belted

            180 2x2 - belted--PR+2.5!!

BP -    45 1x5 - belted

          60 1x3 - belted

           70 1x1 - belted

           82 2x3 - belted

OHP - NA

DL -    NA

PC -   55 5x3 - belted

Finally, another PR on the squat. Tough, but I got it done. Bench felt good enough to do two triples, so that speaks well to my ability to PR on that when the time comes. Power cleans pleasantly surprised me. I had good form on all but the last set, where fatigue probably took its toll. Should I lower the volume or stand firm on the hopes I adapt?

 

Dad's still progressing. We're getting into the territory where the lifts are starting to become work, but he has yet to fail. Work sets were:

Squat - 122.5

Bench - 90

(OHP - 70, just FYI)

Deadlift - 185

 

Aikido

Standing F./B. Rolls: 4/12

Bokken Suburi: 1/8

Ukemi Undo: 1/4

Shikko: 1/4

Side Breakfalls: 1/4

Dojo Days: N

-

 

22kill

@ixaera challenged me to do 22 push-ups for 22 days to raise awareness for the 22 U.S. Soldiers that, on average, commit suicide each day. Support our veterans, check out: 22kill.com, stop22.org, battledawgs.org

 

Pushups: 15/22

Did the thing! Getting close to finishing this~ One more week to go.

 

5 hours ago, Emerald_Dragonfly said:

What do you think of your 5/3/1 research?

 

After half a day spent attempting to get my head around it and giving it 24 hours' thought to percolate a bit, I have determined that there really is no single 5/3/1 program everyone would agree to call 5/3/1--unless, of course, you're just warming up and doing the 5/3/1 base worksets as written, in which case I imagine most people who do 5/3/1 would complain that isn't really the full program, lol. I agree with this insofar as I believe that working submax sets 90+% of the time would be a good way to ride the slow boat to gainsville. Joker sets and/or backoff sets are crucial to make up for this and as such I have a template rigged up in a spreadsheet to produce the numbers needed to design training sessions. I took the template's numbers and laid them out as if I were to start doing this program so I can see how the weights I'm working with look inside of 5/3/1. And how do they look? Everything from underwhelming to extremely intimidating, depending on whether joker sets are included in the day's training and which percentage the joker set is. I defaulted to 3 joker sets every session, under no illusion that all of them will be utilized every time. It's a goal to shoot for, yes? 

 

Another thing is, I'm really not interested in doing a lot of accessory work--specifically, not where I'm standing right now. My accessory repertoire includes chins, and that's it. I just want to train the movements, my deadlift will probably be the first to break down and refuse to make progress (it pretty much has, but that I think was due to poor programming on my part) with this new training arrangement inside of Texas Method. When that day comes, I will split the deadlift into halting deadlift and rack pull. That's about as much deviation from the big 4 as I would like to get, honestly. I'm not planting a flag on this for all my training evermore, just where I am now. If I detect a specific deficiency, I will beat it to death with all the tools at my disposal. The only "weak link" in my training right now is my upper body lagging waaaay disproportionately to my lower body, and it just needs more aggressive use of volume at weights close to my max + chins for a long time and that will clear up. Another programming fail, hopefully corrected. I'm basically not advanced enough to need additional exercises. Recovery time is precious, I don't want to burn myself up, given how intense I've set things. So basically I'm trying to be smart with my resources, not declare myself too good for dumbbells.

 

Now this is the part where I write down what my plans are at this point. I'm still running TM, and will continue to for as long as it'll work for me. When the day comes that this program no longer can help me increase my strength, I will...turn to the 4-Day Texas Method. Yes, it exists, and it is exactly what you think: it's TM on a split routine! Upper and lower body split across two weeks. Here's the birds-eye view:

 

Week 1 

First two days are volume--Monday is bench, Tuesday is squat + powercleans.

Second two days are intensity--PR on bench, light pressing and the next day is PR on squat, some deadlifting. 

 

Week 2

Same as week 1, trading the bench for OHP.

 

This approach is where powerlifters begin to separate from general strength/sport lifters. Being more of a general strength type, I'll keep the press in there and do the two week tango. A powerlifter could theoretically use week 1 as their program. Also, this program calls for bench assistance work and I will be doing it in the form of DB benching because sometimes I do follow directions, lol. Tends to work better when I do... 

 

There is a phase 2 of the 4-Day TM, which I may or may not transition into. The main difference is how it handles upper body work. After 4-Day Phase 1 and/or 2 wears thin, THEN I will transition to 5/3/1. I have been thinking about where I will go once the present iteration of TM fails me, and this has coalesced as the best way to keep what works and change up as little as required to drive real progress. You perhaps are thinking, wow that is quite a long distance down the road to be planning! And you're right, I am looking at a time months from now when my lifestyle may be very difference--hopefully, I'll be employed by then! Stuff happens. But I don't think my training is going anywhere and I want to have a deep comfortable understanding of what I'll be moving to, so that calling an end to the current programming will not be a scary prospect. At some point in this wall o' text, you might be thinking that this is a bit much of an info dump you bargained for, and you're probably right. I just wanted you to know where my head's at so you aren't surprised when 5/3/1 doesn't show up in the next few weeks: it's all according to plan...

 

 

[ixaera]

2 minutes ago, Urgan said:

180 2x2 - belted--PR+2.5!!

 

First off, YAY THIS!

 

I love reading all you have to say about lifting. It's really great to see other people's thoughts about programs written out this way, so clearly and laid out, which is IMO very helpful to beginners. One of my major pitfalls is forgetting how many different ways there are to basically do the same thing (get stronger).

 

What is your feel on the 3x joker sets? I've got these worked into my current program (as you know), and that 105% looks pretty intimidating and I'm about 90% sure I can't do that set today. Would you attempt anyway and just use the failrails? (I'm a little embarrassed to use them for the first time, because noisy and it might look to other people like I Have Just Died) or would you drop it to a PR you think you could do instead, to get a new PR and complete a rep for sure?

[Urgan]

9 minutes ago, ixaera said:

First off, YAY THIS!

 

It was not going up without a fight, but it felt better than I feared, which is about 95% the case with lifting, TBPH.

 

9 minutes ago, ixaera said:

I love reading all you have to say about lifting. It's really great to see other people's thoughts about programs written out this way, so clearly and laid out, which is IMO very helpful to beginners. One of my major pitfalls is forgetting how many different ways there are to basically do the same thing (get stronger).

 

That's why with the wall o texting. I want everyone who reads it to be able to understand where my head's at. If I mess up, I do it transparently. Wish more of the advanced lifters had posts about their programming, it would be a way to help less advanced people without having to necessarily field a bazillion questions (which is the only way I've gotten info out of some people, risking my neck to ask a stupid question). Obviously this info could prompt more questions, but at least it would a be a productive conversation and even though other people may not be asking questions, I can't believe no one reading their thread doesn't benefit from the asking. Perhaps they don't want competition learning their approach...also, most of the people at this level have a coach to program for them, so that's a thing. Oh well. It's just that there's lots of really strong people and how can a person not want to know how they did it, yeah??

 

22 minutes ago, ixaera said:

What is your feel on the 3x joker sets? I've got these worked into my current program (as you know), and that 105% looks pretty intimidating and I'm about 90% sure I can't do that set today. Would you attempt anyway and just use the failrails? (I'm a little embarrassed to use them for the first time, because noisy and it might look to other people like I Have Just Died) or would you drop it to a PR you think you could do instead, to get a new PR and complete a rep for sure?

 

I agree, 105% looks intimidating. Keep it in your program, you always want to be reaching for one ledge higher than you feel comfortable with. As for today, given that you are recovering from Festivities and aren't masters level (i.e., you aren't an old person~), leave it in, warm up, go through your work sets, and make the call after you are warmed up. You'll be amazed at what feels like Oh Hell No until you get under the bar. If there's even a glimmer of a chance, I'd go for it. If you get 2 reps but fail the last one, that's more growth than had you played it safe and since there are rails to catch you, you are not risking life and limb here, unfun as it may be. Have you failed a rep yet? When I fail, I can't get it past the sticking point of halfway back up and the bar just sorta slowly ends up sitting on the safeties as I settle back into the bottom of the squat. Sticking points may vary. It's not necessarily going to be an epic crash, and really shouldn't be. Embarrassing, yes, but think of the growth! In this hypothetical, you've proven you can in fact lift the weight and have an achievable rep PR in your future. 

 

An example of how I handle a situation where I Just Can't: look at Tuesday, I was not sure I could do the session as programmed for squats (6x3 at 162, 2x5 at 122), but I just took it one set at a time, and got them in. I had to draw a line at deadlifts, because I struggled with a weight I normally get without too much hassle (190) and barely got the last rep with less than ideal form and cut the 3x3 to 1x3, because in this case my body was threatening mutiny. That's a compromise between Working Hard, Don't Let Emotions Do Your Programming and Listening to Your Body. 

 

So basically shoot for at least a single at 105% and complete the set if you feel like the weight is moving well. 

[Sam Ashen]

5 hours ago, Urgan said:

The only "weak link" in my training right now is my upper body lagging waaaay disproportionately to my lower body, and it just needs more aggressive use of volume at weights close to my max + chins for a long time and that will clear up.

 

Oly!  A bit of a  post, but there is a lot of back strength involved.

 

5 hours ago, Urgan said:

I'm basically not advanced enough to need additional exercises. Recovery time is precious, I don't want to burn myself up, given how intense I've set things. So basically I'm trying to be smart with my resources, not declare myself too good for dumbbells.

 

This might be a challenging part of running your own programming.  You have to identify your weaknesses.  Dumbbell work was prescribed for me because of long-running shoulder issues.

 

Your squats and deadlifts seem very advanced for your weight.  I probably already gave you some numbers for comparison, but I can get an update on Tuesday.

 

5 hours ago, ixaera said:

I love reading all you have to say about lifting. It's really great to see other people's thoughts about programs written out this way, so clearly and laid out, which is IMO very helpful to beginners.

 

Truth.

 

4 hours ago, Urgan said:

That's why with the wall o texting.

 

Wall of text explained several pages ago in this log.  You write and explain well.

 

4 hours ago, Urgan said:

Wish more of the advanced lifters had posts about their programming, it would be a way to help less advanced people without having to necessarily field a bazillion questions (which is the only way I've gotten info out of some people, risking my neck to ask a stupid question). Obviously this info could prompt more questions, but at least it would a be a productive conversation and even though other people may not be asking questions, I can't believe no one reading their thread doesn't benefit from the asking. Perhaps they don't want competition learning their approach...also, most of the people at this level have a coach to program for them, so that's a thing. Oh well. It's just that there's lots of really strong people and how can a person not want to know how they did it, yeah??

 

It could be a time thing, too.  Not that advanced here, but the crazy programming I am given has me home on weekdays in time to throw something together for dinner and post up what I did.  That leaves the weekends.  And energy.  That's the yellow bar that is now blinking red.

 

4 hours ago, Urgan said:

I agree, 105% looks intimidating.

 

Out of context, but I find programming intimidating.

[Urgan]

2 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

Oly!  A bit of a  post, but there is a lot of back strength involved.

 

I am going to try to keep power cleans in as long as I can stand it. I still haven't mastered these...in another life, I might learn how to snatch just to say I can. Today, I am celebrating the fact that my power clean form doesn't suck eggs anymore.

 

3 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

This might be a challenging part of running your own programming.  You have to identify your weaknesses.  Dumbbell work was prescribed for me because of long-running shoulder issues.

 

It is true. My methodology for weakness determination is squinting at my weakest lift(s) and waiting for a pattern of failure to emerge (a la deadlifts...).

 

4 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

Your squats and deadlifts seem very advanced for your weight.  I probably already gave you some numbers for comparison, but I can get an update on Tuesday.

 

This is an illusion created by my shoddy upper body numbers, lulz. I'll take it as a compliment anyhow. I think you referenced Miss Broki once?

 

6 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

Wall of text explained several pages ago in this log.  You write and explain well.

 

7 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

Out of context, but I find programming intimidating.

 

Thanks~ It helps to think carefully about it for a long time before committing to an explanation attempt. My options have been on a slow simmer for a while now. It also helps to keep one anchored in the fact that big leaps in programming don't necessarily translate into big results. My philosophy is tweak just one thing at a time and ease my way down this road called "Intermediate"...Occam's Razor and all that.

 

9 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

It could be a time thing, too.  Not that advanced here, but the crazy programming I am given has me home on weekdays in time to throw something together for dinner and post up what I did.  That leaves the weekends.  And energy.  That's the yellow bar that is now blinking red.

 

Sure, long training days after long work days leaves precious little room to talk about what was done those days. 

[Urgan]

8-7-2016

iRobot: You're Doing It Right

 

Recovery

Food!

Calories - 2,464

Protein - 115

Sugar -  59 (Chocolate Pom-Berry bits)

A super responsible day that consisted of a dairy-filled burrito and Far East Beef and Rice, lol. I've had a good stretch of time with decent digestion, only the occasional minor hiccup that didn't hurt anything long-term. I am really proud of these numbers, they're pretty much perfect.

 

Mobility!

Hips: 3/12

Upper Back Yoga: 1/4

Did a yoga session today~

 

Sleep!

8:30, Out of bed: 5/24

 

Lifting

-

 

Aikido

Standing F./B. Rolls: 4/12

Bokken Suburi: 2/8

Ukemi Undo: 1/4

Shikko: 1/4

Side Breakfalls: 1/4

Dojo Days: N

Worked on bokken suburi for 10-15 minutes. I drilled the first two suburi and stepping forward + vertical cutting under control. One day this will fee comfortable.

 

22kill

@ixaera challenged me to do 22 push-ups for 22 days to raise awareness for the 22 U.S. Soldiers that, on average, commit suicide each day. Support our veterans, check out: 22kill.com, stop22.org, battledawgs.org

 

Pushups: 16/22

Did the thing!

A decent day, got a lot done, rested a lot. A perfect Sunday, basically. Should lead to a pretty good Week 1 wrap-up...

[Urgan]

WEEK 1 DEBRIEF

Badass

 

Recovery

Food!

AVG Calories - 2,297

AVG Protein - 121

AVG Sugar -  72

YASS. Done. 'nuff said.

 

Mobility!

Hips: 3/12

Upper Back Yoga: 1/4

On track thus far. I'll be making a better judgment on whether the yoga helps at all after a couple more weeks--it was okay, but my mind was not blown.

 

Sleep!

8:30, Out of bed: 5/24

Going pretty well, I definitely feel better on a set wake-up time than when I'm free-wheeling it. No doubt about it, a good thing.

 

Lifting

PR PR PR PR PR SQUAT PR. Recovering from the Shark Week funk gave me good things. Here's to another good week to come.

 

Aikido

Standing F./B. Rolls: 4/12

Bokken Suburi: 2/8

Ukemi Undo: 1/4

Shikko: 1/4

Side Breakfalls: 1/4

Dojo Days: N

Ahead of the curve a bit here, we'll see how long that lasts, lol. ALL THE PRACTICE EVER.

 

22kill

Pushups: 16/22

I haven't missed a day thus far--hope to see this through this week~

As you can see, Week 1 was a roaring success. Week 2 will have to work hard to top that!

[Urgan]

Also, small detail but I interviewed at the same place as Friday for a QA role (they are aware of the double-interview, too), and it didn't suck. 

[ixaera]

57 minutes ago, Urgan said:

Also, small detail but I interviewed at the same place as Friday for a QA role (they are aware of the double-interview, too), and it didn't suck. 

 

Well, that's pretty good

[miss_marissa]

19 hours ago, Sam Ashen said:

Out of context, but I find programming intimidating.

Same here.

 

1 hour ago, Urgan said:

Also, small detail but I interviewed at the same place as Friday for a QA role (they are aware of the double-interview, too), and it didn't suck. 

Yay!!!

 

Also congrats on dat Squat PR!!!

[Emerald_Dragonfly]

9 hours ago, Urgan said:

Lifting

PR PR PR PR PR SQUAT PR. Recovering from the Shark Week funk gave me good things. Here's to another good week to come.

 

[Urgan]

8-8-2016

...well then.

 

Recovery

Food!

Calories - 2,264

Protein - 120

Sugar -  64 (Chocolate Pom-Berry bits)

Good old eggroll in a bowl, freshened up with some ground chicken instead of sausage. Om nom.

 

Mobility!

Hips: 4/12

Upper Back Yoga: 1/4

Mobilized the hips. I am enjoying not being super tight/sore anywhere, still. Still grateful for that. I did epic amounts of stretching extending beyond the hips, including calves and upper body a bit. Was feeling really Motivated at 11:00PM, yes I was.

 

Sleep!

8:30, Out of bed: 6/24

 

Lifting

-

 

Aikido

Standing F./B. Rolls: 4/12

Bokken Suburi: 2/8

Ukemi Undo: 1/4

Shikko: 1/4

Side Breakfalls: 1/4

Dojo Days: N

No aikido tonight, because crash and burn after interview. Ugh.

 

22kill

@ixaera challenged me to do 22 push-ups for 22 days to raise awareness for the 22 U.S. Soldiers that, on average, commit suicide each day. Support our veterans, check out: 22kill.com, stop22.org, battledawgs.org

 

Pushups: 17/22

Did the thing.

Interview happened, got news my other good QA prospect wants me back for Interview Part 4. Sent off tentative days for interview. Found out my massage therapist threw out her back and sadly will be MIA for better part of 2 months. Sad face. My Wednesdays just opened up for potential interview.

 

20 hours ago, ixaera said:

 

Well, that's pretty good

 

20 hours ago, miss_marissa said:

Same here.

 

Yay!!!

 

Also congrats on dat Squat PR!!!

 

12 hours ago, Emerald_Dragonfly said:

 

 

Thanks, guys! I got word from the company that has the four-part interview gauntlet that I am clear to move to part four of that process. Given how they're always running around with their hair on fire, this is a helluva lot of time to spend on an interview. Did I mention this interview is a presentation + team interview that might take 2.5-3 hours? I mean, for real....

 

Yes, programming can be a little intimidating, I like to think way ahead, lol.

 

 

PRPRPRPRPRPR!!

[miss_marissa]

YAY!!!!! Congrats!! You can do it Own that shit.

[Sam Ashen]

20 minutes ago, Urgan said:

Interview Part 4

 

Part 4??!?  Holy crap!  The vast majority of mine have been two parts:

 

Part 1 - Phone interview.

Part 2 - Plant tour.

 

That's it!

 

Maybe it's simpler because in my industry the number of candidates they are typically interviewing is one.

[Urgan]

2 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

 

Part 4??!?  Holy crap!  The vast majority of mine have been two parts:

 

Part 1 - Phone interview.

Part 2 - Plant tour.

 

That's it!

 

Maybe it's simpler because in my industry the number of candidates they are typically interviewing is one.

 

Pretty much my feeling about it, too. Oh well. They'd better give me the job after this, though, for all the heartburn this is gonna cause between today and Friday....

[ixaera]

28 minutes ago, Urgan said:

Thanks, guys! I got word from the company that has the four-part interview gauntlet that I am clear to move to part four of that process.

 

Wow, four part interviews! *faints* That has to be some kind of interview PR

[Urgan]

Just now, ixaera said:

 

Wow, four part interviews! *faints* That has to be some kind of interview PR

 

Finest quality cardio. My heart is pounding sitting on the couch. 

[Jord]

My current job involved 4 interviews but I didn't have to give a presentation. They better make you head of the company if you have to give a presentation!

 

Are public speaking skills part of the job?