Rooks - Tracking the Daily Grind...

[Rooks]

Rooooooooks! I asked for video and didn't see it! Thanks for sharing I will watch it when I get home. I'm glad this are improving for you. Happy holidays buddy.

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No worries man.  I'll be getting more videos up now as I find Instagram's short video thing to be super easy to do.  Only 15 seconds, but hey... it's better than nothing right.  

[Rooks]

Made an entry for the #JoinTheRebellion campaign!

 

[The Most Loathed]

Glad to see you made a "Join the Rebellion" video. I thought about it but didn't see myself sharing it and had limited time that day before hitting the road so I passed it by.

How do you feel about your instagram account? Does it auto post to FB or can you control that?

I signed up for one but it wan't really behaving but I think I was short on patients that day. I'm constantly looking for a better photo sharing platform for NF so I'm wondering if I need to give it another go.

[Rooks]

Yeah, I'm a sucker for prizes / contests.  Hell, if I get picked as the winner I don't even have a system to play a video game on, but figured I could hook up a cousin or something.    Plus it was a subject that I agree with.  Might as well speak my mind, right?

 

Instagram, so far I'm liking quite a bit.  So far I'm loving it for the video aspect.  Maybe it's just how my brain works, but before I always wanted to edit a bunch of stuff together and make a nicely edited Youtube video, which I guess is fine, but takes quite a bit of time even using simple editor programs like Windows Movie Maker.  I tried Final Cut Pro once and my mind almost exploded.  With this, I don't have to think as much and just boom, I have a 15 second clip which works most of the time.

 

I haven't had any issues with auto-sharing to Facebook, but to be fair, when I setup my Instagram account, my Facebook account was deactivated.  That said, now that I've linked them again, when I post a photo it's similar to others where you just select the other social media you want to share it on.  

[Rooks]

Got behind a few days so here's a bit of brain dump.

 

12/27/2015

Got out for a Zombies, Run mission.  It's more of a walk and jog when I feel it at the moment, but I'm getting back into the swing of things.  https://zombiesrungame.com/zombielink/runs-detailed/8274531/public/

 

12/29/2015

Worked up to a single 125lb Squat Jerk, but I nailed it.  135 is all but a guarantee.  If I keep working it, 155 might not be too far off as I'm fairly certain I have the strength, just need to groove the movement.

 

12/30/2015

Messed around with Cleans, High Pulls, and Front Squats at 95lbs.  Kept it really light and was just going movements here.  More deload week fun.

 

1/2/2015

Another walk/run Zombies, Run mission.  https://zombiesrungame.com/zombielink/runs-detailed/8308478/public/

 

1/4/2015

(load/reps x sets)
HBBS - 285/5 x 6

Competition Bench (E2:30MOM) - 190/5 x 5

Competition Bench w/ Slingshot (E2:30MOM) - 210/8 x 2

 

Ran outta time today, was supposed to have one more set of overload bench but whateer.  Was glad I got anything in.  Squats felt good, although I felt myself shifting to my left leg during a few sets.  Has me slightly concerned that I'm favoring it somehow.  Might have to snap some video and figure out what's going on.  Bench felt easy as it has the last few weeks.  Not sure if the added work is adding that much muscle or if I'm just grooving the pattern so much more then I ever have... or if it's both.  Either way, I'm loving moving the weight.

[matty_mcfly]

I don't do social media really, so this may be redundant for you, but I've gotten into the app "OneSet", it's like IG but with a completely fitness orientation.

[Rooks]

1/5/2016

(load/reps x sets)

Conventional Deadlifts (E3MOM) - 325/5 x 6

Military Press - 50lb DBs/10 x 3

Hammer Curls - 24lb DBs/25

 

 

Think I might have screwed something up with left quad on my 4th set.  Seems to be getting a more tender as the night goes, but hopefully it's nothing serious.  

[The Most Loathed]

your shoulders are out over your toes for all but your setup. Not the quad thing, just something I noticed.

 

unrelated. I put a picture on instagram. If I ask it to give me the embed code, it doesn't seem like the forums like that. Are you taking any specific steps to get your pictures from their to here?

[Rooks]

your shoulders are out over your toes for all but your setup. Not the quad thing, just something I noticed.

 

unrelated. I put a picture on instagram. If I ask it to give me the embed code, it doesn't seem like the forums like that. Are you taking any specific steps to get your pictures from their to here?

 

I've been messing with my setup pretty fierce lately, usually tweaking it every session it seems like.  I'll have to take a direct side video and figure out my exact bar path.  I felt strong, but always working to get better.  Thanks for the tip.

 

For the Instragram stuff, check here.  

 

http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/75994-youtube-and-instagram-embedding-faq/

 

Takes a bit of hacking on the URL.  I wrote up a FAQ.  Basics are you just need to remove "www." part, then change it from https to http before NF will recognize it as something you need to embed.  Youtube has the same strange behavior where the "Share" link you get from YT won't actually work.  Not sure how the NF detectors work, but something seems a bit screwed up.  

[Rooks]

1/5/2016

(load/reps x sets)

HBBS (E3MOM) - 285/5 x 6

Competition Bench (E2:30MOM) - 190/5 x 5

Competition Bench w/ Slingshot (E2:30MOM) - 230/5 x 3

Pendlay Row - 135/5, 145/5 x 4

Kettle Bell Swings - 35lb/20

 

Felt good today despite sleeping less than half of what I normally do the last two nights.  No idea why but kiddo has decided party time is the hours between midnight and 4 am last two nights.  Hasn't been a fun time for me or my wife.  And somehow the kiddo keeps trucking during the day like nothing is different.  Needless to say, we've been dragging pretty hard.  Scrapped the workout yesterday, but decided I couldn't push it another day due to the schedule this weekend.  Forced myself into it and per the norm, glad I did.  Felt super.  Annihilated the weights.  Even through in some KB swings for The Most Loathed.    I know form sucks as this I think is the 3rd time I've ever tried these.  Pointers always welcome.  Wife has become interested in them so picked up a 15lb, 25lb, and 35lb singles.  This was with the 35lb one.  

 

[The Most Loathed]

• What you have above is an American Swing. More in the style of CrossFit than RKC and definitely not GS.

This is where I devolve into a discussion about your goals and desires for these swings. I'll spare you that for now, but not forever.

I'm not a fan of the two handed swing but I'm in the minority.

I'd recommend a little less hyper extension in the hips. Snap them to straight but not beyond.

I can't see your hips but I suspect you are bending more in the lumbar than hips, keep as much in the hips as you can. This should make your ass sore, not your lower back. Like deadlifts, rounding the back is an advanced maneuver. For now, keep everything straight from the bottom of your pelvis to the tops of your shoulders.

Worry less about height. That comes in it's own time. I can see you straining for eye level.

Play with the involvement of your quads versus your hips. There is a lot to explore here.

I can see you have your eye fixed on a point, this is very RKC and CF so keep it up. You may change it later but for now it's a good place to be.

Keep playing with swings but if you're not already doing goblet squats, especially prying goblet squats. Start experimenting now. Short term you'll see more benefit there.

I'm free after a week from tomorrow, for the most part, let me know if you want to come over or have me come by your place.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Edit: Nevermind, I'll defer to my betters. [emoji1]. Have fun.

[KB Girl]

 

 

Also: breath! 

[Rooks]

 

• What you have above is an American Swing. More in the style of CrossFit than RKC and definitely not GS.
• This is where I devolve into a discussion about your goals and desires for these swings. I'll spare you that for now, but not forever.
• I'm not a fan of the two handed swing but I'm in the minority.
• I'd recommend a little less hyper extension in the hips. Snap them to straight but not beyond.
• I can't see your hips but I suspect you are bending more in the lumbar than hips, keep as much in the hips as you can. This should make your ass sore, not your lower back. Like deadlifts, rounding the back is an advanced maneuver. For now, keep everything straight from the bottom of your pelvis to the tops of your shoulders.
• Worry less about height. That comes in it's own time. I can see you straining for eye level.
• Play with the involvement of your quads versus your hips. There is a lot to explore here.
• I can see you have your eye fixed on a point, this is very RKC and CF so keep it up. You may change it later but for now it's a good place to be.
• Keep playing with swings but if you're not already doing goblet squats, especially prying goblet squats. Start experimenting now. Short term you'll see more benefit there.
• I'm free after a week from tomorrow, for the most part, let me know if you want to come over or have me come by your place.

 

 

Couple quick responses.

 

• First, thanks for the quick feedback.  
• Second, bit stuck with the 2-handed swings right now as we only have singles of each KB (15lb, 25lb, 35lb).  You can see them in the video on the floor.  My wife has gotten interested in them, so she bought a few of them.  With them now in my house, I figured I'd pick them up.  
• Third, glutes started to feel it more as I went as I started to focus more on them as the set went along.  
• Fourth, I usually do goblets to warm-up prior to my squat sets.  Off to google what Prying Goblets are.  
• Fifth, yes.  We should setup something soon.  We be nice to finally meet the the man, the myth, the legend known as THE MOST LOATHED.  Maybe Sloth can come laugh at my hideous form while you help me fix it.  Haha...

 

(Sorry, feeling a bit loopy as it's 7am, been up for an hour already and the coffee isn't flowing yet).

[matty_mcfly]

Honestly haven't watched yet but thought of you, curious what the Bell Gurus think.

http://youtu.be/8mpzFfgROUE

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[The Most Loathed]

That's a very specific take on the kettlebell swings. It's not wrong but it won't translate to other movements. At 2:25 he talks about how he using the swings and I'd say that if that is what you want from your swings, these are completely viable.

[Sloth the Enduring]

I'm not a guru, but that seemed really similar to the way I was taught by an RKC. Her favorite cue was to squeeze your glutes. BTW TML's is to act like your jumping. The two different cues make the swing feel different - when I think about jumping I feel it more in the quads.

[The Most Loathed]

[Rooks]

1/12/2016

(load/reps x sets)

Conventional Deadlifts (E3MOM) - 325/5 x 6

Competition Bench (E2:30MOM) - 190/5 x 5

Competition Bench w/ Slingshot (E2:30MOM) - 230/5 x 3

Standing Cable Rope Pulls - 150/10 x 3

 

This was a strange workout.  The weights were flying around.  I was annihilating 325 on deads, even beltless.  But that said... by set 5, I was gassed.  I took a lot to get through bench.  But everything moved great.  Really think I'm going to shatter my current PRs in all 3 lifts the next time I try.  Things are going too well in the gym right now.

 

 

That is so far beyond great.  I don't even have a good descriptor for that one.

[Rooks]

Listened to a pretty good podcast about PEDs today done by Chad Wesley Smith.  Go give it a listen if you want.  I liked it.

 

http://www.jtsstrength.com/articles/2016/01/10/the-jugglife-peds-in-strength-sports/

 

1/13/2016

Had planned on getting into the gym, but just felt terrible.  Super sleepy.  Couldn't focus all day long.  Just decided to scrap all plans for working out and try and get recovery in.

 

1/14/2016

(load/reps x sets)

Squat Jerk - 65/3, 95/1, 115/1, 125/1, 135/1

HBBS (E3MOM) - 285/5 x 6

Overhead Press (E2:15MOM) - 125/5 x 6

 

So worked up to a PR Squat Jerk.  That said, it was definitely more of a Power Jerk, followed by an Overhead Squat.  I'm still counting it.  Funny as my PR Overhead Squat is 135 and the last time I tried it, I was shaking like crazy.  This felt very solid.  All the time with stuff overhead is paying off.  High Bar was done beltless for the first time today.  Didn't cause any extra issues.  Maybe a minor bit more lower back fatigue, but hardly noticeable.  Overhead Press almost was a failure on the very last rep.  Probably have to bump this to E2:30 like Bench.  2:15 seems a bit too aggressive.

 

[KB Girl]

Ohh, nice squat! 

[The Most Loathed]

The home gym is really coming along.

[Rooks]

The home gym is really coming along.

 

I've been lobbying for years that our work gym would be much better if we replaced that psuedo squat rack / smith machine with a Power Rack.  Money is tight around here right now though, so odds of seeing improvement are slim.  That said, most people are lucky to have Dumbbells in their work gym.  We have a barbell and 500lbs of free weight.  So I can't complain too much.  

Ohh, nice squat!

Thanks!

[Rooks]

1/16/2016

(load/reps x sets)

Conventional Deadlifts (E3MOM) - 325/5 x 6

Competition Bench (E2:30MOM) - 190/5 x 5

Competition Bench w/ Slingshot (E2:30MOM) - 230/5 x 3

Yates Rows - Screwed around at 135, Tried 185, Back to 135.

 

Yates Rows felt amazing.  Tried both overhand and under hand.  Lats were quite pumped.  Going to keep these in for now, maybe added on to of Pendlays, maybe as a replacement.  We'll see.  No harm in just pummeling my back since it's so week.  For anyone wondering, here's a great video of the man himself, Dorian Yates, explaining it.  And he was right, under hand did get more of a pump.  We'll see if I have any issues with shoulder pain (as he hints at in the video).

 

 

1/17/2016

Planned on getting into the basement gym for some oly work, but wife and kiddo had a bit of stomach bug going, so took care of them most of the day.

 

1/18/2016

Best laid plans... again, wanted to get into the office gym for a workout, but work has been swamped lately.  Getting down to crunch time of this major overall we are doing of our back-end web platform architecture.  Things are getting stressful, and more and more is trying to be crammed in.  So missed out...

 

1/19/2016

(load/reps x sets)

HBBS (E3MOM) - 310/4 x 6

Competition Bench (E2:30MOM) - 205/4 x 5

Competition Bench w/ Slingshot (E2:30MOM) - 250/4 x 3

 

Finally made it to the gym today.  That said, it felt terrible.  Knew as soon as I started warming up it was just going to be a brutal session.  Squats felt super heavy.  Bench didn't feel terrible but I was gassed that it was a hard decision to keep doing sets after about Set #3.  But I got through all 8 sets.  So that was a win.  No time for accessories as I was late getting into the gym (more crap from work).  

 

Tomorrow is another big day for kiddo.  Another MRI to determine how the tumor is reacting.  All signs still point to shrinking tumor, but it's still going to be stressful until we hear someone say that.  So we start the day out with MRI, followed by a comprehensive round of Doctor's visits.  I guess they have some big summit every quarter where the discuss a handful of cases and you get all your doctors in one room to be able to get everyone on the same page.  Seems like a great idea, just means a long day at the hospital.  Such is life.  Off to bed now to try and get some sleep.  

[goodbye_farewell]

Tomorrow is another big day for kiddo.  Another MRI to determine how the tumor is reacting.  All signs still point to shrinking tumor, but it's still going to be stressful until we hear someone say that.  So we start the day out with MRI, followed by a comprehensive round of Doctor's visits.  I guess they have some big summit every quarter where the discuss a handful of cases and you get all your doctors in one room to be able to get everyone on the same page.  Seems like a great idea, just means a long day at the hospital.  Such is life.  Off to bed now to try and get some sleep. 

 

I'm not a praying person, but your kiddo is in my thoughts! Sending good vibes your way.... now.