Rooks - Tracking the Daily Grind...

[matty_mcfly]

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

 

Ditto.

 

I hate the word ditto, but seriously, I'm right there with wovercast!

[Rooks]

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

 

 

Ditto.

 

I hate the word ditto, but seriously, I'm right there with wovercast!

 

I am a "praying" person, and it's days like today that make me question a lot.  Bad news received, tumor is growing again, new chemo regimen coming which will be way harder on my wife and I.  Needless to say, I'm drinking tonight...

[goodbye_farewell]

I am a "praying" person, and it's days like today that make me question a lot.  Bad news received, tumor is growing again, new chemo regimen coming which will be way harder on my wife and I.  Needless to say, I'm drinking tonight...

 

Well shit. Sorry man.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

That blows, sorry to hear it.

[mgage]

All of your fellow NF fathers are feeling your pain. Sorry to hear, but I'll keep hoping for the best. Modern medicine can do amazing things.

[Rooks]

Appreciate the sentiments fellas.  After 24 hours to soak things in, it's back to business as usual.  Figure out what my wife and I can do, figure out how much help we need, and lean on friends and family to get things done to make this little girl healthy.  

 

 

On a positive note, I had placed an order of some goodies from Rogue late last week with some Christmas money that had been burning a hole in my pocket.  Got some Fat Gripz, some swag (hoodie and beanie), Oly straps, a purple mobility band, and last but most importantly, picked up one of these.  Opted to go for the training bar, as I really wanted a 28mm barbell (to see how it compared to my 28.5mm Fringe barbell) and it's quite a bit cheaper then the Rogue Comp 28mm bars with Bearings.  Never used a bearing bar so I don't really know what I'm missing at this point.  Plan is to keep one of my 2 nice barbells at work since I'm tired of using the cheapo they have there.  Probably move the Bomba v2 to work and keep the Rogue at home.  Not sure yet...

 

 

1/21/2016

(load/reps x sets)

Conventional Deadlifts (E4MOM) - 355/4 x 4

Romanian Deadlifts w/ Fat Gripz - 95/3 x 2

Overhead Press (E2:30MOM) - 135/4 x 4

 

Deadlifts felt great today, which has been a continuation of deads overall lately.  Low back doesn't get sore at all anymore which makes me think my setup is on point.  Did these beltless again and was moving very fast (I think).  No video.  Also, gave the Fat Gripz a try and holy crap.  I had grandiose ideas of doing deads with 225 with them.  Little bit of a humbling experience.  I couldn't even pick up 135 with those suckers on there.  Fat Grip deads are whole new grip game.  Definitely do a couple extra sets with those every few days to get added grip work.  Overall, I cut 2 sets out of both movements and added time.  Just wanted to get in and move and not be wasted after the workout.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Interested to see how the fat grips carry over to your regular grip. If it's good, then I might have to get some. Starting to think of ways to integrate grip work into my current workout without overloading the rest of the body too much, but still working something out. Pendlay or yates rows with fat grips maybe?

[The Most Loathed]

back in the days when I was a regular on gripboard, 2" grips were seen as one of the best ways to increase your grip strength on a norm 1.25 bar. You'll pull less weight with the bigger handles but your hands will get more of a workout. One lesson of those days, incorporate grip training slowly. all those muscles in your forearm are attached to your fingers by very long tendons that you probably use all the time. A minor overtraining injury can easily become a lingering pain that hampers not just training but everyday.

take you grip strength recovery very seriously. 

[goodbye_farewell]

back in the days when I was a regular on gripboard,

I am a gripboard lurker and just did a grip competition. You may be interested...

 

http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/50620-wovercast-grinds-it-out/?p=1781609

[Rooks]

back in the days when I was a regular on gripboard, 2" grips were seen as one of the best ways to increase your grip strength on a norm 1.25 bar. You'll pull less weight with the bigger handles but your hands will get more of a workout. One lesson of those days, incorporate grip training slowly. all those muscles in your forearm are attached to your fingers by very long tendons that you probably use all the time. A minor overtraining injury can easily become a lingering pain that hampers not just training but everyday.

take you grip strength recovery very seriously. 

 

 I can only imagine.  I only 3 reps because honestly my grip was completely failing on rep 3 every time.  It was humbling to the say the least.  But good to know about taking it slow.  Funny how a regular barbell I feel I can easily hold 450, but widen that out just a bit and it drops to nothing.  

 

1/22/2016

(load/reps x sets)

HBBS (E4MOM) - 315/1, 315/4 x 4

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

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

Yates Row - 135/10 x 3

Leg Extensions - 150/10 x 5

Standing Cable Rope Pulls - 150/10 x 3

 

Leg extenions were easy.  Need to up that weight.  Otherwise, nothing to report short of I'm so happy I have a real barbell at the work gym now.  Video shows my final warm-up.  I've been warming up with paused beltless singles for awhile now.  Normally, I only go up to 275, but felt like trying 3 plates today.  It felt solid.  That said, I tried my first set beltless and it didn't feel good at all.  Such is life.  

 

[matty_mcfly]

Yeah, I want to work axle deadlifts back into my programming when I get a chance.

Nice grip work. But mostly just for fun and a change of pace.

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[Rooks]

1/23/2016
(load/reps x sets)

Paused Front Squats - 135/1, 185/1, 225/1 x 2

Front Squats - 135/5 x 5

Hang Snatch - 100/1 x 2, 100/0 x 2

Snatch Grip High Pulls - 135/3 x 3, 155/3 x 3

 

Oly Day.  Just really more a movement day as the weights were light, except for High Pulls.  But those are supposed to be heavy.  Front Squat sets were light, but just trying to spend time in with a front rack to get the arms opened up more.  My rack is feeling pretty great these days.  Probably a combo of more time spent doing it as well as all the back work I've been doing. 

 

Book Report:  So today I finished reading "The Way of Men" by Jack Donovan.  You may recognize the name from some of Chris Duffin's video if you follow him at all.  He makes an appearance in a few of them.

 

 

 

There's a 3rd one of him squatting somewhere, but couldn't find it with a quick search.  Either way, I found it an interesting read.  Basically, came down to his explanation as to how man is wired and why society is as screwed up as it today.  Not sure how else to put it, but it's definitely not something that would be viewed as PC by a lot of people.  That said, I don't seem him to be anti-female either.  He just very much sees the human race was set with basic gender roles (not followed 100% but at least basic outlines) and tries his best to explain how man is wired.  Either way, like I said, I found it interesting to read as a lot of the thoughts I have on a regular basis seemed to pop up here.  I don't agree with his conclusion, but won't elaborate more in case other want to give it a read.  PM me if you have no intentions of reading it, but are curious.

[Rooks]

1/24/2016

Got out for 1.5 mile walk.  Nothing major... just trying to move.  Tried some real light jogging, but calves weren't feeling it.  Gotta work on them as I've noticed lately they are not feeling real good, which is only going to start causing issues.  

 

1/25/2016

Nothing.  Felt like garbage.  Not sick... just beat up.  Meant to do mobility work, but of course, I didn't.  #failing

 

I did get in a Headspace session.  The Most Loathed (TML) got me intrigued enough to give it a shot.  I'm 5 sessions in (definitely not doing it regularly enough), and I'm not sure how I feel about it.  My mind just goes crazy when I try which I guess might be the point.  I'll keep doing it for awhile.  Hopefully with a bit more regularity and see how/if things improve.

 

1/26/2016
(load/reps x sets)
Conventional Deadlifts (E4MOM) - 385/3 x 4

Conventional Deadlift w/ Fat Grips - 135/1

Deficit Deadlifts w/ Fat Gripz - 95/5

Barbell Holds w/ Fat Grips - 95/20 seconds, 95/15 seconds

Competition Bench (E2:30MOM) - 225/3 x 5

Competition Bench w/ Slingshot (E2:30MOM) - 270/3 x 2

Dumbbell Flies - 10lb DBs/10 x 3

Standing Cable Rope Pulls - 150/10 x 2, 160/10

Cable Rope Tricep Extension - 70/1 set to failure

Cable Bar Curls - 100/1 set to failure

 

Deads were all beltless.  Was probably pushing it a bit, but I guess that's what we are supposed to do right?  The 3 Fat Gripz things were all just me experimenting.  Seeing what taxed the arms the best.  Not sure I liked any of them, but whatever.  I'm experimenting.  Bench felt slow, but got it all up.  Well, almost didn't get up the last rep of the Overload bench so scrapped the final set.   Looking at the work, I got in a lot of accessory work.  Must have been moving pretty fast today.  Haha...

[The Most Loathed]

Glad to see that you decided to try headspace. It's a learning curve and I'm sure everyone is different. For me it helped a lot when I realized that when I was doing reps in the gym on the right mindset, I was already where they wanted me to go. Those perfect deadlifted where you can feel each part and subconsciously correct and five reps later your mind is still in the groove, that's the ideal. Beyond that, it's just practice.

[Rooks]

Deads were all beltless.  Was probably pushing it a bit....

 

And of course it was.  Low back has been torched since Tuesday.  Calves are super tight.  Shoulders are sore.  Friday was a chemo day for kiddo, but wasn't feeling up to working out anyway.  I did try to get a workout in on Saturday but only managed a few sets of Squats and 1 set of bench before scrapping the idea as everything was tender.  Sunday, spent a good chunk of time trying to get things loose to no avail.  Not sure if I'm just run down or what... but feels like 8 weeks of training with 1 of those being a deload week shouldn't cause me to have to sit out this long.  I know it's nothing serious, so I should be back at it soon, but just a bit frustrating.  

 

On a positive note, I'm now starting Day 3 of a Whole 30.  I'm super lucky as my wife is into this as well and she's a bomb cook and has been getting pretty hyped about the whole thing.  Here's a quick sample of what we've eaten.  

 

 

 

Yeah... I'm a lucky lucky man.  Couple of thoughts from being 3 days in.  First, this is the first time I've ever tried to fuel my body with good stuff on an extended timeline.  I did IIFYM for almost ~275 days straight and yes, I lost weight, but towards the end I was cheating the days pretty hard, cutting out good calories for beer, etc.  Not optimal for creating a healthier you.  So, I'm very intrigued to see if this turn will start speeding up recovery.  Fuel the body and it has to help, right?  Second, I've noticed that post meals I feel "hungry" almost immediately.  Doing some self analysis, I'm fairly confident this is literally just carb cravings despite actually getting plenty of carbs in the meal (veggies).  It's odd how I enjoy analyzing how I feel during this.  Despite feeling hungry, trying to figure out if I'm really hungry or just craving.  Either way, I'll keep you guys posted.

 

Measurements:

• Biceps = 14 inches
• Thighs = 26 inches
• Waist = 45 inches
• Hips = 41 inches
• Weight ~ 220 (forgot to weigh myself this morning since I was running late)

Also, took a measurements again for the first time in over 2 years.

• Shoulders:  51"
• Forearm (Right):  12"
• Calf (Right):  16.5"
• Thigh (Right):  27"
• Waist:  41.875"
• Hips:  43"
• Bicep (Right):  14.5"
• Chest:  43.75" 
• Weight:  223.6lbs

Doesn't seem as though much has changed in the past 2 years.    Except a bit more weight gets moved.  Not sure why my hips are bigger now, unless it's difference in measurements 2 years apart.

[The Most Loathed]

That food looks like how we try to eat all the time. I friggin' love it.

Based on my experience, I will warn you that eating that clean will make your body less tolerant of manufactured food. It also will corrupt your palate to a point where eating food not made at home seems like a total waste. There are very few restaurants in town that make it worth your time to visit them if you eat clean, healthy and homemade.

[Rooks]

That food looks like how we try to eat all the time. I friggin' love it.

Based on my experience, I will warn you that eating that clean will make your body less tolerant of manufactured food. It also will corrupt your palate to a point where eating food not made at home seems like a total waste. There are very few restaurants in town that make it worth your time to visit them if you eat clean, healthy and homemade.

Honestly, we've been migrating that way for 3 years now. Ever so slowly both of us realized it.  Neither of us have eaten fast food (with the exception of Egg McMuffins) on any sort of even rare basis.   Pizza was about the only thing that got called on semi-regularly and even that we've had to "up the anti" so to speak and go with Wood-Fired places like Element with real ingredients over Domino's recently.  And we've eaten grass fed beef and more and more veggies.  We just always loved beer so kept that and had no reason to cut down on breads so kept a lot of that too.  And when you are drinking 2-3 craft beers a night and eating a good chunk of garlic cheese bread, you jump 1000 calories and a lot of grams of carbs real quick without much going back to help your body.  

 

Honestly though, that's what I'm hoping for.  If this can really bring about a systemic change to my diet, great.  Its only going to help my training and my overall health which is what I say I want, but never had the drive to do the full jump. 

[Rooks]

Oofta... can't believe it was 9 days between workouts.  Just life.  Everything got in the way of everything.  Either way finally got into the basement for a little iron therapy Friday night and today.

 

2/5/2016

HBBS - 315/1, 365/1, 385/1, 405/0

Competition Bench - 185/1, 225/1, 255/1, 265/0

 

Not happy with any of this.  Squat is a PR at 385, but I thought 400+ was a fore gone conclusion with how training has been going and how much rest I had going into the day.  Bench wasn't even a PR and again was downright pissed I didn't have 265.  Wife was quick to point out that I'm probably on a caloric deficiency right now being 8 days into a Whole 30.  Still irritating.  

 

 

2/7/2016

HBBS - 240/9 x 2

Competition Bench - 165/9 x 2

Deadlift - 325/7 x 2

 

Day of 1 Layne Norton's PH3 Trainer (info here).  That said, I screwed up the weights for my Squats and Bench.  Was supposed to be 280 and and 185 respectively.  Such is life... they were super easy at these weights so shouldn't be a problem.  Giving up the Oly training for now.  Time to focus on getting more into my Powerlifting total.  

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

The 9 day layoff probably screwed you too, CNS may have gotten a bit un-adapted to lifting. Happens to me. I tend to PR at times where my frequency is highest.

 

As for the eating out thing, I think Wifey and I are lucky in that we live in an area that is big on agriculture (Northern DE), right next to the university where it is one of the biggest majors. This has given rise to a lot of farm to table and natural foods based restaurants that are just amazing as far as food goes. Nowhere I've lived has the density of quality restaurants as our current location, especially not the whole foods based ones. Just pointing out that there are restaurants that cook with similar restrictions as you do at home and do it very well, but don't know how easy they'd be to find in your state.

[Rooks]

Brain dump time!  First, finished another book!
 
Book Report:  Ready to Run by Kelly Starrett
 
Very similar to Supple Leopard, although I thought this was WAY more readable then Supple Leopard was (at least the first version).  K-Star lays out a great set of standards that can be used to figure out what is wrong with your running, and how to address them.  Last 80 or so pages are all mobilizations and they done in section of the body.  Thought it was great stuff.  Tons of great info which is what I have come to expect from K-Star.  The man seems to know his stuff and he's getting better and better at being able to convey that information out to the masses.  This book actually has me thinking about picking up version 2 of Supple Leopard to see if it's more readable.  Likewise, I've already pre-ordered his 3rd book, Deskbound: Sitting is the new Smoking.  Dramatic, but the man believes in his mission.  Here's the trailer for the book:
 

 
2/8/2016
Nada.  Work got busy.  Workout got scrapped.
 
2/9/2016
Program Plan Here:  PH3 Trainer Week 1 Day 2
(load/reps x sets)
DB Bench - 25/10, 50/10, 70/8, 70/12 (Switching to Incline next time as only have 70lb DBs and Bench was too easy)
Cable Lat Pulldown - 80/10, 120/8 x 3 (Need to go heavier next time)
Cable Row - 120/8, 150/8, 150/6
Seated DB Military - 25/10, 40/10, 50/8 x 2
DB Curl - 35/8, 40/8, 40/6, 40/5, 35/6
BFR Cable Machine Curl - 50/20, 50/10 x 3
Ez-Bar Skullcrushers - 25/10, 75/8 x 3, 75/7
BFR Cable Rope Pulldowns - 60/20, 60/10 x 3
 
Blood Flow Restriction Training was interesting.  It was tough to get my Gangsta Wraps around my arms properly so I'm not sure I was totally doing it right, but definitely felt a bit more pump so it was doing something.  Haven't done a machine day like this in a long while.  It's fun to see that a lot of the DB movements I was way up from where I used to be.  Biceps and triceps were definitely a bit tender the next morning.
 
2/10/2016
Program Plan Here:  PH3 Trainer Week 1 Day 3
(load/reps x sets)
HBBS - 300/7 x 3
Bench - 200/7, 200/5 (Failure... day calls for 3 sets of 7)
Leg Extension - 170/10 x 2 (Need to go heavier here)
Single Leg Curls - 40/10 x 2
Smith Machine Calf Raises - 270/10 x 4
 
So this day got a bit rushed with some time constraints.  Bench was disappointting again.  Not sure if it's because of arm fatigue from yesterday or just rush sets.  Who knows... either way, lowering my 1RM from 255 to 240 for Layne's programming and will move forward like that.  I also had to figure out how to do the Calf Raises since we don't have a machine like that in our gym.  I loaded up 3 plates on the Smith Machine, put some 25 plates on the floor and that seemed to work besides the fact it was too light for the rep ranges I was trying to get.  Next time I'll try it with another set of 35 plates on there and see what it feels like.  I scrapped the BFR Calf Raises due to time and confusion on where I should put the clamp.  Wasn't sure if it should be just below the knee for calf raises, or up above the quad.  Will research today and hopefully figure it out.  

 

Motivation:  Matt Vincent referenced a new podcast in one of his latest videos by Jocko Willink.  Guy is a former Navy Seal, who now does Leadership training for companies.  Been listening to his podcasts and they are pretty combat focused, but he's got great insight into leadership / mindsets.  I've been enjoying them so far.  Here's a little motivational video he's got on his Youtube channel as well:

 

[matty_mcfly]

BFR! I wanted to try that months ago and forgot about it.

How did you like it?

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[Rooks]

Well, only really done the one day and that was more of a experiment.  First lesson, putting a strap onto your upper arm is hard.  You basically, have to do it one handed.  Second lesson, you probably need bigger then 12" straps, especially for your legs.  

 

Also, it's a bit of a different experience as I've never been one to really do much accessory work, so "getting my pump on" is a bit new to me.  

 

All that said, even with my crappy effort at doing it, my the super light curls and tricep extension gave a serious pump so I must have been doing something right.  And my bis and tris were quite sore the next day.  So it did something.  Overall, I'll keep trying to see how it goes.  Been seeing lots of people report good results with this program, so here's hoping I finally get that 4 plate squat, and maybe even come close to that 3 plate bench.  

[matty_mcfly]

Well, only really done the one day and that was more of a experiment. First lesson, putting a strap onto your upper arm is hard. You basically, have to do it one handed. Second lesson, you probably need bigger then 12" straps, especially for your legs.

Also, it's a bit of a different experience as I've never been one to really do much accessory work, so "getting my pump on" is a bit new to me.

All that said, even with my crappy effort at doing it, my the super light curls and tricep extension gave a serious pump so I must have been doing something right. And my bis and tris were quite sore the next day. So it did something. Overall, I'll keep trying to see how it goes. Been seeing lots of people report good results with this program, so here's hoping I finally get that 4 plate squat, and maybe even come close to that 3 plate bench.

Remind me, what are your maxes again?

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[Rooks]

Remind me, what are your maxes again?

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385 / 255 / 450 (??)

 

Deadlift is the only one I haven't attempted in awhile.  I've never pulled 450, but done 200kg before and I know I had more in me.  Like I said though, for the sake of Layne's programming I dropped Bench down to 240.

[Rooks]

2/14/2016

Program Plan Here:  PH3 Trainer Week 1 Day 1
(load/reps x sets)

HBBS - 280/9 x 2
Competition Bench - 185/9 x 2
Deadlift - 325/7 x 2

So after some a screwed up Week 1 attempt, I just decided to start over on the PH3 Trainer. Basically Day 1 of the program is the only day I can really do at home due to all the accessory work that Layne's program calls for. So I'll do 1 workout at home (probably Sundays), and 4 throughout the week at the work gym.  Don't think that'll be a problem, but we'll see.  As for the workout itself, actually doing this workout with the proper weights was brutal. I haven't done sets of squats above 5 reps in a long time, so I know it's mostly conditioning, but damn. That said, I want to give this program a solid effort as I need to push myself a bit harder I think.  If it stays that hard, my body will have no choice but to get stronger.