Training 9/29

Body weight was only 188 today. Ugh.

Military Press (to top of head only) - 135 - 13+4+4
Floor DB Flyes - 50s - 18+6+6
Skullcrushers - 60 - 18+6+6
Breathing squats - 265 - 1x16 (failed on 17)
Face pulls - 1x100

An otherwise really good session ruined by the failure on breathing squats. If it had been physiological, I would be OK with it, but it was mental. I told myself after the 16th rep I wasn't going to get the next one. That I would descend and not get back up. Lo and behold, guess what happened. I'm so mad because I was psyching myself out the entire time. I had so much confidence coming in, and then when it came time, suddenly I had so much self-doubt. I'll redo it Wednesday, succeed, and then hit 275 Friday. So it is written, so it shall be done.

The Pain is a Mirage
I realized after 255, as I was walking around trying to catch my breath and wait for the pain to leave my body, that it was all a mirage. All the huffing and puffing, all the pain faces...it wasn't real. Because as soon as I thought about it, I was able to slow down my breathing, and while the pain was definitely still there, I was able to maintain a calm face. It all told me that it's all fake. I don't know who I was trying to prove the pain to, but I need to realize I don't need to prove it to anyone. Does it hurt? Absolutely. Does it suck? Hell yes. But do I need to carry on like I just carried the weight of the world? No.
I also realized after the "failure" today that I really wasn't that tired. My legs were, yes, but my shoulders, chest, even low back, where I usually am screaming after breathing squats, all felt pretty good. Again, that only reaffirms to me that the "good stuff" comes beyond the pain barrier. As with most things in life, the hard parts are there to keep out the people who don't really want it. I have to decide if that's me.
And I think that's what pissed me off the most about the failure. That it was entirely mental. That it seemed like such a perfect metaphor for my life. So full of piss and vinegar, and even able to push through a little bit of pain, but when the going gets really tough, I fold. Again, I have to decide if that's how I want to be defined. Every day needs to be a step in the direction I want.

Training 9/26

What a difference a day of rest and intelligent programming will do. Finally actually performed restorative work yesterday (as I should be doing between all my sessions), and, combined with a decent night of sleep, I felt like a new man today. The soreness that was pretty tough yesterday was nearly gone today. I still felt a little run down before warming up, and even my first few warmup sets didn't feel particularly easy, but everything after that went great. The pullups felt so easy I felt like I might not have been controlling the eccentric enough (always possible) and I felt like I probably could have ground out a couple more reps on the rack pulls. A true +10% session.

Band-assisted wide-grip pullups (orange band) - 15+5+4
Rack deadlift from knee - 405x10
Pronated cambered bar curls - 40 - 17+8+8
Chest-supported rear delt flyes - 5s - 1x50
DB wrist extension (arms resting on bench) - 15s - 1x16
Barbell wrist curls - 95 - 1x30

Training 9/25

Used today for restorative training. I'm still sore as shit from Tuesday, so combined with not getting sufficient sleep to recover the way I need to, I decided to push the training to tomorrow and then aim for M/W/F next week. That way breathing squats won't fall on a Saturday. In any event, did some bike, abs, kettlebell swings, neck, and some rolling out.

Training 9/23 & progress pic

Well, this session didn't start out any better than Saturday's. I was able to get 1 extra rep on the first set (cheating my ass off with my butt WAY off the bench to grind it out), but still only matched total reps from the last time. Which means I have to find a new exercise to slot into that spot next time around. Although, by then I will have moved into my heavier training, so maybe I should keep it? Not quite sure, I'll ponder it in the meantime.
Lateral raises and flyes went very well. However, I still felt like I had no "go," and my warmup sets for squats were doing nothing to instill confidence. Everything felt heavy, and my over warmup at 295 felt like shit. But, I managed to grind it out somehow and I must say, it felt good to do so. I felt (and still feel, to some extent) like shit afterward, but it was good to complete it. This was the first time doing them, however, where I felt like my legs were the limiting factor. Generally, my low back/upper back/shoulders want to give out first. In this instance, while they were definitely shot, my legs didn't seem like they were going to hold up. But hold up they did, and I'll try my damndest to rest up for 265 come Saturday.

Close grip - 185 - 14+2+3 (equaled last time - have to change exercise)
Lateral raises - 15s - 17+8+6 (31 total - bump up weight)
DB flyes - 50s - 16+5+5
Breathing squats - 255 - 1x20
Face Pulls - 1x75

Weight - 191 yesterday (don't judge my dirty mirror)

Training 9/20

Close grip bench - 185 - 13+3+3

At that point, I decided not to continue with the plan for the day. While it is quite possible that I wouldn't have been able to beat my reps regardless, the lack of sleep the last 3 nights definitely caught up with me and I decided to pull it back and try again Monday or Tuesday. Obviously some may call this a case of vagitis, and they may well not be wrong. However, the job of the smart coach or trainee is to do what is necessary to further results. In this case, that is allowing recovery to occur by sleeping. So, I finished up with a short circuit (minimal to no rest b/w exercises, 5x thru):

Lateral raises (5s) x10
Pushups (elbows flared to ~70 degrees) x10
KB swings x10
Face pulls x20

A little biking and I hit the door. Looking forward to giving it another go on a good night's sleep.

Training 9/18

Neutral-grip Chinups - 14+4+4
Deadlift - 325x8
Cambered Bar Curl - 60 lbs - 18+6+6
Chest-supported Rear Delt Fly - 5s - 1x45
DB Wrist Extension - 15s - 1x50
DB Wrist Flexion - 50s - 1x50

I feel like I may have cut reps a bit short on the chinups, but I beat the log book so I suppose I'm happy. Overall a pretty good session considering I'm going on about 2 2-hour blocks of sleep last night and a 15 minute nap prior to lifting.
I can tell I'm probably putting on a bit of pudge, likely due to going overboard on my "high" days, as well as not getting in my aerobic work on non-lifting days. Still lean enough to see abs, but not as lean as I'd like.

Training 9/17

Incline bench press (roughly 45 degree - pinky on ring) - 155 - 13+4+3
Upright rows with straight bar - 65 - 20+8+5
Band pushdowns w/ gray band - 1x30
Breathing squats - 245 - 1x20
Face pulls - 1x65

Breathing squats still suck. However, it does give me some hope that I can get 275. It's still a ways off, and I feel like I probably rushed my breathing a bit today. That said, 275 is still the goal.

Update 9/15

Weight - 188

Ugh. I thought for sure I would be in the 193-195 range, particularly considering how shitty I ate yesterday. That said, I told myself I would give this "bulking" strategy 6-8 weeks and reassess, so I will stay the course and see what happens.

Training 9/13

Band pulldowns (orange band) - 1x30 (vastly underestimated how easy they would be)
RDL + shrug - 275 - 1x8
Chest-supported DB row - 50s - 13+4+4
Preacher curl (used bench as preacher seat) - 50 - 13+5+6
DB wrist extension - 15s - 1x45
DB wrist curl - 50s - 1x40
Chest-supported rear delt flye - 5s - 1x40

I can say Arnold and I do not share the same affinity for "the pump" (watch Pumping Iron to understand what I'm talking about). That said, it is a necessity. I am adapting to the training, such that it does not wreck me the way it did at first. Today's session, for instance, took me roughly 55 minutes, including a fairly extensive warmup and 5 minute bike cool down at the end, compared to over an hour the first time I did this training a few weeks ago with a rather abbreviated warmup. And today would have been a few minutes shorter, but I had to wait for some of the blood to exit my forearms so I could do the rear delt flyes. (Note to self - flyes before forearms from here on out). Of course, it still induces quite a bit of residual soreness, which is fine and expected. I've already begun formulating my "long-term" plan, at least pushing it out a few months. After running a few cycles of the training as-is, I will modify to heavier weights and more of the DC template as Dante originally laid it out, aiming for 11-15 total reps on many exercises, as opposed to the 20-30 I am currently doing. However, I must be careful not to get too far ahead of myself and overlook what is right in front of me - the training itself.
Focus is not where it needs to be - I have definitely discovered that I cannot train while I have athletes in, it is simply impossible to focus the way I need to. However, even today, training with no one around, I was not focused in my execution the way I need to be.
Onward and upward.

Training 9/11

Upper body work was rest-paused as has been customary

Military press (shoulders to top of head) - 135 - 12+4+4
Floor DB flyes - 50s - 16+5+5
Skullcrushers - 60 - 15+4+4
Breathing squats - 235 - 1x20
Face pulls - 1x60

Breathing squats are the devil. However, they do remind me that, while I am still a giant vagina, I can push forward to be a slightly smaller one. Every day just trying to get NOV (to borrow a phrase from Wendler).

Training 9/9

Pull day. Again, it is a modified version of Dante Trudel's DoggCrapp training. Sets for most work are rest-paused, with 7 deep breaths after the first set and 10 after the 2nd. However, deadlifts and rear delts/forearms are just straight sets.

Band-assisted wide-grip pullups (orange band, hands outside curve) - 13+4+4
Rack deadlift (from knees - lowest safety pin setting) - 405x8 (terrible job of keeping my back tight)
Straight bar curls - 65 - 15+5+5
DB wrist extension, arms at sides - 15s - 1x40
Chest-supported rear delt flyes - 5s - 1x35
DB wrist flexion, arms at sides - 50s - 1x36

I definitely need to make midsection training a priority on non-lifting days. Far too weak. I will attempt to update with pics every Monday, as that is when I weigh and take pics.

Training 9/4 & 9/6

After hitting 190 on Thursday, I decided the "cut" was over. 190 was kind of my line of demarcation - either I would get to a point I was happy with, or 190. Once I hit either one, it was time to start working my way back up. Thus, here is the "final" pic, along with the starting one again for reference:

2-3-14 - 222 pounds

9-4-14 - 190 pounds

Consistency and staying the course. Admittedly, if I had done that from the beginning, I'd have likely gotten there sooner. But alas.
In any event, I will start working my way back up, attempting to add muscle with as little fat as possible. For the time being, I will be using some DoggCrapp-inspired rest-pause training (modified for higher reps), an idea taken from James Smith's training log over at EliteFTS from a while back. The general setup of a set is that each rep is performed with a slow, controlled eccentric, with an explosive concentric. I try not to rest at all between reps. Once you reach basically failure, stop and take 7 deep belly breaths, go again until basically failure, stop and take 10 deep belly breaths, and hit one final set. Therefore, I will simply note reps + reps + reps to indicate the 3 sets. I don't have my log right in front of me so I don't remember exactly what I got for reps on all of them, but most are right and the others are damn close.

Thursday (pull)
Neutral-grip chinups - 13+4+3
Deadlifts - dead stop each rep (straight set, no particular tempo) - 315x8
Cambered bar bicep curls - 60 pounds - 15+4+4
DB wrist extension - 15s - 1x35
DB wrist curls - 15s - 1x35
Chest-supported rear delt flyes - 5s - 1x30

Saturday (push)
Close-grip bench - 185 - 13+3+3
Lateral raises - 10s - 1x30
DB flyes - 50s - 15+4+4
Breathing squats - 225 - 1x20
Face pulls - 1x50

I will perform ab/rotator cuff/neck work on non-lifting days 2-3x per week.