The Come Up

Try this approach next time.

lol normally i would find that hilarious but i'm still reeling from my interaction a few hours ago.

10/10 trolling. will watch again.

Went back to finish my lifts yesterday: dips and lying tri ext

This morning I had the worst jumping workout I've maybe ever had. Bunch of reasons why but the bottom line is that no longer making any progress doing what I've been doing. The easy gains that started late spring/early summer when I started moving around after over a year of not being able to move around have com to an end. Probably take a week off to erase whatever lingers and do this very systematically.

I forgot that I compulsively did halting DLs two days ago (a day after I did 310x10). I used 315 and did like 8 reps. They were flying and I could have done several more reps. I stopped above my knee.

Reason for doing this is because (1) I suspected something was different about my set up when I pulled the day before and (2) I wanted to experiment with what I think would be a good assistance movement because I'm much MUCH stronger when it clears my knee.

I am pretty certain that my set up was different doing 310x10. To improve my pull from the floor I had previously been dorsiflexing my ankles and getting an aggressive knee action -- balance on the front of the foot for sure. I didn't do this on 310x10 and that I think accounted for (1) the set being harder than it should have been and (2) the tension in my hams because I was basically stiff-legging it up after the first few inches. On the 310x10 day, like i said before, I was just not prepared to lift and I wasn't thinking too much -- just bent over and picked it up. My set up with the halting was the opposite of this -- I did it the way I think I should be pulling. This paradigm I think is what I understand from Kyle's video on DL set ups.

I have tweaked my lower back. This happened acutely when I landed from a skip I was doing in warm-up the other day. I'm not too worried but it's a little disappointing because I have managed to avoid injury to porcelain lumbar spine.

Today I did 100x3x5 press and btn sn grip press (klokov press) with an empty bar. I need to be careful no to overdo it with these. Felt a little sensation in my right shoulder -- had a bad impingement there in 2010 and I haven't trained my upper body since then (lost interest really). Also did barbell rows very light to start out.

I also went back to polish my guns: did superset lying tri ext and pullovers -- the pullovers tax the long tricep head quite a lot. Also did curls so I can work my biceps with a supinated grip.

This is a little more variety than I would like but the main deal is that I cna keep making 3x5 progress on bench and press movements. I think I'm doing fine.

Trying to record everything athletically related in this log if I can manage to scribble it down. I have been taking 6mg of melatonin to sleep better at night. It gives me incredibly vivid dreams -- this one about athletics so I will write about it:

Dear diary,

I dreamt that I was playing in a very competitive international soccer game. The stadium was packed. I knew I was in a dream from the beginning but the conceptualization of this was lost on me -- it seemed very real. However the setting was surreal or even irreal. The stadium had an aesthetic of the old N64 mario cart game and nothing seemed to exist outside of this. It was the entirety of this dream-universe.

When the dream began I remember thinking that I didn't really belong here. I didn't play this sport and it seemed like I was plopped into the middle of the game. I was not anxious about this or anything. I got right into things and I thought to myself that I was moving around much better than anyone else. I seemed to have much better shear athleticism and very quick foot work evne though my ball handling was raw/unpracticed.

The most vivid recollection was that I had a poignant sense of my movement/proprioception. I was getting feedback from every movement that I made. In particular I got the sense that my core was very weak and I was losing balance on quick defensive moves to steal the ball. I thought that my spine was too long and my center of gravity was too high.

I was getting very frustrated with myself and when I made mistakes I would put on a show of anguish -- basically taking myself out of the game because I was dwelling on my mistakes. I may have even gotten in a verbal/physical fight or took out my anger in a violent way. I think we lost the game. I felt incredibly embarrassed for my behavior and then I woke up. It also seemed like I was on stimulants because i was so hyped up.

Can't believe how real it felt -- especially the movements I made and the feedback from (1) my perception of muscular exertion and coordination and (2) the tension in the muscles themselves.

/end

I don't take melatonin every night, usually just when I have to open at the crwc or when I'm planning on a good 9+ hours of sleep after an intense training day, but I usually take 15mg and have the most fucked up dreams ever, like so fucked up I don't acknowledge to myself they happened. It's weird.

15mg??? Holy shit that seems like an incredible dose. I thought I was on the high side at 6mg.

I don't know the exact dosage, but I used to take as many as eight as a time. I've had a ton of sleep issues in the past, and I ended up getting kinda messed up on this shit. I'm pretty sure it fucked with my brain chemicals and shit, as I ended up getting into a really deep depression that relented pretty quickly after I stopped taking the shit. I haven't taken any since.

It's bizarre, but I haven't had a dream in years (no idea why). I may have to give melatonin a try. It's about time to take care of my sleep deprivation problem in any case.

It's only supposed to work for circadian rhythm type sleep problems or something like that. Works really well for me though. I have a lot of trouble getting on a 24 hour rhythm -- been like that since I was a teenager and even before that I had trouble. Took 9mg last night and I had some crazier dreams. I remember being in a spaghetti western style town and the theme song from The Good, the Bad and the ugly played right before Indians attacked us. Then I was in a hot tub with George Leeman and we decided to drive across America to buy pounds of weed. Crazy fucking shit.

^yes!! Repped

Bench 145x3x5
Pull-ups 10, 8.5
Lying triceps extensions
Barbell pullovers

I hate training in the morning and will probably have to change this soon because I have zero energy. I got really scared because the fifth rep on my second set of bench was really hard. Took ample rest and got in a better, more stable position an the last set was a breeze. I think I may have done an extra rep. Got my feet closer to my body and used my legs a lot more. Haven't read much about how to bench properly but I can see some obvious things that are different in powerlifting bench technique. Don't think I'm going to ever use a crazy arch that hyperextends my spine but keeping options open. I have a lot to learn and a lot of strength to gain.

Pull-ups were really feeling the morning lack of energy.

I have the sense that my long tricep head is really weak. I kinda think this is why the bar will swing away off the floor when I DL. Pullovers with an empty bar seem like a huge weakness so ill keep training my triceps with these exercises. Also seems good for shoulder stability.

Depending on how my back feels (think i tweaked it by hyperextending on that skip landing) I may try for an easy 1RM DL on Friday to get an idea if where I'm at before embarking on sensible training that should see me through the next several months without any changes. Impossible to see what does what when I am so scatterbrained with my approach. In some ways this was intentional just to see how far I could come but this is not at a optimal and tends to lead to injury. I have a good idea of how to plan this. Regarding my knee I'm thinking the best thing to do is extremely slow tempo squats with long ass pauses. I have been doing a lot dive bombing in the past and I think this may be causing the plica to fold up or debris to get caught -- or whatever is in there. Again though it doesn't seem serious like a torn meniscus. Seems like dehydration may play a part too

. . .

Sad to see that Kyle has disengaged from the forum. For my own part i hope that I haven't done anything to the detriment of the club.

Edit: sucks typing this on my fone

Today/yesterday (depends how you look at it) I did these types of squats I mentioned in my last post as a demo day sort of thing. I need to log my achilles re/prehab better. Really wish there was a seated calf raise I could use but I can sort of make do with plates on my lap. Also palmed 4lbs medicine ball and tried to palm the 6 and 8 pounders. Prolonged static holds and also releasing the 4lbs ball and catching it with a quick isometric. Should make a difference when handling the ball. My hands a just a little to small to palm it but I'm thinking if I can get my strength up maybe I can do this. Think it will make a difference dribbling too. Whenever I (usually by mistake) pick up a women's ball and play around with it I feel like I have a lot more control. Thinking how nice it'd be if I was 6'6" with hands like dinner plates. . .

I am going to DL in two hours and I'm getting anxious about it. That's the main reason for posting actually. I'll just update this post with the results. My back feels a lot better. Not going to go for a 1RM (like I said I might) because I'd be a little disappointed with anything less than 405 and I don't think I can pull 405 because it's  90lbs heavier than the weight's I've been handling for reps from the floor. We'll see how 315x10+ goes.

. . .

Managed 315x13 and I think I could have even done another 1-2 reps. Only things to note are that I used straps and cheated so none of this counts; also, I surprised myself with a pretty nice quad pump about 1/2 - 2/3 of the way through the set. Definitely a different set-up than last week -- this week is much better. The bar does seem to swing away a little. That's about it. Pretty happy about it. Remembering that 2 weeks ago I was crying that I'd fail on 315x10!



Won't let me upload high quality videos which kinda sucks

Will wrote:

Sad to see that Kyle has disengaged from the forum. For my own part i hope that I haven't done anything to the detriment of the club.

He decided to take a short break and step back for a short while. He'll be back and it's nobody's "fault". I've discussed this with him, and things will be back to "normal" quickly. No need to worry.

11/1

OHP 105x3x5
BTN Sn press only one set (dude stole my spot no big deal)
Pull-ups 7 or 8 sets

11/2
Laying triceps ext with 65 lbs
Curls with 65 lbs
BTN Sn press another set
Barbell pullover 45 lbs

Upperbody is fun. Like doing an arm day on the weekend in addition to M-W-F bench & press progression. Nice to look in the mirror with a pump. No shame.

Just pulled 395 with straps. Couldn't break 415 off the floor. I tried 395 with no straps but my hands slipped. Kinda upset but this is 80lbs more weight than I've handled off the floor so I cant expect too much. Thinking my starting position was a little off. I've been up all night and shit is just feeling a little off. Disappointed on the whole.

Here's my plan of action for the next 12 weeks: training lower body 3 days a week. Each of these days devoted to something particular.

1. I've been jumping off this leg for about 6 months now and I made some alright progress since I had to start from scratch again after the herniation. Feeling burnt out mentally and physically. I want to take a break and come back in a little while. Most people jump higher off two legs and to be honest I'm getting really jealous that this dude Chris Hickson can jump so fucking high. So, I want to see if I can hit my head on the backboard with running two foot vertical jumps. I'm going to periodize SVJ -> Barbell VJ -> Depth Jumps -> Running two-foot take-offs attempting to hit my head on the foam pad. Each of these stages lasts three weeks. I'm excited to see how this works.

2. Going to DL 5x5 in a three week wave format (two steps forward, one step back). So, there's harmony in these three week stages. To help my DL and also with the bilateral jumps I'm going to try something a little taboo: partial squats from the pins! I will do this at the ankle and knee joints as my DL starting position and keep the stance the same (a little narrower than I would typically squat). It's more specific to this jumping I'm going to be doing also. Obviously the pins are to mimic the DEAD-lift so there is no stretch reflex. I'm thinking this will help my start off the floor.

3. My third day is just a bunch of miscellaneous rehab type stuff. I hope that this doesn't muddy my training too badly but it's stuff that needs to get done: achilles & calf work, long ass pause squats (LAPS?) with something like a 5-15-5 tempo, sum0 DL because it hits (hurts) part of my atrophied glute just the right way, and unilateral hip ext with a cable. I was doing these laying supine on a plyo box sort of like a ghetto reverse hyper but I think I will actually do them standing which never really occurred to me before but I think I like this better for a few reasons. Going to keep it pretty light on this day.

Bench 150x3x5 (may have done 4 on my first set$
Pull-ups 9
Laying triceps extensions 65x3x10 (I think)

Figuring out how to bench with my legs and a tight lower back. On my very last rep Ive been pausing for a very long time just because. Think I did a little too many pull ups on Friday so I just did one set today. Upperbody seems to be responding to this training nicely. Noticing a difference with no pump. Weighed 180 this morning. My appetite is ridiculous.

Think I need another week taking it easy before I get into this training (will start DL on Friday) Went to the CRWC this morning to do a final seance of one leg take off dunks to realize whatever super-compensation took place. Didn't video myself. Don't really like doing that. Camera is bad juju. Feels like I'm getting a little higher. Still a few inches off of what I want. I've been looking at the video I made two weeks ago and it looks like I'm putting the ball over the rim after I've reached the zenith and I'm already starting to come down. I should probably be going up with both hands on the ball but I just want to get this one handed dunk down. Won't matter when I'm jumping a little higher. I'm fluctuating between 180-185lbs throughout the day. . . missed like 10 3-pt shots before I started making them. I'm horrendous from behind the arc. One thing that I'm definitely noticing is that just in these few weeks since I started training my upperbody I'm feeling a lot more control with my arms above my head. This only makes sense. I noticed years ago that improved leg strength gave me way more balance. As a kid I could never walk on a balance beam or along the curb. It should be obvious that getting stronger arms and shoulders would help in an analogous way.

Shit I just realized that I repeated my last OHP workout instead of bumping it up 5lbs. Well I felt tremendously stronger anyway. Last time I came as close to failing my last rep last time as I think it is possible while still locking it out. Felt much-much-MUCH better today.

Press 105x3x5
Pull-ups 11
Laying triceps extensions 45x10, 65x2x10
BTN Sn press 65x2x10
Some barbell pullovers with 45lbs
Biceps curls 10x45lbs just cause. . .

Have been neglecting my log here. Main reason being that I don't want to dwell on or lament about mistakes I may have made or whatever. I screwed up my bench & press progression a little because I didn't write my previous weight down so I definitely need to keep logging.

S) Sticking with pause squats for a long while. Love the bounce though. We'll see what I can work up to with a pause. Need confidence back with this knee through the specific ROM.

B) Benched 170x2x5, 4 this morning. Some of the pauses were pretty iffy. Didn't think I was going to make the last rep so I racked it. Going to bump it up another 5 lbs next time and see how it goes. Think my energy wasn't quite there and I was a little hungover (doesn't take much these days). Think I have a lot to learn about this lift. I've heard it's the most technical lift which I might agree with at this early point. I'm pretty comfortable with squats/DLs because of my obsession with lower extremity extension strength.

D) Tomorrow is DL day and it's the peak of this 3 week wave. I'm also excited because I'll be in Madison tomorrow and I haven't been to Ford's since the summer. Not to mention my new belt arrived last week and I'll be using it for the first time. It's 30", single prong, 10mm in purple suede from Best Belts. I'm very happy with the workmanship. I like it much better than my other belt. Functionally it's a little different. I think the belt sorta rotates around the prong in the frontal plane because it's not fixed with another prong

Good to see you back.

As an aside, if the dude from the tennis center is who I think he is, he has now been banned from all rec services buildings for public masturbation  

wait wat

yes

winrar

Wow