531 - Chocolate Log

[macka]

I like it. I'll have to build one for my son to wear him out.

[tiramisu]

Cycle 3 is finally over.

I had an annoying incident with a welter weight asshole this morning as I started my bench workout so I ended up pushing some heaviers weights to blow off steam.

On the plus side my shoulder held strong all the way up and didn't wobble till the back off sets when I started to tire. Not much of a 1RM but my brain has become pussified.

The 255 felt extremely heavy going down sat on my chest like a lump and then I muscled it up. My postioning/form was good in both directions but my mental state simply sucked I didn't get any windup at all from the negative. It was a wierd feeling. I'm used to the problem being not strong enough and having my form break down. In this case it was like my nerves weren't firing despite my holding good form and having adequate strength.

I suppose it's mostly detraining from the shoulder injury but it was an odd feeling nonetheless

[tiramisu]

First 5 parts of a Dave Tate series on how to bench properly.

My technique improves every time I watch this kind of stuff.

http://articles.elitefts.com/article...you-can-bench/

[tiramisu]

This should be fun. 1 7/8" Fence Post Axle.

I'm seriously considered throwing together a pair of farmer's walk implements to augment the sled for medleys for conditioning work.

[tiramisu]

The body is an amazing connected system.

I was just playing with an empty bar and trying to rack the bar properly for a power clean or front squat.

I notice 2 things. My wrists are too tight and I can't get my elbows up.
Well lo and behold, my triceps are tight...
My lats won't release and my pecs are tight.
... and this leads me back to the root my darn shoulders.

No mobility.

Time for another round of rehab that I didn't realize I needed:
Wrist Flexor/Extensor stretches
Knobby ball rolling for my forearms
Triceps Stretches
Lat Stretches
Pec Stretches
Broom Stick Dislocates

I'll see how a round of 3x10 seconds twice a day for a few weeks goes.

Will keep working at it until I can properly rack a bar with my elbows parallel to the ground and then flip simple maintain it with regular proper racking in the front squat and power clean.

Not looking to be a yogi but full mobility in through my shoulders/back/chest into my arms seems like it would make my cranky shoulders a bit more bullet proof.

[tiramisu]

3 Kinds of HELL

5x320 was heavy. I'm pretty sure I'm good for another 10 pounds but I had to focus on form for every rep.

Boring but Big 5x10 @ 50% NOT. After 2 sets my legs were quivering, my head was bright red, and between pants for oxygen I generally felt like I was going to pass out.

4 Pulls of the sled. I was too tired to pass out. Heart pounding in the chest eyes closed and hoping for death.

My squat day has moved to an entirely new level. If I can adjust to the workload I'm hoping that this will also move my strength and conditioning to a new level. Either that or it will snap me like a twig, leave me broken and crying like a little girl.

[tiramisu]

Post beating....
Little to no doms. Hams and butt are bit tender but my legs actually feel good today.

Shoulders et al...
The shoulder mobility work also feels surprisingly good. Rolling the forearms and the lower bicep tendons with the ball with the spikey points on it has given me instant relief. I'm going to have to be careful/patient with the mobility work and not go to far into pain. Nonetheless when I do a quick run through the wrists, biceps, triceps, chest, lats and shoulders all the little bits add up to immediate relief.

Added some dynamic stretching with the gymnastics rings to the broomstick dislocates.

.... It would be nice not to be such a weak little pussy. I watched my favourite 200 pounder at the gym work up to deadlifting 3 sets of triples of 505 with a snatch grip and high hips last week, then proceed to do back off sets. I'm still traumatized. Must get stronger.

[tiramisu]

At the end of each cycle I'm going to start testing a 1RM for 1 of the lifts to see if this is actually working. At the end of cycle 4 I'm going to give my squat a shot. My 1RM at the beginning was 380. The program has me with an estimated 1RM of 415 in cycle 4 and my PR is a weak 400 @ 250 back in december before I started dieting and after 6 weeks of heavy singles.

I'll call 400 a success and 415 a big thumbs up for the program and anything over 415 a minor miracle.

I'm not convinced max out on a lift once every 4 months will have any benefit but 5/3/1 has no peaking cycle attached to it and I kind of miss lifting for PR's.

... Something I've been wondering about is whether a peaking cycle every x months is beneficial to long term strength development or not. On one hand I think that overreaching on a lift and developing the peak strength would be beneficial and that even the simple act of program change would drive more adaption BUT on the other hand I think that peaking for 6 weeks and overreach would add significant recovery time on the tail end and either have me end up in the same place as slow and steady or potentially with less overall progress. I can rationalize either argument because I have no clue what I'm talking about.

I should probably ask someone smarter than me.

[tiramisu]

Another day at the office....

Presses went very well today. Bar went up and down.

I've deloaded fairly dramatically on the dips and pullups. Still getting a hell of a pump but the elbows and the shoulder aren't feeling any strain. I'll work my way back up slowly and play it by ear. I really like the combination of exercises in this workout but I need to be careful not to overtrain the two joints.

[tiramisu]

Lost my grip on my last set of deadlifts and had to switch to over/under for my last 2 reps.

The workout went obscenely quick today. Lot's of gas and very little rest needed between sets. Even the tire drag was completely tolerable today.