Entry #810

http://l3loodfist.xanga.com/204630032/item/

I was weird at 17. Funny how things haven't changed five years later because I had every intention to do a hardcore ME session today, but my weakling shoulder wasn't up to the job. I haven't the slightest idea where that came from.

Entry #809

Someone called me a "robot" today just when I thought I was losing my (cold, ironclad) touch. I was beginning to miss it. I love the smell of self-cast aspersions in the morning.

Let's see, last night I went running and it sucked, which ruled. I'm incrementally adding on more and more sprinting to various parts of the usual route - in particular and without coincidence, right where that one bar that always has karaoke hour going on is. I get the hell out of there real fast.

Today sucked, too. My core is pathetic. I only managed 235 x 1 on push press (failed the first rep, got the second) and on the eccentric my spine felt like an accordion when absorbing the impact of the bar landing down. There was no pain on that in and of itself but from what is likely the consequence of the entire session I can barely even bend my back right now. I'd go so far as to say I did better last week, too. My abdomen didn't feel strong or stable at all, which is my fault for blowing off lower body days. On the other hand, maybe I'm expecting too much. I've lost 30 lbs., after all, and my waist isn't nearly as thick as it used to be. I definitely can't jump into heavy GMs or anything tomorrow, though, if I'm even able to lift at all.

Edit: 6:54 AM, can't fucking sleep because of this weakling back.

Entry #808

"A worm looks up at the sky and sees God. A man looks down at his hands and sees ambition."

I am hooked on Bioshock, even though I dislike Ayn Rand.

Training is going consistently, although my diet isn't faring quite so well. I'm down to 220 lbs. yet I'm slowly gaining back strength, so are things really going so badly? Protein intake is regular, just very meager. Maybe I'm unknowingly cutting right this time.

43 days

Entry #807

It's ridiculous how little I update just because I'm on an ascension to regain strength I already had.

Entry #806

Well, lifting stats seem to have steadied as my cardio continues to improve. I'm still not eating enough, and to make matters harder, I've decided to stay off the weightgainer for awhile. $45 a month is just getting stupid.

I was vainly taking some mirror pictures in the fitting room when I was buying clothes today and I don't really look as weak as I thought I may have. These are the first shirtless pictures I've published in years.

Entry #805

Shit, I'm down to 225 lbs. I'm much weaker, too. Tuesday I benched 295 for 2. Yikes. Welcome back to 3 years ago. Just a few weeks earlier I did 315 for 3 and that was considered a drop.

At least my cardio is through the fucking roof.

Entry #804

I went running through my usual route of downtown and back. Nothing really eventful on that note.

Entry #803

George called me up to go hiking. Now, last year at this time we went up to Castle Rock and to our complete surprise it was snowing there, which made for an awesome trek - one of the best I've been on. We stayed overtime and got issued a ticket by the ranger for staying past dark, which is the mark of real men since we could have died according to the officer.

None of that this Christmas. It was as sunny as a Pixar movie and the place was CROWDED. What the hell. Where did all these godless heathens who don't celebrate Christmas come from? George and I even ran into a girl we knew from high school among the horde. When asked about what I'm doing these days I told her I'm a mercenary for hire. She just stared at me. After that George told me, "Uh, next time we talk to a girl you probably shouldn't tell her you're a mercenary, or you'll weird her out." Fine by me. But we ended up leaving early because all the people were ruining the hike. Instead we hung out at my place and played Einhander on Playstation, which kicked ass. I count that as mental training.

Did I mention I hate Christmas?

Entry #802

I hate Christmas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YLSFeygx3A

Went out to the track at night and did TFS instead.

Entry 801

I ordered a foam roller off Amazon for $20.

20. Fucking. Dollars. For a piece of FOAM. Apparently, though, it's specially molded with ExervoTM Nimbus Foam polyurethane microbeads compressed under heavy pressure and expertly crafted with a hot wire cutter. If all of this extra bullshit translates into anything less than being able to use it as a rocket launcher then I'm already disappointed. Seriously, though, those things do work for those of us not inclined to get sports massages and need something similar for home use (so are rocket launchers).

To sum things up, yesterday I floor pressed 315x3 and 325x2 (after a work-up). Pathetic. And tonight, I went for a run.

Entry 800

Went drinking tonight. I didn't get drunk; drinking gets me'd. George and I were simply out about town and he insisted on buying me a beer after I wasted my money on the Playstation Network download-renting a shitty, shitty movie (Big Man Japan). I said why not, so we walked over to Boulevard Tavern, some biker place. It sucked, hard. Beer is vile, vile shit. I didn't make a scene about it or anything - really, it didn't taste any different from what I expected it to. It was just A. distasteful, and B. fucking boring. Seriously, I thought bikers were supposed to be badass, not fat old men trying desperately to hit on the bartender. Anyways, last time I ever do that, that's for sure. I felt no change coming out of the bar than I did going in, by the way, but I didn't drink a great deal.

I was a bit stunned that George even asked me to begin with. Actually, there are a lot of changes about him that surprise the hell out of me, but I don't feel right talking about them behind his back here.

Entry 799

I'm still alive. I haven't been sitting around like a sedentary weakling, either. Conditioning has been way up, but I've been lifting about once a week at best. Consequently, my strength is way down and I've lost 15 lbs.

Pictures from Friday, doing martial arts in a parking lot:





I lifted today pathetically, doing OH press with 205x1. Jesus. There will be blood.

Entry #798

I've been feeling dreadful for some unknown reason. For the past few days my stomach has been in pain and I haven't been able to eat much, although I force what I can.

For Thanksgiving today and I went out for a run through downtown at night. I give thanks to my Viking ancestors for giving me tree-trunk legs.

Entry #797

I've began supplementing with Animal Flex, even though my wrist has been in no pain as of late. As I was reading the nutritional info, I couldn't help but notice:

"Other ingredients: shark cartilage"

Holy shit. Now I'm sure that's some filler additive that you don't want to find in your pills, but to hell with that. That rules. So with this as my inspiration I designed my own supplement ad in Microsoft Paint (this is 100% free hand, you propagandist dogs).

Entry #796

ME upper

Push-press:
135x3
165x3
185x3
205x3
225x3
235x1.5
> Holy suckage. I can't tell, though, whether I've lost strength from my extra two days off or if my coordination is out of sync. Next week should prove interesting.

I also did dips today for the supplementary movement, albeit without weight.

My wrist is feeling prime, but I'm still wrapping it and plan on taking Animal when it arrives. I should be able to do bag work by simply omitting left hooks and saving that hand for jabs.

Entry #795

Badass, I managed to do ME yesterday, albeit at what would normally be counted as sub-par, by my standards. Either I've lost some strength (definitely not a good thing at my heaviest body weight yet) or I wasn't able to take full advantage of my grip; either way, I pushed 335x2 for floor press. I think I did 330x3...six months ago, at the earliest. Or maybe I'm really strong on the bench press now and I just haven't been progressing on this lift, separately.

I'm looking at joint supplements to order and I've settled on Animal Flex. We'll see how this turns out.

I really want to hit the heavy bag but my wrist wasn't feeling very good after I did last Sunday, so I have no choice but to back off there.

Entry #794

I'm sore everywhere, so earlier I walked to the gym and spent about 30 minutes stretching and an additional 10 minutes using a foam roller for a self-administered massage. Except I don't do pussy massages. This hurt.

After the girlie stuff I did three rounds on the bag and then tried out the elliptical, which I couldn't do more than four minutes of because my quads were dead.

Entry 793

I returned to doing legs tonight after an unfortunate week off from them. My legs get sore quickly when this happens; consequently, I was feeling the pain only at around 225 on front squats today. I managed to soldier on and do 315x3 with no struggle.

My wrist was in a lot of pain on Thursday from handling 100 lb. dumbbells. Pushing them was fine but hoisting them applied too much torque on the joint. I terminated the workout and returned on Friday to do weighted push-ups for RE with my wrist wrapped. Lots of pressure with the weight plus my body resting on my hands, but since it was distributed straight through there was no pain. I just need to be smart about this.

Entry 792

Whoa, who jacked up my numbering? No idea how I got back into the 400s.

A week later, my wrist still hurts. It's not a constant discomfort, but I can feel slight aches and pains when I do things like pull on something or shake my hand around. I haven't the slightest idea what this is about. Originally, I was planning on cautiously going for ME tomorrow and terminating the build-up at the sign of any pain, but if I can already feel it now, why aggravate it? Instead I'll probably do RE, which strangely puts me on the same route that Jared is taking with his regimen.

I'll be more consistent with taking fish oil and if this doesn't clear up soon, I might spring for a joint supplement like glucosamine. Important thing is to train smart about it and not let this take my progress down.

Entry #791

Took a week off because my wrist was hurting on ME day last session. I had to cut board press short on 275.

My diet has been lazy. RE upper body was the same as last week but my reps are less. It may be because of shorter rest times, but I can't be positive about it.

I'm getting unacceptably fat. This is not a ripped 250 by any means. I'm going to massively up the cardio. I've suffered losses when cutting before and I know what I'm doing this time. Weight loss will be extremely slow and gradual with a lot of calories still being consumed. Most of the fat seems to be visceral, which sucks and will be harder to get rid of. Consequently, I have a strange six-pack gut.

Entry 490

RE upper

Dumbbell press:
100 lb. dumbbells x 13
100 lb. dumbbells x 9
100 lb. dumbbells x 7
80 lb. dumbbells x 8
60 lb. dumbbells x 11

I started writing everything else out but ended up deleting it. I don't even keep track of the weight used for accessory stuff anymore, I just eye what looks good.

Entry 489

ME lower

Front squats:
135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 3
295 x 3
305 x 3
315 x 1
> Obviously, I wanted all triples but it's still not bad for the first time. I mostly had to cut it off in the last set because the weight was about to roll off my shoulders. Need to learn snatch grip.

Glute ham raises:
25 lbs. x 10
25 lbs. x 10
25 lbs. x 10
25 lbs. x 10

Calf raises

Ball crunches

Wrist rollers

Entry 488

I've been training early and feeling too tired to even remember about recording anything by the end of the day. Notable hits:
> Push-pressed 245 lbs. x 3.
> Attained 250 lbs. bodyweight.
> Did bagwork last week.

Today:

DE upper

Power cleans:
135 x 3
135 x 3
135 x 3
185 x 3
185 x 3
185 x 3
185 x 3
185 x 3
185 x 3
185 x 3

Cable pressdowns:
Entire stack x 12
x 10
x 8
x 8

Chest flyes:
50 lb. dumbbells x 12
50 lb. dumbbells x 12
50 lb. dumbbells x 12

Bent-over rows:
220 x 8
220 x 8
220 x 8
220 x 8
185 x 12

Curls. Whatever.

Power shrugs:
405 x 10
405 x 10

Entry #487

Yesterday was miserable, but it was ultimately for the greater good. Unable to sleep, I stayed up all night and day until crashing at 7:30 PM. Even then I didn't really sleep soundly, waking up at odd intervals throughout the morning, but by 8 I was finally well-rested enough to get up. Thus, my schedule is early again, and I like it this way. I ate an actual breakfast instead of drinking weightgainer and practiced martial arts in my backyard in the morning air.

Full speed ahead.

Entry #486

ME upper

Push press:
95 lbs. x 3
135 lbs. x 3
165 lbs. x 3
185 lbs. x 3
205 lbs. x 3
215 lbs. x 3
230 lbs. x 3
> Absurdly easy, but it was my first time doing this for ME. I thought my coordination would suck and that it wouldn't be any higher than my strict press, but I completely underestimated myself. Next week I'll go to at least 240.

Close-grip bench press:
220 lbs. x 8
220 lbs. x 8
220 lbs. x 8

Bent-over flyes:
45 lb. dumbbells x 10
45 lb. dumbbells x 10

Chin-ups:
x 10
x 8
x 6
x 5
> I'm not stressing adding weight now. I'm 245 lbs. and this is enough to challenge me. I'm working more on keeping a full ROM.

Hammer curls:
Who cares

Entry #785

Tuesday sucked harder than a...nevermind. Analogies here will not be appropriate.

Overhead pressed 215 and barely hit 2 reps. What the hell?

My postulations:

1. Too much RE and not enough DE. Felt sluggish. I always respond better to speed work anyways but lately I've been doing weeks of endurance training instead.

2. I can't remember what I was thinking for this.

3. Now I remember. Not enough variations on it. For bench I do pin press, rack lockouts, board press, and floor press. For overhead pressing I just do...it itself. I need to try push pressing and perhaps overhead pin press/rack lockouts.

 Also, I should try doing singles every now and then like in my old Westside routine. I made great gains off it but I would feel burned out after a bit. Integrating it in with 5-3 would work.

Today was great, though. I did power cleans for DE. Tate press for 8 was with a record 90 lb. dumbbells.

Off-topic: a few years ago I posted my purchase of a Hori Real Arcade Pro. I sold it later on and regretted it. Finally, I have a stick again.

Entry 784

ME upper

Bench press:
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x3
325x1
330x3
> On the 325 I set the safety bars slightly high in case of failure. It ended up backfiring from them being too far up and the bar consequently clashed into the metal on the second rep, effectively killing my drive. 330 redeemed it.

Bradford press:
135
135
95
> I didn't even count.

Cable extensions

Pull-ups

Entry #783

Yesterday kicked ass. I trained with Andrew again by doing box squats while he opted for speed deadlifts right next to me. I realized that the gym bands I've been using are actually of different tensions. You know, I seriously thought that the bar felt uneven last time but chalked it up to paranoia on the scale of believing that baby carrots are trying to turn me gay. I didn't have my own ones with me so I tried to compensate by having one of the safety bars come out of the slot to stick up a little high, reducing some of the pressure from the stronger band.

I think I found the perfect set-up for box squats. I start with five plates on the low stool. Up to 5 sets I incrementally remove one until I'm just doing ATG on the platform. After about three sets the extreme height (Andrew remarked in surprise at the set-up WITH the plates stacked that it was amazingly low) gets my knees to really feel it, so I put a few plates back on and remove the bands for two final super fast and reasonably deep sets. The sensation of "pop" after removing the bands is insane, and that's what DE is all about: supercompensation.

Afterwards, I did the deepest 225 lb. good mornings I've ever done. My depth has always been a little suspect so a few weeks ago I backed down to 135 and added resistance bands. I also made sure to use the safety bars to gauge depth. Now I go down to a perfect bend with 225 for 8. Unfortunately, by the third set I was so worn that I managed 2 reps before I stopped to prevent potential injury and knocked it down to 135. Without mercy, we moved on to GHRs. My reps were ugly as sin, by this point.

My back is still fried. Today, though, was no break.I started by doing bagwork at the gym using their shitty gloves that constantly kept coming undone and my Everlast timer. All I did was 3 rounds for 3 minutes, but I was sore all over and my intensity was good for that kind of a condition. I did a lot of stretching beforehand.

Post-gym, I jogged home and had no discomfort despite weighing a record 245. Actually, I felt more spry than ever. From there I swam laps in the pool.

Entry #782

There goes another week.

Today, though, resulted in a very interesting development. I was at my station, facefisting myself and getting ready to lift when Andrew (old middle school acquaintance) walked in and started chatting with me. We were talking about Westside and I complained about how the Cross Fit bastards have the fenced-off area all to themselves and I can't use the GHR in there. Andrew laughs and leads me over to the lock. When he looks around to make sure nobody is watching I figure he's going to hop the fence or something, but he reaches over and moves the entire door out of the way. It's not even attached to the fence! Good going, assholes. Looks like I have free reign whenever I want. Groovy.

He also told me about this competition in L.A. and invited me to come along. It's in December. That'd rule.

ME upper

Pin press:
135 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 3
335 x 3
355 x 3
375 x 2
> Shit.

I was trying to record all the other stuff I did, but I don't even remember how much I did for most of them. I was in a frenzy.

Entry #781

Computer problems, etc. I haven't missed a day of training, much to the disappointment of my enemies.

ME lower

Reverse-band deadlifts:
135 x 3
225 x 3
315 x 3
405 x 3
465 x 3
495 x 3
> Damnation. I wanted to go up to at least 525 but I ran out of time. None of this was challenging.

I did one set of band good mornings and some wrist rollers. All in all, I greatly underestimated the time it would take.

Entry 780

Took a week off from lifting. It wasn't intentional at first, but eventually I just decided to go with it and take advantage of skipped workouts. I came back stronger than ever today, which was miraculous. I didn't eat enough carbs in the meal before my workout. Blood glucose levels felt low and hands were shaky. Luckily, I had a bottle of BCAAs in my bag, which help prevent catabolism. The first few sets felt weak, but I become stronger as time passed.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMourQz9Ptc

Pin press:
135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 3
340 x 3
365 x 3
> Very strange exercise. It starts getting strenuous at 315 and then everything past that feels the same. Probably just a matter of getting used to it. I didn't warm-up too extensively.

Tate press:
85 lb. dumbbells x 10
x 8
x 7

Front plate raises:
45 lb. plate x 10
x 8

Gym closed. Chin-ups and abs at the track.

Entry #779

ME upper

Bench press:
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 5
295 x 5
315 x 4.5
> Damnation! Very close to lockout. While I was struggling under the bar I twinged my back slightly. I have to remember to think about pressing myself down into the bench rather than the weight up and out, to prevent lifting my glutes whenever I'm in a bind.

Skullcrushers:
55 lb. dumbbells x 8
45 lb. dumbbells x 8
45 lb. dumbbells x 8
40 lb. dumbbells x 8
> Very light to keep perfect form. I went as deep as possible and kept my elbows in.

Front plate raises:
45 lb. plate x 8
3 sets

Seated cable rows:
180 lbs. x 10
4 sets
> Extremely short rests in the interest of time.

Muscle Milk came a couple of days ago. I used the first one today when I woke up (not intentionally) after three hours of sleep. I chugged the carton and went back to bed.

Entry #778

This guy was stuck behind some shelves in my dad's garage:









What a dumb bird.

Anyways, I do have a pension for zoology and know that throwing bread and berries in a box is not ideal feeding for a juvenile sparrow. I'm not as naive as I was in Canada at age 4 when we found an injured pigeon (by a cat) and tried to nurse it back to health, only to fail miserably before it died from a combination of starvation and being left outside in the cold. My biggest contribution then was to draw a bird's foot and cut it out with scissors to place in its box so it would have a place to put its foot. Remember, I was 4.

If it survives the night, I think I might take it to a wildlife reserve nearby. My level of compassion will depend on how hungry I am.

Entry #777

DE upper

Power cleans:
135 x 3
3 sets
185 x 3
5 sets
> I found a pretty good deadlift exercise with these. On my off-days, I'll practice reaching down for the bar quickly while keeping an arch to get used to the idea of an immediate start.

Close-grip bench press:
215 x 10
215 x 10
215 x 8

Cable flyes

Inverted cable rows:
12 reps, unknown weight
> These rule. I just align a bench underneath a lat pulldown machine. Credit must go to Emevas for inspiring a similar idea done with bands on his bench a couple of years ago that I've always remembered.

Curl

Entry #776

Today was pretty low volume.

DE lower

Overhead squats:
135 x 2
10 sets

Romanian deadlifts:
325 x 8
2 sets

Calf raises:
I don't even feel like recording this one.

I ended with a couple of forearm things. I've always seen people use wrist rollers with a weenie 5 lb. weight on it. I tried it with 25 lbs. and it massacred my forearms. For the last set I went down to 10 lbs. to avoid having to rest in the middle of the pull. I also did a set of hexagonal dumbbell pinches.

Entry #775

ME upper

Floor press:
135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 3
330 x 3
340 x 2
> Failed. I'm going to tattoo "STAY TIGHT" on both eyeballs because I'm habitually slipping up and staying too lax without breathing forcefully enough.

Bradford press:
135 x 7
135 x 6
95 x 5
45 x 5
> Good progress here. I want to work up to all sets being 135 x 8 with these short rest times I'm employing. This is a real shoulder killer.

Tate press:
80 lb. dumbbells x 5
80 lb. dumbbells x 5
45 lb. dumbbells x 5
> Tris were dead. Extremely short rest times.

Chin-ups and abs at the track.

Entry #774

Went for an intense swim tonight. There were no fat couples that came in after me and softly cooed to each other while groping under the water, so all is peaceful and righteous.

Entry #773

Some diet things to note. I ordered a 4-pack of Muscle Milk from Amazon for $7. It's affordable. I've been sleeping less continuously, so whenever I wake up to use the restroom I can take advantage of the situation and get some protein in the middle of my slumber.

I'm going to need it because this awesome chili I've been relying on - over 500 calories and 30 grams of protein in a quick snack form - is meatless. It's all tofu and soybeans. Fucking hell, those scammers. I'm still going to buy it but will depend on it less. Seriously, this chili is for pussies. "A flavorful Mexican sauce, for those who want the taste of chili, but not the heat." Um, don't speak for me, thanks. And nice comma insertion there. Assholes. I never really read the packaging because I assumed that I could eat freaking chili without having to worry about anything.

Entry #772

More internet problems. It's just something I'll have to contend with.

I've done a lot of excellent work this past week. I recorded some of my day on Tuesday in the form of an instructional video for some people on GameFAQs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K572x-FLLvI

Today, I did crazy bells with actual kettlebells, for once. I was going to do speed bench but since the Crossfit area was open, I figured I might as well make use of the equipment while they last. The one thing I'm really sore about is not having regular access to the glute ham raise machine, but who knows now? The fence has been unlocked all this week, so maybe it'll stay that way. They also had a ton of quality stuff in there, like boards (which I already have) and bands (weaker ones than my own, but more springy and probably better for benching). Of course, there was everything I already had and nothing like chains or trap bars, but I was impressed otherwise.

Entry #771

I wasn't able to record much last week due to computer problems, but there were some great sessions. For the first time I did depth jumps instead of squats for dynamic effort, holding onto 35 lb. dumbbells to jump on a high waist-high ledge. I'll continue to ramp up the weight.

ME upper

Floor press:
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5
325 x 4
> The 315 set fucked me up. I was too high under the bar to I was pushing low off my chest. I had to hold it up after the first rep while I adjusted, which made me lose my arch.

Entry #770

Some of today's stuff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phs6JtSNXvo

I finally hit 225 x 3 on OH press.

I'm taking BCAAs for the first time (they taste like shit) and am reloading on creatine.

Entry #769

Christ. I was walking down the street, fresh out of gym and lost in thought about whether Stalinism was actually a logical culmination of communism and not a distortion of true Trotsky teaching, ala Leszek Kolakowski's thesis in his book, when I finally couldn't stand to ignore the god-awful scene across the street: Hotel Los Gatos (one of those richy-rich suites) blasting Living on a Prayer while people danced outside and on the balcony. Capitalist dogs. Needless to say, I picked up my pace and got the hell out of there. Actually, I ducked into this one street by the school that's notorious for druggies hanging out and smoking in the hopes that I could harass some punks, but nobody was there.

RE upper

Dumbbell press:
90 lb. dumbbells x 15
90 lb. dumbbells x 12
90 lb. dumbbells x 9
75 lb. dumbbells x 9
55 lb. dumbbells x 12
> I should definitely start heavy and lower off from now on. Doing it oppositely tires me out on the light stuff.

Overhead cable pressdowns:
4 x 10

Cable crossovers:
3 x 8

Bent-over barbell rows (underhand):
215 lbs. x 8
4 sets

Dumbbell preacher curls:
55 lb. dumbbell x 8
3 sets

Hise shugs:
315 lbs. x 15
3 sets

Entry #768

I have no food. I need to go shopping tomorrow.

At least I saved on some money by paying $60 for fish oil, dextrose, and BCAAs online. At Whole Foods, I'd have paid $50 for the same bottle of oil.

Entry #767

I went swimming on Sunday, which was intense enough to be classified as actual exercise, and then took it easy yesterday with stretching and some practice kicks in the grass of the track area. I was feeling a bit worn and needed the recovery.

Overhead press today: 215 x 3. It would seem I'm stuck.

Entry #766

I went to the gym early today for a long DE session. The closed section's fence (an indoor chain-link fence for no reason - how stupid) was open so I got to mess around with the kettleballs, two of which I swiped and hid in the regular room for when I do crazy bells later. The wall was painted with "CROSSFIT LOS GATOS". I should print out the anti-CrossFit article I have and tape it on the wall. Marked on whiteboards were the top records of whatever this all was, and I was equal to or stronger than most of them. One insane guy had a 600 lb. deadlift and another sported 40 pull-ups, but I posit myself equal to the 360 lb. bench (second place was only 305) and definitely above the 455 lb. squat.

DE upper

Shotguns:
10x3
> These are the barbell variation of "dumbbell shotput" in this link: http://www.rossboxing.com/thegym/thegym25.htm
Since I'm not actually throwing the barbell like I would with a dumbbell, though, as an actual shotput, so I'm renaming it shotGUN for no logical reason. Fuck logic.

I did a ton of other, less important stuff. It was productive, though. After my shake, I swam around in the pool.

My left hand hurts on the left-most knuckle under the pinky. It's from clenching so hard on plate pinches a few days ago.

Entry #765

Yesterday was a productive DE with front squats. The last time I stretched, I strained too far going past my toes and suffered some mild back pain as a result of contraindication, so I did glute ham raises instead of RDLs despite feeling up to par for the most part. I was much stronger on them than before - I have to chalk this up to all the sprinting. Also, I did calf raises with eight plates on each side but received no soreness whatsoever from it compared to five from last time.

Tonight, I headed over to the track and did the usual 30 minutes of stretching and form practice before playing soccer in the grass. Everyone wasting away on a monotonous treadmill needs to jump off and just run around outside like a kid again. This was basically an equivalent of HIIT but on a more hospitable surface to my joints. I see it as a staple from now on.

Coming across a tire in the grass made me think about ordering a sledgehammer to use on it. I'll check Home Depot first.

All back pain is completely eradicated.

Entry #764

Take that, insomnia. Yesterday was miserable. I couldn't find sleep the night before and was up until 1:30 PM before finally crashing - only to wake up a couple of hours later at 4:30 because of the heat. I felt worn and tired all day, and the joints in my right arm were sore, for some reason. I felt like a festering pile of weakling.

Today, I caught decent sleep, woke up with the pain completely healed, and managed to put up 350 x 3 on pin press. Easily

Entry #763

My calves still feel like they have steak knives jammed into them. This would be awesome if I actually did, but the way they are, I have the worst of both worlds: debilitating pain without the actual knives (as far as being fashionable is concerned).

I went to the track tonight but wasn't able to run as efficiently as I would have liked. I mostly just kicked around a soccer ball on the field after static stretches. My legs loosened up a bit and I found a lot of value in this from a mobility standpoint. There were also a couple of tires layed out in the grass, which I'm thinking about taking home with me.

Entry #762

I've been training more than ever, but have been so tired at night that I haven't really felt like making any recordings. Thursday saw lots of track conditioning, specifically HIIT. On Friday I did DE for legs, starting with overhead squats (which are much improved - I went ATG on some reps). Saturday involved upper body training with a barbell anchored into a corner for one-handed push-presses, which was very conducive to punching form. Tonight, I went to the track and ran around in the grass to stretch my legs out. Speaking of which, I've been doing static stretches on every night that I haven't lifted.

Shocker: I used the leg press machine on Thursday, doing calf raises for the first time in years. I threw four plates on each side, felt nothing, added an additional one to make five, and went with three sets of 15. It wasn't difficult, but now I'm sore enough to limp when I walk.

Entry #761

ME upper

Overhead pin press:
135 x 5
165 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 4.5
215 x 2.5
> Abysmal, but that's okay. They're new, and much harder than I anticipated - harder than the standard overhead press, to me. There isn't the drive off the shoulders I can get when starting deep.
> Sticking point is high up.

Afterward, I did a set of Bradford press with 135, since I'd fallen short on sets and couldn't get up to 225 on pin press. I like them a lot. There's constant tension. I made sure not to lower too low, but I may have overdone it and gone too shallow behind the head. Set right on the ears.

Close-grip bench press:
205 x 8
205 x 8
205 x 8
> Right shoulder hurt, initially. Need a better warm-up, next time.

Weighted pull-ups:
45 x 6
45 x 6
45 x 5

Cable curls

I'm learning to balance exercises more proficiently. From now on, pulling will be on the same plane as pushing in a given session. Pull-ups today completely healed my shoulder.