Cal's Big Log

Training
161

Cheers. Well I’m less stressed because I’ve got the parent thing out of the way for a bit. I’m not doing Christmas with them so to make up for that, I’ve arranged for a local chef to prepare a Christmas dinner for them, which she’ll deliver on Christmas Eve and they can heat up on Christmas Day. Hopefully it’ll be worth the money.

Just back from the dentist though and she agreed I needed a crown, so that’s £436 (ouch). She’s a really nice dentist though so I always trust her with my teeth, but damn it, that’s the second crown this year (the other was an old one that needed replacing).

Looking forward to hitting the gym tomorrow and working off some stress.

162

Ahh Geez Cal! Sorry to hear about all that crap! And the worst part is, there is not a damn thing you can do about it… you know? That is something that I do NOT look forward to… my parents getting older. I am so close to them that I am not sure how I will handle it.

It’s hard to find a balance between taking care of them and spending time with them and still living your life… Anyway… I don’t want to keep moaning on about it… and I am just rambling about my fears… but just thought I would stop by and let you know that I am thinking about you and your family. And Cheers to your stiff drink! I’ll make it a double!

163

Cheers back at you. Tough thing for me is that I’m an only child, so they pretty much are relying on me. Anyway, on to today’s bizarro news.

My boss recently instituted an employee of the month scheme. We’re a small company (games industry recruitment firm) and the recession had hit us quite hard so no bonuses this year, so I guess this was his new way to motivate and inspire us. Way it works is we all vote for the person we think deserves it most. Can’t vote for ourselves, and can’t win it two months running. But as it’s the first time we’ve done this, we don’t have to worry about the latter.

So we all put our votes in and then gathered around to find out who’d one. Unanimous winner was (with all but one vote, since you can’t vote for yourself)…drumroll…me? I was very surprised, given that I’d come close to being sacked earlier in the year for poor job performance. Even my boss voted for me. I have to say I feel a bit bemused.

Workout (done before work) was OK.

Lots of warming up (as it’s turned cold) - plate pushes, shoulder stuff, hyperextensions, blah blah blah.

Bench:

1 x 40 x bar (was pressing it to different areas to mobilise my shoulder)
1 x 10 x 30kg (66lbs)
5 x 4 x 62.5kg (138lbs)

I’d done 5x5 with 60kg last week. Amazing how much harder 2.5kg (5.5lbs) can make it. I don’t think 5 sets of 4 is a bad first attempt, though. Will keep working at this.

Deadlift:

2 x 5 x 60kg (132lbs) Sumo
2 x 5 x 70kg (154lbs) Sumo
1 x 3 x 80kg (176lbs) Regular
1 x 1 x 90kg (198lbs) Regular

I was aiming for form, rather than weight - trying not to round my back (which is hard considering I tend to round it for hours every day at the computer). Tried sumo to avoid lower back problems but it feels very unnatural to me, and my niggly left hamstring really doesn’t like it. So switched back to regular. Soon as I felt my back rounding I stopped each set, hence the low reps.
All time best deadlift is something like 254lbs, early in 2007. Had some problems last year and couldn’t deadlift at all, and started getting back into it again recently. Best recent lift was 242lbs for one rep but my form was so horrible I made an instructor cry out in anguish. So, on the basis that I’d rather not be in a wheelchair when I’m older, I’m going back to basics and getting the form down before I progress. Rather like some other people here, I think.

Dumbell rows

3 x 5 x 30kg (66lbs)

One arm push-ups

Left: 2 x 3 reps
Right: 2 x 2 reps

Don’t know why my right arm is weaker when I’m right handed, but it is, and the ROM isn’t as good. Odd one. Will keep working this as I like to bust out the GI Jane routine to let the guys at work know they’re my bitches.

On another note, my dipping belt arrived in the post today (along with my new Chucks and a gourmet chocolate advent calendar - fuck it it’s Christmas) so will give this a good testing soon. Probs not tomorrow, though, as upper half needs to recover from the benching.

164

One arm pushups!? I hate you! That is definitely one of my next goals after the new year. Love the employee of the month story. :slight_smile:

165

oh cal, have another drink, and a chocolate, on me!

congrats on employee of the month, even if it didnt mean the world to you… they like you, they REALLY like you! haha.

badass 1arm pushups. I’ve squeezed a few out here and there, but never multiple sets like that.

eagerly waiting for how you like your dipping belt!

166

Congrats on the recognition. It is always good to have the respect of your co-workers, and if the boss likes you – score!

I agree thata 5 lbs. can make all the difference between do-able and impossible. You know that was a solid benching effort – 5 sets means you are really progressing.

Sumo isn’t for everyone. Pulling that way is certainly saving my lower back, but my inner thigh (adductors??) are getting a super workout. I try to at least pull 135# off the floor conventional style when I’m putting the bar on the rails to unload the plates. Mixes it up a little which can’t be bad. Join the crowd pulling back on weight as we work on form.

You can row 36 kg?!?!? Bitch. I probably couldn’t lift that dumbbell out of the rack.

167

Heh I can row 30kg - I think 36 might prove a bit of a challenge at this point. Main challenge with the 30 is grip, but I persevere because my grip does need to improve.

CBear - Yes I guess I am pleased to be employee of the month - I just wasn’t expecting it, let alone winning by such a clear margin. True, I’ve had a couple of good months but everyone else works hard there. It does mean I’m off my boss’s shit list, though, which is a good thing.
Pleased to report the December 1st chocolates were cinnamon truffles. Om nom nom.

168

who ya gonna spend Christmas with? :frowning:

It always makes me sad for my mom, cause she’s single and always gets voted to work so others can spend time with there family…

169

[quote]
Will keep working this as I like to bust out the GI Jane routine to let the guys at work know they’re my bitches. [/quote]
^^^^^^^^^^^
that’s money…

Cal-sorry about your crown…ouch in the mouth and the pocket. congrats on your employee of the month-you rock!

what a tough situation you have with your parents, that must be really hard. i’m thinking of you…i don’t know what’s worse, dealing with that or not having them at all (my situation) hang in there!

must i keep repeating kudos to your ridiculous one arm push-ups, sic benching AND your 30+kg rows!!! that’s dreamy…

170

Thanks for the support, peeps. I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with it when one of them (the parents) dies - because the one left behind is going to need help. I’m trying not to think about it too much at this point, but it’s only a matter of time, really.

So, onto more cheerful stuff. Or at least, today’s trip to the gym.

Warm-up - plate pushes, hypers, the usual.

Hip Thrusts (Shoulders on bench)

3 x 10 x 60kg (132lbs)

Was going to squat first but there was a guy doing upright rows in the power rack with 40kg. sigh

Squats

10 x bar
12 x 40kg (88lbs)
8 x 45kg (99lbs)
6 x 50kg (110lbs)

Front Squats

3 x 10 x bar

Doing these for the first time so just concentrating on not falling forwards and not dropping the bar. I have bendy wrists so I can do these the olympic lifter way - and actually, crossing my arms (the way CBear does them in her video) makes me round my shoulders more. I’m not sure how the wrists will cope once I start loading the bar, but right now it’s all about depth and form. And I was quite happy with these. One thing: is it normal for the bar to rest against your throat? I don’t quite like that feeling but that seems to be where the bar sits with me.

Overhead squat

1 x 2 x bar

I just tried this with the Oly bar for a laugh, to see if I could do it. I normally do OHS with a 5kg body bar to warm up but last time I tried the Oly bar I failed miserably. This time I managed two reps before my wrist crapped out on me. Which tells me my mobility and core strength has improved vastly. Wrist needs work but that wrist has been a problem for a long time (carpal tunnel). I really need to use my PowerBall more.

Cable leg abductions

2 x 12 x 10kg (22lbs)

Bird dogs, clams.

Work: cranked out five one-arm push-ups to humiliate a colleague today. I do them Rocky IV style (feet wide apart and body turned slightly). It’s annoying I can’t do much on my right side though - my right elbow’s been a bit cranky recently and I think it’s actually from the squatting (it gets stressed when I do back squats). Not sure what I can do about that. Hrmm.

Time for tea, TV and choccies.

171

Dammit I forgot to do overhead squats this week.

Cal, it’s been a long time since I tried front squats, but when I cross my arms, my shoulders form a sort of shelf, and I think that’s where the bar sits. Not sure how that translates to the non-crossed hold. Just sitting at my desk, I think my arms would slope downward more so I would need to hold the bar higher, maybe against my throat.

I’m sure you will get a more experienced reply soon!

172

when i do front squats the bar touches my throat. gives me a lil more motivation to keep that stability goin. glad u can do em oly style, save u from the boys pickin on ya. i think you get badass points for that. :slight_smile:

173

[quote]Cal Jones wrote:
I do them Rocky IV style (feet wide apart and body turned slightly).
[/quote]

Ok - totally drooling with envy. The image popping up in my head is way sexy. I need to figure out how to do those-lol.

174

Congrats on the overhead squat with the oly bar! I’m still working on that one…

175

Well, 2 reps doesn’t quite merit a congrats - wait until I can bust out a full set. I’ll keep working on it.

No training yesterday (thought about it but was far too sore) or today (my turn to be in the office at 8am today - and it’s our Christmas do tonight). Because we’re a small company, we usually have quite interesting dinners - last year was bowling, year before was greyhound racing and year before that was dinner on a boat on the Thames. This year we’re doing a comedy club. Hopefully I won’t be too hungover for a good workout tomorrow.

I remember when I was going through my Crossfit phase, my friend Mat took me out to a new cocktail bar he’d found. It was one of those places that has such an awesome array of drinks that you have to try several. And unlike somewhere like, say, TGI Friday’s, they’re actually pretty strong.

I ended up puking when I got home, which is the first time I’d vomited on booze since I was in my 20s. Turns out next day’s Crossfit workout was 500m sprints on the rower interspersed with thrusters (squats with a press at the top). I got through it but it wasn’t what you’d call a happy day at the gym.

176

Office do (comedy club, Christmas dinner) went OK. We did the Secret Santa thing - Theresa, our nice American office manager had asked for a man for Christmas and my colleague Howard duly obliged by giving her a full-sized inflatable called Roger More who looks disturbingly like Charles Manson. Theresa picked me and did well by getting me chocolate (the good, expensive sort). A woman can never have too much chocolate, especially when that bitch Aunt Flo shows up.

I drank maybe two large glasses of wine, which was enough to ensure I didn’t wake up until 8am (heinously late for me - I usually wake up around 5.30-6 in winter - earlier in summer when it’s late). So I didn’t get to the gym until after 11, when it was busy.

I decided that, rather than fight over the bench, I’d take my new dipping belt and a kettlebell and scare the people in the main gym (where the dipping station is located).

Dips

1 x 10 x me
2 x 6 x me + 12kg kettlebell (26.5lbs)
1 x 8 x me + 12kg kettlebell
1 x 6 x me + 12kg kettlebell +5kg plate (37.5lbs)
1 x 5 x me + 20kg plate (44lbs)

(nb I weighed myself after I’d finished my workout and was rather horrified to see I was 157lbs. I know that’s partly Aunt Flo and partly down to the Christmas dinner last night - the pudding wasn’t even served until about 11pm which is past my normal bedtime, let alone my usual eating time - but some of it is down to plain old piggery. So there will be a “cutting phase” in my future, groan. On the plus side, though, it does mean I can dip with a good old amount of weight).

Incline dumbell press

10 x 18kg (39.5lbs)
10 x 20kg (44lbs)
9 x 20kg (44lbs)

Each set was followed immediately by 20 kettlebell swings.

Superset

Straight Arm Pulldowns (30kg/66lbs): 8, 8, 8
Reverse(supine) grip pulldowns: (40kg/88lbs): 10, (45kg/99lbs), 8, 6

Lats were screaming after this. My funny right elbow doesn’t care for the straight arm pulldowns at the moment - I had to bend my arm a bit to make them comfortable. I’m going to have to watch this.

Kettlebell Snatches

2 x 10 (alternating arms, so 20 rep sets)

The 12kg kettlebell is now too light for snatches - it flies up there. It’s fine for conditioning but I need to bring the 16 in future.

Dumbell rows

1 x 5 x 30kg (66lbs)
1 x 4 x 30kg

Very fatigued by this point so called it a day. Pretty sure I will be sore tomorrow.

177

I am super impressed with those dips. You are doing awesome with your bad self, adding 44lbs extra and still busting out reps.

Is a kettlebell snatch where you grab the bell off of the floor and press it over your head in one movement or is the snatch just to your shoulder?

178

Very lovely dips.

I also like the ‘man for Christmas.’

179

Kimba - the first one. Getting it to the shoulder is a clean.

I’m quite well suited to dips and benching because my arms are quite short (I’m 5’7 but my wingspan is only 5’4). Conversely, this makes me less than ideally built for deadlifting. Swings and roundabouts.

180

your triceps must be popping out of your arms with dips like that= congrats!