sunday, June 10, 2012 week 6 day 2
squat 275lbs X 5 X 5 X 5 x 5 X 3
deadlift 295lbs x 7 X 5
Beast! Very pleased with today. I stopped short with squats because I knew I was skirting failure and I wanted to make sure I don’t do it all the time.
Deadlifts good too, I think 10lbs heavier than last time they came second. I stopped because I hadn’t predicted my grip would weaken, the fatigue burn in my forearms was great for the next several minutes.
Yesterday I was a little tired, so I largely relaxed.
this afternoon I may do heavy bag drill, I will see.
Edit: My legs were too gone to do much drill, they feel very worked at this point, I anticipate wonderful soreness.
I did a one rep max calculation and figure I squat like Miss O. I squat like a girl!
God Damutt, I have to stop being so Cavalier, I am injuring myself in a Snap!
http://www.treadmillfactory.ca/p-757-c-140-century-heavy-bag-stand.html
[Subject returns to normal intelligent mature mode]
I pulled a muscle at the top of my right hip taking this baby home. when piddling around with anchor plates I slightly tweaked my left adductor, so I have to watch myself.
As to the stand, I was chagrined to find that it doesn’t hang the bag much higher than my old improvised setup. I took the padlock out of the chain links, so even though the stand is higher, there is compensation.
I improvised. I took the hook off, screwed on to the top of the suspension bar and rigged the chain ring onto that. It works just fine and now I can hit easily the centre of the bag and farther down, where it seems much of the sand resides.
As to price, I could have paid $70.00 more, plus tax. what does anyone think?
For my first drill session, I usually do this a bit earlier, and found my shuffling in and out laborious. Looking in my diagonal mirror I have to admit my foot work for cross jab is getting worse, not better. I spent the last 2 sets just standing there and going over better technique.
As I am hitting more sand, and therefore encountering more resistance, my right elbow is slightly sore.
Oh, my God. It’s contagious.
Friday, June 15, 2012 week 7 day 1
BB shoulder press 115lbs X 7 x 7 X 5 X 4
dips body (205lbs) + 10lbs X 7 x 7 X 5 X 5
chinups body X 5 X 4 X 4 X 3
situps cancelled
Great day today. I dropped off in shoulder press reps, but the weight is 10lbs heavier so there. I improved by 1 rep with dips, so I am happy just there. I was tempted to try a 6th rep last set, but decided the risk of failure made it unwise.
chinups are actually better somehow.
Situps. I did 3 reps on a first set and sheets of stabbing pain shot down my back. I cancelled. I took 400mg of ibuprofen and lay in bed with freezer packs under my back. That was a couple of hours ago and The agony is sharply reduced already, although that is relative. I think it is caused by my form when working shoulder press hard. It is difficult not to arch my back a bit, although I didn’t expect this bad a result. I wonder if I am off for deadlifting on sunday, fuck.
These last few days I have done speed rope and bag drill. I am enjoying my new bag stand, so I am happy there. I am still driving to keep more consistent intensity skipping. My jab/cross jab form is gradually getting better, so I will stay the course there.
I want to get a webcam sometime and post my technique for feedback, I don’t know when though.
Ooh, situps causing back pain? Not good.
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Ooh, situps causing back pain? Not good.[/quote]
I today identified the source of the pain as being my right latissimus dorsus, near the lower insertion point. I remember slightly tweaking it when i did chinups, so I can’t blame shoulder press after all. It is much better today, although I will have to proceed cautiously with deadlifts tomorrow. Even odds I will hold off until Monday, maybe even do squats first for the 5 X 5 like last week instead of alternating.
Danutt, you said to not worry about recovery with bag drill. the question is though since I did an upper body day yesterday, do I have to let that recover before I do another bag session? I hope not because I just did drill.
Monday, June 18, 2012 week 7 day 2
squat 275lbs X 5 X 5 X 5 x 4 stopped
deadlift cancelled
I am disappointed with today. During warmup and first set I suspected I wasn’t going to do well. 4th set, 4th rep, I thought I was spent but decided to try. I was in the back of my consciousness worried I might miss the safeties if needed, and when the downward motion seemed insurmountable I was at least glad I made the safeties handily.
I haven’t been stretching regularly, maybe that is a factor.
deadlift, I am pleased I made a warmup set of 215lbs X 10 without bothering my lat too much. Still, I knew to cancel any attempt at progress due to energy level. the lat is now still not too bad. I anticipate a 5 X5 of daadlift alone on Wednesday, and then get back to a regular pattern.
tuesday, June 19
Speed rope - I caught my toes only once and believe I am gradually building greater intensity.
heavy bag drill - I am getting I think better at popping my jab and having my weight forward. The right side of my body is twisting more consistently to back up cross jab. I will continue to work 1 2 and keep more consistent with bringing my hands up after a shot.
Twist situps - body + 25lbs X L5,R5 X 5,5 x 3,2
DB hammer curls 2 X 35lbs X L8,R8 X 7,7 X 5,4 fail
Wednesday, June 20
deadlift 315lbs X 5 X 5 X 1 stopped
I realize that with the weight routine and rope and bag drills I am wearing myself out a bit. I think I will cut out squats and aim just for a 5 X 5 of deads each sunday. The reason I pick that over squats, the king of exercises, is that a strong posterior chain is important for overall ability. Or I could alternate weeks from squats to deadlifts, and just cut out the 2 X 7 of the other each time. what does anyone think?
Do you find the bag stuff works your body same way as the weights? Anyway, if you’re getting worn out, sounds like something needs to be trimmed down.
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Do you find the bag stuff works your body same way as the weights? Anyway, if you’re getting worn out, sounds like something needs to be trimmed down.[/quote]
Maybe a bit early to tell. damutt said there is no CNS recovery issue with it and I can go merrily on all I want.
Ok, I am going to trim down my leg day, and see if that leaves the correct formula. My programming has evolved a lot over the last month or so.
Today actually I did speed rope, and am sort of satisfied with how hard I drove it. 4 minutes later I started bag drill and noticed I was lacking pop in my jab in the second set so I curtailed it. I figure the rest is worth more than drilling in what becomes bad technique. So, I will just see how my energy level will have recovered when I hit weights tomorrow. I think I am still making progress with it, just like I said early to tell.
My heaviest of day weight is going down, and that is something I have wanted to do for some time now.
Friday, June 21, 2012 Week 8, day 1
Bb shoulder press 115lbs X 7 x 7 x 5 x 3
dips body + 10lbs X 7 x 7 x 5 stopped
cancelled
I am very disappointed with today. A one rep drop off with shoulder press, I knew I would make no progress with dips so I stopped it.
As to blame, The original program here was intended as lasting 7 weeks, so maybe I need a week off at that. Also, my diet has been lower in protein and higher in carbs as an experiment. I don’t actually weigh and portion it out, but I am now going to start going the other direction and upping it. It is just that it has an impact on my liver so I feel stuck.
If I take a week off lifting, what should I do with speed rope and bag drill? I also started a new 8 week cycle with creatine, might I wait until I lift again to start a loading phase?
Friday and Sunday I did a lot of walking, it wasn’t until after that I realized how much. I also did bag drill yesterday and today, but curtailed both to 2 rounds each time. Speed rope today, I felt I couldn’t maintain an intensity level as I wish.
I ask again if I should take this week off from it as well as not lifting. I had thought my energy level was good upon waking, but maybe that is an illusion.
It just occurred to me today that there is water pooling under my kitchen counter and causing a foul smell. I basically wonder if this is the same good old fashioned story I have posted since I don’t know when, possibly it is mold that is sabotaging my lifting and general progress. Repair issue with management, I just want to clean my fucking apartment decently before I let anyone in. Well, I will clean it soon with a germicidal solution and hope that is a good start.
Anyway, I bought myself a webcam. It is a gama brand, designed in Taiwan, made in China. So goes the market with things these days, fine I have not actually got anything against them, it just seems…
Regular price $20, on sale until the end of today for $10, so hell I just bought it. It basically works, and here is why I bought it. I have been doing heavy bag drill in my front room, just behind my desk and computer, for several weeks now. I have a small amount of training in it dating from ages ago that I never consistently drilled in until these days. I actually winged off and bought my heavy bag after viewing a Freddy Roach video on the web that details heavy bag drill, and I hope to adhere to it more strictly now that I have the webcam.
He recommends working up to 4 3 minute rounds, which he says are no joke. I am not sure if this is easier than I expected or I am doing something wrong. To begin I stand in one place and try to reinforce form for just jab and cross jab, other stuff for when I have this down right. I have a diagonally facing mirror to view my form, footwork I am trying to get more consistent with. I find after doing it for a few minutes transitioning from stepping into the jab to raising the heel for the cross becomes harder to maintain.
So, I am thinking tomorrow I will formally record and post a drill session of however many rounds I end up doing, and see if I can get some critique.
Okay, so here goes. I did speed rope, 3 3 minutes rounds with 1 minute breaks. then I did one set of 3 minutes on the bag to get ready. what I recorded here is the second, I will wait until I get feedback before I do the next thing with it.
What i notice is that my speed is VERY sluggish. Anyone think I telegraph it way too much? I also notice that I retract my hands, leave them low and only put them back up when I contemplate the next hit. Too much forward lean anyone?
Here is my setup for the bag stand. I voided the warranty by setting 2 of the rubber O rings that are supposed to cushion the anchor weight pegs on top of the support beam. The central chain ring of the bag goes flat on top of that with 2 chains hanging each side. The hook goes through and anchors at the TOP. this is then screwed at the bottom.
sunday, July 1, 2012 Week 1, day 1
deadlift 315lbs x 5 X 5 X 1
so i started a new lifting run. I am still thinking I might only do one leg move each week, alternating, but I will see next time around how my energy level seems to feel. I curtailed deads, but I was up late at a live show yesterday night and that mitigates the results. So, I expect a normal lifting routine from now on.
Edit: Also, I have been thankfully dropping weight of late, I was 205lbs before going out yesterday. I am thinking more the speed rope is doing it, I am happy.
So, another crack at bag drill. this time again Z did speed rope first, but i am happier with my intensity, so there. the actual bag work is a first set. I still notice I lag bringing my hands back into position. I am spottier with right heel footwork, but I put together generally longer combinations, and the bag stand was moved a bit during it, so evidence of some effort.
Any comments? I expect to drive up intensity with this, eventually shuffling around and bobbing my head.
Edit: Sorry not to hear from Damutt, his own journal has been left fallow of late.
fuck this pisses me off. I warmed up for shoulder press and suspected I didn’t have it in me. Second working set I barely got 3, so damnit.
Really, I was busier than usual with work last 2 days and my meals were spotty. On wednesday I prepared a lunch I forgot to take out the door, and I had limited restaurant price food until I got home. I wanted to stay up late enough to get a day’s diet happening, I just got tired first.
So, I am thinking of correcting things today and seeing how I do when I retry this day tomorrow. that would put off deads until Monday. Or I could do it all on sunday, but that would leave too little energy for upper body.
Last 2 days I have done heavy bag drill.
Wednesday, July 4
heavy bag drill 2 sets
Twist situps body + 25lbs x 5,5 x 5,5 X 3,2
Db hammer curls 2 X 35lbs X 8,8 x 8,8 X 5,5
thursday July 5
Bag drill 2 rounds
speed rope 3 3 minute rounds. I was happy with tne intensity first 2 rounds, and had trouble maintaining it the 3rd.
Edit: Damutt said there was no issue with recovery when doing bag work, I still though wonder if that is why I am off today with shoulders.
so today I bought myself my next supply of whey protein. I had a loyalty card filled up that offered $20 off the purchase, so I splurged. I got a 5lb of Perfect nutrition Diesel, at 90% protein. It is supposedly “stacked with premium anabolic ingredients”, and I hope this improves my recovery ability, which at times I suspect as being off.
Well, I did heavy bag and speed rope on Tuesday, on top of what I did since and have had other work maybe before. I wonder if that is part of why I was wiped this morning when I lifted.
As to how I will compensate, I think I will do shoulder press tomorrow and then dip, and then see how I feel about skipping rope work. Sunday will be deadlifts, I hope to be more full in routine there, and then do chinups and abs if possible.
Edit: fuck, damnit, I just looked at the expiry date on my old supply that I bought at the same store, different clerk, and I had about a pound left and it expired July 12, I must have just forgotten that time to check. So that is maybe an explanation for my recent lethargy, I depend on whey for about 20 - 25% of a day’s protein. So, looking forward I hope to regain ground lost soon.
Sunday, July 8, 2012 Week 1, day 2
deadlift 315lbs x 5 X 5 X 5 x 2 stopped
chinups body (203lbs) X 5 X 4 X 3 X 2
situps body + 40lbs x 5 X 5 X 3
Sort of a good day. I realized that I once again have a bit of mold around my apartment. some clothes got a bit musty. the way I often do laundry is to do 2 regular top loading machine’s worth, with half of one load synthetic stuff that will air dry without going bad. the single load dryers run a full 60 minutes for each pay application so I figure 1.5 loads of cotton will still get dry in that time. I suppose it mostly works, but last time I included 2 full size towels and 2 pairs of jeans with everything else and I might have come out a bit damp. I am correcting this soon, but it puts into perspective that I am not really up to snuff with deadlifts.
I knew after the 3rd set I would need straps, it is just that they didn’t go on tightly and I ended up ending the 4th set short because I couldn’t be confident to rely on them. still better than last time around, and with all recent mitigating factors I will call myself satisfied. Next Sunday squats, I will ponder what weight to try.
Chins not too bad as far as they go with me.
Situps a slight improvement over last time, add to that that they and chins came after deads and this is a good sign.
I am in the first week back with creatine. This is the 3rd day with my new supply of protein powder and I already think it has some benefit.
Edit: also realize my weight has gone down in the last month, month and a half. I weighed just after lifting 203lbs ( I tend to shit early in the day, so I add weight all day) and weight loss often does sap a person’s energy level until it stabilizes. I attribute this to speed rope and heavy bag drill, ok, maybe expired whey powder and mold are other factors, but I hope to stay about 205lbs heaviest of the day from now on.
