If you do a PR alone in the woods, does it still count?

[SepCalla]

Strength block W3

A)
Power Snatch, singles
55kg
60kg
65kg
70kg, RPE 8
74kg, RPE 10
3x62,5kg

Power clean and jerk, singles
60kg
70kg
3x1x80kg
3x70kg

Yeah, I suck with olympic lifts. It’s mainly because of my mobility. My weightlifter friends have helped me to understand the basics, but my shoulders are stiff and weak.

Snatches are okay, cleans easy (and light), but the jerk feels pretty bad. I can push press more than I can jerk currently, that tells you something. But I’ll try to get better.

Squat: 5x200kg, RPE 9,5 - PR
4x5x180kg
Some heavy squats for me here.

B)
Bench 5x107,5kg, RPE 9
4x5x100kg, last set was grindy

Incline bench, some light eights with 60kg
For some reason my upper body was again fried, must be the O-lifts.

LTE 3x10-12x45kg ss with bw chins 3x6-8

C) Deadlift, 5x220kg, RPE 8, - PR (easy!)
Deadlift, paused mid. chin 2x4x200kg, 1x4x190kg

Pause squat 4x170kg, RPE 8
3x4x160kg

Another heavy workout.

D) OHP 1x80kg, RPE 8
2x3x70kg

TnG bench 5x115kg, RPE 9 -PR
9x100kg

Pendlay row 2x8x120kg

Was short on time, and wanted to do something slightly different.

Weeks conditioning: Total 30km of cycling.

Heavy and busy week. I’m also having irritating flu symptoms currently, so the conditioning was lacking a bit.

Training plans for the spring

I’m liking this “block” setup in my training. I’ll do 3-4 weeks of certain style with one focus and change things up pretty frequently. I have done too monotonous training many times, and felt the overuse injuries and adaptive resistance. So shaking things up at times, but having some structure seems to work.

I’m still having some problems. My right knee is pretty inflammated (has been for 2 weeks now), which is not a surprise considering all the heavy squatting for the past 4 weeks. Also my shoulders have been achy from the weightlifting.

As for the rest of the spring, my battle plan goes as follows:

Next week will be a washout/pivot, so no any heavy barbell work, but lighter and different work I’ve used to. I’m not going to plan too much what I’ll do. Point is to have fun and get some training in, but let my body some rest from “competition lifts”.

For the rest of the spring, I’ll build my training around the possible supertotal (WL + PL) meet in 29th of May.

It might go like this:

1 week pivot/ recovery

2 weeks of high rep volume work, “Low specificity”

3 weeks of medium to high rep volume work (1st week semi-deload), “Medium specificity”

light week

2,5 weeks of low rep strength work “high specificity”
Meet (if feeling strong)

There might be some deviations, as there usually are. But that’s the rough plan.

As for conditioning: I will keep biking to the work as a default conditioning. Some light jogs and walks on top of that.

As for food, I’ll keep the 3500 kcals for now. 4000 made me surely grow, but slightly too well, and I’m softer than I like. Not going to cut or anything stupid. I’ll go with 3500 now and see how things feel.

Summer will be “offseason” for me. Like it always is. More conditioning, less frequent lifting (but still doing something). More stuff outside gym (Fishing, hiking, travelling).

[SepCalla]

Pivot/Wash out week

D1) Tall snatch 3x45kg EMOM for 10 min.

Jerk from blocks 3x55kg EMOM for 10 min.

Front squat 4x100-110kg

GHR 3x4-5
Leg Extensions 1x23x95kg

D2) Swiss bar bench 3x10x60kg

Chest press machine 3x10-12x60-75kg

Lat pulldown 3x10x70kg

Triceps and curls.

D3) 10kg Ball throw (keg toss style) 10x1

Stone medley 40kg overhead, 60kg to shoulder, 80kg to block 3 rounds without rest.

Single leg RDL 2x10x60kg

Walking lunges 3x30m bodyweight

D4) Feet up bench 3x8x80kg
ss cable rows 3x12x75kg

DB ohp 2x10

A bunch of side- and rear raises.

Weeks conditioning: total 40km cycling.

Light recovery week. I’ve been rehabbing my knee (mostly by massaging my quads) and doing bunch of shoulder mobility work on rest days.

This week was busy one at work. We also had my older daughters birthday and I visited yesterday another town where I spent time with some very good friends. I drank sufficient amount of (good)wine and (awful)rum and I have been quite tired today. Maybe I’ll try to scramble some text here later.

[SepCalla]

Volume block Week1

D1)
Snatch complex (tall power snatch + hang power snatch + power snatch) 5 sets with 55kg

Power clean + 2 jerks 5 sets with 65kg

Squat 8x177,5kg, RPE 8
3x10x160kg

D2)
Bench 8x97,5kg RPE 9
Touch n’ go 3x10x90kg

Close grip incline bench 3x8x55-65kg
ss with
Chest supported rows 4x10-12x110kg

Cable triceps extensions 60kg, myo reps: 15,5,5,4

Chest press machine 65kg, myo reps: 14,4,3

D3)
Deficit deadlift 2x6x180kg RPE 7ish

SSB squat 8x135kg, RPE 7
2x10x122,5kg

Bulgarian split squat 50kg, rest pause: 15,8,5

Weighted back raises 2x13x30kg

D4)
Close grip bench 8x90kg, RPE 7,5
Touch n’ Go 2x10x90kg

OHP 8x60kg
3x10x55kg
ss with
weighted chins 3x4x12,5kg and 2x8 BW chins

Lateral raises 10kg, myo reps: 13,4,4,4,3

Tricep pushdowns 17x55kg
BB curls 20x30kg

Weeks conditioning: One light jog, 20 min erg session, 10km of cycling, couple longer walks.

Notes:

• First week of volume training is always tough. I have been extremely sore. I could barely walk day before second “Lower body” day and was happy to pull it throught. I did the SSB very lightly, and was actually supporting my quads with my hands on the hole each rep. Hahah.

• Weightlifting complexes felt great. Light weights, short rest periods, and I was able to focus on the quality. Got pretty sweaty too, not a surprise CF uses weightlifing complexes in WODs.

• Clean and jerk pisses me off. Since I could rep power cleans with 100kgs no problem. My jerk mobility and timing sucks though. I have hurted myself with jerks couple times in the past and I’m trying to just get comfortable to the movement. I wish I could push press the weights in the meet. That would increase my WL total nicely.

But the point of the WL part of the upcoming supertotal is not the weights, rather the ability to move fast and be mobile enough to do these things. So the WL will be a light/explosive warm up for the heavy PL lifts.

• I love myo rep/rest pause stuff for assistance movements. Spares times and I like the intensity. Also, you can kinda go all in with small stuff. I went to total failure in tricep extensions and lateral raises and felt okay afterwards.

• This week has been too all over the place and I just did any conditioning I could. I’ll try to do 4-5 light conditioning sessions each week.

• I’ll keep my kcals in 3500, I feel much better than with 4000. I might not gain so much weight/muscle, but that’s okay. I’ve understood recomp. is a bullshit consept unless you’re an obese beginner, but you should still gain some muscle with maintenance calories. 3500 is around my maintenance, so I’ll keep that for now.

How I approach nutrition

Speaking about nutrition is definitely a zeitgeist thing to do, and I won’t probably say anything new here, but I want to give couple thoughts about it anyway.

People know more about nutrition than ever before, but still we’re in the middle of obesity epidemic. I’m not going in to why’s now, but rather explaining how I’ll balance eating in my life.

The fact is that you’ll need some restraint. Sedentary lifestyle and amount of calories available is a recipe for disaster. There are million ways to do this: low carb, low fat, carnivore, fasting protocols, counting calories etc. They all have the same idea though. You’ll need to have some restraint.

I love food. Cooking has always been a big part of my family’s culture and I consider it as a hobby/lifestyle for me. I enjoy trying new ingredients, recipes and methods. Food for me is not just fuel, it’s exploration, enjoyment and a social experience. It’s the main reason I could never do bodybuilding for example (not that there’s nothing wrong with BB, I’m just personally ready for it).

How I restraint myself then? I’m a conventionalist with diet. I’ve decided that I value cooking and good food more than visible abs, but I’m trying to keep myself healthy and “athletic”.

I’m focusing more on the quality of ingredients rather than elimination. This also works since, low quality stuff (fast food etc.) tastes usually pretty awful when you get used of not having it. I’m not low carb or low fat guy, I count my calories and have a lot of freedom in what I’ll eat.

This approach actually is partly supported by science, since current research indicates it might be pretty individual how you react to things like sugars, cholesterol or salt. It’s also clear that humans are extremely adaptative. That’s our strength as a species. We can thrive with variety of different diets. You can be carnivore or vegan, and still be strong and healthy. So find the way to restraint yourself. It can be whatever, as long as it fits your lifestyle and makes you feel good.

[SepCalla]

Volume block week 2

D1)
Snatch complex (tall power snatch + hang power snatch + power snatch) 5 sets with 55kg

Power clean + 2 jerks 5 sets with 65kg

Squat 5x185kg, RPE 7
3x10x165kg

D2)
Bench 8x102,5kg RPE 9
Touch n’ go 3x10x95kg, last set was RPE 10

Close grip incline bench 3x8x60-65kg

Chest supported rows, 110kg, Myo reps: 13,4,4,4

Cable triceps extensions 65kg, myo reps: 13,4,4,4,4

Chest press machine 65kg, myo reps: 14,5,3

D3)
Deficit deadlift 2x6x200kg RPE 7-8

SSB squat 8x152,5kg, RPE 8
2x10x142,5kg

Bulgarian split squat 55kg, rest pause: 14,7,6

Weighted back raises 2x13x30k

D4)
Close grip bench 8x95kg, RPE 8,5
Touch n’ Go 2x10x90kg

OHP 8x62,5kg, RP 9
3x8x57,5kg
ss with
weighted chins 3x3x15kg and 2x8 BW chins

Lateral raises 10kg, myo reps: 13,4,4,4,3

Tricep pushdowns 18x55kg
BB curls 20x30kg

Weeks conditioning: 32km of cycling, one long walk.

Notes:

• Decent week. I pushed pretty hard on certain stuff, while let more in the tank here and there.

• I did my jerks as power jerks this week (just jumping under the bar, like the Chinese do it), and it felt much better compared to the regular jerks. I’ll try it couple weeks and see how it goes.

• Only thing that I was not too happy was the heavy squat set in D1. My knee is still bothering me at times, and it did not feel great, so I left the set at 5.

• Also the OHP in D4 is quite low weights, but I’m alreadt pretty tired at that point of week/workout, so I quess that’s okay.

• Next week will be semi light, not a deload, but not too hard. It will also serve as a transition for the next “Phase” of my volume block.

Shortly about tariffs:

So, the tariff wars are here, and they’re already hurting Europe and USA a lot. So why they’re on, and what are the possible outcomes?

Trump had advocated tariff policies and economic protectionism for years. The main idea behind it is quite logical. US wants to regulate import, so it can improve the deficit on the trade balances it currently does have.

Deficit drains the country’s economy and limiting export, or increasing import, might be positive thing to it. It also might increase the industrial jobs, if the production comes back. Getting more inland production also improves the security of supply, if everything goes to the shitter.

I hope things would be so simple though. Aggressive trade policy will have a bunch of negative consequences, and the positive ones might not be realized at all. First thing is that everybody needs global trade. We’re so interconnected that it might be almost impossible to completely reverse this situation. How many entrepeneurs or companies rely on foreign trade in US? How many need ingredients which aren’t (or could not) be manufactured in US? How much of the oil, minerals etc. are imported from somewhere?

The things wary from country to country, but overall there aren’t many countries which could produce everything they need. So the direct consequences are catastrophic. I think the inflation will skyrocket soon, since the production costs will be pretty fucking high.

I’m also surprised that Trump seems to be angry to other countries for increasing their tariffs, if you start a economic war, others will respond. I think that increasing the domestic production is not a stupid thing to do, but I think that cutting the import might be a mistake. Specially when it will also cut the export too.

Last thing I want to bring up is the political consequences. US is already drifting away from it’s allies, and China smells the weakness. China has already stated couple times that it might be interested of filling the economic void if US trade to Europe etc. will recede. Long term consequences of this tariff situation are unknown and open to speculation. One thing what is sure that US took a huge gamble, and it might turn out to be ugly.

Economy is a complex topic, and this text is not sufficient enough to explain the situation properly, but at least I got couple things out of my head.

[SepCalla]

Volume block, Week 3

D1)
Power Snatch complex (tall - hang - from the floor) 5 sets @ 55kg

Hang power clean + 2 power jerks 5 sets @ 67,5kg

Squat
5x185kg, RPE 7
3x7x165kg

Overhead squat 3x10xbar

D2)
Bench, comp. pause
5x105kg, RPE 8
5x100kg

Close grip
3x7x90kg
Ss with bw pull ups/chin ups 4x6-8

DB bench 25kg, rest pause: 14,8,6

LTE 40kg, myo reps: 14,4,4,4,3

D3)
Snatch balance 2x5 light weight

Deadlift
3x212,5kg, RPE 7
5x202,5kg

SSB squat:
5x152,5kg, RPE 6,5
3x7x142,5kg

Back raises 2x13x50kg

D4)
Bench, touch n’ go:
5x107,5kg, RPE 8
7x100kg

OHP:
5x67,5kg, RPE 9
3x8x60kg
Ss with barbell rows 4x8x100kg

Curls and tricep pushdowns 2 sets to failure.

Weeks conditioning: total 32km of cycling and one long walk.

Notes:

• I get some help from my WL friends with the olympic lifts. I have the strength, but not the technique or the mobility. The pull works. I can do power clean and snatch pulls easily and with decent form. So I’ve included some extra overhead mobility work. Hope it helps. At least my delts got super sore from the OH squats.

• Overall not too hard week, but decent work nonetheless.

• I’ve massaged my quads twice this week. They are way too stiff after months of hard squatting, and this causes pressure and inflammation to my knees (specially on the right one, which is my stronger leg and takes more pounding from working out).

A short interesting fact and Kant:

Humans can’t sense wet. We don’t have the tools needed for that (hygroreseptors).

We do have a concept of wet though. We know how wet feels. It’s because it’s a conclusion in our minds from several separate senses, like pressure/weight and thermal effects.

This is a prime example of how we gather information from our world. In philosophy Immanuel Kant figured this out in 19th century, and the most resent science supports the notion.

We gather scattered pieces of information and build the picture of the world based on the information in relation to our schemas.

Or how Kant did put it: we build the world in our minds, rather than being passive observers.

[SepCalla]

Volume block week 4

D1)
Overhead squat 3x10xbar

Power Snatch complex (tall - hang - from the floor) 5 sets @ 57,5kg

Hang power clean + 2 power jerks 5 sets @ 70kg

Squat
5x192,5kg, RPE 8
3x7x172,5kg

D2)
Bench, comp. pause
5x110kg, RPE 9,5, PR (a bit too hard though)
5x102,5kg

Close grip
3x7x92,5kg
Ss with bw pull ups/chin ups 4x6-8

DB bench 25kg, rest pause: 15,8,6

LTE 40kg, myo reps: 14,4,4,4,3

D3)
Deadlift
3x225kg, RPE 8
5x205kg

Snatch balance 3x5 light weight

SSB squat:
5x165kg, RPE 7,5
3x7x152,5kg

GHR 2x5-8

D4)
Bench, touch n’ go:
5x112,5kg, RPE 8,5
7x100kg

OHP:
5x70kg, RPE 9
3x7x62,5kg
Ss with barbell rows 4x8x110kg

Curls and tricep pushdowns 2x15

Weeks conditioning: total 18km of cycling and one long walk. AND 3 days of shoveling gravel.*

Notes:

• *It’s spring now, and we started to renovate our parking lot, which is a pile of stones and sand currently. I’ve spent last three days doing some shoveling work outside when I have had the time. I’ve done similar work before and it’s rough. No wonder people used slaves for this for thousands of years. Hahah. Got the workouts in decently, even that my shoulders and low back are angry at me. No extra conditioning though. I might do some longer walk or two during this weekend.

• Otherwise the week has been decent, knee has been better. Squats and deads feeling strong, I might have overextended with the bench, but we’ll see.

• Overall this has not been the most amazing block, but I think I’ve gained some muscle and strength nonetheless. Next week will be the last volume week.

• Upcoming strength block will be closest to peaking I’m going to do. I’m not going to call it a peaking nonetheless. It’s just some pretty basic WL/PL training with submax singles, volume in 3-5 range and high specificity. I’m actually looking forward to this, since I’ve done volume stuff for the majority of winter/spring, and I’m honestly kinda sick of it.

• Diet has been not the best, not the worst, but I’ve been slipping a little. I’m eating closer to 3700-3800 kcals instead of the 3500, also some meals have not been good enough quality (way too much fats/salt). Going to clean up my eating a little after the easter still. I feel better when I eat less crap. That’s a big surprise, yeah?

• I’m not going to write any text this week. It’s Eastern now and I’m focusing on cooking more some delicious and unhealthy foods while spending time with family.

[SepCalla]

Volume block week 5, aka empty batteries

Pre-notes:

I usually do a proper deload in every 4th week. So my blocks follow the classic model:
W1 not too hard
W2 pretty hard
W3 very hard
W4 easy

This is what seems to work pretty well. I train often with quite high intensity and don’t seem to be able to tolerate over 4 weeks of hard training.

Now I had uneven weeks leading to the meet, so I tried to do 5 week volume block with some undulation. I thought if I don’t push week 3 too hard I should be okay.

Well, no. My performance started to regress quite rapidly this week. I got two first workouts in decently, even though the squat failure was surprising.

Since the first workout I’ve suffered from brain I’m having some flu like symptoms. Therefore I did cut the week short. During the deadlifts I finally understood that I’m not going to finish this week, so I did an ad hoc workout with and got at least some work in.

Might actually be that I’m also slightly sick, the hangoverish feeling has loomed over me whole week. But it’s hard to say if its due or cause.

I was going to hit rep-PRs for this week, but it’s not clearly going to happen. I’m not upset, these things happen. Next week I’ll deload and then it’s time for some plain and simple strength work.

D1)
Overhead squat 3x10xbar

Power Snatch complex (tall - hang - from the floor) 5 sets @ 60kg

Hang power clean + 2 power jerks 5 sets @ 75kg

Squat
4x202,5 RPE 9 (failed the fifth rep due to stupid technical error)

1x7x177,5kg. Ran out of time.

D2)
Bench, comp. pause
5x112,5kg, RPE 9
5x105kg

Close grip
3x7x95kg
Ss with bw pull ups/chin ups 4x6

DB bench 30kg, rest pause: 13,6,3

LTE 50kg, myo reps: 13,4,4

D3)
Deadlift
1x230kg, RPE 8,5 Nope.
8x200kg

Bench, touch n’ go: 3x5x100-105kg

Bulgarian split squats: 60kg, jrest pause: 12,7,5

OHP 2x15x50kg

Weeks conditioning: total 24km of cycling. This weekend I’ll continue shoveling the gravel to the parking lot. I guess it will toast my low back.

Pre-planning the summer:

Summer is getting closer now. It will always be kind of a ”off season” for me. I’m going to still train, but aim to improve other areas besides barbell strength.

I’m also going to be travelling, have more social gatherings and I’ll spend a lot of time in the cottage/fishing/in the woods. So my training schedules will be scattered. That’s why it’s also good ti implement some stuff I can do anywhere (namely BW stuff and running).

I’ve made up some goals to chase during june and july.

• improve running conditioning.
• improve chins, dips (I suck at dips) and ab strength.
• maintain strength in the big lifts.
• Lower the kcals a little and shed couple kgs/pounds.

I might change up the details still, but general plan is this:

Lifting
Priority training: I’ll choose 6 big movements (2 hinge, 2 squats 2 presses) and try to do as many of them during the week. I’ll reckon I can often do them all, but not all the time. Progression is really simple and all the weights will be submaximal.

1. Power clean 25 total reps 75-80%
2. Squat 25 total reps 75-80%
3. TnG bench press 30 total reps 75-80%
4. DL. Not sure yet. Maybe just easy work or a variation.
5. OHP 30 total reps 75-80%
6. Paused front squat 20 total reps 75-80%

Start below 75%. When rep ranges start to go over 8-10 @ RPE 7-8, increase the weight.

Weekly BW stuff:
BW chins/pull ups 50-100 reps
Dips 30-100(?) reps.
Power wheel 50-100 reps.
Band pull aparts 200 reps

Start with low end. Work up to high end. Start dips with band. Point is to make them not hurt. Currently can’t do them without fucking up my shoulders. Do these as a circuit with limited rest to improve conditioning.

Weekly conditioning: 2-3 runs. Start from 2x20 mins fartlek -style and work up to 3x30 mins, or even higher. Test mile time at the end of the summer.

Slight calorie deficit.

[SepCalla]

Deload week.

D1) Power snatch 3x1x65kg

Power clean and jerk 3x1x75kg

Squat 1x200kg

Bulgarians 2x8x60kg

Weighted back raises 2x10x25kg

D2) Bench press (comp. pause) 2x1x112,5kg

DB bench 2x10x25kg

Lat pulldown 4x8-10x75kg

Tricep pushdowns, biceps,lateral raises 2 sets each.

D3) Box jumps up to 130cm.

Snatch complex (tall + hang + full power snatch? + overhead squat: 3 sets @ 50kg

Power jerk 3x3x60kg

Assisted dips 2x8 (tried two different bands, other was way too stiff).

Weeks conditioning: Only total 16km of cycling, one 25 min session with ergs, one day shoveling the gravel (finished the parking lot).

Notes

• Squat felt heavy, and was maybe bit too much for a deload week. Bench was super easy.

• I did all three workouts at the beginning of the week. Rest of the weel has been really easy. I should be at least well recovered now.

• Conditioning was all over the place this week, but got some work in.

In praise of the hunter gatherer

There’s a reason why there’s a woods mentioned in the title of this log.

I grew up in a small village. There was not much to do and nature was everywhere. So fishing, gathering berries, mushrooms and wild plants has always been part of my life.

Finland is country with few inhabitants and with plenty of forests and lakes. So I’ve always done fishing and gathering, even though I have moved several times from town to town.

Now when the winter has passed it’s time to spend time in the nature for the few months before everything freezes again. I did already my first fishing trip. I will do them more and start gathering other stuff too when the season starts properly. It will be prioritized over lifting.

This makes my yearly periodizing quite clear. When it’s cold and dark I’ll lift more and eat more. When it’s summer I will still train, but it’s not the focus. My blood pulls me to the woods.

Besides fishing and gathering I always grow some stuff in our backyard. Mainly things that are easy to grow: herbs, kale, potates etc. I don’t hunt yet, I buy game from a friend who hunts, but getting a rifle and a hunting license is something I have been considering for a while now.

No, I’m not a pro-paleo or romantizing this stuff too much. I’m a modern human enjoying all the benefits of modern life and white collar work. But the feeling when you cook a meal from stuff yourself have catched and gathered feels amazing. Also the ingredients are top notch, there’s nothing like fish caught just couple hours earlier, or a pasta made with fresh boletuses.

And there’s something sublime when I go to the lake at 5 am, or stride in the forest when the weather starts to cool again. I can not explain the somewhat archaic feeling precisely, but it makes me profoundly more happy than almost anything else I do.

So maybe I have small fraction of my ancestral genes talking to me anyway. Hahah.

[SepCalla]

Strength block W1

D1)
OH squat 3x8 (light)

Power snatch singles to 1x67,5kg RPE 7,5
5x1x62,5kg

P. clean and jerk singles to 1x80kg, RPE 7,5
5x1x75kg

Squat 1x202,5kg RPE 7,5
3x4x175kg

D2)
Bench comp. pause 1x115kg, RPE 8
3x3x105kg

Close grip 3x4-5x97,5kg

Lat pulldowns 4x7-8x75kg

D3)
snatch balance + OH squat 2x5

Deadlift 1x230kg RPE 7,5
1x215kg

Pause below the knee: 3x3x195kg

2s pause squat 1x170kg, RPE 7
3x3x150kg

D4)
Bench, touch n’ go 1x120kg RPE 7,5
3x3x110kg

Incline bench 3x5x70kg

Pendlay row 4x6x120kg

Weeks conditioning: 24km of cycling, one 25 min erg session and one 1,5h walk.

Notes

• Solid start. Not too hard, but decent work.

• I played with slightly wider stance in deadlifts and it worked really well. It felt slightly awkward since the leverages changed, but made the movement feel easier. Let’s see if that works.

• LISS work with ergs is the dullest thing ever. I usually do them all as a circuit: running mat for 3-5 mins, airdyne bike for 3-5 mins, rowing machine for 3-5 mins and ski machine for 3-5 mins. It makes it tolerable.

• My knees feel achy, but I just push it trought now. This is normal after longer period of hard squatting. Left knee is operated twice and it does not always appreciate my hobbies.

The Good in Christianity

Disclaimer: This text is of course biased as shit, since I’ve grown up in a western democracy which is largely based on Christian values.

I wouldn’t say that I’m a religious person. I’ve never had a religious experiences or any sense for some higher meaning.

Like millions of people, I too have pondered the question about the existence of some creator. There are a ton of dialogue stretching hundreds of years in to the history about the subject. But there’s no way to approach the question in a scientific manner, so it’s completely theoretical one. You kind of just need to choose if you believe or not. I’ve choosed to abstain.

But there are couple things I really like about Christianity.

First is the academic/philosophical nature of it. Christianity has taken huge lengths to develop its understanding and philosophy, and it has a vast base of reflective thinking and discovery of new thoughts. Same could be said about Buddhism and partly Judaism, but latter is close cousin and the first one less organized as a academic principle.

Christianity’s role in developing modern science and philosophy (and preserving the ancient philosophy) has been huge. Christianity is often seen as a brake for scientific advancement in 15-17th centuries, but it’s largely a false claim. Universities were founded by Christian scholars and many theologians had significant role in developing the bases of scientific thinking. The net positive effect was much more influential than the negative anecdotes such as Galileo or Bruno.

Second is the basis of human rights and value of humanity. The idea of Jesus as a ideal human (in Plato’s terms) is not bad at all. Similarly the notion, that nobody will be perfect replication of this ideale, is realistic. Instead of achieving this ideal, we should aim for it thorough empathy and forgiveness. Nietcszhe claimed that Christianity is a weaklings philosophy, but I disagree.

If you think of it, you’ll see that our modern society is built based on this principle. Equality of law and justice can be seen as a consequence from the idea of human value and equality. Generally trying to be empathic and spread more good than bad for the people around you is not a bad way to life, or would you disagree?

There are of course problems and limitations in this line of thought, but at least in the name of consequentialism Christianity has potential. The combination of the core Christian values and enlightenment philosophy pretty much summarizes the Western society as we know it .

[SepCalla]

Strength block W2

D1)
OH squat 3x8 (light)

Power snatch singles to 1x74kg RPE 8, PR
5x1x66kg

P. clean and jerk singles to 1x87kg, RPE 8
5x1x77kg

Squat 1x207,5kg RPE 8 (not as good as I would have liked)
3x4x180kg

D2)
Bench comp. pause 1x120kg, RPE 8
3x3x110kg

Close grip 3x4-5x100kg

Lat pulldowns 4x7-8x75kg

D3)
snatch balance + OH squat 2x5

Deadlift 1x230kg RPE 7,5
1x240kg RPE 8,5

Pause below the knee: 3x3x200kg

2s pause squat 1x180kg, RPE 7,5, PR
3x3x160kg

D4)
Bench, touch n’ go 1x125kg RPE 8,5
3x3x112,5kg

Incline bench 3x5x75kg

Pendlay row 2x6x120kg, 1x8x105kg Back felt exhausted.

Weeks conditioning: ONLY 14km of cycling, one 25 min erg session and one 1,5h walk.

Notes

• This week was pretty heavy for me, and second last training week before the comp.

• I’m feeling really good with O-lifts and bench. Squat and dead are feeling mediocre, not great, but not terrible.

• I have again symptoms in my knee, I need to give it a rest after the meet.

• This has been pretty busy week, and my conditioning was below what I’m aiming for. That’s okay, it’s only one week.

• Not going to write longer text now. My head hurts and I need to work.

[SepCalla]

Strength block W3

D1)
OH squat 3x8 (light)

Power snatch singles to 1x76kg RPE 9, PR (not pretty, but it passes)
5x1x66kg

P. clean and jerk singles to 1x90kg, RPE 8,5
5x1x80kg

Squat 1x210kg, RPE 7,5 (easy! Might have been 7)
3x3x190kg

D2)
Bench comp. pause 1x120kg, RPE 8
1x122,kg, RPE 9 (missed the groove a little)

Touch n’ Go 1x132,5kg, RPE 8,5 PR

Comp. Pause 3x3x112,5kg

Deadlift 1x230kg RPE 7
1x240kg RPE 8

Pause below the knee: 2x2x210kg (Jesus this was hard)

Tall snatch light weight 3x3

D3)

Snatch
1x70kg
1x75kg FAILED (got the rep, but my elbows moved)
1x70kg
1x75kg
1x70kg

PC + Power jerk
1x80kg
1x85kg
1x80kg

Squat 1x210kg RPE 7,5(still feeling easy)

Bench, comp. pause 2x1x120kg RPE 8-9
3x110kg

Notes and thoughts:

• So this is the final hard week before the meet. I was quite busy and did cut the last week short while making some adjustments to workouts. The first two workouts were pretty freaking heavy for me. After only one day of rest I did the day 3. O-lifts felt awful, I was slow, stiff and sore. Squat and bench felt alright. It’s interesting (but not surprising) to see how WL is much more sensitive to fatique.

• weightlifting is difficult. I know that I have not prioritized it, so my progress has not been spectacular. But at least it’s something, and I’m improving in an area which is totally lacking (mobility and moving fast with weight). I watched good video from Clarence Kennedy, where he explained why other strength athletes often suck with WL. The strength with deadlift, bench etc. does not really help at all with WL. If you don’t have the mobility and technique, it’s all for nothing.

• That’s the annoying part. I have the strength to do more, but I don’t have the skill to do it. I can jerk more, but my shoulders might move a little on the top position. That’s the reason I’m doing the power jerk now. It’s easier to focus not pressing the weight. It 's a red light in the meet.

• Overall I’m satisfied of seeing progress nonetheless. I’m PRing my weak snatch easily now, and I’m even getting slightly under the bar now. I can also jerk without pain, that was not a thing 2 months ago.

• PL has been going well. Squat feels strongest, even though my knee is giving me problems. Bench is feeling strong(er), but it’s a difficult lift for me, so let’s see. DL is something I really see only just in the meet. I’ve found out that too much heavy pulls before the meet does not end well. I just need to trust the 260 is there after all the other lifts I’ve done.

• Generally I feel my that my “PR confidence” in the lifts are the following: Snatch is almost surely a meet PR (I’ve done only one WL meet before, and that was with minimal preparation), Squat should be there, considering how this week felt. Bench PR might be there, with deadlift I can not yet say, and with PC + jerk I will be conservative.

• Generally this has been a fun spring, but I’m also looking forward other challenges/slightly different training for a while. Now it’s few days taper (maybe one very light workout) and meet.

[SepCalla]

Taper

D1) Snatch, singles to 1x70kg
PC + power jerk, singles to 1x80kg

Squat 3x1x165kg

Bench, comp. pause 4x1x90kg

Notes:

• Weightlifting felt solid. Squat and bench were ridiculously easy. Just going throught the motions.

• Not feeling the best I’ve felt. After a hard work and training week I had a night out with my colleagues. I had some beers/drinks, but nothing insane. I ate well and drank a lot of water to balance out the poisons.

Well, it did not work. I sometimes have migraine, and I had horrendous one on Sunday. I barely could eat and took a shit loads of medicine just to survive. I should have seen it coming. It usually comes after high stress weeks (which last week definitely was, having some alco on the top of the week was the final nail to my coffin).

• To make things worse I have terrible cough going on. My head seems okay now, but I don’t feel 100% by any standard. There’s also nasty feelings in my knee, left quad and both shoulders. So great starting point for a meet taper. Hahah!

• Luckily I have two days before the meet. I’m sleeping some extra, eating well and drinking electrolytes. I also did cut all the extra stress/stuff from my days for this week. Just let the fatique come down… Hope I’m ready for some PRs in Thursday.

About scifi

Science fiction is a though experiment. Science fiction is not predictive, it is descriptive. - Ursula K. Le Quin

I love reading, I quess it’s not a surprise. I often read nonfictional stuff, but I have my peaks to fictional books too. I read all genres, but for some reason scifi has gotten my attention in recent years.

Scifi is often seen as escapistic and adventurous. I disagree. Good scifi is often hypotethical and allegorical. Scifi gives us possibility to ponder different scientifical or philosophical questions. It can represent a “what if” -scenario, critique to modern cultural or societal models or be just a dystopic warning.

Other thing about scifi is the vastness of the genre. Therefore you often encourter different subgenres. I will shortly introduce couple of these subgenres and give some book recommendations related to them.

Space opera
AKA scifi -fantasy. The setup is often centered around humans, but there’s usually aliens present too. Usually it contains spacefaring interstellar civilizations and has very little to do with realism/actual science. Stuff just kinda happens, and science is pretty much equivalent to magic.

Still, at best, these kind of books represent quality literature and writing. They often have some moral viewpoints and connections to our world.

Recommendations:

Frank Herbert: Dune (first two or three books). A classic, and a prime example of space opera. Allegory of imperialism, dangers of fundamentalism and false prophets.

Dan Simmons: Hyperion (first two books). Awesome modern classic. Really well written, and has several themes with intertextual contexts. God, cultural regression, love, enviroment and human AI relations being some of them.

Hard scifi

This genre has often roots in real world, and is placed in modern world, or in near future. It usually takes effort to explain the science behind the scenes and usually builds upon some scientific/theoretical questions. My favoite subgenre, since it serves very well for a base to ponder certain potential scenarios.

Recommendations:
Peter Watts: Blindsight. Very unique and interesting first contact story, which investigates philosophical questions such as consciousness and language as a form of representing yourself.

Ian McEwan: Machines like me: I McEwan is fantastic writer. I recommend any book from him. “Machines like me” is Mcewan trying out his toes in the scifi -world. The book is basically a love triangle between a robot, woman and a man in alternative 80’s Britain. Even though it’s not best McEwan I’ve read, it handles the emotional questions of intelligent and consciouss AI very well.

Ted Chiang: Exhalation: Better known for his other scifi -books, such as Story of Your Life (movie adaptation named as Arrival). Exhalation is, maybe a bit uneven, but excellent short story collection, which handles several ethical, scientifical and philosophical questions very well.

Apocalyptical and dystopic scifi
Self-explanatory. When the future turns sour.

Orwell’s 1984, and Huxley’s Brave New World. I don’t need to explain these ones. I did read them as a young guy and they had a profound impact on me.

Cormac McGarthy: The Road It’s borderline -scifi. There is no scifi elements in this book, but sometimes it’s classified as a scifi. Beautiful and sad story of father and son surviving in post-apocalyptic world.

Misc.

Sometimes it’s impossible to classify on which subgenre the book belongs. Below are two examples of excellent books, which are hard to define.

Liu Xicin: Remebrance of Earth’s Past (specifically the Second book: The Dark Forest). A huge 3 book story, which I don’t want to spoil too much. It’s often classified as a hard scifi, but it has some space opera -elements in it too, and is definitely a dystopia. It’s a terrifying series, and while it has it’s clear weaknesses, it’s definitely an experience to read.

Adrian Tchaikovsky: Children of Time (first book of the trilogy). This one is other way around. I would say it’s a space opera, but it takes it’s scientific (biological) stuff pretty seriously, so it’s kinda “Hard space opera”. Excellent and unique book, I did not enjoy the rest of the series as much as this first book. I generally like how Adrian writes, and I have read other stuff from him too.

I guess I could go on with this topic forever, but here’s a short introduction to scifi. Hahah.

[SepCalla]

Supertotal meet

Well. I was still slightly sick when the meet day came. I also got pretty bad night sleep, since our roof decided to start leaking last night. But I went anyway, because skipping the meet would have felt like quitting.

I had not great expectations, but I thought that maybe I can overcome the situation and maybe the strength is there. Last week was awesome training week, so I knew I should be strong enough to do alright in the meet, if things won’t go terribly wrong.

Weightlifting:

(Power) snatch:
70kg, easy. As it should.
76kg Fail.
76kg Fail.

Poor start. I actually got all three, but my left shoulder moved a little with 76kg. That was it. Weightlifting rules are strict. No complaining about it.

Power clean + jerk:
80kg
87kg
90kg
All were easy and good reps. I was most worried about this lift, so I left some in the bank here. Really happy about this small victory.

Powerlifting. This is where everything did fall apart. Weightlifting was more about form and precision than strength, but I was aiming to PR my PL total and break the 600kg barrier.

Every. Single. Lift. went awfully. Warm ups felt good, but I had zero oomph in me. I started to feel very fatiqued as the day went on and went to the bathroom to cough between the attempts.

Squat:
210kg, solid. As it should.
220kg, fail.

220kg was my old meet PR. I decided to skip my third squat, since I was not going to do 225kg, and thought I could preserve some energy to the bp and dl.

Bench:
117,5kg. Slow and stiff.
125kg, fail. No hope.

Bench felt like shit. Did drop the last attempt.

Deadlift:
235kg, alright, but I knew the game was lost at this point.
250kg, fail.

I was pretty empty during deadlifts. Did an easy opener to have a total. After that I did not have much in me.

Soo, not a good day. I was aiming to break the 600kg PL total, but there was no hope. I had much better meet during winter with practically zero prep. This reinforces the fact that any type of peaking is overvalued for a mediocre lifter like me.

Good things were that I got a WL total, and I at least tried. I’m currently bigger and stronger I’ve ever been, it just was not there today. If the goals are too easy, what’s the point of having them?

Now it’s time for something slightly different for couple months, after all, I’m not a weightlifter or powerlifter.

[SepCalla]

Random workout

Assisted dips (two light bands) 2x6

Assisted dips (one light band) 4x5-6

Chins 4x7-8

One leg leg press 3x12

BW lunges one set
Tricep extensions one set

Notes

• This was day after the meet. I felt like crap, but wanted to do something little, so I did this.

• Going to have a few days break. We’re travelling to Poland, so no lifting. After that it’s time for some summer training.

[SepCalla]

Summer training revisited:
HINGE/PUSH/SQUAT/PULL/RUN

Scattered schedules? Ton of other stuff to do besides training? Time to back off from heavy ass lifting? Have interest to do some general strength training with added bw work and conditioning AKA build base for the next strength focused phase?

Behold -The terrible chimera of Wendlers Krypteia -style training and priority list training.

Main points are:

• No training schedules. I lift 2-5 times per week.

• Keep it simple and general. You have 5 main things to do to be functional and strong human being: squat, hinge, push, pull and run.

• Squat, hinge and push are done with barbell. Every one of these can be done 1-2 times per week (depending how many workouts I’ll cramp in).

• Pull will be supersetted with main push lifts. Some extra pushing volume is supersetted with squats and hinges are supersetted with some ab work (which I’ll do way too rarely).

• Progression is simple: start light (around 70%) and when you can do the total volume with 4 sets @ RPE 7 or less, increase the weight.

• Do lighter variations in barbell lifts. Time to give body some rest.

• Point is to get some good base work in, increase conditioning and maybe lose some weight.

• No planned deloads. Do this for 2 months.

• Again: start light! There’s lot of stuff in here I’m not well conditioned to do right now. Lifting intensity is something I should cut first at this point. These next few weeks aren’t time fir PRs.

Priority -list (1-3 main lifts per workout, 2-5 workouts per week)

1 Hinge: Power clean 20 total reps, superset with ab wheel

2 Push: Close grip bench 35 total reps superset with DB rows

3 Squat: Paused squat 25 total reps superset with dips

4 Hinge 2: Deficit deadlift 20 total reps superset with ab wheel

5 Push 2: OHP 35 total reps superset with chins

6 Squat 2: Paused front squat 25 total reps superset witb weighted push ups

Running: Do 2 fartlek sessions per week. Start with 20 mins, but increase the time slowly.

About the fall: I was not going to powerlifting focused training anymore this year, but I’m not satisfied to this spring. Even though I made some progress I’m profoundly unhappy to my deadlift plateau and my poverty bench. So I’m going to get back to some PL training in August.

This time I will be humble and get some coaching (first time ever!). There’s a local PL guy who coaches and I know he’s gotten some good results with several people. I’ll ask him. Let see what happens.

[mirkoccp]

nice log you have here. just curious, whats your weight?

[SepCalla]

Hi, thanks!

I’m around 112kg/246lbs. I’m quite tall guy (6’5"), so I could be bigger. My long term goal is to gain more muscle, but I’m not aiming to be huge guy.

If I would only seek strength, and would want to be strong as I possibly could, I should probably weight 300lbs. But I have no interest being so big. My BW has fluctuated between 105-115kg in the past 7 years or so, and I’m aiming to have BW around those numbers without carrying unhealthy amounts of fat.

[SepCalla]

SUMMER GPP W1

Wendesday:

Power clean 4x5x70kg, superset with total 40 ab wheel rollouts

CGBP (paused) 4x8x85kg, superset with total 50 chest supported DB rows

Pause squat 4x5x150kg, superset with total 23 assisted dips

Wednesday:

Fartlek run 20 min @ 2,5km

Thursday:

Fartlek run 20 min @ 2,4km

Friday

Deficit deadlift 3x7x165kg, superset with total 50 HLR

Ohp 4x8x55kg, superset with total 36 chins

Lateral raises 2x13x8kg

Saturday

SSB squat 3x8x142,5kg, superset with total 50 weighted push ups (10kg)

Rear laterals 2x15x8kg

Notes:

• We came from the trip Tuesday night, and I had stuff to do during the weekend, so this training week was cramped in 4 days.

• Even that I started light I was really sore. During the runs the lungs weren’t the problem, but my legs just were made from sement (specially on thursday).

• Also my abs and triceps have been extremely sore, on friday I was going to do more ab wheel rollouts, but I could not do one single rep! This happens every time I’ll go back to higher volumes, next week will be easier already.

• I don’t know about the progression, sometimes I might increase weight, sometimes reps, sometimes add a set. Does not really matter if just kinda swing it for this training block. Point is to increase work capacity and conditioning.

• Kalories are in 3000, no problems there. Starting weight around 112kg.

• I’ll might toss some really easy upper body isolation work here and there (like the lateral and rear raises this week) if I feel like it. Just for vanity reasons.

Short and not too serious tought:

Different economic models and ideologies/theories are kinda like training methods. Extremes aren’t usually the best, there’s something good in each of them, and usually more grounded and sensible options work well.

[SepCalla]

Summer GPP training week 2

Monday

Power clean 75kg

5x

5x

5x

5x

Ss with total 37 ab wheel rollouts

CGBP (with comp. pause) 87,5kg

8x

8x

8x

6x

3x

Ss with total 60 chest supported DB rows

Tuesday

Pause squat 155kg

5x

5x

too easy, so went to 160kg

5x

5x

Ss with total 40 assisted dips

Deficit deadlift 170kg

7x

7x

7x

Ss with total 30 ab wheel rollouts

Wednesday

Fartlek run 3km @ 20 min

Did not feel terrible.

Thursday

Ohp 57,5

8x

8x

8x

8x

Ss with total 25 chins

Squat 150kg

8x

8x

8x

Ss with total 50 DB bench @ 30kg

Lat pulldown 1x15x80kg

Lateral raises 3x10x10kg

Different gym today. Had to make some changes to the movements. Chin up bar was terrible and it was hard to do chins with it.

Saturday

Fartlek run 3km @ 20 min

Much easier than on wednesday.

Notes:

• Decent week. Weights felt good, running is also feeling easier. No much soreness anymore, as I expected.

• The BW has not gone much down, but I feel and look lighter already. No problems or difficulties with hunger or energy yet.

• Knees are somewhat achy though (from running propably). I also feel tired, but not simirlarly beat up as I feel when lifting heavy.

• Next training week will be short, since we’re travelling to the archipelago. I’ll probably do the lifting in the next few days and do the running while we’re travelling.

• So I’ll start the training week already tomorrow and I’ll again increase the weights, but the not total reps. The trip will serve as a 4 day mini-deload and the week after that I’ll drop the weights slightly but add reps. Lets push that volume and work capacity up baby.

• I want bring up that I’m also doing at least 2 longer walks every week.

My three training principles

Only a short text, and this topic is beaten to death. But these principles are something I firmly believe in, and most likely part of every succesfull training plan. This is not a unique list, and there’s a reason why.

• You must train hard enough to distrupt homeostasis and recover enough to make the adaptations possible. Both of these get harder when you get more advanced. Smart training is generally pretty hard training.

• You get better in the things you do. So do the things you want to get better at.

• Don’t get caught up in too much specificity though. You can’t do same thing month adrer month and year after year. Build a big base and be good in many things. It will help longetivity and make you stronger in general.

[SepCalla]

Summer GGP training week 3

Sunday

Power clean 80kg

5x

5x

5x

5x

Ss with total 40 ab wheel rollouts

CGPB, comp. pause 90kg

8x

8x

8x

8x

Ss with total 40 seal rows

Monday

Pause squat 165kg

5x

5x

5x

5x (lost balance during the final set and had to throw the weight)

Ss with total 30 assisted dips and total 16 bw dips

Deficit DL 175kg

7x

7x

Too easy. Upped to 185kg

7x

Ss with total 30 ab wheel rollouts.

Tuesday

Fartlek run 3,3km @20 min

Wednesday

”Pururata”/ “Fitness trail”

I was short in time, and my weightlifter friend was doing this (with different movements). I thought it looked fun, and I tend to have habit to be too locked woth my plans, so I decided to let some chaos in to my training.

It was slightly bastardized, since I did BW chins as a pull and run out of time, so during the last round I did lighter amraps in press and pull.

Rules: Choose 1 pulling movement, 1 pressing movement, 1 squat. Do them
as a circuit, 1-2min rest after one round.

Start with 5s, each round increase weight to every movement and drop rep from one movement. Don’t go below 3s.

Movements I choosed:
Paused SSB squat
OHP
Chin up

Reps and weights, total 9 rounds:

Ohp

5s: 50, 55, 60, 62,5, 65
4s 67,5
3s 68,5, 70
7s 60

Paused SSB
5s 105,112,5
4s 130,135
3s 142,5, 152,5, 155, 157,5, 162,5

Chins 5,5,5,4,4,4,4,4,3,7

At home: total 100 push ups

Thursday

More random stuff and run. Did found small empty gym and could not resist.

Definitely felt the fatigue in this workout, and was sore and stiff. Run went decently though.

DL: worked up to 1x200kg, beltless. Then pulled something in my ham and stopped.

Bench, comp. pause: worked up to 1x110kg, no equipment either.

Curls ss triceps 3x10

Lateral raises ss PBAs 3x12-15

Nice pump.

Fartlek run 3,2km @ 20 min

Notes

• Good week, seeing improvements in dips and running. Weights have not been too demanding.
• Weight was lowest 111,9kg. So some progress there too.
• Not going to lose any weight during this weekend, we’re travelling in archipelago and it’s midsummer’s night tomorrow, which is a big thing in Finland. Going to limit myself from too much gorging, so if I don’t gain much weight either it’s a win.
• Next week I’ll increase the work by adding set to each movement. Let’s see how it goes.

No text today. Happy Midsummer to everyone!