In terms of hypertrophy, I haven’t noticed a significant difference. Maybe a little in my traps and rear delts. My shoulder mobility, however, is WAY better than it’s been in ages. I went into a downward dog position the other night and realized I had a significantly greater ROM than before. Shoulders feel better overall also, so all in all it’s a win.
The little extra at the end there was just the time and distance to finish up my loop. Goal is to be able to do the whole thing in 30 minutes. It’s going to get harder and harder as it heats up though, because I don’t do well in heat.
I much prefer the bilateral calf raises. Done in a giant set format like above, I got through the extra work very quickly.
In other news, I quit my job and took work with another security company. It’s such a huge relief, because I was so close every single day to just walking out. The new job will be boring as hell, but significantly less stress which is what I need right now. The days will be long (14 hour days), but it’ll mean I’ll only need to work 3 days a week, which will be amazing.
Huge news on the new job dude: glad to hear about it. Excited to see how it pays off. Maybe you and I will be on matching shifts and end up blowing up each other’s logs out of boredom, haha.
I became disillusioned to this job a few months in, after going through a window with a subject. The client organization tried to throw me under the bus.
But yes, the last 12 months was really the kicker when we started getting treated like garbage, which is not something you want to do to the guards who keep your product and staff safe.
Haven’t been able to take my dog the last few times I’ve been running, because it’s just been too hot, so I was happy to have him with me this time. I let him off leash for the hill sprints, and I run as hard as I possibly can to outrun him — which of course is impossible, but it helps me push hard. I was running so hard I could feel everything up to my neck tensing.
Body’s finally accustomed to the volume of this block. Heading into the post-Leader deload I was feel toast, but now it’s a breeze.
Struggling with some hip impingement on my right side the last couple days. Need to get that sorted.
12/06/2021 PART 2
Start time: 2045
Stationary bike
60 minutes, approx. 26km
Fat-grip tricep bar curls
100 reps @ 35
Notes:
Just got some blood flowing throughout the body. Stuck to that “Zone 2” area, as usual.
Finally got a pool noodle! Stuck a couple pieces of it on my tricep bar and did some “Poundstone” hammer curls. I’ve done Poundstone-style curls before, but a fat-grip hammer curl just hits totally different, and is definitely a neglected part of my arms. 100% keeping this as a post-aerobic exercise once a week.
Hell yeah dude! It’s why I’m such a stickler on doing it with an axle. The wide circumference radically changes things, for the better. I keep catching myself off guard, because my forearms have exploded in size yet I’ve dropped my “direct” grip work, and I keep wondering what’s up and then I go “Oh yeah…” after this workout.
My wife had to work early, so I was watching the munchkin this morning. We wrestled, ran around outside, watched a movie, then headed out to the lake for the afternoon. Did more running and wrestling there, played in the lake, as well as went for a long walk. I drove home after dinner and he stayed out there with my wife.
My intent was to train after getting home, but after having such a fun day with my kid (which I rarely get because of work), my soul was full and I just wanted to shower and relax.
Today’s session was just supplemental and assistance anyways, and while important, sometimes it’s more important to ride a healthy mentality and allow it to restore you, which is what today was all about.
They’re never to young for play! Play just looks different at different stages. When my kid was just a little peanut laying on his back, I’d move his arms and feet around and talk to him, make funny faces, smile and laugh, anything to help us bond.
Even though a full Leader-Anchor cycle of Spinal Tap-style sets is a lot, the wave structure of it means that by the time I get to the final set, it feels like an absolute breeze. Really great way to feel like you’ve got total control over a given weight; that 210 on the 3rd round felt so much easier than the first time.
I changed up how I’m handling the reps on my “hypertrophy” work. I realized, as I usually do, that I was favouring rep count over tempo count, and that led to focus on movement over muscle. Slowed down the tempo to one deep inhale on the eccentric, and one deeps exhale on the concentric. Really helped the MMC, and even though I did less reps, the pump was bananas. Need to make sure to continually practice that for all my assistance work.