1/11/13 - Friday (late update)
Cycle 20, Week 1, Day 4
Bench press
5x110
5x130
12x145 - can’t compare
Bent-over row
7x180
10,9,9,9x170
DB BP
8x70s - most I’ve done with 70s
7,6,4x65s
2x7x60s
DB hold, 135s, 2 towels
22sec,5sec,17sec
Breakdancing
Mills, 30min
Practiced barrels too. Some good ones, just keep at it.
1/12/13 - Saturday
woosh.
Warmup
20min
sore.
Headspins
80min
Good. No PR, but consistently above 5/4 for the majority of the time. Some ~7/4. Practiced mostly forearm headspins and rolling back into a forearm headstand (which is also getting more consistent).
Mills
80min
Getting better with barrel mills. Had a set with two decent ones, then landed on my front. Main problem is I’m landing on my right buttcheek, which will mess up my hip if I keep messing up like that. One one hand, gotta practice, but on the other hand, gotta be able to get out of bed. So it’s tricky.
1/13/13 - Sunday
Handstand work, ~2hrs. Basically all the stuff I don’t get to do during the week but I still think is cool I plan on doing today. So:
Learned how to dive backwards into a baby freeze. Not hard, just mental.
Practiced trying to go from a baby freeze to a handstand. Didn’t get it but I doubt it’ll take too long.
Measurements:
Weight: 161.5 (+1)
Waist: 31 (-1/2)
Chest: 39 1/8 (+3/8)
Hips: 36 5/8 (+1/4)
R bicep: 13 (0)
L bicep: 13 1/8 (0)
R thigh: 24 (0)
L thigh: 23 (0)
Don’t know what to think anymore about measurements. Just gonna go work hard and hope I look better once I get stronger and learn some new moves. Sure made a rebound after the deload week though.
1/14/13 - Monday
Cycle 20, Week 2, Day 1
Deadlift
3x235
3x270
7x305 - Beat 7x295(19,2). But I’m still haunted by 9x295(17,3).
Clean
3x200
6x175 - Was wondering why I haven’t made any progress on this lift in so long. Then it hit me - it’s because I’m cleaning weak-ass 175!
5x185
3+1x190 - Did 3, was like, OK, I’m done. Then I was like, no I have another one in me. Won’t ever do anything like this again. The set is done when it’s done, that’s that.
4x185
LDL
10,8x245
8x235
10,9,7x225
Breakdancing
Diving backwards into a baby freeze, 10min. Did some move sets with it.
1/15/13 - Tuesday
Cycle 20, Week 2, Day 2
Overhead press
3x105
3x120
5x135 - Beat 3x135(19,3).
DB OHP
4x60s
6,5,5x55s
8,6x50s
Dips
5x+50
6,4x+40
6,5x+30
Pull-ups
6,4,5xBW
Breakdancing
FAHS (forearm headspin), rollback freezes
20min
Had to re-learn stability with FAHS since it’s been 2-3 days, but got consistently well above full turns. Rollbacks are solid, as long as I’m not tired I can knock them out.
Mills
25min
Barrels: got a double. Might not have been perfect but it was damn close. A girl actually came up to me and gave me her number after she watched me practice these for a while so I’d say my technique is alright indeed.
1/15/13 - Tuesday (re-post?)
Cycle 20, Week 2, Day 2
Overhead press
3x105
3x120
5x135 - Beat 3x135(19,3).
DB OHP
4x60s
6,5,5x55s
8,6x50s
Dips
5x+50
6,4x+40
6,5x+30
Pull-ups
6,4,5xBW
Breakdancing
FAHS (forearm headspin), rollback freezes
20min
Had to re-learn stability with FAHS since it’s been 2-3 days, but got consistently well above full turns. Rollbacks are solid, as long as I’m not tired I can knock them out.
Mills
25min
Barrels: got a double. Might not have been perfect but it was damn close. A girl actually came up to me and gave me her number after she watched me practice these for a while so I’d say my technique is alright indeed.
1/16/13 - Wednesday
Warmup
10min
Headspins, rollbacks
~75min
best: 7/4
Mills/Barrel mills
~70min
Couldn’t get focused like yesterday. Worked on getting singles as clean as I could.
Handstand work
~5min
Almost got a clean handstand pushup.
Smith BB hold
20sec,10sec,8sec - 275 lbs
Nothing special today. Not bad, but definitely not great.
1/17/13 - Thursday
Cycle 20, Week 2, Day 3
Squat
3x190
3x215
3x245 - Weaker from 3x250(19,3). Judging by my deadlift going up while my squat going down I’d say I go to failure on that rep-out set for deadlift earlier in the week and I’m still too beat up come Thursday to get decent performance on squat. We’ll see if that holds true between OHP and bench, too.
Front squat
5x205
5x195
5x190
5,6x185
Light squat
9x190
9,8x180
10,8x175
10x170
Pull-ups
6,3,3x+10
Breakdancing
Handstand work, 30min
Nothing new today. Thinking about doing this and headspins tomorrow so that my bruises from barrel mills have more time to heal, probably a good idea since I’ll be able to really push myself on Saturday then.
1/18/13 - Friday
Cycle 20, Week 2, Day 4
Bench press
3x120
3x135
9x155 - I figure this would beat 10x150(19,2).
Bent-over row
10x180 - Beats last week’s 7x180.
8,10,9+1C,8x175
DB BP
5x75s - Got 2x75s on 19,3 and 8x70s last week. I’ll be pumping 85s before you know it.
6,5,5,4x70s
6x65s
DB hold
9sec,28sec,4sec x 135s
2 towels
28 seconds beats last week’s 22.
Breakdancing
FAHS move sets, 30min
Very good business on this. Practiced two sets: Footwork>handstand>FAHS and rollback>FAHS. Got a couple of really good spins from those sets, too, 3/2s~7/4s.
Happy I didn’t practice barrel mills today. I made good progress with what I did do and I’ll be more recovered from my bruises to hit them hard (hopefully not literally) tomorrow.
And two more girls complimented my breakdancing. So today was really a great day, balances out yesterday’s mediocrity I guess.
1/19/13 - Saturday
waka waka
Warmup
~20min
Head stuff
~100min
Got some good FAHSs, there might’ve been some 3/2~7/4s in there.
Practicing strict headstands, no arms, like balancing a pencil on its point. Improving, as in holding them for .1 sec instead of .01 sec. Staying tense helps.
New move: Head slides. All I did was put my head to the ground and kick off forwards. My best was ~1ft, just have to keep at it.
Move sets, handstand>FAHS. Shoulders are stable like the mountain bedrock.
Mills
~75min
Barrel mills: Got 2, plus an awkward hip-banging flop. It seems to help to think about crossing my arms over my chest like a vampire instead of like an imaginary hug. Not sure if it makes sense but it really does seem to help. Also, as a reminder I need to roll higher on my back.
1/20/13 - Sunday
Weight: 161.5 (0)
Waist: 30 7/8 (-1/8)
Chset: 39 1/2 (+3/8)
Hips: 36 1/2 (-1/8)
R bicep: 13 (0)
L bicep: 13 (-1/8)
R thigh: 24 1/8 (+1/8)
L thigh: 23 1/8 (+1/8)
Breakdancing:
Mills
~80min
Normal mills: Tuned my technique with these before I went into barrels. Roll high, legs wide, think about looking up at the ceiling from between my feet. Good momentum, looks good, plus I don’t hurt myself doing it this way.
Barrels: Decent set with 2.5, as in, 2 full ones and then I flopped onto my front. Even when I got tired I was getting clean singles, until I got to that awkward point where I couldn’t even do a normal mill, so that was that.
Freeze <-> Handstand
~40min
Handstand > Freeze: Descend slow, head should hit the ground first, keep tension on stabbing arm.
Freeze > Handstand: Getting closer to pulling it off. Keep weight on shoulders, easiest if hands are both pointing as forward as possible.
1/21/13 - Monday
Cycle 20, Week 3, Day 1
Deadlift
5x255
3x285
4x320 - Plot twist: Normally weigh in wearing pajamas. Took those off and weighed in yesterday buck naked at 159.5. So double bodyweight on that shit.
Clean
3x200
6,5,6,6x185
So I’ve been babying myself with 175 on these which begs the question of what my max really is, so soon I’m gonna do a set to failure with this and ask someone to spot me so I don’t roll ass over head and end up with an injury that lasts all cycle long.
LDL
11x250 - Beat 10x245 from last week.
10,8x235
10,9,9-10x230
Breakdancing, no school so got in early so lots of time today.
Hstand>freeze
Head goes fooooorwards to take load off legs. Got 'em now.
Freeze>Hstand
Getting stronger. Will make it happen by the Sunday after the coming one.
Some head stuff
Spins, rollbacks, just to keep in touch with it, I’ll do these more tomorrow
Barrel mills
Got a good double. Need to focus more.
Keep it up Marrot!
Thanks man! Always a nice surprise to scroll down and see a post from someone other than me.
1/22/13 - Tuesday
Cycle 20, Week 3, Day 2
Overhead press
5x110
3x125
4x140 - Probably beats 5x135 from last week.
DB OHP
6x60s - Beat 4x60s last week
6,6,6,5,5x55s
Dips
5x+50:F - Damn. But at least I know where I’m at.
5x+40
5x+35
6,4x+30
Pull-ups
7,4,3xBW
Breakdancing
FAHS, 40min
best: 3/2. Also worked on transitions into.
Mills, 10min
Barrels, best: 1.5. Got caught up in working on headspins and by the time I got to these the basketball court was taken over by people actually playing basketball. These are mine tomorrow.
This is a pretty cool log. I just read teh first couple pages and the last couple, but it looks like you have been doing 5-3-1 the entire time and have gained 20 pounds BW in less than 2 years. Not too shabby.
And you breakdance? That’s awesome!
Thanks for posting! Always really encouraging.
1/23/13 - Wednesday
Monday: Deadlifts
Tuesday: OHP
Today: Upside-down training
Warmup, 10min
Front handsprings on the solid. Tuck elbows in as much as possible helps.
FAHS, ~120min
best: <2. In general getting more consistent and stable with everything, transitions into, even rolling out of headspins. This part of the session took a lot of time because it has come to cover a lot of stuff: rollback stalls, head slides, head spins, no-arm headstands, and of course transitioning into/out of those moves. I’ll get a video of one of these sets; I need to see how it looks anyways.
As a side note, I got a handstand pushup today. All the way down, all the way up, held it steady, no wall.
Mills, ~30min
The whole basketball court was taken up today by kids practice and “mens’ league”. So in utter desperation I got amped up and pulled off three barrel mills in a row. They weren’t clean but I kept my legs straight and wide.
Freeze>handstand, <5min
Almost!
Smith BB hold, 275
19sec,9sec,11sec
Can’t lie, a little nervous about skwatz tomorrow.
1/24/13 - Thursday
Cycle 20, Week 3, Day 3
Squat
5x205
3x230
1x255 - Well shit. I’ve been busting my balls since July last year and managed to put 15 lbs on my squat. Not helping was when a guy told me after the set that I was being unsafe. Like, can’t a guy max out on squats in peace?
Front squat
5x205 - got 6x205 last cycle, so 
8,6,6,6x185
Light squat
10x190 - beat 9x190
8x185
10,8x180
10,9x175
My back buckles when I get to higher reps on these. I’m going to start doing good mornings again next cycle, but only on deadlift day this time.
Pull-ups
6,4,3x+10
This whole cycle has been full of dismal squat days. But I don’t think it’s because I’ve been getting weaker. My deadlift went from 5x310(19,3) to 4x320(just this monday). Meanwhile my squat looks like it decreased from 3x250(19,3) to 1x255(today). Judging by how I start the week with deadlifts and only take two days between deadlift and squat days, it makes sense to say that as I get stronger, I drain myself out more with deadlifts and end up performing worse on squat day. Maybe I can solve this by using less draining good mornings instead of extra deadlifts to finish off Monday workouts. They might help me keep my back from buckling while doing high-rep squats too (not a problem with low rep, just when I do like sets of ~10)
And breakdancing. Just barrel mills today, ~20min, re-remembered to keep lower body tight which is harder after a squat workout but oh well.
1/25/13 - Friday
Cycle 20, Week 3, Day 4
Bro chest pump bench press bro day bro.
Bro press
5x130
3x145
7x160 - Comparing this to 3x160(19,3) and 9x155(last week), I’m happy.
Rows for the bros
12x180 - Beat last week’s 10x180
10,8,9,10x175
DB bro press
5x75s:F - Well damn.
7,6,5x65s
2x6x60s
DB hold, 2 towels, 140s
22sec, 5sec, 13sec
Breakdancing
Barrel mills, 20min
Just keep at them and stay tight. Got a good double with these today.
1/26/13 - Saturday
Avoiding trouble… and homework…
Warmup
10min
Head work
120min
Slides, spins, stands. Getting better overall.
Head slides video, could always use more distance of course:
Mills
40min
Barrels: Give them a break, right hand is bruised from being crushed against the ground while rolling over. Consider different setups for bracing the arms so this doesn’t happen. It’s hit-and-miss right now, just have to find what works.
1990s
30min
Don’t know what to do to improve these.
1/27/13 - Sunday
Weighed at 161.5 like last week. The rest of the measurements are all about the same.
And apparently the road was so icy today that the gym was closed. So I repped out on push-ups just to keep from putting my head in the wall. 26, which is a new best for me. I also did a couple on my fingertips, wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Then, I had a contest with my brother later today, which I got out of by making orgasm noises until he was laughing too hard to hold himself up. Productive day if I ever saw one.