Liftin Weights and Beatin Breaks

4/19/13 - Friday

Breakdancing.

1-leg air swipes, ~1hr
Practiced these clockwise, so they match with the direction of my windmills and headspins. Felt awkward at first but I’m getting it.

1990s, ~1hr
Practiced these from footwork. But the floor was dry so I couldn’t spin well.

L-kicks, nikes, ~30min
L-kicks suck. Nikes are solid.

Some FAHSs at the end, ~5min. Best was a 5/4 turn. The move didn’t feel completely foreign to me.

Good news. I did windmills at a party today. Not only were they as fast and clean as I remember them, but they didn’t hurt AT ALL. Actually, that trouble spot on my shoulder feels better now. So that makes dips the final frontier in terms of recovering from my injury, everything else feels 100%.

4/20/13 - Saturday

Worked up to,

Squat
1x255

Front squat
4x210

Pull-ups
4x+25

Breakdancing
1-leg air swipes, clockwise
Tension in the left arm so when I land my hips don’t fall.

Mills
Get better at these. Left leg was bending.

I’m half-expecting my new plan to turn me into a skinny-fat “pregnant spider” build because there’s so little volume, but I’m also half-expecting some crazy shit like a +30-lb deadlift PR at the end of next cycle.

4/21/13 - Sunday

WUT (worked up to)

Bench press
1x185

BB row
3x215

DB bench
3x75s

Breakdancing
1-leg air swipes
Getting the feel of these a lot better but I got tired out quick today, started trippin quicker than usual so I’ll give these a break, go see the world maybe

FAHS
Second day back, got two 7/4s

Rollback stall
Solid, power shoulders through the ground.

Going to do another ME week since my ME deadlift was greatly weakened by the 90 minutes of bboy practice I did beforehand that day and my ego won’t let me use 330 as the 1RM for 5/3/1 because then I’ll be pulling 250 for a gazillion reps. Also there’s that ridiculous chance that 5/3/1 isn’t the end-all-be-all of strength training and maxing out four times a week is all I need.

Measurements, too:
Weight: 163 (-1)
Waist: 31 5/8 (0)
Chest: 40 1/4 (+1/8)
Hips: 36 5/8 (-3/8)

R bicep: 13 1/4 (0)
L bicep: 13 1/2 (0)

R thigh: 24 1/2 (+1/4)
L thigh: 23 5/8 (+1/8)

4/22/13 - Monday

Breakdancing

Crickets
Worked up to supporting with just finger tips on the left hand.
Practiced balancing handglide freezes on just the right hand so I can move on to UFOs

Mill>headstand
No dice, back off of these so I can heal 100%

No-arm headstand
Grabbing buttcheeks helps, no lie. I smell a signature move, the marrot ass-grab headstand

Didn’t keep track of time spent on each individual move but the whole deal killed a little over two hours, spent really little time on the mill>headstand

4/23/13 - Tuesday

Breakdancing,

Crickets
Going faster. Practiced cricket hops - in a handglide freeze, jump off the hands, clap in mid air, and land back on hands again.

Rollback stall
Don’t rush the roll, push shoulders hard. Not 100% but I get the point.

So the lifting week starts tomorrow, W-TH-SA-SU, alright.

4/24/13 - Wednesday

Deadlift
somexbar
3x135
3x185
3x225
1x275
1x315
1x325
1x330
1x335
1x340
1x345 - Beats last week by 15 lbs, was fresh this time. Tomorrow we’ll really see whether I got stronger since last week.
0x350:F

Three times today I was told I was going to hurt myself. Across the gym some guy had driven over to do bodyweight 1/4-squats and 1/2-pushups, but I’m the bad guy for lifting heavy in a weight room.

Clean
3x135
2x185
2x225

Pull-ups
3x+30

Breakdancing
FAHS, ~60min
Whip legs around harder. I want to focus more on new things.

4/25/13 - Thursday

Overhead press
somexbar
5x95
1x135
1x145
1x150 - +5 over last week
0x155:F

DB OHP
fewx30s
1x65s

Dips
3xBW
3x+10
3x+25
3x+35
1x+50
3x+55
Took my time to work up with these since I still feel that spasm in my left lat. But it didn’t hinder me. It didn’t hurt, it stretched.

Breakdancing
1-leg air swipes, ~60min
Did one set that was really nice; quiet, good rotation, hips high, mm. Getting better so long as I’m not tired.

FAHS, ~30min
Powerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. And do something else.

4/26/13 - Friday

Crickets
~60min
Getting faster. Also did cricket hops, those are improving too. Finally, I can’t jump off one arm in a handglide freeze yet but I’m much more stable on one arm.

Elbow freeze
~60min
More stable. Just like a forearm headstand but with one forearm.

I’m going back and forth between more moves now that I don’t spend as much timer lifting, because if I put all my excess time into the same move I’d end up tired too quickly and hurting myself like I did with barrel mills.

4/27/13 - Saturday

Squat
somexbar
4x135
2x185
1x225
1x245
1x255
1x260:S - had it easily, but spotter touched me so it didn’t count, #badass
1x260
1x265
1x270
0x275:F

+15 lbs over last week, and the most I ever squatted. ._.

Front squat
4x215

Pull-ups
3x+35

Breakdancing
Handstand work
~60min
Freeze>handstand, 1990s, felt stronger with 1990s

4/28/13 - Sunday

Bench press
somexbar
3x95
1x135
1x155
1x175
1x185
0x190:F

BB row
4x220

DB BP
3x80s
Didn’t waste any time this week, went straight for the 80s. Maybe the excess warmup sets done last Sunday and on this most recent OHP day with dips is why I didn’t PR with bench today.

Breakdancing
Headspins, ~90min
Learned how to stop mid spin on my head and hands

Elbow freeze, ~30min
More stable

Measurements:

Weight: 164 (+1)
Waist: 31 5/8 (0)
Chest: 40 1/2 (+1/4)
Hips: 36 3/4 (+1/8)

R bicep: 13 1/4 (0)
L bicep: 13 5/8 (+1/8)

R thigh: 24 3/8 (-1/8)
L thigh: 23 1/2 (-1/8)

How’s that. I miss a bench PR and measure my chest at the biggest it’s ever been. Then I hit a +15 squat PR over last week and lose 1/8" from each leg.

4/29/13 - Monday

Breakdancing.

Cricket hops, ~30min
Back off these. I wasted too much time and energy here that I could have put towards improving crickets and making progress towards UFOs.

Crickets, ~60min
Getting faster, got some positive comments. I do, however, need to get a t-shirt that says, “Doesn’t take requests” - I had two people come up to me like “can you do this thing I saw on TV?”

Elbow freeze, ~30min
Have a chance if I hold my breath.

Lifting goals for by the week of 7/29/13.

Deadlift: 2.25xBW
OHP: 1xBW
Squat: 1.75xBW
Bench: 1.25xBW

Clean: 1.5xBW
Pull-up: 1x+45

Gonna hope this thing with just hitting maxes and leaving will work.

4/30/13 - Tuesday

Today was short on time, but not on progress.

Headspins, ~90min
Well able to pause headspins and continue them, sets of 3-4 pause-then-spin things were often. Could be smoother, will keep at it.

Last 15 minutes, practiced going into mills from a headspin. Couldn’t get it but it felt very possible.

BOOM BOOM POW DEADLIFTS TOMORROW BOOM POW

BOOM POW DEADLIFTS TODAY BOOM POW

5/1/13 - Wednesday

Deadlift
2x135
2x185
2x225
1x275
1x315
1x335
1x345
1x350
1x355
0x360:F - Tried twice. Was just short of lockout on the first try, if my hands were dry I would’ve made it but the sweaty bar helicopter-wormed its way out. The second try just taught me that there should never be a second try.

So, +10 over last week. If I had chalk I’d have pulled more. I WILL get invisible chalk by next week.

Clean
3x135
1x185
3x225 - beats last week’s 2x225

Pull up
1x+40

Breakdancing
elbow freeze, ~15min
Keep at it

Backflip on pull-up bar, ~30min
practiced going faster, letting go sooner

5/2/13 - Thursday

Overhead press
somexbar
3x95
1x135
1x150
1x155 - +5 over last week
0x160:F

DB OHP
3x65s - +2 reps over last week

Dips
3x+60 - +5 lbs over last week

Breakdancing
Crickets, ~90min
Going in from toprock, getting faster

I don’t want to jinx it and it might just be recovering lost strength but the increases I’ve been making these past weeks have really surprised me. +5 OHP and +10 deadlift in a week? I’m going to stick with this, if it’s working then there’s no need to go back to what I used to be doing.

5/3/13 - Friday

Headspins, ~90min
Can go into mills from these, practiced a good move set with rolling back into a headstand, spinning, and going into mills from there.

Left arm stall, ~30min
Can’t really call it an “l-kick” or anything, just practiced standing on my left arm against a wall while grabbing a foot with my other hand.

5/4/13 - Saturday (late update)

Squat
3x95
2x135
1x185
1x225
1x255
1x270
1x275 - +5 lbs over last week
0x280:F - well that escalated quickly. badum tshh

Front squat
4x220 - +5 lbs over last week

Pull-ups
2x+40 - +1 rep over Wednesday

Breakdancing
elbow freeze, ~60min
split legs helps. Grab back of head, elbow on ground

5/5/13 - Sunday

Bench press
3x95
2x135
1x155
1x175
1x185
1x190 - +5 lbs over last week
0x195:F

BB row
4x225 - +5 lbs over last week

DB BP
3x80s:F - stupid of me to hit failure >_<, no gain over last week

Breakdancing
Crickets, ~60min
Got more of them, faster. So that’s that.

Mill>headstand, ~10min
Got a perfect one on my fourth try. I am now recovered from that left lat spasm. Boom redemption.

I feel like these quick strength gains I’ve been getting have just been recovering lost strength. But for the time I put in, the progress has been great nonetheless.

Measurements:

Weight: 163.5 (-.5)
Waist: 31 1/2 (-1/8)
Chest: 40 1/4 (-1/4) - 1/4" off my chest, 5 lbs on my bench. k
Hips: 36 7/8 (+1/8)

R bicep: 13 3/8 (+1/8)
L bicep: 13 5/8 (0)

R thigh: 23 3/8 (0)
L thigh: 23 3/8 (-1/8)

5/8/13 - Wednesday

Deadlift
somexbar
2x135
2x185
2x225
1x275
1x315
1x335
1x355
1x360
1x365
1x370
1x375 - +20 lbs over last week. No, it’s more like: PLUS TWENTY POUNDS OVER LAST WEEK WOOOOOOOO
0x380:F

Used some liquid chalk (shhh) today. My hands were anchored to the bar, no helicoptering, no slip, and no stain on the bar. Now with pulling 375 I know I’m at least where I used to be before I hurt my shoulder doing barrel mills.

Clean
3x135
2x185
1x230 - most I’ve ever cleaned

Pull-ups
2x+40 - went in before I was rested up enough, I got infused with dude bro lift bro amp up pump bro bullshit by the guy doing chest crossovers. 3x+40 is mine this Saturday.

Breakdancing
Monkey flips, ~40min
Will learn these by Saturday. Practicing going around instead of directly over, and I feel myself slowly feeling more confident going directly over as I tried it at the beginning and at the end of practice. Not there yet though but I can make it happen.

5/9/13 - Thursday

Overhead press
somexbar
3x95
1x135
1x155
0x160:F
Well that escalated quickly. No improvement over last week.

DB OHP
4x65s - +1 rep over last week

Dips
3x+65 - +5 lbs over last week

Progressed in assistance at least. I’ll buy that.

Breakdancing
monkey flips, ~40min (short on time, prom things to handle >_>)
Getting close to actually going right over my head.

So it’s been four weeks since I’ve been on 5/3/1. As long as I keep making progress I’m not going to stop just doing what I’m doing now; max out and go breakdance. As for deload, well, shit, I did less than 15 reps including warmup today.

5/10/13 - Friday

Monkey flips, ~100min
I’m able to go more directly over my head but it still looks so bad. My god, I asked someone to take a video and it was just so bad oh my god how is it even possible. But better than yesterday and the day before.

Chained headspins, ~20min
I understand the last video I put up looks like absolute cat shit. What the fuck was I thinking? Pistol to kip-up? God damn. OK, here’s an alright couple of sets, the best one is at the end. I’ll get a better video tomorrow. With a shirt.