7/7/13 - Sunday
Measurements:
weight: 169
waist: 32 1/2
hips: 37 3/8
chest: 42 1/4
r bicep: <13 1/2
l bicep: 13 3/4
r thigh:24 3/4
l thigh: 24
Hm. I don’t feel bigger.
Bench pushed to tomorrow so i have at least two days between that and OHP.
Right, and training. 1990s, flares, monkey flip>handstand, and footwork for speed.
7/8/13 - Monday
Bench press
bar
3x95
3x135
3x155
3x175
2x1x165
Pull-ups
4x+35
DB BP
6x75s - easy, felt like there were definitely 2-3 more that I could have ground out. Last week’s 2x180 was a grind so I didn’t want to risk missing 80s.
Focused on every rep, pushing as hard as I could, even on the light weight.
Breakdancing
1990s
I’ve gotten a lot of tips to tuck my head in and look behind me while spinning instead of looking at my hand. But I really do perform better by looking at my hand, so I went back to it to finish off the session and go figure I finished the day with a spin just under 5/4. Remember to keep the low back arched so my center of mass stays over my spinning arm.
Flares
Focused on kicking my left leg up hard as possible, and following that up with putting my right leg up as hard as possible. Didn’t think about legs straight or anything else, just powering my legs up.
Monkey flip > handstand
I have to re-learn this move. Better than yesterday.
Footwork
Focused on speed.
7/9/13 - Tuesday
1990s
Consistent full spins, not much more, not much less.
Flares
I hate to say close, but, close. Definitely making an improvement by focusing on minimum amount of cues and putting in minimum volume.
7/10/13 - Wednesday
Squat
bar
3x135
3x185
3x225
4x250 - Could have done 5 but I didn’t want to grind it and give myself too much to recover from as the “Training to Failure” articles by Jason Ferruggia argue against. I’ll get 5 this Saturday though; have to move up eventually.
Pull-up
1x+50 - ez
Breakdancing
1990s
I’m getting consistent full spins. Nothing more, nothing less as long as I give myself time between each attempt. I don’t know what to do to move past where I am now.
Flares
Focused on individual cues again, and on detaching myself from the outcome so I could work on the parts of the move instead of just throwing myself around and hoping for the best.
Monkey flip > handstand
To get a good monkey flip, start in a squat, lean backwards slowly, and the instant my right hand just begins to touch the ground, power everything over backwards. Almost had one at the end where I held the handstand.
Something neat happened today. To warm up for breakdancing I’ve been doing no-wall handstand push-ups, just a couple each day, to get my shoulders loose and practice keeping tense to keep my balance.
Anyways, normally I do two slow ones, and when my head comes down to the ground the second time I have to take a second or two to get my balance before I can push back up. But today was different - I just went down and up and got four easy, rapid-fire handstand pushups no problem.
7/11/13 - Thursday
Overhead press
bar
3x95
3x135
4x145 - one more maybe if someone slapped me in the face
2x1x140
DB OHP
5x65s - 6 was definitely possible, but I got fatigued because of a small glitch; I had a false start on one of the reps and started pushing before the DBs hit my shoulders, so I had to bring them back down and start the rep again… doh. 70s next week
Dips
3x+70
Breakdancing
Frontflips
No regrets about killing all my time on these today. Did them in the grass at the park. What really helped was jumping off two feet; not the other way where I swing one leg up and over, and the fact that a girl was watching. I got closer to landing on my feet than ever before. I’ll have to take a break though because my ankle is sore from one of the landings, hopefully Saturday I can practice them again.
7/12/13 - Friday
Breakdancing practice at the park
Flares
One-arm handstands to train 1990s since there wasn’t any smooth surface to spin on there.
Running and jumping for frontflips
Monkey flip>handstand
7/13/13 - Saturday
Squats
somexbar
3x135
3x185
3x225
5x250 - back rounded on the last one, if I had another one in me it would’ve been damn tough
2x1x235
And I never get around to taking lifting videos because I try to avoid putting my phone in a room full of weights. But here’s those 5x250 squats.
Pull-ups
1x+50 - faster than last time I did this
Breakdancing
1990s - It feels like I can get more spin by planting my spinning arm farther from my left arm.
Flares
Go faster.
Monkey flip>handstand
Got some perfect ones, but I had to wrestle with it to get the handstand set in place
7/14/13 - Sunday
Bench press
somexbar
3x95
3x135
3x155
3x175 - 1-2 more left, I did some grinding on Thursday and yesterday so I can’t be a badass every day.
2x1x165
Pull-ups
2x+40
DB BP
4x80s - could have eeked out another one but it might just be because I lifted at a different gym today and it had these big blocky rubber DBs that were cutting the ROM in half
Breakdancing
Flares
Go faster.
One-arm handstands
So it turns out these really are possible; before I got tired out I felt myself get legitimately stable for a second on some of them
Monkey flip > handstand
Four in a row that were exactly what I wanted, just going straight up into that handstand and holding it there. Nice.
Measurements
Weight: 168.5
Waist: 32 1/2
Chest: 42 1/4
Hips: 37 1/2
R bicep: 13 1/2
L bicep: 13 5/8
R thigh: 24 5/8
L thigh: 23 7/8
Ramadan, so I stuff my face big time right before I go to bed and wake up with a food baby. Just to prove this to myself I weighed in right before Iftar today at 162.5.
7/15/13 - Monday
1990s, get tense
Frontflips, closest I ever came to a solid landing but my left ankle is taking a beating from it so I can’t practice these as much as I would like to. It’s like, I land on my feet but my ankles can’t take the landing so they buckle and I end up on my butt.
Flares, speed
Running and jumping for frontflips
7/16/13 - Tuesday
1990s and flares
7/17/13 - Wednesday
Squat
somexbar
3x135
3x185
3x225
3x255 - had one rep left
2x1x240
Pull-ups
3x+50
Breakdancing
1990s, tuck head, move fast
Flares, power the left leg up
Flips tomorrow.
7/18/13 - Thursday
Overhead press
bar
3x95
3x135
5x145 - felt easier than last week’s 4x145, like there was definitely one more rep
2x1x140
DB OHP
2x70s
Dips
2x+75
No extra reps on the assistance
Breakdancing
Frontflips
Tucking is hard. Once I get tired my abs aren’t strong enough to pull everything in quickly enough to get a good tuck.
Flares
Keep at it.
7/19/13 - Friday
1990s
Practiced with head tucked, as advised by many better than me. Striking was that after my form grew sloppy, I reverted to extending my neck and looking at my hand while spinning, and felt more stable than I remember ever being while doing it neck extended… :o
Flares
woooooooooooooo
7/20/13 - Saturday
Squat
somexbar
3x135
3x185
3x225
4x255
2x1x240
Pull-up
1x+55 - no struggle here
Breakdancing
1990s
I need to go faster. I get some where I can stay stable on my arm, but they’re just too slow to get anywhere by the time I fall down.
Flares
Focused on keeping my right leg moving as I sweep it around. I have a bad habit of letting it pause or slow down as it nears my left leg before my left leg kicks up.
7/21/13 - Sunday
Bench press
bar
3x95
3x135
3x155
4x175 - none left. Probably the reason it was four instead of three with a missed rep is that I was benching without a spotter.
2x1x165
Pull-up
2x+40 - one left
DB BP
2x80s - took it easy, left elbow hurts from messing up frontflip landings.
So today’s lifting went pretty well given that I got literally no sleep last night. I swear it was eight hours straight of no reason boners and constipation.
Breakdancing
1990s
Slight improvement, but it’s not at the rate that I need if I’m going to hit that 1-1/2 spin by the end of the month. Anyone have some Aderall?
Flares
These were really shitty. So I kept it short and gave it a break.
One arm handstands
I’ll post a video tomorrow, my phone’s dead right now but I gotta say I just keep surprising myself. I mean, not like I’m getting 5-second holds or anything, but I never thought I’d be doing this shit.
Oh yeah, measurements tomorrow. I woke up so pissed and tired today I barely had the energy to shave my pedo stache.
7/22/13 - Monday
Flares
Ass tight. <–Finally allowed me to bring it around without my left foot hitting the ground.
1990s
With head tucked, I hit a spin of that was just noticeably over a full turn, the most I’ve ever done with head tucked, let alone in the middle of a session.
Running and jumping for frontflips
I have a theory that practicing on concrete will allow me to jump higher, because concrete pushes back harder. Just as landing on grass hurts less because the grass and dirt absorbs the impulse of my landing, it also weakens the impulse I deliver when I try to jump up high. I took a video and it looks like I jump higher on concrete. Yes, I understand the risks of practicing frontflips on concrete… lol.
Otherwise, I practiced rolling my feet onto the balls of my feet to jump straight up
Measurements, too, taken right before I broke the fast. This is probably the most accurate measurement of my, well, measurements, as possible, since it was taken after a day of pooping and there is no minimal food in my system at the time.
Weight: 162
Waist: 31 5/8
Chest: 40 5/8
Hips: 36 5/8
R bicep: 13 1/4
L bicep: 13 1/4
R thigh: 24
L thigh: 23 1/4
7/23/13 - Tuesday
Breakdancing. I realized that it’s summer vacation and I have nothing better to do, so I started practicing at noon, took an hour break after 1990s practice, and hit flares in the evening.
1990s
Good work here, felt more confident and consistent once I got warmed up.
One arm handstands
eh.
Flares
Focused on squeezing my upper back to push my chest up and get more height
Monkey flip > handstand
After an afternoon of practicing, these were tough. But I still got a few that went nice and clean right into the handstand. Another good amount where I had to take some time to get my balance. The problem is I can’t do them well enough to do them from footwork.
7/24/13 - Wednesday
Squat
bar
3x135
3x185
3x225
5x255 - 0 reps left
2x1x240
Pull-ups
2x+55 - Definitely stalled out here, I’m going to switch back to doing them pronated grip and see what happens.
Breakdancing
1990s
Keep at it.
Frontflips
Went to an actual gymnastics place. Took a while but I landed about five frontflips on that springy mat area with only my feet touching the ground, nothing else. Trick was to jump as hard as possible while running; don’t pause mid stride.
7/25/13 - Thursday
Overhead press
3x95
3x135
2x150
2x1x140
DB OHP
1x70s
Dips
1x+75
Didn’t leave anything in the tank yesterday so I did every set knowing that I could have done at least one more rep. I plan on doing the same for Saturday’s squats because I want to get serious with bench on Sunday.
Breakdancing
1990s
Just felt weak and unstable with these today.
Flares
Practiced punching my right arm down into the ground while coming around to make myself focus on, well, coming around all the way.
Running and jumping for frontflips
Practiced sprinting, then punching the ground with my feet to jump up, without slowing down horizontally, as that is what made me able to land them yesterday.
Maxing out is starting next week. What were my goals again?
OHP: 1xBW (165)
Squat: 1.75xBW (290)
Bench: 1.25xBW (205)
Dips: .5xBW in extra weight (1x+82.5)
Pull-ups: 1/3xBW in extra weight (1x+55) - Accomplished
DB OHP: 3x70s
DB BP: 3x85s
Breakdancing:
Flares: 1 clean rotation - Accomplished
1990s: 1.5 spin
Do a frontflip - Landed on gymnastics mats, but grass is what I had in mind.
In terms of the lifting, I will be getting amped up and banging my head against the wall and having my bros slap me but I won’t try stupid shit that I obviously can’t do. If 160 OHP takes 10 seconds to grind up, I’m not going to try for 165.
Edit: I’m going to make my dips goal 3x+80. I know I can get at least one rep with +80 lbs, and if I start grinding it I can just quit the set and avoid failure, which is better than loading up a heavy single weight, missing it, and coming out with nothing. Taking off 2.5 lbs sounds like some picky shit but I don’t care; I’m not getting some bullshit set of 0.
And DB BP, 5x80s. With the DB exercises I usually need 6 reps before I can do the next DBs for a single and my best so far with DB BP is 4x80s. I just don’t want to screw myself by hitting failure in the 0-5 rep range.
7/26/13 - Friday (late update)
Breakdancing, outside because it was so beautiful and I needed a break from 1990s anyways.
Flares
Focused on sweeping the right leg as fast as possible, and rotating my torso quickly.
Roll-back into handstand
Got it, easy. It’s not about shoulder strength, just punch the legs up.