Lo/Rez Training

Training Training Logs
1021

And back from Thanksgiving. We now have the house back to ourselves.

We drove up to Seattle for the weekend, and spent some time walking around while up there… which is just a lead in to say that I’ve got some issues with my left SI joint right now. Some back pain while driving, and spasms in my left leg. Nothing debilitating or anything, but it’s new.

I also continued trawling for information in the DragonDoor forum archives about how people cycled and progressed with the Power to the People training. One guy, who was 17 at the time of posting, worked up to a 430 lb deadlift @ 155 lbs, using just the routine. He gave a pretty good writeup on how he approached it.

The most relevant takeaways for me are:

  • he did it all with just linear cycles (adding weight each workout, then resetting), which is what I started doing before I switched to this 4 forward, 3 back wave
  • dropping down to 70% to start each new cycle
  • adding 3-5% per session, rather than a fixed weight (so 10-15 lbs for the deadlifts, instead of 5)

Today is the beginning of my 2nd round of the Russian Bear variant; the more size and volume focused version. Should take around 6 weeks, but I may take more time due to being out of town over the holidays.

When I did this before, I basically settled into doing 80%x5x5 for my back-off sets (after 100%x5 and 90%x5). While this definitely worked, I want to push the volume and the food more this time. Bodyweight today is right around 152, so I’m thinking low-160s by mid-late-January. Also, instead of gravitating toward the minimum of 5 backoff sets, increase that to a minimum of 10. I have the time, and I can work on the patience. Technically I should continue lifting until form breakdown, but sometimes I’m not patient enough to get there.

Will make adjustments as necessary, of course.

–

As far as vanity, and physique goals…

As I get stronger, I’m realizing I genuinely like how that feels. I’ve had some really good success in the last couple months, despite the fact that it appears very imbalanced and incomplete as far as routines go. I like that I can get in, get some quality work done, get out, and both get stronger and look better.

I started lifting mainly to stop feeling so small and skinny. Strength was never actually a goal. I got pulled pretty heavily in the bodybuildling direction early on, even though big arms, big chest never really appealed to me. I just never really clicked with that kind of training though – lots of exercises, lots of volume, lots of ‘lactic acid’ style pain.

My time with 1,2,3RM work was good for me, since I learned a lot about my body responds to things, and also how much better I do with higher-frequency work with a smaller exercise selection. But I never really got much bigger from that.

What I’m doing now seems to click pretty well, and it seems that as I get stronger, I also look better. Granted, my standards have changed some. I notice people’s physiques a lot more since I started lifting, but now it’s actually upper back size and shoulder positioning that I notice most. Some of the goal/model physiques from before no longer have much appeal to me, since the lack of development through the upper and mid-back just stand out as “weak” to me. Even if the shoulders and arms and chest are well developed.

In the end though, I think I just want to look like Sterling Archer.

1022

Z Presses
45 x 10
65 x 5
75 x 3
95 x 2
wraps
125 x 3 – PR
115 x 3

And the first time with 125.

The 115 x 3 (instead of 5) was because I didn’t rest enough. I didn’t feel like taking the wraps off, so I decided to lift before my hands went completely numb.

I’ll probably go back and train more later; was short on time today. And may hold of the Bear training for another week. We’ll see.

1023

Z Presses
45 x 10
65 x 5
75 x 3
wraps
115 x 5
105 x 5

Right wrist felt off somewhere during the warmup. Not sure what happened, but felt really unstable.

120/110 tomorrow.

7 Mat Pulls w/35 lb Chains
135 x 10
225 x 5
255 x 5
225 x 5
185 x 5 x 5, really short rests

I stayed really light, like, 100 lbs lighter than max light.

My SI joints, both sides, feel bad right now. I feel fine initially, starting each set, but when I set the bar down after the last rep, I get a shooting pain feeling at the base of my back. It’s not in the spine, just on each side.

I felt this feeling for awhile, I just didn’t have a name for it. It’s just more pronounced now than before. If I adjust my form, it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference.

I’m researching, but I don’t have a solution yet. Prone leg raises and bird dogs might be helpful; they did help with immediate pain relief. I tried to “reset/pop” my SI joint per some video, but I just couldn’t generate enough force to make that happen. Might be a good thing I couldn’t do that though.

I may just need to rest it for a bit. Some people say walking can help. Might do more of that on a treadmill or something. I’m not too interested in walking outside right now.

1024

Workout, then random thoughts.

Z Presses
45 x 10
65 x 5
85 x 3
wraps
120 x 5 – PR
no wraps
110 x 5

Hammer EZ Bar Curls
bar + 25 x 15
bar + 35 x 15
bar + 45 x 9
bar + 25 x 15

–

And there’s 120 x 5. I actually really like this 4 forward, 3 back style… basically just a slight decrease of intensity after every weight PR.

That’s a 10lb increase in my 5RM in about 4 weeks.

The 4th rep was pretty hard, to the point where I wasn’t sure I’d make the 5th rep. It went up, stuck, then slowly climbed to the top. This was the same pattern the last couple times I hit a new 5RM.

–

I used my wok again last night and cooked some shrimp and chinese sausage fried rice for my girlfriend and a friend’s family. Turned out pretty well, and people liked it. It’s been awhile since I used it.

Even though I was cooking on my knees out in the cold wind on the balcony, I really do like actual wok cooking over my million BTU gas burner.

–

Some amount of depression is starting to kick in these days. Just minor mood changes, like passively click around and reading stuff on the internet instead of actually getting work done (of any sort, work-related or not). There’s a lot of possible factors, but at least I’m noticing it soon enough to do something about it.

I’ll probably be more religious about taking my Vitamin D and getting fresh air. I also need to improve my discipline now that I’m working from home. And I think I need to find some more social outlets, which will probably just be playing pool at a local bar.

For whatever reason, I’m sort of just distracting myself from real life, and I need to correct that.

–

I need to be at a decent level of fluency in Mandarin in about 6 months. I may be going to China with my girlfriend’s family to meet extended relatives and just general sightseeing. I’d rather understand things and feign incompetence than actually be incompetent.

6 months is actually a lot of time.

1025

One last thing. When we were in Seattle, we took a boat tour of Elliot Bay. The wind and waves were pretty harsh, and it was about 27 degrees before factoring windchill. Most people stayed inside. I spent most of my time outside on the ice covered bow, in the weather, getting rocked up and down and blown around.

For whatever reason, I seem to be fascinated with boats and ships and navigation and ports and stuff. We got a bit of a tour of the container ship loading/unloading and the sheer scale of those ships and what it takes to make that happen is just extremely impressive to me.

There’s a part of me that really wants to do some actual travel by boat (not a cruise ship).

There’s also a part of me that wants to summit a mountain or three.

Until about 9 months ago, these are things I never really knew about myself.

1026

Maybe not the last thing.

I found some stretches and stuff for the SI joint. The stuff in these videos helped.

My posture while sitting isn’t really very good and stretches/stresses the area. I’m going to improve this, and actually sit in my chair instead of “lay” in it.

I’m going to probably continue with the Bear 2x weekly with the Mat Pulls but keep things light and modulate volume based on how things feel. More rest time between lifting days, better posture, better mobilization/activation, and that should be enough.

Z Presses I don’t think will be transitioned to Bear (yet). They’re doing well being trained as-is.

1027

I’ve enjoyed reading through your log. Good stuff. Especially like ZPress, I had never heard of them, but looked them up and tried them last week and will be incorporating them in the future. Where in the NW are you?

1028

[quote]dchris wrote:
I’ve enjoyed reading through your log. Good stuff. Especially like ZPress, I had never heard of them, but looked them up and tried them last week and will be incorporating them in the future. Where in the NW are you?[/quote]
Thanks. Vancouver WA area. Been here only a couple months though; formerly in Indiana. I’m mostly from the midwest. You?

1029

I pulled my right levator scapula last night, screwing around with trying to hook my extra 3’ of 2" pipe up as a pullup bar. Basically the whole right side of my neck, down into my upper back.

I was in pain this morning from it. Found some accupressure/massage info and got some relief. Along with painkiller. It behaved pretty well today… but I managed to pull it again while lifting.

SI Joints seem to be calmed down. I’m doing some other exercises and stretches, but I’m shotgunning it. Don’t really know which are helping, and honestly, it’s probably the rest from pulling more than anything.

However, mat pulls again tomorrow. May stick with 255, may bump up to 265 or 270. Still very light. I’ll see how things feel.

Z Press
45 x 10
65 x 5
85 x 3
wraps
125 x 1.5 – re-pulled my right levator scapula and almost failed to rerack the weight

Went home and lacrosse balled a couple trigger points just above the right scapula. That’s helped some.

I feel weirdly disabled right now.

1030

[quote]LoRez wrote:
Thanks. Vancouver WA area. Been here only a couple months though; formerly in Indiana. I’m mostly from the midwest. You?[/quote]

I’m in Salem, but grew up in Portland area. That’s quite the move. How are liking it so far?

I lived in SD for a year, it’s too cold in the midwest for me.

1031

[quote]dchris wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:
Thanks. Vancouver WA area. Been here only a couple months though; formerly in Indiana. I’m mostly from the midwest. You?[/quote]

I’m in Salem, but grew up in Portland area. That’s quite the move. How are liking it so far?

I lived in SD for a year, it’s too cold in the midwest for me.[/quote]
Well, SD is quite a bit colder than Indiana or Ohio or Missouri (all former residences of mine).

I like it up here. I’m used to there being several cities within a couple hundred miles of you though, so it’s taking some time to wrap my head around how “isolated” the area is.

But I like the food and drink and generally low-stress lifestyle. Vancouver’s a little more “blue collar” (as an uppity Portland realtor told us) but it actually feels a bit more midwestern to me. I also love how everything is so close if you actually want to do stuff outdoors.

When I lived in Missouri, I spent a lot of time driving through the Ozark mountains, just exploring in my car. Literally did that every few days for a few years.

It’s nice to be able to do that again, but without losing the advantages of a more urban and cultured region (which those areas of Missouri were lacking in).

All in all, I’m pretty happy here. The grey and rain might take some getting used to though.

1032

7 Mat Pulls w/35 lb Chains
135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 5
275 x 5
245 x 5 x 10 sets, 30-90s rests

SI joints are still hurting while sitting during the day, and sometimes when bending over, like, say, brushing my teeth, I can feel things stretching in that area. I’ve been trying a few things. If I point my knees almost inwards, and drive my feet away from each other (the “spread the ground” cue), it takes the stress off the area.

I did that while lifting today, focusing mainly on that. It helped. Compared to normal, I felt maybe 10% of the pain from before. Definite improvement.

However, I didn’t use my inhaler early enough, and a bunch of other stuff sucked. Basically I hit a point where my heart was racing, I was very close to throwing up on multiple occasions (I think due to blood pH changes), and my sinuses had been stuffed for the past few days, so all that got released with the movement, which meant draining down my throat, into my stomach, and popping noises in both ears, including losing hearing in one ear. Not so fun.

But yeah, got some decent work in. Didn’t waste it, just felt awful during it.

1033

[quote]LoRez wrote:
Well, SD is quite a bit colder than Indiana or Ohio or Missouri (all former residences of mine).

I like it up here. I’m used to there being several cities within a couple hundred miles of you though, so it’s taking some time to wrap my head around how “isolated” the area is.

But I like the food and drink and generally low-stress lifestyle. Vancouver’s a little more “blue collar” (as an uppity Portland realtor told us) but it actually feels a bit more midwestern to me. I also love how everything is so close if you actually want to do stuff outdoors.

When I lived in Missouri, I spent a lot of time driving through the Ozark mountains, just exploring in my car. Literally did that every few days for a few years.

It’s nice to be able to do that again, but without losing the advantages of a more urban and cultured region (which those areas of Missouri were lacking in).

All in all, I’m pretty happy here. The grey and rain might take some getting used to though.[/quote]

Yes, that’s definitely the advantage to living on the coasts. Lol at Portlanders, I had dilated eyes and was wearing the dumb eye doctor glasses in West Portland, some girl at a shop legitimately thought they were cool and asked where I got them.

If you like the outdoors, there is lots to do, I recommend going to Multnomah falls, silver falls, driving through the Gorge (Bridge of the gods), hiking in sisters, Astoria, Haystack Rock, etc. There is a lot of places to see and hike within a 2 hour drive of Portland/Vancouver. Let alone all of the places to get good beer and wine. If it helps, I’m still trying to find a way to cope with the weather.

1034

[quote]dchris wrote:
Yes, that’s definitely the advantage to living on the coasts. Lol at Portlanders, I had dilated eyes and was wearing the dumb eye doctor glasses in West Portland, some girl at a shop legitimately thought they were cool and asked where I got them.[/quote]
Lol. That was one of the first things I noticed coming here. There’s a lot of people who are just a bit… different. But if that’s what it takes to let a city where everyone turns their job into actual craftsmanship (food, drink, furniture making, clothing, etc.), I’m ok with it.

We’ve spent several weekends visiting wineries down in Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity Hills and around McMinnville, as well as Hood river area; we’ve hiked to Tamanawas falls, and tried to do the Ten Falls Canyon Trail at Silver Falls, but that was too icy when we went. Also been to the coast one or two times, and snowshoed on Mt Bachelor (My girlfriend’s been here for a little over a year, so we did some stuff when I visited)

I’ve enjoyed it.

My biggest issue right now is I work from home, and I just need to get out more on a regular basis.

1035

Z Press
45 x 10
65 x 5
85 x 5
95 x 5

  • wraps
    105 x 5 – could feel some stress in right levator scapula, stopped ramp before I pulled it again
    95 x 5
  • wraps
    95 x 5
  • right wrap
    85 x 5
    85 x 5
    85 x 5
    85 x 5
    85 x 5
    85 x 5

Hammer EZ-Bar Curl, short rests
bar + 25 x 15
bar + 35 x 15
bar + 45 x 10 – PR… lol
bar + 25 x 15

(back at the apartment gym)
Pushdowns
2 x 15
4 x 10
4 x 8
3 x 10
3 x 8

Or something like that.

I rolled my glutes with a large massage ball. Right piriformis (?) seems to have a major trigger point, and left, less so. Working on these in the hope that it takes stress off the SI joints. Just trying to get to a count of 20-30 on each side, a couple times a day until it’s relieved.

Low back is also stiff and tight through the lumbar region.

I’m thinking about getting a good deep tissue sports massage, but I haven’t really looked yet. This could help.

–

Finally I’m making progress at work again. I spent a long time trying to rework the previous guy’s stuff to do something it doesn’t do… once I abandoned that and started mainly from scratch, I’m making a lot more progress.

But I also have to rewrite the whole inline markdown syntax parser. I’m exploring a few paths, trying to do it recursively and still efficiently, but it seems I can only do one or the other.

I’m enjoying it at least. It’s nice to be writing code and solving problems again, instead of wading through stuff I can’t make sense of/don’t like trying to make sense of.

–

I’m going on vacation starting Friday. I’m going to do a bit of mild “overtraining” just to take advantage of the week+ of recovery I’ll get.

1036

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]dchris wrote:
Yes, that’s definitely the advantage to living on the coasts. Lol at Portlanders, I had dilated eyes and was wearing the dumb eye doctor glasses in West Portland, some girl at a shop legitimately thought they were cool and asked where I got them.[/quote]
Lol. That was one of the first things I noticed coming here. There’s a lot of people who are just a bit… different. But if that’s what it takes to let a city where everyone turns their job into actual craftsmanship (food, drink, furniture making, clothing, etc.), I’m ok with it.

We’ve spent several weekends visiting wineries down in Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity Hills and around McMinnville, as well as Hood river area; we’ve hiked to Tamanawas falls, and tried to do the Ten Falls Canyon Trail at Silver Falls, but that was too icy when we went. Also been to the coast one or two times, and snowshoed on Mt Bachelor (My girlfriend’s been here for a little over a year, so we did some stuff when I visited)

I’ve enjoyed it.

My biggest issue right now is I work from home, and I just need to get out more on a regular basis.[/quote]

Wow, sounds like you’ve definitely done your exploring. Jealous of snowshoeing Mt. Bachelor.

I hear you, I spend most of my winter locked in my basement office. It’s worth it come spring though. ha

1037

Overtraining workout, since I won’t be lifting heavy for at least another week and a half.

7 Mat Pulls w/35 lb Chains
135 x 10
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 3
335 x 1
355 x 0, 0, 1
365 x 1
385 x 1 – PR
405 x 0, 0
395 x 0
315 x 5 x 5, 60-90s rests – 5x5 PR

To be fair, I hitched the last two reps of the 5x5. I was losing my ability to remain tight through my core; everything else was strong still.

I also don’t know why 355 was stuck; that was weird.

The 385 is a pretty major PR. The best I’d done before was 365 without chains, I think. So if we’re talking about the weight at the top, that’s nearly a 55lb PR (365 → ~420)

Had to mess around with a few cues though. It helped to keep my head up and focus on standing up/driving the hips forward and up, like a squat lockout. Also still spreading the ground apart.

Zero. As in no, none at all, zero SI joint pain. I’m thinking it was those piriformis knots now. Very happy about this.

I’ll be back the week of Christmas. Going to Kansas City to visit family, visiting extended family in rural Missouri, visiting my parent’s lake house down in southern Missouri, showing my girlfriend my old home and town in Springfield… then to Ft Lauderdale and South Beach/Miami for a wedding. Lots of travel, but a nice change of pace.

EDIT: I guess the 315x5x5 was a 40lb PR from 275x5x5.

1038

Awesome job man!

1039

[quote]Alpha wrote:
Awesome job man![/quote]
Thank you.

1040

I’m mostly back now.

Got a couple workouts in with machines while away; just vanity bodybuilding fatigue stuff. Chest and arms.

Rogue Rings arrived for Christmas from my girlfriend. I haven’t quite worked out where to use them… but I have them to use now. Looking forward to being able to do pullups again, and getting better at ring dips.

I’m trying to find a good easy to set up and tear down approach for hooking them over the stairs up to my apartment. The complex’ model is downstairs so I can’t do this during the day, but I can after the office closes. Right now I’m thinking chains around the stairs, then webbing hooked to that… but there’s just a ton of extra webbing. I’ll figure this out.

I’d have lifted yesterday, but I ended up having to take care of a flat on my girlfriend’s car and didn’t have my keys.

Got a new cookbook too, and I’m reinspired to cook homecooked Chinese cuisine again. Lots of simple techniques and layers of flavors. Made a few Sichuan dishes and some vegetable dish from Hangzhou. Pretty good stuff.

I don’t know how well it will work, but I might be able to use some of the same techniques and pre-cook a lot of food at the beginnings of the week and reheat for lunches. I’m going to make a push to gain another 10 lbs over the next couple months. I’m happy with my current level of definition, but could use more size.

Also reconnected with an old friend, but hadn’t kept in touch with during the last 5 years or so.

Training later.