Would You, Quintus? Would I?

Training Training Logs
781

7/1/2013

I literally limped into the gym lol. I spent a little while doing the Agile 8 and just sitting in a full squat position. My back felt a bit better after that, and I could move a lot better.

Squat:
45 10x
135 10x
185 5x
225 5x
275 3x
335 3x Beltless. Well that’s certainly all for today. Especially being that they were beltless, my lower back was screaming. It got SOOO tight.
225 5x
225 5x I was trying to do something to just hit my legs, but I could literally only feel this in my lower back, so I didn’t see the point.

BTW I think the real culprit behind my recent flare up could be leg press. My training partner pointed this out to me very astutely I might add. He said he had a bit of lower back pain even after hitting that leg press machine really hard. He thinks it aggravated my injury from having “butt wink” on the leg press basically. Like when you come all the way down with your legs you can kind of curl up into a ball almost and your lumbar spine becomes rounded and your butt comes off the back pad somewhat.

I went a lot harder on leg press Monday than usual, but I hadn’t even thought to correlate that to my back twingeiness going on that week (which culminated in a big time tweak on Saturday). You know what’s interesting as well, when I first hurt that place in my back the one thing I really could not do (besides deadlift) was leg press.

So no more leg press. After this back thing heals up again (for like the 5th time) I’ll just do dropdown sets of squats instead. That’s too bad though, because I really did like the leg press as a way to hammer the legs and quads especially without having to worry about your core or your back becoming exhausted first.

782

[quote]csulli wrote:
Thanks for the back tips man, I’ll try some light side bends at home.

This is a pic of my horn! It’s a Hans Hoyer 6801. It was one of the earliest of this model number ever made. Nearly every piece of it is hand-crafted by the expert horn makers in Markneukirchen, Germany in the tradition of Meister Hans Hoyer as it has been in his family for roughly 250 years. It’s made of unlacquered nickel silver with a gold brass bell ring.

The leadpipe was handmade by Dennis Houghton. It is entirely gold brass. Most leadpipes will taper to a point and then become cylindrical. His has a conical taper throughout its entire length (in other words it’s God-like).

The mouthpiece is hand lathed by Thomas Greer. This is literally a lost art (almost nobody anywhere still makes them by hand). It is a C8 mouthpiece (very deep and open) based off of the extremely famous model popularized by James Chambers. The body is made of raw brass, and the rim is gold plated.

I’ve had a few, minor after market adjustments made to it as well including removing the first leadpipe brace and changing the brace on the main tuning slide to be shorter and have a different attachment point at a different angle. These were made to help the instrument vibrate and resonate more freely.

If you can’t tell I get very excitable about it lol. It’s my most valuable possession. And not just figuratively speaking either, it’s literally the most expensive thing I own (including my car).[/quote]

That’s incredible! A really beautiful instrument and it’s awesome to hear you are so passionate. Do you find it difficult to balance practicing with training and work/study? I play the euphonium and have a Besson Prestige which is probably about the same value as my car haha. I really need to get back into it properly, but it has kind of fallen by the wayside at the moment.

783

[quote]furo wrote:
That’s incredible! A really beautiful instrument and it’s awesome to hear you are so passionate. Do you find it difficult to balance practicing with training and work/study? I play the euphonium and have a Besson Prestige which is probably about the same value as my car haha. I really need to get back into it properly, but it has kind of fallen by the wayside at the moment. [/quote]
Thanks! That’s a hell of an instrument you’ve got as well. Definitely worth more than my car and everything in it lol.

Really the only time I play anymore is at the rehearsals for the local group, which are once a week. I’m just way more into training than playing my horn these days, so between the gym and work I’m pretty much set lol. I might play more if I had my own house. Living in an apartment I have to use a practice mute for everything which is really annoying and not the same. I vowed to myself that I would at least play once per week so as to never lose track of something I spent years working for.

It’s tough though, because I am very aware of the fact that I’m not as good as I used to be, and possibly never will be. There have been periods of my life when I practiced upwards of 14 hours per week, and here I am now at like 1.5 lol. Anyways once a week is at least enough for me to hang on to something and still have some fun with it.

784

[quote]csulli wrote:

[quote]furo wrote:
That’s incredible! A really beautiful instrument and it’s awesome to hear you are so passionate. Do you find it difficult to balance practicing with training and work/study? I play the euphonium and have a Besson Prestige which is probably about the same value as my car haha. I really need to get back into it properly, but it has kind of fallen by the wayside at the moment. [/quote]
Thanks! That’s a hell of an instrument you’ve got as well. Definitely worth more than my car and everything in it lol.

Really the only time I play anymore is at the rehearsals for the local group, which are once a week. I’m just way more into training than playing my horn these days, so between the gym and work I’m pretty much set lol. I might play more if I had my own house. Living in an apartment I have to use a practice mute for everything which is really annoying and not the same. I vowed to myself that I would at least play once per week so as to never lose track of something I spent years working for.

It’s tough though, because I am very aware of the fact that I’m not as good as I used to be, and possibly never will be. There have been periods of my life when I practiced upwards of 14 hours per week, and here I am now at like 1.5 lol. Anyways once a week is at least enough for me to hang on to something and still have some fun with it.[/quote]

Thanks. Yeah I can’t stand using a practice mute! I got one for when I lived in halls and it just sounds weird haha. I wasn’t a fan. I only really play when I visit home, but I’ve found that most of the technical stuff comes back reasonably quickly (though never as good as it was). The thing that I’ve really lost is my lip stamina if that makes sense lol, I just can’t keep hitting the higher registers consistently like I used to. Yeah I dedicated a lot of time to it too, never 14 hours a week, but I used to do 1.5 hours a day, and its sad that I barely touch it anymore, but I’ve just become more passionate about other things. I’m so grateful for all the opportunities it afforded me though. Anyway, sorry for clogging up your log with my ramblings!

785

[quote]furo wrote:
The thing that I’ve really lost is my lip stamina if that makes sense lol[/quote]
Haha I know exactly what you mean.

I’ve actually thought about this often in relation to strength training. The way I see it, tone and range are both products of embouchure muscle strength. Endurance/lip stamina is a product of, well, endurance lol! It’s just like cardio. Training for strength is slow to develop and slow to leave. Endurance and cardio training is quick to develop and quick to go. I’ve found the same is true in my playing. My tone and range isn’t too far off of what it used to be, because of how many years I spent developing my embouchure musculature. For 15 minutes I’m fantastic! But my endurance is abysmal lol. As soon as you stop practicing several days a week, that shit just flies right out the window.

786

For leg press don’t go past your back rounding. I have the same thing. My rom needs to be fairly small otherwise my back rounds and hurts like hell for a long time. Lg press is great for taking your back out but you still can’t let it round to get extra rom

787

[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:
For leg press don’t go past your back rounding. I have the same thing. My rom needs to be fairly small otherwise my back rounds and hurts like hell for a long time. Leg press is great for taking your back out but you still can’t let it round to get extra rom[/quote]
Definitely. I’m glad you know what I’m talking about lol. I didn’t even think about that before, but I guess I shouldn’t try to go overboard with the ROM on those given my level of mobility. Maybe someone more flexible wouldn’t have as much of a problem going deeper, but if I do leg pressing again in the future I’m definitely going to be cognisant of my lower back and keeping everything flat against the bench and not curling up into a ball lol.

I would like to keep leg press as an accessory lift if I can. I’ll just keep the depth in check for the sake of not rotating my hips forward and shit.

788

Ever tried single leg presses? I believe those make it more difficult to round the lower back.

789

[quote]csulli wrote:

[quote]furo wrote:
The thing that I’ve really lost is my lip stamina if that makes sense lol[/quote]
Haha I know exactly what you mean.

I’ve actually thought about this often in relation to strength training. The way I see it, tone and range are both products of embouchure muscle strength. Endurance/lip stamina is a product of, well, endurance lol! It’s just like cardio. Training for strength is slow to develop and slow to leave. Endurance and cardio training is quick to develop and quick to go. I’ve found the same is true in my playing. My tone and range isn’t too far off of what it used to be, because of how many years I spent developing my embouchure musculature. For 15 minutes I’m fantastic! But my endurance is abysmal lol. As soon as you stop practicing several days a week, that shit just flies right out the window.[/quote]

Haha that makes so much sense! Ah embouchure - that’s a word I haven’t heard in a long time! Well thank you very much - this chat inspired me to practice this morning and I had really forgotten how much I love it. Will definitely start playing more regularly again. Thanks!

790

7/3/2013

Bench:
45 30x
135 10x
185 5x
225 5x
275 8x My goal was 9. I struggled on rep 9 for a long time, but couldn’t lock it out. I know you’re not supposed to go to actual failure, but I do it constantly.

[quote]csulli wrote:
8/4/2012

Bench:
215 5x
240 3x
270 7x
[/quote]
I don’t feel like I’ve really gotten any stronger on bench in like a year. I’d like to think my form has improved now that my butt stays down, but I dunno. It shouldn’t be that big of a deal. In all this fucking time I’ve gone up by 5lbs and one rep. Big fucking whoop.

295 1x
305 1x
315 1x
315 1x
325 1x

Did a set of 225 paused about an inch and a half off my chest. The last rep I held there for around 10 seconds.

Close Grip:
255 6x

Incline:
215 5x Easy.

Deadbench: From about a 1 board height.
225 2x
275 2x
275 2x
295 1x Better than last time I guess. I found a better groove.

Dips:
+90lbs 8x
+90lbs 8x

Flys:
30’s 10x
30’s 10x
30’s 10x I find that if I go much heavier on flys I actually feel it less in my chest.

791

[quote]furo wrote:
Haha that makes so much sense! Ah embouchure - that’s a word I haven’t heard in a long time! Well thank you very much - this chat inspired me to practice this morning and I had really forgotten how much I love it. Will definitely start playing more regularly again. Thanks![/quote]
That’s awesome to hear man!

792

[quote]MightyMouse17 wrote:
Ever tried single leg presses? I believe those make it more difficult to round the lower back. [/quote]
Never have done those. Pretty good idea though; I’m game to try that.

793

7/4/2013

ARMS FOR 'MURICA!

But first neck.

Neck harness pulling back on a cable machine:
5 sets of 10

Lying down w/ 25lbs on the forehead neck pulling forward:
5 sets of 10

Axle Klokov Press: (lol)
115 5x
115 5x
115 5x
115 5x
115 5x

Superset with fatgrip pullups: (seriously if you’ve never done fat grip pullups; try 'em. They’re tough.)
BW 5x
BW 5x
BW 5x
BW 5x
BW 10x Bam.

Shoulder Circuit 1:
Full Lateral Raises w/ 15’s 10x
Plate Front Raises w/ a 45 10x
Rear Delt Flys w/ 15’s 10x

Whole circuit was done 4x w/ no rest.

Shoulder Circuit 2:
Lat Raise Machine 10x
Lean Out Lat Raises w/ 25 10x
Super Slow Rope Face Pulls 10x

Whole circuit was done 4x w/ no rest.

Rando Circuit cuz our shoulders were tired:
Back Extensions 20x
Standing Abs 10x
Pullups 10x
Shrugs w/ 225 10x

Whole circuit was done 4x w/ no rest.

Shoulder Circuit 3:
Upright Rows w/ the bar 15x
Klokov Press w/ the bar 15x
Front Raises w/ the bar 15x
Rear Delt Flys w/ 5’s 15x

Whole circuit was done 4x w/ no rest.

Arm Circuit:
Curls w/ 40’s 10x
Average Band Pushdowns 20x-30x

I rested a minute or so between these and went till I couldn’t get a set of 10 on curls.

I like Klokov presses a lot now. I don’t know why I didn’t like them before. Probably cuz my shoulder mobility was shit. My lockout on Klokov presses is really strong and easy. It makes me wonder about my axle jerks. Perhaps I could use a much wider grip on them, pop it up most of the way with the jerk, and then finish strong with a wider grip lockout? Who knows. I don’t know how the Olympic lifts are supposed to work. Also Klokov’s youtube is basically an Oly lifter porn channel now. Check it out.

794

nice.

795

But… but… bro, over training… Nah just kidding, I am still curious as to how long that takes. :wink:

796

[quote]DSSG wrote:
But… but… bro, over training… Nah just kidding, I am still curious as to how long that takes. ;)[/quote]
The shoulder extravaganza was about 2 hours. I was in the gym for 5 hours Saturday lol. Most of my training days are around 2 though.

797

[quote]csulli wrote:

[quote]DSSG wrote:
But… but… bro, over training… Nah just kidding, I am still curious as to how long that takes. ;)[/quote]
The shoulder extravaganza was about 2 hours. I was in the gym for 5 hours Saturday lol. Most of my training days are around 2 though.[/quote]
And I get the occasional comment at my 1 hour DE days, and 1 and a half hour ME days. :wink:
Is the work really really sub-maximal, or do you do something too keep 'dat 'der blood sugar from crashing after the one, one and a half, two hour mark?

798

[quote]DSSG wrote:

[quote]csulli wrote:

[quote]DSSG wrote:
But… but… bro, over training… Nah just kidding, I am still curious as to how long that takes. ;)[/quote]
The shoulder extravaganza was about 2 hours. I was in the gym for 5 hours Saturday lol. Most of my training days are around 2 though.[/quote]
And I get the occasional comment at my 1 hour DE days, and 1 and a half hour ME days. :wink:
Is the work really really sub-maximal, or do you do something too keep 'dat 'der blood sugar from crashing after the one, one and a half, two hour mark? [/quote]
Yeah everything past hour number 1 is usually quite sub-maximal, high rep stuff.

799

7/5/2013

Back feels much better.

Deadlift:
135 5x
225 5x
315 3x
405 2x
455 1x
475 1x Beltless. I was hoping for a 500 beltless today, but this is alright for now. Looks like I may be getting almost 50lbs out of a belt on my deadlifts. I’d like for that number to be a bit smaller. I’m sticking with beltless training for a while.

18" Deadlift:
225 2x
315 2x
405 2x
455 1x
495 1x
545 1x
545 1x Well that’s about all I could handle today. My back isn’t quite 100%, but also I’m just not as good at these as I imagined myself being lol!

Shrugs:
315 10x
405 10x
405 10x
315 10x
315 10x
315 30x Yeah buddy!

It’s been ages since I’ve done crazy heavy shrugs and above the knee rack pulls. I think I’ll stick to 18" DL’s instead of high rack pulls, but I will add heavier shrugs back in I think. A lot of people say they don’t do shit, but they seemed to help me. I like holding supra-maximal weights at lockout. May see a return to the 585 power shrugs in the near future.

T-Bar Rows:
2 plates 10x
3 plates 10x
4 plates 10x
4 plates 10x
3 plates 10x
3 plates 10x I think I did a really good job of feeling these in my upper back. I often have a tough time targeting upper back.

Smolov Arms:
Basically a week’s worth of Smolov mesocycle done in one training session on biceps and triceps. Yes.

Me and one other guy did this. We did the entire thing as fast as possible. The only rest time was the time it took for the other guy to complete the set. Time between sets was probably like 15 seconds usually.
Swiss Bar Curls:
135 3x
135 3x
135 3x
135 3x
135 3x
135 3x
135 3x
135 3x
135 3x
135 3x

Swiss Bar Skull Crushers + Close Grip Bench:
95 3x of each
95 3x of each
95 3x of each
95 3x of each
95 3x of each
95 3x of each
95 3x of each
95 3x of each
95 3x of each
95 3x of each

Cross Body Hammer Curls:
50’s 5x
50’s 5x
50’s 5x
50’s 5x
50’s 5x
50’s 5x
50’s 5x

Overhead DB Tricep Extension:
100 5x
100 5x
100 5x
100 5x
100 5x
100 5x
100 5x

Seated DB Curls:
35’s 7x
35’s 7x
35’s 7x
35’s 7x
35’s 7x

Standing Tricep Kickbacks: (the weight was light on these so we actually did them at the same time without really stopping. It was more like one set of 35 with each arm)
20’s 7x
20’s 7x
20’s 7x
20’s 7x
20’s 7x

Superset Rope Curls with Rope Pushdowns:
4 sets of 9 on each

FINISH HIM
As a finisher we did 10 sets of 10 curls with just a 45lb bar superset with 10 sets of 10 diamond pushups. We each did this as fast as we could. It took us 7 minutes and 27 seconds to get all 100 reps of each.

Today was 4 hours in total.

800

[quote]csulli wrote:
FINISH HIM
As a finisher we did 10 sets of 10 curls with just a 45lb bar superset with 10 sets of 10 diamond pushups. We each did this as fast as we could. It took us 7 minutes and 27 seconds to get all 100 reps of each.
[/quote]
love this premise