Strength in Interesting Places

[JauntyAngle]

Operation: "Would you like some dips with that, sir?", day 8

Went a little late today. Almost empty gym.

The plan today was five sets of 13, volumized (close to failure, then as many mini-sets as possible with minimal rest in order to get to 13 total in the set). Did:

Chins: 10/3
Dips: 13/0
Chins: 7/3/3
Dips: 11/2
Chins: 8/3/2
Dips: 11/2
Chins: 7/3/3
Dips: 13/0
Chins: 7/3/3

I went for a fifth set of dips, but I had given my all doing 13 on the fourth set and my arms shrieked in process before I was even up to start the first. So I called it off.

So that was 65 chins, but only 52 dips. The chins weren't better than yesterday except in total volume. Despite doing only 4 sets, I was very happy with the dips, ignoring the 'mini-sets' I got 13, 11, 11, 13. Again, more progress. Yay, me.

 

[MIDMOBOX]

are you swole yet?

 

[JauntyAngle]

are you swole yet?

According to the programme (which I made up), I will be able to matriculate for my diploma in swole-ology two days from now, which will be the final day of the programme. This will give me basic swole-ness- significantly enlarged biceps and triceps, and some extra pectoral mass.

However, I will not yet look like a pile of cannonballs stiched together with skin. For that, I will need to continue to my Masters in Swole-ology, and onwards to the PhD in Advanced Swole-ology. I am applying to Jacked University for the Masters right now.

 

[JauntyAngle]

16 Jan

Should be a full training day (squats, press, deadlift), but I am taking a day off due to being tired and my various injuries. Only have one full workout scheduled before I leave for Sudan late Tuesday night, so I will do it tomorrow or the day after. Will do one or two more dip days, as well.

Back is not that bad today, a little stiff and immobile. Whatever it was was not a big deal, I think, although I will work back into the squats very carefully, just to be sure.

 

[MIDMOBOX]

I went to JU, you'll like it there. Its not Sudan but its OK

 

[JauntyAngle]

I went to JU, you'll like it there. Its not Sudan but its OK

I just hope they let me in- I hear the entrance requirements are really high, especially the bicep peak requirement.

 

[Bumbaclaat]

damn!!! you are doing a great job with the dips!!
best wishes for your trip to sudan!

 

[JauntyAngle]

damn!!! you are doing a great job with the dips!!
best wishes for your trip to sudan!

Thanks! I am very pleased with improvement. Also thanks for the good wishes. It's actually very nice over in Juba, as long as you can avoid malaria. I'll probably be there for four weeks, so I'll probable set myself a little mini-programme or goal for while I am there with the lifting.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Went to the gym, but nothing really happened.

Experimented with some squats as I can get into the squat position and do BW squats with no discomfort whatsoever. Did the warmupset, and a set at 80kg, but started to feel some pain in the area that clicked last time. Not much, but I called it off.

Tried some presses, but my arms were beat, I guess from the cumulative effect of all the dipping. After doing 4 reps at 52.5kg I decided three work sets wasn't going to happen. So I thought I would try to test my 1RM. Seems to be 60kg.

Experimented with chins and dips. Did a couple of chins but I felt weak and tired, and tried some dips, but my arms said 'no'.

All round, one of my worst every workouts! I guess it was a combination of physical and mental issues. Physically, tired from the dip programme, and I have the back abnd rib injuries. Mentally, the back and rib injuries are de-motivating and take away from my belief that I can lift the wait. Also, expecting to leave tomorrow evening, and allI could really think about was what I need to do before I will go, and how I will work out once I get to Sudan (balacing equipment available, injuries etc).

Anyway, today sucked. But at least I did something. Not much. but something.

 

[calvus]

shitty workouts happen...don't sweat it...

 

[JauntyAngle]

shitty workouts happen...don't sweat it...

Thanks. I'm not worrying too much. As long as I do something, I am usually okay with it.

 

[JauntyAngle]

More Random Philosopholizing

So, off to Sudan tonight. All night on the plane, arrive in Nairobi (kenya) tomorrow morning. I am going to catch up with some freinds there (well, I guess technically last time I saw them I was their boss, but we were friends before that), so I will get to Juba (Southern Sudan) on Thursday afternoon. So no workout until Friday, although I may hit the pool in Nairobi- staying at a decent enough hotel. The rest should be good for me.

Rib pain is getting better, and I reckon that the back will not take too long, but I am not going to start squatting and deadlifting until I am sure I have 100% mobility and am 100% pain-free. In my mind I am thinking that this may keep me off the good stuff until Feb.

Exercises I can do:
- Bench
- OHP
- Chins/Pullups (although last place I stayed in Juba didn't have a pullup bar)
- Dips
- Bicep curls (oh yeah.... daddy likes)

Not a very balanced set. I think what I will do is take this period in Juba (probably about 4 weeks) to do some conditioning and lose some weight. I'm also going to try to pursue the impossible objective of getting my bench up. I believe that I can do this because, in addition to the gains in my dips, I am much bigger and heavier than I used to be. The fact that my bench wouldn't go up is just bizarre, but I think I am ready to put that behind me.

So, I will probably do some cardio every day, at least for the first few weeks. Wednesday, Friday and Sunday I will do weights: heavy bench, high volume OHP as assistance, chins if I can. May throw in a few curlz for the laydeez. I will throw in a few dip sessions during the week.

Once the back and ribs are okay, I will restart some version of SS, with squats and deadlifts re-set to a pretty light weight.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Workout in the Nairobi Hilton, Kenya

Overnight in Nairobi. The Hilton is dated, but not too bad. Very nice breakfast.

Ribs continue to get a bit better every day, back stiff but a little better. But still almost every exercise worth doing is off the menu.

Went to check out the gym. 4 treadmills, a rower, an eliptical, several bikes, about 12 machines (several of which I didn't understand at all), some light dumbells, one of those weird 1" bars and some really light plates with 1" holes, and a Smith Machine. Initially pretty depressed about that. However, further scrutiny showed that the Smith machine actually sort of doubled as a Power Rack- had an Olympic bar squirrelled away at the top, and the hooky things at the front were essentially a load of j-pegs. Also a really funky safety bar apparatus that was nice and easy to adjust. Yet more scrutiny showed a decent amount of free weights scattered around the various machines, some in KG, some in pounds, some in both. Weird denominations, which was going to make precise loading tricky, but the basic ingredients were there.

So I did a short but okay workout.

Bench

77.5kgx5, 80kgx5, 82.5kgx5, 85kgx3

82.5kg is a +2.5kg PR for 5RM. I suppose 85 is a 3RM (since I only did a double at that last week).

If I hadn't worn myself out a little with the earleir sets, or rested a little more, I might have made the 85kgx5. Anyway, if I stop farting about ramping up my sets once I get to Juba, I guess 3 sets across at 82.5kg would be good, then see if I can manage 85 the next workout.


Awesome barbell bicep curls of awesomeness

No dip bar, nothing to do pullups on, and very few other exercises I can do. So I did a few curls.

25kg: x10, x10, x10

Light, but I hadn't done any for a month or so, so I thought I would take it easy.


Cardio

I have this preparatory running that thing I do when I am working my way back into cardio. I go on the treadmill at about 5.5kmph, and add .5kmph every minute. Once I am going about as fast as I can comfortably go, I take .5kmph away every minute. Usually, I work up to a peak of about 12kmph (which means about 23 mins on the treadmill) over a couple of weeks. (I do this because I get easily bored doing cardio, and the regular changes of speed somehow make it more interesting.) Once I can do that, that gives me a base for long, slow runs or for faster, more challenging stuff.

Since I haven't done more than a couple of minutes on the treadmill for 3-4 months, I only worked up to 8.5kmph, which meant I was on the treadmill for about 12 minutes, and I barely worked up a sweat. Doing it this way means that (hopefully), I will be able to avoid DOMS and will be able to keep doing this every day, going a tiny bit longer and faster every day.

 

[MIDMOBOX]

What African country you setting straight this week

 

[JauntyAngle]

What African country you setting straight this week

Back to Southern Sudan for 4 weeks or so. Then probably a quick break at home, then another long spell in Afghanistan.

 

[MIDMOBOX]

Name this Pokemon

ok the second may not be a pokemon but it was too truly tasteless not to post.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Name this Pokemon

Not too sure... I don't know a lot of the Pokemon past the first 150.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Back in Juba, Day One

Arrived about 2pm. Quite a small plane from Nairobi, and I guess it is choppy around Juba, because all 3 times I have done the route the turbulence has been among the worst I have ever experienced. Basically, I am nearly soiling my underwear on this flight. Anyway, not a lifting day, just a little conditioning.

Runnin'

Same as yesterday- started 5.5kmph, add 0.5kmph every minute. This time I worked up to 11kmph before reducing 0.5kmph every minute. 23 minutes on the treadmill in total. In truth there was only about 5-7 minutes where you feel like you're actually running. Felt good in the middle, but my legs were kind of giving out by the end. Pathetic, really. Now my legs are beat- probably will get some DOMS tomorrow, which I was trying to avoid. Dagnabbit.


Other stuff

Did 4 sets of 10 pushups using pushup stands, just for giggles. I like using stands because they increase the ROM and make it harder at the bottom, when your hands are by your chest. This corresponds to my weak spot with bench and press. So I may do a lot more of these while I am here as extra work on my rubbish pushing. Maybe try to get 100 or so out 4-5 times a week.

There is a bizarre piece of equipment which is apparently for abs, but looked like it might be possible to use for dips. I tried it, but you have to grip in a way that isn't firm. Felt like I could easily slip, and I could tell that if I did I might hurt my hand, so I decided that there won't be any dips while I am here.


********

Started my diet again yesterday (which I had been doing from Decemeber 2009 to October 2010). I cut out the big starches (potatoes, bread, rice, pasta) except for one meal a week. No sugar, no sweets. I do have museli and yoghurt in the morning for breakfast, and I don't worry too much if there is some soup with bits of pasta or potatoes in. Usually I only do it when working- I eat normally when back in Thailand. My experience with it has been great- it works and I find it easy to follow. I want to drop 10-12 pounds, before I go for another round of eating big and lifting heavy.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Squat stretching

Spent quite a while practicing squatting without losing my lumbar arch and maintaing a somewhat forward leaning torso. First just squatting in the position, then some bodyweight squats (up and down). Surprisingly difficult to maintain properly arched lumbar area with any kind of depth. This odd article I read this morning about squat depth actually had it right- you really do use your hip flexors to pull you down into the whole when you have lumbar arch.

After this I really wanted to do some squats with the bar and weight, but since my back has still been sore, I decided to try to stick to the plan of resting for a while longer.


Press

52.5kg: x4, x4, x3

Ouch! That wasn't very good, now was it? I expected better. Maybe the result of 3 days on the low-starch diet and a few nights of dodgy sleep?

One bright spot was that I forgot about my injured ribs and accidentally put the bar down on the floor rather than back in the rack. I was feeling too lazy to take the weight off and put it back in the rack, so I decided to power clean it. Although it was only 52.5kg it was easy, legs felt much more springy than normal, no difficulty getting it into the rack position. And the best part was that there was no pain or discomfort anywhere at all.


Exercises for the laydeez.. uhm, right, yeah, 'assistance'

Bench press 50kg: x10, x10, x10
Barbell curl 27.5kg: x10, x10, x10
Weighted crunch machine 8.75kg: x5, x5, x5

Basically for something else to do... the bench was interesting, because even though the weight was light, I could feel my form deteriorating over the reps. The shoulder blades weren't too bad, it was the dropping of chest and losing of arch that was the main issue. Second and third sets I was concentrating more on form.


Cardio

Same as last two days, this time maxing out at 11.5kmph, 25 minutes on the treadmill in total. After a day or two more of this I will change it up a bit.


****

No whey or anything like that here in Juba. Can't buy it, and I refuse to be the guy who travels around these poor/dangerous countries with a tub of protein in his bag. So today, guess what my post-workout supplement was? Give you a clue:

Yeah, that's right bitches... a hard boiled egg I took at breakfast and put in my fridge. Actually I thought it was a great after-workout snack. Tomorrow I will probably take two. Screw Post Workout Supplements. Give me Post Workout Eggs.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Squats

Started off planning just to do the warmup sets to practice form, as I am really into this method of arching your back a bit, squatting and then using the hip flexors to pull you into the hole without losing the arch. But I enjoyed those so much, I couldnt' resist doing a light work set:

80kg: x5, x5, x5

A couple of times I didn't quite use hip drive to get out of the whole. It requires a little bit of extra effort to do it as things are quite tight at the bottom of the hole when your lumbar arch is still there. But I got it right in the end. I will add weight a few times, then maybe take an extra session at 85 just to consolidate. Really, I'll be happy if I am back up to 100kg by the time I leave Sudan, if it is a correctly executed full squat, instead of on okayish parallel squat.

Back was a bit tight after the first set, but I decided to ignore it. It's clearly just some tweaked muscle, and will work itself out.


Bench

Though I know my 5RM is more than 80, last time I tried 3x80, or last three times, I couldn't make it. So I decided to try to resume more-or-less linear progression from there.

80kg: x5, x5, x5

Bar speed was okay, form okay, not close to missing any reps. The only problem is that I don't like benching as much as I squat. Feels weak and girly. I know that if I add 2.5kg per week I'll be stalling in no time, so I will proably increase the weight as I was doing before- one workout add to sets 2 and 3, next workout add it to the first set, so that it takes two workouts to get to +2.5kg across all three sets. If I had smaller weights I would micro-load, but I don't.


Barbell Row

I decided to do these instead of Power Cleans while I am here. Never done them before, and I do some cleans on Press Day (as I clean to get it into the rack position). Wasn't sure how to get into the starting position, so I squatted down into the hole, too the bar, then raised my hips until my arms were vertical over the bar. Basically, the deadlift position, but my back was tight. I'd be interested to see if this works for the deadlift. May try it next time.

Didn't know what weight to do, so I started with an empty bar and did sets of 5, adding 5kg each time. So got

20x5, 25x5, 30x5, 35x5, 40x5, 45x5, 50x5, 55x5

I could have got several more, I am sure, but I am not in a hurry for anything. So I will use 55kg for my first work sets. Really enjoyed doing them, think these will turn out to be awesome.


Weighted Machine Crunches

10kg x10, 15kgx10, x10

Because of the stupid design of the machine, I won't be able to do more than 20kg, which is not very difficult. Still, better than nothing. Will mix with some different ab exercises in future.


Cardio

10 mins on the treadmill at 10kmph and then a 2 minute warmdown. More tiring than I was expecting, also very hot as the fans and the aircon weren't on in the gym, and Southern Sudan is pretty hot right now (in the temperature sense, not in the fashion sense). Next time I'll do it for 12 mins, then 14 mins etc. As before, the objective is to work up really slowly and avoid DOMS. I'll be happy if I am running 30 mins at 10k by the time I leave here in a month. (Probably be doing more than that, though). That will be a sufficient base of cardio to do other and more fun conditioning work.