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Strength in Interesting Places
- Thread starter JauntyAngle
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Jaunty Update
When mixing wasabi with soy sauce, first place the wasabi in the pot. Add very little soy sauce. Stir. Add some more soy sauce. Stir. You should now have green, thick paste. Add sauce to taste, and stir again - this makes your soy and wasabi into a more smooth sauce without clumps.
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That's similar to how I mix protein powder with milk.
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I'll try that. It was particularly hard to get the wasabi as I wanted then as it had clearly just been taken out of the fridge and was pretty hard.
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and since your probably missing all those hotties in your second home country while your back in Thailand
*shudder*
Last year I worked with two Afghan men who both agreed strongly that Afghan women are the ugliest in the world. Certainly it is not the most blessed country I have visited- I've only seen two reasonable-looking women in over 3 years of working there.
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Pre-Beach Workout
Warmup
Some dynamic stretches, shoulder dislocations
Squats
20kg x5
40kg x5
60kg x3
75kg x2
91kg x14 (WTF- how do you miscount 14 as 10?)
87kg x10
84kg x10
82kg x10
77kg x10
Total Tonnage = 4.2 tonnes (untimed)
Bench
20kg x5
40kg x3
60kg x2
74kg x10
72kg x10
70kg x10
65kg x10
63kg x10
Total Tonnage = 3.44 tonnes (untimed)
Rows
Dumbbell rows:
Some lbs x3, x5
80lbs x5, x5, x5 (both sides, duh)
Barbell Bicep Curls
20kg x5
37.5kg x10, x10, x10
Extras
Assisted GHR x10
Ab wheel x10
* * * * * * *
Notes
- Missed a workout last week and don't know if I will get another this week, so I wanted to make it good.
- With above in mind, I pushed the top set of the squats a wee bit to get 91kg for a set of 10 (=200lbs), which is a little milestone for me. When I checked the video I saw that somehow, I seriously lost count and did 14 reps instead of 10. I was pleased to have done it, but I was tired for the rest of the workout.
- After my multiple failures of the last 2-week cycle on T3 (possibly attributable to running T3 on press at the same time) I decided to forget it happened and try to beat the weights from the previous cycle. 74kg top set (for 10s) is still tough for me. Not great work, but I love that my squat is more proportional to my bench now. After I did Smolov Jr, when my squat was at its lowest since I began, they were worryingly close together.
- Did gunzors & abz because, well, with all those 10s, and me headed to the beach, how I could not?
- Weighed myself- still 84kg. Over the next cycle in Afghanistan, if I start doing more than minimal conditioning I can probably get it down to 82kg or so.
Warmup
Some dynamic stretches, shoulder dislocations
Squats
20kg x5
40kg x5
60kg x3
75kg x2
91kg x14 (WTF- how do you miscount 14 as 10?)
87kg x10
84kg x10
82kg x10
77kg x10
Total Tonnage = 4.2 tonnes (untimed)
Bench
20kg x5
40kg x3
60kg x2
74kg x10
72kg x10
70kg x10
65kg x10
63kg x10
Total Tonnage = 3.44 tonnes (untimed)
Rows
Dumbbell rows:
Some lbs x3, x5
80lbs x5, x5, x5 (both sides, duh)
Barbell Bicep Curls
20kg x5
37.5kg x10, x10, x10
Extras
Assisted GHR x10
Ab wheel x10
* * * * * * *
Notes
- Missed a workout last week and don't know if I will get another this week, so I wanted to make it good.
- With above in mind, I pushed the top set of the squats a wee bit to get 91kg for a set of 10 (=200lbs), which is a little milestone for me. When I checked the video I saw that somehow, I seriously lost count and did 14 reps instead of 10. I was pleased to have done it, but I was tired for the rest of the workout.
- After my multiple failures of the last 2-week cycle on T3 (possibly attributable to running T3 on press at the same time) I decided to forget it happened and try to beat the weights from the previous cycle. 74kg top set (for 10s) is still tough for me. Not great work, but I love that my squat is more proportional to my bench now. After I did Smolov Jr, when my squat was at its lowest since I began, they were worryingly close together.
- Did gunzors & abz because, well, with all those 10s, and me headed to the beach, how I could not?
- Weighed myself- still 84kg. Over the next cycle in Afghanistan, if I start doing more than minimal conditioning I can probably get it down to 82kg or so.
Indivdude
Blue Belt
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This made me lol for a bit. Nicely done.
Nice log Jaunty. Can't believe I haven't checked it out earlier.
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Thanks, Individude. Glad that my balance of travel stories, eye candy, general chat and the odd bit of light lifting appeals!
Justice 4 All
Brown Belt
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Damn, that lounge sounds epic. Someday I would like to be a lounge dwelling business man. Though, not too much so.
One of my treasured memories is of when we would fly back home from Singapore when I was a kid, and my dad would get us into the lounge at Copenhagen (as we usually had a four hour layover). I would just spend the whole time stuffing my face with whatever delicacies I could find, whilst sitting on a massage chair, in an airconditioned room, and watching some movie. Spending time anywhere else (aside from the massive playground shaped like a ship) would always suck balls in comparison to the majestic lounge. =D
One of my treasured memories is of when we would fly back home from Singapore when I was a kid, and my dad would get us into the lounge at Copenhagen (as we usually had a four hour layover). I would just spend the whole time stuffing my face with whatever delicacies I could find, whilst sitting on a massage chair, in an airconditioned room, and watching some movie. Spending time anywhere else (aside from the massive playground shaped like a ship) would always suck balls in comparison to the majestic lounge. =D
Justice 4 All
Brown Belt
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As you know, I haven't had the chance to follow this log for a while; how's T3 treating you? Satisfied with the progress?
dinpappa
Purple Belt
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yeah, need pictures of Jaunty`s paradise!
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Holiday Update
So, sitting in the Emirates Lounge in Bangkok waiting for the plane to Dubai, mini-beach holiday over.
No pics yet (they are on my wife's camera and I couldn't get them onto my computer because it's a Sony and you have to use a card reader). But a quick description:
- Very nice hotel. As expected, very old fashioned, colonial style. Very low-rise, right on the beach, built on a massive area, huge gardens and common areas.
- Very nice room. We got a suite, it was all dark wood, had a huge, huge balcony with a sea view, and the bedroom had a separate dressing room with a walk-in closet (as I say, very colonial style)
- Some fancy touches. It had had more than half a dozen little eating and drinking places spread out over the grounds. One of them had delicious 'mini-burgers' on the menu, where you choose 3 out of 4 of French, American, Australian and Italian, and they bring you small burgers in that style, with different types of bun, patty and garnish. The French one, e.g. was sort of like a beef tartare patty with a brioche bun and foie gras. Sounds weird but was very nice.
- Hua Hin in general and this hotel in particular seems to attract families and older folk, plus some Thai tourists. Makes it pretty peaceful, as the younger tourists/backpacking crowd can be pretty annoying, but the only downside is that the place was almost eye candy-free (so no pictures of random women on the beach, sorry guys).
We didn't go out much- just out in the evening for dinner twice. The hotel, and our room, was so nice, we just wanted to hang out there. Anyway, it was great. We'll probably go back, maybe for Christmas.
So, sitting in the Emirates Lounge in Bangkok waiting for the plane to Dubai, mini-beach holiday over.
No pics yet (they are on my wife's camera and I couldn't get them onto my computer because it's a Sony and you have to use a card reader). But a quick description:
- Very nice hotel. As expected, very old fashioned, colonial style. Very low-rise, right on the beach, built on a massive area, huge gardens and common areas.
- Very nice room. We got a suite, it was all dark wood, had a huge, huge balcony with a sea view, and the bedroom had a separate dressing room with a walk-in closet (as I say, very colonial style)
- Some fancy touches. It had had more than half a dozen little eating and drinking places spread out over the grounds. One of them had delicious 'mini-burgers' on the menu, where you choose 3 out of 4 of French, American, Australian and Italian, and they bring you small burgers in that style, with different types of bun, patty and garnish. The French one, e.g. was sort of like a beef tartare patty with a brioche bun and foie gras. Sounds weird but was very nice.
- Hua Hin in general and this hotel in particular seems to attract families and older folk, plus some Thai tourists. Makes it pretty peaceful, as the younger tourists/backpacking crowd can be pretty annoying, but the only downside is that the place was almost eye candy-free (so no pictures of random women on the beach, sorry guys).
We didn't go out much- just out in the evening for dinner twice. The hotel, and our room, was so nice, we just wanted to hang out there. Anyway, it was great. We'll probably go back, maybe for Christmas.
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T3 squats is going really well. After making zero, in fact negative, progress between late December and June, it finally has me progressing again. My 3RM from December was 105kg, and last time it was 3s day I did 113kg without any real trouble. At the rate I am adding weight, it's fairly slow and steady, but the main thing is that every time I add weight I am able to do my reps and I feel very confident that I will be able to add weight again next time, and for some time after. I also really enjoy the format of cycling through 10s, 5s and 3s day, of 'ramping down' and just adding weight to sets rather than to all your lifts.
T3 for the other lifts hasn't been going as well- as far as I can tell I haven't added anything to my maxes although my work capacity has increased. This may very well be because I was doing it for bench and press, and I am told by KW that if you do it for both lifts at the same time you won't improve with either. So I've moved OHP to doing fairly high volume doubles and singles, as suggested by KW, using an approach developed by Tosa. Now I'm off to Afghanistan for 7-8 weeks, where I can lift very consistently, so this should be enough time to see if this refined approach bears fruit.
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Holiday Workout
The gym at the hotel was a piece of crap- a fancy multi-gym, cardio stuff and dumbbells going up to 50lbs. Didn't want to be away from my family for a long time, but decided to do just 20 minutes or so, one one day we were there. This is what I did:
Warmup: DB lunges 30lbs x5, DB press 30lbs x5, DB lunges 40lbs x5, DB press 40lbs x5
DB Lunges: 50lbs x5, x5, x5
DB Press: 50lbs x3, x3, x3, x3, x3, x3
Lat pulldown: random weight to failure
Cable tricep extension: random weight to failure
DB curls: random weight to failure
- I had never really done weighted lunges before. A little unsure about the technique, but at least I did something with my legs.
- The DB presses were pretty much a real workout. Sometimes a little hard to get off my shoulders, and locking out was oddly difficult.
- I did pulldowns to balance the OHP and tricep extensions quickly as some extra work for my weak spot. Curls, well, you gotta do curlz when you're on the beach.
The gym at the hotel was a piece of crap- a fancy multi-gym, cardio stuff and dumbbells going up to 50lbs. Didn't want to be away from my family for a long time, but decided to do just 20 minutes or so, one one day we were there. This is what I did:
Warmup: DB lunges 30lbs x5, DB press 30lbs x5, DB lunges 40lbs x5, DB press 40lbs x5
DB Lunges: 50lbs x5, x5, x5
DB Press: 50lbs x3, x3, x3, x3, x3, x3
Lat pulldown: random weight to failure
Cable tricep extension: random weight to failure
DB curls: random weight to failure
- I had never really done weighted lunges before. A little unsure about the technique, but at least I did something with my legs.
- The DB presses were pretty much a real workout. Sometimes a little hard to get off my shoulders, and locking out was oddly difficult.
- I did pulldowns to balance the OHP and tricep extensions quickly as some extra work for my weak spot. Curls, well, you gotta do curlz when you're on the beach.
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Kabul: Refresher Workout
So, with little real work in the last week, I decided to do a quick 'refresher' workout for squat and bench. 3x3 at a moderately heavy weight, and then a few heavier singles for fun.
Squat
20kg x5, x5
50kg x3, x3
70kg x2, x2
90kg x1, x1
105kg x3
105kg x3
105kg x3
110kg x1
115kg x1
120kg x1 <=1RM
Bench
20kg x5, x5
40kg x3, x3
50kg x2, x2
70kg x1, x1
80kg x3
80kg x3
80kg x3
83kg x1
85kg x1
88kg x1
90kg x1
* * * *
- Squats went well, I decided to push the singles a little to see where I could get to. 120kg is the most I have ever squatted, so that is my current 1RM. Probably could have managed a few more kilos, but I was happy with this. Took a video, depth was okay.
- Bench started off feeling a little heavy, but 90kg actually went up pretty well in the end. 90kg is heavier than I have been going lately and close to my post-Smolov Jr max of 93kg.
So, with little real work in the last week, I decided to do a quick 'refresher' workout for squat and bench. 3x3 at a moderately heavy weight, and then a few heavier singles for fun.
Squat
20kg x5, x5
50kg x3, x3
70kg x2, x2
90kg x1, x1
105kg x3
105kg x3
105kg x3
110kg x1
115kg x1
120kg x1 <=1RM
Bench
20kg x5, x5
40kg x3, x3
50kg x2, x2
70kg x1, x1
80kg x3
80kg x3
80kg x3
83kg x1
85kg x1
88kg x1
90kg x1
* * * *
- Squats went well, I decided to push the singles a little to see where I could get to. 120kg is the most I have ever squatted, so that is my current 1RM. Probably could have managed a few more kilos, but I was happy with this. Took a video, depth was okay.
- Bench started off feeling a little heavy, but 90kg actually went up pretty well in the end. 90kg is heavier than I have been going lately and close to my post-Smolov Jr max of 93kg.
