Thursday, March 28, 2013

Captain's Log: 3.28.13

Front Squat
135 x 5
225 x 4
275 x 3
315 x 2
335 x 1
225 x 5

Paused (3 sec) Front Squat
225 x 6 sets of 3

Prowler

Probably should have taken it easy on the fronts today.  I had every intention to but then the weights were moving well so I went for it.

I tweaked my back something good yesterday.  Right around my 10th thoracic vertebrae which is about 2-3 inches below the bottom of the shoulder blades.  I was doing some shrugs in the morning, felt a small pop and the muscles surrounding it tightened up like an anaconda around Ice Cube.

That day was NOT a good day.
It was sore and tight all day yesterday so I didn't train.  A sports med doctor that I train said it is probably Facet Joint Syndrome.  It's somewhat common and not anything serious but it still scared the hell out of me.  It felt fine today so I lifted somewhat the same.

I'm looking at it like a blessing in disguise.  That pop is going to be in the back of my mind from now on, though.  I'm not going to lift scared, but I will be more cautious about having everything tight and properly aligned when I'm doing anything with the bar out in front of me.

My Rules for Training, Part I

This article ismy statement on what my principles are when it comes to physical training.  These are the principles that I will follow until I come to the end of my mortal coil.  You won’t find much technical jargon on exercise selection, set and rep schemes, and macro- and mesocycles and all that other stuff that comes really comes down to mental masturbation when writing or discussing them.  

Those things are details.  

This is about the overarching guidelines I use to make decisions when it comes to those details.  I could write a 12 week program for someone and they would look at it and see a list of exercises and set and rep schemes and maybe weights or percentages to use.  But someone who understands what those details represent would see these rules. 

I’m going to use three examples throughout this article, myself, Crossfit, and marathon running.  I’m using myself because I know myself better than I know anyone else or anyone knows me.  I also don’t do Crossfit or run marathons.  I’m using Crossfit and marathon running because they are both very popular, very polarizing to people in the fitness industry, and represent seemingly opposite ends of the training spectrum.

I will preface this by saying that while I am familiar with both styles of training I am by no means an expert.  I won’t be hashing through technical details of said training styles but if I get something wrong and you know more than I do then lively, respectful, and intelligent discussion is encouraged.
Enough talk.  Let’s go.

1A. DO WHAT YOU LIKE TO DO…

A good test to see if someone is confident and mature in their beliefs is to outwardly question them.   You see it all the time in religion and politics and the fitness industry is no different.  It seems almost impossible to have discussions on Persons A and B training philosophies without it degrading into ad hominem attacks. 
People like to do Crossfit, people like to run marathons, people like to take karate, people like to play Shirling.  The world would be boring as hell if we all had the same likes and dislikes.



You need people that are very focused on one particular niche because they are the ones who are going to be able to best help the casual participant.  You need people that know a clean and jerk inside and out because they are going to help the Crossfit competitor get better.  You need the marathoners because they are going to help the couch potato train for their first 5k. 

And what it really comes down to is this: A POORLY DONE OR VERY MISGUIDED EXERCISE REGIMINE IS INFINITELY BETTER THAN SITTING ON YOUR ASS.

1B. …BUT BE GOOD AT IT

When you boil down all the arguments against any particular training program you see a few commonalities. 

It doesn’t get results
            or
It injures people

The results portion is a different subject for a different day.  It’s a details post.

So, in an essence all of the vitriol that gets thrown at Crossfit and marathon running is more or less misguided or thinly veiled concern for safety.  This is where being good at what you do comes into play.

A big part of Crossfit is the implementation of Olympic movements (i.e. the clean, snatch, jerk and variations of them).  Many, MANY people perform them poorly.  When done poorly Olympic movements can be extremely injurious.  When done correctly they are a lot safer than many popular sports.

This is how do you say, "Not good."
Many who pick up marathon running, or running in general, think that running is one of those intrinsic things that you just know how to do.  It should be, but it isn’t.  The types of shoes you wear, your mobility and strength levels and how active you have been since you learned to walk and run play a big role in the biomechanics of how you run.  If you’ve worn big heavy shoes with big heels and haven’t done anything active since high school then you are probably going to have problems.

The solution to being a neophyte in something is to get a coach who specializes in and has gotten results in what you want to do.  Or, at the very least, training partners who know what they are doing.

I’m a bit biased in that regard because I am a coach, but I’ve seen enough things done ass backwards to know the value.

2. HAVE BALANCE

Balance comes in many forms.  There’s balance in terms of exercise selection.  Balance in terms of volume on antagonistic muscle groups (i.e. quads and hamstrings).  But again, those are details.  It’s important to have balance when it comes to the entirety of your program.  Balance between your strength work, conditioning, recovery, and overall health. 

Obviously people are going to specialize and focus more efforts on one aspect of the other.  But when you tip too far towards one or the other, things get out of whack.

Focus too much on strength work and your conditioning and recovery suffers.  Focus too much on your recovery work and conditioning and your strength gains tank.

This rule is the most important in the fringe athletes.  People that focus on pure strength like power lifters and weight lifters and distance athletes like swimmer, cyclists, runners, and triathletes are the ones that benefit the most from adding balance. 

I know I feel better when I adding conditioning back in to my lifting training.  I’ve trained distance athletes that have gotten better at their discipline by adding in simple mobility and strength work.  Don’t strive for balance at the expense of your main goal, but a little cross training is only going to help.

3. BE STRONG

Strength is never a weakness.

Question: At what point did this become the ideal and something to strive for? 


Answer: It never should have.

I think I was born in the wrong decade.  Call me crazy but men are more useful when they are strong and women are much sexier with curves.  And I enjoy myself much more when people eat real foods like steak and potatoes instead of wimpy salads or nother.  Also, whiskey was handed down from on high and should be enjoyed by all who can handle her thunder and lightning while light beer should be used strictly for fussy babies who are teething.  But back to my point.

Why would anyone want to be weak?  Why would anyone want to be the weak little asshat that has to carry the middle of the couch because he or she can’t handle one of the ends? 

We’ve made it far too easy to be weak.  Everything is convenient.  There is no more nobility in working hard, physical labor.  The weak call those that till the earth with their hands Neanderthals.  I would say those that don’t know the beauty and the utility that they can create with their own two hands are ones that are disconnected from their fellow man.

Crossfit has an outward appearance of taking this seriously.  I've never sampled Crossfit's full menu of offering but I do know that some of Crossfits best competitors take their strength very seriously.  More so than having great WOD times.

Distance athletes need more strength.  I don't often make blanket statements, but that is one of them.  Adding body weight is not ideal for distance athletes but getting stronger at your body weight is a must.  You're more efficient and can do the same amount of work at a lower intensity when you are stronger.

Do whatever you like, but being weak should never be an option.


Part two, Rules 4-6, will be coming at you tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Captain's Log: 3.26.13

AM

100 push ups
100 BW squats

PM

Bench Press
bar x 20, 20
135 x 10
185 x 5
225 x 4
240 x 3
260 x 2
275 x 1

225 x 10, 5
185 x 14, 7

Blast Strap Dips
4 sets of 8
w/
Single Arm Row
100s x 4 sets of 15 on each arm

Run around the block

Great session tonight.  275 felt fast and smooth.  Probably had at least another 15 in me.  Decided to play the safe card and just do my drop sets instead of push the heavy stuff.  And even those sets are better than the past couple of weeks.

I literally cannot remember when my bench and my pressing in general has felt this good.  Even when I was a little stronger than I am now nothing felt great.  I attribute this mostly to my increased frequency.  Benching twice I feel has really been a plus for my training as of late.  Good things to come.

I got a call from my good friend and former client, Josh Mohr.  He just finished up his last season wrestling for the US Air Force Academy.  It was great to hear from him and catch up a bit.  When he graduates he's going to hang around Colorado until February when he goes to flight school.

I've written about Josh before but it bears repeating that he has probably the best work ethic of anyone I've worked with.  He could take anything I could throw at him and come back asking for more.  And for as successful as he was as an athlete he took coaching as well as anyone I've worked with.  He'll be the first to tell you he was not blessed genetically but he is way above average in work ethic and the ability to apply the coaching he was given.  Definitely a lesson in there for anyone and everyone.

Congrats on your success, Josh.  I'm honored to have been a part of it and I can't wait until we can train together again.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Captain's Log: 3.25.13

AM

Calf Raises and Shoulder Raises

PM

High Bar Squat
225 x 5
315 x 4
365 x 3
415 x 2
435 x 1

Low Bar Pause Squat
365 x 3 sets of 3

Low Bar Squat
335 x 2, 3, 5, 2, 3, 5

Bulgarian Split Squat
4 sets of 10 with 20s
w/
Band Crunch Downs
4 sets of 12

Pretty decent session.  I'm slowly testing the waters on the heavier weights on squats.  Still doing high bar for the heaviest stuff.  Hoping this will carry over once I make the switch to mostly low bar.

Even though the temps haven't really changed I have noticed I've been sweating more during my workouts.  This is a good because sweating earlier and more in your workouts is a sign of being in better shape.  I'll take what I can get.

Apropos of nothing I had the urge to listen to this song today:



After I listened and read the lyrics I found these on the fabulous interweb:



I don't know why it's hilarious, but it is.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Captain's Log: 3.24.13

I'm letting myself slip in the blog game.  Time to remedy that.

WEDNESDAY

Front Squat:
325 x 1
275 x 5
245 x 5
225 x 3 sets of 5

THURSDAY

Overhead Press:
180 x 1, 1

155 x 6 sets of 3

FRIDAY

Low Bar Squat:
225 x 5 sets of 10

Dead Lift:
up to 525 x 1

Deficit Dead Lift:
425 x 3 sets of 3

SATURDAY

Bench Press:
225 x 7 sets of 2 (all reps paused)


So as you can see I've got a pretty high frequency going on right now.  All of my heavy sessions are in the afternoons.  I usually do some type of low intensity/high rep work in the mornings.  It's never anything more than body weight stuff like push ups, pull ups, squats, lunges, abs and some arms thrown in.

I've tried high frequency stuff in the past and I always burned out on it.  Not this time.  In my previous attempts at it I'd be doing weights that were 90% and above in every most of my work sets in every session. This time I'm keeping the intensity lower and my volume (reps and sets) higher.  In each session I'll work up to a heavy single, but it's never a weight that I really need to psyche myself up for.  It's heavy for me but nothing that is ever in doubt.  In fact, I can't remember the last time I missed a rep.

This keeps me fresh-ish so that I'm never dreading walking into the gym.  I'll drag my feet sometimes but once I get started and moving I'm locked in.

Another great aspect of high frequency is that my training only takes me about 45 minutes to complete.  I don't have to grind out long sessions with a bunch of extra exercises.  I can break things up and really give each major lift the attention it deserves.  I don't have to overhead press after I bench press.  I don't have to squat and dead lift heavy on the same day.  I can curl in the squat rack every single day if I want to.  Because it's my gym and I can do whatever the hell I want.

I can also do lifts multiple times per week.  I've been squatting (front and back) three times per week and benching twice.  I think this is a big part of why I'm feeling a lot stronger on those lifts.  You get good at what you repeatedly do.  I keep coming back to an example from John Broz (paraphrased),

"If you had one month to put 50 pounds on your squat or your family would be killed you wouldn't squat once per week.  You'd squat every damn day!"

Something that is also in the back of my head is my longevity.  I watched Trouble With The Curve the other day and Clint Eastwood plays a very old baseball scout.  He was losing his eyesight, his physical state was declining, and he just looked old and withered.  Definitely not something I want to be.

I don't ever want my physical state to be a limitation.  I want to be healthy and vital well into an advanced age.  In a perfect world, however many years from now, when it's my time to go I hope that I'll have been able to get a lift in first.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Captain's Log: 3.19.13 (The Pressings)

Bench Press
135 x 8
185 x 5, 5
225 x 4
240 x 3
255 x 2
270 x 1

225 x 9, 3
185 x 10, 10

Blast Strap Dip
6 sets of 5
w/
Chins
6 sets of 5

Run around the block.

Bench press continues to get better.  The heavier triples, doubles, and singles are feeling good.  In that I mean I'm feeling more confident with them.  I used to bench like a deer in headlights because I was so bad at it.  Also, my legs felt tired after benching.  This is a good thing.  Getting mad leg drive.

Dips and chins were like, you know, whatever.

Second Simpsons reference today.  Bo-motherfucking-om.

Training 3.19.13

Phew!  Need to do some catching up.

Friday:

Dead Lift:
up to 475 x 5 singles

Saturday:

Bench Press:
up to 225 x 12 singles


Now on to yesterday

AM

Hang Clean:
198 x 3 x 3

Biceps


PM

Squat:
135 x 5, 5
225 x 4, 4
315 x 3
365 x 2
405 x 1
425 x 1

315 x 2, 3, 5, 2, 3, 5, 2, 3, 5 (these were done low bar)

Bulgarian Split Squat
5 sets of 10 on each leg
w/
Band Standing Crunches
5 sets of 12

Last week was a good week.  The dead lifts felt ok.  The lighting in the Crushatorium sometimes makes it a little difficult to get your hands even on the bar so one side ends up feeling a little heavier than the other.

Bench felt great.  Felt like I could have done at least 8-10 more sinlges.

Amazing how much low bar squatting makes weights seem easier.  My ramp up sets to the heavy singles weren't heavy and the singles felt fine but when I switched to low bar I almost felt like I was cheating.  Amazing how big of a difference a few inches makes when it comes to the physics of lifting.  With your fulcrums and the moment arms and the glavins!

So underrated as both a character and a scientist.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Training 3.14.13

AM

Calf raises and sit ups and that's it.


PM

Overhead Press
88 x 5, 5
110 x 4, 4
132 x 3, 3
152 x 2, 2
176 x 1, 1

110 x 6 sets of 6

Blast Strap Push Ups
10 sets of 10
w/
Chest Supported Rows
10 sets of 10

Presses felt awesome today.  I felt I had a lot of pop off of my shoulders.  This is big for me since if I miss an overhead press it usually doesn't get higher than my head.  I'd say 4 out of 5 times if I can get my head between my arms I'm going to make the lift.  Feeling 176 fly off my shoulders was a great feeling.  Progress feels really f'ing nice.

I also bought a bike today.  Total cruiser style.  It was built for comfort, not speed.  There's a good chance I'm going to pick up some rear saddle bags for it in the near future.  Watch out ladies.  Might take it off some sweet jumps tomorrow.  We'll see.  In the mean time I need to think of a name for it.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

2013 Weight Crushing Goals

I was sitting around recently pondering my own mortality, as I'm wont to do, and I realized that I'm going to be 29 years old in November.  That's one shy of 30.  I can remember being in high school and having absolutely no concept of being 30 and only a smidgen of confidence that I'd even make it there.  I always imagined myself jumping off a really tall building onto a police car with the siren and lights on full blast.  After the impact the last thing I would hear would be the siren slowly dying away.  A nice little poetic dichotomy.

Drawing that scenario was an actual exercise I did in a college English class but things have since changed.  Instead of going out in a blaze of glory and wasting any potential I want to take this year and let my health and vitality really flourish.  I want my body to be as badass and bulletproof as I can make it.  So with that I came up with a few lifting challenges that I'm going to attempt during the week leading up to my birthday, November 9th.  I'm not sure what order I'm going to do them in but these are going to take some game planning.  In no particular order I present to you...

THE HOMETOWN HE-MAN CRUSHATORIUM 
PRESENTS: 

THE TROY DEQUAINE BIRTHDAY WEEK LIFTING DEMONSTRATION SPECTACULAR!

Demonstration #1:

Overhead Press: 200 x 1
Bench Press: 300 x 1
Front Squat: 400 x 1
Back Squat: 500 x 1
Dead Lift: 600 x 1

I'm going to do all of those lifts within one session.  If I did them today the first three would be PRs.  And I'm not sure I'm at the point where I could do the last two.  Getting strong enough to be able to complete these lifts individually won't be the problem.  It's going to be doing them back to back within a short period of time.

Demonstration #2:


You can follow the link and read up on the specifics but here is the gist of it:
  • Body weight bench press for reps
  • Body weight chin ups for reps
  • Half body weight overhead press for reps
  • 1.25 body weight dips for reps
  • Half body weight barbell curls for reps
All of that must be completed in 20 minutes.  Your total number of reps determines your status from "low man on the totem pole" all the way up to "man of war".  I don't really care about Martin Rooney's classifications, I just want to be better than as many people as possible.

I'm not crazy about the fact that there are no lower body drills in this since we all know that guys that have big upper bodies and chicken legs are some of the most ridiculous looking people in the world.  Sometimes it's hard to recognize them since they all wear pants to cover it up but they are out there.
See what I'm talking about?
Demonstration #3:

Dead lift 500 pounds 29 times.

Not in a row.  Just get it done 29 times within a limited amount of time, probably an hour or so.

I'm turning 29 and dead lifting 500 pounds is a huge milestone to lifters of any age.  I want to blast the shit out of said milestone.  I want to show people who are of average build and genetics like me what is possible.  People have a tendency to say, "that'll never be me" or "yeah, but he's got great genetics".  Bully.  When I hear that I hear, "I don't want to put in the work to be able to do it."  If people see what's possible they have no reason other than a lack of "want to".
Now that I think about it I'll probably being doing all of these demos in a singlet.
So there you have it.  My training and recovery is going to have to be on point from now up until that week.  Scheduling of the weeks leading up to and the week itself is also going to play a big role in how I go about it.  I'm thinking at some point over the summer I'll do a dry run of each demonstration to see how each demonstration affects me.  I'll also be able to see where I need some work and see where I could perhaps coast some.  

I'm pretty pumped about these demonstrations.  I now have a tangible goal with my training instead of just some fluid ideas floating around.  Time to get away from the keyboard and get my ass to work.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Training 3.12.13


AM

Bulgarian Slit Squats w/ a Twist (always towards front knee)
3 x 10 ea. leg

w/

Abs
3 sets

Prowler
3 sprints to the end of the driveway and back


PM

Bench Press
bar x 20, 20
135 x 10, 10
185 x 5
225 x 4
235 x 3
250 x 2
265 x 1

225 x 8, 4
185 x 10, 10

Blast Strap Inverted Rows
5 sets of 10
w/
Tricep Pushdowns
5 sets of 20

Bench felt solid today.  I upped my warm up weights slightly and everything still felt good.  Slowly getting better.

Training 3.11.13

AM

2 sets of 20 on

High Pulls
Goblet Squats
Barbell Curls
Push Ups
Shrugs

PM

Back Squat

135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 4
365 x 3
385 x 2
425 x 1

315 x 2, 3, 5, 2, 3, 5

Had to shorten the PM workout up a bit.  My right IT band and left psoas were extra tight during squats.  Despite that 425 felt like a breeze.  I got to the bottom with it and I remember thinking, "that went a lot smoother than I was expecting."  From there it was no struggle to bring it up.  Good times.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Training 3.8/9.13

3.8

Dead Lift
245 x 2 x 2
295 x 2
335 x 2
385 x 2
425 x 2
475 x 2
525 x 1

Trap Bar
255 x 5 sets of 10

Barbell Curls
3 x 25
w/
Band Pull Aparts
3 x 15

3.9

Bench Press
bar x 20, 20
135 x 3,3,3
185 x 2,2
225 x 12 sets of 1

Rows

Arms

Prowler

Saturday my good friend Mike Farley got his first encounter in the Crushatorium.  Mike lives in Florida so it was nice to bullshit and talk shop with him.  My lift was nothing special.  Solid 80%er.  I probably could have grinded out a double on the 525 but I played it safe.  Kind of like my squats earlier in the week.

I think I need to get out and move more because this week I've been tired as hell.  More walks with the dog, more impromptu jump rope or prowler sessions, more random acts of lifting like leaving 315 on a dead lift bar and taking it for a ride every so often through the day, and dare I say now that spring is almost bursting at the seams, go for more runs?  Why not?  I don't think I'd ever run more than 1.5 miles in a stretch because that's boring as hell to me.  But I also like not being out of breath because I stapled three sheets of paper together instead of the normal two (joke courtesy of Patton Oswalt).

Also, once it gets warm the shirt comes off.  My chest hair has been cooped up all winter.  Time to set them free.

Oh yeah.  Tonight is my wedding reception.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Training 3.7.13

AM

Jump Rope x 100

Goblet Squat x 10

Blast Strap Push Ups x 10

Band Pull Aparts x 20

5 Rounds

PM

Snatch Grip Hi Pull
132 x 3 x 3

Clean and Press (one clean per set)
88 x 5
110 x 4
132 x 3
152 x 2
176 x 1 x 2

Clean and Push Press
196 x 1 (easily top ten hardest reps of my life)
132 x 10

Reverse Grip Bench Press
135 x 5 sets of 10

Face Pulls
3 sets of 25
w/
Blast Strap Push Ups
3 x 10

80%er session tonight.  I was tired and sore when I started but felt better when I was done.  Happy with the presses and push presses.  Reverse grip bench is weird in that it was the first time I'd ever done it.  Nice change of pace though.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Training 3.6.13

AM

Jump Rope
250

JM Presses
125 x 4 sets of 6

w/

Barbell Curls
113 x 4 sets of 6

PM

Cleans
up to 242 x 2 singles

Front Squat
135 x 5
225 x 4
275 x 3
315 x 1,1

225 x 5 x 5

RDLs
205 x 3 sets of 15

I wanted to do 315 x 2 and then 335ish for a single on front squats.  I didn't feel comfortable going for the double.  Should have gone 295 x 2, 315 x 1, 335 x 1.  Live and learn.

Next week I'm going to lay out my goals/what I'm training for.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Training 3.5.13

Bench Press:
up to 265 x 1
225 x 8, 4
185 x 12, 8

Fat Grip DB Press (single arm)
40 x 4 sets of eight

Renegade Row w/ Push Up
3 x 10 (5 each arm)

w/

Band Pull Apart
3 x 25

Another good day of pressing.  Shoulder isn't giving me any problems and everything went smooth.  I'm probably not going to be pushing the weight too much in the coming weeks/months and really work on speed from my chest.  On my second bench day I'm going to do a bunch of paused singles with 225.  I'm thinking this will make me stronger in my weakest point and give me a good gauge from week to week on whether or not I'm getting stronger/faster.

After the today's training I shoveled for about 20 minutes.  Only nerds would call it GPP.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Training 3.4.13

A.M

Prowler- 4 trips

P.M

Squat:
up to 335 x 3 x 3

Sandbag Walking Lunges:
75 lb bag x 20 steps x 3 (these were hard as hell)

w/

Various Jumps

Abs and Neck

Squats felt like absolute crap today.  I could say that it was from the Prowler but I know full well it's from eating like shit and drinking my face off this past weekend.  The bachelor party was a great time and I want to thank all my friends for making it happen, but it's time to refocus.  I've decided on some training goals that I'll share a little later.


Friday, March 1, 2013

Training 3.1.13

Bench:
bar x 20, 20
135 x 10, 10
185 x 5
205 x 4
225 x 3
245 x 2
260 x 1

225 x 7, 5
185 x 10, 10

Fat Grip DB High Incline:
40s x 20, 15, 15

Blast Strap Tri Extension
3x10

w/

Blast Strap Rear Delt Fly
3x10

Great session heading into the weekend.  For the longest time my right shoulder had been giving my some stability issues but it is finally starting to feel stronger and more stable.  I think in the past this caused me to shift stress to my triceps during pressing movements, but now I'm feeling them in my pecs and delts.  This is a very good thing.

Pack an extra pair of undies because this weekend is my bachelor party.  I've been married for over a month now but we're squeaking it in before the reception next week.  Whatever gets the job done.

I'm going to head over to the old stomping grounds tomorrow morning and train at NX Level.  Then probably a nap and then it's getting rowdy time.