Weekend Update: Playing Catch Up, An Awesome 11 year-old, and the Hometown He-Man Crushatorium

This week's training only...

Tuesday:


Squat: up to 455x1, 435x4, 315x15

Bench Press: 225 x 10 singles

Friday:


Front Squat: up to 315 x 1

Dead Lift: 515x1, 455x 2 sets of 3

Single Arm DB Press: 82x3x3

I've been crazy busy lately.  The secret is out that NX Level Sports Performance is pretty much the cat's pajamas when it comes to being trained by some studly, handsome, non-creepy performance coaches.  Our Summer Rush started at work earlier this month and we've been jam packed with people looking to improve their fitness, performance, and overall awesome quotient.  Last week  I had an 11 year-old kid say to me, "I'd rather come to NX Level than go to practice four times per week because NX Level makes me stronger physically and mentally."

Damn.

That kid is way ahead of the game in terms of getting "it".  Sports and training aren't for everyone but the lessons gleaned from them can be applied across all areas of life.  Especially the mentally tough part.  Resilience is a commodity that seems to be in short supply these days.  People would rather throw something out, whether it's a broken chair or a broken marriage, than put in the work to fix it.  I just saw this quote today and it applies perfectly here:

"Falling down is how we grow.  Staying down is how we die." -Brian Vaszily

Everyone fails.  But those that learn and fail forward are the ones that come out on top.  Think about that when things get tough.

Since I'm moving in a few weeks it was inevitable that West Allis Barbell was going to be closing its garage doors for good.  But like a Phoenix rising from the ashes Amy's garage is no longer a garage and is now the Hometown He-Man Crushatorium will be taking its place.  Big ups to Eric for coming up with the name.  The Crushatorium is in the very early stages of development.  There is still garage stuff in it and only some of the equipment is there.  But in the coming months the floor and walls will be redone so that it can be trained in 12 months a year.  If you are in the Chicago area and are looking for an awesome place to train let me know and perhaps you too can call the Crushatorium home.

June is definitely the worst month for NFL fans.  Sick of the drama.  Just want football.

Training two heavy days per week is going really well.  It fits my schedule much better, I'm getting stronger and not feeling as run down as when I was four days per week.  During the week I'll also try to fit in a few quick lighter workouts.  I've actually had to talk myself out of going heavy and keeping things light.  Being excited to train is key if you want to ever get better.  Going in with a ho-hum attitude usually leads to Fuckabout-itis and ultimately diminished returns.  The last thing you should do is try to jam yourself into a circle hole if you are a square peg.  Find what works for you and what you enjoy and do it up.

As for me it's time for a dog walk and then some weight crushing.  Have a great rest of the weekend.

Weekend Update: Warrior Dash, Flippy Cup, and some Training

Tuesday

Squat: 455 x 5 singles

Bench Press: 225 x 5 singles

Friday

Hi Bar Squat: 365 x 1

Bench Press: 225 x 3 x3

Saturday

Warrior Dash

Training was pretty OK this week.  I decided to switch the squats up a bit on Tuesday and used the Buffalo bar.  It doesn’t change the actual lift too much but it is a little easier on the shoulders.  I’m going to stay somewhat conservative and not push the envelope too hard on squatting.  Just going to keep plugging away and when the numbers come they’ll come.  I’m going to try doing three week cycles that I just made up.  Week one will be working up to a daily max or, 1RM.  Week two will be working up to a 3 or 5RM.  Week three will be five singles and week one’s max.  Then wash, rinse, repeat using slightly bigger numbers the next week.

My right shoulder area (trap, shoulder, scapula, lat) is knot city, especially my trap.  The trap is the muscle that sits above your collar bone between you neck and shoulder.  When I bench my trap will pull my shoulder and upper arm into an unwanted angle and mess up the rep.  For the time being I’m going to keep my bench press weight at 225 and below and just hammer away on technique and getting my trap to relax during the lift.  Taking some time and working that stuff out will be much better than just pushing through it and possibly hurting it.  If I were to hurt my shoulder all I would hear is Mr. Mister’s Broken Wings in my head.

I ran the Warrior Dash today with my girlfriend Amy and her sister, Mandy.  I’m not much of a runner but these are definitely fun things to do. 

If you are not much of an exerciser it is a fun thing to train towards since there are a lot of obstacles that require you to have some bodyweight strength to go along with the endurance needed to finish the race.  However, if you are in the neighborhood of 150 pounds overweight then perhaps you shouldn’t do it.  We passed two women who had to be three hundred pounds being prodded along by a woman whom I’m assuming is their trainer.  They left before us and finished well after us.  My best estimate says that it took them two hours to traverse 3.1 miles and a few obstacles.  I give them credit for finishing but just because you can doesn’t mean you should.  Just sayin’.

I want to wish my Flippy Cup team (which has been renamed District 5 instead of Team MDK {Muder Death Kill} in my absence) good skill in the Third Annual Joe Jarosz Classic. 

We’ve lost in the finals to Team What the Flip? The last two years.  Both years What the Flip’s? victories came tainted with an asterisk.  Year one one of WTF’s team members got a little too drunk and was calling fouls on fill lines and anything else that crossed her fancy and many of WTF’s team members would just wander off between flips delaying the game.  Eventually Eric and I just said, “Fuck it.”  Year Two Team WTF competed with a pregnant team member who didn’t drink.  It was apparently Ok’d by the rules committee but seriously, one of the challenges of the game is flipping the cup while inebriated.  Hopefully this year tells a different story.

I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend.  Stay cool it’s gonna be HOT!

Marlyn "Duke" Dequaine: 7.2.1927 -6.4.2012

On Monday my grandfather, Marlyn "Duke" Dequaine, passed away due to complications from a stroke.  He was 84 years-old.  You can read the obituary here.

My grandpa is a figure that I've drawn a lot of lessons from over the years. 

Today we have people who will actively protest soldiers who protect their freedom to protest.  He lied about his age TO GO TO WAR after his brother had been captured and taken as a P.O.W.

Today we have men who will collect unemployment instead of work because the only jobs available are "below them."  He delivered mail everyday for years to support his family.

Today we have men who will belittle others simply because of an honest mistake.  I've never seen my grandpa get mad and I'm sure he didn't have an angry bone in his body.

Today we have kids who hate to read and can barely hold a conversation for five minutes.  He loved to read about architecture simply because it fascinated him.  He could participate in conversations on almost any subject but was also happy to just sit back and listen.

My grandpa's life story isn't extraordinary.  He just liked to read, collect anything and everything, watch Lawrence Welk, and be with his family.  But he did the ordinary things extraordinarily well.  He was an awesome grandpa and a better human being.  He had a positive impact on everyone who met him and he will be missed dearly.

Weekend Update: Training, College Kids, and A BIG Announcement

Tuesday

Squat: up to 455x1

Strict Press: 135x5x3

Friday

Bench Press: up to 265x1

Bulgarian Split Squat: 3 sets of 8

Zercher Squat from the pins: 6 singles at 305

Paired with

Chins or Lat Pulldowns

I’m only writing down the two heavy days at this point.  I did some light stuff on Monday and Thursday but don’t really remember what.  I need to get back in the habit of keeping a hard copy of my training.  Either way I was happy with how this week went.  I’m not trying to push the intensity too much right at the outset.  I’m going to more or less let the weight dictate itself depending on how I’m feeling.  It’s more of a freestyle, self-regulated why to train as opposed to having strict percentages to work off of.  Neither is better than the other.  Percentages give you a solid goal to work towards.  Almost like a challenge.  Doing the freestyle thing is something that takes a few years under the bar to really know how to work it.  It also takes me not being a baby if I don’t work up to the goal I usually have in my head before the session starts.

If you don’t know it by now I’m a big coffee drinker.  Not to the point that I can distinguish between two different types of brews and I’m also not going to be hanging out in Starbuck’s any time soon.  But I do love a solid cup of joe.  There is a lot of evidence coming out right now that coffee could actually be considered a health drink.  Blasphemy, you say?  Well, here are a few reasons for its recent pub:

- It’s calorie free (when you drink it black.  Adding cream and sugar definitely change that.)

- It’s got crazy tons of anti-oxidants

- The caffeine makes you more alert during the sagging hours of the day

- It’s been implicated in helping prevent certain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, certain cancers, and women’s depression

So go ahead and drink up.  But obviously, don’t go overboard.  Caffeine addiction’ll getcha.

Sweet vindication!  I was perusing one of the muscle-mag websites I frequent and a very well-known (Christian Thibaudeau) bodybuilding and strength coach talked about doing explosive movements after strength and hypertrophy work.  I AM NOT the first person to try or champion this approach.  I had actually heard of an Olympic weightlifting coach who would occasionally do strength work first and then heavy clean and snatch pulls second.  That’s why I decided to give it a shot.  I liked it.  You might too.

Being as it’s now June we are starting to get our college kids back at the gym.  I always like this time of year.  The youthful exuberance of experiencing a part of the world free from parental limitation is a refreshing thing to see.  To see kids that are excited about learning and expanding their world-view, whatever it might be, gives me some confidence for the future. 

To me the wanting to learn, and to some extent the want to read, are two very important things that are missing from the youth.  You can blame the internet, video games, modern music, or whatever but what I think it comes down to is an overstimulation.  Kids are so overstimulated with sights, sounds, tastes, and smells that sitting down to read a book or put their focus on one single subject is like a slow painful death to them.  They are addicted to that stimulation and will satisfy it somehow. 

Speaking of college kids, seeing kids that I knew when they were in eighth grade come back from their first or second year of college makes me feel incredibly old.  These kids were born in the mid 90’s.  When someone says, “Yeah, that was like ten years ago.” my first thought is, “Yeah, like 1998….Shit.”  So it goes.

Alright everybody, take a knee.  I’ve got an announcement.  As many of you know I was born and raised, went to school, and worked in Wisconsin.  Well, a Siren by the name of Amy has stolen my heart and lured me down to Illinois.  I will be moving at the end of July.

I’ll give you a minute to pick your jaws up off the floor.

Okay, good.  In all seriousness this change has been coming for a while.  We decided to move forward with it in February.  To my NX Level family, you guys were the one thing that was holding me back from pulling the trigger on it earlier.  I love ya'll that much.  I’ve built up some awesome relationships that I’m sure will last a lifetime; it’s just going to be hard not seeing you every day and helping you achieve your goals.  

Whenever a big change like this happens I always try to focus on the good and be glad for the experiences and the people and not be sad that it’s ending.  So again thank you to all of the people who have had a positive impact on my life in Wisconsin.  I am truly grateful and will miss the shit out of all of you.

I think that’s a good way to end this week.  Have an awesome rest of the weekend and get outside and soak up some vitamin D.