BLAB Log: Week 11.Day 1

Simple-6

BB Bench Warm-up - 45X5, 95X5

BB Bench - 125X4, 135X2, 155X1, 165X1, 180X1

DB Floor-Press, neutral grip - 45sX23, 20

Inverted Row - BWX11X2

BB Overhead Shrug - 45X15, 95X15, 145X15

Incline DB Curls, Rest-Pause - 35sX10, 4, 2

Defranco's "BeZercher" Complex - 45X10, 9
   without lunges - 45X8, 7

180 is 25lbs. more than I've ever loaded for bench.  I had to get a spotter to come help me with unrack, and I descended pretty hard, but I think I aced the weight.  Jefit thinks I max out around 195.  Between that and this 180, I feel confident that I can get more than one rep on next week's 185 rep test.  I'm wondering if I should tinker with my set-up so that I don't need help with the unrack at this weight.  Moving my shoulders closer to the uprights is obviously the answer, but my set-up has seemed pretty dialed-in.  Probably shouldn't mess with that.  I can tinker when I start 531, possibly.

Sweat Angel!

The sweat spots on the floor where I did the DB floor-presses cracked me up.

VERY hard to get my chest to the bar on the inverted rows.  I tried elevating my feet for the 2nd set, but no help.  Possibly I should set-up with the bar closer to my diaphragm.  I'll tinker with it next week.

I had to mess around with the overhead shrugs to figure out where I should be on them.  After doing a set with just the bar, I new I would be able to shrug more than I could press, so I had to put the pins at the highest setting in the power rack and stick the bar up there and load it. This kind of turned it into dead-stop shrugs because the bar hit the pins at the bottom almost every time. 145 was probably close to where I should be for these.  It was interesting having that much weight locked-out overhead.  The most I've ever pressed was about 105, so balance was a bit wonky. 

I had to drop the full lunges out of the "BeZercher" complex.  The weight of the empty bar is just too close to where my work-set weight would be for lunges.  I'm sure Defranco put these sort of "weak-link" movements in the complexes for a reason, but it was either drop the lunges or stop doing the complexes.

BLAB Log: Week 10.Day 2-3

Day 2:
Agile-8
Kneeling Jump - BWX6X2
Pause Squats - 45X5, 95X5, 105X5, 125X5
Stability Ball Leg-Curls - BWX10X2
super-set with
Feet-Elevated Plank - BWX30sec.X2

Day 3:
Simple-6
Chin-up - BWX4
Pulldowns - 90X10
super-set with
Seated Side-Laterals - 15sX10,. 25sX10
Blackburns - 5sX15sec. each position
Cable Bicep Coorls - 30X12, 40X12
Core Circuit - BWX2

Last of the De-Load days.  Decided to pause the squats.  I did this some on the last deload, and decided to go all the way with it this time.  Couple of things learned:  I've never really worried about my depth, I just go until I feel a tight stretch at the bottom before reversing.  I know I got lower with the pauses though.  Not sure what the take away is, but I do know there's more depth there if I want it in the future.  Also, the pausing really made it easy to execute form on the ascent.  Without the rapid change in direction, it's very natural to drive through the heel and let the knees track back along the correct path.  I like pause squats.
The planks were supposed to be on a ball, but I just don't trust the ball at the gym to support my weight with my feet elevated.  I tried it, but it started to go alarmingly flat, so I bailed.  I think my training will survive.
I walked home from the gym for my steady-state.  I usually do this anyway, btw.
I don't know if there's any take away from the the Chin day.  Oh, I did under-hand V-grip instead of overhand.  Not better, just different.

BLAB Log: Week 10.Day 1

Simple-6

De-Load Week

BB Bench - BarX5, 75X5, 95X5

Push-ups - BWX20X2
super-set with
Neutral-grip Cable Rows - 60X20X2

Bicep "21s" (7 reps each: Zottman Curls, Curls, Hammer Curls) - 25sX1 set

Defranco's "BeZercher" complex - 45X8

De-Load week so not a lot to talk about.  While I haven't studied up on Dynamic/Speed work, I did try to execute the Bench as quickly as possible.  Meaning I set-up like I would for a normal work-set, and attempted to execute the movement with correct form (tucking hard near the bottom, attempting a clean bar-path,etc.), but otherwise I was focused on moving the bar as quickly as possible.  I believe this volume is actually quite low for speed work, but nonetheless it gave me something to focus on.  Also, my impression of speed-work is that the impulse to move the bar quickly is intended to carry-over to maximal work, so the practice can't hurt.

The first round of 20 push-ups was easy, the 2nd round had 2 or 3 pauses in it.  Can't tell if that's progress or not. 

For the Zercher complex, and without thinking about it, I did split squats instead of lunges.  Significantly easier, but still a challenge.  I'll tuck that away for the future in case I feel the need to do some "lighter" single leg work.

BLAB Log: Week 9.Day 3

Simple-6

Chins - BWX8, BWX5

Lat Pull-downs Drop-set - (90X8, 70X6, 60X6)X2

Seated DB Arnold Press - 35X8X3
super-set with
Incline DB "cleans" - 35sX5, 20sX10X2

BB Curls - Bar, 45, 55, 65, 75X6

Core Circuit - 10lb. plateX1, XFail

Incline BB Push-ups - Ladder down from 15 to 1, +6 reps

Chin-ups still showing slow but steady progression.  I had thrown in a few between sets on bench day, but avoided them on squat day to make sure I was rested for today.  Might keep doing that.

Pulldown drop-sets were fine.  However, I watched a Thibodeau training video where he was talking about making sure you're using lats more than arms, and I'm not sure I'm dialed in like that.  I will try to keep it in my in the future.  I'm trying to get stronger in pull-ups not pull-downs, so I want to make sure I'm taking full advantage of the exercise.

DB Cleans weren't there for me with the 35's.  Had a similar experience the last two weeks with the Defranco "shoulder shockers".  These aren't explosive cleans, but rather a shrug into a 180 degree bent-arm raise.  The difficulty is on the rotation, but I don't know what this means exactly.  Will this weakness be addressed when I start heavy OHP's again?  Do I keep testing these against that, and what if there's no improvement, then what do I do?  Argh.

I know you're not usually supposed to work up to top sets on shit like curls, but I really wanted to go for a rep PR on these, and so I did a work-up instead of all sets at the same weight.  And, yeah, I used the chrome bar.  So what?

Oh, core, why do you hate me?  Lately the extra reps I'm getting on chins have been straining my abs a bit, preventing me from doing the full core routines.  It's a vicious circle because the core work would be strengthening my abs for the chin-ups.  Whatever.  I've already settled that I will restart the core circuit progression from this program on the next one.

I was supposed to start the BB push-ups last week, but life commitments prevented me from getting to the gym.  I had done a ladder-down of netural-grip push-ups out at the beach instead.  I know I'm too weak in the push-up to finish a ladder starting with the prescribed 18 reps.  Instead, I kept track of how many total reps I did last week, 66, and was determined to almost double that this week.  Mission fucking accomplished.  The ladder down from 15 got me to 120 total reps, and then I took a breath and did another set to failure.  So 126 is my new target to beat.  I think my next ladder should start with 17.  That would get me 153 reps.  Not as big of a jump as this last one, but I can always add in another failure set to find my new limit. 

BLAB Log: Week 9.Day 2

Agile-8

Squat Warm-Up - 45X5, 65X5, 95X5, 135X5

Squats - 165X5, 175X3, 195X10

Split Squat-Jumps - BWX30sec.X3

DB RDL - 45sX10X3
super-set with
Plank Shoulder Touches - EachArmX12X3

"Speed-Skater" Bulgarian Split Squats - 15sX10, BWX10

195X10.  Rep PR.  Also, 195 is the weight I failed to step out with back in July when I threw my back out.  So even though I've had more actual weight on my back before, it's still a significant milestone for me to rep out this weight.  The next milestone for me will be 205.  That's the most weight I've squated.  I've got a De-load week next and then I'll actually be skipping 205 and going for 210.  If I keep my wits about me, I fully expect to ace it since my squat max project to about 260.  The program calls for working up to 210 (102% of my max when I started the program), then add weight and do another single if I'm feeling it.  My plan is to go 210, then 225.  If that feels easy, I'll go for 250.  225 is the most weight I've done anything with (DL'd it back in July).  250 should be approaching my current max.  I might be good for more, but I will plan on stopping there for now.  After the program, I will take a week to test new maxes before I start 531.  This is key because I need to focus not only mental intensity, but listening to my body.  If I'm feeling off, I need to remember that I can stop at 225 or even 210 if necessary.  Like Jim Wendler says, if you're not feeling it, just get the work in.  It would be awful to fuck myself up at the end of this program.

All the single-leg stuff continues to be hard as hell.  Reinforcing the need to keep it in future programming.

BLAB Log: Week 9.Day 1

Simple-6

BB Bench Warm-up - 45X5, 65X5, 95X5

BB Bench - 125X5, 135X3, 145X10

DB Alternating Bench - 50sX12, 10

"J" Rope Push-downs - 45X12, 55X10, 10, 9

Defranco's "Shoulder Shocker" - 25/20s/20sX10/10/10, 10/7/4

30 sec. DB Shrugs - 160X24, 150X24, 140X24
super-set with
Alternating Hammer curls - 35sX8X3

"BeZercher" Complex - 65X10, 45X9,8

145 is a 10 rep PR.  I would be in danger of taking this for granted, but there will always be push-ups around the corner to humble me.  Also the REALLY STRONG guys working out across the room.  635 lb. elevated deads below the knee anyone?


Uh, DB Bench and J pulldowns were fine.  Didn't get the last reps, but that's because I tried to push the weight so I'm okay with missing a rep or two.

These damn shoulder super-sets are tough, Joe.  I kind of wish I'd used the 15 lb. DB's so that I could have finished out the 2nd super-sets.

I tried to go up to 80s for the timed DB shrugs, but I couldn't finish out the 30 seconds.  I tried dropping the weight, but my grip was fried.  I could only make about 15-20 seconds on these sets.

Tried to start off with weight on the bar for the complexes, but the lunges became a sticking point, and I had to pull the weight off.  Single-leg work!  This is why I'm going to keep it for my 531 program.

Training - Chin-ups/Push-ups

Brisk Walk - 10 minutes

Chin-ups - BWX6, stacked-grip; BWX5, supinated

Push-Ups - 18, 17, 4, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Dips - BWX8, 6,7

Brisk Walk - 10 minutes

Had to go out to the suburbs for a birthday party today, so I couldn't get to the gym.  At the wife's suggestion, I walked down to the beach and used the little "gym" they put up down there.  They've got an outdoor area with parallel bars, a Pull-Up/Dip/Ab-Raise/Neutral-Grip Push-Up station, a 45-degree back-raise, a decline sit-up bench, and two straight bars (6' and 6'6"). 

The 5 underhand-grip chins felt better than they ever did.  Progress.

I shouldn't have tried to start the push-up ladder with the prescribed 18.  I knew I couldn't ladder down from there, but I tried anyway and probably missed out on more reps from the middle sets as a result of the accompanying burn-out.  As always, it's a fine line between trying to meet/beat the program vs. trying to be productive within my current limits.

Threw some dips in because I miss them, and figured they couldn't hurt future press/push-up days.  In a vacuum, they didn't feel any better than they did before I started the Defranco program, but considering the 65+ push-ups I did right beforehand, I'm content. 

Glad the wife suggested this compromise, but I think I'll still do the program's Week 8 chin-up day this coming Friday.  I believe I'll try starting the push-up ladder at 14 then.

BLAB Log: Week 8.Day2

Agile-8

BB Squat Warm-up - 45X5, 65X5, 95X5, 135X6

BB Squat - 160X6, 170X4, 185X10

Split-Squat Jumps - BWX20Sec.X3

DB RDLs - 45sX12X3
super-set with
Plank Shoulder Touches - BWX12(each arm)X3

I had to go straight from this to rehearsal so I cut out the Speed Skater squats from the end in order to make sure my legs were still functional.  Unfortunately, I ended up mostly standing in one spot all rehearsal, so I could have gotten them in.  Better safe than sorry, I guess.

185X10 Squat PR.  Last time I did that weight, I took it for 5 reps and threw my back out.  This set makes me feel very good about the decision to restart my training with this program after that injury.  HOWEVER, I did try to pull my elbows down hard on one of the 170 set, and felt pain in my mid-upper back.  It faded, but important to note.  For now I can keep my elbows down without having to over-do it.

Haven't done RDL's in a few months, and my hamstrings are still quite sore.  I know that's bad old habits kicking in though.  I'm going slow on the eccentrics for no reason, and suffering the DOMS as a result.

Another take-away from this session:  First time I've gone back-to-back days on this program.  No apparent drawback to having this squat day right after bench day.  Good to know as I'll be in rehearsal through the rest of this program.

BLAB Log: Week 8.Day1

Simple-6

BB Bench Warm-up - 45X5, 65X5, 95X5

BB Bench - 115X6, 130X4, 140X10

DB Alternating Bench - 55sX10, 55sX7

"J" push-downs - 30X12, 40X12X3

Defranco's "Shoulder Shocker" - 45/50X10 (fail on the Clean&Press), 25/30X10 (fail on the C&P)

DB Timed Shrugs - 120X30sec. (34 Reps), 140X30sec. (40 Reps)
super-set with
Alt. Hammer Curls - 30sX10, 35sX10

DB Complex - 25X6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Jefit says 140X10 is a PR.  Nice to have those continue.

Made a stupid mistake on the shoulder super-set.  Tried to go at it with roughly the same weight Defranco used in the instructional video, namely a full plate for the front raises and something in the 25lb. range with the DBs.  Fail.  Got to the Clean & 1/2 Press and just stalled out.  It was better after I switched to the 25lb. plate and the 15s, but my shoulders were already toast.  I'll start off with that weight next time, and hopefully get the prescribed reps.

I think I did the right thing on the shrugs, namely reps for time.  I thought there might be a chance it was supposed to be a 30 second hold, but all the vids I found for timed shrugs involved reps.  And my traps were sore as shit for two days, so that's what I'll do next week as well.

Last week of the DB complexes.  They will be missed.

Chili-Fried Green Beans

Here's a recipe I shared with some folks, and thought I should reprint here.  The inspiration here was to combine "Chinese" style green-beans with the flavors of harrisa chili paste.  I have a bag of beautiful Hatch Chili powder that a friend scores for me periodically.  Quality red chili is key to this kind of thing.

Chili-Fried Green Beans

Try not to use a non-stick pan for this if possible.  You will get more sweetness out of the beans this way.

For the Beans:
1 lb. Green Beans, ends snapped off, rinsed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt

For the Chili-Sauce:
1/2 tsp. caraway seed*
1/2 tsp. coriander seed*
1 tsp. good quality red chili powder** or an equal mix of cayenne and good paprika
1 tb. vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. cornstarch
2-3 cloves garlic smashed, peel and woody-tip discarded
*Ideally the spice seeds would be toasted whole in a dry skillet, then ground into powder in a spice-grinder or mortar & pestle
**use pure ground red chili powder, DO NOT use the spice blends labeled chili powder that are used to make "a bowl of chili."

To prepare the sauce, mix the ground seeds and chili powder or cayenne blend together in a small bowl.  Sir in the oil, then stir in the cornstarch.  Mash the garlic cloves into the mixture until you have a loose paste.  Set aside.

To prepare the beans, get a 10-12" skillet hot over medium to medium-high heat and pour in the oil.  When the oil is shimmering, add in the beans and toss/stir with the salt.  Allow the beans to cook for 20-30 minutes tossing and stirring occasionally.  Whenever the bottom of the pan develops lots of brown spots, deglaze with a little water.  The beans are about done when most of them have nice browning, and some of them have turned limp and wrinkly (these are my favorites).  Add the spice paste and stir to combine.  When the spice paste becomes fragrant and delicious smelling, deglaze with a bit more water and scrape up all the bits that are trying to stick to the pan.  Turn the whole thing out into a serving bowl and eat.

Oh, my! An actual theatre post!

Had the first rehearsal for my new show last night.  I'm basically part of the movement ensemble plus a big monologue and a smattering of additional dialogue, and that's fine because I took the show for the movement work.

I feel like I'm in a good spot for a show like this.  The last time I was involved in this kind of work, I had just gotten in the best shape of my life.  That was back in 2001/2 when I had just shaped up to play the God of frickin' Love in a production back in Portland.  While we were striking that show, I ran into some folks that suggested I go audition for this other show.  I got cast, and I really enjoyed that work even though I wasn't trained for it, and I must have done well enough as that company made some overtures of membership when we were finishing up.

So here I am, having gotten in the best shape of my 30's, and I find myself as a member of my 2nd ever movement-ensemble.  Last night was basically 2+ hours of non-stop moving.  High and low, fast and slow, I sweat plenty, but was never sucking air.  So the conditioning is holding up.

The work itself seems promising so far.  A lot of emotional availability being generated by the movement direction.  And everyone seems committed.  At this point, I'm pretty optimistic about the show and my place in it.

BLAB Log: Week 7.Day3

Simple-6

Chin-ups - BWX7, BWX4

Wide-Grip Pulldowns; Rest/Pause with a slow eccentric - 70X25, 80X10, 6, 4, 2,1

DB "Modified" Arnold Press - 40X8,8,5

Blackburns - 10X20sec.X2

Biceps Cable Curl - 30X12, 35X12X2

Push-Ups Descending Sets - BWX10-7, 3, 5-1

So all my (imaginary) regular readers will remember that I took the week off from throwing in extra chins with the intention of attacking these fresh today.  I've had success with both parallel and overhand grips, and I really wanted to try an overhand V-Grip so I finally dropped the Dip-Bars on the Dip/Chin station so I could do that without banging into things.  I reached up and grabbed the V bend in the bar, and before I knew it, I'd banged out 6 Chins.  I'm lucky momentum carried me to the 7th, because I was so surprised I basically stopped and dropped to the ground in shock.  I really think I could have gotten 8.  Nevertheless, I took a minimum rest and did the additional, programmed set of >50% for 4 reps.  I'm stoked.  I don't know if it was the week off, the extra sets paying off , or a combination of the two.  Nevertheless, no more additional chin-up sets again this week, and we'll see what happens.  The only bad thing is I badly strained one of my ab muscles doing this and was completely unable to do the Core or BW circuit I was supposed to finish with.  More on this at the end.

Complicated Lat-Pulldowns were better this week.  And I felt much stronger on the DB presses.  Note: "More Human than Human" is a great song for Biceps Cable Curls which is appropriate because they both seem so mid-90's to me.

Since my ab strain was killing me, I decided to get a leg-up on the BB Push-Up down-sets that are coming up in the program by doing some down-sets of regular push-ups here.  Went pretty well, I only missed the 6 rep set.

BLAB Log: Week 7.Day 2

Agile-8

Kneeling Jump - 5X5, 5X5, 10X5, 25X5, 25X5

BB Squat Warm-up - 45X5, 65X5, 95X5, 135X5

BB Squat - 155X7, 165X5, 170X10

Hip Thrust - BWX15X3
super-set with
Stability Ball Plank - 45sec.X3

DB Rear Lunge - 40X12X3

Kneeling Jumps holding 25lb. plates!  By God, if I can do these with a full plate, I may switch to trying them with a bar on my back.  Crazy.

Jefit says 175X10 is a PR for the Back Squat.  Very cool, but here's a funny question.  Because of the maxes I came in with, I'm scheduled to do 210X1 as my last squat of the program.  If I make that with room to spare, I'm supposed to "add some weight and do another single."  Well right now, my max projects to 235, and it's got 5 weeks to go up between now and the last squat day of the program.  Now I wasn't allowed to set a new Squat Max on this program until last week, and I've only just been trying to set them.  I had a 1lb. max increase last week and then a 7lb. increase this week.  I've been steadily doing this with my bench throughout the program and it jumps 1-4lbs. a week.  They say squats take bigger weight jumps than the bench.  Now, these are all PROJECTED maxes based on weight/reps, but if I continue to set new maxes in the squat to the tune of 4lbs. a week, then my max in that last squat day could well project to be 255.  So if the programmed 210 goes up like a peanut, do I just slap upwards of 45lbs. on the bar and take another squat?  I think that sounds like a bad idea.  If that's where I'm at, I think I would be better served be doing multiple sets of 10-20lb. increases and seeing where I stall.  What do you think imaginary readers?

On another note, doing super-sets of BW elevated hip-thrusts and swiss ball planks, while a guy is Deadlifting 10 ft. away make a person feel like a puss.  Whatever.  I'm doing the program and setting PR's in all my lifts.  I know it, even if nobody else does/cares.

BLAB Log: Week 7.Day 1

Simple-6

Bench warm-up - 45X5, 65X5, 95X5

BB Bench - 115X7, 125X5, 135X10

Alternating Med-ball push-ups - BWX11, BWX8

Cable row, neutral grip - 100X10, 110X10X2
super-set with
Triceps extensions - 60X10, 70X10, 70X7

Face-pull, 2sec. hold - 50X10, 60X10X2
super-set with
Zottman curls - 50X10X3

DB complex (front squat, swings, curl+press, jump squat) - 25X7, 8, 9, 10

Rough commute today.  Exactly the kind of day I don't want to go to the gym, and exactly the kind of day when it's most important to make myself go.  Yay freakin' me.

Jefit says 135X10 is a bench PR.  So that feels nice.  I realized before that set that I had forgotten to throw chin-ups in between my earlier sets.  I started to go do them, but I stopped myself for two reasons.  1) I thought it might be beneficial to give myself a few days off from chins to be recovered before the next full chin day, and 2) it occurred to me that by throwing in sets of 2-4 chins all the time, I might only be training myself to DO 2-4 chins.  On Monday I am gonna by god do 5 or more chins without letting go of the bar.

The hypertrophy stuff was all fine today.  Triceps extensions PR, and I managed to keep the weight slightly up on the curls.  I think switching to the high pulley for the face-pulls helped my biceps rest more.

DB complexes are fun, but I'm sure glad I didn't up the weight from last week.  I was grinding on the extra 10 reps, and my legs are feeling it today.