Month: January 2017

Mixing It Up

500 Fat Bar Pull

The fat bar pull of 500+ is still on my mind. I’ve yet to achieve it.

I still won’t squat.

It seems like pulling moderate-heavy  daily and attempting it every couple days just isn’t working for me.(Right now)

Maybe I need to back off for a few days. The last heavy pull day I did had me fail 474, and locked my back up.

The Other Day

I pulled with a regular bar and bands the next day. At first I was still pulling raw, but due to my back starting to feel like it would lock,and how rough bands are on your hands I strapped up. This allowed me to get more quality work in, and pulling overhand is easier on the spine than mixed. The smart thing to do would’ve been stop once my back started feeling weird as I almost injured myself while cracking my back a few hours later. Don’t be an idiot.

I took about 48 hours off, and spent them doing back rehab type work. My lower back was tender for 36 of those hours. The spine was fine. I simply did superman holds, flexed, and said it would be fine, and it was.

Today

Today wanting to pull, and not being an idiot, I realized I may have to strap up  now to pull frequently and safely. I did band speed pulls, but all overhand or strapped. I feel fine, and cracking my back didn’t send me down the path of injury dread.

My hands can still handle more than the rest of the system.

That’s cool, hands were always a weakness. Not anymore. So strapping up isn’t an issue, and gives the plus of evening up my back development.

The Weakness? + Going Forward

I still am unsure of what exactly is the weakness.

It could be simply my body has yet to adapt to the frequent conditioning. I am doing some almost daily.

It could be quads.

I could be lower back.

I’m still going the brute force method, doing abs,lower back, and/or quads practically every session. I’ve stopped most upper body push work.

The day I almost injured myself I actually benched a PR, 325 for 1. Thats 6lbs over the fat bar pr, and 10 over the 3 plate regular bench. The only difference was the laterals for 10 days.

Honestly the last 10-14 days my upper body has gotten better appearance wise. Laterals, lots of abs, and daily conditioning. I’m still thick as fuck, but chubbier than I should be.(Temporarily)

I’ve been very hungry lately and sleeping more than usual. I don’t seem to be gaining weight, but the aesthetics are up, I assume these are due to all the work, and conditioning. I’m recomping in the least mental effort way. Brute Force Baby.

Speed work and bodybuilding work to get the pull up.

Upper by feel. (Like today I superset triceps and lats to end)

Condition.

Quad work if I remember.

Abs and/or lower back most sessions.

Brute force still, but modified ways.

Narcissism + Life Is Good + PRs/#s

Honestly I’m finding that I’m loving the views on here, and looking forward to getting the YouTube views. I’ve started flexing in the mirror. I like what’s happening.

I know the #’s will come, and I’m amped all the time looking for new content, I know I’ll get some crazy PR’s on video.

It’s cool whats happening.

I’m recomping while eating a ton, and dirty at that.

The key was adding the conditioning.

Watch for the shit that’s to come.

Anything I can pull, I can pull fat bar.

Upper body is gaining.

I can’t complain, Life is good.

I gotta just keep putting in work. I keep running programs, and numbers in my head trying to see how fast I could get to/guarantee certain numbers.

I know that I’ll bench 405, squat 500, and deadlift 600.

Years ago it seemed like #’s like that would never happen. Hell i just caught a 135 curl on camera, 2 years ago I thought I’d never hit that, I’ve done it twice now. The above numbers are far lower than my lifetime PRs will be. Those are all 2017 #’s I’ll hit. Add 80 to bench, 50 to squat, and 100 to deadlift, I could gain more than that this year.

I kept going, and shit is flying up now. I just had to persist.

Everything will go my way(eventually).

I’m fucking amped up.

Kill it guys!

– J

Cheap + Dirty Bulking

Now according to gym rules this may be dirty as hell, and leads most to say I couldn’t possibly be functional on such a diet. But just like my lack of a training program, I fly in spite of the circumstance. My food intake is not even IIFYM(If It Fits Your Macros), at best it could be defined as a near disregard to what I eat.Here it is.

To Be A Vulture

Firstly I eat what’s available. I’m like a vulture, or maybe a goat. Probably some combination of both to be honest. I will eat anything. Don’t want to finish your meal, I got this. Oh you’re giving me that food, ok I’ll eat it. (I was once given  6 dozen + donuts, I ate most that weekend, 48 hrs of donuts, almost nothing else, and 1000+ pushups a day, jump rope, and swimming)

Honestly I always had the mentality that I’d just out train my diet. I can remember saying  this after one too many days of cutting weight. I’d rather add 1000 calories of activity than not eat the food. Plus I do lots of calisthenics and random work outside of the gym.

But to the meat of things.

How To Grocery Shop For A Broke Bulk

When I’m grocery shopping, and I learned this while broke as fuck, I separated food into the two simple categories

  1. Protein Source
  2. Calorie Source

I paid no heed to the carb vs fat content of the calories sources, I just looked for low cost items that i enjoy.

Cost efficient was defined in 2 ways:

  1. Grams Protein/$
  2. Calories/$

I looked for 40 + grams protein per dollar, but would occasionally let this slide to 30-35( pork/beef)

For calories I tried to get 1000+ per dollar. White rice, and top ramen max this at 2000-2500cals per dollar. Dollar store generic cookies hit 1200.

Generic soda is in this ballpark, as are generic pop tarts.

I was ok letting it slide as low as 500 calories per dollar though.

Unlike most I can thrive on “crap” foods, and happen to enjoy food combinations that no one else does.

I happened to just eat a bowl consisting of 2 packs ramen w chicken flavor packs, 1/2 cup oats, a bunch of mexican 4 cheese mix, and a decent amount of pepperoni thrown together. I almost added peanut butter, or tuna, but wasn’t feeling either at the time.( I have mixed all of the above in the past though)

Now that I’ve mentioned that run the cost and macros. Easily 1500 calories, prep/cooking 5 minutes, and the cost ~$1.50.  60+ grams protein, fuck ton of carbs and fat. Honestly I’m probably low balling all the numbers but cost. It’s probably close to 2k calories. The ramen and oats alone hit 1k.

$30-50 wk

If you have the time to train a shit ton, and not much cash you could still bulk on less than $30 week. Hell with $50 you could buy far more than you could possibly eat.

Check this:

Round here we have eggs for 75¢ or less per dozen ( Walmart by the 60ct, or grocery store sales), milk is $1.99-2.60 gallon (depends on store) rice 2olbs for $11, Ramen 12 packs cost $1.99. Chicken leg quarters cost $7 for 10lb bags. Hell ground beef costs a bit under $2lb in 5 or 10lb rolls.

For calories, you can get generic junk food cheap. Cookies, pop tarts, soda. The cream soda doesn’t taste any different, root beer depends on the store. Hell sometimes the dollar stores carry canned fish, mackerel, or salmon where you can  open, drain and get 40-60grams protein ready made for a dollar. Others may hate you for the smell though. And shit I forgot pork rinds, dollar store carries those too ,50 grams protein a dollar there in snack form.

So say $30 week, thats $4 daily, with $2 left over.

First off the calories need to be high. So ramen.

For protein we’re looking at cheap meat or eggs, milk can be an option too.

Eating Plan

An example of each days food:

  • 6 packs Ramen. $1, 2400 cals, 60g protein
  • 2 lbs chicken leg quarter, $1.40,  1200 cals, 70g  protein
  • 1 dozen eggs, 75¢, 840 cals, 72 g protein
  • 1/3 gallon of milk, 67¢,  800 cals,  42 g protein

That’s roughly 5000 calories and ~245 grams protein day at a cost of $3.82 day.

Technically I came in at $26.74 week. Theres a little left over for more.

Hell $50 wk can involve better foods, but imagine that is just too much for you right now. Off the top of my head 3 lbs ground beef, 6 packs ramen a day, similar cals, similar protein. That’s the no thinking version but put some thought into it, you can do much better here, and rotate in awesome stuff like steak or bacon.

At either price point you could cycle the meats a bit more, or lose the milk and sub with meat or eggs.

Eggs are essentially the SUPERFOOD.

$30 wk, broke but bulked.

Make sure you move a lot though.

How Many Meals + The Trick To Pigging Out

Now that plan could be 2 meals daily for the ravenous, or those who don’t like eating frequently. 3  squares for just about anyone. If you cant eat big, or like the frequency sit down 4 times. A dozen eggs isnt that huge, nor a lb of leg quarter. Milk is easy to drink whenever.

The secret to eating copious amounts is to eat as much as you can in a roughly 20 minute period from the first bite to end.

Split that plan into 2-4 meals it’ll fit easily in the time frame.

Cook the chicken bulk, and reheat a lb per meal, let the chicken cool, and microwave the ramen. Sit a large glass and the milk container at the table. Wait till the chicken is cool enough to use your hands, and start. The eggs can be fried , or for the lazy microwaved into the ramen. Raw eggs are fine. Salmonella has been way overblown.

Mind you I consider this dirty eating, and I eat very dirty.

It may not be the healthiest. So as I said move a LOT.

I wouldn’t cut conditioning here. Bad shit happens when you do.

But this will support strength and mass.

I’d consider healthy eating organic keto. I personally never buy organic though.(Still broke)

Healthy with in reason to me is steak and mashed potatoes.(Not organic)

Do what you gotta do. Any circumstance can be worked with.

-J

 

 

 

Perspective

Perspective

Sometimes you may want to get down on yourself.

Maybe you’ve become stagnant in the gym. Maybe other aspects of life are not where you want them to be.

You’ve  gotta put it all into perspective though.

The Circumstance

My strange sleep schedule and inclement weather kept me from going to the gym for almost exactly 48 hours.

Both days I had actually awoke sore. My lower back slightly locked again. (These things are rare, I may be about to receive “beginner gains” all over again)

At this point having barbell withdrawals, and feeling a flush session would make me feel much better, I headed to the gym.

The gym is about a twenty minute drive. The last 15 seconds of which are after crossing a set of train tracks.

I made good time, and at the tracks the rail crossing guards were down. Strange, normally the train would’ve been gone for 5 minutes. There is already a line, I idle for 15 minutes, the gates are still down, turn around and go to the store.

Having killed 45 minutes to an hour walking Walmart for far longer than it takes to get my one item,I figure the tracks would be clear to cross so I turn around and head back.

There was still a line, an inability to cross, and having nowhere to park my car and simply walk the last 200 yards there  I headed home.

2 hours later the barbell withdrawals became worse. I headed right back.

20 minutes later, no cars, but the guards are still down. Damn It!

I turn around, but lucky break I hear a train. I look, barely still in sight, and see the guards going back up. Eureka!

Due to all the BS involved in getting there it seemed like the thing to do would be PR attempt on the fat bar.I mentally flipped a switch from flush session to PR day.

With no BS arrival would’ve 815pm, I didn’t get in until a little after midnight.

Now I love lifting particularly for scream fests between midnight and 1am. There’s no one there other than me. I can jack the radio to anything(people bitch about lifting to country), whoop, holler, and generally have fun.

I turn into the parking lot, and see the lights on, strange, but hey no cars, its still my alone time. Sweet!

As I get closer I see a work truck next to the door.

Shit!

It took me just shy of 4 hours to get to the building. Seeing the work truck made me think the 24hr access keycard may not get me in. Renovations may mean a manually locked door. I swipe the card, beep, yes!

I talk with the workers, my deadlifting is not going to be in their way( One also lived up the street and said the tracks had been like that for 2+ hours). The rest of the session is scrapped though, I can’t use an Airdyne bike thats in their work zone.

Oh well. Time to pull.

Pull Time

I set up for pulls. Due to my weird sleep schedule, actually being sore, and all the BS I decided to play it safe and do some warm up reps. I usually never pull more than singles on max out day, or start below ~300lbs.

The fat bar is 24 lbs, hence the weight increments, the sets were:

  1. 114×5
  2. 204×5
  3. 294×3 attempt overhand, switch to mixed grip
  4. 384×1 Easy
  5. 474 Fail at knee, !?!?!?!?!, Bar speed had been great til here, drop down again
  6. 384×1 Easy (Again) I guess I need more warmups.
  7. 434 X3 Moderate, no way I can hit this and not hit 474
  8. 474×1 GOT THE BITCH
  9. 504, lightest I can break 500 with, I dont have access to those 1.25 I used the other day. Fail,  barely off the ground
  10. 504 ( again) Fail…Fuck

Ok, I have to change the plans, lets work on my deadlifts’s dead zone

Isometrics to knee level and pull against pin superset with fat bar speed pulls.

5 sets each, isometrics 135lbs for the first set, 185 for the last last 4. I pulled into the pins for 6-8 seconds each set.

The speed pulls were 294 for doubles

Post Workout

I got a pretty decent pump from the isometrics. I’ll have to do those more often.  I relearned that isometrics help me. Oddly I’ve never done them in the weight room, just when I was equipmentless. I need to mix the methods I know work for me more regularly. This could be the exact way to make some crazy fast progress on my deadlift.

But….

Despite this initially I wanted to get down on myself. I wanted to get pissed that I didn’t PR. I then paused. It had been a decent session. As I said I got a great, but strange pump from the isometrics. The speed pulls felt great. I hit 3 with 434 on a fat bar. I hit 474 as the top set.

Run the numbers here for a second 474/484 is 98%, 474/515 is 92%. On a day where Murphy’s Law was rearing its head I still hit over 90% for a top single on a fat bar based off my lifetime regular bar PR. Although what really changed my outlook and got me to view the session in a good light was the fact that 2 years ago my bodyweight was similar, and my lifetime PR on a regular bar was 425. At that time I sometimes missed 405 on grip.

I went from negative in my head to positive, highly positive simply going back mentally to the old gym at age 20. Two years later I can pull as an everyday max more on a fat bar than I struggled to hold on a normal bar two years ago. Fuck the results of those around you, concentrate on yourself. Stronger is stronger, and shit 8 of those 24 months I didn’t have access to weights, 10 of them no gym. It’s not bad considering all the circumstance, just like the session itself.

What’s There To Complain About?

I had a solid lift. ( And got to take the next day off, due to the construction)

I ran into an old buddy at Wally World.

I’m getting stupid close to the 500 fat bar, and when it happens, it may be for reps.(Which would be a double whammy of a PR)

I can perform well under adverse circumstance, watch and see the shit that  happens as life becomes more ideal.

I am getting stronger. Through all the BS, inconsistency, depression, lack of food,stress, etc. I am still getting stronger.

I keep learning shit in the gym.

Passion, Persistence, Tenacity, Perspective,Intensity

I know these lessons and abilities can be applied everywhere else.

As long as i keep going I’ll always get better.

I got this shit.

Conquer. Rise. Ascension.

-J

And Sometimes the universe sends you a message in song. I heard this on the drive home. 1 in the morning, just happened to hit radio on.Mute the part about dress sizes though.

“If you trust your rebel heart, ride it into battle”

 

 

 

 

 

Gym Rules

You may hate hearing this, but….

Gym Rules

Train long enough and all the rules can go right out the window.

Macros

Macros can be thrown to hell.As you read this there is a mason tender out there eating a dozen McDonald’s dollar burgers and downing it with PBR while being far more jacked, far leaner,possessing  a higher work capacity, and a higher deadlift than you.

Right now a prisoner is eating his 3 squares from the chow hall, as much commissary Ramen, Tuna, and Honeybuns he can get his hands on, and to your surprise can do hundreds of pushups, pullups, and jog or burpee all day long. Somehow he’s more  jacked than you with an hour of yard time, no weights, and macros that scream morbidly obese diabetic.

Warm Ups and Overtraining

I’m sure you’ve seen people who forgo the warmups and just get to it.

Just 3 months after my first 315 bench I’ve hit it cold, no warmups, nothing other than taking my pre-workout shit( I don’t mean a preworkout, I literally mean taking a shit). On an earlier occasion I’ve done a no warmup total, all 3 lifts over 90% 1rm to prove a point to a buddy.

I know construction workers who after shift bodybuild for 2-3 hrs daily. Isn’t that 10-16 hours of activity daily? Too much, ha.

A buddy growing up often walk/ran/jogged 20 miles daily in High School in addition to pushups, crunches,lunges and track practice. He lived far,never learned to ride a bike, had no car in the household, and moved often enough that he never was assigned to a school bus. He had decent wiry strength, and could jog just about forever.

Momentum + Cheat Form

Often times for back you load up the hammer strength machine , dumbbells  or  meadows rows, add heave and get a WAY better pump, and DOMS than if you’d used perfect form,  slow and controlled like the “experts” say. You actually can feel having worked the muscle in addition to actually making gains.

Cheat curls are a demigod. They build stupid wrestler style strength. Think Hercules. (similar stimuli to heaving a sandbag to shoulder)

Shrugs strapped up with heave,body english, and momentum are Zeus,or  Odin. I’d put money on them being Odin as Norse legend is far more awesome than the Greek’s version.

On the flipside you can also get lots of out light curls and shrugs with perfect form, and lots of squeeze.

Anything Can Work!

Its the mentality behind it!

 

Be A Man. Do It Right, Or Quit

If you’re worrying about your macros, and/or your split maybe you should just quit already. Your head is obviously not in the right place.

Train already GOD DAMN IT,and simply eat like a man.

If your diet is Grandfather or mountain men approved your diet it probably on point.

If your Grandma, the USDA food pyramid, your average American, or a Vegan approves of  your diet it is probably shit.

Imagine Teddy Roosevelt’s ghost sitting across the table from you. Is he trying to join in on the feast(but unable, ghosts can’t eat) or is he pushing away from the table in disgust? Visualize his ghost, and it’s response. This will never fail you.

Yet remember: You can get away with dietary murder as a young beginner or as an intermediate/advanced who trains very hard.

The metabolism will adjust to your demands. The mind itself can play a strong role in how you uptake nutrition. Choose not to be a fat fuck or limp wrist weakling, and it’ll be amazing how you’ll still make gains as a man.

I was talking with a buddy from outside the gym, and we came to a valid point. Men don’t worry if they missed their 1g+/lb of protein, they eat and train. The gym obsession with macros is quite effeminate. Women worry + piss and moan about such things. Men eat. Real food (preferably), and don’t stress over such shit. Would a hillbilly or trucker laugh at your meal? Would Chuck Norris give his nod of approval?

Overtraining + Injury

Overtraining is like the tooth fairy. It may exist but its highly unlikely you’ll ever meet it. Quit dreaming that you suck that much, and if you do stop (sucking that much).

Assuming you don’t suck, and are not a total retard you wont visit “Snap City” .

Although I’ve found retards to often be stupid strong despite doing almost naught but sit around. They’ve never thought themselves into sucking physically. There’s a lesson here.

Just Train

Fuck Your Excuses, Fuck Your Worry.

Train Motherfucker!

Break the rules, choose to be a strong motherfucker, and don’t be a bitch.

The gains will come…naturally.

-J

 

Overtraining + High Frequency Lifting

Overtraining: Does It Exist?

In the 1980’s there was a pair of off the wall, hilarious twins called the Barbarian Brothers. Like all things 1980s they were high testosterone. While probably more widely known for corny movies than for thier bodybuilding, their gym feats and antics are stuff of legend. Fully befitting of their barbarian moniker they had this to say on the subject of overtraining: “There is no such thing as overtraining, just undereating and undersleeping”.

I’m wholly inclined to agree.

If one were to read up on the strongmen of yesteryear, one would be dumbfounded as to how far we have regressed.

The average gym goer seems more concerned about contacting rhabdo and getting injured, than about actually making gains.

Plenty of people in the past and now are doing, and have done far more physical work than you. You may have to try harder.

Here’s my experience:

The Mind

First, and most importantly is the mind. It can force you to do more when you’re thinking of bitching out, but at the same time stop you in your tracks if you don’t control it.

It can over come lack of food and sleep to a high degree. You can mentally decide overtraining doesn’t exist, and watch as that becomes your reality.

While maybe not fully, an aggressive, take no prisoners attitude can work wonders.

If you’re mind isn’t in the right place extra eating and sleeping may just make you like any fat welfare recipient.You could become a disgusting fat layabout.You don’t want that.

Some days you may have to back off. But you may find the act of warming up gets you where you need to be physically. Warming up for a longer period can change how heavier work will go that day.

This morning I awoke early and ravenous, but with my lower back locked. My body may have been pointing to an off day, but my mind was fired up, and I decided to train anyway.

Drive + Pumps/Flush The System

With my back locked, and my right bicep tendon feeling off I drove to the gym. On the way there i was cold, and realized to keep from actually getting an injury I may have to back off a bit. Instead of fat bar pulls I’d do lots of bodybuilder style volume for the same muscles.

I started with 10-15 supersets of lat pulldowns and leg curls. Stupid light, sets of 10. I even wore long sleeves instead of my normal wife beater to compound the warming effect.

After 5 supersets I upped the weight slightly on leg curls.
After 10 I decided to add a lot of weight to both and did a heavy set of 8 pulldowns followed by a set of leg curls with the stack. This surprised me  as I’m almost never able to use the stack.

At this point I’m an hour in, and my lats, biceps, hamstrings, and glutes are pumped up. Plus my lower back was no longer locked. I’d moved enough blood around the system. It only took an hour, and now I  felt safe to do the fat bar block pulls as I originally intended.

They went decently. It’s a new movement, and the reps start at my weak point. It takes more effort than from the floor for me. I can deadlift more than I can pull from the raised height. I’m fine with this. Strengthen the system.

If you want to hit a big lift daily or at least near daily you can. I’ve been doing it, and just doing a bit of movement variety, and intensity cycling.

Keep Injury Free

To stave off injury you may have to do some pump work on a day you intended to lift heavy. If you add in more (I’m conditioning daily too) you’ll have to do more to recover. It took a week for the exhaustion to hit me, but I ain’t stopping yet. I just have to keep my mind right, and do what has to be done. These are:

  1. Eat more
  2. Sleep more
  3. Pump blood into sore areas, and more frequently
  4. Stay fucking aggressive mentally, if I say I’m pulling 5-7 days a week I damn sure better.

It may seem counter intuitive but I think adding in more will help. Either start every session with pump/flushing work or add some light AM sessions of the same.

This is a blitz to hit huge PRs on my deadlift(fat bar). I conquer my body, not vice-versa. When I was squatting everyday I once did 50+ sets of 5 with 135 one morning to loosen up a crazy tight hip, and only then got into the heavier sets. This is the mentality you need. To pull you may have to do an hour+ of bodybuilder shit to be good to go.

If you’re crazy sore you gotta pump blood and move. Whether you use the same movement and/or the same muscle groups is up to your discretion. Remember I don’t get injured. You may have to take more precaution than I.

Prioritize + My Workout Structure

Choose a lift to prioritize, and just crush it for as long as it takes.

People in the past have done this, and so can you.

There’s no such thing as overtraining. You just have to recover harder.

I have no problem putting in more work, I have to make sure I recover. My sessions look like this:

  1. Pump/Flush the system
  2. Big upperbody movement(optional)
  3. Pulling movement, cleans and/or deadlifts on the fat bar.
  4. More Pump/Flush work
  5. Abs and/or lower back
  6. Forearms (optional, they’re already being blasted)
  7. Quad Work( Just added back in, I think its the lagging point for the pulls)
  8. Condition ( rotate duration, movement, and intensity)

I simply have to make sure I sleep well, and eat more. Already I’m recomping from the last week or two, and at this point I need to up the calories. I can’t seem to eat enough right now. The physical is strange right now. Mentally I’m fantastic. I want to crush weights, and this is great.

Do What You Gotta Do + Remember It’s All In Your Head

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t-you’re right.” -Henry Ford

 

-J

Feeder Workouts + Challenges

This isn’t the deep post I started off flow writing but got stuck on.It’s a fun lighthearted post on feeder workouts. Here you are.

The Idea

My PT is somewhat like a feeder workout, but it’s really just chest,quads, and calves. Chest and calves being strong points made even stronger, and quads always have been decent.

Lifting last night my buddy talked about how feeder workouts, and hitting his weak points every day are making tons of difference.

I’ve experienced this in the past, and am seeing it right now whenever i run into my friend at the gym.

Shoulders: Bad Genetics or Lack Of Effort?

I’ll admit my shoulders are small. I barely train them. 6 – 8 months or so ago I did feeders for them for maybe a month, and saw a noticable increase in width/aesthetics.

All of the kids I lift with have better shoulders than me, both naturally, and because of training. One even doing less for his than I.

My traps overshadow my shoulders, and I was thinking how aesthetically shoulder width is a weak point.

Like I said in the 1500 reps daily post , once I came up with the idea I started immediately.

The Challenge/Feeder Protocol

I set my mind on 100+ reps of lateral raises every day for at least the next 10 days using 10lb dbs or heavier. Why 10 days? Why not? It’s the number that popped into my head first.

The rules will be the same as last time with laterals. Get them done by any means necessary. I can do them as extra work at the gym, tacked onto my home PT, or as a separate home based session. If I happen to go out of town the 10’s will come with me.

As I type this, I’ve just finished today’s laterals with a quick workout of 50,40,30,20,10 with my pair of 10’s and did a few extra reps for good measure. ( Reps for good measure, there’s a post in itself)

I’m going to have to play with my form and see if I can shift them more to delt, as I feel more traps from this 1st session. But mind you yesterday’s power clean fest has my traps more awake than usual and they’re a muscle I’m natural with.

I’ll find a form that works more as intended for shoulder width.

Look For Updates/ The Next Challenge

Look for an update about completion on the 30th. As well as the next feeder challenge. Off the top of my head I think high volume Hindu squats, abs, or continue the laterals, or add rear delt raises. Maybe run the 1500 again, or a session of walking or skip rope every morning. I’m not sure yet. The decision will be cemented on the 30th.

Get those PR’s and Gains!

-J

1500 Reps Daily Recomp

The Circumstance + Challenge

At one point in 2015 while i had no access to a gym I came up with an experiment, a challenge. An idea to recomp hit.

I was bored one night and brainstorming. On my mind was body compostion and how much of a recomp would be possible in a short period, a very short, concentrated period. How much could be done with no gym access, little equipment, and absolutely nothing resembling an ideal diet? I was left to the brute force method of attack. Not precision, but spread shot style. Overcome by pure volume.

I decided for 10 days that I’d up the PT requirements. I’d do 500 bodyweight squats, 500 pushups, and 500 abs daily. 10 days for an experiment and test of willpower. I decided to start day 1 right then and there. Literally started the reps within 5 minutes of coming up with this, plus had to hustle them in and do the 1500 reps with a bit less than 2 hours until midnight.

Overtraining?

Did I meet the overtraining monster?

Nope, definitely did not.

I did get a bit leaner around the midsection though.

Forced myself to finish the reps, didn’t pussy out, and forced a bit of mental toughness. Even if I didn’t want to do the reps, I still did it. I even added a bit more activities if the mood hit, but for those 10 days I did ALL of the 1500 reps.

Abs were a mix of flutter kicks, bicycles, and crunches.

I mixed regular bodyweight squats and hindu squats. I even did some staggered stance.

Pushups were done standard, but I didn’t pay much attention to the range of motion.

I basically did 10 x 50 of each. Sometimes they were superset, sometimes I did one exercise at a time, and sometimes just spread the reps throughout the day.

I did a set of 50 and put a tally mark on a paper. PT was over when there were ten tallies next to each exercise for that day.

My Diet and The Recomp

My diet was SHIT, with a capital S.H.I.T.  too. The  food sources I used were top ramen and tuna. My weight was in the vicinity of 215lbs for this. I don’t think scale weight moved, the only thing i noticed was I became close to seeing abs, the top row became barely visible around day 6 and more so after a set of ab work. This state was held for maybe 10 days after the fact. I’d assume I was eating around 6 packs of ramen and 6 cans of tuna daily for this. So:

  • $4.02 day, 50¢/ can tuna x 6, $1.02 for 6 ramen packs
  • ~180 grams protein
  • ~90 grams fat
  • 300 grams carb
  • Calories ~3000

I basically split this into two meals, and I may have drank a small amount of milk,gatorade, or juice on the side. Not exactly clean eating, healthy or particularly low calorie. Basically a normal maintenance or maybe slight caloric deficient. The best part too, this is the type of shit that can be done anywhere. A college dorm, a prison cell. The food prep took all of 5 minutes a day, and the cost was pretty damn cheap. Not ideal, but doable. Hell with less taste buds, and cash it could be done even cheaper.

Imagine

Imagine the results doing a concentrated recomp running something like this but under better circumstances?

Having a well equipped gym.

Eating naught but steak and eggs. Real keto, not high carb.

Or maybe try something psycho and go 10 days tuna and water. Old school bodybuilders did.

Bruce Randall’s bulking and cutting, crazy shit from the 1950s.

Not short term in the 10-14 day sense but pretty crazy.

I’d read a blog once that discussed doing sprints throughout the day, and doing the golden age tuna and water diet together for a short period just to see.

How I’d Do It

This is all food for thought. Come up with an experiment you like, and see what happens.

I’m inclined to eat steak for 2 meals and drink one shake of eggs, oats, peanut butter, and milk, with maybe a banana. The calories? Who cares. The protein? Roughly 200 grams a day, carbs maybe 70 grams. Cost maybe $10 a day, i’d say less though.Especially if you go with a cheaper meat,like ground beef. I think its worth a try.

I’d probably just lift as usual, but throw in a bunch of ab work on top. It’s only 10 days. I just discussed with a buddy how high a BMI could i be and see abs, we laughed about getting abs at well past the “obese” number. I think its possible to be pretty damn big as long as you condition some, and bulk the core up. I’m naturally pretty thick about the waist, my abs are huge, there isn’t much of a fat layer padding it. I’d assume a 10 -30 pound loss would have me there, so ballpark at 6′ 220. So..

How would you go about this?

I love stuff like this, enjoy the theories behind it, the brainstorming, and actually seeing what happens.

Care to try it?

Right now I’m running the lite version of this, some conditioning, some ab work, but not heeding the dietary aspect. Soon though, soon.

Explore, Experiment, Fuck Being Inside The Box

-J

 

 

Unconventional Deadlift Methods

Stats

Currently I’m 245 lbs at 6′. My first 405 deadlift was at 17. It took me until just shy of 22 to hit 495(strapped) add a few more months and being 22 for me to hit it raw. I’ve yet to hit 545, the next 45 and 25 a side jump increment.

In prior posts I’ve mentioned grip as my main weakness over the years. Now it seems to be just below the knee to just above the knee. The grip has solidified, but now a new weak point in the lift to hammer.

Natural Squatting + A Surprise

For years my deadlift and squat moved hand in hand. As long as i could hold it, add ~40lbs to my squat and I could pull it. The two lifts very much trained each other for me or so I thought. When I stopped squatting very frequently(mental burn out from 180+days of daily squats) I assumed by pulling regularly that I’d be fine. Apparently take out the leg work, and my pull regresses.

Now I could start squatting every day, but I have no inclination to. I’m bored of it. Even barely doing the movement it has still been maintained more than 6 months of neglect later. I have short limbs, I’m built for it, but the deadlift is different. My short arms and stocky build don’t classify me as a natural puller. The deadlift needs work, it’s more of a challenge, and right now seeing it regress I’m more inclined to go full retard on it and brute force my way to some huge PRs.

Mood Bro + Hairs Up My Ass

I very much train by mood. I’ll hit whatever I feel like once I’ve stepped onto the gym floor. I never truly know my main lift for the day until then. I play around, and if something was very good, or very bad the day prior, or even that morning I may go back and hit it again. Often and generally for many days in a row.

So lately I’ve had a hair up my ass for all things fat bar. I bench fat bar, I power clean fat bar, and most importantly, and prioritized I deadlift fat bar. About 6 months ago I pulled 484 on it. At my gym a 220lber, younger than me just pulled 600(regular,not fat bar, don’t shit yourselves). Mix the two in my mind and I have a crazy goal(crazy to outsiders). Add about 80lbs to my max(regular bar), and use the fat bar instead.

Now remember I don’t want to squat, my natural easy to build lift, I want to bust the pulling issues in another way. I started doing low back practically every session, and while it’s been shooting up in strength, the pull hasn’t.I didn’t gain deadlift strength, I just added more strength to an already diesel bodypart. As I said the dead zone is around the knee. I can break a good deal off the floor and have the rep die at knee level(roughly).

Partials + Extra Range Reps

For years I had a weekly obsession of Saturday shrugs+partial squats. All done far heavier than my deadlift and squat maxes. They both give you some stupid strength. So suffice to say I’m not a stranger to doing partial movements.

Separate and related I’ve always enjoyed doing pulls with longer range too. Snatch grip deads, pulling from blocks, or the ultimate lift of elevated stiff leg deadlifts. I’ve noticed that these all seem to help my pull. I do either for a few weeks, even during dark times of deadlift regression, and soon after I hit a new PR.

Hopefully you are following my train of thought, I’ve had it explained to me that, and I’ve realized that my patterns of reason resemble chaos to others. Bear with me:

  1. Longer range helps strength off floor.
  2. My weakness is floor to above knee, particularly knee area(just below to above)
  3. I decided to Power Clean standing on the blocks for a laugh
  4. A Louie Simmons article where an anecdote of below knee to above knee high rep partials for a man not built to deadlift
  5. 2+2 = Ding Ding Ding
  6. Partials- I’ve done them for years, overloading the strong point for retard strength, time for……
  7. Weak Point Partial Deadlift – Ding Ding Ding, moderate weight, high reps, brute force my way through the weak point with lots of volume- We Have A Winner
The Pump

These partials ended up making this one of the best workouts of my life. After the regular deadlifts were done I dropped the weight back to  roughly 300 and did 4 sets of 5 floor to above knee+ 5 mid shin to above knee, and on the last set added in some full range reps at the end. My traps were thoroughly stretched and sore, lots of time under tension. Breaking the weight off the floor pumped my quads, and my ass was on fire from the RDL like pumping in the second half of each set. My lats were fired up, this is a rarity, and my grip was thoroughly worked. Lots of time under tension.

Honestly top 5 sessions of my life. I felt pumps in places I rarely do. This post has now got me fired up, and I think its time to go kill it doing the exact same lifts right row. No reason you can’t pull with frequency, Bob Peoples did.

-J

 

Grip Strength,Fat Bars, and Straps

Over the years my weakest link was almost always my hands and forearms.My grip was always lagging. Naturally my forearms are small,I don’t have the best insertions for size or strength,and for a six footer my hands are undersized.

For a long time I thought grip would not be my strength.

After high school I bought straps for the purpose of shrugging. My traps were always strong and easily developed. Hands were limiting my traps ability to soar. So I strapped up here always. I never made a habit of strapping up for anything else,and only rarely used them for another exercise. High rep heavy dumbbell rows or the occasional day when I didn’t want hands to limit deadlifts.

I continued to lift as best as my hands would allow.

Then in 2015 I found myself without weights for 8 months. I did lots of isometrics for my back,chins off a tree,flexing of the forearm simulating levering, and opened and shut my hands for 100s of reps at a time.

I came back to weights and within 8 weeks hit a lifetime 30lb deadlift PR.

Within another month or two I could hold that weight (455) no problem.

A month or two later I was kicked out of that gym for actually lifting weights.

New gym, on day two pulled 484 on a fat bar, lifetime PR was 495×2 strapped. Maybe I have ridiculous open hand strength from isometrics, wrestling snap downs and the head and arm hold. Maybe I don’t.

My lifetime PR in deads is still 515, I’ve gotten 545 to knee level many times.With a fat bar a week ago I’d gotten 515 to knee height. Grip is no longer the issue. I can hold more than I can pull now.

How did this happen though?

As far as I can tell, I just had to give it time. Physically I seem to be a late bloomer, I simply had to do my best training, use straps only when COMPLETELY required and wait a few years. I may even count strapped very heavy shrugs as grip work, go heavy enough and the straps won’t do all the work, your grip is still worked.

It seems I simply have to persist and endure for lengths of time, then my abilities skyrocket up almost overnight.

My power clean currently sucks. Lifetime and recent best of 255 @245. I am iffy with 225, even though I’ve got it for as many as 3, but own 205. 205 is an everyday max. I’ve got it for as many as 6 or 7 reps. But on a fat bar, seems unreasonable. Until last night. On a regular bar I cleaned up to 195, failing 225 about 5 times, then switched to the fat bar and dropped weight. Power clean and press. 114,164,then with 194 I failed to press,then push press it, but the cleans, fat bar, chalkless were easy. Dumbfoundingly so.

Well add 5 lbs, then celebrate that I can clean 200 on a fat bar, went and told my buddy what I did, then realized the bar weighs 24lbs it was only 199. I added the smallest micro plates the gym has, 1,25 each to an amazing 201.5 fail,fail,scream motherfucker. Get angry, and hit it fast. I simply wasn’t in the groove.

Then to get it on camera. Add weight, 2 plates a side , 204lbs, grab a buddy to film it. Hit it , ask that he got it, if he hadn’t I would’ve doubled or tripled it. He had. Then added weight and failed 224 twice, too bad. Would’ve been sweat to really crush it on the fat bar.

So how did someone who shouldn’t have good grip get it?

Simple, I kept training. I’d say the one biggest factor was the weightless work during those 8 months, but the last month or two of everything being done fat bar couldn’t hurt. If you want to shrug allow yourself to use straps, just don’t be a strap addict. Use your hands,if mine can surpass the rest of my musculature, so can yours.

I’d highly recommend using a fat bar as often as possible, although fat grips can work in commercial gym hell. For straps Spud Inc makes awesome ones. I’ve shrugged as high as 750, no issues. I doubt one could tear them.

Kill It – J

Cardio,Conditioning, and Work Capacity

Background + Mistakes

I came from a wrestling background. And at around the same time as I was wrestling, in my mind I was going to be in the USMC. I imagined myself as combat arms, often times going all out and saying I’d be Spec Ops. Thus I took my PT seriously, and always wanted to be a physical workhorse. At the time I was between 175 and 195lbs.

As time went by I stopped wrestling, didn’t enter the military, and as I gained weight while lifting I made a huge mistake. I stopped doing the cardio, conditioning, and work capacity work. I allowed my stamina, and ability to do tons of work to regress. I’d become complacent.

So here I was focused too much on scale weight, and 1 rep maxes. Can I still sprint? Yes, but not near as many repeats as in the past. Can I still wrestle? Yes, but not without gassing hard.

I allowed myself to not do the work that I view as the suck, relying on my high rep calisthenics to be my conditioning. While high reps can work, they’re still only up and down, you need movement in the lateral plane too. Hell, remember how bad grass drills from football or the military were? How bad chain/line wrestling drills were? All that movement really sucked.

I know from experience aerobic work helps with ability to train hard in the weight room. As a senior in high school I ran bleachers for 5-20 minutes post-workout daily, and at the time hitting 20 lifts at 90% roughly EMOM was fairly easy.

I’d even noticed walking a few miles makes loads of difference. You could even blend weights with this by doing heavy sled pulls/drags, or carries.  Think Strongman, or Lumberjack. Weighted aerobics may be the best of both worlds.

But you can still go old school.

Lace the shoes, and hit the pavement.

I’ll admit, I need to start.

The Epiphany

For a while I stopped doing the volume in the weight room, that I’d done in the past. Combine this with not having taken cardio seriously for a few YEARS and I noticed that my work capacity was way down.

Then the last straw, my maxes started getting lower, or harder effort wise as I wasn’t doing the required smaller stuff to build strength over the whole system.

So, I started walking a bit more, then added some sled work at the gym, next came actual conditioning, stairs, jump rope, bikes, rowing.

I’m heavier now, running is still a bitch. I can row well, the fat man’s version of running, but running is not where it needs to be.

Will it affect my squat? No, not if you choose not to let it. I’ve done this in the past to good effect, sprint, lift, run.

Short+fast, then heavy, then slower +longer

A couple days ago my gym got AirDyne bikes.

Perfect tool, at a perfect time.

Structuring the Session
  1. Warmup with Weighted Aerobics, Sled Work fits perfectly.
  2. Light rep work for the intended bodyparts
  3. Big lift, low reps
  4. Big lift, back off sets,optional
  5. Light rep work
  6. Work capacity,conditioning, and/or cardio

An example:

  1. Moderate weight sled pulls, a few trips
  2. Hamstring pump, 1-4x 10-50
  3. Squat up to heavyish 1-3
  4. Squat rep sets, 1-5 sets of 10-20
  5. More hamstrings, lower back, abs
  6. Airdyne Tabata x 3, 4 minute rounds
  7. Play a bit more (optional)
Will This Work + Programming

I’ve done similar things in the past, and to good success. I hate programming to the point that I don’t know when I’ll hit legs, or push at the gym right now. My focus really is on fat bar deadlifts, forearms, core,and conditioning.

Life has me lifting at the gym every other day for the most part. 50% or more of these are pull days right now. I press or legs when the mood hits. Often as lighter secondary work to the pull.

Every session right now has lower back work. If I remember I do abs as well.

Conditioning from this point on is mandatory. I can easily mix the machine I use, or don’t, and where on the conditioning-cardio-work capacity spectrum each days work falls.

For example: If I want easy, jump rope, to me it’s a more mentally stimulating version of a jog. If I want to feel like death Prowler sprints. Just pick the spot on the spectrum and hit it.

You can’t tap into your full potential without the conditioning to support it. This statement can be flipped to strength as well. You need to build a base of all physical attributes. I’ve neglected conditioning, maybe you neglect strength. No more though. Do the work.

-J