Category: Uncategorized

July 4th, 2019 ~330pm
For the first time in a while I go outside and press.

The entire session :
•Behind The Back Deadlift 3×5 @ 135
•Press 3×5 @ 135
•Bent Row (45° angle) 3×5 @ 135
•Press 1 x 185
•Reverse Curl 5 x bar

I power cleaned the first rep of the press sets.

Weird footing, ill fitting work boots, and shirtless because the sun is good for you.

I took the 185 to see with no specific work how my press was doing.

I got my mind right, cleaned 185 easier than I had the 135 sets, like it was an empty bar, and then pressed it so fast that I was flabbergasted.

It flew up with alarming speed.

Now sure I’ve hit 3×205 last fall in the SoCal bodybuilding gym, nearly was at 225, and have been known to press 185-205 cold on a yoke (yoke presses are the bomb by the way).

But this is off of Planet Fitness pump work (& labor), a total disregard of the barbell, and had such speed I could’ve hit my first 225 press.

It all carries over.

(I do a lot of 10×10 with little rest on machine one arm presses. Close movements are specific enough.)

I know I get stronger anywhere.

I know I could build my powerlifting total without barbell work solely training at PF (an article for another time).

I figured out a good glute movement at PF (glute focus 45° hyperextensions), and accidentally got my thighs bigger (smith squats, particularly narrow stance).

Do what you can with what you have. Train hard, actually train, and it’ll be enough.

Don’t think, just do.
That’s my advice to you.

It may be end up being months before I touch a barbell again, it could be hours. Either way I’ll still come back stronger on it.

Persistence & Tenacity

I trained calves a few days ago, a good amount of effort expanded going 4×35 on a machine, each day since they were more and more sore to the point I couldn’t walk normally.

Extra zinc, magnesium, and calcium weren’t working.

Stretching wasn’t working.

Grinding with a lacrosse ball wasn’t working.

Self massage wasn’t working.

I had no urge to even attempt to figure out if voodoo floss could be an answer here.

After a while (day 2 of not walking normally) a trick I’ve learned hit me.

I first saw this on a defunct blogspot (apocalypse barbell) where the author related how he’d make his legs able to function again as a heavyweight after running 3 miles or better in Marine Corps PT.

His trick?

Drop into a deep atg bodyweight squat immediately after the run.

If my calves are ridiculously tight I drop into that deep squat and bounce around in the bottom position.

Nothing works as well for me and my calves as that.

My (cited) 2¢.

Persistence & Tenacity

The easiest way to get in neck work is dynamic tension.

Though I write 4 way, personally I usually only go 3 ways (back, left, right), and do “around the world” circling with my head and static stretches in all 4 directionsto stretch.

I’ve taken to admiring myself in the mirror all narcissistic like between sets, doing my dynamic tension for the neck at this time, 5-10 reps in each direction, therefore pumping, and getting to admire my thick neck musculature.

Neck is my favorite bodypart. Call it wrestler’s mentality. Most dudes obsess over chest and biceps, for me it’s neck, pushups, and legs.

There is no such thing as a neck too strong, nor is there any such thing as a neck too muscular.

My neck while decently developed is the same size currently at 255lbs as it was while wrestling at 189lbs back in the day. It was disproportionate back then…as it should be.

See : There is no such thing as a neck too strong, nor is there any such thing as a neck too muscular.

Most don’t train neck.

I find looking at frail little pencil necks (on males) to be an offensive sight.

(Girls however are generally expected to have frail little necks.)

And I have finally posted in June.

Persistence & Tenacity

While my record is nearly 4 years of pushups done daily, yesterday I successfully hit the 3 year mark.

I may continue this for life, maybe at some point I’ll move on. However I’ll say this, I’ll hit 5 years without a miss just to be able to say I did it.

In 10, 11 years of this I’ve not yet made 5 years without a miss. I’m going to make it.

May 14th, 2021 and I’ll have done it.

The cool thing is May 11, I dropped and did a set at about 1115pm hanging out with a buddy therefore keeping the streak alive. My last miss (May 13, 2016) was under similar circumstances…this time I made sure to get it done.

Persistence & Tenacity

I dreamt of heavy smith machine bench lockouts to near failure using 4 plates for into the 30-40 rep range over 5-6 rests at the top with deep breathes (so not exactly rest pause, more like breathing squats).

Near the end a coworker jumped into the spotters position.

(He and I had been talking about the gym the night before. This must’ve stayed on my mind.)

My triceps may have been firing in real life. I felt similar to the pushup dream.

The range of motion wasn’t perfect.
It was lockouts from middle range/halfway to as the set went on further and further from full lockout, ending with an inch or so of bend in the arms.

The dream world has given me a cool idea to try.

How much range of motion and how many reps can I smith bench 365-405 for?

It sounds like a serious arm builder.

My gym dreams almost always seem to be high reps.

Persistence & Tenacity

5/7/19 ~820am

I’m standing around the office as farmed out labor for the day. Not where I usually work but my manager said works available there, so I took the shift. I don’t know the office staff or crew past a brief introduction a few weeks back when we sent a large crew down in a similar manpower situation.

The manager, maybe late 20s, average height (5’8″) and a well built medium size (~200) sees me (the big guy) and asks if I want to arm wrestle, and if I’d put $20 on it.

“Seeing as we have down time, yeah I’ll arm wrestle, I’m not betting though. I don’t even have 20 on me.”

He has a slightly devious look about him, I figure I’m about to be card sharped, especially when he agrees he hasn’t arm wrestled since high school.

(I legit hadn’t since then, it seems so much physical things we did as teens stop in adulthood, like pickup tackle football. This is a problem.)

He has a leanness to him, athletic. Firstly he’ll be strong for his size, probably came up through the labor force to the office. Secondly he looks like this dude (build scaled up from 5’5″ to 5’8″, even facial features and personality) I know who did tree work for a few years, then carpentry for over a decade, and had a shocking strength of hand. Very similar look to their builds.

I expected the same.

“Left arm” he goes half statement half question. “I’m right handed” my reply. “Me too, but my right arm is still sore from…” the thought drifts out.

He must be a lefty, I’m being card sharped.

The other workers have an interest.
Yeah, pool shark, whatever. The time has to be passed in some way, as some late workers have us all standing around twiddling our thumbs.

We sit. Same side of a round table. Left arm.

Lock hands… stalemate.
I’m thinking he’s not trying.
In some psychological game we both talk, while straining, not acting like it, stalemate.

At some point I realize to move my elbow closer towards him, it had slipped back. I gain maybe an inch in advantage. He verbally gives at this point, 5, 10 seconds after advantage to me, though in my eyes we’re only 30 seconds or maybe a bit more into what’ll most likely end up a multiple minute isometric grind.

Quote unquote “I won”. He insisted, said when “this happened” as he showed what’s called a top roll (I watched Pulling John) and said at that point he knew I had him.

I didn’t realize I had top rolled.
I just noticed to move elbow closer, and a slight gain past total stalemate.

I’m uncertain whether he got bored, decided not to slam me (pool shark), or legit wasn’t going to beat me.

It was a long isometric.

Fun though, and on a five minute delay my arm was shockingly sore. 30 minutes after that as we arrived on the job site it was back to normal.

I like doing this kinda thing, I’m betting it was a tie, and that his right arm was sore…from arm wrestling.

What a weird pool shark experience, weak side, terrible table option, stalemate “win”.

It’d be cool to go strong side, good table against the kid. I wonder how it’d end up going.

-J

The other day, off from work and catching up on sleep, I took a few hour nap…mid way through while drifting in and out of sleep I fell in and out of a dream of doing pushups…

I awoke on my side, chest sore, arms straight out like the top of a pushup.

No way.

Was I doing pushups in bed… asleep?

My body definitely was firing the muscles.

(In the past I’ve woken up having headbutted the wall, right after I headbutted a guy in a dream world fight.)

Fascinating. This could be advantageous when harnessed. If one could direct their dreams…the sleep could be an effective practice/rehearsal. After all visualization is said to big for elite level performances.

Persistence & Tenacity

Maybe I’m just a big guy, or maybe it’s the pushups.

While I’ve mostly done vanilla pushups over the years occasionally I vary the movement.

Sometimes the reps follow a path more analogous to an incline press or a triceps extension than a bench.

Maybe you work on handstand pushups with a partial range of motion building the range top to bottom, or rep out on one arm pushups since you have the ability and it’s euphoric as it loosens the spins.

You could do Hindu pushups as you do them so infrequently that you still find them a challenge. Dive bombers the same but pushing back through, not just raising the ass. Pikes for a bit more shoulder.

Side to side is an option a floor based emulation of what the internet calls ghetto pullups.

I’ve done Superman pushups in the past.

Folks I’ve done so many pushups over the years that my torso, particularly the chest is too big.
I’ve allowed pushups to become an obsession, an addiction, it’s been nearly 3 years of them daily without a miss, my record so far is almost 4. I intend to keep going at least to 5 years.

High reps will build strength.

You can do low reps focusing on it like it was a heavy ass bench press, visualizing a bench with many wheels, and get a max strength effect.

I’ve been exploring pushups for over a decade.

I’ve leaned out on them, I’ve gotten big with em, I’ve even done them to the exclusion of all other physical activity.

The pushup will bring you far.

I know more about pushups than most ever will, and I’ve not milked them out yet.

You wouldn’t believe some of the stories :

Dropping onto my forearm with a hurt hand before I’d found the ability to one arm.

Dropping down for 50ish in class backpack on to prove a point to a trash talker.

That time at camp backpack on.

Public bathroom as punishment.

Sensei’s Latin American accented voice announcing “pooshups”.

The time some asphalt embedded into my hand, a week later hearing a plink in the shower, it had worked it’s way out.

500-1000 rep workouts.

The year of 1000+ weekly, split 100+ weekdays, 250+ Sat & Sun.

The over 1000 set (somewhere I’ve said the exact number).

Partial range of motion, full range, a million variations. I’ve not yet maxed em out.

I’ve seen a feat : a friend’s dad did reps with his wife, me, my buddy, and his sister all laying on his back.

(Mind you 8yo boy, 7yo boy, 6yo girl, but still 360+ in added live weight, on top of a guy 200lbs max. My memory is 8-12 reps chest to floor. It’s the strongest thing I’ve ever witnessed. He may have been drunk while doing it, a former boxer he did rounds of pushups, situps, shadow boxing, and calf raises daily.)

As I said I’ve not yet maxed em out, weighted pushups are as of yet still unexplored. I’ve put maybe a 100lb kid on my back and a 100lb plate on the few occasions.

Pushups are simple. They’ll bring you as far as you’re willing to take them. It’s been mostly vanilla reps for over a decade of…

Persistence,

J

How you look is a byproduct of how you train.

A body built working will look different than by calisthenics which will look different than the gym which will look different than by sports, etc, etc, etc.

Many don’t consider this, particularly girls (whom are misled by gym culture to do stuff not in their best interests).

A few times in my life, on both the East Coast and West Coast I’ve been mistaken for an ex-con.

Factoring in my buzz cut, my (usual) beard, how in the past I ate ridiculous numbers of ramen packs (chicken sodium pack bro, chicken) and tuna cans, and a “look” built by a million pushups this actually makes sense.

I had the diet and training down pat via being broke with the right general look.

That was years ago.

I’m not eating like a convict now, though the training…yep.

A calisthenic built body looks more “sleak”. More lumps of mass here and there, than separation between muscles. You have no isolation exercises, everything is compound. You move better, calisthenics don’t wear the body down like lifting often seems to.

Lifting is the quicker path to being built like an animal, to looking like a beast.

An Example :

Giant (arguably overdeveloped) traps practically require some heavy ass heaving strapped up (Spud Inc straps ← my recommendation) shrugs inside the power rack.

Pushups, and jump rope will build your traps, just not to the touch your ear gorilla trap size.

Jump Rope :

The jump rope is highly underrated.

With a similar cardio effect to running and the ability to vary the intensity from “long slow distance” to “sprint”, the jump rope does not give wear and tear like running does, nor is it a muscle waster.

In 2015 I made frequent use of pushup & jump rope supersets. I was all the better for it.

For a couple weeks now I’ve been getting in 500+ revolutions of the rope daily. Over the last 3 days I’ve taught myself the “Mike Tyson squat jump rope” trick, which hilariously amazed a kid that happened to witness it.

(Kids in awe, nods from those jogging or riding bikes, and even a thumbs up from some big dude in his SUV seeing me skip are all possibilities. I’m usually either skipping in the street or at a playground.)

People don’t realize the muscular effects of the jump rope :

•Calves – It builds their size.
•Thighs/Glutes – It gives a sleek, springy athleticism.
•Lats/Traps – Some size depending on form.
•Biceps – Size from form with arms locked to sides around a 90° angle, and with fast revolutions.
•Forearm – You can really get the wrist into it by back choking the hands high up on the handle, and rotating them like so (the handle will be only between thumb, pointer, middle, and possibly the ring finger).
•Triceps – By flexing them while going for speed revolutions.

Jump Rope mixed with calisthenics only heighten the muscular effect of the calisthenic.

Yep, the jump rope builds muscle.

I picked up labor work again. On (at least most) days off I’ll be deadlifting mostly light with PERFECT FORM as a way to keep activity up.

I have this apparently rare knack for never losing strength.

(Hush hush secret…I always train even if it’s down to naught but pushups.)

My calisthenic experience over the years says to me that light not only will maintain strength, but will BUILD IT.

I had this thought a while back that a daily set of squatting 20 reps with 135-185 would be a really quick way for one in the gym to always have decent legs in a general fitness kind of way, always maintaining enough work capacity as a reasonable jump off point.

(I’d scale this to 95-135 for females and make the same statement. When I thought it I had males in mind, those who don’t give a shit for any gym clique, but who wanted a good solid base at all times in their pocket.)

My non labor day deadlift idea is an experiment in my eyes…

I’ve been thinking for a while that a bunch of reps in light deadlifts via either many perfect smooth Pavel approved sets and reps or very high reps (not Pavel approved) would end up building my deadlift quite well.

Just every so often jump 20 lbs or so of bar weight. You’ll never even need to go past 60% 1rm.

(Maybe come winter I won’t be working labor and will experiment with this alone 4-7+ x weekly.)

Anyone else ever thought it strange that girevoy sport is high rep olys/weightlifting with a kettlebell, but high reps on barbell olympic variants is considered a no no?

My (imaginary) Uncle Vladdy takes issue with this. In my imagination he taught me high rep olys in his back yard when I was 12, warning me of the dire consequences that would befall me should I hit his not yet running Trans-Am with the bar as he critiqued me in a mix of Russian and English while drinking his vodka and Pepsi (from separate bottles, never mixed, nor in containers other than the bottle, the vodka was in his left always… ALWAYS) and occasionally stupifying me by lifting cold high rep sets loaded with significantly high amounts of weight while himself mostly disinterested in the lifting of weights. He was not even trying.

(That vodka stipulation may say that he did all his lifting right hand only.)

I respond extraordinarily well to building up my work capacity. My strongest is always at when I’m capable of doing the most work.

Bodyweight Military Press :

I insist on pressing off of a clean…
(Everyone should, it’s better that way.)

The clean though ugly is a given. I can still hit 255 after a layoff, the clean is a given.

I’m going to quite possibly hit this goal soon while NOT TRAINING FOR IT!

Handstand pushups…I’m working on handstand pushups. Get to reps touching head, then throw cinder blocks into the mix to get (actually past) full military press range of motion.

The clean is a given.

I’m likely still good for 205 which I once tripled or even 215 which I’ve either hit or calculated as a max.
6 months ago I felt close to 225.

I’m now working labor…which SERIOUSLY strengthens the grip.
(Labor the #1 way to build hand strength. Hand strength…how the necessary clean is a given.) And labor, which tends to have me lose weight…

I may very well press bodyweight (probably over bodyweight) because of labor related weight loss and progressing on handstand pushups.

I feel I won’t even need to be doing handstand pushup reps from cinder blocks to press bodyweight. I catch cleans almost at jaw height, and the press sticking point is in the forehead to top of skull area…top of skull is regular handstand pushup height, and strength carries over further than the exact trained joint angles.

Outdoor > indoor
ALWAYS! I’d love to open an open air weight room facility. Fuck canned air conditioning air!

My favorite pullup variation isn’t! A long flexed arm hang held arms at roughly 90°. It often ends up solid ab work too.

I like frequency, but get variety by changing what exercise(s) that I do daily.

Pushups have been done daily for nearly 3 years since the last missed day.

Labor is about as masculine an environment you can get.

Masculine environments and being around attractive females both shoot your testosterone levels sky high.

Relatedly ; erections are a sign of all being right in the world.

When debating Natty or Not always choose NATTY!

Choose to have the best genetics, and you will.

So many people choose to be sad physically, as if injury and shitty recovery is a definite thing. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I don’t feel like finding a picture of Nelson to put here.

Mental weakness causes physical weakness (mostly).

Mental strength will correct physical weakness eventually.

“I’m Not A Certified Personal Trainer”….THANK GOD!
(This’ll be hilarious if I post it, see below.)

I’ve never uploaded video of this, but I can Cossack dance. I’ve been able to for years.

If “gym knowledge” says it’s crazy/impossible/negative buzzword here DO IT, prove gym knowledge wrong.

Short range of motion can be quite beneficial.

Fat grip is superior to normal barbell skinniness.

Callouses can become smaller while one lifts outdoors in winter gloves!

You may see a lot of this repeated on here eventually, some of the topics here already have unpublished articles fully written, some topics are just being dumped on “paper”. This is that kinda post.
I felt like publishing something.

Persistence & Tenacity

Psyche! No music link. And since I wrote this yesterday, it’s dated yesterday. It’s not a typo.

It’s unreasonable to go sprint 100% all out when you haven’t in a while.
Sprinting all out after a layoff is something of a no no.

Tight and/or weak hamstrings combined with the all out dash are what hamstring pulls are made of.

There is a reasonable way however, a way berift of such potential issues. This is how you start off when you get back into sprinting.

If you haven’t sprinted in a long while, are a big guy, an older guy, or some combination of these here’s what you do :

Flying 40s

Flying 40s are a drill I ripped out of some college football programs off season workout program.

You start at an endzone, and slowly run/jog 30 yards. Now you kick into gear for 40 yards. Many will controlled sprint this when coming in from a layoff. Use your head. I find it unlikely to run at 100% when it’s been a while. It takes a little time to relearn proper sprint mechanics. You jog out the last 30, and are now at the opposite endzone.

Now like my wrestling prep during preseason nights, I’m not on a football field. I use the street, it doesn’t have to be the exact distances, it’s the ease-controlled or all out-ease principle behind the drill.

When you start sprinting after a layoff use the principle of the flying 40.

Also use a slight incline if possible. This makes it even safer.

Go forth and sprint. It feels amazing.

Persistence & Tenacity