Training March 30, 2015

military press: 45×3, 95×1, 135×1,1, 155×5,5,5 (+1 push jerk) superset with

pullup: bw x 5,5,5

red band lateral raise x 2 x 15. Done with a 45 degree abduction and neutral grip

reverse hyper: 25 x 10, 45 x 10

I found an exercise on the Diesel website that I think will help me get my back defrazzled. It’s the anti-rotation sled drag (ARSD) and I noticed a big side-to-side difference, which leads me to believe I’m on the right track.

ARSD: 2 plates x two trips down and back per side

Plus a ton of other stuff, pretty much everything I could think to do with the sled; face pulls, rows, pull throughs, curls, tricep extensions, etc etc

Updating the “About”

Just a heads up, I’ve updated the Conor Attack! “About Me” page. It’s the little link in the corner that says “What Manner Of Thing Is This?” and I figure more people will actually read it if I make an announcement.

Small Victories, Victories None-the-less

One of the things I like about training is that you can chalk up every little advance as a win. As long as you keep going for weeks and months you’ll wind up better off than you are today. It’s that kaizen principle I’ve blogged about before (although the link eludes me).

With that said, today wasn’t great but I got some things done that I really needed to. My deadlift has always been my pet lift and in the past has remained pretty decent even when the rest of my training goes to hell. Ever since my big cross-country move my back has been touchy and my deadlift has suffered. The last time I tried to pull I basically couldn’t even complete the movement without pain. I needed to take a few steps back along the progression but I wasn’t willing to do it. Now, going back in with a clean slate I came in with the same plan I would take with a brand new client and I got through the session without any pain.

Instead of warming up with a single rep at 315 and then jumping up by 50 pounds until I got to my working set, I started out with 225. I also started pulling off a fairly tall block (maybe 5 inches?) and added a 1/2 inch rubber mat under my feet until I got to a block height that allowed me to get the most range of motion I could without pain. That wound up being 3 mats.

block pull: 225×1 (no mats), x1 (1 mat), x1 (2 mats), x1 (3 mats), 275 x 1, 5,5,5

invert rows on rings bw x 3 x 10 superset with

1LRDL 3 x 10 L and R

I got to reading Eric Cressey’s blog and found some stuff by the Posture Restoration Institute about being stuck in “right stance”. I wanted to test and see if I was capable of standing on my left foot and pulling a band across my body from right to left. Turns out I really can’t, so that’s a movement I’m going to start working on.

After those pulls and the weird band work, my torso musculature feels all stretched out and tired. I’m definitely shaking something loose, so to speak, and I hope my back/deadlift yield dividends because of it.

Training Updates

Well, I’ve started a new life in a new place in balmy Eastern Iowa. I’ve hooked up with a great local powerlifting gym and I’ve been training again (mostly pain free!).

 

Friday, 2/27/15

worked up to 275×3, 295×3 and 315×3 on the bench and did a bunch of accesory work. I’ve been doing some kind of upper body pull or row on every session, either ring pullups, straight bar pullups, ring rows, invert rows on a bar, ring face pulls or band pull aparts. Sometimes the whole lot.

 

Sunday, 3/1/15

military press: up to 155 x 5,5,6

log press 10’sx3x12

worked up to 405 x 1,1,1 on the deadlift. My significant other and I moved 7700 pounds of household goods into a truck, drove from North Carolina and unloaded it into my new house and my back hasn’t been quite the same since. Something on that left side down by the SI joint is all touchy now.

Then I did a bunch of accessory work, bw x ? x 12 on elevated GHR,

Tuesday, 3/3/15

Arm work

Wednesday, 3/4/15

safety bar box squat, highest box setting on adj. box: 25’sx2, 45’sx2, 45+25×2, 2 plates x 5,5,6

“”    “” plus one plate on box: 1 plates x 10,10, 15

 

one random set of hip thrust

GHR on all three risers: bw x 12,12,15

band pull aparts

bar pullups bw x 3 x 6 mixed in there

 

 

Squatting, Hip, Foot and Boring Cardio

Training yesterday sucked. It was one of those days where all I can say is at least I was there and something is better than nothing.
 
military press: 45×3, 95×2, 135×1, 135×1, 155×1, 165×3,3,4 + 2 jerks 75 x 3 x 10
 
front squat: 45 x 2 x 2, 95 x2, 135 x1, 155 x 1, 185 x 1, loaded the bar for 205 but stopped. My hip was really bothering me and I’m not sure why. I’ve been psoasinating the crab out of it and foam rolling and doing all my mobility work. Kind of demoralizing, but it is what it is.
 
pullup: bw x 12
 
KB complex – 3 curls, 3 rdl’s, 3 bent rows, 3 squats and 3 overhead extensions for 3:30

This morning I walked on the treadmill for an hour before breakfast with my flak on.  The podiatrist had me switch from a minimalist shoe to a stability shoe so I took it easy trying to get used to my new Brooks Adrenaline.

I also reread the treatment chapters of The End Of Overeating.  Been really trying to work on my diet and comply with my coach’s plan. My priority is fixing my evening eating/bingeing.

Training Feb 6, 2014

I’m filing this from my improvised stand-up desk on my treadmill. I’ve been doing a lot of that lately. It’s boring but it’s also conveniently located in my living room and it doesn’t bother my foot too much.

Tuesday’s Strength Training (speed/conditioning focused)

hang clean: 175x10x3 ~60s rest

de box squat to medium box + 35lb plate:up to 185 x 6 x 5 ~60s rest These were super fast on first and second set.

invert (hanging, bodyweight) row on smith machine, 5 hooks up (4 showing): bwx12,12,10 Set one was super fast. I always try to cut myself in half with the bar on these, do them explosively as possible. I used to tell my clients that they should pull their rib cage halfway through the bar so if the bar were a blade we’d have to take them to the emergency room.

I finished with a bunch of kettlebell work with a pair of 20s doing a complex with curls, rdl, row and front squat. The volume on these was terrible. Next time I’ll do these more diligently and get some more reps in.

I’ve been doing a bunch of mobility work every day, even coming in on off days just to do it. I’m trying everything I can find on Mobility WOD for hip mobility/acetabular impingement. Great site and Kelly Starrett is a saint.

More Updates

Hello, all you little goombas in Attack-land. Training has been pretty uneventful. I was on an exercise working 14 on/21 off for a while and that threw my diet, training and recovery all out of whack.

On the plus side, I’ve been making a lot of progress in fixing my junky hip. As long as I make sure to traction it I can do some squatting without limping around afterwards. On the down side, I’m weak as a kitten. I’m up to using double black bands for the tractioning exercise. That’s a hell of a lot of tension pulling on my ol’ leg bone.

military press: 45×3, 95×3, 135×2, 155×5,5,5(+2 jerks) 75×15 I’m not sure what was up but all my militaries felt horrible. Either too narrow or too wide grip I think. It also killed my right hand, which is weird.

Front squat: 45×5, 95×3, 115×2, 135×1, 155×1, 185x 2 x 5

box squat: worked up to 135×10, 155×10, 165×10 on the medium box with no shims on top. I laddered my way up in weight and down in box height, being super cautious. I really hope this movement just feels weak because it is from not being able to train it for so long. I hope it’s not the case that something is still messed up and I haven’t rattled it loose.

double stack lat pulldown: workup to 50 per stack x 2 x 15 superset with 20 bodyweight squats to low bench

25 pushups and some more tractioning and stretching

 

 

 

Training Updates

Thursday

Worked up to 320x2x3 on bench then got one set of cgbp with 235×10.

Conventional deadlift worked up to 465×3

One leg hip thrusts

Sunday

Front squat worked up to 205 x 3 x 3

Box squat medium box plus 10lb bumper, 185 x 2 x 10 very little hip pain on all the squatting.  Used a band to try to traction the hip and move that femoral head back and down.

Loaded hip thrust 405×8, 315×15, 225×12

One leg hip thrust 10 on each leg

Mil press worked up to 175 x 2 x 3

Workout, Delicious Dinner and Okay Labs

First my workout:

hang clean: 180 x 10 x 3 1:30 rest on these and never really felt exerted

speed box squat, medium box + 45 plate: 165 x 6 x 5 1:00 rest, strict Speed was good on these, and because I didn’t push the depth at the start my hit didn’t even twinge till set 2 or 3. It didn’t feel great by the end but it didn’t feel as bad as normal. I think I’m slowly getting my hip flexors back where they need to be. I was pretty aggressive with the prone butterfly stretch/mobilization today and i think it payed off.

oly bar curl, as fast as possible: 70 x 3 x 10 1:00 rest, strict

2000m test on Concept 2:

Pics or it didn’t happen, bro.

Finishing in almost 8 flat was a new PR. Already making progress on those 2014 goals. I definitely will be taking down these PR’s once I read up how to set up the rower correctly.

I also got some pullups done today at work, which I don’t want to forgot. I got 8 reps with a lonnnng deadhang pause on each rep.

Now, onto dinner. I scarfed it down too fast to snap a picture but I made some tasty and quick green curry with beef, cucumber and kale. I didn’t have Jasmine rice, which is my hands down favorite, but there was already cooked brown rice in the fridge. I added a table spoon of green curry paste I got at the Asian market to a little bit of water in a small sauce pan. It’s much hotter, cheaper and better for you than what I have seen in my local grocery store. Plus it comes in a sweet tub.

To that I added a teaspoon of macadamia nut oil and 5 ounces of under blade steak that I scrupulously trimmed the fat off of. I just dumped a little bit of chopped cucumber on top and then a big heap of kale that I smashed down with the lid. I let it simmer covered while I hopped in the shower and when I got out, voila, tasty green curry without a lot of junk. If I had had a little scallion it would have been perfect.

Last item, I got my lipid panel back today, which I was sweating. Turns out it wasn’t too bad. Increasing my HDL is going to be a priority over the next few months but at least I’m not in any imminent danger.

Enigmatic Egg Noodles

I’ve said I’m watching what I eat more closely.  One of my guilty pleasures in ramen noodles. I love ’em. Problem is most of the common brands are made with vegetable oils and have tons of fat not to mention sodium. I found an organic vegan brand without all the junk, but I’m not going to pay $1.69 a pop for a tine 25 grams of carbs serving.

I was the a large Asian market in Raleigh and picked up a couple different kinds of noodles.  One of them resembled almost exactly the ramen I was used to, except it came dried into a small round puck instead of a small rectangular brick.

The nutritional information looked good and the only ingredients were flour, egg and salt- no added vegetable oil. When I got home I realized the nutrition facts were bogus. They don’t add up correctly.  I dont mean a little rounding error, I mean 100+ kcals over what the macros should indicate.

Now I’m torn. They’re delicious, they’re super convenient and I can afford them. Plus they’re plain so I can season them, of not, as I see fit. But, I’m always going to be paranoid that I’m secretly eating a huge wack of insidious omega-6 vegetable oil.

I think I going to keep eating them but I’m going to limit myself to a single “puck” per serving.  Based on the nutritional information for other egg noodles and the fact that I trust the listed ingredients more than the nutrition facts I’d wager there’s probably not more than 3-5 grams of fat in a puck. (I mean, how many eggs can there really be in there? Even if its two eggs per 100g flour thats still right on the edge of my estimate.)

It’s not going to kill me even if I wrong and I don’t have to buy that brand again.

If there’s a moral to the story I guess it’s that if I’m going to be anal about nutrition information I should probably buy products with more English on the package than just the sketchy looking nutrition fact panel.