Grrrrippers.

Good gripper workout tonight.

• HG150, #1, #2 warm up
• T6 x2 singles
• 5/8 GM attempt, bad miss
• BBE @ 20mm x4
• 5/8 SM x3, brutal

I'm in training for 3 days at work, so probably won't workout again until this weekend. I'll probably do another smörgåsbord workout. Little bit of everything. That workout had me sore for a couple days afterward. I think it's good to over do it a little now and then!

Little bit of everything.

I didn't set out to have a buffet-style workout, but I just kept getting interested in everything sitting around:

Grippers course:

• HG150, #1, #2 warm up
• T6 x1, x2, the double felt pretty easy
• BBE @ 20mm x2, not really feeling it.

Rolling Thunder course:

• 105 x10, x10

BLOB50 course:

• -30% x2 singles
• -24% x2 singles
• -18%, x0, x3 negatives held at the top for ~7-10 secs.

Dessert:

• Pony Thumbs x3, I'm always feeling stronger on this.
• Tug4 Ring+Pinkie x10, x10

Overall pretty good on everything. On the BLOB, I tried a slightly different hand position with my fingers fanned out a little more. I liked it because I felt I could engage my ring and pinkie more. I'm pretty sure it helped because I almost matched my -18% PR even after doing grippers and RT prior.

Also, I rocked the burpees between sets here and there.

More Grippers today.

Tonight was a pretty good gripper night so I took some videos and put them together:

Here is the actual workout:

• HG150, #1, #2 warm up
• T6 @ 1/4" x2 singles
• MM1 x3 attempts
• BBE @ 20mm x4
• Pony thumbs x3

Overall, I need to get really serious again. I've been letting workouts slide, taking some extra rest, etc. Which I guess is good sometimes, but not when I have a 2nd date with the MM1 at some point in the near future. It's on now.

Rolling Thunder

This was a "not-so-great-but-at-least-I-did-the-work" workout.

• 70# x10
• 105 x5
• 130 x7, 5 only on the left.

Then totally ran out of steam.

• Pony thumbs x3

Maybe I will rest a day then hit a pinch workout on Friday. I've got to find some energy somewhere. It wasn't at the bottom of that bucket of caramels. Hmph.

Grippers

Finally got to a workout last night. I've been a bit sick, a little busy, and a lot lazy.

• HG150, #1, #2, warm up slurry
• 164# BBE @20mm x5, these felt closed briefly, but I think were popping open a little. Probably a step back from the last workout.
• 5/8 SM x3, these feel brutal lately. Mostly on the release when I open my hand.

I hope to get in a RT workout tonight! Burpees are still on track as well. Today is day 24. I think I'm the only one left in the challenge at Draper's site.

Grippers

Quick gripper workout tonight:

• HG150, #1, #2 Warm up.
• 164# BBE @ 20mm x5, all closed, felt stronger. Good, solid closes. I'll do 20mm at least one more time.
• 5/8 SM x3

Skipped pony thumbs due to time.

Nerd Kicks

I finally got a new pair of shoes. I call them "nerd kicks" because I have a few orthopedic needs. Have you ever shopped for orthopedic shoes? Prepare to check your humility, ego, and your street cred at the door. We're talking about shoes that actually appear orthodic; even to onlooking toddlers. "Mommy, why does that man have space shoes?"

I ended up with the New Balance 993 -- their premier running/training shoe. It has a number of mobility and stability features hidden under a sleek gray exterior. It presents itself as a running shoe rather than an orthopedic sailboat.

What is the price of comfort, you ask? $152.95. Probably the same price as every other pair of shoes I've purchased. Ever. Also inside the shoe are my custom-made orthodic inserts and, in the left foot, a custom-made carbon fiber foot plate. (Isn't that what Transformers are made from?) Total cost of inserts: ~$300 after insurance helped. So, yes, I am now wearing $453 shoes. They better make my feet feel better. And transform into a jet or something...

Pincher

The same three Red-Baron-looking planes fly in formation over my house every night. Where the hell are they going? I honestly get the feeling they are looking for trouble.

The big news tonight is with the BLOB50! I finally got a new PR on the deloader. For those of you just joining us, I rigged up my lat pulldown so that it would remove weight from the blob. I first tried to see how much weight would balance with the blob and it was about 82.5 pounds. It didn't seem very precise. Then I can express the amount of weight used to deload as a percentage of the total weight. My previous best was 20 pounds, or -24%.

• 2HP 70# x warm up
• 1HP 70# plus pipe x1, pipe probably weighs 2-3 pounds.
• BLOB50
• -30% x1
• -18% x0, x0, x0 movement, x1 (PR), x0 turned into a negative
• Wooden Pinch Block (same thickness as two plates)
• 60# x5, x8, only made 5 on the left (have done 65 x10 before...)
• Pony thumbs x3

Overall a decent workout! It's great to make progress on the BLOB50. I also believe that my deload is not a linear scale. 15 lbs really does not feel like much help, despite being 18% of the entire weight. Pony clamp is a bear these days. It kind of looks like a rubber band mummy.