Legs/Back

P90X Legs/Back
Ab Ripper

>>> Holy balls. The first set of chin ups, I just ripped off 16 reps like it was nothing! The most chins I've ever done in one set was 16 about 6 years ago and it was a huge struggle and honestly the last couple of reps were probably cheats. This time, I stopped at 16--for no other reason except this was the first set and I knew what was still coming in the workout. Felt awesome!

Overall I did MANY more total pull ups than ever before on this workout.

Feeling good these days!

Run

20 min run

>>> No walking for the first time! Knees are sore and I really need new shoes. Maybe I can sort that out this weekend. Got rained on and made it back just before the hail started.

Minnesota weather is stupid. Yesterday it snowed, sleeted, rained, sunshined, rained, then hailed.

GRIP!

GRIPPERS
Switched to a 1.25" block.
RH L7x7, LH L7x4
RH #1x10, LH #1x12

GRIP MACHINE
160 x10, x10, x10
Full open and closes with two hands.

>>> Made two big changes here for a while. Switched to a 1.25" block to start getting used to a wider ROM. Also, upped volume on the plate loader. My plan is to get three sets of 10 after my regular workout at all costs. The third set of 10 was I-N-S-A-N-E.

I felt like my forearms were going to explode so I took a picture. I think they are getting close to being twice the size of my wrist, at least when pumped.

Also I had a chance to weigh myself today (we don't have a scale at home). 166 and that was with shoes, jeans, sweater, and immediately after lunch. So I'm probably still around 160 actual bodyweight.

RUN/WALK

30 MINS
Ran 10 mins out, walked 5, ran 10 minutes back, walked 5.

>>> Much better than my previous run. Made it a lot farther and consolidated the running with fewer walking breaks.

Does anyone Geocache? This seems like a cool hobby.

Grip aka crap

Some choker attempts at #3.5, some Vulcan L10 and L4, another crapfest.

I think I just need a couple more days rest. 2" v-bar might trash my hands more than I think.

Arms/Shoulders

P90X Arms/Shoulders
Ab Ripper

Weights or reps were up on almost every exercise. Also killed ab ripper in a way I have not before.

Tomorrow should be a grip workout and running. I'll do my best not to sabatage the grip workout (again) but can't promise anything if my 2HP plates arrive.

Walk/Run

Cardio
20mins walk/run outside. Probably 15 minutes total running, including the last 10 minutes solid with a 'sprint for the finish' at the end.

So, I've signed up for a 5k in May, and I figured I better do at least a little running beforehand. I need to be able to keep up with my wife!

Grrrrrrip

2" V-BAR
166 x1
191 x1
216 x1 (R only)
226 x0 x0 xMovement
221 x1 xMovement
191 x1 (L only)
166 x6 (R and L)

VULCAN
L7 x11

Grippers where a shit show after wasting my hands on 2" v-bar. I've sabotaged my last couple of grip workouts this way. Whoops!

221 on the V-BAR is a PR! Forearms and hands are sore today.

Chest/Back

P90X Chest and Back
Ab Ripper

Brought it. Pullups are WAY up overall. I was still doing 8-10 on the last sets which puts me on par or over where I ended last round in January.

Grippers I'm going to give one more day to rest because working in the yard yesterday really trashed my hands.

Green thumb grip

Sunday should have been P90X Legs/Back to finish out the week, but instead I rebuilt our vegatable gardens. They are two 4'x8' beds made from green-treated lumber. I had to dig them in to the side of our South hill so they kind of step down or terrace, whatever you would say. LOTS OF WORK. Ripping up sod, digging, grunting, fun. A real world workout.

One thing is that the ripping up sod bothered my right bicep a little so I'll watch that.

Now we can plant some veggies!

Grippers, Shoulders & Arms

P90X Shoulders & Arms
Ab Ripper

Grippers:
warm up
BBSM x2 singles
BBGM x2 singles (155#)

Vulcan:
RH, L10x6, L5x11
LH, L10x1, L5x10

>>> Don't know what happened to L10 on my left. It was totally cashed.

THINKING ABOUT MY BUDDY BEN! Good vibes, man. I hope you closed the MM3!

Grip and Cardio

P90X
Plyometrics

V-BAR
warm up
166 x2
191 x1
216 xAir, x0, x1 (PR!)
221 xAir, x0 (VIDEO)
191 x3

Grip
3.5 attempts x2, both misses around 1/4"
Vulcan, Right L10x4, L7x5
Vulcan, Left L10x5, L7x5
Grip Machine, 160 x10, x10

>>> P90 Plyo felt easy. Usually my legs feel pretty heavy about 15mins in, but I was still rockin at the end.

V-bar I got a PR with 216. It was a nice high pull. Of course it was about the only attempt I didn't video because I got air the first time, then nothing on the 2nd attempt so I wasn't expecting much. But I adjusted my grip to get more behind the bar to start and it came right up!

Grippers could have been better if I didn't do v-bar first. I am okay with the 1/4" miss on the #3.5. Mostly because I was able to set and sweep it just fine. The crush will get there. 1/4" is a big gap, though. Nothing hard work can't close!

CHEST AND BACK

Week 2
P90X Chest and Back
Ab Ripper

Good workout. I'm almost back to the same numbers as where I left off at the end of January. I got super-sonic sore last week.

Rated some grippers for Adam Glass.

I really hope to get my #3.5 in the mail tomorrow! If so I will attempt that and get a video prior to my grip workout. I don't expect to close it by any means, but the video will establish a starting point.

Hello Again!

I've decided to reopen this blog so I can post my training, both grip and otherwise. Any comments from anyone are welcome!

I updated my PRs on the right. Finally got that 164# BBE closed and next stop is my #3.5. RGC rating on that is 169-170. It will be a tough gap to close. I will post a status-quo on that as soon as it arrives back in the mail from my buddy Luke.

Up to 160# on the 2HP, but no progress on that for a long time. I am in the process of making an official 2HP device and hope to PR right away just by pinching at the proper width. 2x35s are way too wide for me to be ideal. I should be around 45mm and the 2x35s are about 53mm.

Also new PR listings for 20mm Vulcan and 2" v-bar. I will post videos on those for subsequent PRs. If I could set the Vulcan better, my PR would go way up. I'll have to work on that!

Currently I'm training grippers pretty heavily, about twice per week. For general fitness, I am doing modified P90X workouts. I did the program as written from Nov 2010 to Jan 2011. I got pretty good results. I have since modified the workouts to be a little shorter and also cut out two workouts. The end result is four 1-hour workouts per week. If you follow the program exactly it's six workouts and most are about 1-1/2 hour. I think when I finish this round (I'm only in week 2) I will finally have a responsibly built foundation to try and work with heavier weights and try to add a little more power.

So here we go.

No replacement for hard work.

I thought I would make a final post here. I have not had the time or energy to blog my workouts this year, but meanwhile I'm enjoying a period of very focused training! I'm simply keeping a paper log of workouts instead. Here is a general update for the major areas I have been training:

Grippers

I anticipate being able to certify on the #3 this year, which is my current top goal. My Kinney-derived training has grip strength through the roof. Wider than CCS attempts on the #3 are about 3/16". But the big news is that the sweep feels like that of a #2. Closing the gripper is no problem--almost effortless--until it stacks at the very end. I have not even begun to focus on fine-tuning the close. I've recently added a plate-loaded grip machine, wrist roller, and TTK. My hands are becoming customized crushing tools, one piece at a time.

Rolling Thunder

This I have not touched but once since hurting my bicep. My bicep is much better and tolerating increasingly intense workouts. I will come back to this eventually, and expect to be basically where I left off because of work on the TTK and thick bar.

Thick Bar

I made myself an axle. This is my new favorite lift as squats have proved to be very hard on my knees. Max is still sub-200 pounds, but I've never done this before. It's fun!

Blob50

I have not touched this in a while either. Again I will expect some carryover from TTK and thick bar. A legitimate lift in 2010 is possible.

Pinch

Just started this again last week and easily lifted 145#. My previous max was only another 10-12 pounds. I will probably do a pinch workout about once per week with Blob and pinch together.

Squats

I have worked up to 165x5 and 135x20, but my right knee especially has been staying pretty sore. I can't tolerate this more than once per week right now and maybe more like every week-and-a-half. I anticipate that I will keep squatting, but probably lighter weights and leave the heavy lifting to the thick bar workouts. I really just want one heavy compound movement and dead lift seems the better choice right now.

There is no replacement for hard work.

bicep update

I made a karate chop motion to illustrate something at work today and felt it right away in my right bicep. Shit.

My drop-dead date on this is my birthday: Feb 12.

I will continue total rest and the contrast therapy until then. If it's not better by 2/12 that would be 3 months dealing with this and I'm going to the doctor.

I'm not trying to whine here, but organize my thoughts and keep a record of when certain things happened.

Pity party is over.

I hereby declare me a whiner. I have a perfectly good left arm. And I can alter most of what I want to do and take my right arm out of the equation. Total rest for the right arm; best workout I can manage otherwise. Makes sense to me. Thanks to Wicked, Luke, and Jason for advice on this bicep issue. It really has given me some direction.

Squats

Bar x10 (front squat)

Bar x10 (back squat from here on)

95 x10

115 x10

115 x10

Rolling Thunder (left)

70 x10

105 x10

115 x10

This felt easier than I figured it would after not doing it for so long.

Pinch Block (left)

60 x3

60 x3

Back extensions. Hot/Cold contrast therapy for my right arm. I'm going to try that every night for a while with some Ibuprofen. We'll get this fixed.

Something about "best laid plans"

Well, not a lot of workouts are happening. My nagging bicep injury is still nagging.

I did get my new plate-loaded grip machine and foolishly played around with that Sunday night. It really aggravated my bicep, which now feels about like it did in November when this started. I'm going to have the guy who made the machine change the handles so I have to get the machine back to him. That way I won't be tempted to use it either!

So what is the saying about "best laid plans" anyway? They sometimes go awry?

Anyone have recovery tips?

Squats

Bar x15
95 x10
115 x20

Got me breathing heavy and 16-20 were reasonalby difficult. Felt good. Also did back extensions for physical therapy.

It's a New Year!

Hello again! Time to start logging workouts again.

I've been fairly active in the past couple of weeks and probably should have done less. My right bicep pull is still not better! I definitely aggravated it with the gripper workout I did on Monday 1/4.

Here are some of my plans for early this year:

Grippers
Right now I only have a long-term goal on grippers. Like a 2-year plan. It's based on Kinney's ideas and right now I just want to plow away and see where it goes. What I want to do is crystal-clear in my head, but I don't think I could type it out if I tried. So you'll just see the posts here and I'm sure you'll see a pattern pretty quick.

There are some key elements that are specific to me, however. One is that I have worked a great deal on retraining my handle position. The form I'm using resembles no-set and I have strictly been closing grippers from the widest starting position possible. I do set the gripper enough to get my ring finger on. Even on negatives, I start by trying to close the gripper as far as possible, then forcing it in and doing the negative. Using this handle position and the increased range of motion, I am performing in the #2.5 range of gripper strength currently. That's with no chalk as well. So as I progress, I'll be able to "re-celebrate" PRs that I have passed before. Like right now, technically my goal gripper is my adjustable BBGM set at 1/4".

When I'm back to closing the #3 in this style, certification will be a breeze. Then it's on to the MM1 and revenge will come in the form of a borderline no-set, hydraulic, handle-griding smack down. See where I'm going with this? Point me at the sky!

Squats
Not surprisingly, I've worked squats into my routine. 20 rep sets. Right now I'm working in the 100# range and it's not very taxing. But I have my 'sploaded disc and sciatic problems to consider. I have been working on form, trying to build a base, and getting my lungs accustomed to the work. It's going pretty well overall. Bullitt's "form check" thread at the GB really helped me dial in my form better. I had some very similar issues. I'm not interested in a max squat, but rather conditioning my body to move the weight and handle the work load. I do plan on pushing myself in a responsible way and that will mean increasing weight to remain challenging. If I had a goal here, I would love to hit 225x20 at some point. I have strong legs. I just have also neglected them for many years.

RT and Pinch
These I will throw in as before on off days from grip. I have not touched either in more than a month because of my bicep issue. My left arm is fine, but I can't see myself coming back to these until my right arm is better. It's just hard to get pumped for a left-hand-only pinch workout!

Here we go!
I will get back to posting as before. Any training that could possibly involve my bicep too much will be left-handed only. That includes grippers. I have to get this thing healed!