According to some statistics, 22 veterans take their own lives
every day. I am taking Untamed Strength's Alan Thrall's challenge to do 22
bodyweight squats to raise awareness of this stat. I am putting the end of Five Finger Death
Punch's video for "Wrong Side of Heaven" at the end of the video to
make this a bit more valuable than a simple act of slacktivism, so please watch
it all the way to the end.
I hope you will like and share this video.
I am hoping you'll go to Alan's channel and like and share his video, and
subscribe too, if you like his content.
Check out Five Finger Death Punch's powerful music video, as well.
Thank you to all those have served, are serving, or are family of those who are
serving. God bless you, and God bless
The United States of America.
*As a student of one of the best political
science statisticians in the country, I have to acknowledge that I know the 22
stat is pretty far off the mark. But it
doesn't matter, so please don't comment about it. The point is clear: even 1 a week is far too
many, if the reason is they didn't get the help they need, and should have had access to. I am okay with this
statistical error, if it helps. You
should be too.
I have not been pain-free for a full 24-hour period since. I have considered the possibility that I may have herniated a disc, or something like that.
If you have read my recent posts, you know I took quite a while off, then tried to get back to it, had more pain, so I dropped Squats, DLs, and Cleans, to focus on Bench and Press. After over a month of this, I added them back in with a MASSIVE deload. There has been discomfort from time to time, but nothing to make me think this wasn't something that I couldn't live with... until today.
I will back up to a week ago: I learned that my city was going to have a powerlifitng meet. Most of the "local" meets are over an hour away (the one I competed in back in 2012 was 3+ hours away), and so the prospect of having a local meet got me excited. I knew I wouldn't be ready to compete in it this year, but the idea of it rekindled the desire I have to compete again in the near future, so I decided to see how heavy a moderately heavy feeling set of five would be on the squat. I got up to 245 and felt fine, but decided to not push it further. That night, I had some discomfort, but nothing alarming or out of the ordinary. That was Tuesday. Today, I tried for 3 sets of 5 at 250, but after a single set I was in quite a bit of pain. I skipped the other two sets, did some light DL (1×5@215), with no real increase on pain.
Well, rehab is going much better than expected, but not as well as hoped. My back has been in significantly less pain than normal, but there is still some discomfort while doing lower body exercises, and for a short while afterward.
Starting Squat, DL, and Cleans at 135, 185, and 95 pounds respectively, and then only going up five pounds each workout with Squat and Cleans, and ten pounds with DL, is INCREDIBLY boring. The temptation to jump more is immense - almost irresistible - but the idea of hurting myself further is abhorrent enough to keep me to be rehab regimen.
One thing that used to make me feel better, but has actually only made things worse in recent months, is cracking my back. The feeling - nay, the FEENINGto crack my back is constant and nigh on unbearable. I have only given in a couple of times in the last several weeks, and I think that may also be contributing to the diminished pain (the resisting, not the few times I've given in)... but the need and compulsion to crack my back has not ebbed even remotely.
Bench 3x5@260 went ever so slightly better than expected (I got a sixth rep on the third set - it was a grinder, and my shoulder hurts now, though), so I anticipate going through with my planned deload on Press: starting 3x5+@175 tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. I will probably work my way up to a 200# single for an OWU, just to keep the joints and muscles accustomed to the heavy weight.
I got five reps on the first set of Press at 195, but sets two and three saw only 3 and 2 reps. I gave serious thought to going for 195 again on Friday, but I think I may deload (maybe to 175?). I think my desicion will be heavily influenced by my performance on Bench. If Bench does not stall, my ego should remain sufficiently intact enough for a 20lb deload on Press. However, if I stall on Bench, too, I may feel the need to prove something, come Friday. I know - I am nuts.
Squatting hurt less after 140 and 145, and Power Cleans didn't hurt at all. But this morning I woke up with a lot of lower back pain, but it is hard to tell if that was more from Squats and Cleans yesterday, or weird sleeping positions last night/this morning.
My break-neck speed, progressing through Bench and Press, has slowed down considerably. I went to micro loading press last week, and went to micro loading bench this week. The planned weight for my last bench workout was 260, but OWU at 265 (I was planning a second heavier OWU, but decided against it) felt really heavy, so I went to 257.5, just in case. It felt heavy, as well. Sleep, diet, adding lower body back in (albeit ridiculously light), or other factors I can't think of could have contributed to it, but whatever the reasons, I don't want to push it so I am going to just take it easy with microloading.
I am back to hating the squat - mostly because my inflexibility causes me pain while squatting and I feel silly squatting such light weight - but I am looking forward to getting my DL numbers back up. With the 300lb Bench goal in the bag, I am itching to push Squat and DL past 400 and 500 respectively... I will have to make an extra effort to keep patient and not let myself push too hard or too quickly, so I can stay as healthy as possible. I must avoid all 1RM tests in Squat and DL until my work sets are to 375 and 475 respectively, I will never jump more than 5 pounds in the squat or 10 pounds in the DL, and I will begin micro loading much sooner than I normally would.
I squatted. It was light... like 135 pounds light... and my back hurt the next morning. Not a lot, AND the heating pad I have been using nightly broke a few days ago, so that could be it... but I am still very unhappy. We will see what tomorrow brings when I squat 140, and DL 185.
Bench and Press continue to improve. Tonight I did 200x4 on Press which is a HUGE PR!! The planned workout was 3x5@192.5, but - as usual - I am an ADD riddled fool, so I threw 200lbs on the bar and tried for five. I failed, and that failure (plus some bad form in set 2, and insufficient rest before set 4) caused me to miss rep five in the final work-set, but I am still counting tonight as a win.
I went back down to the planned weight of 192.5 and got 5, 5, and 4. I am going to continue micro-loading to 195 next Press day and see what happens.
*BONUS* I had very little pain between my shoulder blade and lower neck/upper back/spine, where I had LOTS of pain last press session. This is VERY encouraging!!
Still doing five pound jumps in Bench - not micro-loading yet. I got 3x5@255 on Saturday.
Well, with the low-back/sciatica/herniated disc/whatevertheheckitmightbe pain still persisting, I have taken Squats, Deadlifts, and Power Cleans out of my program completely - for now, at least. I will never abandon them completely.
I was using them as an excuse to not work out at all for too long, losing lots of hard gained strength (again), and it just wasn't okay. I tried working through it, and finally just gave up. Now, I am hitting upper-body six days a week (pushing movements three days a week, alternating between Bench and Dumbbell Bench one day, and Press, Dips and Shrugs [not technically a pushing movement, I know] the other; and pulling movements three days a week, alternating between chins and curls, and chins and rows), resting on Sundays.
As a result, my strength in all of these movements (except for rows, which I am taking easy and slowly due to its reliance on low back muscles being recruited to maintain a neutral spine) are getting strong very quickly. In a fairly short period of time, I was able to reacquire all the strength I lost from my most recent hiatus.
I have now surpassed those previous strength gains and set some pretty satisfying PRs - the biggest of which is one of the Big Four 1RMs I have been chasing for almost a decade: Bench Press 300# 1RM!!! (The other three being Squat 400, DL 500, and a Bodyweight Press.) I can't put into words how stoked I am to finally knock that off the list!
I got two PRs on Press as well: 190x5 and 215x1. 190x5 was pretty difficult, but 215x1 felt a little easy. I don't know what my current bodyweight is, but I imagine it is between 240 and 250, so it will still be a while before I hit that one. Who knows how long it will take for Squat and DL to even be tolerable, much less ready to hit PRs.
Well, as you know, I had a relatively obnoxious injury to my back when I failed 485 on DL. It still isn't 100%, but I took quite a bit of time off, and did some light stuff when I did get around to working out.
Now that I am working out regularly again, I am switching to some high rep work and (while it is warm and dry out - living in MN, it won't last too much longer) doing some sled work. I am enjoying it, so far. It is only meant to be a temporary thing (maybe until the end of the year - possibly until the end of the Winter - not sure) to continue to rehab my back. I will transition back to heavy sets in time to prep for the Twin Ports Raw Open. I am REALLY hoping to be ready for a 1200lb PL Total by then... if I am not, then my failure is complete.
I don't really feel like recording all the workouts I have done since then - so here is this and last weeks' workouts.
10.5.15
Squat 3x10@185
Bench 2x10@185
DB Bench 80s x 8
Chins BWx5,5,5
I have quite a bit of calendar to recap for you here, and I am not sure I remember everything... I don't keep fabulous notes in my log anymore - mostly just numbers.
The last few weeks saw and All-Time PR in Squat, Bench and Press, and a MASSIVE failure on a 1RM attempt in DL which led to some serious back pain and no Squats or DLs for several days (actually, as I am writing this, I have yet to Squat or DL since that day).
Squat, I set an PR for sets of reps, sorta. My previous 3x5 RM was 325. I did another 3x5 @ 325, but added a sixth rep at the end of set three.
Bench, my previous 1RM PR was 275, set back in 2012, so I added 2.5 lbs to the bar and got it for a new 1RM PR.
Press, my previous 1RM PR was 200, set almost exactly 2 years ago, so I added 2.5 lbs to the bar. On my first attempt, since I have been pressing for 10s lately, and only have done a heavy double once all Summer, my body just naturally did a mini push-press/knee kick without me really thinking about it, due to the weight. I felt pretty unhappy with myself - I have never gotten a PR on a second attempt if I miss it the first time - but since I got it up, and didn't fail the lift due to weight, but due to "red" lights, I was confident that I'd get it a second time. I set up and got it for another 1RM PR. Technically, because my feet moved, it was a "red lit" lift again, but for a garage lift in squishy shoes, I am counting it.
DL, the math indicated I should be able to get 500, so I set up for 485, planning on gauging my ability to hit 500 by how hard 485 would be, and it barely came off the floor, and that is where it stopped. I knew, almost immediately, that I had hurt myself, too. I haven't squatted or DL'd since (8/27).
I set my Bench PR after the DL/Back injury, and my benching back-arch hurt badly. I also set my Press PR 2 days after Bench, and that hurt my back too (I wasn't about to waste my last workouts with my workout partner before he went back to college), so I did nothing from 9/3 to 9/9, hoping I'd rehab my back a bit. My back felt good enough to try some light Power Cleans on 9/9, but since then, my back has been a bit iffy, so today I left off the Squats again. I guess I shouldn't have titled this post "deload" since I didn't actually DO ANY squats, haha.
I have a new program I am going to try out this fall - I wrote it myself (as much as anyone who has been trying programs from other people for years can call it "myself" - I am obviously heavily influenced by SS, TX, MC, SM, etc). I'll fill you in next post... here is the recap of the last few weeks:
The countdown has begun until I lose my workout partner. We've made a LOT of progress this Summer, and I don't want it to end.
I have been pushing the limits with DL (including an 18.5 pound jump from one week to the next, hitting a PR, and then setting another +2 pound PR the following week), so I wanted to do a small deload, but - as always - I can't commit to anything for very long.
I originally wanted to go back down to 415 (what I was planning on when I jumped up to 428.5) but decided I wanted to try something new.
I tried banded DLs last year, but it was with light(ish) weight, and I only did it a few times. This time, I banded up 405 pounds, and it was a much different story.
Banded DLs are possibly the hardest thing I have ever done. In the past, if I get past my usual sticking point (about 4-6 inches above the floor) then it is smooth sailing the rest of the way. Since bands make it progressively harder the whole way up, it was like trying to push through one giant sticking point. It made the whole rep feel the same as the first six inches of an unbanded repetition. Whoa.
I haven't decided if I am going to do them again this week or not. Right now, the tentative plan is to add weight to banded DLs each week until I get back to 430 banded, and then take the bands off and see what I am capable of. Who knows? We will see how I feel on Wednesday if I actually keep the bands on.
Squats are still progressing, adding 5 pounds a week has not proved to be too much, yet.
The cumulative tick-tack injuries are ebbing and flowing, but seem to be steadily improving, on the whole.
I wanted to do a little recap for myself... and I am going subject you to it by including it in a blog post.
I came back to the iron back near the beginning of the year after injuries dating back to August of last year. I had also been inconsistent for most of the rest of 2014.
Starting back in March, I was Squatting 200 pounds for a set of five.
I Squatted 320 pounds for five reps yesterday.
+120
I was Deadlifting 255 pounds for a set of five.
I Deadlifted 430 pounds for five reps yesterday.
+175
I was Benching 145 pounds for three sets of five reps.
I Benched 230 for three by five on Monday.
+85
I was doing three sets of five Chin-ups with no weight added to a 230 pound frame.
Yesterday I did three sets of five Chin-ups with 30 pounds added to a 245 pound body.
+45
I was Pressing five reps of 130 pounds.
I Pressed three sets of five at 165 pounds at the beginning of July. I am taking it easy with Press right now, as you know, so I don't re-injure myself.
+35
Especially at the beginning, a healthy portion of this improvement should be attributed to muscle memory and CNS adaptation - the body remembering how to do these things and figuring out just how strong it really is - not actual strength gains, per se; but I am nevertheless pleased and excited about the improvements since coming back to the iron last Spring.
This week was only a two workout week, but it was still a great week. I did a 3x5 with three big wheels on Squat, performed a heavy single during OWU on Bench that was only 5 pounds less than my all-time 1RM PR, and set a +32oz 5RM PR on DL.
If all goes according to plan, I will tie my 5RM PR on Squat this coming Friday. Since I jumped from 410 to 428.5 last week on DL, and today my low back was quite tired and sore from 5x430.5 yesterday, I am going to do a 15 pound deload to give my back a wee bit of a break. 430.5 went up much more quickly than 428.5, but I don't want to burn out or force a stall, so I'll just do a deload down to the weight I SHOULD have done last week, and then continue my 5# weekly increases. Setting PRs every week is nice, but I don't want to push it.
I didn't end up doing any rows this week, but I don't mind too much.
8.10.15
Squat 3x5@315
Bench 270x1; 3x5@230
Chins BW+0 x 10,9,8
I threw some Presses back into the mix this week, just to see how they felt. I did 2 sets of 10 light reps before doing 2 sets of Shoulder Shocker on Monday and Saturday. The injury felt iffy during and after Monday's workout, but I was feeling brave and tried again today, and it felt much better. Hopefully this will continue as I really miss the Press; PLUS the Shoulder Shocker is really supposed to be a "finisher," not a core exercise unto itself.
DL had a planned work-set of 415 (+5lbs from last week), but I was feeling really strong (and REALLY crazy) so I went for a 5RM +3.5lb PR. I had to take a quick breather between reps 4 and 5, so some of you may not count it, but I felt like it was a major victory (especially since just last week I said I wouldn't consider myself stronger than pre-injury strength as I hadn't matched my 5x425 yet) and I am counting it. Judge for yourself - comments welcome:
So, after watching it again, it looks like the "quick breather" was 20 seconds long. Oops. Oh well - this is still, quite possibly, stronger than I have ever been. Online 1RM calculators put my 1RM around 482... 500 pounds is right around the corner, I hope.
I did 5 reps at 315lbs for a single set of Squats today. It felt surprisingly light! I am looking forward to 3x5 at that weight on Monday.
I didn't blog last Saturday because I was too frustrated with having reinjured myself. The knots in the areas around my spine on the right side of my upper back, between my spine and scapula, and the shooting pain in my thoracic and cervical spine that sidelined me last year have returned. Mercifully, they are not nearly to the degree they were last Fall, and I was able to work out this past week (only twice, though), but it is ever-present, and I am very nervous that one wrong move will sideline me all over again. I can't afford the copious visits to a chiropractor and massage therapist that I fear I need - so we'll see how well I can self adjust.
After a brief deload, we tried adding in some OWU for Press, and ended up re-injuring myself! (Press was the culprit this time, as it was last time) So we are shelving the Overhead Press for a while. To make sure to get at least some shoulder work in, we're trying 3 sets of the "Shoulder Shocker" on Wednesdays - this burns like crazy! We'll be benching Mondays and Fridays every week (2x5 Bench plus 2xFailure w/Dumbbells on Mondays and 3x5 Bench on Fridays).
I got 405x5 on DL last week, (even though I said I wouldn't try for it... haha) which was very satisfying, but I only got 4 reps at 410 this past week. Considering I have been preoccupied with my injury, I am not too disappointed with that. I skipped the 12 rep set this past week and I will probably be dropping the 12 rep sets in the future... I am unsure. If I deload on DL, I'll definitely be putting them back in.
Everything seems to be slowing and stalling, so it appears I am transitioning to a more intermediate type program at just the right time. There are deloads coming, I am sure.
Hopefully this week will be an improvement.
Also note-worthy, my workout partner and I fixed the issue preventing us from doing pull-ups. Pull-ups still hurt my shoulder, but it is nice to know we can do them if we wish.
Yup, you read that correctly - CHINS! Chins have been steadily progressing for about a month now, and I am exceedingly pleased with it. I have been improving quickly and adding weight regularly.
Today, I didn't eat a ton - I had a great breakfast but nothing else - and then just before my workout, without any lunch, I washed down all my vitamins with pre-workout... not a brilliant move on my part. Got a heavy set of 5 squats under my belt, and then promptly threw up violently in my drive-way. What? Of course I went back to finish the workout... why would you even bother asking??
Still going strong with VooDoo Joint-Flossing like crazy, so we have been able to persist with Low-Bar Squats. Monday Squats absolutely smashed me... I lost count on the last set and ended up doing seven reps and was wasted with exhaustion the rest of the day. After that, Wednesday DL also smashed me. By Friday, I was not ready to work out again -my body was sore, tight, and exhausted - so we waited until today. So, two decisions come from that: 1, no more ten pound jumps for DL (which means next week I will NOT be going for 405x5), and 2, we are going to a Texas Method inspired plan for the Squat. So, today we went up 5lbs and did 1 set of 5. Then on Monday we'll stay at that weight, and do 3x5 (not 5x5, as TXM says to do - ain't nobody got time for that!). Wednesdays we haven't been squatting, but now we'll do a light triple as a pre-DL warm-up. Then, up 5lbs for another single set of 5 again on Friday. Like I said - inspired.
Dumbbell Bench is still a ton of fun, and is improving.
Press is getting harder... micro-loading may not be enough, I am not sure. We're adding Farmer Walks to Press days, and nixing Conditioning days for a while.
We skipped another Saturday workout to maximize involvement in Fourth of July festivities. As such, I won't spend much time on this post.
It suffices me to say that everything went well (for me) and we even got a workout of Low-Bar in with no additional elbow discomfort!! My workout partner injured himself, but seems to be recovering quickly - he even got to LB squat with me yesterday, too!
It was another great week of paying my oblations to Fe.
We skipped Saturday conditioning for the third week in a row, but this time we had a better excuse than "it is raining" and "we're tired/sore/injured." My workout partner (along with my brother-in-law and father-in-law) was gracious enough to help us (start to) put up a fence! We made great progress and got some good physical labor in, so it wasn't a total loss.
We're back to exclusively squatting with the safety bar, which makes me exceedingly unhappy. Everything else seems to be going swimmingly, however, so I am dealing with it. I did a small reset to work on getting my knee form back on point. I have virtually always had an issue with knee caving, and it needs to stop so I don't cause permanent injury - which, based on how I have been feeling, can't be too far away.
The elbow is constantly threatening to be problematic, but it didn't prevent me from completing any reps.
The second week of 12 rep DLs was Glorious! I feel amazing for hours afterwards due to the psychological and hormonal benefits of compounding lifting heavy(ish) weights for several reps.
Press progress has finally slowed to the point where I feel like I am done with 5x5 and will move back to 3x5 with the occasional back-off set or two afterwards. I may get a dip station and do some dips after Press on days when I don't do back-off sets. We did some back-off sets this week, and I was disappointed in how few reps I could do on them. I subtracted 20 pounds and only gained 3 reps on the first set, and subsequently unloaded an additional 20 pounds and only gained 3 more reps for the final set.
Chins are still progressing - I can't put into words how encouraging it is that I am improving with chins. I added weight for the work-sets on Friday and am doing the slow descent where the first eccentric movement takes as long in seconds as there are reps in the set. The second eccentric takes one fewer second, and so forth. For example: Friday, I did 5 sets of 5 reps. I do a chin-up, and then slowly lower my body back down for a count of 5 seconds. I then perform another chin-up, and slowly lower my body back down for a count of 4 seconds... and so on until the final chin-up is followed by a one second eccentric.
When I came back to the Iron near the beginning of this year, I got a 1RM of 225 on the Bench Press. This week, I got a set of 225x5. I am VERY pleased with this. Next week, 3x5@225 should go in the books.
My favorite part of this week was the introduction of dumbbell bench press. I got my hands on some used 80lb dumbbells for pretty cheap, and we cut our barbell bench sets to 2x5 so we could have a little extra time to do 2xFail on dumbbell bench. I could really feel a pump in my boobies, and it was pretty sore yesterday and today. Yay for hypertrophy!
This week saw another gigantic step towards a 405lb Squat! I set a new Personal Record 1 Rep Max Squat @ 390lbs!!! I have had major elbow pain ever since, but HEY! Who cares??! Right? Well, maybe I care, a little.
From the caption of the video:
"I was feeling stupid... I mean strong, so I went for some higher weight after doing my first work set at 280. When the first rep of 315 went up so easily, I popped out 3 more without racking it. My fate was sealed at that point -- I was going for a 1RM Test!365 went up a TON more easily than I expected, so I thought I might as well go for a PR. My knees caved in big time, especially my left knee, and it hurts like the dickens even as I type this, but it went up so easily, I know I could have gotten 405... but I don't want to snap my legs in half, so I won't be doing that any time soon - gotta perfect my form first.This is so exciting for me... I have been chasing 405 for half a bloody decade!"
I also tried replacing the second Deadlift work-set of 5 reps with a 12 rep set (lighter weight, obviously). I really liked it. I will continue for now.
My left elbow hurt really badly during Bench, not as much during Press, but I got most of the planned reps. Chins are still increasing nicely, which makes me happy. For the first time in, who knows how long, I had a set of 10 strict-ish Chin-ups!!
I really do NOT want to switch away from Low Bar Back Squat, but I am obviously in quite a bit of pain to the point where my body won't let me lift as heavy as I'd like in other lifts such as Bench and Press. I am going to try some new ways of holding the bar when I come back to LBBS, but for now I'll have to take a week or so off from LBBS and exclusively squat with the safety bar - then maybe I'll do LBBS on Mondays and Safety Squat on Fridays... who knows.
My knee is also bothering me, so I may deload both types of squats to work on form - I am letting my knee cave a bit too much.
We skipped today's (Saturday's) workout because my body desperately needs an extra rest day.
It has been an interesting, adventurous week. The lever on my squat belt broke while I was in the hole of the 2nd rep of my third set on Monday. It hurt... not that the belt hurt me, but the sudden release of tension in my back hurt quite a bit. I was using the safety squat bar, so I was able to let go of the bar and shed the belt. I successfully attempted the third rep, sans belt, but decided not to push my luck further.
Friday's squat sets were performed with my DL belt, and I did low bar for kicks and giggles... so far, no elbow pain.
Bench on Friday saw my first failed rep (in the Big Four - obviously I fail reps on Chins all the time) since coming back to the iron.
I missed my first OWU single at 255, so I went down to 245 for my second.
Today, it was raining pretty hard and I wasn't about to take my iron sled and iron plates outside, so we just did some high pulls and shrugs and called it a day.
All things considered it was a pretty great week - because any week where there is progress is a great week. Oh, and I got a 425lb 1RM on Deadlift! Only 32.5 more pounds to go until I tie my all-time PR!!
This is my first week-wrap-up blog post. I had a great week. On DL day, I was too lazy to do a lot of loading and unloading between my sets and my partner's sets; so, to make it easier, I went up 10 pounds from last week rather than 5. This makes two weeks in a row I increased the previous workouts weight by 10 on DL day, and this is the second week that I killed it. I am very excited by how quickly my DL is returning to my previous strength levels.
On Friday I did an early morning workout, so I doubled up on my Pre-Workout drink, and I felt AMAZING! It was neither wise nor prudent, but it worked!
Today was spectacular! I am really enjoying Saturday Conditioning Days. We added shrugs at the end for kicks and giggles. I should know tomorrow or Monday if I am going to pay for it or not. I guess I should start calling Saturday Conditioning & Yoke Day, since Farmer Walks, Overhead Carries AND Shrugs all get you yoked!
6.1.15
Squat 3x5@265
Press 5x5@137.5
Chins BW+7.5x5,5,5
High Pulls 3x3@140
