I Can’t Think of a Witty Title. Get Over It.

Oh hey there, nice of you to drop by. I apologize for my prolonged absence, but you know how these things are…in the life of a Big Timer, there is rarely a dull moment.

Life has been moving at a quick clip as of late, and it’s left me slightly on my heels. It seems like only yesterday that I landed at the Springfield airport and had the realization of, “Aw shit, this is actually happening.” But, here it is almost the end of March, and what a ride it’s been so far.

I’ll start this update with a review of my lifting for the last week, and then will go into school/work is going. My plans for the future may or may not follow, depending on time available and my interest in writing about it.

So, on to talking about moving heavy shit (which I love, both moving heavy shit and talking about it). My most recent cycle of 5/3/1 came to a close last week, and it had been since October of last year that I really shot for the moon and tried to move any real amount of weight, and I’ve grown much stronger since the beginning of my internship, so I figured why not man up and shoot for some new PR’s.

Unlike the majority of the lifting world, which devotes the first day of the week to benching, Mondays for me are designated as deadlift days. I’m coming off a weekend’s worth of rest and am ready to go, so I figure it’s the best time to put a lot of weight on the bar and get it moving. The deadlift has always been my best lift, due largely in part to my years working as a mason, picking up and carrying large rocks, wheelbarrows full of mortar, and bags of concrete mix hither and yon, as well as living in rural Montana, which required that I perform constant physical labor in the form of splitting/stacking wood, fixing fences, and bucking bales during the summers. I’ve always enjoyed it the most, not only because I’m good at it, but, for me at least, it seems to be the most functional of all lifts. Think about it–how many times in day to day life are you going to find yourself flat on your back and needing to push something off your chest? Or, just as unlikely, how often will you find yourself with a weight, regardless of implement or type, loaded across your shoulders and requiring you to squat down and stand back up with it? Yes, the squat is functional and real world applicable, as we squat down all the time, but I feel the deadlift serves more of a functional purpose. Every time we drop something or need to pick something up off the ground, we squat down, grab it, and stand up with it, mimicking the deadlift exactly.

So, having said that, here’s how the Monday session broke down:

Deadlift: 380×5, 430×3, 480×1, 495×1, 545×1, 585×1.

The 585 was ugly ugly, and I had to hitch it up (meaning I had to slide my knees under it and pull it up my thighs instead of standing straight up with it), but I got it, and since I wasn’t competing, it doesn’t matter. I was exceedingly happy to pull this weight, and rightly so. After I surpassed the 495 mark, 585 was the next big benchmark, and I’ve been working toward it for the better part of 2 years now. If I’m being honest, I probably could have pulled an even 600, but after the 585 pull, regardless of how excited I was, I didn’t feel particularly motivated to try and move that much weight. I’ll probably go for 600 in another month or two. If only for my satisfaction, I’ll have to have one more max effort training session before I leave for camp, because once I’m there, even though I’ll be teaching weights, Lord knows I a) won’t have access to that much poundage and b) will be weak as shit and won’t be anywhere near capable of pulling much over 405.

I pulled today (3/21/11) as well, and worked up to an easy 445×10, followed up by a very tiring 274x4x10. I was very happy with the way the 445×10 moved. Yes, it was heavy, but it moved well, the bar path was clean and smooth, and I had a couple reps left in the tank.

On Tuesday, I benched, and worked up to a real grinder at 315×1. My bench has always sucked, and probably always will, but hey, I can only be awesome at so many things. There’s a lot of awesomeness in this here fella, but even I can do so much.

Here’s how the bench session broke down:

Bench: 205×5, 230×3, 255×1, 315×1.

Yeah, the jump from 255 to 315 is pretty substantial, but I felt good and didn’t want to expend any excess energy on lighter singles. The 315 wasn’t pretty, and it took everything out of me, but I got it up. Hopefully I can stay on track well enough for the next couple months to put up something respectable, preferably within the 330+ range. I’ve been really focusing on my form, working hard to maintain a high, tight arch, keep the elbows tucked on the descent, wrists locked out, etcetera, and I’m starting to see the benefits of the attention to detail in my lifting.

I benched today as well, and worked up to a solid 240×13. The last rep was a grinder, but I got it. According to the 1RM chart here in the weight room, I should be maxing out around 334, which fits in nicely with what I want to hit before camp.

Last Thursday was supposed to be squat day, but it turned into push press and squat day. As I was getting warmed up and ready to go, I realized that I really, really didn’t feel like squatting, and that in the grand scheme of things, it really didn’t matter if I did or not.

The push presses, substituted for squat, didn’t go very well. I’ve gotten away from using wrist wraps on the bench except for with maximal or circa-maximal lifts, but I still like to use them for the push press. The way the weight sits in my hands during this lift places a large amount of strain on my wrist, so I enjoy having some support, even on the lighter weights. Unfortunately, I had left my wraps at home this day, so I was stuck trying to press without them.

Here’s how the push press broke down:

Push Press: 155×5, 175×3, 195×1, 225×1

I felt like straight garbage during these lifts. I had zero leg drive, zero pop, zero nothing. The weight simply refused to move.

Fuck you, gravity. Sometimes you’re a real bastard.

As the day progressed, I felt better and better about squatting, so I finally toughened up and got under the bar. The weight moved well once I got past the warm-up sets and my hips/groin/lower back/shoulders loosened up.

Squats: 315×5, 360×3, 405×1, 425×1, 445×1, 465×1

I threw on a belt for the sets over 405, and except for feeling heavy as shit, the weight moved well. I’m still surprised at h0w much stronger I’ve become overall since moving away from using a belt, and how much easier it is to move heavier poundages than when I was belting up every time. I was probably a little high on the 465, but again, I wasn’t competing, so it’s no big deal. 465 isn’t a PR for me, but it’s been a long time (February/March of last year, before I broke my ankle) since I’ve had that much weight on my back.

Overall, very pleased.

Ok, enough about lifting. If you’re still with me by this point, thank you. As both a reader and a writer, I’m aware that long posts often grow tedious and boring after awhile.

School/work has been going well for the past few weeks. I wrote my first official program this week for the men’s and women’s swim team, and I’m very excited about it. It’s a simple program, focusing mainly on developing basic strength and work capacity, and utilizes primarily very basic, very simple multi-joint movements. Working with the swim team is going to be a challenge considering that most of them seem to really not give a shit, but I’m hoping that with some solid reinforcement and support, they’ll come around and work hard.

I’m still excited about what I’m doing, which is a great feeling. This is something I have passion for, and would like to make my career.

My plans for the moment are thus; finish out the semester here at MSU and continue to learn/grow as a strength coach, continue to study for my CSCS exam, etcetera, then, following the end of the semester, head back to New York to teach weights for the summer (which should be tons of fun, as I’m planning to do more than just sit around in the weight room making sure that rich Jewish kids don’t hurt themselves–I want to do lots of strongman type events; sandbag carries/loading, farmer’s walks, etc), then, following the end of camp, return to Springfield to do another semester (or maybe a full year, depending on what comes my way), as I’d like the opportunity to work with all of our teams during both the season and off-season. During that time, I’ll become certified as a CSCS and find a grad program to continue my education.

Overall right now, life is great. Things keep falling into place, even if I don’t intend for them do so or have any real hand in their manifestation. As I’ve grown, I’ve discovered that more often than not, life has a way of just happening, and what happens is usually better than what might come around if you try to change/affect things. That’s not to say that one shouldn’t have a hand in his or her own fate/life, but I’ve simply found that, for me at least, things have a way of coming together without any real plan or involvement on my part. To be honest, I like it like that. For the most part, I enjoy the surprises that life throws my way. Not all of those surprises have been positive, but they have, whether directly or not, led me to where I am today.

Take breaking my ankle, for example. At the time, it was one of the worst things to have ever happened to me. But, from today’s perspective,  it was an amazing event that allowed me to move on from a situation that I truly didn’t enjoy and move toward something that I love. It allowed me to meet some amazing people and have some wonderful experiences.

Ok folks, I’m done. I know that’s an abrupt end to a long-winded narrative, but I’m tired of writing and am in desperate need of sleep.

Thanks for reading. More updates to come!

Stay yoked and loked.