Black_Spit's training Journal

[Black_Spit]

Usually they don't let it go like that but they were trying to give the other kid a chance. Right now it's technically offseason for the peewee's, so all these matches are exhibitions. In Jan their matches will be held to a stricter standard.

30 degrees? It's 7 here right now. With a sheet of ice on the damn road.

It should still be 7-8 when I head for the gym in at 4:30.

[Black_Spit]

Today was the first time I missed a lift since starting 5/3/1.

Probably a combination of the weather, moving into the new house (I haven't slept a good nights sleep since last Wednesday), and my injured wrist. I'm just getting home from the gym, so I'm going to ice it again now. It's feeling much better from icing it last night, which may have given me a false sense of confidence.

I think my muscles recovered over my deload week, but not my CNS if that makes any sense. Bc I look dramatically better after my week off if you can believe that, thinner in the waist, muscles kind of popping out for the first
time in a long while. But I'm exhausted. :/

Technically I got my 5 reps, but I failed after rep 3 so I had to rest pause the last 2 reps, waiting about 10 seconds between and taking a few breaths.

Press- (new calculated max is 195)
45x5
45x5
95x5

125x5
145x5
165x3/1/1

[ArchDukeOfTops]

Damn, I guess its good that it went from 7 degrees to 8 degrees before you went outside.

No hills today??? I kid, I kid.

Don't sweat not getting the 5 reps. OH press is a finiky lift IMO. Personally OH pressing never carried over to bench much for me, but then again, I'm not a big bencher either.

[Black_Spit]

Don't sweat not getting the 5 reps. OH press is a finiky lift IMO. Personally OH pressing never carried over to bench much for me, but then again, I'm not a big bencher either.

Yeah, and I felt pretty good that I put in a little extra effort and still hit 5 reps, even if I had to take a few seconds.

Well, I got 6 hours of sleep last night. That's the first time I got a decent nights sleep since last Wednesday. Still feel like crap this morning, so it didn't catch me up. Sunday morning I'm going to sleep as long as I possibly can and try to get caught up so I feel normal again.

Deadlifts (new calculated max is 395)-
135x3
225x1

250x5
290x5
330x5

I just realized as I'm typing this out that I did a workout based on 385. Damnit lol.

Weight this morning is 253. So I'm down about 22 pounds in these past 8 1/2 weeks. Only another 50 or so to go. Half way there.

[ArchDukeOfTops]

hell yeah, half way there.

the sleep problem is worth discussing IMO. I guess you've heard me mention, I also have the added challenge of crappy sleep. Mine is caused by stress at work, and crazy hours in general, then when I do get to lay down and sleep my mind is so keyed up I stay awake. Then, I also wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking about something and can't sleep again.

Throw a kid kid waking up a couple nights a week in this equation, and you have some seriously broken up sleep patterns.

I'm also a heavy snorer, despite the fact I only way 165 lbs, I can't sleep on my back because I will suffocate, lol.

So, what do you think keeps you from sleeping like you should. . .and, have you been or considered going to a doc to see what can be done?

I've got a script for sleep, but I don't want to use it anymore than once a week becasue I don't like being dependant on anything like that.

[Black_Spit]

I just realized as I'm typing this out that I did a workout based on 385. Damnit lol.

lol @ me. This was what I was supposed to be doing. I don't know what I was thinking that morning. I beat myself up over it for nothing lol.

hell yeah, half way there.

the sleep problem is worth discussing IMO. I guess you've heard me mention, I also have the added challenge of crappy sleep. Mine is caused by stress at work, and crazy hours in general, then when I do get to lay down and sleep my mind is so keyed up I stay awake. Then, I also wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking about something and can't sleep again.

Throw a kid kid waking up a couple nights a week in this equation, and you have some seriously broken up sleep patterns.

I'm also a heavy snorer, despite the fact I only way 165 lbs, I can't sleep on my back because I will suffocate, lol.

So, what do you think keeps you from sleeping like you should. . .and, have you been or considered going to a doc to see what can be done?

I've got a script for sleep, but I don't want to use it anymore than once a week becasue I don't like being dependant on anything like that.

I have a strange story here. Normally I don't sleep enough, I know I've mentioned it a thousand times. I went 25 straight weeks making progress though without it hindering me much, but the last week was soooo bad, plus I had other symptoms. I was sweating pretty bad all week, I was freezing cold, then hot, fatigued to the point of needing to sit down at work (this is never the case for me, even though my sleeping patterns aren't ideal). Then I missed my first lift in 27 weeks on Monday. What little sleep I was getting, I was waking up feeling like I didn't sleep at all. My joints were hurting. So, things weren't going right, I felt like I was falling apart, but, I'm clearly an idiot, so I kept pushing, by Monday/Tuesday, I was attributing it to the wear and tear of moving last weekend. And, by Wednesday/Thu I thought maybe I had the flu. By Thursday, at work I thought maybe I was going to have to go to the Emergency room or something, I've never felt quite like this. So, I called my wife (we were both at work at the time), she's a nurse, and I described to her my symptoms, and after scolding me for not asking her about this before, she said it sounded like maybe it was thyroid related, or maybe I had some type of infection like staph... and the second she said the word "thyroid," I immediately thought of that synthetic 3,5 T7 supplement I was taking. I never thought much of it, because I had taken Dicana (the original, and a very similar product) years ago with ZERO issues. I'm not sure how much stronger this stuff is, but I felt like walking death... So, anyway, I discontinued it, didn't take my afternoon dose, and by 10:00 that night, I felt good again for the first time in a week.

And by yesterday, I felt like a million dollars. Dead serious. So, anyway, I think the stuff was working extremely well, but, maybe it's just me as I'm sure it's a fine product, but the side effects are too much for me. I went through some of the old Dicana logs and found a few people with the same side effects I just described.

Anyway, that's my boring story for the day, but feeling good this morning. Workout coming up.

[Black_Spit]

Carbing up this weekend. Feeling pretty good.

Squat-
135x3
225x2

250x5
290x5
330x5

Bench Press-
135x5

185x5
210x5
240x5

Weighted Hypers (25 lb's)-
x12
x12
x12

Standing Calves-
3x12

[ArchDukeOfTops]

damn, crazy reaction to the supplement man. My brother had a reaction to jungle warfare back a few years ago. He was taking it for almost a month and started having these really bad head aches and felt like his traps were in knots.

He went to a chiro and everything and finally he figured out what it was, stopped taking it and bam problem over.


Nice work out btw.

[Black_Spit]

Well, off to a rocky start this week. I didn't sleep last night. I fell asleep from like 12:30-3:30 in the afternoon... slept right through the first Titans game that they actually won in what seems like forever lol. But anyway, that prevented me from falling asleep. So, I did something pretty stupid I guess. I went to the gym anyway lol. I felt awake and alert. Plus, my carbup ended yesterday and I hate to wait till Tues to get into the gym, bc on a CKD/Anabolic Diet, you get 5 days of fat burning, and I didn't want to lose a day by not depleting liver glycogen blah blah blah. On the plus side, I got my reps and all that. I didn't push it by doing a bunch of accessory or anything. The negative is that I don't really have any choice but to go into work today 9-5, so I won't be sleeping for what I'm sure will seem like a VERY long time from now... at least 15-16 hours. Plus, I'll have to DVR my favorite tv show tonight (Men of a Certain Age) and watch it tomorrow night instead. :/

Press-
45x3
45x3
95x3
115x3

135x3
150x3
170x3

[ArchDukeOfTops]

hey look on the bright side, you hit your numbers despite the extra challenge of no sleep.

I've actually slept well for the past 3 nights or so. Even had some dreams. I can always tell I'm getting decent sleep when I remember having dreams.

Now the work week has started back so we'll see how it goes.

A lot of my good sleep has to do with getting caught up (somewhat) and feeling a bit relieved.

[Black_Spit]

hey look on the bright side, you hit your numbers despite the extra challenge of no sleep.

I've actually slept well for the past 3 nights or so. Even had some dreams. I can always tell I'm getting decent sleep when I remember having dreams.

Now the work week has started back so we'll see how it goes.

A lot of my good sleep has to do with getting caught up (somewhat) and feeling a bit relieved.

When you mentioned throwing a power rack in that storage barn the other day, I had already been thinking about it, and my wife actually encouraged it. If it costs a grand, but it saves $61 a month on my gym membership it will pay for itself soon enough was her thinking.

So, I started doing a little research on Amazon in regards to price, and it looks like it would probably cost about a thousand dollars for 500 pounds of weight (would be enough for a little while, buying a couple more plates won't be a big deal when the time comes), a bar, collars, a bench, a weight tree, a Power Rack and some rubber floor matting.

I'll have to do some measuring and make sure everything would fit, including the wrestling mat, because if we can't roll around out there, then it wouldn't do any good, because that's more important really. I can always just keep going to the same gym, but there isn't anywhere else to wrestle in July.

[dtaps24]

How is that show? Is it a comedy or drama or what? I've always been curious about it. Also nice work on that Press. Always good to hit the numbers under adverse conditions.

[ArchDukeOfTops]

its funny you say that, because ever since you said you had a wrestling mat at your house I have been slobbering at the prospect of getting an area I can roll at my house. Now that my knee is getting stronger I'm really getting the jones to grapple.

My only problem is no room right now.

[Black_Spit]

How is that show? Is it a comedy or drama or what? I've always been curious about it. Also nice work on that Press. Always good to hit the numbers under adverse conditions.

Men of a Certain Age? Ray Romano called it a "dramedy" the other day. It's a great blend. Best show on tv imo.

[Black_Spit]

I bet my gym won't have normal hours Friday. So, I'll have to decide how to fit in the rest of my lifts this week in only 2 days, since my only time to get to the gym is 5 am.

I'm not big on deads and squats in the same day and def not big on doing them on back to back days.

Possibly I could do Bench tomorrow and Squat then just a top set of Deads on Thurs. Or maybe switch those days. Not sure yet.

I guess I could just do deadlifts tomorrow and Bench on Thurs and skip Squats this week and just chalk it up to being Christmas.

[Black_Spit]

They're saying that they are going to open at 5:00 on Friday so I guess I'll hold off and do Bench/Squat on Friday.

Deadlift-
135x3
225x3

275x3
315x3
345x3

Hyperextensions + 35 lb-
3x12

[Black_Spit]

Just tried out that foam roller for the first time, too. I hope it's worth it because it's hard work and hurts like hell. I watched a few youtube videos on how to do it right. I managed to get IT Band, Lower and Upper back, hamstrings, shins, and calves. I wasn't able to do it for very long on each bodypart. But, I'm sure I'll get better, and as I work out some scar tissue and stuff I'm sure I'll be able to do more.

[ArchDukeOfTops]

foam rolling saves my lower back. I use a metal thermous wrapped in sock, lol

[Black_Spit]

foam rolling saves my lower back. I use a metal thermous wrapped in sock, lol

How often do you do it? Just on off days, or just after a w/o? Or do you just do it whenever you feel like it?

Squat-
135x3
225x3

275x3
315x3
345x3

Bench Press-
135x3

185x3
225x3
250x3 <<<Really feeling kind of easy, I have a lot of room to go here. I feel like I can keep adding weight here for a long time to come. I might do more than the standard 5 pounds next cycle>>>

Seated Calves-
3x12

[ArchDukeOfTops]

I most often roll right before and right after workouts. I'll hit it in between though if I'm feeling stove up.

[Black_Spit]

Spent 10-15 min on the foam roller yesterday. Starting to work out a few kinks, getting the hang of it I think.

I can tell I'm about to be sick. My throat is sore this morning, and my kids have all been sick, so... The writing is on the wall. I'm loading up on vit c and zinc, but I'm afraid it's an act in futility.

On the bright side, I set a pr on Press today. Not a huge number, but I feel pretty good about it considering I've only been doing this lift for 6 mo.

Press-
45x5
45x5
95x5
115x5

145x5
165x3
185x3<<<PR>>>

[Black_Spit]

So, my wife and I discovered evidence that I was sleepwalking last night. And what's worse, I walked outside (presumably in my underwear and barefoot) to my wifes car, put the key in the ignition, and opened the sunroof.

We found my sons snuggie he got for Christmas that I slept with last night (lol @ me) frozen out by the back door, and my wifes sunroof up.

There are several bad things going on here. One is that if I had the keys, put them in the ignition, and raised the sunroof, who's to say I didn't drive around the neighborhood? Two, it'd 15 degrees outside... I could have frozen to death. In my last post I mentioned having a sore throat. Makes sense now.

How in the hell did I go in and lift a pr this morning? Am I doing this regularly and not finding the proof like I did last night?

First order of business is a house alarm. Obv if 15 degree weather doesn't wake me up, then the alarm won't either, but it will wake up my wife/kids and they can prevent me from freezing to death.

Second order of business I guess is to go to the doctor.

I feel really weird today knowing that I did that. Hard to explain, but I can't shake the feeling. I keep trying to remember something, but all I can remember is looking at the clock twice, once at midnight, and again at 4:00 am I think. I'm no stranger to odd night behavior like sleepwalking/talking and loud snoring, but this experience is a little scary to be honest.

[Black_Spit]

Pretty sick now. Just started antibiotics last night. Today's Wed, I guess it's possible I could be feeling better by Sat and get in there and do Squat, Dead, and Bench... Just warming up to the top sets. Not the 5's or 3's considering. We'll see. Right now my whole body aches, and my throat is sore, and I should be in bed... But I'm at work.

[Black_Spit]

Feeling a little bit better today, still not good. I still don't know whether I'll try to make up my workouts tomorrow (not even sure if my gym is open tomorrow yet).

I may just take the rest of this weeknoff and re-try this 5/3/1 week next week, and then not deload before the next cycle since this week I will have taken off 6 days if I wait till Monday.

In the spirit of New Years I thought I'd lay out some goals for 2011. I've never done it before, it always seemed a little silly, but maybe having solid goals could help motivation.

So I have 3 goals lifting-wise for 2011 that come to mind, my 4 main lifts make up one of them:

1) Get bw to 198 and maintain it.

2) Compete in my first PL meet.

3) Lift goals-

Press- 275 lb
Deadlift- 500 lb
Bench Press- 365 lb
Squat- 455

These won't make me the strongest member here by any means, but they will male me stronger than I have ever been before. And I think they are a good goal for me as I've been training like a PL'er for about 6 months now. So, if I can accomplish these after 1.5 years of training for PL I will be pleased.

[ArchDukeOfTops]

man your sleepwalking, while disturbing made for a hilarious post !


seriously though, you need a sleep study done ASAP. I complain about sleep, and I sleep about 30 times better than you do. And now you know your sleepwalking so you're not even resting when your sleeping. Explains a lot of stuff you've been going through.

If you hit your goals at a sub 200 body weight you would be diesel. 365 bench and 500 dead would own.


My throat is sore today but I'm hoping its just from the same infection I've been battling and wont' be anything worse.

[Black_Spit]

man your sleepwalking, while disturbing made for a hilarious post!

LOL It didn't feel hilarious that day. But, it does now.

I guess since I've been out for the count since that day, I'll just count week 3 as a wash and start over with Cycle 4 tomorrow. I took 5 straight days totally off.

I thought about it and it doesn't make much sense to try to go in there and do 95% next week after having bronchitis for a week. What makes most sense is to go on there and do relatively lighter weight next week (65/75/85) and work back into it. I wasn't going to set any more PR's this cycle by any stretch anyway. I've had a couple of straight nights of good sleep. Hopefully I will again tonight and this week will be a better week than last week.

I wasn't able to get off work last week even though I was sick, so I still worked 9-5 every day I was sick. So, I needed this good sleep this weekend.

[ArchDukeOfTops]

LOL It didn't feel hilarious that day. But, it does now.

I guess since I've been out for the count since that day, I'll just count week 3 as a wash and start over with Cycle 4 tomorrow. I took 5 straight days totally off.

you the Brandon Vera of 5-3-1 brah?

lol jk.

It sucks but in real life sometimes you just gotta work sick and working out is about 11th on the priority list.

[Black_Spit]

Starts tomorrow.

I'm posting my new maxes here so I can find them easily if I forget them. Sounds stupid but some days I'll be at the gym and have to log in here on my iPhone to find my maxes.

Press- 200
Dead- 395
Bench- 285
Squat- 390

I just ran some numbers and if I want to hit those goals, I'll have to add roughly 10 lb's a month on deadlifts and
just over 5 every month on the others. So every few months adding 10 to the others should take care of that. I have microplates if I end up needing them.

[Black_Spit]

you the Brandon Vera of 5-3-1 brah?

I actually really like Brandon. But the sport is just passing him by. He has all the tools, I guess he just doesn't have the drive/work ethic.

What about Edgar though? Wow. He made s fan of me for sure.

[ArchDukeOfTops]

I didn't get to see the fights, I had to relive them second hand through gifs haha.

But seriously, if your a guy that yells "stand em up" and "hit em" while watching a fight. you probably don't like Edgar. If your a fan that appreciates the aspects of the game and the transitions, than he's a pleasure to watch.

I mean really two evenly matched fighters are going to counter point each other quite a bit. I love a good chess match just as much as a KTFO.