Anger Can Be Power, Don't You Know That You Can Use It?

"Be aware of yourself, as you are, without judgement. See What Is. If you can do this, then you have no further problems." - Krishnamurti via Alan Watts

One of the things that drew me to Zen Buddhism are the concepts of reality and truth. These are two of the main (and only) "goals" of the practice of Zen Buddhism. You seek the truth and accept it. Sounds good but incredibly difficult in practice. @FAKEGRIMLOCK has a pretty excellent Ted Talk that addresses the subject a bit. One of my all-time favorite talks.

I define frustration as the difference between reality and what we believe reality "ought" to be. Wait But Why has a good read here on reasons why Gen Y (my generation) is generally a bit unhappy with their place in the world. I'm more interested in looking forwards than looking back, but I think it's important to understand that the major things addressed in the article are issues of perception and perception and thought processes can be refined and conditioned.

I don't have a fantastic solution or new way of thinking that's going to magically end frustration, nor would I want one. A world of "enlightenment" or "liberated beings" would probably be a bit boring and nothing would get done. On the contrary, friction will (and SHOULD) always be there and it is healthy. Friction and frustration generate anger and, as the Clash told us many years ago, anger can be power. Anger is the sort of thing that leads to real behavior changes. Behavior changes when the pain of changing hurts less than the pain of not changing. This is productive anger.

Productive anger gets you up at 5am to train before going to work. It gets you to work a little earlier during the week so you can hang with the kids on the weekend. You burn Friday night studying instead of doing keg stands. It gets you to do all that extra stuff that 90% of people don't do because you're clawing for every little advantage you can find to do whatever it is you want to do. Like Al Pacino said in Any Given Sunday, those extra inches we need are all around us. People don't see them or they choose not to reach for them, but they're out there. To use a term from Steven Pressfield in Turning Pro, those inches are the difference between being an amateur and being a professional.

Unproductive anger is snapping at someone for chewing too loudly, yelling at the dog for being a dog or snapping off at a kid for just being a kid and doing kid things. This is displaced anger due to some friction or a perceived wrong in some other aspect in life; the proverbial shit rolling downhill. This is the stuff that doesn't matter. To paraphrase Chuck Palahniuk in Fight Club: let that which does not matter truly slide.

Things that truly matter are the greatest sources of friction and need to be addressed in some way, shape or form. These are the big things that trickle down into all of the other aspects of your life. When we address the big things, we don't even notice the small things; they'll have already slid away.

Catch up time: Training Week(s) - 7/8 - 8/10

Little catch-up time here. I'm starting to transition out of the Catalyst program and back into some of writing my own programming, with a bit of idea generation from Lifthard as well as Glenn Pendlay and the folks at Muscledriver.

Clean Grip Snatches are definitely a staple in my snatch warm-ups. Really liking the carryover to the second and third pulls as well as implied shoulder mobility work. Try them: just hang snatch with a clean grip (empty bar) for a few reps, the go back to your regular snatch grip. It feels like the pull gets cut in half. Nice little trick.

7/8
CFTS Abs/Sots Press
Front Squat to 140x1
Snatch - empty bar x30 to 82x2x2 92x2 100x0x2 85x1 02x0 97x0 80x2x4
Sn DL to Knee/Knee to Hip/Full Pull (2+2+1; all floating) - 110x1x2 120x1x3
-3x1 @ 120 full pull only
B Sqt to 152x1x2 then 4x3 @ 125
GM - 95x5x2 105x1
BW Lunges and Lu Raises

7/9
GH Raises/Duck Walk/Clean Grip Snatch/Sots Press/Gymnastic Stuff
B Squat to 160x1
Sn Pull + Hang Pwr Sn + OH Sqt - 75x1x4 80x1x2
Pwr Cl + F Sqt + Jerk - 100x1x3 110x1x3
Snatch PP - 80x5 90x5x4
F Sqt to 125x1 then 3x3 @ 100
KB Swing + DB Press + Behind Neck Pullup (band assisted) - 3x15 each

7/10
CFTS Abs/Planks/Duck Walks/Handstands/Behind Neck Pulldown
F Sqt to 145x1
CJ to 100x1x2 110x1x3 120x1x2 120xFJx2
(2+1) 100x1 110x1 115xFJ
DL to Knee/Pull to Hip/Pull (2+2+1) - 140x1x5

7/11
CFTS/Duck Walks/Sots/Behind Neck Pulldown/Cal Back Ext
B Sqt to 140x1
Jerk - (100x3/110x2/110x1)x3
Pwr Cl - 90x2 100x2x2 90x2x2
Push Press - 75x5x4

7/13 (total mess; last day of squatting multi times per day)
F Sqt to 135x1
Snatch to 85x1, 95x0
CJ to 100x1
B Sqt to 100x1
GM 3x5 @ 75

7/15
Abs/Sots Press/Clean Grip Sn/Chinese High Pull
Snatch (82x2 87x1 92x1) x3
Sn Pull + Chinese Rebend - 100x3 110x3 110x3 120x3
B Sqt - 120x2 130x2 140x1 120x2
GM - 100x5x3
Lu Raises + Death Marches

7/16
CFTS/Handstands/Behind Neck Pulldown/
Pwr Snatch - 70x2x2 80x2x2 80x2x2
Pwr CJ - 80x2 90x2 100x2x3
F Sqt to 120x1, 110x2x3
Leg Ext/Chins/Side Bends

7/17
CFTS/Handstands/Leg Ext/GH Raises/Clean Grip OH Sqt
CJ - (95x2+1/105x1/110x1) x3
C Pull + Rebend - 120x3x3
B Sqt to 140x1
Paused - 100x3x3
GM - 95x5x2 100x5 105x5
Lu Raise + Death March

7/18 (Borked; training four days in a row seems to be very disagreeable)
Clean Grip Snatch/KB Windmills/CFTS/Sots Press/Russian Balances
Jerks - bunch of singles at 100
Pwr Cl - bunch at 80 and 90
Pendlay Rows

7/20
Snatch - 40-60-80-90-100x1x2 107x1 (PR!) 110x0
CJ - 60-80-90-105-115-110-120x1x2 - 122xFJ
Behind Neck Press - 3x10 @ 45kg

7/21
Jerk Balance - to 85x1x5
Jerk to 122x1x3
Jerk Drives to 125 for some triples

7/22
Duck Walks/Russian Balances/Planks/Abs/Chinese Stretch
Sn - 40-60-80x2 80x1 87x1 95x1 102x0 - (90x1, 95x1)x3
CJ - 50-70-90x1x3 105x1x2 110x1 120x1x3 - (110x1x8)
Sn Pull + Rebend - 120x2x4
F Sqt to 110x2 110x2x3

7/23
Heavy Pulldown Abs/Cal Back
Hang Pwr Sn to 70x2 80x2x2 70x2x4 75x2x2
Hang Pwr Cl - 80x2 90x2 100x2x3
- messed up and pwr cleaned doubles up to 100 before I realized it's supposed to be high hang
Behind Neck Press 3x10 @ 40
Arches - 25-40-40-40
Pendlay Rows - 3x10 @ 60

7/24
Close Grip Snatch/Russian Balance/Jerk Balances
Snatch to 90x1x3 then 80x2x3
CJ to 110x (2+1)
Sn Pull - 110x3x2 130x2x3

7/25 - totally borked; seeing a trend on Thursdays?
Pwr Sn - 60x1x6
B Sqt to 125x5x4
Cl Pull to 145x1

7/27 - Coached so I barely trained. Just muscle cleaned a bit.

7/29
Snatch - to 90x1 95x1x2 then 80x3x3 (1 full snatch + 2 high hang snatches)
CnJ - to 110x1 120xpressout 120xFJx2 then 100x(2+1) x3
B Sqt - 125x5x5
Cl Pull - 130x3 140x3x2 150x3x3
Snatch Push Press - 85x5x5
Lateral Raises and Lunges

7/30
KB Windmill/Abs/Russian Balances
Abv Knee Snatch to 90x1x2 95x1x2 100x1 102x1x2/ 7x2 @ 80kg
Snatch Balance - 5x3@ 70 (haven't done these in YEARS)
SN Pull from Deficit, two pauses - 100x3x5
Block Pull plus Rebend - 100x3x6
Chinese Rows/Lunges

7/31
Pulldown Abs/Windmills/Muscle Clean
Hang CnJ - 110xFJx3 then (1 clean + 2 jerks) 90x1x6
F Sqt - 115x3x5
C Pull plus Rebend - 6x3 @ 120
Behind Neck Jerk - 90x1x8
Front Push Press - 80x3x5

8/1
Chins/Snatch Press/Jerk Balances
B Sqt - 6x3 @ 135kg
Sn to 90x1x3
CJ to 105x1x4
Strict Press and Pendlay Rows - 5x5 each

8/3
Snatch to 90x1x2 97x0x2 90x1 95x1 100x1
CnJ to 115x1 125x1 (clean only) 130x0 120x1x2
Sn Pull - 120x3x5
Block Pull + Rebend - 120x3x5
Jerk Supports to 110x3x4

8/4
Handstands/Chins
B Sqt to 152x5 (5RM) (There was more here. I think my best is 165 or 170, so not far off. Shooting for 190x5 by end of 2013)
Push Press to 85x5 (15% off my best; explains why my jerk is so shit)
Cl Pull from Deficit - 145x3 157x3x4
Snatch Balance 75x3x5
Bent Rows (sloppy) to 60x10/85x10/102x5x3

8/5 (Little girl at the gym started crying when I dropped a bar warming up and I still feel bad about it. Sorry kiddo, my bad.)
Snatch to 70x2 70x1 80x1x3 90x1x3 95x1 then 85x3 85x2 80x1
CnJ - to 115x1x2 then 100x2x3
B Sqt - 5x5 @ 132
CL Pull + Rebend - 120x3x2 130x3x2 140x3
Snatch Push Press - 80x5 85x5 90x5x2
Dips/Plate Raises/Lunges/Prowler Walk

8/6
Russian Balance/Armbar/Windmill/Snatch Press
Snatch + Overhead Squat - to 80x1x3 87.5x1 90x0x2 (made snatch, missed squat), 90x1x2 (snatch only) then (Snatch x2 + OH Sqt x2) 70x1x2 75x1x2 80x1x2
Snatch Balance - to 70x3x2 80x2 90x0/ 70x2x2 80x2x6
Sn Pull - 115x3x6
Box Pull + Rebend - 110x2x3 115x2x3 120x2x3
Dips/Prowler Walk/Pulldowns

8/7
Jerk Balance/Behind Neck Split Press
Clean + F Sqt + Jerk to 100x1 110x1 120xFJx2 120x1
-(1 clean + 2 jerks) to 100x1x2 105x1x3
F Sqt - 115x3x6
Cl Pull - 140x3x6
Behind Neck Jerk - 105x1x8
Front Push Press - 75x3x4 85x3x2

8/8
B Squat 6x3 @ 102kg
Snatch to 80x1 85x1

8/10
Snatch to 90x1x2 95x0 95x1 100x0 100x1
CnJ to 105x1x3

SMOKED. Been getting up at 4am for work all week and it caught up to me. On the plus side I fixed a couple kinks in my clean and snatch pulls, so that's a victory.

That gets us all caught up! I'll start logging my usual Sunday to Saturday format from now on.

I'm back to writing my own programming, with some suggestions along the way. I'm back to the schedule I was on last fall (Tues/Wed/Thurs/Sat/Sun). The rest days spread out a bit more evenly leads to higher quality work. I'm training with an eye towards a meet in November. Right now my intention is to have a snatch day, a clean and jerk day, a squat/strength day, a snatch/cnj/strength day and a snatch/cnj only day. Pulling on all of the days except for the snatch/CnJ only say, which will almost always be on Saturday. I'm also going back to Glenn Pendlay's application of the Texas Method to weightlifting with 3-5x3-5 back squats on Tuesday, 3-5x3 front squats on Thursday and trying to new 5RM back squats on Sundays. Basic schedule looks like this:

Tues - Snatch/CnJ/Back Squat/strength work (classic work here will be off blocks, power work, hang work, etc)
Wed - Snatch-specific
Thurs - CnJ Specific/Front Squat
Sat - Max Snatch and CnJ (lower in volume, higher in intensity)
Sun - Back Squat and Push Press for 5RMs, strength work

Floating

Joe Rogan on Sensory Deprivation Tanks

I had investigated floating a bit thanks to a blog post from Brad Feld and the fact that I have a little hippie streak in me. With an ever decreasing number of places where people can get a minute of absolutely silence (much less an hour), this sounded immensely appealing. 

With a fairly stressful job and training life, I like the idea of being able to be almost completely void of external stimuli for an hour and float in six hundred pounds of epsom salt. In addition to keeping you afloat you're also absorbing magnesium through your skin the entire session via the epsom salt. Magnesium deficiency can be problematic for everyone, but more so for people who don't consume enough leafy greens (so EVERYONE) and/or athletes and active people. Magnesium is also incredibly helpful for getting to sleep; epsom salt baths before bed are very helpful for people with sleep problems and many pre-bed sleep supplements contain a massive dose of magnesium and zinc.

I went to Cloud Nine Float Center in Boulder for my initial float. The owner took great care to walk me through anything and everything about the tank, getting in, getting out, operating the controls, etc. Danny couldn't have been more helpful and gave great explanations and details. I must note, speaking as someone with some history of claustrophobia, that never once did I feel claustrophobic during the entire experience. 

I have to think the experience is fairly personal, but I'll give you the gist of what I felt. I shut the lid, flipped off the light and let my head do whatever it wanted to do. I opened my eyes. I closed my eyes. I bumped into the sides of the tank floating around. I've talked to folks who have something specific to think about or work on while floating. I went the opposite direction. No agenda, no pressing thoughts; I just floated to float. I didn't have any psychedelic experiences or hallucinate, although I definitely saw some colors and things like that. Think of it as getting a baseline experience. Now I have a "control" experience that I can use for future reference. 

After a little while I couldn't tell what parts of my body were under water and which parts were exposed. This is by design: the air and water inside the tank are at skin temperature so you start feeling like you're suspended in nothing rather than floating in water. You can also choose music/nature sounds or bring music on a phone/iPod for them to pipe into the tank while you're floating. I went the quiet route and this is something I want to continue for awhile. 

The hour went by pretty quickly and some light music started playing when there were two minutes remaining in my session. I got out, showered off the salts, got dressed and walked out. Very few times before have I felt such a sense of calm and bliss. I stopped by for a small dinner with my mom, went home and had a excellent night of sleep. As I write this (two days later) I still have a tremendous sense of calmness. It felt a bit like a chore to get geared up for training on Saturday morning, although I still managed a new post-back injury PR clean. 

I'm going to play around a bit with the timing on these floats. I want to try one on a Saturday night, when I have two full days before my next training session and a full Sunday free from external obligations. Much like zazen, this is definitely becoming a fixture in my life. 

Training Week - 7/1 - 7/7

Going with no belt on the squats for the next couple weeks to change stimulus up a bit. This will also take down the weights on my squats so this should leave a little more juice in the legs for the main lifts.

7/1 - Happy 33rd birthday to me!
Hanging Leg Raise/OH Squat/YWLT - three sets each
Front Squat - 60-90-110-130-140-150
Supposed to Snatch to a heavy single then 3x2, but my right shoulder is a little banged up so I stuck to Muscle Snatches and then Snatch Balances. On the balances I've always had a problem pressing myself down; I always end up popping the bar up in the air rather than driving myself down.
Pulls - Floor to Knee x2/Knee to Hip x2/Full Pull x1: 110x2 120x3
B Sqt to 150x1 then 140x2x3
GM - 90x5 100x5 100x5

7/2
Cal Back Ext/YWLT - three sets each
B Sqt - 70-100-120-140-150
Sn Pull + Hang Pwr Snatch + OH Sqt - 70x1 70x1 75x1 80x1 85x1 (good for more here)
Pwr Cl + Front Squat + Jerk - 80x1 90x1 100x1x5
Snatch Push Press - 80x5 85x5x3
Front Squat - up to 120x1 then 3x3 @ 100 (back a little rough with no belt)
15 Chins + 15 JM Press - three sets

7/3 @ Centennial
Front Squat - 65-85-105-115-125-135
CJ - 65 - 85 - 105x1x3 - 115x1x2 - 125xFJx2 125x1 - 135x0 (close miss clean, wiped me out)
-(2+1) - 90-90-90 (the try at 135 pretty much wiped me out)
Clean Pull to Knee x2/Knee to Hip x2/Full Pull x1 - 130x1 140x2 150x1 140x2
B Sqt - up to 145x1
Three Count Pause Squat - 100x3x4
GM - 60x5 80x5x3

7/4 - Happy Birthday America
Back Squat - 60-80-100-120-140-150-160
Jerk Series - 100x3 110x2 120x1/105x3 115x2 125x1/110x3 120x2 130x1
Pwr Clean - 80x2 90x2 100x2x3
Push Press - 75x5 80x5 85x5x2
F Squat up to 110x1
-90x3x3
(20KB swings + 15 DB Press) x3

7/5 - First floating experience at Cloud Nine Float Center, which I'll write about later. IT WAS AWESOME.

7/6 @ Centennial Weightlifting
F Sqt to 130x1
Snatch to 85x2 85x1 95x1 105x0x2 95x1 102x1 107x0 (shoulder is OK, not great. But didn't bother me after I popped something on one of my 85s.)
CJ - 60-80-100x1x2 115x1x2 125x1 135xClean only (PR; same weight I missed on Wednesday)
B Sqt - up to 145x1 (CNS smoked)
Pause Squat - 110x3x4
GM - 75x5 95x5x2 105x3 95x3

Training Week - 6/24-6/30

This is a semi-deload kind of week and I am horrible at deloading. I have no burning desire to focus and dial in to do lightened lifts and lower percentages. That's really the whole point of a deload anyways, so I'm not terribly concerned about the weights I hit or how they feel. If you're overly stressed about your deloads, you might need to reassess your training life in general. Much bigger fish to fry. Do less than usual, don't lose sleep over it.

6/24
GH Raise/Pulldown Abs -three sets each
Pendlay Sn Complex x 2 (Snatch + Mid Hang Snatch + OH Squatx2 + Balance)
Snatch to 90x1 100x1 105x1 110x0 107x0x2
Sn Pull - 100x3 110x3 120x3x4
B Sqt - to 170x1 then 140x2 150x2x2
Good Morning - 90x5 100x5x2

6/25
Sots Press 3x10
Pwr Sn + Push Press (1+3): 70x1 80x1x2 75x1x3
Pwr Cl + Push Jerk - 100x1x3 90x1x5
F Sqt to 120x1

6/26
Jerk Complex (Pwr Cl + Press + Press to Splitx2 + Push Press) x3
CJ to 110x1
C Pull - 130x3 150x3x2 160x3x2
B Sqt to 140x1
GM 70x5 90x5x2

6/27
Hang Leg Raise/Rev Hyper/Lateral Raises
Pwr Snatch - 70x2x3 75x2x3
Pwr Cl + Push Press (1+3) - 80x1x2 90x1
12 Chins + 200m row x three sets

6/29
Snatch to 90x2 90x1 100x1 90x1 (r shoulder hurting. Managed to stretch a nerve a bit doing some ab wheels on 6/27. Really cranky)
Clean up to 100x2 110x1, then Pwr Cln 100x1x3
C Pull - 130x3x5 140x3x2

6/30
Climbed the Incline in Colorado Springs. Yes, weightlifters climb too.

Totally thrilling deload week, no?

Training Week - 6/10-6/22 (s)

Two weeks to write up here since I've been swamped with work and the gym while also slacking on updates.

6/10
Cal Back Extensions + Hanging Leg Raises three sets each
Front Squat - 70x3x2 100x2x2 120x2 120x1 135x1 145x1 152x1
Snatch - 50-70-80x2x2 90x1x2 100x1 105x0x3 110x0/ 80x2 90x2 95x2 100x2
Sn Pull - Knee + Full (2+1) - 110x1x7
B Squat to 150x1/ 120x3x4
Good Morning - 70x5 75x5 80x5

6/11
GH Raise + Hanging Leg Raise - Three sets each
Back Squat - 70x3x2 100x2x2 120x2 140x2 155x1
High Hang Snatch - 60-70-80 90x2x5
Pwr Clean + Pwr Jerk - 100x1x4 105x1
F Sqt - 60-80-100-120-130-140-145/ 110x2 120x2 125x2 130x2
(250m row + 12 DB presses) x3  with some side bends

6/12
Pulldown Abs + GH Raise - three sets
F Sqt - 60-80-100-120-140-150-160x
CJ - 70-90-100-110-120xFJx3
Cl Pull - knee + Cl Pull (1+2) - 130x2x1 140x1x3
B Sqt - to 140x1x2
Pause B Sqt - 120x3x4
GM - 80x5x3

6/13
B Sqt to 160x1
Jerk Behind Neck - 100x2x5 (haven't done these FOREVER)
High Hang Clean - 100x2 100x2 105x2 110x2 110x2
Push Press - 75x5x4
Front Sqt to 130x1
(12 KB Swings + 12 Chins) x three sets

Missed training on 6/15 due to having to be out of town for a funeral. Got back Sunday night feeling a little rough.

6/17
F Sqt to 135x1 145x1
Snatch (All of these lifts are done on the minute)
65x1x5
77x1x5
82x1x5
Supposed to go to a heavy single, but didn't have any more gas.
Sn Pull - 110x3x2 120x1x3
B Sqt to 140x1
-110x3x4
GM - 70x5 80x5 90x5 90x5 90x5 100x5

6/18
B Sqt - 70-100-130x2 150x1 160x1 170x1 180x1 (narrowed up my squat stance)
Hang Snatch to Knee - 85x2 90x2 92x2x3
Pwr Cl + Pwr Jerk - 100x1 105x1x4
F Sqt to 130x1/ 100x3x3
(12 DB Row + 12 DB Press) - three sets

6/19
Toes to Bar/GH Raise - three sets of each
Front Squat to 150x1 160x0
CJ (lifts on the minute) - 80x1x5 90x1x5 100x1x5
-110x1 120x1 127x0 130x0
CL Pull - 120x3x2 140x3x3
B Sqt to 150x1
Pause Sqt - 120x3x4
GM 90x5x3

6/20
B Sqt - 60x3x2 90x2 115x2 130x2 145x1 155x1 165x1 175x1
Behind Neck Jerk - 112x2x5 (better)
Hang Clean to Knee - 100x2x5
Push Press - 60x5x2 70x5 80x5 85x5x2
F Sqt to 125x1
(12 chins + 12 ring pushups) x2

6x22
Front Squat up to 135x1 150x0
Snatch to 90x1 100x1 110x0x3 100x1
CJ to 100x2 110x1 120x1 130xFJ 135x0
B Sqt to 135x1 150x1 160x1
Pause Squat 120x3x4
GM 70x5 90x5 100x5x2

I promise I'll be more interesting in the future. Been slammed lately with work and living the good life.

Training Week - 6/3-6/9

                                                            WORST 400m run ever

First "real" week of Catalyst Athletics Double Day Squats cycle (first week is a prep week)
(Just for shits and giggles, and since I'm front and back squatting daily, I'm going to track my daily squat total.)

6/3 (Total 302kg)
GH Raise+Pulldown Abs - three sets of each for warmup
Front Squat - 60x3x2 90x2x2 110x2 130x1 145x1
Snatch - 50xsome 70x2 70x1 80x1 90x1 95x1 100x1 105x0x3
Sn Pull to Knee + Sn Pull (1+2) - 110x1 120x1x4
B Squat (lbs) - 185x3 225x2 275x2 315x1 345x1/ 275x3 295x3x3
GM - 185x5x3

6/4 (Total 230 on account of borked groin from technique change)
GH Raise + Pulldown Abs - three sets of each
B Sqt - to 100x2x2 (groin is all sorts of locked up)
High Hang Snatch - 80x2x6
Pwr CL + Pwr Jerk (2+1) - 90x1 100x1x5
F Sqt - to 130x1/ 100x3x3
10 KB Snatches + 10 KB presses - three sets, no rest with 24kg KB
DB Side Bend + Pulldown Abs - three sets of each

6/5 (Total 288; little different since I used the Safety Squat Bar)
Front Squat - 70x3x2 100x2 100x1 120x1 135x1 145x1 150x1
CJ - 80-90-100x1x2 110x1 120x1 127xFJ
-2+1: 105x1 110x1 115x1
Cl Pull to Knee + Cl Pull (1+2) - 130x3 120x3
SSB Sqt - up to 305x1
Paused SSB Sqt - 255x3x4
GM - 165lbsx5x3

6/6 (Total 300)
Back Squat - to 170x1
Front Jerk - 100x2x6
High Hang Clean - 100x2x5
Back Push Press - 70x5x4
Front Squat to 130x1/ 110x3x3
15 Chins + 12 DB presses - two sets

6/8 (AM) (Total 300)
Front Squat - 70x3x2 100x2x2 120x1 130x1 140x1
Snatch - 70-80x2 90x2 97x1 100x0 100x1 107x0x3 (REAL CLOSE on these)
CJ - 70-90-100-110x1x2-120x1 (clean only)-125x1 (clean only)

6/8 (PM)
B Sqt - 70-110-130x2 150x1 160x1
Paused B Sqt (five count) - 110x3 120x3 125x3x3
GM - 70x5 80x5x3
15 Chins + 12 DB Presses - two sets


Knee Soreness Level: 50 year old man. My back is also giving me some fits right now, but it's only when I'm driving in my truck. It's something about the angle of my seat but it lights my back up like nobody's business.

Regarding nutrition: I'm not doing anything special right now, just typical Carb-Backloading. I'm eating breakfast (three eggs scrambled in coconut oil with some veggies and a couple strips of bacon) every day just to get some extra calories. My legs are really having a tough time with this so really trying to push the calories and not lose too much sleep about things.

Typical training weekday looks like this:
530am - Wakeup, drink some water and a coffee
630am - Finish coffee with MCT oil and a little whey
8am - Aforementioned breakfast
11-12 - Lunch (usually a salad with some fish oil and a bit of meat)
330-6pm - Train: I usually drink a Monster or a coffee at the beginning of training, then switch over to two scoops of Muscle Feast Anabolic Recovery with creatine and leucine. Two more scoops of Anabolic Recovery plus leucine and creatine are my PWO shake.
7-9:30 or so - Backload.

I train M-Th and Saturday, so Friday and Sunday I go ultra low carb. Lots of calories from protein and fat plus a ton of veggies.