Iceland

Just some pics from my trip to Iceland. 

This is sunrise at 10am.

                                      This is around 11am on the one day where the sun actually came out.

 I thought there was a Star Wars convention in my hotel. Turns out this is a big bridge tournament.

                   Literally the largest coffee I found in Iceland. You'd think a country with only a few hours of      daylight during the winter would drink coffee by the gallon.

                                                 This is a chain of restaurants in Reykjavik.

                                                      Icelandic Schaaps = BLACK DEATH

                                   This is Icelandic PBR. It tastes like American PBR. That is all.

                    This was at the food court checkout line in the airport. So you can get smashed up at a reasonable price while conveniently sitting right at your gate. 

The Training Week That Was - 1/20 - 1/26

1/20
Bar Work
Front Push Press 5x5 50kg (whoopedy doo)
DB Row 60x12 80x10 90x8x3
Pulldown 5x12
Prowler Walk and Sled Drag - four total trips (It was like 60 by 10am here so I had to get outside)

1/21
Front Squat barx3x2 60x3x2 80x2 110x2 130x2 140x1 150x1 157x0x2 (Re-joined Team Blackout on the second rep. Still struggling with the straps.)
GH Raise 3x6 w/ 10kg
Suns Out Guns Out
Planks - 3x1min

1/22
OH Sqt x50/Sots x50/Sled Drag x4 trips/Very heavy Hip Traction
Muscle Snatch 3x3 40kg
Snatch Pull w/ Pause at Knee - 70x2x3 90x2x2 100x2x2 110x2
Snatch DL w/ two pauses from small deficit - 90x3 110x3 120x3x3
B Sqt 110x5x2 120x5 (Just feeling these out again. Taping wrist makes huge difference here)
1100# Abs: 4x15 of each, in circuit: Standing Abs/Ab Wheel/Grappler Abs/Cal Back Raise

1/23-1/25 - No training, just traveling. Did a shitload of walking and hiking, which counts as my steady state cardio for 2013.

1/26 - Trained at Magnus Ver Magnusson's gym, Jackabol. Pretty much spent the whole time playing around on all of his toys, nothing worth noting. Incidentally: there is ZERO info out there on his gym, but it is sick. It's in an old warehouse, no signage, no real way to tell where it is. From the outside you'd think there might be hobos living in it. It is also one of the most amazing gyms on the planet. This is a tour of the gym from a couple of years ago. It's a bit old, but gives you a pretty good idea of the place. If you can't get strong in a place like that, you just can't get strong.

The Training Week That Was - 1/13 - 1/19

1/13
A shit ton of rehab/prehab, neck, ab and low back work. No idea on sets/reps; hell I barely remember the exercises. This was the epitome of easy like Sunday morning. I went in, drank some coffee, did whatever the hell I felt like doing, BS'd with gym peeps.

One thing I do remember and I want to recommend is posture work with a band, with set-up demonstrated by Jim Smith of Diesel. Desk monkeys (like me) typically have atrocious posture (guilty) and this transfers to everything else that you do. Falling forward in the squat and losing cleans/snatches/jerks in front can be caused or exacerbated by being unable to maintain an upright torso OR not having the strength to resist forces pushing you forward. Either way, throw that move from Smitty into your warm-up or just as a morning workout. I like wall-slides when I'm in the office just to open up and pray to the sun god a bit.
Full Disclosure: I have ducked into a bathroom stall to do wall slides.

1/14 - Squat sitting and an Epsom Salt bath

1/15
SSB Squat barx5x2 70x5x2 100x3 110x3 122x5 125x5 127x5 130x5 135x5
-finally might be figuring out the SSB a bit
GH Raise 10kgx6 15kgx5x2 10kgx8x5
Standing Abs 5x12
Neck/Halo/GH Situp 100 reps each
Traction

1/16 - Buncha nuthin

1/17
Carb Nite Wk Three - Measurements

Neck: 17"

Chest: (at the nipple line): 40 1/4"

Waist: (around the belly button): 35"

Hips: (at the widest part): 42 3/4"

Thigh: (at the largest part): 25 3/4"

Bicep: (unflexed, at the widest part): 15"
Weight: 209.8

Training:
Some clean and snatch bar work to warm up (getting better)
Standing Absx30 Posture x40
Front Squat up to 122x5x5 (no gas and caught a bleeder on my first set. Wah wah waaaahh)
Two Pause Snatch Pull 3x3 w/ 10 count negative on the last rep of each set
Two Pause Clean Pull 3x3 w/ 10 count negative on the last rep of each set
Standing Abs + GH Raise 5x10
Cal Back + Hanging Leg Raise
Traction

I'm pulling pain free....so there's that.

1/19
SSB Squat (in lbs) barx5x2 155x5x2 205x3 245x3 295x2 335x1 365x1 385x1 400x0
-Never tried a max with the SSB, so I'll take 385 (approx 175kg). A better way to run up to max single would've been a few weeks of singles/doubles/triples, but I wanted to get this and my front squat maxed out before I go to Iceland. Starting back squatting soon, so (hopefully) this will be my last SSB squatting for a little while. No idea on a goal for 2013, just taking the squatting a few kilos at a time.
Standing Abs 4x10
Traction

The Training Week That Was - 1/6 - 1/12

I put up a separate post with my eating for this week. This was about as close to an ideal Carb Nite week as it gets, so I wanted to get it down for posterity and for anyone who has questions. The squatting set-up is a variation on the "Texas Method" with a few tweaks that I picked up from Glenn Pendlay. The old tricks are still some of the best tricks.

1/6
Training
Bunch of sled dragging using a dip belt
Abs x300 (incl low back)
Four Way Neck Machine
Traction

1/7
Squat Sitting

1/8
Longish Warmup
SSB Squat barx5x2 70x5 90x4 110x3 120x5 125x5x2 130x5x3
GH Raise - 50 reps bw
Standing Abs/Hypers/Cal Extensions - a ton of each
Traction

I also got my hand examined and more x-rays. Apparently I have a bone chip wedged in my hand someplace. Pretty sure that's not good.

1/9
Epsom salt bath and a lot of sitting in a squat

1/10
Front Squat barx5x2 60x4x2 90x3x2 110x3 122x5x5 125x5
(Need longer warmup; squats didn't start feeling good until 3rd/4th sets at 122)
Cal Back Ext and Standing Abs - 3x12 of each
Rev Hypers and Hanging Leg Raise - 2x12 each
Traction

Carb Nite Wk Two - Measurements

Neck: 16 3/4"

Chest: (at the nipple line): 40.5"

Waist: (around the belly button): 34 3/4"

Hips: (at the widest part): 42.5"

Thigh: (at the largest part): 25.5"

Bicep: (unflexed, at the widest part): 15"
Weight: 208.8

1/11
Some foam rolling and squat sitting, nothing special.

1/12
Longish Warmup
SSB - bar x5x2 70x5x2 100x4 120x3 130x5 145x5 155x4 140x5x3
-first non-PR in awhile. Since I didn't make a PR I had to get my five sets done. Dieting might be kicking in, but I also took a bad jump from 145-155. I should have done a set of 1-2 at 150 just to feel it a bit. Hindsight 20/20; get it next time.
GH Raise - bwx6x2 10kgx6x2 15kgx4x2
Standing Abs - 5x10
Hypers and Traction

I'm still waiting for the MRI results, but right now I know I have a bone chip wedged in my hand. It's been six weeks since I hurt it and it is getting better, very slowly but surely. Most of me really wants to just get it removed so I can get on with training. The surgeon that I saw seems to think surgery won't be necessary and just said it'll be sore for another few months. I'm wondering if maybe it isn't so displaced that it needs to be taken out? I have a laundry list of questions to ask when I talk to him on Monday. Either way, I'm resisting the urge to start testing it out until I get back from Iceland. That'll be approx nine weeks post-injury and a good 6-7 weeks of actual rest.

The Training Week That Was - 12/30 - 1/5

The Caveman Cafeteria is a Denver food truck serving very delicious and high quality foods. They're doing a Kickstarter campaign right now to open a food cart on 16th Street. A small disclaimer: it's not your usual $8 hot dog or $9 grilled cheese. The January menu consists of wagyu beef sliders, bistro steaks and deep-fried brussel sprouts. LEGIT.

12/30-12/31 - Off. Did some epsom salts and some time sitting in a squat, but nothing special.

1/1
Abs x 100
SSB Squat barx5x2 70x5 90x4 110x5x2 120x5x3 125x5 130x5
GH Raise 5x10 + Neck Machine 5x12+12+12
Abs x150 and some kettlebell swings

Since I only have one good arm to use, it seems like an excellent time to get back into KB work. Glenn Pendlay from MuscleDriver actually reminded me of this when he posted some vids of himself doing the RKC test (100 snatches in five minutes w/ 24kg 'bell). They're boring vids (sorry man, but it's five minutes of a guy snatching a kettlebell), but what does it say about me that I watched them? Anyways, I'll start throwing these in at the end of workouts to get some variety going on as well as keep the hips snappy. Five minutes of work a couple days a week isn't gonna break me.

1/2
Foam roller work

1/3 - Carb Nite
Measurements

Neck: 16.5"

Chest: (at the nipple line): 40 1/2"

Waist: (around the belly button): 35 1/4"

Hips: (at the widest part): 42"

Thigh: (at the largest part): 26"

Bicep: (unflexed, at the widest part): 15"
Weight: 211.6

Longer Warmup
Front Squat - barx5x2 60x5x2 80x5 100x4 110x4 120x5x6
GH Raise - BW x6 10kgx6x2 15kgx6x2
Reverse Hypers - 3x6 heavy
Traction
- I forgot about my KB work, so I did five minutes of snatches with a 20kg kettlebell. No idea on the reps; I think around 7-10 sets of 8? Boy do they suck when you can't change hands.

Contents of my Carb Nite: Two scoops of Muscle Feast Anabolic Recover (my favorite post-workout shake), some brownies, a quarter of a cherry cheesecake, half a gallon of raw milk, slice of berry pie, bit of chicken breast along with a couple shakes with leucine. Much heavier on fat and sweets than I prefer but I got a late start at the gym and had a short window to get my feed on, so I went with what I had in my freezer.

1/4 - Epsom Salt

1/5
Front Squat with Straps - barx5x2 60x5x2 (could NOT get loose) 90x4 110x3 130x3 142x3 147x3 152x2 (I think the last three are all PRs)
GH Raise bwx5x2 10kgx5x2 15kgx5x2 20kgx5 20kgx4 15kgx7
Heavy Rev Hypers/Standing Abs/GH Situps - bunch of each
Traction

My partners have been working with Josh Bryant and they tested their squats and deadlifts. Reggie squatted 525 and pulled 605, Beau squatted 525 and skipped the DL, Justin squatted 455, pulled 585 and lost 605 just above his knees. Your brother from another mother did the filming and took some pics. Reggie's max squats and pulls are on his YouTube channel here. Justin's are also listed here. Great work by those guys and super happy for them.  

Moving UP a Weight Class by Dieting DOWN

First order of business in moving up a weight class: diet down.

Say WHAT?

I'm moving out of the 94s and into the 105s. I competed in strongman as a 105, but my body composition sucked. With the application of Carb Backloading and Carb Nite (information on both diets via Dangerously Hardcore), I've been able to recomp and maintain weight in the 210-215 range with my lifts steadily rising. The fact that my squats have been moving up consistently leads me to be believe that some weight gain might be just what the doctor ordered.

So why diet down first? Why not just keep going with backloads full of pho, cherry turnovers, doughnuts and gummy worms? Two reasons:

1. Diet Rebound. Shelby Starnes and John Meadows discuss the idea of a post-contest diet "rebound effect" where the body makes huge gains in strength and muscle mass. I don't think it's any coincidence that these squat gains have come after twelve weeks of Carb Nite. Gaining weight just for the sake of gaining weight is pointless and is an excuse to eat like a fat kid. Don't forget: Excuses = You Suck.

2. Injury. My hand isn't in good shape. In fact, I'm seeing a surgeon later this week for another opinion and an MRI. It's been five weeks since the injury and it hasn't meaningfully improved. I still can't do any Oly lifts or overhead pressing and pulling from the floor causes soreness, swelling and general uselessness. As far as any athletic endeavor, my left hand is about as useful as a poopy flavored lollypop. The amount of volume I can do isn't enough to warrant Carb-Backloading. This also means limited upper body work, although I'm still working the good arm. My right arm still has some nerve damage left over from rugby so this is my chance to get it caught up to the left arm. Training really revolves around the Safety Squat Bar and the Front Squat.

My plan is Carb Nite until I'm back to full training, with my Carb Nite planned for Thursdays so I can reload for Saturday's max day. I've been known to have a carb hangover or get leg cramps in my sleep, so I don't like training the morning after Carb Nite. I'll record measurements, bodyweight and snap photos...PG-rated of course. Standard issue, incredibly embarrassing bathroom mirror shots of course.

Barring further hand setbacks, the other 7-8 months of 2013 will be an illustration in how to effectively gain GOOD weight and add kilos to my total using Carb-Backloading and Olympic weightlifting. Filling out as a useful, non-sloppy 105kg lifter will be a multi-year process, but Rome wasn't built in a day.

Starting Measurements (from 12/28)

Neck: 16.5"

Chest (at the nipple line): 41"

Waist (around the belly button): 36 1/4"

Hips (at the widest part): 43"

Thigh (at the largest part): 26 1/4"

Bicep (unflexed, at the widest part): 15"

Embarrassing Bathroom Mirror Pic #1