cesimpson

Wednesday 7 April

Bench Press Day

This was an abysmal day. I’m toying with a new set-up for the bench. I have been watching a few videos lately on the set up for a good powerlifting bench press, and I used Wednesday to try out some of the new ideas. It didn’t work out so well.

3x Warm Up @ 65#, 95#, 115#

8x Bent Over Row +

8x Power Clean +

8x Front Squat +

8x Push Jerk +

8x Back Squat

Bench Press

5x Press @ 120#

5x Press @ 180#

3x Press @ 205#

2x Press @ 230#

I had WAY more than 2x in my arms and chest, but the new set-up left me uncomfortable and not particularly stable. The balance of the bar wasn’t what I was used to. It came down to my torso much lower than my normal set up. Awkward. I need to decide if I’m going to work on the new set up (tighter, better, in theory) or stick with what I have (if it ain’t broke…).

Assistance Work

8x Floor Press @ 185#

15x Zercher Squat @ 185#

10x Weighted Sit Ups (lvl#2 incline) @ 10# (held behind head)

7x Floor Press @ 185#

12x Zercher Squat @ 185#

7x Weighted Sit Ups (lvl#2 incline) @ 10# (held behind head)

6x Floor Press @ 185#

10x Zercher Squat @ 185#

3x Weighted Sit Ups (lvl#2 incline) @ 10# (held behind head)

Friday 9 April

3x Warm Up @ 65#, 95#, 115#

8x Bent Over Row +

8x Power Clean +

8x Front Squat +

8x Push Jerk +

8x Back Squat

Deadlift

5x Pull @ 195#

5x Pull @ 295#

3x Pull @ 335#

8x Pull @ 375# !!

Assistance Work & High Rep Squats

15x Incline Press @ 125#

5x Squat @ 135#

15x (ea. arm) 3-pt Row @ 55# DB

5x Squat @ 185#

15x Incline Press @ 125#

20x Squat @ 225#

15x (ea. arm) 3-pt Row @ 55# DB

20x Squat @ 225#

15x Incline Press @ 125#

15x Squat @ 225#

15x (ea. arm) 3-pt Row @ 55# DB

10x Squat @ 225#

Next week is a deload week. I’m going to go with a warm up and light 5×5 with about 4 exercises per day. Week after that, it’s back on the 5-3-1 with some more high rep squats. My end goal is 4 sets of 20x @ 225#. Also, I’ve been thinking a lot about some weaknesses and realized my pulling isn’t really where it should be. I’m going to increase my dumbbell rows pretty significantly, add face pulls and (~gasp~) add some dedicated bicep work in some barbell curls.

Friday was Front Squat day in the 5-3-1. Good news. I came away with underwear intact.

Friday 26 March

3x Warm Up Barbell Circuit @ 65#, 95#, 115#

8x Bent Over Row

8x Power Clean

8x Front Squat

8x Jerk

8x Back Squat

Front Squats

5x Squat @ 130#

3x Squat @ 185#

3x Squat @ 210#

7x Squat @ 235#

Assistance Work & High Rep Back Squat

15x Incline Press @ 125#

5x Back Squat @ 135#

15x (ea. arm) DB 3-point Row @ 55#

5x Back Squat @ 185#

12x Incline Press @ 125#

20x Back Squat @ 225#

15x (ea. arm) DB 3-point Row @ 55#

15x Back Squat @ 225#

11x Incline Press @ 125#

10x Back Squat @ 225#

15x (ea. arm) DB 3-point Row @ 55#

10x Back Squat @ 225#

Extracting Wheat Germ DNA at the St. Louis Science Center

A couple weeks ago, my wife, children and I went to the St. Louis Science Center to see their Dinosaurs Unearthed (pdf) exhibit. My wife won some free tickets and my son, being a normal 4 year old boy, loves dinosaurs. So we went.

The whole thing was really enjoyable. I did overhear one woman complaining to her husband that the Science Center wasn’t “…telling both sides of the story.” Her main complaint seemed to be:

1. The exhibit is about dinosaurs…
2. …which walked the earth between 200 and about 50 million years ago…
3. …and the Bible doesn’t make any mention of dinosaurs…
4. …nor an earth that is more than 50 million years old…
5. …and that the Science Center did not go out of its way to provide alternate (read: more Bible-friendly) “theories” for the existence of such evidence.

…but this is Missouri and I’m used to hearing such nonsense.

The exhibit is very well done. If you get a chance, go see it. All four of us enjoyed it immensely.

Anyway, after we left the exhibit, I took our 6-yr-old daughter up to a hands-on lab. There are all sorts of computer-guided projects - the one we choose was to extract DNA from wheat germ. We donned our lab coats and goggles and played lab chemist. All the steps are easy enough my 6-year-old could easily accomplish on her own.

As we had to wait for the solution to settle at various points, a computer slideshow played, explaining what is DNA and how it exists and defines all living things - including humans - all in a way easily understood by my daughter. In fact, that evening we saw my parents and she explained to them both what she had done, described the process, and also gave them a good lesson on DNA, what it does, and where it comes from (in her case, at least indirectly, them!). Very cool thing they have going on there.

To sum: The Saint Louis Science Center is awesome. If you have kids, take them there. Often. If you don’t have kids, take yourself there. Go on a date there. If you don’t live in St. Louis, come to St. Louis and visit the Science Center. And the best part of the whole deal is that MOST of the exhibits are free. The movies cost and some special exhibits cost, but most of the building is simply free. Walk in the door and explore.

Monday

3x Warm Up Barbell Circuit @ 65#, 95#, 115#

8x Bent Over Row

8x Power Clean

8x Front Squat

8x Jerk

8x Back Squat

Bench Press

5x Press @ 120#

3x Press @ 170#

3x Press @ 195#

7x Press @ 220#

Assistance Work & Heavy Back Squat

15x Weighted Dips @ BW+25#

10x Back Squat @ 135#

15x BW Row @ BW

10x Back Squat @ 185#

15x Weighted Dips @ BW+25#

10x Back Squat @ 225#

12x BW Row @ BW

10x Back Squat @ 225#

15x Weighted Dips @ BW+25#

5x Back Squat @ 275#

9x BW Row @ BW

5x Back Squat @ 275#

Two interesting things happened in the last few days. The most recent happened yesterday as the House of Representatives voted to enact some kind of health care insurance reform in the United States.

The other happened Saturday morning in St. Charles, MO. It was a far more local thing. It affected one person significantly, maybe another half-dozen or so tangentially. Their roughly temporal intersection has given me some thoughts for this blog.

But first, this morning’s workout.

Monday Morning

3x Warm Up @ 65#, 95#, 115#

8x Barbell Row

8x Power Clean

8x Front Squat

8x Jerks

8x Back Squat

Deadlift

5x Deadlift @ 195#

5x Deadlift @ 255#

5x Deadlift @ 295#

9x Deadlift @ 335#

Assistance Work

15x Dips @ BW+25#

10x Squats @ 135#

15x BW Rows

10x Squat @ 185#

12x Dips @ BW+25#

10x Squats @ 225#

12x BW Rows

10x Squat @ 225#

AMAP: 10x Dips @ BW+25#

AMAP: 5x Squats @ 275#

AMAP: 9x BW Rows

AMAP: 4x Squat @ 275#

My legs are quickly becoming accustomed to the higher work load. I don’t feel half as sore today as I did on Friday, and not a tenth as sore as I did a week ago.

The Story

On Saturday morning, my nearly-70-year-old, 300# father-in-law undertook the task of removing the Christmas lights from the roof of his home. After he put the extension ladder away, and on his way inside, he noticed he forgot to remove the wreath from the backboard of the basketball goal hanging over the garage.

Not wishing to walk “all the way” back down to the shed to retrieve the extension ladder, he got the 6′ aluminum step ladder out of the garage and climbed up to reach the wreath. Needing nearly all 6′ of that aluminum step ladder, he climbed to the top-most step. (For bonus points, I will leave it as an exercise for the reader to calculate the center of gravity of such a precarious system.)

As a review: aluminum is known for (and generally valued for) its relative light weight. My father-in-law is not.

So, FiL reached out untie the wreath and the whole system came tumbling down onto the hard concrete below. He could not get up on his own; with the assistance of neighbors, he made his way inside to clean up the abrasions and assess the damage. It was pretty bad.

An immediate trip to the ER and another, later, trip to an orthopedist gives us the following:

• a battered and bruised left arm, shoulder, hip, leg and foot
• sprained ACL
• torn medial meniscus
• a broken kneecap - two separate fractures
• a broken heel

No weigh-bearing activity whatsoever for four weeks - basically he’s wheelchair bound. Reassess in four weeks for possible physical therapy or perhaps a continuation of the enforced rest.

So, what does this have to do with health care insurance? I would like to propose hypertrophy and fat loss as a very inexpensive health insurance.

It’s widely known that, in female athletes, improving single-leg balance and strengthening core and posterior chain muscles (especially the hamstring) significantly reduce incidences of ACL injuries. I suspect, though he’s neither female nor an athlete, stronger core and posterior chain muscles (and the often occurring less body fat) would have significantly reduced my FiL’s chance of injury from his fall. One could argue, I think convincingly, he’d have been less likely to fall in the first place if he had more muscle and less fat and better single-leg balance.

Furthermore, I think it’s reasonable to assume that, in general, as we get older, the more muscle and the less fat we carry into old age, the less injury prone we’re going to be. So, while Congress, the President and the Tea Baggers all argue about health insurance reform in the United States, why don’t you spend $25/month at a gym and institute your own supplemental policy?

To recap since the last time I wrote anything here:

• I trained a lot for the stair climb
• I got violently ill for about 36 hours and couldn’t really eat anything substantial for about 12 days. Lost almost 10 pounds.
• (Stupidly) continued to train anyway through those 12 days.
• Nearly 1500 people raised more than $340k for the American Lung Association
• We raced.
• I made it to the top in 6:49 - not great, but I’m content. 5th in my age/gender division. 21st overall.
• Rested for a week. I ate a lot, slept a lot and did a lot of soft tissue work.

And Monday morning, I got up with a new 5-3-1-and-lots-of-squats-plan and started lifting heavy again. Here’s what I (re)learned this morning: When one doesn’t lift heavy things for 8+ weeks, one shouldn’t expect to lift the previously lifted heavy things without some significant soreness.

Monday

3x Warm Up @ 95#, 115#, 135#

8x Bent Over Barbell Row

8x Power Clean

8x Front Squat

8x Push Press

8x Back Squat

Military Press (plan)

5x Press @ 80#

5x Press @ 100#

5x Press @ 120#

AMAP Press @ 135#

This is where my plan went horribly wrong in a few different ways, all at once. First, the “warm ups” were a little more than advertised and, not only warmed me up but burned me out. Secondly, I don’t have the strength endurance in my upper body anymore to maintain the pace between sets we were setting. Thirdly, my 1RM apparently isn’t 175# anymore.

Military Press (actual)

5x Press @ 80#

5x Press @ 100# (this is harder than it should be)

3x Press @ 120# (WTF?)

0x Press @ 135#

Assistance Work

15x Dips @ BW+25#

10x Squat @ 135#

15x BW Rows

10x Squat @ 185#

12x Dips @ BW+25#

10x Squat @ 225#

12x BW Rows

10x Squat @ 225#

AMAP: 10x Dips @ BW+25#

AMAP: 5x Squat @ 275#

AMAP: 7x BW Rows

AMAP: 3x Squat @ 275#

And now I’m sore.

Barbell Circuit

I did the following circuit:

• RDL
• Bent Over Barbell Row
• Hang Power Clean
• Front Squat
• Push Press
• Back Squat
• Good Morning

at the following reps/weights

• 21x ea. @ 45#
• 13x ea. @ 75#
• 8x ea. @ 95#
• 5x ea. @ 95#
• 3x ea. @ 115#
• 2x ea. @ 115#
• 1x ea. @ 135#
• 1x ea. @ 155#

Moving pretty quickly, just enough “rest” to change the weights, rechalk my hands and pick the bar back up.

8x Rowing Erg

500m @ < 2:10 page

Rest 1:00

5x

8x BSS (R) @ 95#

8x BSS (L) @ 95#

8x Back Squat @ 95#