Legitimacy first, then greatness. Adam Skillin is a competitive powerlifter.

[Adam Skillin]

Ha ha, thanks. I do need to up this bodyweight. I keep telling myself "One more meet at 148," but I can still up my game by a few pounds and still get back down there for October. Milk has been purchased.

Today I did tomorrow's scheduled upper body work, so I can make a social obligation tomorrow night. It kind of went unbelievably well. Maybe not squatting first is good for my bench press:

Bench: 230 x 5 (5-lb PR. Maybe even had 1 in the tank), 215 x 6 x 2

Widened my grip by a lot (From pinkies inside the rings to middle fings on the rings), and pressed the bar to a spot that feels like it's over my lower sternum rather than over my actual glenohumeral joints at the top. The shoulder that's been absolutely killing me and costing me $2/week in ibuprofen felt fine through all the warm-ups. Then it made some popping/crackling/snapping connective tissue noises on the 4th and 5th reps @ 230 (aka the money reps). I'm choosing to interpret this as things moving back into their anatomically normal positions. I think I un-impinged this damn thing by setting a bench PR.

Chin-ups: 18
Dips: 22
Chin-ups: 8
Dips: 12
Chin-ups: 7
Dips: 10

[salvilla]

Wondering? Do you keep your BW low for Jiu-Jitsu?

[Adam Skillin]

Wondering? Do you keep your BW low for Jiu-Jitsu?

There was talk of a pro MMA opportunity, and I'd want to fight at 135, but lately I've been staying within the range of where I can make 148 for powerlifting. After this next meet, if a fight doesn't materialize, it's time to GOMAD it up, especially since beach season is coming to an end.

[salvilla]

Your lifts would by scary if you added BW. Even scarier if you were not sharing energy resources with Jiu-Jitsu. Nonetheless, adding BW alone would decrease the beating on your body from both lifting and Jiu-Jitsu.

[Adam Skillin]

8/21/14

Squat: 355 x 5 x 3

New bumpers came today. I squatted all the rubber in the room. Weird coincidence that all the bumpers + bar = work weight. Skipped power cleans due to a social obligation. Will do something with them Saturday. The end.

[Adam Skillin]

8/23/14:

Squats (light): 280 x 5 x 2
Bench (volume): 215 x 5 x 5

Shoulder is acting janky again. Have spoken to my metal fabricator friend about a Swiss bar, since I don't want to spend $275 on one, but hope this might allow me to press heavy and keep getting stronger while I rehab it, which it looks like I'm going to have to do. Anybody use one and find that it's kinder on the shoulders than the barbell?

[gtl]

8/23/14:

Squats (light): 280 x 5 x 2
Bench (volume): 215 x 5 x 5

Shoulder is acting janky again. Have spoken to my metal fabricator friend about a Swiss bar, since I don't want to spend $275 on one, but hope this might allow me to press heavy and keep getting stronger while I rehab it, which it looks like I'm going to have to do. Anybody use one and find that it's kinder on the shoulders than the barbell?

It is easier on the shoulder, as is almost anything with a neutral grip (neutral grip db presses, neutral grip pushups, neutral grip chin ups, etc). However, I found it to be hard on my wrists, mainly due to it being hard to even distribute the weight.

[Adam Skillin]

It is easier on the shoulder, as is almost anything with a neutral grip (neutral grip db presses, neutral grip pushups, neutral grip chin ups, etc). However, I found it to be hard on my wrists, mainly due to it being hard to even distribute the weight.

Thanks, I'll watch out for that and maybe get some wrist wraps. Of course the best thing would be if I can keep benching with the barbell, but I'm not sure that's going to be an option in the near term.

[Christopher John]

What happened to your shoulder?

[Adam Skillin]

What happened to your shoulder?

Don't exactly know. It's probably either bursitis or rotator cuff something-or-other. Reading through some of the older Rip Q&A's, I think I may need to deload and learn to keep my elbows tucked better to fix/avoid this issue in the future. But the Swiss Bar will still be a fun toy regardless, especially if I ever decide to go all Westside on everybody's ass.

8/25/14:

New 3" Best Belt arrived today. Sand is a lighter color than I thought, but everything feels better for me in the 3" belt. I hate to let my 4" trusty rusty sit idle, but fortunately Concarnes is currently borrowing it for his squats.

Squat: 315 x 8 x 3 (Can I finally grow some big legs? Probably not)
Press: 150 x 5 x 5 (5 lbs below my last intensity day for volume day. WTF)
Deadlift: 460 x 2 (f) (didn't pull the last one like I really really meant it though. Damn me)
Rack pull (pins in #3, bar just at bottom of knee cap): 480 x 5

Woke up this morning with a really stiff neck from getting stacked at jiu jitsu yesterday. Felt like crap from Sunday morning through about lunch time. Surprised I was able to get this all done, honestly. Thought I might bag the workout entirely up to about 11 a.m.

Lots of vitamin I, some aggressive palpating of the right side of my neck, and I forgot all about my troubles by the second set of squats. The extra sleep from feeling like garbage might actually have done me good. Also, I've put on about 10 lbs since the meet. Didn't get on the scale today, but I'm 156-158 for sure. I did get into the 9th hole of 11 (??) on squats on my new 3" best belt (Deadlifted on hole 8), since it doesn't have to go around hip bones or ribs. Only 2 holes to shrink. I may end up buying a leather punch or sending it back to the Bests for an extra hole or two if I lean up to make weight for another tournament.