Quest for Fire

[Erok]

Fri., 1/10. 218.25#.

Squats: While I'm warming up with the bar, think, "why not warm up the presses, too?" Before I know it, I'm super-setting, and it goes something like this:

Squat 45 x 20, Press 45 x 15, Squat 95 x 5, Press 95 x 5, Squat 175 x 5, Press 135 x 5, belt on for 5,5. Hot Damn! Feels beastly to press a pair of big wheels. I can tell that I'm doing the lift in two distinct parts, below the head and above the head. From liftoff, it's a slight layback and all front of the shoulders. Once above the head, I duck forward (feels like I'm pulling the bar back) and triceps take over to lockout, with a nice tight shrug. The transition is a bit jerky, but I don't care at this point, cuz' I'm locked out with 135 3 x 5! dropset 95 x 8.

back to Squats: 200 x 5, 230 x 5, (my lunch is not quite fully - urp - digested yet. hope this don't get ugly.) belt on for 255 x 5,5,5. dropset 200 x 5, I'm going too low, and my butt wink is battling with the belt somehow. belt off for 200 x 8. I manage to keep lunch down.

Bench: 65 x 20, 125 x 10, 145 x 5,5, 95 x 12, 12. no biggie.

Good mornings: 45 x 8, 65 x 8, 95 x 8. That's all it takes; my hammies are sore today.

It is decided that I need to cut. When I gain any extra weight, it resides in my head and throat, making me snore like a freight train. This not good for wife. She thinks 200# is the magic number. I'm not so attached to a specific weight. I'm all about burning off the fatz.
I must be northwards of 25%. Yep, just looked at some pics - probly 27.3%. So, let's see: 219 x .27 = 59# total body fat, 160# LBM. yikes. Is that right? cutting to 200 would put me at 155 LBM + 45 fat = 22%.
Hm. I'm just gonna add cardio where I can, save the milk for peri-workout, and make more sauerkraut. Oh, and ice skating today, says wife.

[Erok]

Sat., 1/11. into the basement for 5 minutes of stop & start KB swings, followed by pan-asian buffet. Love that hibachi station.

Sun., 1/12. We take advantage of the amazingly warm weather to clear all the accumulated ice off the driveway & walk. I'm panting quite heavily by the end. I declare it Crossfit.

Mon. 1/13. It's heavy day! weigh in right at 217#, but I'm really thirsty.

Squats: 100 x 5, 200 x 5, 230 x 5, 255 x 5, belt on, 285 x 5,5,5.

OHP: 45 x 15. That's enough for now. Elbow is bugging me where I broke it twelve years ago.

Close Grip Bench: 45 x 15, 95 x 5,5, 135 x 5, 165 x 5,5.

Deadlift: 135 x 5. Ooo - spin lock collars! 225 x 3, 325 x 2, 375 x 1,1. The first one gives me that tunnel vision and lightheadedness that I love so much. The second one is a freaking bone grinder, but my head stays firmly planted to the rest of me. dropset: 315 x 3.

My elbow is still bugging me, so I go over to the bench area, and get in some curls & LTEs, 3 sets, 20 reps. I grab a small kettlebell by the ball end and do some reverse grip curls - fun stuff! Sure enough, the elbow pain is completely gone.

I weigh myself before I head out: 218# on the nose. I don't know how much I lost in sweat, but one pound of water is right around a pint. I thought for sure I drank way more than that. Oh, well. Lots of awesome beef roast for dinner!

[Erok]

Wed., 1/16. 217.25#.

Squats: 95 x 10, 185 x 5, 230 x 5,5.

Bench: 65 x 10, 135 x 5, 150 x 5, 165 x 5, 185 x 3,4,2,1,1. Damn. That was hard - not enough carbs consumed today, I guess. that set of four was dangerous - should not have gone for the fourth rep. ugly, ugly. dropsets: 150 x 8, 135 x 8.

OHP: 45 x 15, 85 x 5, 110 x 5,5,5. These feel real good.

Power Cleans: spin lock collars, baby! Makes my yellow 15kg training wheels look more badass. 55kg x 2,2,2,2,2,3,2. These are both powerful and clean. Looking forward to upping the weight next week.

I find the CII rower beneath the stairs behind the coat rack. Perfect place for it, in my opinion.
resistance on 5. 1 min warmup + 15 sec of peak 300W to 75 sec idling for 6 rounds. 10 min total, average Watts: 81.

Feeling pretty good. My wife learned how to make hominy grits!

[Erok]

Tues., 1/21. Been out for a while - head cold, with a little fever. I've trained through head colds before, and it's great, but the fever is what stopped me this time. Suuuucks. Just consumed mass quantities of food, books, and movies (The World's End > This Is The End, although I enjoyed both; finished reading My Sister from the Black Lagoon {sad}, read The Road {AWESOME!!} in six hours straight, and am halfway through Cloud Atlas {not sure where it's going yet}).
Avgolomono soup, for the win.

weigh in at 215#. was not expecting that.

Squats: 95 x 6, 185 x 5, 230 x 5, 260 x 5,5, 225 x 5,5.

OHP: 45 x 10, 95 x 5, 115 x 5, 140 x 2, 1, embarrassment. couldn't get it over my head, and couldn't get the right side back in the rack. deload, re-rack for 95 x 8, 10, 8.

Every flat bench station is taken, so I warm up on the incline bench: 45 x 10, 65 x 10. Eh, not sure if I like the bar an inch above my eyeballs.
Flat bench opens up, so I pounce. 95 x 10, 135 x 5, 150 x 5,5.

Good Mornings: 45 x 10, 65 x 10, 95 x 10, 10. Done. Fuck cardio today.

Dinner is a plate completely covered with fried leftover pizza, which is covered in scrambled eggs, upon which is mounded beef rendang, cream cheese ranch dip, and hot sauce. milk & whey shake for dessert.

not too sore today, so I think I'm back in the game.

[Erok]

Almost forgot - had an ego boost. At a party - small get-together of friends. Typical Midwestern setup: four of us, standing in a circle, next to the food table, each with a drink in one hand. Somehow, the conversation turns to exercise (wasn't me, I swear, I was just minding my own business, smiling and nodding), and people remark on my 'massive bulk', start asking how much I lift, etc. I make a few comments on how much I've always hated cardio, just keep a simple program, etc. The girl across from me asks:
"but what do you do for your core?"
"Well, that's what the squats, deadlifts & presses are for, they..."
"No, no, no. You need to include core stuff, blah blah..." She's looking at my power gut. I realize it's pointless to argue, but I suddenly see a way out. I point to my abdomen, and fix her with my gaze.
"I want you to hit me. As hard. As you can." She declines to punch me, but takes one hand and reaches out to grab my abz, as if to de-liver me, Mola Ram style. I will admit to using a gentle valsalva at this point.
"Oh," she says. "Here, wait, lemme..." she puts down her drink and uses both hands in an attempt to knead my stomach. I hold the flex, but keep breathing normally, smile, and sip my drink. "Oh, God. It's so solid. Jeez. Okay, okay." She backs away, reclaiming her glass. "Yeah, you work your core."
I am the very picture of humbleness.

[gatorinexile]

Hey studmeister: Cormac McCarthy is my favorite author. You should work your way up to his epic: Blood Meridian. <- one of the best books of the 20th Century. His Border Trilogy is a good place to start.

[Erok]

Cormac McCarthy

Absolutely. I want to collect all his works, and reserve a section of the bookshelves I plan on building.

[Erok]

Thurs., 1/23. Drank some coffee before leaving work (my usual rule is none after 2pm). By the time I get to the gym, I'm all wiry-nerved, and my tummy's a bit woogety. This makes me nervous to lift, which is a feeling I'm not used to. I'm a gonna take it slow.

weigh in at 216, but after a long, lesiurely visit to the men's room, I weigh in again at a titch under 215.5. Ahhh.

Squats: 100 x 5, 200 x 5, 235 x 5, 260 x 5, belt: 290 x 5,5,5. That took 10 seconds to type, but forever to actually get done. My breaks had to be over 7 minutes between work sets. I get to watch some boxing while I rest. All the boxing guys I've seen here so far, with the exception of two or three mammajammas, are really, really skinny.

OHP: it's lite press day, so to change things up, I try my hand at the dumbbells. standing, with one in each hand: 20 x 10, 25 x 10, 30 x 10. These are kinda fun.

Close Grip Bench: 65 x 5, 120 x 5, 135 x 5, 150 x 5,5,5. If I was SWMFP (sticking with my fucking program), I'd be going for 170. I wimp out tonight. My tummy's still a little strange, right shoulder's a bit pingy, and I'm wayy too wired. Gotta save myself for...

Deadlifts: 135 x 5, 225 x 3, 315 x 1, 365 x 1, hey, wait - my belt is broken in! belt up, 385 x 1. felt awesome. 225 x 5, just to fuck myself up with. Every rep metabolizes a bit more caffeine out of my system, and by the end, it's all gone. Wheew!

I finish in Kettlebell Korner, with some halos & curls, and this grip thing I figured out, where I grip the cannonball part instead of the handle (using the small ones), and attempt to reverse-grip curl it. Lots of fun.

Wife makes pigs in a blanket, and green bean casserole! I feel like a kid again.

[Erok]

Tues., 1/21. not too sore today, so I think I'm back in the game.

A quick note on that. The day after is almost never the problem. It's the SECOND day after when I feel the DOMS. Day 3 is okay.

[Erok]

Sun., 1/26. weigh in: 218.75#. Ha, ha, ha! Oh, weight loss, you are a fickle, fickle mistress. It's my own fault, really. I've been eating anything & everything all over this weekend.

I shovel snow for my preworkout warmup. I'm counting it.

It must be Powerlifter Sunday at the gym. Groups & gaggles of guys & gals are crazy busy with the squat racks, platforms, & benches. Chains are being used for deadlifts, benches & squats. The Man Who Is Like a Mountain is playing with the Atlas stones. I still manage to nab my favorite squat rack, next to a triad of dudes who are putting knee wraps on each other and taking turns squatting 365 for reps. I think I might be the only guy without actual 'lifting' shoes (still literally grinding my Vibrams into the ground).

Squats: 100 x 5, 150 x 5, 200 x 5, 235 x 5,5,5. These actually feel light, for a change.

Bench: 65 x 10, 135 x 5, 150 x 5, 165 x 5, 185 x 5,5,5. YEAH! I think it helped that I asked for a spot on the last set. Something about having a random guy's crotch in your face really helps the bar go up. Dropsets: 155 x 8, 135 x 5.

There's an actual viking in the gym: A tall bearded guy, with shoulders about as wide as an EZCurl bar, talking in a thick Nordic accent, with a tattoo on his calf of A VIKING DOING SQUATS. Not sure how much was on the bar.

OHP: 45 x 15, 95 x 5, 115 x 4, 105 x 3. boy, are my arms tired.

Power Cleans: 50Kg x 3, 60Kg x 3,3,3,3,3,3. These are mostly excellent. By this time, the crowded madness has largely subsided, and I'm treated to the sight of two skinny tall guys trade squats at 155, just above parallel, for many, many reps, both wearing thick-squishy-soled, 'athletic' shoes. I am no longer the weakest guy in the gym!

Kettlebell grips, curls, & presses for the finish. No rower today (see snow-shoveling above).




Spare Ribs in the slow cooker:

spare ribs
onions
garlic
beef broth (or chicken, or whatever)
leftover coffee
apple cider vinegar
molasses
salt
pepper/spices

1. Turn slow cooker to low, add chopped onions & garlic.

2. Sear ribs in very hot skillet, arrange in slow cooker.

3. Deglaze skillet with vinegar & coffee, bring to rolling boil.

4. Add molasses & broth, salt & pepper/spices to taste, and continue to boil, reducing slightly.

5. Pour liquid over ribs and cover, slow-cook for 5-6 hours.