Quest for Fire

[Erok]

Mon., 2/01. 221#. I need more shoulders. Not for aesthetics, but if I'm going to grow up to enter a strongman comp, much less compete, I need more shoulders.


Clean & Press, in which every press is cleaned: 89x3, 109x3, 135 x 3,3,3,3,3,3. supersetted with
CHiNs: 3,3,3,3,3. Fraking exhausting.

Lat Pulldowns: 60x10,10,10,10,10.
Facepulls, or as I like to call them: Mustache Rides. Cuz the rope forms a v-shape, and... never mind. 30x12, 20x20,20,20,20,20.

Seated Press: 45x8, 95 x 8,8. weird.

DB Shoulder Madness - side, front, back raises. 3 sets of 10. I'm not going to tell you which DBs, because I still have a modicum of pride left. Ok, fine, I used 5#. But they were bare metal antique Yorks!

Curlz, of which I attempt a variety: cable (sucks horrible - I like my force component of gravity straight down, thank you) 20x20,
DB (sucks less) 15x10,10,10,
BB (in the squat rack, right next to two bodybuilder/powerlifter chicks doing serious stuff) 45x15.
Tricep Pushdowns: 30x15, 20 x30,30.


Yeah, so, that happened.


leftover chicken & noodles as a snack, then steak & cabbage & milk & potato chips.


Why, yes, my posterior delts are killing me! How did you know?

[ajvd]

Mon., 2/01. 221#. I need more shoulders. Not for aesthetics, but if I'm going to grow up to enter a strongman comp, much less compete, I need more shoulders.

Apparently you need to hack squat Instagram

[Erok]

Apparently you need to hack squat Instagram

Holy Wow. Stan Effin' Efferding. I got a lot to learn.

[Erok]

Wed., 2/03. 220#. They do front squats, don't they?

FSquat: 95 x 5,5, 120 x 5, 135 x 5, 155 x 5, 175 x 5, 185 x 5. Okay, I think I get it.

Squat: 225 x 8,8.

Lunges: 45x8, 95 x 8,8,8. These burn a different part of the ass.

Sled drag, backwards - one of my events: 200# x 30ft x 4. actually more like 60ft x 2, but turning the sled around doesn't take much energy. maybe if I pulled it in a circle...

Weighted Planks: 10# 60seconds x3. These are weird because you need to convince another person to put a plate on your back. Wife is jealous of how 'good' I am at these.


Pork chop, bison sausage, buttered peas, cabbage.

[Erok]

Protein content: awesome
Carb content: lower, but still there
Fat content: yes, fat keeps me content. toast this shit and butter it up.


Wet ingredients:

3/4 C Almond butter

5 Eggs

1/4 C coconut oil - melted

1 T honey

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Dry ingredients:

1/4 C whey powder

1/4 C Almond Flour/meal

3 T coconut flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp Salt


1. preheat oven to 350. line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

2. blend wet ingredients in a bowl.

3. blend dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then mix into the wet bowl. It will be batter-like instead of dough-like.

4. pour batter into the loaf pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golllllden browwwwwn. Toothpick test works well. Remove and let cool before slicing.

[Erok]

Mon., 2/08. 215.8# Wut? Slow bulking, indeed.

Log Press; in which the first clean & press is then carried overhead through an obstacle course of haphazardly placed atlas stones and gym bags between platforms, and each set of presses is cleaned once: 90x5, 100 x 5, 110 x 5, 120 x 5,5, 130 x 5, 8.
Well, this is pretty awesome. very awkward to clean, and once you get it up on top of the chest, it forces you to layback, which I'm not used to. The pressing is fairly straightforward otherwise, and the hollow steel really amplifies the clanging of the plates. Verdict: totally badass.

Supersetted with
CHiNs: 3,3,3,3,3,3. gonna move on to 4s.

Lat pulldowns: 60 x 15,10,10,10,10.
mustache rides: 20 x 20,20,20,20,20. not as burny as last time.

Z Press; in which the Z stands for the name of the sadist who thought it would be a good idea to sit on the floor of the rack with the legs straight out and press a bar overhead from the safeties: 45x8, 65 x 5, 95 x 8,8. Oooch. 95 never got me so red in the face. I can't wait to do these again.

Shoulder Madness; in which I seclude myself among the nautilus machines with a pair of 8#DBs: lat raise, front raise, rear raise: 10, 10, 10.

Wife comes in, says she does not feel like it tonight. But, hey, she's here! Squat & leave, baby! She squats a PR of 145 x 2, then tells me she misses benching. I go through the handoff technique with her, and she benches another PR of 95 x 4! So very proud.

I weigh in again: 216.2#. I drank a little over a liter and a half of water. This is further proof that we know NOTHING about the human body. Go ahead, try and prove me wrong. No, PubMed doesn't count. Can't do it, can you? Yeah, didn't think so. There, there, it's okay, I'm not mocking you. Just saying. We know nothing.

Garlic mashed potatoes with cheese & eggs. Smoked lamb & split pea stew. Watching From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series. Life is good.

[Erok]

Wed., 2/10. 218.6#. Pizza for lunch.

Front Squat, paused. Did I mention all the front squats have been paused? Yeah, all the front squats are paused. At the bottom, that is. 45x..., 95 x 9, 135 x 6, 185 x 3, 195 x 3, 205 x 3. Okay, I think I found my working weight.

Squat: 245 x 8,8.

Sled Drag, 60': 225 x 1, 250 x 1, 275 x 1. I feel like I'm being pretty badass with these, then my wife grabs the 275 and drags it for 60' like she's walking the dog. I got a ways to go.



DIM SUM. Oh, ye gods. I love it so. We show up hungry with a friend, and the menu is a poster-sized field of glorious full-color pictures with check boxes. we pick out 14 items. Our waiter remarks, "that's a lot of food." We say, "yes, we know." He takes it back to the kitchen, and a minute later the chef steps out of the door, looks us over, and goes back in (if there was ever a sign from the food gods, that is IT). We laugh and keep pouring the sake.

Then, the food starts coming. And coming. Aaaand coming. It's that perfect storm, almost out of a nightmare, where you're eating as fast as you can with chopsticks, switching to bare fingers, trying to keep room on the table, but the dishes keep showing up, and then you get that little feeling of panic in your mind "oh, no! we did order too much!", but your stomach says, "Shut up! bring it on, suckers! it's alll goood!" The meat is like candy, the buns like pillows, the sauces like nectar. They all look just like the pictures.

And, yes, we ate it all. Our friend confessed later, "when you said dim sum, I thought we were just going for snacky little portions. I shouldn't have eaten all those chips beforehand." Still, he helped with the sake. We roll out of there with happy, happy tummies.

[Erok]

Above all things, grow your beard long, for the beard covers a multitude of chins.

[Erok]

Friday, 2/12.

Press - tried to keep it strict military style, with partial success: 45x..., 95 x 5, 110 x 5, 125 x 10, 10, 7, 9, 5.

to the DB Wall of Shame, located behind all the nautilus machines:
Incline DB Bench: 20x10,25x10,10,30x10
Incline DB row: 20x10,30x10,10,35x10
Hammercurlz: 20x10,10,10,10
French press: 35x12,40x10,10,45x12
Shrugs: 60x10,10,20.


Turkey thighs in tomato mushroom sauce over rice. #demthighs

[Erok]

Sat., 2/13. 217.8#.


Tire Flip: 300# for 60' x3. damn fun. 600# gonna be great.

Stones: 125# x 3, 1. 150 x 1. The hardest part of this so far is just getting the dang thing off the floor and into my lap. lots of 'lap load' practice with the 125. forearms dead now.


Fried chicken, sweet potato fries.