Failure2018

Im writing this as I wait for my glasses to be restored, which has taken way longer than it should have.  Anyway, I wanted to talk about failure a little bit today, but not necessarily in the negative way that it is often perceived as.  No matter how perfect you think you may be, you are not.  You have made mistakes or failed in the past.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  It's normal to make mistakes and it's definitely normal to fail.  We're all humans.  We all start at the same place, birth, and end at the same place, death.  We just take wildly different paths to get there.  However, I think there are some commonalities in all of life's journeys, and failure is one of them.

What I find funny about failure is that failing isn't actually failure unless you don't take anything away from that experience.  You need to embrace failure.  It's an essential part of life in order to grow, and can also serve as reminders that you need to grow and learn from your mistakes, or else your failures will pull you further and further down the rabbit hole of shit, which is obviously not the way you want to live life, in a rabbit hole full of shit.

So how can you turn your failures into a good thing?  Simple.  Learn from your failures.  Einstein's definition of insanity is to continue to do the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.  The results will continue to be failures unless you learn from your failures and adapt to what life throws at you.  Next time I get wasted I won't sit on my glasses, and next time you approach a beautiful girl you will notice the man walking with her and not take a fist to the face (unless that is your end goal, then I can't think of a better way to succeed)

A more personal and serious example was from back in the day when I was wrestling in highschool.  I made it to the finals of a tournament and I remember my dad telling me not to tie up with this guy or I would lose.  Well being the stupid indestructible 17 year old I was I decided to screw that and wrestle how I wanted to.  48 seconds later I got launched in the air in front of a good 2000 people and lost the match.  Did I quit wrestling after one of the most embarrassing days I remember?  Fuck no.  I was upset for a while, but in the end I embraced it, learned from it, and used it as fuel to become an even better wrestler and man by learning from my mistakes.  Needless to say, the next time I wrestled him at that tournament I didn't make the same mistake and won because I'm a badass.

Life is full of battles.  Just because you lose a battle doesn't mean you lose the war.  Keep learning and living and pushing forward no matter what life throws at you.

3/27/17 - 4/2 training

Monday:
Bench: 230x5 265x5 300x11(PR) 265x10 paused 230x10 paused
+ Kirk shrugs: 225x10 245x10 265x10 245x10 225x10 with FG holds after.

Dips: 4x2platesx9,8
+ bb underhand rows: 4x185x10

FG hammer curls: 3x40x8
+ overhead rope: 3x65x10

Tuesday:
Deadlift: 250x5 285x5 325x20(PR) 285x10 250x10
Front squat: 4x205x6
100 swings with 25 kb.

Wednesday:
5x300meter row 2 minute rest

Thursday:
50x50 Inc db press + 15x50 rear delt flyes

Larsen press: 5x255x6paused
+ facepulls: 5x65x10

Decline close grip bench: 4x235x10 245 next time
+ close grip pull downs: 4x140x10

JM press: 3x185x8
+ barbell curls (FG): 3x95x8,8,6

Friday:
Power cleans: 145x5 165x5 190x12 165x10 145x10
High bar squats atg: 225x5 262.5x5 297.5x10(PR) 262.5x10 225x10

Saturday:
1.5 reps Incline curl(fg): 4x25x10,10,8,7
+ wide grip push downs: 4x70x12

24s with curl bar and wide grip pushdowns

Decided to keep deadlift and power clean back off sets to 10 reps or else I'd be there forever.  I hit a lot of PRs this week, including the 300 for 11 on the bench that I mentioned in an earlier post, 325 for 20 on the deadlift, and 297.5x10 on the high bar squats.  Everything is going up just the way it should be, and im.not super beat up from it either.  My arms measured 18 inches cold this week too.  Up a little bit less than half an inch since I purchased fat gripz 3 weeks ago.  I really enjoyed doing the 1.5 reps with incline curls this week too.  They were brutal in a good way.  Really looking forward to the rest of this training cycle.

Thinking about writing out a spinal tap training block where I focus on accessory movements (incline, front squat, OHP) and really work on them.  Specifically my incline bench and front squat since they both suck while adding some mass.  Still need to think about a movement for deadlifts though if this does pan out.  Maybe snatch grip deads.  But that won't be for another 6-12 weeks depending on everything.

Life and lifting: cardio plan and looking forward

I guess I'm going to call this and other posts like it "Life and lifting" because this shits short and pretty self explanatory.

This weekend was a very important milestone for me and is something that I really worked hard for the last 2 years.  I got accepted into a 4 year college to complete my degree.  I've been working day in and day out at community college for almost 2 years and it all became worth it this weekend.  Besides the bigger tuition that comes along with 4 year schools, I got into my preferred school and will hopefully become a teacher, showing people how awesome physical education is, as well as a wrestling coach.  Speaking of wrestling, I'll also be able to wrestle at the college level, and hopefully make some waves there.  And what better way to celebrate all of this than by beating a personal best on everyone's favorite lift, the bench press.  I pressed 300 for 11 reps, which beats my last pr by 15 lbs, which was a good accomplishment for me because I felt like my bench has been pretty stagnated since I pressed 4 plates in mid october.  This allows me to Segway into some of the stuff I have been trying in my training.

Since I just hit a bench PR I figured I should lay out what I've been doing differently.  Basically I doubled my weekly volume by adding another pressing day, where I hit a few accessory lifts, some arms, and call it a day.  I've been doing this a few weeks and although it's probably too early to tell if this caused the PR, I think it's definitely a good sign.  It's a lot of light submax work that is targeting power off the chest with Larsen presses, and my triceps with decline close grips.

This leads into my arm work.  I've replaced some light circuit type arm work with heavier arm work spread over 3 days.. my 2 pressing days, and then a few sets on Saturday.  I'm really hoping for some arm growth from this.  I really want to get 18 inch arms and I feel like this frequency approach will help.  I have 3 different movements for my pipes, and will probably swap them out every cycle or so.  I'm not sure if the fat grips are doing anything for size, but they definitely are helping on my grip strength.

Lastly I wanted to explain what I'm doing for cardiovascular training.  I wanted to just include some really low intensity cardio like walking on the weekend, so I'm starting with walks that are about 2 miles long for the weekends.  Eventually I'll progress to light jogs and then go from there, but I mainly want to do that for recocery.  Wednesdays I've decided.to do a shorter, more intense cardio session with the row ergometer, which is actually really fun.  I think im.gonna do something like 5 sets of 300m as fast as I can and.then rest 2 minutes and just decrease the rest time from there.  I'll post the results in a later post.

3/20/17 - 3/26 training

Monday: Incline DB: 50s for 60 reps
Bench: 262.5x5 297.5x3 332.5x1
+ Kirk shrugs(FGs):135x10 155x10 225x6

Dips: 2x3platesx6
+ bb underhand rows: 2x185x10

(FG)Hammer curls: 2x40x8
+ (fg)overhead rope: 2x65x8.

Tuesday: Deadlift: 280x5 315x3 355x1
Front squat: 2x205x6

Thursday: Incline DB bench: 50x50 + 10x50 rear delt flyes

Larsen press: 5x255x6 paused
+ facepulls: 5x65x10

Decline close grip bench: 4x225x10 235 next time.
+lat pulldowns: 120x10 3x140x10

Smith machine jm press: 4x185x8
+ barbell curl (FGs): 4x95x8,6,6,6

Friday: Power cleans: 145x5 175x3 205x1
Row cardio machine

Saturday: Ezbar preacher curl(FG): 4x85x12,10,10,8
+wide push downs: 4x70x12

8s finisher for standing curls and pushdowns with 10 lbs less.

All in all this was a nice deload week, which gave me an ample opportunity to try out the fat gripz with different exercises.  I actually really like them for curls, as well as grip training such as with the Kirk shrugs.  I did not like them for pressing though.  I think for my Kirk shrugs next week I'm going to do my reps, put the fat gripz on the bar and then hold it for time so I'm not sacrificing weight on the shrugs.  I'm also gonna add those rear delt flyes in on Monday too as part of the incline DB press warmup, and switching the normal lat pull downs to pull downs with the v bar.

In other news, I really enjoyed the rowing machine at my gym.  I'm not necessarily big on cardio machines (or cardio in general) but I really enjoyed doing these.  I'm gonna write about what I plan on doing for cardio training soon.  Have a happy weekend everyone!

Last training week of my first 531 cycle

Monday:
Bench: 262.5x5 297.5x3 332.5x6 297.5x9 262.5x9
+Kirk shrugs: 225x10 245x10 265x10 245x10 225x10

Dips: 4x3platesx6
+ underhand bb rows: 4x185x10

Hammer curls: 3x40x8 slow.
+ overhead rope: 3x65x8 slow

Tuesday:
Deadlift: 280x5 315x3 355x15 315x12 280x12
No front squats because I felt dead and didn't have time before work
100 kb swings 25.

Thursday:
Incline db bench: 50 lbs 50 reps warmup.
Larsen press: 5x255x6
+ facepulls: 5x65x10

Decline close grip bench: 4x225x10,9,9,8
+ rear delt db: 4x15x12

Jm press: 3x135x8
+ barbell curl: 3x95x8 slow eccentric

Friday:
Power clean: 160x5 185x3 205x15 185x10 160x10
High bar atg squat: 255x5 290x3 325x7 290x8 255x10

Next week is a deload week, and then the first 6 week cycle of 531 is in the books.  I'm really feeling some PRs for my bench next cycle.  Highbar squat has been increasing as well, and my deadlift is loving all of these amrap sets, which really surprises me.  My upper back is feeling huge as well, specifically my traps, which is always a plus.

A couple things to note:
When i.have movement 1+movement 2, that's a superset.  And in the previous 5 weeks I was running overhead press on Thursdays but am.going to try this volume day for bench out to see if.it can help my bench jump to above 200kg before wrestling season starts.  Odds are I'll switch back and forth between ohp and this volume day every cycle, but we'll see the results first.

Change and why it's a good thing

The last 2 months for me have been an emotional roller coaster to say the least.  Training has been good but is taking a back seat to how I'm feeling at the moment which is why I'm writing.  Writing is my way to let it all out.  I don't mind feeling down; it just means that by the end of it I will be a stronger version of myself, and I'm grateful to have this opportunity.

  I think it's important to reflect during times like this and to take a step back to look at the bigger picture.  Sure there have been a bunch of negatives recently, but I am still surrounded by family and friends that love me, and I am blessed with the opportunities I have for the future.

  I also think it's good to break out of the norms.  There are definitely positives coming out of this.  For one I am discovering a more confident side to me, and am only becoming a better person.  I find myself enjoying life's little moments because I am taking more opportunities instead of passing over them due to fear. 

I'm also learning to be more independent.  I was stuck in a "relationship" that was going to end badly either way due to reasons out of either of our control.  To put it shortly it was sort of like a Romeo and Juliet relationship.  Things happen and i don't think it was meant to be, and while part of me wishes that things turned out differently, I think the entire experience was a big eye opener for me, and had a positive outcome on my future. 

I learned how capable I was because someone believed in me, and now have that same belief for myself that she had in me.  I learned how to truly love and be loved, and I think that's why it's haunted me this long, because the feeling is hard to find, whether I'm looking for it in another person, lifting, or the bottom of a bottle.  However I'm not going to let myself turn into a cynic, and will keep pushing forward with my goals and aspirations, because that's what I learned from all of this.

On top of this, I lost the person who gave me my first job, who was also a good friend to me, because of an OD.  This makes me cherish my loved ones even more.  He had a family and I cannot imagine if I was in their position, so I have been more and more greatful and thankful each day that I still have my own family.  I'm sure it's been tough for all of them and my prayers go out to all of them.  It's taught me to really cherish life because life is unpredictable; you never know what could happen in a matter of seconds.  And this is okay.  Life would be boring if it was all mapped out.

As for the future of this blog, I'm going to start writing about my training weekly and the different protocols I am using with my own twist on them, as well as some other writings like this.