Topic: Matt's Log

[Mathew C]

----February 2010----
This month, I'm mostly keeping a log to make sure that I actually keep up workouts. I don't have any measurable goals, or at least none that involve anything changing. It's all good though, I'm in no rush - that's the beauty of non-competition.

Goals
1. Improve flexibility in my harmstrings (3-foot legs make for a very horizontal torso during lifts)
2. Get deadlift form down
3. Fix the baseball biceps in preparation for rock climbing
4. Ease my right tricep back into training (now that a torn tendon has healed as much as it ever will) and be smart about it. In terms of volume that means starting small, increasing slowly, and listening to my body. It also means continuing those high-rep, low-resistance curls that have always done me so well in the past.

The Plan
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
1) Preacher curls; 10-20 reps, low weight (weight TBD once I see how a 10-lb blank bar treats me)
2) Deadlifts; 45-lb blank bar, 5 reps, starting as close to standard bar height as possible while keeping good lumber position and striving for ideal form
3) Repeat x 3
4) Stretch to get rid of tightness, focusing on hamstrings and biceps

Tuesday, Thursday
1) Lots of easy, gentle stretching to improve hamstring flexibility (at least 10)

Things that get to chill out this month
1) Right tricep tendon, by the elbow
2) Achilles tendons (not sure what happened there, they started getting irritated after I stopped my weekly cycling trips in December)
3) Left shoulder/way outer pectoral (thus no squats - the stretch of bringing my hands close enough for tight, supportive traps irritates the muscle/tendon)
4) Arches (During 2 weeks of wearing comfortable boots with lots of ankle support I got lazy about supporting my ankles and my severely flat, flexible arches; they didn't like that)

Other things
1) 8 glasses of milk a day
2) No basketball (aw)
3) No cycling

Things to look forward to next month
1) Deadlifts with weight added
2) Cycling
3) More preacher curls

Cool? Cool

[Mathew C]

Anyone familiar with some hamstring stretches other than that bend-over-touch-your-toes thing?
It's a stretch alright, but it doesn't agree with my lower back at all

[Mathew C]

Didn't get much sleep on Monday, so I decided it wasn't smart to lift.

Wednesday, February 04

Preacher curls (trial session)
5 lbs x 5
10 lbs x 5
15 lbs x 5
20 lbs x 5
25 lbs x 5
30 lbs x 5
35 lbs x 8

Deadlifts
Didn't count reps. It's easier to focus when I'm not trying to remember "Wait, was that 17 or 18? Ugh." I just know that I spent ten minutes working on form with a blank bar at standard depth. I got another friend who knows what he's doing to check my form, and he confirmed what my kinesthetic sense told me - my lumber position is just fine. Now to drill the technique.

Stretching
Stretched for 10 minutes on the wrestling mat with my friends from the team, focusing on hamstrings. How is it that I can palm the ground easily but I can barely reach proper DL depth? Hm.

[Mathew C]

Well, unfortunately I've been snowbound lately. I have no access to bars, racks, or anything like that, so I've just been stretching.

I've also been trying to regain some weight. At my peak (lean, but with a full stomach and some water weight) I was a little over 175 lbs. I lost a little too much fat through cycling, and then on top of that I became ill for a week near the end of January. After the first workout listed in this log (without waterweight or a full stomach) I weighed 163 lbs. In short, I've been consuming plenty of protein and good fats (milk, eggs, chicken, good stuff). I've managed to get up to 168 lbs, but I still want to get back to where I was.

From the arctic regions of DC,
peace out.

[Mathew C]

Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Deadlifts
Tried out negatives with too-small plates, it was no help to my form. My back is still relatively strong and uninjured, but it's not something I would try again.

Stretching
I stretched for 10 minutes total, trying out some new techniques
Reclining Big Toe pose variation (2 minutes)
Bodyweight goodmorning, holding at the bottom (3 minutes)
Downward Dog pose variation (2 minutes)
The classic bend-over-touch-your-toes, stepping on my hands so I controlled the stretch with my toes (3 minutes)

While deadlifts target practically every muscle in the posterior chain, they're theoretically supposed to focus on the core/spinal erectors and the hips. However, with my flexibility issues, every DL workout I can remember has left my hamstrings more sore than anything. At least I'm improving.

Weight right before showering: 170.5 lbs

[Mathew C]

So apparently my core needs more work than I realized, at least in proportion to my legs. According to Chris Salvato's skill guidelines, here's how I stack up:

Run 100m - level 3 (13 seconds)
Pistols - level 3 (5 per legs + 25% bodyweight)
Standing box jump - level 3 (40 inches)
Natural leg curls - level 3-4 (2 concentric)
Broad jumps - level 3-4 (9.5 feet)
Standing vertical jump - level 4 (28 inches)

Deadlift - Sub-level one (less than 1 x bodyweight)
Back Squats - level one (1.25 x bodyweight)

I know that my flexibility is half the problem, and I want to solidly get that out of the way. To do that, I'll have to set a S.M.A.R.T. goal:

Goal

• Specific - I want my deadlifts to be limited by my strength, not my flexibility.
• Measurable - I want be able to lift as much weight deadlifting as I can currently lift doing rackpulls with a horizontal torso.
• Action-oriented - I will go find out how much I can rack pull with a horizontal torso; come March, I will incrementally increase my DL work sets until I reach that; I will also continue stretching at least 30 minutes a week.
• Realistic - I'd say so.
• Time and Resource Limited - I want to reach this goal before finals start in mid May. After that point I'll be using a local weight room without a rack or tiny plates, and I'll have to start my warm-up sets at 135 lbs off the ground.

Once I achieve this, I can finally start my uninhibited pursuit of increased strength, power, and mass.

[Mathew C]

Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Rest day. Did some massaging on my elbow.

[Mathew C]

Thursday, February 11, 2010
Shoveled, er, deadlifted my way through a few hundred square feet of snow for my family. Efficiency and usefulness ftw.
More massaging. Light stretching.

Weight before showering: 172 lbs

[Mathew C]

Friday, February 12, 2010
Light stretching. More massaging.

Weight before showering (with some food/water weight): 174.5 lbs.
So far I've managed to put on 11.5 lbs, and still lean. Woohoo.

[Mathew C]

Saturday, February 13, 2010
Rest. Homework. Light stretching.

Sunday, February 14, 2010
Rest. More homework. Even more light stretching.

I'm itching to get back into the weight room. With the help of a large mirror and some air DLs, I finally realized what felt off in my spinal alignment and adjusted my form accordingly.

Also, my weight (sans food, water, or gear) has plateaued at just over 170 lbs. Oh well. I feel great, I'm healthy. I'll keep eating big as I start lifting again and see my body reacts.

Peace

[Mathew C]

Monday, February 15, 2010
Shoveled more snow.

So far, had about a quart of milk. Weight is still plateaued.

[Mathew C]

Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Warm-up
Spent 10 minutes being a practice partner for a friend who's working to supplement his wrestling with judo techniques and got to learn a few nifty take downs. Then spent 20 minutes experimenting with Muay Thai strikes with a heavy bag. I can't remember ever getting such a perfect warm-up: I was sweating, exceedingly loose and limber, and not worn out at all at the end.

Rack pulls with horizontal torso
45 lbs x 5
135 lbs x 5
185 lbs x 1

The objective was to determine how much I'm strong enough to deadlift - that is, what I can deadlift when flexibility isn't an obstacle. It ended up being just slightly more than bodyweight. At 135 lbs I was surprised by how difficult it was to lock my torso like I'd been doing with a blank bar, and especially by how involved my upper limbs were. 185 lbs wrecked me. The sheer amount of muscles recruited to grip the bar and keep my shoulders in place was something I haven't felt in a long time. This is going to be fun.

Peace

[Mathew C]

Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Went light today. I'm definitely still feeling yesterday's strength test.

Squat 45 lbs x 5 (very wide gripped, I'm being careful with that shoulder)
Good morning 45 lbs x 10
Squat 45 lbs x 5
Good morning 45 lbs x 10
Deadlift 45 lbs x 5
(Squats and good mornings were done for stretch, and the deadlifts were done while pushing for a horizontal torso and correctly curve lumbar position)

   I discovered that, when placed at the bottom of the rack, a blank bar is not a standard 8" off the ground. It's actually closer to 10-12" off the ground. So... my flexibility still is a decent bit off from where I want it to be, and I'm not quite ready to begin any serious lifting off the ground.
   The classic bend-over-touch-the-ground hammy stretch is officially ineffective as a means to increased flexibility, since my lower back itself is apparently so flexible that I can press my wrists to the ground and STILL not have long enough hamstrings to lift properly. The squats and good mornings provided as much stretch as I asked for while serving as a good warm up, so I'll consider slowly introducing them into my program. The intervals at which the pins can be set are numbered, so keeping track of depth (as a measure of flexibility) should be easy.

Peace

[Mathew C]

Thursday, February 18, 2010
Rest day.

[Mathew C]

Friday, February 19, 2010
Stretching. Rest.

Saturday, February 20
More rest. I'm still slightly sore from that strength test on Tuesday. Also, I accidentally slipped back into a habit of mindlessly snacking on empty carbs, so today I dealt with inflammation in my elbow when I really shouldn't have. Gotta monitor my diet better.