Commanding My Body

[bigbear6708]

deadlift is looking good, u are strong in all lifts! ever worry about chipping your floor w/ the iron weights?

[Commander]

Originally Posted by bigbear6708

deadlift is looking good, u are strong in all lifts! ever worry about chipping your floor w/ the iron weights?

Thanks bigbear, I actually have some carpet scraps and under them rubber mats, so no worries on the floor. When I bought my power rack on craig's list, the guy just gave me some rubber mats for free with it, I was super happy!

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Diet Update:
Bodyweight up to 198.6 average.
Food intake still at 4126 cal, 123 fat, 521 carb, 238 protein excluding para-workout nutrition

[Commander]

Snatch Grip Deficit DL - no belt
286 (plus 30) to 406x3

I should have went for a PR because 406x3 was easier than last week and my form was tight. Instead, I wanted to go heavier and pull a few sets conventional, but I could NOT get comfortable in my belt. I felt like I was going to gag and I couldn't breath at the same time, maybe too soon after dinner and there was too much in my stomach. It sucked. I never felt that before. I was using the same setting as I usually do when I wear the belt, I just couldn't figure it out, maybe my form was slightly different when I set up due to pulling snatch grip in the previous sets. So, needless to say I ditched the belt and heavier sets and just pulled....

356x8

Nothing special, then finished with weighted sit-ups and stretching & foam rolling.

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Heading to Boston today, will be implementing a mini-cut as I will not be working out until probably next Wednesday. Hopefully, the mini-cut will restore some insulin sensitivity and keep the bulk fresh when I get back to it.

I will enjoy the rest and time visiting with my sister and brother in law and my little neice.

[bigbear6708]

your body prob. needs the break anyways, youve been killing yourself! what advantages do you see by using a belt? i have always stayed away from them because i was under the impression they takeaway from the work the supporting muscles get?? am i being ignorant..is a belt worth it?

[Commander]

It helps keep your abs and lower back tight during heavy lifts. You still contract your core muscles like when you are not wearing a belt but you also push out against it for additional tightness/support. I don't use it much, only on my heaviest sets of DL or squats.

[President Wilson]

I like how all your workouts are hardcore

[WorkoutMchne]

Originally Posted by Commander

Heading to Boston today, will be implementing a mini-cut as I will not be working out until probably next Wednesday. Hopefully, the mini-cut will restore some insulin sensitivity and keep the bulk fresh when I get back to it.

I will enjoy the rest and time visiting with my sister and brother in law and my little neice.

What's up man? How was your trip? Have you gotten back to training yet?

[Commander]

Originally Posted by President Wilson

I like how all your workouts are hardcore

Thanks Prez, not sure if I'm hardcore, or if it is just that I don't want to spend too long in the gym because I have a 5 and 9 year olds I enjoy playing with!

I only have time for the big lifts, not much isolation.

Originally Posted by WorkoutMchne

What's up man? How was your trip? Have you gotten back to training yet?

Thanks for asking!

The trip to Boston was excellent. Visited my wife's sister and husband and their little daughter. I really enjoyed playing with my 11 month neice, she's beautiful. We visited a few museums, my kids enjoyed the Natural History museum and the Children's Museum where they can play with everything.

However, I do not know what I was thinking when I said I would be implementing a mini-cut during the trip...ha, ha....I'm an idiot. My eating was completely thrown off by sleeping in, being out and about, staying up late, not having access to as much protein as I'd like. There was one exception, we bought fresh fish and made our own sushi one night, I must have consumed well over 1 pound of fish and who knows how much rice...it was AWESOME.

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Time off, completely overrated. Let me say that again, competely overrated. I now believe more than ever in the tapering series that President Wilson wrote. (If you haven't read it, check it out, it's great) The article, which I read years ago, convinced me that physically, tapering is way better than complete non-training, however, I at least thought that I would reap some benefits mentally from not training. And I did temporarily, I enjoyed not thinking about it during the vacation, and when we came back from Boston I had a bible study the first night, tons of cleaning to do the second night and a school function last night, so I knew I wouldn't train until today and I didn't stress. I enjoyed it, I also enjoyed not eating as much, giving my stomach a rest. BUT, all that enjoyment stopped the moment I started to train, I felt weak and worthless.

So in conclusion, there is no benefit, in my opinion, to complete non-training. Simply follow the tapering protocol allows you to rest up while still keeping the nervous system primed to move heavy weights. Some may disagree, but so be it.

Oh funny story, our flight was supposed to come into Pittsburgh from Boston at 6:20pm. So we thought we'd be home by 8:00pm and have a nice transition back home, well, our flight was delayed multiple times and we didn't leave Boston until 7:45 or so. We arrive in Pittsburgh a little after 9:00pm, by the time we get our luggage and proceed to the extended parking area it is 9:45pm, I realize in horror, that I DID NOT BRING THE KEYS TO MY CAR! Knowing the answer before I ask, I say to my wife, "Do you have the car keys in your purse?" Well, the answer is no and needless to say, she was fuming for awhile and I deserved it. Luckily, she had lost our camera earlier in the vacation and I was TOTALLY understanding and didn't make a big deal at all over it (later, we got it back when a kind soul brought it to a lost and found in the museum). I didn't mention that to her, but I knew she was thinking it and she told me that it helped her get over her anger. I had to call my mother in law to drive to our house, use the spare house key she has to pick up our spare car keys and drive them to us. That took around 2 hours and we left the airport at 11:45. To top it off, a small, but wicked snow storm hit and left the roads covered and the driving was SLOW. We got home after 1:00 am. End of story.

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Flat Bench
160 (plus 20) 240x3
190x8

Blah, blah, blah

Bent Row
130 (plus 10) 180x5
150x9

Skipped Dips

Was not feeling it, see rant above for more info. But just to give an example of why time off sucks compare this:

Last bench workout - unrested scenario:
performed only 4 days after last bench workout
performed as the 9th workout in a 10 day period
3 bench session in 10 days
Result - 270x3 felt good

This bench workout - rested scenario:
performed 11 days after last bench workout
performed as the 2nd workout in a 10 day period
Result - 240x3 felt heavy

It seems by body thrives off of the high frequency. Definitely would love to hear others thoughts on this.

[superbilt]

I am in total agreement about the nontraining issue. I hate not training except on vacation. I rarely come back stronger.

That sucks about the keys. I am totally paranoid with my keys. I feel myself up like 5x to make sure I have them before I close my car door everyday.

[Commander]

Originally Posted by superbilt

I am in total agreement about the nontraining issue. I hate not training except on vacation. I rarely come back stronger.

That sucks about the keys. I am totally paranoid with my keys. I feel myself up like 5x to make sure I have them before I close my car door everyday.

You better believe I'll be paranoid about my keys now.

Well, I added more evidence to the nontraining issue today. I went into todays workout feeling good, I had put yesterday's crappy workout behind me.....that is, until I picked up the weight. It felt heavy right off the bat.

Front Squats
worked up to 210x3
150x12

Lunges
50x15

I had nothing left. Here's my plan, I am writing off the next 2 workouts of my cycle (OH press and Deadlift). Basically, I'm going to go down to my basement, punch in, punch out and not expect too much. But when I get back to the beginning of my split, in this case, bench day, I plan on being back to normal. I am sleeping well and my diet is 100% back to pre-vacation standards. No excuses at that point.