My ramblings, the endless journey

I guess I did lie, circumstances last night caused me to go to Kung Fu instead of lifting, thought i would lift today, but I feel really bad . my stomach hurts, a lot.

last night went really well, I got a few complements one from another new student who has been there longer than I have, he said when we go through forms, he copies of of my tiger, adn really is impressed at the fact that I got it, since neither he nor his wife, have it down yet.

Birds is comming along easier than Dragon, but I checked it is not confidant, but I got my dragon committed to memory.

Coldfire's routine

1 st day back, I went real light and easy, for two/three reasons.
 
 1, I have not squatted for over 8 weeks, so I did not know where I would be, didn't want to jump right in.

2, I have not power cleaned, (and before it was a modified dumbbell power clean, if there is such a thing), in, well, since I started doing NROL, that has been quite  a while, I completed 6 different routines on NROL. I was worried about my form, as I am never real certain about that.
 
3, I would like to do a couple of cycles of this, so I wanted room to increase, rather than starting heavy, heavy, and hitting a wall quick.
 
4 th reason, I was to spend the rest of my day designing a planting one of my mothers garden beds, it's a rock shade garden with 60 year old trees, so roots and rocks to dig through mulch/plants to carry, ect.. (I am glad I went light trust me )
 
Gave myself 90 seconds rest between
 
Day 1:

Front squat 5x3  77 lbs X 5 (since the weight was light  I went with two more)  
Bench press: 3x5 35lb dumbbells x 5  
Power clean: 5x3 57 lbs x 3  (I felt really really good about them, no fear to increase, I still don't like how i jump, and the catch is not low at all, however they felt really fluid, and right)  
Chin ups: 3 to failure 2 chins 4 neg (good hard hard negitves slooow), x 3

Kung Fu on Monday was another fight club session. I love that what Phan calls our self deffense lesson, is in actuality, "now we will learn how to fight",  excellant.

I really was tired and did not at all want to go to cklass and for the first time I did not get energised when I went in.

Howver I did have my favorite sparr buddy, ha actuall came up to me, as soon as we were lining up for fight time and asked if we should continue where we left off, my reply was yes, yes please! It was a shame I did not have as much enthusiasum as usual.

here is a question, He said, "well you  certainly got spunk ", yuo really got spunk, I took it as a compliment I was supposed to, right? I made a serious effort, and was drenched totally in sweat , out of breath, and just exshausted, by the time it finished up.



Tuesday

Second day of new routine, same thing went kinda light and easy on the clean a press especially, deads not so much

Day 2:

Clean and press 5x3 I did 5 reps not three since I was working out the form  37 lbs x 5
Deadlift: 1x5  amped up 117 x5, 137 X5 working set 167 X5 PB
Rows: 3x8  87 lbs X 8 the last couple were sloppy I admit. 

Class was good enough, although not great. I have been out of it the past two days, I don't know why. Form sparred with a student who had only been there 6 months, it was a very different experiance, working through what we were supposed to be doing rather than having an expert work with me. We had fun, I sort of learned two more form spars so that was good, but, yeah my partner didn't know them either, so it was a different experiance, and a good one. He said i probably could kick his ass, So I feel better about "my spunk".

Gonna go tonhgt and lift since the meet up is Friday, and that screws up my schedule.

Class went well, we just worked on forms the whole time, it was a good time.

I found my dragon again, it had been lost for so long (like a week and a half, haha) But, for the first time i went home and could do it all by myself! That is 2 forms down, ok not down,  but I am able to independantly practice them!

Bird, slowly but surely, not great, but I can stay in forms though bird now, so that is progress.

getting more friendly with the other students as well. I like that, they are a good group of people.

We shall see if I can make it to the open studio on Saturday morning, really dependant on what the 4 of us end up doing tonight. (or how wasted I get)


I was a good monkey and did lift last night when I got home.
For the first time I did the "correct " weights in coldfire's routine. It was only because the are such high reps on day 3. Next week I will hit the heavy  days HEAVY, although my thumb and all that cleaning... it hasn't been giving me any real problems,  but it still certainly hurts, is weaker than it should be, does not have it's former range of motion, causing grip issues,  and concern for reinjury, or worse a different thumb injury. I will find out how it handles next week...

Overhead squats if you can. If not, lunges 3x15 Well yes I can overhaed squat! so I did those, first time ever, they are AWESOME! I only used my wussy bar I had to feel out the form so that was 17 lbsX15

Bench press/overhead press: 3x15 , choose bench since I did the overhead squats 30 lbs x 15

Romanian deadlift 3x15 77lbs X 15

Pull ups: 3 to failure 4 neg and 2 assisted I was tiered and it was 11:30 pm.

I like my new routine, I will be able to comment more throughly after next week, since I did not do the heavy days any where near heavy.

Front squat 5x3 97 lbs X 3 I failed at set 2, getting the weight up... I have been away from hang cleans/ all cleans for awhile,and I felt it for sure. Completed everything though, streched my rest out to about two minutes.

Funny how I can hang clean more than I can power clean. That means my form is poor. I will do more reaserch, and re look at the vids people have posted. I will double check my hang clean as well.

Bench press: 3x5 45lb dumbbells x 5

Power clean: 5x3 77 lbs x 3 

Chin ups: 3 to failure 2 chins 4 neg , x 3 1st set , second 1 chin 5 negs, third set 6 negs.

I don't like how I am losing my chins.... a couple of thoughts.

I really hit them slow on the negitive portion, every time I do them I try to hit them slower, both in the assisted up, and the drop down.

This week I was using very taxing poundages in all the lifts, no wussy out and taking it light.

Damn I have been snacky this past coule of weeks, no disciple in my food, so I am sure I added a good five pounds, not muscle either so that is not helping.

Diet needs to be locked down. I will lock my diet down, this week.

I alos need to put in some dedicated ab work as well, I am sure that there shoulkd be something in there, I am sure coldfire figured if I wanted extra ab work I would include it myself.

ORIGINAL: thehardway

Front squat 5x3 97 lbs X 3 I failed at set 2, getting the weight up... I have been away from hang cleans/ all cleans for awhile,and I felt it for sure. Completed everything though, streched my rest out to about two minutes.

Funny how I can hang clean more than I can power clean. That means my form is poor. I will do more reaserch, and re look at the vids people have posted. I will double check my hang clean as well.

Bench press: 3x5 45lb dumbbells x 5

Power clean: 5x3 77 lbs x 3

Chin ups: 3 to failure 2 chins 4 neg , x 3 1st set , second 1 chin 5 negs, third set 6 negs.

I don't like how I am losing my chins.... a couple of thoughts.

I really hit them slow on the negitive portion, every time I do them I try to hit them slower, both in the assisted up, and the drop down.

This week I was using very taxing poundages in all the lifts, no wussy out and taking it light.

Damn I have been snacky this past coule of weeks, no disciple in my food, so I am sure I added a good five pounds, not muscle either so that is not helping.

Diet needs to be locked down. I will lock my diet down, this week.

I alos need to put in some dedicated ab work as well, I am sure that there shoulkd be something in there, I am sure coldfire figured if I wanted extra ab work I would include it myself.

Your hang clean could be better than power clean because you are not accelerating the bar from the floor during the power clean.

I don't see a reason to go slow on the negative portion of pull ups. Just do as much as you can.

Oh, and I refuse this routine to be called "coldfire's routine" It is just something I had in mind that made sense to me. Adjust it to your needs.

If you want to get your form right on power clean and all the basic lifts, read Starting Strength. Really, the best investment you can make for your training.

Your hang clean could be better than power clean because you are not accelerating the bar from the floor during the power clean.

You are correct, that is my problem.

I don't see a reason to go slow on the negative portion of pull ups. Just do as much as you can.

See I can't do much. If I only did as many pull ups as I could I would finish with what 4 total on a good day, most ever was 5.

I try to force as much work as I can with my capabilities.

If I go real slow at least I know I am not "cheating" through them, which would be very easy for me to do especially with my chair assists. (And I hate them , soooo I would love to cheat through them)

Oh, and I refuse this routine to be called "coldfire's routine" Smile It is just something I had in mind that made sense to me. Adjust it to your needs.

Too BAD!
 I certainly will adjust to my needs, especially after sticking with it for a good while (I am not David I have an attention span, and patience).

 While I am sure this is based on some very basic well know structure, exercise combo, you gave me this routine, so your name is in the title!

If you want to get your form right on power clean and all the basic lifts, read Starting Strength. Really, the best investment you can make for your training.

It is on order! However, I am really trying to find someone to watch me do the power cleans, over head squats, and the clean and press. I can read all day long, and look at videos, but I still can't really watch myself, do them, (unlike squats where I can look in a mirror and see where I am wrong).

By the way, I LOVE THE OVERHEAD SQUATS! Nice choice, when I tried them out with 37 lbs, I really felt like a....a.... woman! (yeah I repped them at 17 pounds, but when I went over the routine, thinking about it during my off week, I put a tiny bit of weight on the bar to see if i could do them, period).

Really fun choice, thank you!

ORIGINAL: thehardway

Your hang clean could be better than power clean because you are not accelerating the bar from the floor during the power clean.

You are correct, that is my problem.

I don't see a reason to go slow on the negative portion of pull ups. Just do as much as you can.

See I can't do much. If I only did as many pull ups as I could I would finish with what 4 total on a good day, most ever was 5.

I try to force as much work as I can with my capabilities.

If I go real slow at least I know I am not "cheating" through them, which would be very easy for me to do especially with my chair assists. (And I hate them , soooo I would love to cheat through them)

Oh, and I refuse this routine to be called "coldfire's routine" Smile It is just something I had in mind that made sense to me. Adjust it to your needs.

Too BAD!
I certainly will adjust to my needs, especially after sticking with it for a good while (I am not David I have an attention span, and patience).

While I am sure this is based on some very basic well know structure, exercise combo, you gave me this routine, so your name is in the title!

If you want to get your form right on power clean and all the basic lifts, read Starting Strength. Really, the best investment you can make for your training.

It is on order! However, I am really trying to find someone to watch me do the power cleans, over head squats, and the clean and press. I can read all day long, and look at videos, but I still can't really watch myself, do them, (unlike squats where I can look in a mirror and see where I am wrong).

By the way, I LOVE THE OVERHEAD SQUATS! Nice choice, when I tried them out with 37 lbs, I really felt like a....a.... woman! (yeah I repped them at 17 pounds, but when I went over the routine, thinking about it during my off week, I put a tiny bit of weight on the bar to see if i could do them, period).

Really fun choice, thank you!

I didn't mean just to max out on the pull ups. If you can do 4 in a row then do sets of doubles or even singles until you fail.

Regarding someone to watch you: After you read the book, you can make a video of yourself, watch it and analyze things, post it here, or even on Mark Rippetoe's forum (only after you read the book or he will get angry ).

Glad to hear you enjoy your program. Have fun!

I didn't mean just to max out on the pull ups. If you can do 4 in a row then do sets of doubles or even singles until you fail.

No 5 is where I fail, I have a very firm failure point. No matter how I break them up, my best was *Sigh* 5, I could stand under the bar for the whole rest of the day and 5 is the total I can get.

It's my fault, my butt is fat, it weighs me down. I gotta cut back on the reps and set of fork lifts 

ORIGINAL: thehardway

I didn't mean just to max out on the pull ups. If you can do 4 in a row then do sets of doubles or even singles until you fail.

No 5 is where I fail, I have a very firm failure point. No matter how I break them up, my best was *Sigh* 5, I could stand under the bar for the whole rest of the day and 5 is the total I can get.

It's my fault, my butt is fat, it weighs me down. I gotta cut back on the reps and set of fork lifts

Don't worry, they will improve. Did you try chin-ups instead? Maybe kipping pull-ups?

Don't forget to work hard on the deadlifts...

Kung Fu last night was good, until we sparred. We did our warms up very differently last night. I had a lot of fun with what we did and very few errors. Considering we did a whole hodge podge of form combined together, my lack of serious errors, is noteable.

My partner was not a good teacher, or should I say he would not teach me. I made no progress, had no cardio at this point of class, all and all it was a waste of the last half hour, well sort of.





this morning
Day 2:

Clean and press 5x3 57 lbs X 3 last set x 6,
I finally had a good rythem going, and they felt right at rep 2 of last set so I kept going, in the intrest of programing my body to instinctively do the movement. Felt real good about the clean portion.

Deadlift: 1x5 ramped up 127 lbs x5, 147 lbs  X5 working set 172 lbs  X5 PB
I am officially out of room on my bar again, I had to stap ankle weights to it to make the 172, I gotta get those 20lb wheels this week, I only have 5 more pound of ankle weights to the bar.

Rows: 3x8 87 lbs X 8 the last couple were still sloppy 

I know tiger, I know dragon, I even know BIRD!!!!
I can do all three baby forms ALL BY MYSELF! That means I can practice them on my own, and there is a possiblity of testing on them in July . I know people who have been there longer who can't do them by themselves.

I am, sure i will losse one or the other again, but Dragon was my hardest, and I haven't lost it since I found it the second time. I feel good.

Didn't form spar at all last night, just word on Bird till I could call it! And I can call it, time well spent.

I just need to refine, fine tune, work on showing the character within each different forms (bird should look like a bird, tiger should be low, pouncy aggressive and growly, dragon all upright and swirly), and work on all my general stances and postures,  and  breathing. That is a lot to do, but I can work on it independently, and them have people critique my form.

This satrisfaction won't last forever but I will take it for now!

Overhead Squats 3x 15: stand back hold on, watch out.. I did a whole .... 27lbs, (haha) X 15

Bench press/: 3x15 30 lbs x 15 last set only 14 ( my chest was weak for some reason)

Romanian deadlift 3x15 82lbs X 15

Pull ups: 3 to failure 6 negitives x 2 sets, last set 5 negatives 1 1 leg assist

coldfire if your still reading along, this is why I didn't answer you chin suggestion, those 4 or 5 are for the "easier chin ups" real palms away pull ups, not a one, not ever in my entire life. I'll get it, just don't hold your breath.

ORIGINAL: thehardway

Overhead Squats 3x 15: stand back hold on, watch out.. I did a whole .... 27lbs, (haha) X 15

Bench press/: 3x15 30 lbs x 15 last set only 14 ( my chest was weak for some reason)

Romanian deadlift 3x15 82lbs X 15

Pull ups: 3 to failure 6 negitives x 2 sets, last set 5 negatives 1 1 leg assist

coldfire if your still reading along, this is why I didn't answer you chin suggestion, those 4 or 5 are for the "easier chin ups" real palms away pull ups, not a one, not ever in my entire life. I'll get it, just don't hold your breath.

So stay with chin-ups twice a week. Don't do pull-ups until you can get many chin-ups.