Go with the flow!

[stingo]

Kind of ironic that since I'm low carbing it now, beer's offlimits to me. (Thankfully, wine isn't lol). I've not heard of the brews you mentioned but would be interested in hearing your opinions of them.

I happen to live fairly close to one of the great beer producing areas in the states - the Philadelphia area, which is home to any number of great brewpubs and/or breweries. Heck even the local brewery puts out some great stuff, particularly at the price point they set. Some beers from here I like:

Stegmaier's Porter and Octoberfest (I have the O'fest on tap at home - made at the local Lion Brewery)
General Lafayette's Chocolate Thunder Porter
Victory's Old Horizontal Barleywine or Storm King Stout
Sly Fox's Ichor, Incubus or Saison Vos
Yards' Ales of the Revolution series (Thomas Jefferson Ale, George Washngton Porter, Ben Franklin Tavern Spruce Ale - all made from recipes used by or known to their namesakes)
..and others

[Espi]

And it's really funny that normally I don't drink much alcohol at all. But just like with the Excercises you've never tried before I adore trying out new things. And beers just happen to be packaged in a perfect serving size. Just enough volume in a bottle to be happy for 1 night. At least if sampling beer in very moderate quantities is your thing.

Nearly anything else is just sold in too large volumes. Wine in 750 ml bottles unless you want cheap wine. Same for port, rhum, etc. etc. except for some weird mid- to high alcoholic cocktail-like things that smell and look like psychedelic stuff. Perhaps have the same effect too.

These new ones I bought were all on sale in a regular supermarket. Once I get beyond these I may hunt for more exotic stuff as sold in specialty shops. Or intersperse them with the specialty beers as otherwise it'd be too boring.

[stingo]

But you're drinking for the taste, not the effect - big difference. Again, remember the monks next time you go to seek out new beers to try.

[Espi]

LOL, I will. Thanks for reminding me.

Now for the next installment of the odd exercises that I did in the past 9 days (not every workout though).

Excercises You've Never Tried Before #8
Long Bar One Arm Row


Description: If you've been reading T-mag for any length of time, you know that to fully train the back you need to perform both vertical pulling movements (pull-ups and pulldowns) and horizontal pulling exercises (row variations). Leave out one or the other and you'll always have an "incomplete" back and possibly even set yourself up for imbalance injuries.
When it comes to horizontal pulling movements, you have two free weight choices: two-handed barbell rows and one-arm dumbbell rows. Well, now you have a third option: the one-arm barbell row. This variation provides a slightly different line of pull and will add some variety to your training.
Grab a barbell and stack it with plates, but none larger than 25's. (Larger plates may impede your range of motion.) Get into a normal one-arm row position with one hand on a bench. (One knee on the bench is also an option.) Now simply perform a one-arm row using the barbell. Bring the bar up, pause for one second at the top, and then lower it under control to the starting position.

Practice:
50xF
40x 2
30x12
35x7
It’s been a while since I’ve had db rows in my schedule, otherwise I’d have picked a lighter starting weight. What was I thinking anyway.. even with 2-arm bb-rows the heaviest I ever was able to row was 75kgx1. I’m wondering what effective weight I was really using for this particular exercise, considering the heaviest I ever did for db rows was with 26kgx1 .What was really weird is how this particular exercise seemed to tax my abs. Much more than any other row I've ever done with the exception of renegade rows that actually feels more like an ab exercise than a row.


Opinion: Neutral-positive: don't really know what to think of this one. The set up is kinda awkward because of the combination with the bench. It would be a lot easier as a stand-alone exercise. Not easier to perform, just faster actually.

Trap Bar Farmer's Walk


Description: T-mag has written about this strongman favorite several times before. It's a great exercise for overall conditioning and it really targets the traps as well. To perform the farmer's walk, simply grab two heavy dumbbells and take a stroll. You can go for distance or see how fast you can walk a pre-determined path.

The problem is that even the biggest Muscle Media readin' wussy can use 100-pound dumbbells, and many gyms don't go much heavier than that. To skirt this problem, just grab two trap bars, load them up, and hold on to one side of each bar. Now you can go as heavy as you want without being limited by the dumbbells in your gym.
Note: Sorry, this may not work for really short guys.
Practice: nope. You don't really think we have these weird contraptions in our gym?
Opinion: neutral-negative: don't really see the use of walking with such heavy weights, unless you're into strongman stuff.

Siffie Lunge


Description: Here's a painful little gem we picked up from contributor Coach Christian Thibaudeau. A Siffie is identical to a regular lunge, save for one important exception: you stay on your toes the entire time. At no point during the set are your heels to touch the ground. You can use dumbbells or a barbell. This is a great lower body exercise that really targets the calves.

Practice: (6kgx2)x4 - 4. Wow, this is a balancing act.
Opinion: positive. Tricky little exercise that indeed works both for the calves and the posterior chain. I'd not be surprised though if this is an exercise that can make you legs cramp big time. Very good one for masochistic girls/guys with good balance. On second thought: perhaps not enough stimulus for the calves to grow?

Ball Buster Squat

Description: This exercise is actually called a straddle split squat. It's really only a "ball buster" if you do it wrong or the weight slips off one end!

Straddle a bar in a static lunge position. Keep your head upright and your back straight. Now lower your knee almost to the ground, pause, and come back up. Repeat for the desired number of reps and then do the other leg.

Practice: 30x3, difficult to get it done properly because you tend to lean forwards too much. A girl won't have her balls busted but have other sensitive parts put in danger.
Opinion : Negative: if you're looking for something to replace back squats when you are without a proper squat rack, go learn how to clean and do front squats instead as it's simply impossible to do this one with high enough weight.. At least I think so.


Overhead Walk

Description: We picked up this one from Coach Davies. It's simple, effective, brutally hard, and scares personal trainers, which is our favorite part.

Press a weight above your head, maintain good posture, and walk slowly for five minutes.

Start with a weight light enough that you could walk around with it for eight minutes, but only walk around with it for five (that equates to roughly 60% of your maximum load). Gradually build up time using an undulating wave pattern. In other words, don't try to beat your previous performance each time. Instead, follow a five-minute walk with a three-minute walk, followed by a five-and-a-half minute walk.

Practice: 10kg x 1 minute? Makes my arms and shoulder wear out really fast. But dang, our gym is tiny! If the weight room would have been at ground level, I wouldn't have hesitated to take the bb outside.
Opinion : positive. A neat and simple exericse. Good one for building up endurance.If only our gym would be bigger..


Straight Arm Dumbell Row

Description: Here's another unique row variation, this one from the Ice Dog himself, Coach Thibaudeau.

This exercise is very good at developing the lats. The objective is to bring the arm up and back while keeping it relatively straight. Really concentrate on your lats while doing this drill. Don't use a lot of weight as it's not needed to get the most out of this exercise. It's more important to focus on maintaining maximum back tension during every inch of every rep.

Practice: 8x8 , 12x8. It took a while to figure out what one exactly is supposed to do. So, this is a straight arm db-row that looks like a triceps kickback but isn't the same. Except that like with kickbacks, you can't really use a lot of weight.

Opinion : Negative: are you kidding me? There are many better exercises available to do rows with. Perhaps when you're stuck with teeny weights somewhere and still want to work your lats?

Sternum Pull Up


Description: This is perhaps the most wicked pull-up variation out there. You have to be pretty damn advanced to do this one!

Grasp a chin-up bar with a slightly wider than shoulder width, semi-supinated (parallel) grip. One of those V-shaped bars will work fine. Begin at the bottom, stretched position. First, forcibly pull together and separate the shoulder blades for one second each. Next, perform the concentric (pulling) portion of a traditional pull-up, but strive to touch the sternum to the V-shaped handle. Force the elbows down and back as your chest touches the bar. Perform a static hold at the elbow flexed, top position.

Practice: tried this first with the contraption shown in the pic, but this didn't work. Then the rope used for triceps push downs.. And realized that this exercise is simply too hard to do, even when done in a Smith with both feet on the floor.
Opinion : Negative: well if you have tried all other options and can do a gazillion chinups.. Perhaps it might be good for you too. Good luck. But if I were you, I’d try to see if you can do 1-arm pull-ups or clap-chinups first.

Rack Lockout


Description: Rack lockouts are partial reps in the close-grip bench press. Because you're using a close-grip, you'll strongly recruit the triceps. Furthermore, the highest recruitment of the triceps occurs at the end of the range of motion in the bench press movement. To take advantage of this extra degree of recruitment, you can use a power rack to limit your range of motion, which will also allow you to use a greater amount of weight than if you were doing full range of motion bench presses.

We recommend using the "stops" in a power rack to shorten your range of motion. In other words, place the stops several inches above your chest so that your range of motion is only one-third to one-fourth of what it would normally be. You should also pause at the bottom of the movement (the point at which the bar hits the stops) so that you can't use the elastic component of the muscle.

Your triceps will scream, then grow like weeds!

Practice: 40x7 , 50x3, 55x3 , 60x3 - 60x5. Never did partial reps before for bench pressing so it was difficult to see where to aim for. Didn’t feel anything in my triceps until I finally lowered the weight further down.
Opinion : positive. This exercise felt as if I was cheating all the time. Once I got over that feeling I started to appreciate it and actually intend to utilize it in future routines. Except for one thing: I'll lower the barbell till my upper arms are parallel with the bench. OK, it's then no longer a 'rack lockout' but a partial bench press. But the advantage will be that I'll have a better gauge for progress, as there's such a huge difference between lowering just for 5 cm or 10cm. Plus it will target the triceps more without hurting the shoulders as much as a regular (close-grip) bench press that I gave up when the shoulders were whining too much again.

[Espi]

Monday Oct 15
TRAINING Go with the Flow Routine 9 WO 11B
all weights in kilograms

DYNAMIC STRETCHING
1 Frankensteinx10
2 inch worm x3
3 lateral lunge x10

BW complex
1 walking lunge w rotary torso x 10 (each side)
2 BW Cossack squat x 10
3 Swiss leg curl skipped (was in use)

A1 DL : upping by 5kg at the end
WU: 50x5 – 60x4 – 70x3 – 80x3

Wave 1 + 2:
85x3 (-1) – 87,5x3 (-1)
90x2 (-2) – 92,5x2 (-1)
95x1 (-1) – 100x1

Since the original set-up started to become too hard , viz. keeping only 2,5 kg between the sets, I’ve increased the difference to 5 kg. What a difference: all sets except for the last one felt easier than last session when I had to grind nearly all of the sets. So, finally hitting that 100kg x1 was relatively easy. I’m now fairly positive I’ll be able to hit 110kg if things work out the same for next workouts. Difference: normally I’m slowly supersetting DLs with front squats but since it was busy-ish with people working out I opted for not being too anti-social.

B1 front squat : upping 2 kg
WU : clean + SQ: 25x3 – 28x3 – 30x3 –35x3
WU: just SQ: 40x3 - 46x5
Wave 1+2:
51x5 (+1)– 52x5 (+1)
53,5x4 (+1) – 54,5x4 (-2)
56x3 –57x3
Both the 56 and 58 kg were first time achievements for front squats.

C1 bb cleans
40x1
35x1
30x1
28x1
25x10
Actually I’m always doing cleans after the front squats , since I need to put the barbells back on the rack and I like to practice the cleaning. Had skipped the 40kg when doing the warm-ups as I was still tired from the deadlifts but now I tried and managed! Yay! First time I can clean these after squatting.. was already surprised I could do them again before the actual squats.

By now over 75mins passed. Geez, this type of workout takes tons of time!

D1 Saxon side bend
7kgx 12
Been a long time I took a higher weight. Same amt of reps.

E1 BW pullup
BWx5
YES YES YES YES! Finally 5 reps.. five freaking bodyweight reps. It’s been an eternal elusive goal of mine to get there. Thanks to the weighted reps I’m finally there. Don’t start telling me that BW (73kg) x3 is better than BW (63kg)x5 , I know that already. Still woot!

F1 external rotation
3,8x14

Excercises You've Never Tried Before #9

G1 poor man’s shoulder horn
4x6-6
This is an exorotation exercise

H1 Zercher goodmornings
20x6
30x5
A weird way to do goodmornings.



Cardio
Rowing 500m w damper on 3
500m in 2:36,2 min – 11524 m/hr (-111m)
AveW = 92 (-2)
aveRPM: 31 (-1)
Kcals burnt: 26 kcal – 599 kcal/hr (-6)
A much more fluid & consistent workout. I’m starting to NOT feel wasted by the end of each & every rowing session.

TM speedwalking
13min SS-walking on treadmill : walking 7,0-5,8 km/hr @ 15% incline w 2 min cooldown.
1,43 km in 13mins – 6,60 km/hr (+0,60)
172 kcal – 794 kcal/hr (+62)
195m climbed = 13,64% avg incline (-0,43% compared to other 15% session)

General: Very happy with the results: PR for weight in front squats, easy 100kg DL, cleaning 40kg after having finished both the DLs & front squats plus my pipe-dream for five BW pull-ups coming true. Also very happy with the new dietary set-up: felt consistently strong throughout the workout thanks to refilled glycogen I’ve now burnt off again and will refill again by tomorrow night (with slow acting carbs!)

WO-drink : IsoDex & Stamina

Training statistics
Volume: 10275 (-2615) kg
# of sets: 42 (-1) - # of reps: 167 (-41) - avg reps/set :4,0 (-0,8) - kg/rep 61,5 (-0,5) kg

[stingo]

Woot - go Espi! Congrats on your PR! (Personally I think it's the beer that's making you stronger )

[UConnJulie]

Nice job on the chins!! You go girl!! I love beer too ... the darker the better (nearly opaque stout is my favorite) but going to avoid for a while (not that I'm a big drinker anyways) since beer is a no-no when going gluten-free!! Maybe I'll have to get into wine-making like Egham!!

[Espi]

Wednesday Oct 17
TRAINING Go with the Flow Routine 9 WO 12A
all weights in kilograms

DYNAMIC STRETCHING
1 windmill x 10 each side
2 torso stretching x 5
3 Russian UB twist w 5kg ball x 8

UB BW COMPLEXES
A1 knee pushup x15
A2 renegade row (12kg) x10
A3 pullup x5 !!!
Did it again, and even thought that with grinding I could’ve gotten 6.

B1/D1 pull ups w neutral grip, 1 kg more
BW+8x1
BW+7x1 (0)
BW+6x2 (+1)
BW+5x 2 (0)
And then after the db presses
BW+4x 2 (0)
BW+3x 2 (0)
BW+2x 2 (0)
Slowly building up the amt of added weight I can do for 2 reps. 8kg was a first time effort.


C1 db press , 2 kg up
WU
(2x16)x5
(2x18)x4

Wave 1+2:
(2x20)x3 (-2) – (2x21)x3 (-1)
(2x22)x2 (-2) – (2x23)x2 (-1)
(2x24)x1 (-2) – (2x25)x2 , never lifted a 25 kg (24+1kg wrist weight) before!!! .
Took a very conservative approach so I wouldn’t waste too much energy on the earlier sets and then indeed had some energy left to not just do 1 but 2 reps at the final set. Next time I’ll try the 26kg dumbbell, making it a ‘real’ first time holding heavier dumbbells.


wood chop
kneeling cable crunch
Totally forgot.

Excercises You've Never Tried Before #9

D1 Gironda perfect curl
12,5x6
Not wasting my breath.

E1 drag EZ-curl
12,5x6
Not wasting my T-shirt

F1 Elbows-out extensions
(2x4)x6
(2x5)x6
(2x6)x6
(2x7)x6
(2x8)x6
(2x9)x6
(2x10)x2
Took longer than expected to hit a ‘wall’. Hmm interesting.

Didn’t do any other exercises as I want to conserve energy for the next 5 workouts in which I’m working towards maxes on all accounts. Plus, I’m still trying to cut calories.. not a happy combo.

Cardio
TM speedwalking + slow sprints
20min walking @ 5.5 km/hr interspersed with 10 slow sprints @ 8-10km/hr lasting 30s @ 10% , w 2 min cooldown.
2,18 km in 20mins – 6,54 km/hr (-0,31)
219 kcal – 657 kcal/hr (-63)
212m climbed = 9,7% avg incline (-1,1% compared to other 10% session)

Finished workout with rowing 500m w damper on 4
500m in 2:33,6 min – 11719 12097 m/hr (-378m, compared to last 500m effort)
AveW = 97 (-9)
aveRPM: 32 (0)
Kcals burnt: 26 kcal – 609 kcal/hr (-44)

In the last 100-200 metres my triceps suddenly gave up and arms were feeling like jelly. Legs were still tired from the last leg workout too.. am noticing that I hadn’t added a lot of carbs last night.

General: happy with both achievements on the pull-ups (repeat of 5reps @ BW and being able to do 1 rep with 8kg added) and using 50kg for 2 db presses, a weight I’ve only pressed just once for regular bb bench presses

WO-drink : IsoDex w Stamina

Training statistics
Volume: 3824 (-1530)
# of sets: 28 (+2)- # of reps: 122 (-18) - avg reps/set :4,3 (-1,1) - kg/rep : 31,5 (-6,9)

[stingo]

Congrats on the pullups and the db presses. How's your deadlift quest going?

[Espi]

Friday will be the next time for legs. 105kg (231lbs) will be my goal for then. And then Tuesday next week I'll try the 110kg.

[Espi]

Friday Oct 19
TRAINING Go with the Flow Routine 9 WO 12B
all weights in kilograms

DYNAMIC STRETCHING
1 Frankensteinx10
2 inch worm x3
3 hip stretching x5
4 lateral lunge x10

BW complex
1 walking lunge w rotary torso x 10 (each side)
2 BW Cossack squat x 10
3 Swiss leg curl x 18

A1 DL : upping by 5kg at the end
WU: 50x5 – 70x5 – 80x4

Wave 1 + 2:
90x3 (+1) – 95x2 (+1)
95x2 (+1) – 100x1 (0)
100x1 (0) – 105x1
Suddenly trying to do 2 reps for 100 kg didn’t seem like a smart idea if I wanted to get to 105kg. Tie with max weight for DL (January)!

B1 front squat : upping boldly
WU : clean + SQ: 25x4 – 28x2 – 30x2 –35x4
WU: just SQ: 40x3 - 45x3
Wave 1+2:
50x3 (-2)– 52,5x3 (-2)
55x2 (-1) – 57,5x2 (-1)
60x1 –62,5x1
Again, just like last time: both weights in the last set of the first & second wave were first time achievements for front squats. I’m feeling that I should be able to get to 65kg as it went up fairly easily. It’s nice to see how finally form is improving. Interesting also how after 50kg or so one automatically does a full squat. I’m mostly just going to parallel but now you’re just down on the heels. And it doesn’t even feel too hard to get up. I’ve never had that feeling for back squats = the idea that I can do full squats.

C1 bb cleans
35x1 - 30x1 - 28x1 - 25x1
A bit too tired to do many reps here, didn’t even try a 40kg. The triceps exercise from 2 days ago is giving me wicked DOMS.


Excercises You've Never Tried Before #9

D1 barbell jump lunges
10x6 for each side
And then I got scared..

E1 renegade row
12x8

Upon which it was too late to do much else as the gym always closes early on Friday and I wanted to get my 200kcals worth of cardio done


Cardio
TM speedwalking
15min SS-walking on treadmill : walking 7,3-6,0 km/hr @ 15% incline w 2 min cooldown.
1,69 km in 15mins – 6,76 km/hr (+0,16)
198 kcal – 792 kcal/hr (-2)
234m climbed = 13,85% avg incline (+0,21% compared to other 15% session)

General: Again happy with the results, though even while this was even better, I wasn’t overjoyed. Reason being : I’m freaking tired from trying to do heavy lifting and cutting at the same time. Last Friday my weekly food intake was nearly 2600 kcal (had built up to that), this week it’s 1700kcal on average, a brutal drop of 900 kcal in just 1 week. At least I get to eat more again as of next week!

WO-drink : IsoSpark & Stamina (thanks to Galya, a new name for our sports drink!)

Training statistics
Volume: 9159 (-1116) kg
# of sets: 35 (-7) - # of reps: 130 (-37) - avg reps/set :3,7 (-0,3) - kg/rep 70,5 (+9,0) kg

[stingo]

Great job Espi, I'm sure with additional nutrients your progress will be that much better.

[Espi]

In that sense the timing isn't right now. This total routine will be taking 56 (or perhaps 52) days. That's almost exactly 2 'cycles'.
For about a year or more I've had very good results with trying to get training intensity go up/down with my menstruation cycle, as you simply are stronger when you eat more food.
And if you ever lived with females (sisters, mother, wife, friends) you will know a woman starts eating everything in sight during a certain period of her cycle. Unless she shows extreme restraint. I'm not so good in these things.. so I've optimized my food intake in the sense that I try to cut calories HARD when I'm least hungry and prone to overeat. Which is now.

So, over time I've established a routine in which I try to get my 1-3RM PRs done around the day I'm overeating most of all. And then will do 'damage control' by switching to high rep workouts.
By the time menstruation is gone I'm back to moderate rep workouts that require the least extra energy , which vibes well with cutting calories the most.

I'm not willing to up the calories now. And actually friends of mine managed to achieve very decent increases of strength while on a strict cutting routine. I just need to time my carbs well. And now I finally have come to the conclusion that this means: eating mucho carbs the night before lifting, so glycogen is filled up. NOT after lifting, that's like putting the cart in front of the horse.