Training: Regular Phase, Cycle 1, Day 3

One of those workouts that has people wondering what the hell I'm doing. Good stuff.

DE Squat/Dead
Warmup: Stepovers, front and side 2x10
duck unders 1x20

Box squat (briefs)
45x8
95x5
135x2
185x2
12x2 @ 225. Less than 1 minute between sets. Speed outstanding. Form getting better. Conditioning good. 12 sets is a lot, and I got through it pretty easily.

Deadlift
135x3
15x1 @ 245. Yes, 15 singles. 30 seconds between sets. Speed and form was very good. This is from a very old Louie Simmons deadlift article, where there is a 6 week cycle starting with 15 singles @ about 60%, working up to 6 singles at 85%. Might as well give it a go.

Good Morning
135x5
3x5 @ 225

HS shrug (seated, for height, Robboe)
3x12 @ 2pps

45 degree hypers
4x8 @ +45

Side bends
3x8 @ 45

10 mins stretching

Workout time: 1:25

This was a tough one. I got tired by the end, and really didn't want to put the effort into the ab work, but I got it done. It was also a little longer than I like, but it takes a while to warm up, set things up and put them away, get out of briefs... plus it's a lot of work. All in all, I think this is an excellent start, and a good indicator of how well the prep phase worked. All I have to do now is keep it up, and make sure I put the deload in the right place.

One year old

Today my blog is 1 year old.

Training: Regular Phase, Cycle 1, Day 2

Outstanding workout today. It was good to be encouraged after the last one.

Warmup: 5 minutes elliptical
front and side raises

2 board press
2x15 @ 45
95x8
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x3
295x1
315x1
325x1
315x1
The 325 was about all I had, my PR is 330, so I'm already back to within 10% of a PR.

HS Chest press
1pps x 12
2x8 @ 2pps

HS Y row
1pps x 12
3x10 @ 2pps, 1x8 @ 2pps

Lateral raise
4x12 @ 20

BodyMasters tricep thing
2x8 @ 150
superset with
Straight bar curls
2x8 @ 50

Treadmill: 12 min, 95 cal, .6 miles. meh.

Workout time: 1:20

Training: Regular Phase, Cycle 1, Day 1

I'm not at all happy with where my strength is, but conditioning and work capacity was very good.

Max Effort Squat/Dead
Warmup: Quick dynamic work (not enough)
Deadlifts (conv)
2x5 @ 135
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x1
405x miss, miss
365x1
The 405 never came off the floor. Sucks. The note in my log: Need to work p-chain, nothing fancy, I'm just weak.

Leg press
2ppsx15
4x8 @ 4pps

Pull thru
3x12 @ 120

Pull down abs
120x15
4x10 @ 150

HS seated leg curl
3x8 @ 90

10 mins stretching

Workout time: 1:15

Really felt good at the end of the session, other than being pissed about the pulling.

A great Christmas read.

A great post up at Catallarchy.

A couple of days too late. Sorry.

What’s worse than taking “Christ out of christmas?” Making the non-religious symbols of christmas the general symbols of winter holidays celebrated by the religious, non-religious, christian, and non-christian alike. Taking away the christian exclusivity of Santa and the decorated evergreen is a far greater sin than taking the “christ” out of christmas. After all how many christians actually sit around their nativity and talk about christ on christmas?

The truth is, for true believers in the birth of christ as the son of god, it is not possible for others to take the “christ out of christmas.” For those who want the lit evergreen to forever remain a christian symbol the threat is all too real.

Hope you all had a wonderful, erm, day off.

Questions Republicans won't answer.

Do you want president Hilliary Clinton to have this power? Well, that's why it's not OK for any of them to have it.

And you think there won't be another President Clinton? Think again. The Republicans are in big trouble for this year's elections. And if the Democrats play their cards 'right', they'll take control of the Senate and the White house in '08.

Think about it - people are pissed, and the blame (rightfully or not) is going towards the Republicans. When one of the few things they can point to as a success is the pork laiden highway bill, they are clearly grasping at straws. Couple that with taking the blame for Iraq, the largest rate of growth of government in decades, some of the SCOTUS rulings that destroy personal property rights (and the inaction of the legislature to correct those rulings), and now the blatant violations of the Constitution in the name of fighting terrorism, and you've got a recipe for change.

It might not be Ms. Clinton, but it will be a Democrat in '08. After having seen the past 6 years, though, that might not be a bad thing.

Another win!

Well, again, sort of.

A federal court says Padilla can;t just go into the criminal system because his enemy combatant status is going to be challenged.

As usual, the Administration doesn't want anyone looking into what they are doing. This is the same behavior that got us into Iraq.

Good to see them standing up...

Congress extends the Patriot Act for 5 weeks. Given the Senate wanted to go 6 months, and King George wanted to go 4 years, it's a bit of a win that it's only 5 weeks. I had hoped they would fight hard enough to let it expire.

But it's not just a win for Democrats. It's a win for all of us.

Medium Term Training Goals

Remain consistent
Measure: Continued improvements in strength
Strategy: Don't skip workouts. Plan deloads. Plan for travel/work stuff

Improve mobility
Measure: Perfect squat and bench form
Strategy: Continue mobility and flexibility training.

Maintain conditioning
Measure: Increased work capacity
Strategy: Set short term goals for energy system work. Additional workouts

Get leaner
Measure: Bodyfat percentage
Strategy: Cardio training. Improved focus on diet.

Start setting PRs
Measure: Performance in ME days
Strategy: Appropriate training to improve weak areas

Short Term Training Goals

Don't skip a training session
Measures: Obvious
Strategy: Go to the gym

Continue to improve mobility
Measure: Squat form improves, Flexibility improves, Remain injury free
Strategy: Perform mobility work for lower body at least 2x per cycle, upper at least 1x. Stretch after each workout

Continue to improve conditioning
Measure: Ability to get through workouts. Ability to remain motivated
Strategy: 1 hour+ of treadmill work. Additional workouts (interval training, band work, etc). Add unconventional work to 2 workouts per week (farmers walk, turkish get ups, db swings, etc)

Get to within 10% of personal best lifts
Measure: Personal bests
Strategy: Move to singles on ME day. Work supplemental and accessory work hard.

Training: Prep Phase, Cycle 3, Day 4

Well, not really. Decided to give myself a little break. Things have been very, very stressful lately. Since training went so well for the last 3 cycles, I decided to take an extra day, and not go today.

Instead, I'm going to type out the plan for the next phase. It's still kind of a prep phase, but I think I'm going to get away from naming the phase (other than just calling it a 'regular' phase), and instead focus on the short term and longer term goals... so here they are:

Short term (next 3 cycles):
Don't skip a training session
Continue to improve mobility
Continue to improve conditioning
Get to within 10% of personal best lifts

Medium term (next 3-12 cycles)
Remain consistent
Improve mobility
Maintain conditioning
Get leaner
Start setting PRs

Long Term (3 months to 1 year)
Remain consistent
Total USAPL or AAPF Class II (1350 or so as a 220, 1400 or so as a 242)
GFH
Achieve and maintain a healthy bodyfat percentage

Really Long Term (1 year+)
Total Elite
Total Elite as a masters lifter (40+)
Stay healthy
Continue lifting long into 50's and beyond

Now, in order to reach these goals, there will have to be some measures, as well as strategies. I'll detail more on each in individual posts.

Next training session is Max Effort Squat on Wednesday.

Training: Prep Phase, Cycle 3, Day 3

Started off really strong, but ran out of steam near the end, so there is still work to be done.

Warmup: 5 mins elliptical, level 3
front stepovers 1x15
side stepovers 1x15
duck unders 1x20

Box Squat
45x10
95x5
2x2 @ 135
185x2
8x2 @ 225 under 1 minute rest, speed awesome, easy
275x1
315x1
Got a twinge in my left quad. I think it was just a cramp, but stopped here.

Good morning
45x12
135x8
3x8 @ 185

Hypers (+25)
3x12
superset with bench situps (+6 lb med ball)
3x15

Stretching.

Workout time: 1:05

No treadmill. You'll get over it.

Just so you understand their position...

Republicans think that what the President does is OK.

So, they think it's ok for the NSA to watch and listen to you without a warrant. They think it's OK to hold 'enemy combatants' indefinately without due process.

So when the government comes for you, calls you a terrorist, and locks you up, you'll have no means to show the evidence against you was obtained illegally.

See now why it's so important?

Encouraging news

There are some in Congress who will stand up to the Bush Administration and try to actually use the Constitution as their guide. They've blocked renewal of the Patriot act (and if we are lucky, the entire thing will 'sunset' at the end of the year).

Makes for some interesting bedfellows.

Training: Prep Phase, Cycle 3, Day 2

Got to train a little earlier in the day. I like training in a mostly empty gym.

Warmup: front and side raises 2x15

Bench press
2x15 @ 45
95x12
135x5
185x3
225x3
245x3
255x3
Felt good to work up. Feel good for more.

CSR
45x12
90x12
3x8 @ 135

1 arm OH press
2x15 @ 30

Rope pressdown superset with hammer curls
2x15

Treadmill: 20 mins, 1 mile, 165 cals

Workout time: 1:20

I'm feeling more and more like getting through a workout won't be a problem, so I think the next cycle will be back to 'normal'

Training: Prep Phase, Cycle 3, Day 1

Felt much more prepared to do some heavy work today. Really feeling like conditioning and prep work is paying off. I do need to keep at the mobility stuff.

ME Squat/Dead
Warmup: Step overs forward 1x15, side 1x15
duck unders 1x20

Squat
45x10
95x8
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x3
Pretty easy. Worked up in the usual way, felt good. Still need to work on form.

Step up
bwx10
+20x10,10

HS leg curls
2x8 @ 90

Pull thru
3x10 @ 100

Pull down abs
3x20 @ 120

Workout time: 1 hour

I really felt like I cold have done more. I know it's smart to not overdo it, but I think next week I'll move to real ME work, and get the volume up where it needs to be to get strong.

Need to find a human

Stuck in an IVR??

This is a list of companies, and instructions on getting to a human.

I heart teh internets.

Training: Prep Phase, Cycle 2, Day 4

Today was really the first workout where I felt like my old training self. I actually held back a little.

Warmup:
Front raises superset with side raises 2x15

Bench Press
2x15 @ 45
95x10
2x3 @ 135
8x3 @ 175 Speed awesome
2x3 @ 185 Good speed

Close grips
135x8
2x6 @ 185

Pulldown
100x12
3x15 @ 120

Face pull
3x20 @ 60

Treadmill: 15:30, .75 miles, 119 cals

Workout time: 1:05

End of cycle 2, and things are going swimmingly. Today I felt great, benches had excellent speed, I felt like I could do more, and held back a little. Met my cardio goal (exceeded it by 1 minute!), got to the gym on the scheduled days, and continued to improve mobility and conditioning. One more cycle of the prep phase for sure; I'll evaluate things at the end of that cycle. Goals for the next cycle: 1 hour on the treadmill, hit every day, continue mobility work and stretching. I'd also like to feel good enough to move to traditional max effort work for the following cycle.

Good read

A very good essay from across the pond on deregulation of firearm ownership. Nice to see there is such a movement, even if it's probably too late for them.

Training: Prep Phase, Cycle 2, Day 3

Went to the chiropractor today for a much overdue tune up. That made me a little sore. Searched for an excuse not to go, but didn't use one.

Warmup: 5 mins ellptical level 3
Forward stepovers 1x10
side stepovers 1x10
duck unders 1x20

Box Squat
45x10
95x5
2x2 @ 135
185x2
6x2 @ 225
Speed was good, conditioning getting better.

Good Morning
45x12
2x8 @ 135
Easy, felt good.

Hypers (+25) superset with bench situps
3x12

Lots of stretching

Treadmill: 15:30, .74 mi, 120 cals.

Workout time: 1:15

I'm starting to look forward to cranking things up. I'm feeling like 3 weeks of prep work may not be enough, but 6 might not be necessary. Next week will really determine things.

Don't we have anything more important to worry about?

Apparently, there are people in a snit about the greeting cards the President is sending out. Is it really an issue that a politician doesn't want to offend any number of people who don't share his particular faith?

We actually have groups of people in this country who pressure retailers to call their 'holiday' sales 'Christmas' sales.. as if Christmas was the first holiday to fall on or near the winter solstice (which is why Christmas is when it is, people for thousands of years have celebrated yet another trip around the sun, and the day where the days start getting longer in the Northern Hemisphere).

There is a little gem in the article though:

That is the same rationale offered by major retailers for generic holiday catalogues, and it is accepted by groups such as the National Council of Churches. "I think it's more important to put Christ back into our war planning than into our Christmas cards," said the council's general secretary, the Rev. Bob Edgar, a former Democratic congressman.

Nice little dig.

Training: Prep Phase, Cycle 2, Day 2

Getting better every day.

Warmup: front, side and rear raises, 2x15

Bench Press
2x15 @ 45
95 x 12
135x5
185x5
2x5 @ 225

Still a little shaky, but had several reps in the tank.

HS Incline
1pps x 12
2x6 @ 2pps

HS Row
100s x12
3x10 @ 2pps

Front plate raise
2x15 @ 25

Treadmill: 15 mins, .7 mi, 110 cals

Workout time: 1:05

This is important stuff.

Radley Balko of theagitator.com and Cato is doing research on drug raids that go bad, either where police or residents are involved in violence.

His research started with an interest in this case, which is near where I live... a woman who had no involvement in the drug trade was shot and killed by a member of a SWAT team that entered her house with no warning or announcement when she brandished a handgun thinking her house was being invaded by robbers.

This story Radley found is just awful. It points out not only the gross injustice in the war on drugs, but also the continued issues with racism, nepotism, and a big problem with the death penalty.

This guy is going to be put to death by the state for defending himself. Because he defended himself against a cop. The son of the police chief.

Kudos to Balko for looking into something mass media seems to be happy ignoring.

Solomon

I haven't really been all that interested in following the Solomon case with the SCOTUS, but stumbled across an article about it in the Harvard Crimson. At issue are schools First Amenedment protection where federal funding and military recruiting is concerned. The Solomon Amendment says that if you take ferderal funds, you have to allow military recruiting on campus. Harvard requires all recruiters to sign an anti discrimination pledge, which includes gays, something the military can not sign... so they are not allowed to recruit, so the feds pull the money.

There are a number of interesting little tidbits in here... it's interesting to me that 6 of the 9 Justices on the Supreme Court went to law school at Harvard. I also found it interesting that ustice Roberts would make a salient point.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. ‘76 then interjected, “The only reason that they don’t believe you is because you’re willing to take the money. You’re saying, ‘This is a message we believe in strongly, but we don’t believe in it to the penalty of $100 million dollars.’”

In fact, at Roberts’ alma mater, the penalty would be more than four times that figure for violating the Solomon Amendment. Facing Pentagon threats to block federal funding, Harvard Law School announced in October that it would again cooperate with military recruiters

Leading us to the most interesting (and frustrating) part: Harvard gets $400 MILLION a year from taxpayers? Why?

Sending the wrong message.

The Bush administration is all upset because Howard Dean said it's wrong to think the US will win in Iraq. Of course, he's got a point (and I'm no fan of 'ol Howard). We don't know what victory is in Iraq. We thought it was removing Saddam from power and getting rid of the 'threat'. We did that (well, there was no threat, but that doesn't matter), but apparently we aren't done, as we have to 'stop the terrorists', which is, frankly, unwinnable. Then it's 'spread democracy', which so far has resulted in building a base for an Islamic Theocracy.

Yet we are still there.

What does the White House say? Do they define the mission? Do they tell us what 'victory' is? Nah.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said President George W. Bush is "focused on our plan for victory," and will give the second in a series of speeches on Wednesday about the way forward in Iraq looking ahead to Dec. 15 elections.

"I think that on the eve of historic elections, it sends the wrong message to our troops. America wants our troops to win and we have a plan to help them succeed and we know that they will," McClellan said.

Sending the wrong message. As if not having a defined mission is the right one.

Why is that?

Because it will never be over. There never was a plan to be finished. The plan is permanent occupation. Because this is a war of Imperialism, a war to secure and control the flow of oil. Of course, that message wouldn't have been bought by the US public, so that's not the message they sent us.

They also say this:

He suggested Dean had some explaining to do.

"I think those are remarks for him to clarify," McClellan said, calling it "absolutely the wrong message to send to our troops when we are on the verge of historic accomplishments."

DEAN has some explaining to do?!?! He didn't attack Iraq. He didn't build support for the invasion using incorrect information, lies, and doublespeak.

And why aren't Republicans all upset about the 'make the troops feel good' message here... it's quite the point of mokery when the Democrats do something stupid so people will 'feel good'? Are they all so blinded by bloodlust? Who cares if the troops feel good, let's care that we don't get any more of them killed for nothing.

The only way this changes is to get rid of the hypocrites and liars, and start voting outside the two party system.

Training: Prep Phase, Cycle 2, Day 1

A litte better each time.

Warmup:
front stepovers 1x10
side stepovers 1x10
duck unders 1x20

Squat
45x10
95x8
135x8
185x5
225x5
275x3,4
Second set felt better, needed to work on finding my groove. Still an easy weight.

1 leg db squat
2x5 @ 50's. I suck at these.

Hypers
4x12

Bench situps
2x12

Workout time: :50

Gilmore v Gonzalez

A guy in SF is fighting for your rights. He's going to the 9th circuit because he wouldn't produce his papers to get on a plane. The TSA and Feds say it's a law. But no one can seem to actually find the law... and if you can't find the law, you can't challenge the constitutionality of it, can you.

Convenient, huh?

Here's the link to papersplease.org.

Training: Prep Phase, Cycle 1, Day 4

Every session feels better, which is a good thing. I'm also prety proud - we are still really busy with house stuff, and even with quite the to do list, I made it to the gym and got everything done.

Warmup:
2x15 of front, side, and rear raises w/ 5 lbs

Bench press
2x15 @ 45
95x8
2x3 @ 135
2x3 @ 155
4x3 @ 175
Speed very good, I'll bump these up to 175 for all 8 sets next week.

Pulldowns
4x12 @ 100

Face Pulls
2x20 @ 50

DB pullovers
3x15 @ 10

Treadmill: 15 mins, .7 mi, 100 cals

Workout time: :55

End of cycle wrapup: Not much to mention, other than I hit my treadmill goal, and I made it in every day. I'll keep up with the mobility work and stretching, and hopefully at the end of 3 cycles, I'll be ready to get my workload where it belongs.

What??

Congress doesn't have anything better to do than 'look into' the BCS system?

It's like living in bizarro world.

Constitution takes another blow

In the name of keeping us safe from terrorists. A Federal judge ruled that the random subway searches that clearly violate the Constitution are perfectly OK, since someone might be breaking the law.

The judge cited the testimony of police officials who said the search policy might cause terrorists to choose a different target.

"Because the threat of terrorism is great and the consequences of unpreparedness may be catastrophic, it would seem foolish not to rely upon those qualified persons in the best position to know," Berman said.

Because what the police say is far more important than what the Constitution says.

It's one thing when they misinterpret it, but it's insane when they correctly intrepret it, and decide it doesn't matter anyway.

What happens when 'those most qualified' to determine what you are allowed to say get their way?

Training: Prep Phase, Cycle 1, Day 3

Boy am I out of shape... this is the workout that really shows it.

Warmup:
Stepovers forward 10 each leg
Stepovers side 10 each leg
duck unders 20

Box Squat
45x10
95x5
2x2 @ 135
4x2 @ 225
I'm so out of my groove I forgot to put on my squat briefs, felt it in my hips, I'm thinking mit might be a good idea to train without them at times, though. Did these with 60 sec rest, was really winded, but speed was OK. Definately need to keep working on mobility and flexibility

Good Morning
45x12
2x6 @ 135

Hypers superset with bench situps
4x10

Stretching

Workout time: :50