Ryan's Journal

Monday:
- Squats 3x5x110kg
- Bench Press 3x5x80kg
- Rows 7x10x40kg
- Block Deadlifts 5x110kg, 5x130kg, 5x140kg

Tuesday:
- Front Squats 10/8/6 x60kg
- SLDL 3x8x80kg

Wednesday:
- Squats 2x5x115kg
- Bench Press 3x3x85kg, 4x80kg
- Rows 6x10x45kg, 12x40kg

Friday:
- Squats singles up to 140kg
- Bench Press 3x2x90kg, 5/4 x80kg
- Rows 8x10x50kg

Saturday:
- Front Squats 10/8/5 x65kg
- Deadlifts 2x4x160kg
- BB Calf Raise 10x60kg, 2x8x100kg
 
Monday:
- Bench Press 12x60kg, 10x60kg
- Pull Ups 1x15, 1x10, 2x6
- CGBP: 6x60kg, 4x60kg
- L-Pull Ups 2x4 -- haven't done those in ages. Abs are feeling it today.
- DB Shoulder Press 3x10x12.5kg
- Dead Row 3x8x50kg

Tuesday:
- Hindu Front Squats 3x10x40kg -- Trying to keep balance was not easy, and my calves seem to think they'll be having a word with me tomorrow.
- Front Squats 2x5x60kg -- I'm not sure whether these felt so hard because of the sissies beforehand, or if it's because of my abs.
- Sumo deadlifts 3x10x60kg
- Jefferson lunges 6x60kg, 10x60kg
- Sn RDL 5x60kg, 6x60kg, 3x10x60kg
- Calf Raise 10x70kg, 2x10x90kg
 
Last edited:
Wednesday
- OHP/Pull Ups 3x8x40kg/4x10xBW
- Push Press/Bent L-Pull Ups 7x40kg, 8x40kg/2x6xBW
- DB Shoulder Press/Upright Row 2x10x12.5kg/12x13kg

Amidst all this, I was taking one of my friends through a fullbody workout of bench press/DB row; Jefferson lifts; DB shoulder press/lat pull down; and leg press/calf raise.
 
I did various things in the last week, although Thur-Sat was pretty sloppy. I did a bunch of L-Pull Ups on Saturday...5 or 6 sets worth, and 8 reps on the first set. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

My abs stopped hurting (unless I contract them hard) today. Yesterday I tried doing L-Pull Ups, but my abs were so sore I could barely do regular pull ups (and even that was painful).

Monday I benched 13x62.5kg and trialled CGBP without an arch and with my feet up on the bench. 4x60kg and I was doneskies.

Tuesday I did a beltless widowmaker at 60kg. Not a huge achievement at all, but I don't think I've done that before. Followed it up with 3x10x70kg sumo deadlifts and found that I can either deadlift with feet very wide or very close together. Anywhere in between and the bar instantly feels 40kg heavier. Tony will probably say I should train those weak areas. I did 6x10x60kg snatch-grip deadlifts, supersetting the first 3 sets with Jefferson lunges (10/8/6x60kg) and calf raises.

Wednesday. You already know how my pull ups went. On OHP I got 9x40kg, but then the next 2 sets only managed 6 reps. Dropped the weight back and did a couple more sets for the volume. Followed it up with some embarrassingly light DB presses and rows. Afterwards I went for a 30min stroll on the X-trainer, from which I never cooled down (seriously, once I got home I was sitting in 18C air con and still feeling warm, and that was still my preference this morning -- I normally prefer 22-24C in summer).

Today I was not at all surprised that being in the PT studio w/o air con made me a drenched, sweaty mess. I don't think I've seen a shirt that covered in sweat in a long time. I did front squats on my toes, and 5x10 goodmornings at 70kg -- first 2 sets superset with 8x32.5kg toe lunges; last 3 sets superset with calf raises. I stood in front of the fan a lot, and when I got home I barely turned the hot water on in the shower (I did have it on a little bit, because straight cold water was enough to make me gasp, but I definitely wanted the water cooler than my body temperature).

Obviously my internal thermostat is stuffed. I've got a friend in South Korea right now who forgot to pack long pants on his plane trip over there -- I'm sure he could use my excess warmth. This afternoon I've set the air con to 22 and my body isn't complaining, so I'll assume I'm not dying.
 
Good stuff.
You may not be tall enough to really benefit from sumos to increase your deadlift weight. For me it was the only way to compensate for being tallest in my weight class. Not a massive benefit to doing them in between if you can't get used to it and it drops your weight unless you are insane and want to hurt yourself just for fun, there are none here wanting that surely. I'm still on fat gripz only deadlifts, because it makes it harder to lift less, allowing my back to recover while still making me suffer.
I tend not to sweat as much as leak air con or not. It's mid winter over here an yesterday had a thin layer of frozen snow on the ground, not enough for snow trax, temperature just above freezing. So run was in vest and shorts and it took me an extra few minutes to start having visible sweat on my clothing. In summer I really struggle, generally end up coming back to the office to grab my bag looking like I've had my shower but likely not smelling like it. My wife being the wonderful and supportive type will often tell me to go away after I have done a good lifting session in the heat with streams of water running down me and clothing that I could wring out.
My internal thermostat is why I let others guage the temperature in offices etc. for me it's life in the fridge please.
 
Mmm, when I've done sumos in the past, it's always felt awkward and hard. I'm putting in some effort in building up some sumo skills for the same reasons I'm doing Jeffersons and exercises on my toes -- learn some new skills, getting stronger in new ROMs, build muscle in areas I might otherwise skim over, add some variety for the fun of it.

I would have loved some snow today, instead of the 40C mid-summer heat. It sucks living a quarter of a mile away from the sun.
 
I like my unstable training for getting to parts other stuff doesn't reach. There is absolutely no concrete evidence that doing this is any better than just training normally but I feel it does more involving in areas that probably shouldn't be challenged. There is also the kudos of just being able to do things others wouldn't even consider with ease.
Sumos are good I haven't done many recently partly because the way I do deadlifts is to have me and bar in the rack and weights outside of it so I can't get the width of footing I like. Will need to reorganise the gym when there isn't a list of other stuff to do. My system was get toes to plates then turn in slightly to avoid losing them on the downward movement. Combined with arms straight down it cut the distance I had to lift the bar immensely.

You Ozzies are sneaky too, you have your summer in the winter. I have a very low melting point, so there is no way I'd do well down there. It gets to 20C and I suffer. I genuinely don't remember how I was at 40C, I know some of my climbing was in temperatures of that ilk and I travelled around in similar too. My system was to request all my club kit as shorts and vests, which was a really good idea because it meant getting more stuff and was good for the heat. However when I ordered it I didn't realise that I needed to do part of my grading in on some climbs in north east Scotland in early February, which was 'interesting' in shorts and vest. My normal system when running is go faster, not as easy when climbing.
 
Friday
- Bench Press 14x62.5kg, 2x8x62.5kg
- L-Pull Ups 3x6
- Incline DBBP 2x10x15kg
- Pull Ups 3x10
- OHP 3x12x20kg
- Barbell Row 2x10x50kg

Saturday
- Squats 3x12x80kg
- Deadlifts 3x12x80kg
- Glute Bridge 3x10x80kg
- Leg Press/Calf Raise 3x12x90kg
 
I tend to think of what I do with pull ups (when not modifying to make it harder; just going AMRAP) as endurance training, since the goal there is to do more reps. I still see all this 8-15 rep stuff I'm doing as strength/hypertrophy training, because the emphasis is still on adding weight. It's just high rep strength training. I guess that does highlight how strength and endurance are not mutually exclusive.

Monday
Bench Press 11/8/7x65kg
L Pull Ups 3x8
CGBP 5/4/3x60kg
Pull Ups 8/8/6x2.5kg
DBSP 9/9/6x12.5kg
Cable Row 3x10x61kg, 3x15x43kg
 
Wednesday
OHP 9/6/6/5/5x40kg
L Pull Ups 3x8
Pull Ups 3x10xBW
DBSP 4x12x8kg
Cable Row 2x10x61kg, 12x52kg, 15x43kg

Half an hour X-trainer afterwards. Walked the dogs this evening. Walked around a lot yesterday afternoon and evening, too.
 
Thursday
Toe Front Squats 3x8x45kg
Goodmorning 4x10x72.5kg
Toe Lunges 10/8x35kg; 1x10x35kg normal
Hip Thrusts 6/10x60kg -- first set on bench, not enough friction; second set on wooden boxes, better but still not ideal.
Calf Raises 3x10x80kg

In other news, I put together a CD to have in my car, composed entirely of female artists. I called it #JustGirlySongs. Now all it needs is a unicorn, rainbow and floral arrangement drawn onto it.

Here's one of the songs on it.
[video=youtube;49tpIMDy9BE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49tpIMDy9BE[/video]

Another song is on there for pure smug self-indulgence. This song, by Delta Goodrem, was originally released as a single with way too much poptacular electronic stuff in it that made it sound horrible. But it was also released with software that allowed you to remix it. So, while purchasing it in the first place was by far one of the most embarrassing things I've ever done, I took pleasure in stripping a bunch of crud out of the song, making it more or less listenable.
 
If you are into female metal this could be good for you
I tend to find female vocals lack the power and edge I like and the list he's compiled there is a lot of that. I have however found a few examples that proved me totally wrong.
I am listening to one of his newer lists on a separate channel with industrial metal. Strangely relaxing for me, which on reflection makes me the strange part.
One of the most disturbing electrical musical things I remember years ago was someone putting in the tune for back in black, playing it sounding like the instruments but played far too perfectly as I hate from electric stuff, then put a hazing over it to make all the notes inaccurate to human levels. The end result was something sounding like a live band playing it and something I would happily listen to. Fortunately this hasn't taken off, metal is still generally played by hairy dudes with instruments, could you imagine it being performed by some computer nerd, the horror.
 
Immediately I like. When I was more explicitly a metal fan, I didn't normally like female singers because they do tend to lack the gruff, guttural aggression male voices are capable of. And when female vocalists try to replicate that, they often sound like try-hards rather than like this is their authentic singing style.

Over the years, I've grown to appreciate a broader range of timbres and vocal techniques, and have found that sometimes an acoustic ballad is more intense than all the rasp and distortion in the world, which has made me more partial to female vocalists and different genres in general.
 
I do quite like Epica. The female vocalist is more operetta than metal but there is a male death metal/ screamo voice which he can switch between faster than I have heard done well before.
Their stuff is a good mix of metal and classical with political style I appreciate.

Much of my time is spent listening to metal, especially as it seems to be getting a lot more intelligently political over time. There is still the mindless nonsense which is fun too of course.
 
Saturday
Squats 3x12x82.5kg
Deadlifts 3x12x90kg
High Rack Pulls 3/2/2x180kg
Glute Bridge 3x10x90kg -- Left my shoulders raw
Leg Press 12/6x95kg -- Right knee started playing up, so I called it quits. Hopefully it's nothing major and is fine next week.
Calf Raise 2x15x95kg
 
Tuesday
Squats 3x10x100kg, 12x80kg -- low bar, belted
Rack Quarter Squats 2x20x120kg -- probably should have slowed down the eccentric; I'm sure I put a bit more effort in than this, but it kinda felt like I was just dropping the weight with each rep.
Deadlifts 3x12x100kg -- belted
Block Deadlifts 3x5x150kg -- with straps
Calf Raise 4x10x90kg

Tony will like this:

This morning, over at bb.com, a kid asked for the best arguments/evidence for God so that he could refute them for an assignment. I walked him through the cosmological, teleological and ontological arguments. There are both powerful and powerfully stupid versions of each.

Now, when I was 18 I went from atheist to deist on the cosmological and teleological arguments. 8 years later, I realise that the cosmological argument (done properly) goes beyond deism to theism, while the teleological argument only really works if we accept Aristotelian metaphysics. At its heart, the teleological argument argues for a first cause based on final causality. We can easily prove final causality amongst living creatures, but proving it amongst laws of nature isn't really possible, so I openly showed him that the teleological argument rests on unfalsifiable premises, making it moot until further notice. Arguing against myself like a pro :) (that's the part I figure Tony will like the most).

I broke down what good versions of cosmological and ontological arguments are doing, and what they aren't doing.

Cosmological arguments do not attempt to reveal who God is. Ultimately the goal is to show that there's either an infinite regress of causes and effects; there's an uncaused first effect; or there's an eternal, personal cause behind the cosmos (eternal to avoid that infinite regress; personal to explain why the universe began to exist, rather than either being caused eternally or never coming into being). To disprove this, we can can do one of the following: 1) show that either an infinite regress or an uncaused effect is plausible; 2) show that eternal, agent causation is implausible; or 3) provide a viable 4th, 5th, etc option. At this point, I'm not exactly arguing against myself, but I was quite comfortable telling him that if he wants to disprove this argument, here's how to do it.

The modal ontological argument is only compelling when we understand it on its terms. It's normal not to understand what the argument refers to when it speaks of God, and if you insert anything else into the argument in God's place, then the argument looks profoundly stupid, because it doesn't work for entities that are defined differently to God. God, in the argument, is defined as a maximally great being. There are various great-making properties, but the most important one for the argument is existing necessarily. Something can be impossible (ie cannot exist in any possible world), but it would be greater to be contingent (ie could exist in some possible worlds but not others), and it would be greatest to be necessary (ie must exist in all possible worlds; could not fail to exist). So, if a necessary being can exist, then it can't fail to exist in any possible world, and therefore actually exists. The solution for the atheist isn't an easy one to achieve -- one needs to show that there can't be a maximally great being, which, if possible to achieve, is done by showing that a maximally great being is incoherent.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top