Since September I've been primarily working on bringing up my absolute strength, doing a lot of squatting, deadlifting, pistols, presses, etc. I've seen great results from it. Smooth presses on the 32 kg. and a semi-press of the 40 kg. (little knee bump so I can't claim it yet), a 32 kg. pistol, a 28 kg. bottoms up press, a yellow nail bent, better squat form and decent poundages, and strong snatches of the 40 kg. I have also seen my weight go up 15 pounds since august RKC to 175 lbs. I would actually venture to say I'm leaner than I was at 165.
I definitely hit a peak last Saturday and should have backed off, so now I am going to. I'm going to hit mvo2 tomorrow and friday at a moderate pace of sets and reps, then take the weekend off when I go to Sacramento for Pavel's stretching and abs seminar, then back into it full speed.
I'm still going to be squatting to bring my deadlift up, hitting mvo2 twice a week, presses and pull ups, and rotating in the deadlifts as I go. I will still be bending nails as well.
So let me toss out some goals for the April TSC. Hear me now and understand me later.
32 kg. 5 minute snatch test- 100 reps
10 kg. pull ups- 18 reps.
Deadlift- 455 lbs.
I am aware these are pretty lofty numbers, but I'd rather shoot high and be disappointed than aim for mediocrity and be satisfied with sucking.
This is gonna hurt.
By the way, this is in my head pretty much on a loop these days. Killswitch engage- As daylight dies. Here's a cover of Dio's Holy Diver.
Bear this in mind- "Ride the tiger, you can see his stripes but you know he's clean."
Indeed.
And the original.
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In other news I received the 'Westside Barbell Book of Methods' by Louie Simmons in the mail yesterday. This thing might as well be a brick of gold. Highly recommended.
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Speaking of "clean," Westside is a clan of 'roid-using lifters. Louie's plans might not work so well for those who don't inject. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteBoard presses are for shirted lifters. Again, just saying.
Yeah, but what about the Dio video?
ReplyDeleteIt was 1984, and I was a freshman in high school. I had Holy Diver on a cassette tape and listened to it constantly on my cassette-playing clock radio.
ReplyDeleteWe were all metal-heads back then. My baseball coach was a senior in high school and was friends with all the bad guys.
One of the bad guys had a party in his basement with a beer keg and a bare-bones stereo cranking Mob Rules by Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio singing lead. At the time, it was by far the coolest music I had ever heard.
Later that night, when we were all shit-faced, my baseball coach took my brother, me, and two of my friends out to his car and introduced us to Metallica at a blinding volume.
Holy shit.
that's why I asked, I figured you had somehong like that in store for me. In 1984 I was busy being 9.
ReplyDeleteI went 12-3 in wrestling that year, had a 4.0 GPA, and acquired an interest in literature. It was all downhill from there.
ReplyDeleteThat new band ripped the hell out of Dio's song. Well done.
ReplyDeleteIs anyone covering old Iron Maiden songs these days? Bruce Dickinson had the perfect voice and theatrics for those songs. I can't imagine anyone doing it better.
I failed high school. They only let me graduate because I did some manual labor for them.
ReplyDeleteI think modern bands know better than to try and touch Iron Maiden.
You have made some incredible strides in your strength since your RKC. Also, congrats on breaking into the top 20 RKC instructors.
ReplyDeleteThanks Franklin.
ReplyDeleteI was also a metalhead in high school until I discovered punk rock.
ReplyDeleteI love Dio's Holy Diver album tons. Didn't like his stuff in Sabbath...imo it just ain't Sabbath without Ozzy.
Great cover of Holy Diver though. Kept the essence of the song while giving it their own touch.
Strong goals as well.
Thanks Kai. See you on saturday.
ReplyDeleteLike peak oil, maybe we already experienced peak metal, like 25 years ago. Pantera, for example, is hard-core, but they don't make me want to bang my head. They make me want to drive my car off a cliff. I just can't bang my head that goddamn fast.
ReplyDeleteKai, Dio's stuff with Sabbath was still Dio, though. Didn't you like any of it? I agree Sabbath wasn't as good after the first few albums with Ozzie.
ReplyDeleteI say punk started with The Who in 1965. Do you like The Who?
Yes...if you look at Dio fronted Sabbath as being solo Dio with a great band behind him I do like the music. Not as much as Holy Diver though.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably me being sort of pig headed and preventing myself from enjoying it as much as I could because of how jarring Sabbath was without Ozzy.
The Who is good stuff and I think you've got a good case there. I never completely got into them but I enjoy listening to them if they are being played.
You're right. Dio was better in his own band, and Black Sabbath was best early and with Ozzie.
ReplyDeleteThe Who need to be played loudly, and not the songs beyond 1967 or so. They became less interesting after that, IMO.
Adding a bit to Aaron's comment, having been in high school when the Who really hit it big here in the state, the 'The Who, Live at Leeds' (1970) was the ONLY Who album anyone listened to.
ReplyDeleteI skipped the whole metal thing and subsequent "big hair" bands replacing it with years of listening to Miles, 'Trane, and Evans.