Cosplay and Iron
Powerbuilding, costumes, and props.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
easy strength as a base
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Mini Workouts: high frequency and low time
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Accepting injury. Sticking to the plan.
It's important I log mental paradigm shifts. I've written about doing what you can in the midst of injury multiple times. What I have not talked about is becoming numb to setbacks.
The gift of injury
Last week my knees were feeling great for the first time in a long time. I decided to take a light sandbag (50lbs) and take it for a walk. By that evening both of my knees were on fire. It didn't hurt necessarily, but everything was screaming DONT DO THAT STUPID. I lay in bed with my wife and vocalized my frustration. Phrases like 'I didn't deserve this' and 'I set myself back weeks' poured out of my brain. As always she was empathetic to my frustration. We passed out and that was that.
Days later, my knees still feel like shit. I've done nothing physically with my lower body other than go on long walks. I'm objectively in worse shape than when I first complained a week ago, but my mental state is MILES ahead.
This is the gift I received from a set-back:
- Realizing I'd been shirking the mobility courses I purchased. My body will not heal unless I give it a reason to heal.
- Remembering my catastrophic neck injury in 2021. What used to be the inability to feel or pull with my left arm is now barely a numb buzz. Through persistence and strength training, I will recover.
- Refocus my goal on brutalizing my upper body. There is a mountain of progress I can make that is unrelated to my knees.
Tuesday, January 2, 2024
2024 Goals: Ring Muscle Up, Shoulder a 150lb Sandbag, Snatch a 24kg KB for 20
First day back at work for 2024. Fresh in my brain are the physical goals I have for 2024.
GOALS:
- One(1) Ring Muscle Up.
- Shoulder a 150lb Sandbag.
- Snatch a 24kg KB for 20.
Given my current strength levels and progress in my program, these are extremely achievable. I'm actively working towards a ring muscle up daily, and I'm laying the bricks that will allow my body to safetly murder the other two(2).
The why behind each goal is easy. I've always thought I was too heavy for muscle ups. The change was a mindset shift on bodyweight training. A heavier starting point means each rep has more muscle building potential. If I build my upper body back up while simultaneously practicing the skills tied to muscle ups, this
Shouldering a 150lb bag is likely doable now, but not without aggravating my knee. I want to be able to throw this bag around pain free. Then do it again and again and again.
Snatching a 24kg KB is weirdly the biggest reach goal. A full KB snatch scares me even with 16kg, and 24kg is generally considered the minimum 'working weight' most men should be using before you can see much in the way of results from KBs. This is entirely arbitrary of course, but I want to throw around a weight that scares me a little now.
Saturday, December 30, 2023
ring muscle up before I'm 40
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
shower thought biceps on biceps
calisthenics progression (still vetting)
staggered rest versus supersets
Saturday, November 18, 2023
rehab work: don't be dainty
Sunday, October 1, 2023
daily training: the importance of light days
Saturday, September 30, 2023
action after injuries!
Thursday, August 31, 2023
if I had to rebuild from scratch
Saturday, August 26, 2023
more ramblings on a carry based program
Thursday, August 24, 2023
ez strength: step loading weighted calisthenics
Friday, August 18, 2023
sandbag based training program
- A calisthenics movement or curl performed daily.
- Set sandbag weight(s). 2-4x a week.
- Kettlebell or barbell assistance. 2-4x a week after sandbag training. The movement patterns should be the opposite of the daily movement.
- Change your daily movement.
- Increase sandbag weights.
- Counter daily movement 3x8. 1min rest between sets.
- 1x BW reverse lunges to failure.
- Stretch.
Monday, June 19, 2023
high frequency barbell, kettlebell, and calisthenics
Saturday, May 27, 2023
abbreviated training + conditioning
Saturday, March 18, 2023
$$$ conditioning tool: sled and kb combo
Saturday, March 11, 2023
3 months of kettlebelling : lessons learned
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
benefits to kettlebell training: a beginners lense
Monday, October 31, 2022
linear gains : chaotic approach
Saturday, October 22, 2022
sword and shield variation oct 2022
Saturday, October 15, 2022
Saturday, July 2, 2022
muscle up promise and peas and carrots
Thursday, May 26, 2022
what is serving you
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
brain droppings
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
kettlebell conditioning : one move. simple
Saturday, April 23, 2022
kettlebell conditioning : complex
Thursday, April 7, 2022
mentally batching reps for higher rep sets
Sunday, April 3, 2022
working from home | a unique avenue for powerbuilding
Ten years ago I said something stupid to my girlfriend on the way to a cruise.
I'm gonna live like an Olympic athlete the entire time we're here. I'm gonna lift a stupid amount of times, then eat and sleep my fill to recover and it's gonna be awesome.
As with all times when I talked about lifting (and my wife does now), she smiled and nodded and gave 0 shits but wanted to show how supportive she was of my brain droppings.
Weird enough, I'm in a better situation now that I could have possibly ever imagined in my 20s. I work from home, live in a future that has grocery delivery, and I have a home gym with weights I have to work up to lifting again. And dude, it's not getting better than this.
What makes more sense in my situation? Trying to shove a bunch of intense/volume work early before I work, or taking small breaks throughout the day to get in my sets? I accidentally experimented with this about a year ago through intermittent sets to failure of bodyweight pulls. And all it ever accomplished was the most impressive my upper body ever looked.
If you work from home:
- Your food probably lives with you. Prep ahead of time (my choice is slow cooked stews).
- Get a home gym. If you can't afford it or don't have the room, you have a multitude of options to move the needle without a barbell (kettlebells, rings, and homemade kettlebells for swings...I'm a looking at you baby).