For SSGT Glass: The CB Mill

Pretty lifts.

One of my favorite things about powerlifting is that it matters not a whit what you looked like ,physically,when you did it.I went to powerlifting directly from bodybuilding where the ONLY thing that mattered is what you looked like.How much you trained or lifted to achieve that look didnt count at all and was basically irrelevant. As long as it worked for you you could use zero weight and zero intensity and it didnt matter.Virtual muscle, as Pavel would say.

When I went to my first national level powerlifting meet in 1990 to help coach one of the lifters from my gym I was unimpressed at first at the level of "muscle" these guys had.Lots of what I considered back then "little" guys and regular looking guys.Certainly no bodybuilding type freaks.

Unimpressed until I saw what actual numbers they were doing in meet conditions.And that being strong and looking strong were many times not actually connected at all. Man that changed me forever and threw me headlong into powerlifting. After suffering through the no real competition of the male beauty show that is bodybuilding I really needed something athletic. Where it mattered what you could do, not what you looked like. Power ifting, was and is, perfect for that.

And that goes for how each powerlift looks as well.Some of the ugliest powerlifts I have ever seen have been for world records! Head down,knees in, ass out bent over good morning looking squats, elbows out benches or benches with way too close or wide( you thought) grip and virtual stiff leg , round back deadlifts.

One of the most important lessons I took from Mr Simmons was that when one fails to complete a lift; be it squat bench or dead, its not the LIFT that fails but a muscle group instead.Your back or abs werent strong enough to maintain position or get you through the sticking point during your squat, your triceps arent strong enough to stay under the bar in the bench or your abs or hammies arent strong enough to keep your hips in you pull.

Louie said you had to analyze WHAT gives out during a max lift then focus on strengthening THAT and voila, your lift should get better. Until ANOTHER weak point appears and that has to get the same treatment as well.
It could be a muscle group. It could also be your starting strength, or rate of force development,or ability to maintain total tension,all requiring a different solution. The point is to really analyze where you fail in the lift and then bring that up.An unwavering devotion to where you are weak is the only way to get stronger. Because we are always just as strong as our weakest link.Everyone likes to train their strengths, cause its 'fun'. Training your weakness is what makes you better.
And you have to find out where YOU are strongest.If you dont know where you have the best leverage it will be hard to maximize that position. ANd sometimes that position ain't exactly "pretty". as long as its( relatively) safe( I mean how safe can trying to ever increase the maximal load you can move be?) go with it.Seek out, analyze and attack your weak links, wherever they may be or wherever you find them and keep getting better!

The one thing to never ask

before a workout: ' Do I feel like training'? Because mostly the answer will be no and then what do you do?Especially for me after I've trained six or seven people in a row.The desire to dive right back into the gym and give myself a solid ass kicking just really isnt there.I truly love being able to train first thing in the morning . When I "retire",lol, I will train myself first and then my clients.
Today was especially hard to get restarted after a ten minute power nap but,like usual, it turned out to be a stellar workout. Sometimes you just can't trust how you feel.Especially when you are not moving.!-2 pm has never been a good time for me to train. I always started gymnastics practice at 2 pm and I remember always wanting to take a nap at that time after classes all morning. Oh well, this is when it fits so:

Max Vo2
16kgx35 sets of 7 reps per 15 sec
10 sets of 8 reps per 15 sec
325 reps
11,700 pounds.

this was suprisingly easy! I took my heart rate at set 20 and it was only in the mid 150s so I decided to step it up to 8 reps per set.HR at the end of the 45 sets was 185.This was fine as well.I will do 50 sets next week and then restart with 8 rep sets the week after.I am ready for it now.

Barbarian( two hand cast to flag)
15lbs x10 reps x 6 sets

These are great but it's too light. Just ordered a 25 lb CB for my two handed work and the presses.great move though. My elbows are finally locking out fully again.

One arm barbarian
10kbs x8 x 4

Shield cast
2 sets of 10 each arm with 10 lbs
2 sets of 8 each arm with 15 lbs( first time with this weight!)

Mill
3 sets fo 10 each arm with 10s
Finally figuring out this move correctly.

datsit. staying loose.

BW 159.8
BF 8.9%
Water 60.2%

Another day at the office.

I knew this was going to be tough.I knew it when I decided to do the extra 80 or so reps saturday and remembered that Monday was now 24 kg snatch day.As well as right when I started to warmup and realized I was flat as a board. Oh well, tough is good.Just have to modulate the effort and not get tweaked.Very glad to see Joe walk in.It would have been very ugly solo today.Dedicated training partners are harder to find than anything and Joe's been perfect of late.As expected, he is picking up the barbell power squat like crazy fast.he is just freaky strong. period.

Snatch
16kgx5/5/5/5x3
24kgx5/5/5/5x5
100 reps
5300 pounds.

Not bad actually although I could feel how flat my hips back and legs were from saturdays effort.I've never really trained snatches in this ssst format but I think it will be very interesting.I didnt do it because I didnt want to tempt myself into testing but I think I now can play with it safely.I not only have to stay far away from heavy weights but high intensity efforts as well.My conditioning though is better than it ever has been and that will make a big difference as well.

CB Swipes
2 10 lbers x 50,30,50

this was very interesting. I really found good groove here and really felt the elastic energy leading the move.I stopped thinking of doing the right technique and just let myself feel it. Much better.The second set I stopped early cause my freakin grip was toast!!! LOL!I relaxed a lot more on the last set. THere is a lot of work to be done figuring out when and how to grip the cb during these long sets.. same as kb but different. I can definitely see 100 plus reps with this soon. Freakin killer tricep work too-the good kind as well- the long head,lol.
Can't imagine doing 100 reps with the 25's though, that's serious shit.

CB Mills
lots of 8-10 reps per arm practice with the 10 lbers

Joe helped a lot with this one as he has solid history as a baseball player and immediately got the motion of this movement.I took my time but it was much better at the end of the practice.We realized my problem with the right arm mill is that I got no external rotation ,lol. well, not none, but not enough.Go figure;no ligaments, no capsule and no stabilization . Who woulda thunk it? But hey, its WAY better than it's been in years. Healing happens, beleive it.
these movements feel very therapeutic and coordinate great with kb work

Rack walk
1600 feet with 16 kg. hand switch every 200 ft.
glad these are back in,they really force me to concentrate on gait mechanics.
Lots of Z drills today with clients and before work. Also, starting back starting with the floor stretches and then going into Z drills. It feels good to get loose BEFORE I start the z too.

datsit

BW 161.2
BF7.7%!
Water61.9%

The higher the water the lower the bf measurement. cool. feel way lean.

How to improve.

Arnold in perhaps the best arm shot ever. He was the King of improvement and proper training planning.

Being an competitive athlete for so long really spoiled me in some senses.Training was always coupled with competitions where progress, or the lack of it, was immediately apparent. One knew pretty regularly if one's training, and the plan behind it, was working or not.There really was no training without a purpose,without a goal and a deadline.This made things much easier in many ways. It's easier to get somewhere if you know where you are going and when you have to be there.

Now that I am retired from competition training is much more difficult in many ways as there is much more of an opportunity to just "float" during workouts and do what feels good that day.Of course, in my book ,this is not training but exercising, as training always has a goal in mind. No matter how small or how far off it's really not training to me if there is no real goal.Deadlines, as in competitions make it even easier as there is nothing like looming competition platforms with witnesses and spectators to get one in the gym and doing what one should be doing.

Powerlifting was by far the most direct of these sports as when one is training for such you usually start from the meet day and work backwards. You also start with what your last personal best was and plan for a small but reasonably improvement to that.

The idea that one is going to make huge gains on a regular basis is quickly quelled by the realities of heavy iron and vagaries of real competitions on someone elses time schedule. So it's shooting for small personal bests after a period of specific training for such.Adding up those small personal bests over a regular period of time and lifters realize huge gains to their totals can be had with steady and serious dedication to small improvements.

So how does one improve?

The most important concept to any and all improvement is the idea of the S.A.I.D principle or Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands.This basic principle simply says you get what you train for; what you Specifically train for.And while there might be some carryover from your squat to your deadlift or from your running to your cycling the bottom line is :specificity rules.

That's why the best cyclist in the world, Lance Armstrong, ran a very mediocre marathon despite legs of steel and an oxygen uptake that is perhaps the highest in the world.So you have to train for what you want. And while you can have it all( perhaps) you cannot have it all similtaneously.Of course ,many are happy being decent at a lot of things but not great in any and that's fine. But many need to really bust their butts just to be mediocre at ONE thing.

Which brings us to the next important concept for improving: Overload. You simply must ask the body to do more than it did the last time or it simply will not get better. Form follows function. Change what the body is capable of doing( function) and it's form will change. And conversely if you are capable of doing 'X' amount of work and regularly do 'X-10' in your workout you will NOT improve but slowly lose ability.

This is the basis of Hans Seyles General Theory of Adaptation which is where S.A.I.D comes from.

Take a ten horsepower body and give it a twelve horsepower load and, after it adapts from the stress of the load, it BECOMES a twelve horsepower body. So the training is a stress,a negative actually, which depletes certain( specific) substances signally the body to restore them, to rebuild them bigger and stronger so the same stress will not deplete the body the next time.

Of course if you give that ten HP body a twenty HP load you just break it.SO the overload has to be appropriate. Just enough stimulates, too much, annihilates or if it's not specific enough of an overload just misses the mark entirely.

So you have a specific overload which is targeting a specific quality one wants to improve.This is intensity. The training stress is a negative which depletes the body from which it must RECOVER from. Repeated overload just tears down the body,even if it's the correct target area that is hit.Too much intensity or too much intensity too often or just too much work in total can just break one down so much they can't get back up. Much less improve capacity from it.So recovery is also a key component to progress.

In fact, it is THE key component to progress because you can only get as good as the load you are capable of handling. Say you want to be a 600 pound squatter. That means you must be capable of handling 70-85% loads in the gym.70% of 600 is 420 lbs.To be able to do regular workouts with 420 to 510 lbs is no joke and puts mucho stress not just on the muscles and tendons but the CNS and the system as a whole.Trying to squat those loads in addition to other sports and activities will be too much for everyone but the most gifted athletes to recover from.

This is is why you don't see top level lifters also competing in other sports or vice versa. Specificity rules and recovery tops everything.And it doesnt matter if the goal is a 5 minute mile instead of a big squat. Or 200 snatches or whatever.The closer one gets to the bodies absolute limits the much tougher the stress is on it.A 600 pound squat is not just 300 pounds harder than 300. It's exponentially harder.Same with a 48 second 400 meters. Not in the same galaxy as 58 seconds, as hard as that may be to many. And the system can only take so much.

This is why taking your recovery seriously is CRITICAL to all who aspire to improvement at any level.The intensity changes as you go up the ladder but the rules apply across the board.

Active recovery methods range from simple rest( WAAAAAY overlooked) to massage( both professional and by yourself),nutrition, water therapy, visualization techniques, meditation,active rest( light training)vibration therapy,stretching,etc.

This is also why so many elite athletes choose to use anabolic and androgenic steroids,perhaps the most efficient recovery agent outs there. And why so many try to find and use legal versions of anabolics(supplements) to accomplish the same results but within legal parameters. You can only get better if you can handle more and heavier workloads. And you can only handle those loads that you can recover from and adapt to.

It may seem that all this only applies to hard training elites but that is not the case. The regular person training for basic improvement in strength, endurance or any other physical quality has to play by the same rules.Whether you are limited in your exercise selection( as I am) or can do it all you must use the same concepts.When I push my swing or snatch workloads up I am doing so because I know if I don't try to do more than I was capable the last time I won't get better.ANd the more I adapt the more I will have to do in the future.
Of course there are diminishing returns but that can only be decided by the trainee themselves. Having done 600 swings with the 24 kg I know I don't want to do more if it means training longer, so I will now try to overload by doing the same work in less time.Over the course of a training cycle of course. I know I am adapting because it wasnt long ago that half that workload would make my legs sore the next day. Now I can do double what I used to and have no soreness the next day. Adaptation. One critical key to progess.

But the real key is KNOWING that whatever you are doing you MUST make yourself do more in some way shape or form in order to create the next level of adaptation. To MAKE yourself what you want to be. What you choose to be.SO that means having a plan of where you are going, knowing what you did last so you can scale the increase appropriately( whether that means more sets,reps, weight or a faster workout) and developing the will to make yourself do it.
That last part is no mean feat and everybit as important as anything else you will train.Because when it all comes down to it, it's that little battle between the weak you and the you that wants to be stronger that is the first overload. Choose wrong and you will get weaker and less; choose correctly and you at least have a chance of being better.

And preparing for those workouts is vital. If you go into the gym not knowing what you did last workout, or what the plan is for this workout there is a very good chance you wont do enough to stimulate a real adaptation or you will overshoot and do too much.One must take lots of variables into consideration during the workout in order to ensure safety as well as overload but if you plan correctly most workouts can be accomplished and get you that closer to your goals.
Assuming you have some.

Don't think, just swing.

Is what I kept telling myself during this one. Today was one arm swings with the 24kg and my previous pr was 500 swings done three weeks ago. I have been feeling strong lately and the number 600 popped into my mind. Didnt make a lot of sense but I thought it actually wouldnt be that hard.I would play it by ear, as usual.

One arm swings
16kgx5/5x3

24 kgx15/15x20 sets
600 swings pr
31,800 lbs!

I alternated sets with jonathan who was doing the same workout.This took 65 minutes and my pace picked up when he went out at 330 swings. My wind was good and swing speed and power stayed pretty consistent til 17 sets when it really took alot to keep bell speed up. I really wanted to just ride the momentum but I worked hard to keep power high.The hardest part was after 300 reps I thought " I have to do this whole thing again?" But then it was " don't think, just swing" and that worked fine.Just swing.

Clubbells
torch press one and two arms
10 and 15 #
4 sets of 6-8 of each

single arm cast to flag
10 and 15 lg bell
3 sets of 5 reps each arm with each weight.

I really love the decompression feeling I get from the CBs. especially the shoulders and elbows .plus, I have triceps again and that is way good.

I am toast.
pretty tight and will do a full z and rifga session later.

datsit.

AMAZING powerlifting video resource.

Check out this index of powerlifting videos. It has some very old, classic lifters doing their thing,including Vince Anello,Mike McDonald,Ed Coan and lots others.

Get up Stand up.

who woulda thunk we weren't designed to sit down for 16 hours a day day in and day out? Sitting not only ruins backs it seems it also keeps us fat .

Interesting article here

*edit*
this also is a good reason to substitute a stability ball for a regular chair. The stability ball,because it is always in motion, requires one to constantly 'fidget" around to stay stable, which might be similar to the 'puttering' they mention in the article.It certainly is much better for your back, abs and balance.

Back to basics:Max Vo2 day

Seems like I havent done this workout in years but it's only been two weeks.Got nailed yesterday with a really bad allergy attack which kicked my ass all day. I used to have bad allergies years ago but havent had any problems at all for 10 + years. Very weird. Nothing worked but the claritan wacked my out enough to make me worry about today. No problems. 35 sets of 7 reps and 5 sets of 8 and form felt great. As did my shoulder.Good times.

Snatch
16 kg
35 sets of 7 reps every 15 sec
5 set sof 8 reps
40 sets
285 reps
10,260 lbs

teshnik was solid with longer than normal overhead holds which soaked up all the 15 seconds of work.Really getting the timing of the descent down now so the bell path is closer but still goes over the top.This will be the everyweek wednesday workout for awhile now with ssst snatch work with either the 20 or 24 kg on mondays. Did it before only the opposite order, should be fine.
Snatch holds
16kg x40 sec x 3 sets

been awhile since I've done these too. time to go back.

Barbarian Cast/flag
10lbsx10 reps each side
15x10 reps each side x4 sets
need to get aheavier cb for these. 25 probably. like the two handed circular work a lot.

Shield casts
10lbs x10 each side x 3 sets
15lbs x6 each side x 2 sets
these were hard. choke to mid club.still appreciably harder the 10s with no choke.

Rack walk
16kgx1200 feet hand switch every 200 feet.
not bad but feeling mondays impact a bit on the fibula. much of my left leg pain comes from the left calf and ankle, not just the joint itself.When joints dont fully bend their normal amount, the tissue surrounding it really locks up and this causes all kinds of issues. Especially when it's cold and you're old,lol.Back to the floor.

BW 160.8
BF 8.8%
Water 60.5%

will adapt.didnt get enough floor time today and it was COLD in the studio for me. Everybody's swinigng so they are warm; I'm just standing there freezing! At a buck sixty there ain't a lot of insulation left :))

datsit.time to eat.

Wow. Lance Karabel gets ready for USAPL American open

840 squat


640 bench


one scary 770 deadlift

The Key to Progress by Dr Squat.

Fred Hatfield. the lightest and oldest man to squat 1000lbs. Hatfield knew discipline and committment to the goal.

Got this quote of Dr Hatfield from Boris Bachman's blog

http://squatrx.blogspot.com/2007/11/words-of-wisdom-from-dr-squat.html

Dr squat says:

"Look, 'routines' are just that! I have written much on the subject. I have probably given the subject more careful thought than most. Here is yet another thought that I should've written at some time... maybe I did... can't remember.In order to achieve ANYTHING in life to the pinnacle of your capabilities, you must 'marry' the thing! Become a 'priest' to it. Live, eat, sleep and breathe it! You MUST NOT succumb to whoredom and meander from one routine to another in the false hope that one of them is gonna 'work'.

It will not! You may get a quick fix from it, but it'll only be because you re-injected some adaptive stress into your routine.Do this instead.

THINK IT OUT!

Now, most lifters cannot do this because they are not educated in the discipline, and because they have never been taught to REALLY think things through! So, the alternative is to find yourself a bonafide guru who HAS, and hang your hat on what that person has to say! So, find one! ONE!"- Dr. Fred Hatfield

Do not fall victim to "random acts of variety' if you have a serious goal, a real goal.You must start at the end( the goal) and work backwards( to where you are now, starting) to see what must be done to achieve the goal.If you can't or won't do what is necessary at least you will know why for real why you didnt achieve your goal, instead of pretending that it wasn't possible for you or that you 'really didnt care' about it.

Don't be afraid to care 100% about something and try 100% to achieve it in case you cannot. It's not failing that counts , its the giving up. One is either getting stronger or weaker each day with EACH act we do. We are either going towards what we say we want or deluding ourselves and going backwards.

Realizing the price to be paid is too high is not deluding oneself or failing as long as one is honest about it.Great things are never accomplished without a high cost.And while they might not be great in the grand scheme of things to others,everyone know what they consider great and whether that quest is worthwhile.

Challenges don't build character, it is said, they reveal it.

Push press

I've decided to turn Mondays back into another snatch day.Even though the push presses are going well from a technical( and a pain level) sense, they just dont get me going the same way snatches do. I have to not only limit the top end weight, but also the top end effort it seems or else my shoulder protests.Yet my left side can do twice the work my right can and lately I havent felt like I get much of a workout on Mondays.
ANd yet snatches,no matter what the weight, and swings always kick my ass. As does rack walks and they are going back in too.
So Mondays will be either the 20 or the 24 kg for longer sets with solid lockouts and only one hand switch. Multiple sets.
Wednesdays will be either max vo2 with the 16 or ssst style with the 20 kg.Adding back in the rack walking for increasing distance and the cb work and it should be a good balance. I really like the cb work but it torches the grip crazy!doing volume anything with heavier clubs is very impressive to me now.I just like throwing those clubs around in circles too and it makes my 3 lb Old English Bastard sword seem like a toothpick!

Push press
16kgx5/5x2
20kg x5/5,6/6,7/7,8/8,9/9,10/10
90 reps
these went very well actually but they just dont move me. I feel like I could press the weights for the same reps at the same speed but know it would wreck me.the snatches are such a big ROM exercise for me its much harder but feels safer.

torch swings
2 10s x10x3 sets
2 15s x8x3 sets
the 15s,even with a modest choke were not easy,especially at the end of the set.

Swipes
2 10sx20,20
2 15sx 14,12

these were MUCH better than last time,where I thought my way through the move too much instead of feeling my way through it like it did today.really have tons of respect for guys who can use 2 25s for high reps sets of these. No joke. Going to keep this move in here after snatches.the combination of the double arm cast and double arm pendulum is very interesting.

Rack walks
16kgx1200 feet, hand switch every 200 feet.
Need this again. Not only forces me to focus on gait mechanics,and overloads them but really works the wind and the arm in a safe way. this is back in..

BW 160.4
BF8.8%
Water 60.7%

Datsit. Z drills later.

Wow, this guy can swing p bars.

what a body line. This is a perfect hollow position.

Think your training is hard?

How would you like to practice this stuff?No one could even conceive some of these moves even being possible when I was doing gymnastics.

The tide is still rising.

This is my favorite part of a cycle; when higher than ever training loads are adapted to and what was hard is now strong and easy.When you finish heavier or harder workouts than you have ever done and have plenty left in the tank.And know that you did overload enough to stimulate more adaptation but haven't paid too much for it.
While I jumped the gun on the push presses I seemed to have timed the swings and snatches well.New swing PR with the 32kg today and was strong the whole time.

One arm swings
16kgx5/5/5/5x3
24kgx5/5x2

32kgx10/10x17 sets
340 reps/ pr
24,480 lbs.

This was great. Groove was solid, power was high,the bell felt light and the workload comfortable.Can't ask for more.

Torch press
10lbsx5/5x2
15lbsx 5/5x2
Double press
2 15 lbsx5/5x3
Arm casts
10lbsx5/5x2
15lbsx5/5z2
cast to flag
10lbs x5/5
15lbsx5/5x3
double cast to flag
10lbsx5
15lbsx5x2
two hand circular casts
15lbs x12/12x3

These are a great finisher to the saturday workout and my shoulders,upper back and triceps are liking it as well.
Very happy with todays workout and can really feel the increased stretching paying off already.

datsit.

Squats

Ray Benemerito. One of the all time best adfpa/usapl lifters . Legit 1900lbs at 181.He knows squat.

I am getting a much better balance now between Z and the corrective exercise/prehab stretches I call Rifga.One thing I've realized of late is that I have been neglecting my squatting. Not loaded squatting, as I have given that up for the near and foreseeable future, but squat stretches/poses.I was doing a lot of sumo squat stretches and really making gains in getting my left knee to flex deeper but when I started doing so much standing Z( and feeling so much better) that my floor work, and with it my squat training, declined considerably.

I get a lot out of holding these varying width squat stances for longer and longer times. Now this is something I dont mind training for timed sets instead of counting reps.I need to work up to five minutes or more in the bottom position.

This is waiting out the tension at it's best and the longer I hold the set the deeper I go, with the stiff knee and hip opening up quite a bit at sets end.It's also a chance to check for pelvic instability/asymmetry as it's very apparent if one hip is higher , or tighter, than the other.when one knee only bends 90 degrees it's VERY easy for your hips to go off.

By keeping my shins vertical( or close) I can really open up the knee joint without stressing it and that's important for recovery work.

This blends well with the doward dog work to open up the hamstrings one leg at a time and the upward facing dog, or prone cobras as I usually call them, for releasing the psoas ,lower abs and external obliques,recentering the spine in extension, getting the elbows to fully lock and the

very important but usually neglected serratus muscles with the arm support posture.

Doing so much standing z work has made the calves and legs much stronger in static poses but also can tighten up my less stable left ankle/knee. Getting back on the squat train is the perfect move right now.

Lots of 32 kg swings to do tomorrow......

Mas Oyama's " This is Karate."

Rannoch's Zen Girya has a great similarity to this classic books cover art.

The Way of the Kettlebell

I love this Japanese caligraphy style kb drawing done by Rannoch Donald RKC, of Scotland. He says he tried to combine the elements of the circle, the figure eight( for the eightfold path) and the infinity sign. I think he did a fantastic job and this drawing captures the simplicty and beauty of the kettlebell much in the same way the actual bell did the first time I saw it.

I think we're going to make some t shirts with this on it. Its the logo for his blog and I think it's the coolest kb logo I've seen yet.

here' s his blog link:

http://simplestrength.blogspot.com/

snatch day

As I wrote the other day, it's always the days I feel like shit that the workout seems to go well. After getting the shoulder calmed down yesterday I slept on it weird and it felt "nervey" during work. Started off with a solid 20 min of Z and floor work, which helped, but never really got it all worked out. Sometimes its the workout that screws things back on correctly and this was one of those days. 20 kg snatch day SSST style rep scheme.

One arm torch swing warmup
10#x10 each side x3 (no choke)
this really helps open up the shoulder and get external rotation going again. need to use this more often just therapeutically.

Snatch
12kgx5/5/5/5
16kgx5/5/5/5x3

20 kg
8/8/8/8 x6 sets
192 reps
8448 lbs

This felt really good and I had a solid lockout as well as pace.Groove was good too and was getting a good layback at the start, keeping the bell in close on descent.Kept having to stop myself from sprinting.The 20 kg is a great weight for me.


Barbarian flag casts
10x10
15#x8/8

Shield casts
10#x8 each side x 4sets

bw 159.6
bf 9%
h20 60.5%

datsit. more z and floor work later.Happy Thanksgiving day to all! I have so much to be thankful for I can't believe it! This has been the best year of many good years and it just looks to be getting even better all the time.We are truly Blessed.As are we all.

Z and Floor work.

Woke up pretty sore with the right shoulder, bicep, forearm and pec minor all pretty tight from those rough jerks and sleeping on it .Got into Girya extra early (5:30) for a full Z drill session before work.
Did:
Neutral spine lengthening front/to sides
with arms front/side,overhead
Lateral and medial tilts
toe pulls
toe circles
ankle circles pointed 3 way
ankle circles pulled 3 way
knee circles closed chain
knee circles open chain
hip pendulums
open chain hip circles 6 position
back half circles
shoulder circles front, back, top,bottom, front ,side
camshaft
elbow circles top
elbow circles bottom
thoracic slides side to side
full thoracic circles
full neck drills circles
wrist and hand circles.

then five minutes of rifga
up dog
down dog alternating legs
calf stretch
kneeling shoulder stretch
sumo squat stretch
stick shoulder extension
stick press and shrugs.

then today just now
30 minutes of the above z drills.


feel much better now.It amazing that prior to doing z I paid almost no attention to my elbows and wrist j as I thought they were the only joints I had left that werent damaged. And they aren't, thank God.But I didn't know they would turn out to be so valuable in loosening up my shoulders. Now when my shoulders are tight its the elbow bottom circles that seem to release the impingment better than anything else. who woulda thunk it?